Sunday was a day of seeing art (following Saturday's visit to the First Emperor exhibit). Or, rather, trying to see art and not quite succeeding in the way it was planned. The first thing we tried to see was the Serpentine Gallery Experiment Marathon. This was a two-day event, so…
The First Emperor exhibition is another impressive job by the British Museum – it is well done and informative as well as being splendid to observe. You really should take the chance to see the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shihuang up close – the exhibition is on until April next…
At long last, here we have the third film in a sequence that is very good and is worthy of its predecessors. After a summer of Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, Shrek 3 (and X-Men 3 before that), it was getting quite depressing watching the third instalment of a film franchise.…
I thought I had written about the unalloyed joy provided by Charlie Brooker before on this blog, but I have been remiss in my expressions of devotion to the vicious and poetic humour and intelligence of this misanthropic television critic. My knowledge of him started with his painfully funny pastiche…
Astonishing X-Men #13–18 by Joss Whedon & John Cassaday For all of Whedon’s return to the Claremont/Byrne days, he did follow on and keep the continuity of Grant Morrison’s run on the X-Men. Which is why we get Cassandra Nova, the architect of danger from within, a traditional superhero yarn.…
Astonishing X-Men #7–12 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday This trade paperback continues on from the first, but it is just a break in the story, really; fortunately, Whedon is an experienced man when it comes to episodic storytelling. Things start off with a fight scene, expertly executed and with…
Astonishing X-Men #1–6 by Joss Whedon & John Cassaday Here’s the strange thing – Joss Whedon is a good writer but he is also a major X-Men fanboy. It’s an unusual combination; it makes for fun, geeky comics. Why else would Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin be back in the…
Even with all the fake scratches, the added-on start to the film, the jumps in film, the loops of a small section, the black and white scene, the bad sound – this is still a good-looking movie. What it is not is a good movie. This is a shame, because…
I’ve been planning on posting my thoughts on the bunch of DVDs I’ve watched recently – not full reviews, just some reactions and comments – but I saw Children of Men last night and couldn’t contain the urge to write about how fantastic a film it is. I've mentioned before…
I finally got round to watching the Jonathan Ross documentary on BBC4, In Search of Steve Ditko (I was away when it first aired, and am unable to tape Freeview channels unless at home) and it made me glad I pay my licence fee. Jonathan Ross is an important personality…