The series had kept me watching though and I had ended up catching up with the broadcast – hence me needing to start watching something else in the meantime.  I watched the second half of the season in about ten days, going through an episode a night.

So, in terms of catching and keeping my interest this certainly worked.  It is actually quite rare for me to get through an entire TV series without giving up.  A series really needs to have something special to make me keep with it.  In this case, it is actually difficult to put my finger on exactly what this DID have to keep me watching.  It certainly wasn’t the plot, which really was not half as clever as it thought it was.  It also wasn’t as violent or gory as it kept promising it would be before every episode started – there was nothing in this that stayed with me and haunted me, or shocked me.

But the central performances of Bacon and Purefoy were probably the biggest reasons why the series worked for me.  Bacon, in particular, was in virtually every scene – the glue that held the series together.  Purefoy was surprisingly restrained- essaying the gradual breakdown of his character well.

And then – suddenly, the series went exactly where you never expected it to go and finally did surprise.  I wont spoil it but the ending was absolutely brilliant.  Just when I was virtually screaming at the screen – shouting that it wouldn’t have been left like that – Joe would have had a plan for this.  And hey presto.  He did.  A very brave ending.

It is kind of difficult to know exactly where they are going to go from here, and I can’t really see a way they can maintain the concept to this quality over the already confirmed second season.  But I will be interested to find out.

Anyway – I was cycling home up Unthank Road.  An idiot motorist in a Ford tries to overtake me, realises he hasn’t got enough space to get past me, and also hasn’t notice the car in front of me is turning left up Mount Pleasant.  The motor vehicle clips me with his wing mirror whilst trying to veer out of the way of oncoming traffic, and slams his breaks on to avoid hitting the car in front which is turning left.  I am now trapped between the back of the car and the kerb.  My front wheel is pinned between the back wing of the vehicle and the side of the road and my back wheel is exposed.  I am still astride my bike.

The male driver of the vehicle (remember this, it’s important) gets out of the vehicle, comes round to where I am and starts yelling and screaming at me.  I do nothing.  He then proceeds to kick the back wheel of the bike, knocking me to the ground.  Three witnesses see this and run to help me.  A fourth witness who is behind in her vehicle is so shocked by what she has seen that she follows the perpetrator in his vehicle.  She later states that he was doing between 60 and 70 MPH through the streets around Mount Pleasant.  For anyone who doesn’t know – this is a quiet residential area.  He clearly has something to hide to be running away so quickly.  She gets his number, as does the other witnesses.

Luckily, as I am getting up, a police car happens to drive past.  We all flag him down.  He tells he is too busy to stop but that he will get someone to attend at my address.  He asks me what time I will be at home and I tell him after 7:30 (I was going on to play football).  He promises me that police would attend at my address around 8pm.  I get the witnesses contact numbers and note down the numberplate of the perpetrators vehicle.

I get home, change for football, and head out.  As I am driving up my road, I see a police vehicle.  I ask them if they are here to see me, they state that they are.  I point out it was meant to be at eight, and they give me a bad attitude.  I offer politely that I could come back and see them now – and they muttered no, that someone would come back at 8pm.

No-one turned up and I chased the police for three days.  Eventually someone turned up and took my details.  He went to see the pepetrator, who admitted kicking me to the ground but also accused me of kicking his back light.  How I could have done that whilst still being astride my bike I don’t know.  Four witnesses saw him kick me to the ground but no-one saw me kick his car.  But according to the police kicking my bike is not assault.  And as he has said I kicked his car, then in their eyes I am just as guilty as him and it is “his word against mine”.  They decide to do nothing.

This is despite witnesses seeing what he did, him admitting kicking my bike, a witness stating he was so desperate to get away that he drove at 70 in a 30MPH zone, and no evidence or witnesses that I kicked his vehicle.  And why is the driver so important (as evidenced earlier).  When the police interviewed him he stated he wasn’t driving the car but he clearly was.  Now – you and I would probably wonder why he is lying about that.  He has admitted how he walked round to attack me so he admitted he got out of that side of the car.  The witnesses saw the same.  You would have thought the police would wonder why he was lying.  But nah – of course they’re not interested.

So, a few weeks later when I took the bike in to be checked over it is discovered that when he kicked the wheel it was buckled.  It will cost £107 to replace, which I can’t afford.  In the meantime riding it is dangerous.  So I rang the police again.  They promised they’d call me back later that day.  Again, nothing.  So I rang back that evening and the person I spoke to hadn’t logged the call.  I later got an official apology for this, with the excuse being “she was busy”.  I was told someone would visit me.

No-one did.  I chased again and at 11:30 at night two WPCs turned up at my door.  Despite the police being completely clear this was a follow up call to an original offence, no-one had told these two WPCs this, so they didn’t have a clue.  They had to ring up their station and be briefed before they could talk to me.  How professional.

They checked my bike and went off and two days later the original PC who was dealing with it tuned up again.  He said he would go and visit the perp again.

A week later I get a call.  Apparently that had been unable to speak to him so far, as every time they had an appointment with him he cancelled at the last minute.  Nice to know that.  Maybe I should go out and steal a replacement bike and when the police want to speak to me I can be unavailable.  And, again – why was he being so evasive?

I leave it another week, and ring the police up and give them a hard time.  Amazingly, within 24 hours they are able to speak to the perp (funny that) and get back to me.

Apparently, he is again alledging I kicked his car, and again they are believing him.  Apparently they have also been to pedal revolution – the shop that examined the bike.  Apparently, if I had taken the bike in straight away (according to the shop) then it would only have cost £10 to fix so it is my fault for continuing to ride on it.  That’s what the police said the shop said anyway.  When I spoke to the shop they deny saying this.  The attack BUCKLED my wheel, but the policeman just asked then what it would cost to retrue a wheel.  This was not the problem with the wheel at all.  But as I said, police will do anything to avoid having to take action.

So – the perp refuses to pay the full cost of the wheel but offers £50 compensation.  The police suggest I accept this, but if not they can take it to court.  However, when it goes to court they will state that the wheel could be fixed for a tenner (the police will lie in court, even though I am the innocent victim) and the perp will get a solicitor who will argue that I kicked his car.  Even if I win, with the police lying and saying it would only cost a tenner to fix my bike, that is all I am likely to get.

I told them to get lost.

They then asked me to sign a piece of paper to say that the case is being withdrawn so that they can tick it off their stats as a solved case.  I had to politely ask the policeman to leave my house THREE times before he would.  With his paper unsigned.

So remember – in Norwich, if you are an innocent person who gets assaulted don’t bother calling the police……

Everyone knows I am a Liverpool fan.  Have been since I started following football at the age of ten.  But some time ago I ended up living in the city of Norwich.  I do believe that if you get the chance to watch football then you should, and if you have a local team you should support them.  And I felt fortunate to be in Norwich.  A team that believed in playing football as it should be played.  A club of family values.  A club which dared to be just a little different.

So I started going, taking my Mum who was disabled.  We went to pretty much nearly every home game and every pre season friendly for two years – the last two years of Worthington’s tenure.  Our last game was Worthington’s last game.  It was such a miserable, horrible atmosphere – lit by lightning and fan turning on fan.  Mum got iller, and was unable to go so we stopped.

Fast forward some months.  Norwich are relegated to division one.  That summer I happened to be talking to a friend at work who had a season ticket.  I hadn’t been aware that you could pay monthly interest free – it was a really good scheme.  I went down to the ground the next lunch time, walked straight in, and purchased a season ticket there and then.

There is no point in me documenting the football on the pitch the next three seasons.  I was there for pretty much every match.  I saw success and I saw promotion.  But you know what?  The premier league wasn’t the promised land I thought it would be.  Inconvenient kick off times, and matches that were just not as enjoyable as they used to be.

And the club became ever more greedy.  £50 if you lost your season ticket, £50 non-refundable deposit just to be on a season ticket waiting list.  Price for Micah (my little nephew) to be a member doubling and no chance for me to move within the stadium on the odd occasion so I could take him.  When I had a serious knee operation, the club were rude and unaccommadating when I requested to move for one game as I couldn’t sit in my seat.  I had to miss the match.

Then…..McNally.  Well, I’m not going to go here.  Let’s just say the man deserved the McNasty epithet.  He is a thoroughly unpleasant individual.

But all this I could cope with.  But when Houghton was appointed I was worried.  I knew he was a defensive, boring coach and so he has proved.  As I am not a died in the wool Norwich fan, for my £50 a month I wanted to be entertained.  I just wasn’t.  OK – I understand that the true fans just want to stay in the premiership.  But it looks like they wont get their wish.

I hate what Norwich have become.  An arrogant, unpleasant, nasty club who’s only interest is in raping the fan’s pocket with huge ticket price increases whilst playing boring negative football.  You know what?  If they don’t get relegated this season they will very soon.  And it wont be long before all the people happy to splash out fortunes will melt away.  And when that happens, there won’t be a season ticket waiting list with an extortionate entrance fee.  And it will again be possible to just walk in to the club and buy a season ticket.

But I wont.

Over the last two weeks I have managed to work my through the entire sixteen episode third season run of The Walking Dead – and if I get through 16 hours of TV in two weeks then you know it’s got to be good.

Of course, things started off extremely well for The Walking Dead.  Brought to TV by Frank Darabont, and adapted from the graphic novel, the first series was six concise and brilliant episodes – filled with dark drama and horrific moments.  The second series extended out to a full series, and two episodes in Frank Darabont was unceremoniously dumped.  Whether this was the reason or not, the second season really dragged – the group in just one place (a farm) and spending the whole series arguing and bickering.  Apart from a few standout moments, the series was essentially something that no series about zombies should be.  Boring.

But The Walking Dead is about resurrections – albeit not biblical ones.  In a world where the dead can get up and walk, before ripping sinew from bone with strong teeth – surely it is possible for the writers to inject life into the series.  It was fairly crucial that they did – because another sixteen episodes of boredom would have killed the series about as dead as a crossbow through the forehead.

So – series three then.  At the end of series two, everything had gone to shit at the farm, and Rick had turned dictator.  Now the undisputed leader of the group, they find a prison and hole up there thinking they have found somewhere safe.  Unbeknownst to them, however, there is a community not far away under the command of The Governor.  Rick may be a dictator but at least he is benign.  The Governor is anything but.

So we now have essential dramatic conflict built into the plot, and the group have been somewhat trimmed due to events.  This means that we get more time to get to know them and to understand them – and thus build up more empathy.  However, the introduction of Woodbury allows dramatic focus to switch away from our heroes for a much needed period of time.  They are not the only people on our screens any more, and we thus experience less fatigue in dealing with them.

I am not going to go into plot details here in case some people are waiting for the terrestrial showing.  What I will say though is that sixteen hours pass by as if they are a mere blink.  The plot is always focussed and everything seems somehow leaner.  New characters are introduced (Michonne for one) and others return from series one (Merle throughout the whole series, and a significant other in just one episode).  It is good to see the returning characters in particular – seeing how they have changed since we have last seen them.

There are a few shock moments, and those waiting to watch should avoid just this next paragraph.  The Walking Dead has always been brutal when it needs to be and boy is it so here.  The technique of breaking the jaw of a zombie on a rock is wince inducing as is a young boy performing a C-section on his own mother before shooting her in the head.  A new character is barely introduced before he is blown away in a shocking moment, with his corpse then used as a shield.  The fact that he had opened up verbally just a few minutes before, letting us into his life, makes this scene even worse.  And a sexual assault on one of our regulars is also deeply unpleasant.

The acting is superb as it always has been.  Scott Wilson as Herschal is the stand out, but Chandler Riggs as Rick’s son is simply amazing here.  He has to go through a hell of a lot – at times you wonder at the wisdom of making a young boy do the things that he is asked to, even if it is acting.  But boy – some of the most moving scenes (and morally ambiguous ones) involve him.

In short, series three is a triumphant return to form.  It takes the violence, action, and horror of series one and marries it to the well written dialogue and character development of season two.  I now cannot wait for season four.  This was one of the most enjoyable series I have seen for a very very long time.

Now, first of all my heart goes out to the person who was killed and to his family.  It also goes out to the Pedestrian who was involved.  However, there are some aspects of the case that seriously disturb me.

The family and friends of the man who was killed are letting it be known publically that they feel the pedestrian was responsible.  They are saying that the motorcyclist was obeying the speed limit, did not go through a red light, and that the pedestrian stepped out into the road in front of him instead of using the pedestrian crossing just a few feet away.  They have been given a platform to spread this view via the local newspapers, and friends and acquaintances are spreading this story across facebook.  Now, if all this is true – then the pedestrian should have the full weight of the law thrown at him and will have to live with the fact that he has effectively murdered another human being.  However, I am uncomfortable with this.

I am under the impression, and I may be wrong, that the police are saying there were no witnesses.  If this is true how can the family and friends know 100% that the motorcyclist was blameless in this incident?  We also haven’t heard the pedestrian’s side of the story.  Of course, this may be because he is guilty and is keeping schtum.  But it may just be that he is innocent and is not allowed to.

The point is, in my opinion, until an inquest is held and we know the full facts I am not sure anyone should be speculating on the cause, especially in the local paper and publically.  Let the law do its thing and THEN when we know the facts we can talk about blame.

The second thing is that supporters are urging a new “Think Bike!” campaign on the back of this.  Well, I’m sorry but I don’t think a campaign to “Think Bike!” is needed but more a campaign to make EVERYONE be a little bit more considerate of others, a little less arrogant on the roads.  I walk, drive and ride a cycle so I see it from all sides.

Let me give a specific example.  On the exact same day of the fatal crash, I was turning right into Baxter Court.  A pedestrian was crossing the road about a quarter of a mile ahead.  A motorcyclist went past me, and pulled a wheelie, accelerating at full speed towards the pedestrian.  I have never seen such acceleration.  The pedestrian had to throw himself out of the way into the gutter and got hurt.  The motorcyclist turned towards ASDA.  Now, behaviour like this is totally unacceptable.  Not saying all motorbikers are like this – but I do see a lot of them driving like idiots.

Virtually every day through work, I have to drive through the city.  Every single day without fail, pedestrians will step out into the road in front of me and just walk across.  They don’t even bother to look.  They just have this arrogant attitude that cars will HAVE to stop for them.  And we do have to.  But one day some driver wont and will seriously injure or God forbid kill someone.  And will have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

Cyclists – I am one.  But the vast majority are complete idiots.  Zipping through red lights, not having lights, no helmet, plugged into music players, zipping through traffic, up onto pavements.  Anything to avoid having to wait for just one minute.

Drivers – again idiots.  Just the other day I came across a blonde bimbo in a BMW driving the wrong way round St Andrews car park, despite a clear no entry sign.  She did this on three levels, to try and cut through to a parking place, but on the fourth level she ended up coming straight on towards me.  She was going the wrong way, but she got out of the car and yelled at ME for “driving towards her aggressively”.  I had, apparently, frightened her four year old child (in the front seat without a child seat) and she was thus going to report me to the police.  Even though she was going the wrong way.

So quite frankly, I don’t give a flying fuck whether you are a pedestrian, a cyclist, a motorcyclists, or a driver.  I see, every single day, an example of at least one person on at least one mode of transport, acting like a complete prick.  And no mode of transport deserves special treatment.  EVERYONE should treat each other with respect and courtesy and cut out the arrogance.  And think of how their behaviour affects others.

Will never happen though

The lyrics to me are just stunning.  Here they are :

Very very bleak lyrics to be sure – and even more outstanding when you realise that they were written by a 14 year old boy!

I love the darkness of the lyrics, coupled with the beautiful melody and harmonies.  I find it achingly sad.  But, of course, suicide isn’t painless.  Which is why the song is a slight misnomer.  And why it is not the cowardly act people say it is, but in fact an incredibly brave one.

And oh, what a song!

I have adored music for as long as I can remember – and I have a VERY large collection.  I care not a jot whether the song I love is cheesy, or trendy.  If I like it, then I like it.  And nothing has the power to move like music can.

I have no illusions that anyone is actually going to follow these posts, but I rather wish they would as I kind of hope I might be able to highlight some tracks that people may not have heard before.  And try and be open.  It doesn’t matter whether the track is by ABBA or Alice in Chains.  If it is great music, then it is great music.

Each post will tell a little bit about the track in question, and why I like it – and then wherever possible a YouTube link to the song. I plan to do a minimum of one a week but hopefully two.

I hope someone out there may enjoy these posts.

On Sunday night we had a suprising snowfall – surprising in that more fell than expected.  That being said, there had probably been about an inch – maybe two.  I made the choice not to cycle in that morning, choosing to walk instead for a matter of safety.  Amazingly though, the roads were absolutely fine – not a problem at all.

I had a busy day scheduled, and an appointment out at Bowthorpe at midday.  I got there early so that I could do some preparation and fill in some paperwork.  The forecast was not too bad – a few light snow flurries.  The roads were untreated that far out of the city, but really nothing that couldn’t be driven on with care.  I met the people I had to meet, and was up in the loft doing some investigations when my work phone rang.  I climbed down and answered.  It was a work colleague asking if I was ok.  I answered yes, and asked why.  We were worried about you in this heavy snow, he replied laughing.  I looked out and it had indeed started snowing quite heavily (for Britain).  I said blimey it is coming down and he laughed “Don’t be stupid!”  I told him I was gonna finish up where I was and then do three other appointments.  I was anticipating being back in the office around 2-3pm.

I finished up, and then headed off.  There was already probably an inch on the windscreen when I headed off about 12:30.  But very very quickly it became apparent that this was a pucker snow storm, unlike what we usually get in this country.  We had reached almost white out conditions, and it was becoming quite hazardous driving.  I was really quite surprised.  We have an area office nearby so I stopped off there for a quick pee, just in case and then carried on into the city.

The journey is 4.3 miles according to Google maps and should take about 13 mins.

after about ten minutes the snow stopped, the sun came out and all was fine again.  In the 30 minute storm, we had about three inches.  Significant for this country but hardly crippling.  But by God was that the cue for mayhem.

Everyone in the city simultaneously seemed to decide to leave work and go home – even though NO MORE SNOW WAS FORECAST.  In their rush to get home, they were blocking junctions and roundabouts causing absolute chaos.  In addition to this, people responsible for roads and highways seemed to be caught unawares.  Grapes Hill, the main arterial route into Norwich was closed due to alledgedly being “too dangerous” to drive up.  It beats gritting it I suppose…..

I drove right through the centre of the city, up Prince of Wales Road (which was also alledgedly impassable) happily overtaking idiots who were slipping and sliding all over the place, and got the car parked.  No problem.

The result of all this chaos was that my 13 minute journey took me three hours and in the end I couldn’t even get into any car parks in the centre and had to abandon the car in one of our satellite car parks and walk in.  All this for three inches of snow.

You really couldn’t make it up.

But people were really behaving like absolute idiots.  They had no idea how to drive in wintery conditions.  My wheels are skidding and locking?  I’ll just floor the accelerator.  It’s a bit slippery?  I’ll stop and inch forward slowly.  Fuck building momentum……..

So due to these idiots, Norwich was brought to a standstill.

Flash forward to the next day.  Now remember.  Three inches of snow.  That’s all we had.  And no forecast of any more.  But what did Norfolk police do?  Give out warnings not to drive.  I mean seriously?  Why????

That day my sister had a car park pass so I managed to get my car out of my drive (the door locks were frozen – it was -13 degrees C over night) and drive all the way around the city with no problem.  I picked her up and drove right into the city, parked, and went into work.  The streets and roads were absolutely deserted!  But why?  The roads were not even slippery!  Why on earth were the police advising people not to drive?  Christ only knows how much productivity was lost that day.

This carried on the rest of the week.  By Friday the roads were completely clear but still deserted.  A whole fucking week.  For three inches of snow.  We must have been a laughing stock.

But that’s not all.  On the Friday a big weather front came in from the West.  It was widely predicted and that it would bring snow.  But here’s the thing.  There was NEVER any snow predicted for this part of the country.  Not once.  I saw the forecasts.  There was a 40% chance of some heavy snow showers for a one hour period during the day.  40%.  Not much chance.

But I have never heard such irresponsible media.  I was out and about again.  Deserted city, light snow flurries.  They had been here since the morning.  But they were light, and weren’t settling.  But I was listening to the local radio.  And I have never heard such dramatic reporting.  The weather forecaster was saying “and heavy snow is predicted to hit Norfolk at some point today (no, it wasn’t), in fact” (in breathless tones of excitement) “it has just started snowing outside the forum now”.  Err no it hasn’t, I thought.  It has been snowing all morning, and it’s hardly really snow.  It’s pretty much rain…..

But God they like to be dramatic.  So what happened?  Panic buying.  I kid you not.  No snow was forecast, we had had just three inches three days before.  And people were PANIC BUYING.  Just unbelievable.  Supermarkets were running out of stuff.  Shops in the city closed early, the castle closed at 1pm.  People were running away as if it was a nuclear fallout zone.

It was almost like they were deperate to believe that some catastrophic weather event was due.  In the morning I had spoken to two colleagues who had excitedly told me how bad it was going to be.  When I tried to tell them that nothing was forecast for Norwich they seemed almost pitying of me.  For not believing.  It was like people had been brainwashed.

But why on earth were the police and local media being so irresponsible?

Of course – there was no snow that night.  There was never going to be.

I was intrigued as to what the local paper would print Saturday morning.  Guess what it said : “more heavy snow on the way for Sunday!”.  Yes folks, that was the headline – immediately panicking people, I’m sure.  I read the article.  It began – Norfolk may have been lucky to escape the predicted heavy snow fall last night.  (My translation – we lied to you, but hey we’ll try to cover up.  Another story they printed next to it was a small one from Weatherquest pointing out that there had been no snow forecast, but that was hidden away).  But what about this heavy snow?  Well, read the story.  What it says is experts say there MAY (read that word.  It’s important – my capitals) be up to TWO INCHES of snow over night on Sunday.  Two inches.  Is that heavy?  I don’t think so.

Why, I ask again, is the local media so determined to build up this panic?  And why are normal sane people so happy to fall for it?  The roads have been fine all week yet I know people who haven’t driven because they’ve been scared to.  Panic buying.  Police warnings, skeleton bus services, no postal deliveries, no bins emptied.  All this due to three inches of snow, a load of idiot drivers, irresponsible police warnings, and local media fuelling panic.

It quite simply beggars belief – we must be the laughing stock of the world.  Investigations should be carried out in my opinion into just how much chaos has been caused and the roles EVERYONE has had to play in it.

I didn’t bother with Kingdom of Plants as the subject didn’t interest me – but tonight we had the first episode of the three part Galapagos 3D.  This time, for the first time, a 2D version was shown in HD on Sky 1.

I am not actually a great nature program fan.  I don’t watch many of them – but the Galapagos islands fascinate me so I had been looking forward to this for some time.

And this time – Attenborough has married amazing cinematography, breathtaking 3D, and an amazing story.  In short – this was probably the best hour of TV I have EVER seen.  And I am not one to give praise lightly.

The first episode was called Origin and covered how the islands were formed, and how they flourished.  We know they are volcanic – but did we know that they were colonised with plants and animals due to an amazingly fortuitous set of circumstances?  Three currents converge on the islands, from three distinct parts of the worlds.  These currents have carried, for example, plant material and pollen from the rain forests of PNG.  Animals have found themselves swept up in two other major currents – from Antartica and South America – and landed on these amazing islands.

So cormorants got washed up here.  Over the years they developed for the islands.  They almost completely lost their wings as they have no need to fly, and grew to twice the size of their relatives back on the mainland as there were no predators.  Penguins, washed up here from the Antartic, did the opposite.  They needed to lose heat quickly as it was hot here, so they lost half their body mass, now being half the size of their compatriates on the mainland.

All this is fascinating stuff – but the 3D really really sells it.  3D is not consistent.  Sometimes it is great, sometimes appalling.  Attenborough, as already mentioned, is interested in pushing the boundaries and he does so here – really bringing the environment to life.

Words simply cannot convey just how amazing this show is.  It is one of those moments you want to shake everyone, make them get 3D and watch.  It is that good.

Breathtaking TV and I can’t wait for parts two and three.

The alternative I am looking at is a completely anonymous blog where I can be totally honest about stuff – my feelings etc.  Who knows.  Perhaps I already have one?

But I digress.  One thing I have been pretty good at is keeping up with my movies.  I haven’t had a 100% success rate.  I have missed out a few : Prometheus 3D IMAX (I just couldn’t figure out how to rate it and by the time I’d really thought about it, the time had passed), Once Upon A Time in America (watched in one go one memorable night with Margaret curled up next to me), You Only Live Twice (part of my Bond marathon), Back to the Future. But I am fairly sure that’s about it.  The rest have all been blogged.

So – how many films have I watched?  You can see the link by simply clicking on movies, and selecting “Movies 2012″ from the drop down.  But here we go…..

I shall look at my faves of 2012, and the most disappointing too.  I will also look forward a little to 2013.

I have, apparently, watched 57 movies this year (I included Prometheus, I just saw – but didn’t include The Lion King 3D which I did watch with Allana).  So – that’s not as many as I was expecting.  Works out at around one every 6.7 days so roughly one a week.  I need to up my game in 2013.

Out of those, looking back I can see that only seven were watched in the cinema.  I’d love to go more often – but it just costs so damned much.  Looking to see if my lovefilm subscription is worth it : 18 were from Lovefilm.  Less than expected but still makes the sub just about worth it.  On Sky (I would watch more from there but until I can be bothered to reset up my equipment and get an optical lead, I can’t get surround sound) I have watched 14.  again more than I expected.

These stats generally tie in.  My preference would always be for cinema (if cost would allow), followed by Blu-ray (lack of compression would always make it preferable to sky), and finally sky itself.

So – what were my favourites of the year?  Well the best film I saw, in terms of surprise was most definitely The Butterfly effect.  I was made to watch it one night with Marie when it was on TV and I thought it was absolutely superb.  I want to own it – and interestingly the Blu-ray has a higher rating than the DVD.  It’s an 18.  This has been added to my lovefilm list as I write this.  Doing the summing up really helps

I also really enjoyed Fast Five.  Ok, brain not needed but it was just a really enjoyable action / heist flick.  Source Code was good, but not as good as Moon.  And of course Across the Universe (which I own and got watched in January with Marie) was excellent as always.  Another one of my faves, War of the Worlds (the Spielberg version) got a watch on Blu and Thor 3D was another film that surprised by how good it was.  Other mentions should go to Black Swan and The King’s Speech both of which had been watched on Sky.  Not reviewed, I’ve just remembered but well worth a mention was the excellent Shame.  Skyfall was also good but I can’t help feeling it was a bit of a confidence trick.  Thinking about it afterwards only revealed it’s flaws.

There were huge disappointments here though too.  Chief among those was The Dark Knight Rises.  How Nolan dropped the ball so spectacularly is a mystery.  I loved the first two but haven’t even felt any desire to rewatch the third.  I will again at some point, of course, but it was so tedious and disappointing.  I could watch Batman Begins and The Dark Knight over and over again.  Prometheus was also another disappointment.  Absolutely brilliant, clever, and moving for the first two thirds then stupid, ridiculous, unbelievable and dumb for the final third – this means it can only be listed as a disappointment.  No where near as bad as Nolan’s effort though.

Other disappointments?  Cowboys and Aliens couldn’t fail.  But it did.  The early Bonds were a real struggle.  I will continue into 2013 watching these but I have slowed down because it has been an effort.  You Only Live Twice (the last one I watched and unblogged) was promising though and quite enjoyable.

Round Ireland with a fridge was so much worse than the book, and Season of the Witch  was terrible indeed.

So moving into 2013?  Man of Steel looks superb and Star Trek into Darkness also could be great but I am still nervous.  The reboot could have been awful.  That it wasn’t was a huge surprise and a very welcome one.  I really hope they can reproduce the alchemy but Abrams stuff is normally pants…..

Apart from this, who knows what 2013 will bring.  I have precious little in my life I enjoy these days, and I hate watching movies alone.  Some of the best ones in 2012 were watched with Marie or even more enjoyably with Margaret.  But watch alone I do – and it will be interesting to see what I make of 2013′s offerings.