Here’s the recap of how I got on! The original post lists some more detail.

Super Mario 3D Land
I suppose I didn’t technically finish this. I got to the ‘first’ ending, played a fair chunk of the special levels then decided I’d seen enough and wasn’t that bothered about persevering. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. It was a great return to form for the kind of Mario that I enjoy (the Galaxy titles never really grabbed me). I just felt like I was done with it and happy to not return.

Uncharted 3
Oh Nathan Drake, you let me down so very much. To be fair, I enjoyed it in the end but it felt like a constant fight to love it. Every time I felt like I could honestly say it was great, another stupid gunfight came about. I want to explore, damnit, not shoot 301 random enemies. It was worth playing however but it was nothing compared to how much I loved Uncharted 2.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations
By the end, I still preferred Brotherhood and AC2 but I did still enjoy Revelations. Unlike Brotherhood, however, I feel no urge to mess around for the sake of it. I’m happy to just finish the main storyline and leave it at that, at least until I decide I want some more achievements out of it. I tried out the multiplayer and was pleasantly surprised however. Must go back to it at some point actually.

Green Lantern
Film tie-in games are a guilty pleasure of mine and not just because of my achievement whoring past. This was a mindless but fun distraction that only cost me £7 just before New Year. Gained 800 points out of it which satisfied the achievement whore in me. It’s your typical film tie-in game. Run through some very linear levels, beat up some cardboard cut out enemies and move on.

Halo Anniversary
I’ve not played the original Halo since I completed it in co-op mode on the original Xbox with a boyfriend of the time. It was good fun back then. It’s still not bad although time hasn’t been amazing for it. A few bits and pieces appear dated now but it was an enjoyable enough romp. Again, not bad on the achievements front.

Rage
Rage was interesting. Plenty of missed opportunites and it really wasn’t gripping enough at first, but it only cost me £3 so I can’t complain much. The graphics are pretty impressive and the gun fights are satisfying. The story falls down a bit though and it’s all a little too short unless you drag things out by going down the mundane sidequest path.

Sims 3 Pets
I’m part way through Sims 3 Pets. Annoyingly, it’s prone to freezing which is extremely frustrating when combined with the lack of auto save. I love the series though and I’m determined to 1k it, much like I did with The Sims 3 before it. It’s going to take a while though. Some of the achievements are very time consuming!

Driver: San Francisco
I briefly returned to this then realised that I needed a lot more practice. I reckon I’ll probably restart it as I’d only finished the first chapter and I need all the help I can get! I just plain old suck at games involving car chases.

Batman: Arkham City
I’ve not gone back to this despite only having a couple of hours at most till the end. I’m not convinced I will for quite some time.

Forza Motorsport 4
I dabbled briefly in this. It’s not a game that needs to be played in solid chunks really so it’s handy for a race here or there.

Gears of War 3
Played a little of this thanks to a double experience event. Loved the time I spent with Horde, even if it was with a bunch of randoms. Plus I started one of the campaign DLC segments which was enjoyable enough.

Below are the games I have yet to touch:

Demon’s Souls
inFamous 2
Metroid: Other M
Xenoblade Chronicles
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
FIFA 12
Halo Reach
Epic Mickey

February should be fun!

In recent years though, I’ve got lazy and I’ve switched to a laptop. Along with that switch, my knowledge has waned. While I still know a bit more about the average person walking around, I could also do with learning a lot more again!

Anyway, explanation that this is no technical write up over, just me being a consumer, let’s get down to rambling.

My current laptop is just over two years old. It’s a 15″ Dell laptop, Core2Duo T6600 2.2ghz, 4gb RAM and ATI Radeon HD 4570. It does me fine despite my occasional complaints that I want it to be faster (I’m an impatient sod).

A screenshot below demonstrates the Window Experience Index thingyme.

The HP laptop I’m testing is an interesting switch. It’s a HP Pavilion dv7 with a heavy focus on entertainment (it’s even in the full name! *deep breath* HP Pavilion dv7-6c01ea Entertainment Notebook PC) The screen is better in that it’s 17.3″ making for a much more solid and sturdier system. Holding it on my lap, it feels like there’s good value for money here. The rest of the entertainment comes from the Beats Audio and the HP Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer. I’m quoting from the specs there as all I know is two things:

1) It does make audio sound deeper and more satisfying than regular tinny laptop speakers. I found myself using it a lot for YouTube and MP3s, something I don’t tend to bother with on my laptop.

2) I know the controversy about Beats headphones being overpriced. I have no idea if that transfers to laptop speakers but for a regular person like me who deals with audio purely in terms of ‘it sounds good’, it, well, it sounds good.

Processor wise, it’s an AMD Quad-Core A6-3430MX 1.7ghz. I’m very behind on my AMD chips, even more so than Intel chips. According to the Windows Experience Index, it’s a fair upgrade from my regular laptop though weighing in at 6.8 compared to 5.7!

Graphics card wise, it has an AMD *cough ATI* Radeon HD 6520G+7670M 1GB DDR3 dedicated. Again, I’m so far behind on GPUs. According to Windows Experience Index again, my regular GPU is behind it with desktop graphics yet ahead of it with gaming graphics. Go figure.

Double the RAM compared to what I’m used to makes a big difference for me. Installing trials of Photoshop and seeing how long it took to load reminded me exactly why any future laptop of mine will have 8gb RAM. It appeals to the impatient sod in me a lot.

One rather cool feature I haven’t tested out (nor am I going to) is it comes with HP ProtectSmart. Basically, an accelerometer inside means it stops the hard drive if you drop it, thus saving it from damage. As I’ve got it on loan, I’d rather not test this theory! Presumably to stick it on the blurb for the laptop though, it does work though.

I’ve enjoyed my time with the laptop and I’m lucky to have it for a few more days yet. Would I buy it? Tricky one.

To replace this laptop, no. It’s not a big enough upgrade for me and as I reckon it retails for between £600-700 (I can’t find the exact model for sale online so I’m going off of similar HPs!), I’d want more bang for my buck so to speak. Having said that, it’s probably just demonstrated how fine my current laptop is for now.

If it was as a laptop to switch from a desktop, I’d be sorely tempted. It’s a solid all rounder for me. The audio is a cut above the rest, the screen decent and the build quality feels expensive. Oh and it stays much cooler than previous laptops I’ve had time with.

The only feature I’d have liked to have seen to make it a true entertainment laptop in my eyes is a Blu-ray drive. At least the 1TB hard drive means plenty of room for digital copies though!

So yeah, not bad at all! I’ll write more about it before it goes back. Not tried the fingerprint reader yet.

Disclaimer: HP sent me this laptop for two weeks to try out. I’m not gaining anything else out of this arrangement nor have I been told to say anything in particular about it. These opinions are all entirely mine, not HP’s or anyone else’s!

1st: Life As We Know It – Not a good start to the month! This was dire. Starring Katherine Heigl (I think) and Josh something or other (I care so little about the film that I can’t be bothered to look the film up on IMDb). It’s a sort of rom com where two people who hate each other end up in close proximity because they’re godparents of a baby who is orphaned. I can’t actually remember if they ever get together. I’ve got a low tolerance level for rom coms (as people will have seen over the past year of roundups) but this was awful. Avoid!

4th: Arthur Christmas (cinema) – The first cinema trip of the month was much more successful. Arthur Christmas is wonderful. It captures the spirit of Christmas and Father Christmas really well, while still throwing in plenty of clever humour too. It’s definitely got the potential to be a Christmas classic.

5th: The Hangover 2 – Ahh the Bradley Cooper effect. I saw this twice at the cinema. Sorry about that. It’s my fault when there’s a third film. Having seen this on Blu-ray, I’ve been reminded that yes it’s really not as good as the first one. The first Hangover is a film I watch when I need cheering up. This one will be reserved for much rarer occasions.

6th: 50/50 (cinema) – So, I quite liked this. That’s clear from my earlier entry in which I declared it my film of the year. It’s brilliant. It’s equally funny as it is sad. Joseph Gordon Levitt truly deserves to be a star after this. It’s the kind of film (and performance) that sticks with you for a while afterwards.

8th: Did You Hear About The Morgans – Back to the frivolous. It was on TV while I was doing some work. Good film to watch in the background. Nothing challenging of course. Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker play the exact same roles that they always do (I’m not convinced SJP can do anything else so it’s lucky she can do the role so well!) and it’s very predictable but it’s an enjoyable romp.

10th: Tangled, Tropic Thunder, Knight and Day, Super 8 – I can’t remember what happened on this date but I’m guessing I didn’t go out or do much else other than watch films. Admittedly, I turned Tangled off halfway through. It was a tad too girly, even for a Disney film, for me. So I switched to Tropic Thunder which is always brilliant. Robert Downey Jr is unrecognisable and Ben Stiller plays a Tom Cruise style role perfectly. Even Jack Black isn’t irritating in it! Or at least he’s meant to be so it’s not so annoying.

Knight and Day is another easy film and a great example of what Tom Cruise does so well. He can’t act exactly. He can only ever play ‘Tom Cruise, likeable action star’ but a bit like SJP, that’s fine because he does it so well! Proper screen presence and real movie star quality.

I was keen to see Super 8 at the cinema but didn’t get the chance. I’m glad I waited till it came out on DVD and I rented it. It felt very underwhelming. The only bit I thought was great was while the credits were rolling. Not a patch on The Goonies!

13th: 500 Days of Summer – One of my favourites of recent years and another film that demonstrates how good Joseph Gordon Levitt is. The tagline for this film gets it spot on: It’s not a love story, it’s a story about love. Sad in places and funny too, it’s something that anyone who’s been in love can empathise with. A great summing up of a relationship really!

14th: Kick Ass (part) – Only caught half of this but as I’ve seen it before, I’m counting it. I still reckon it’s a bit overrated but I enjoy it nonetheless. Mark Strong is what makes the difference and the brief time that Nicholas Cage is in it.

18th: Superbad – I’ve never seen Superbad before. Plenty of people at my old workplace raved about it. It’s not bad but it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be. Interesting and worth the watch but not as raucously funny as I expected.

19th: She’s Out Of My League – I can hardly remember this. I suspect that says it all really.

20th: Love Actually – It’s Christmas which means the iffy showing of Love Actually! The reason why it’s iffy? Over here in this older blog entry. I watched it while wrapping my Mum’s Christmas presents. It was quite nice despite the problems.

23rd: Shrek – Another film that I watched while wrapping presents, this time the plethora of children we have to buy presents for. I like Shrek. Shrek 2 is my favourite but the first is still pretty good. I spotted some references that I missed for some reason last time round so that was fun! Not quite as amazing as the Toy Story series but I’d argue a tad funnier.

25th: Elf – I’ve never seen Elf before. People raved about it a lot so I thought I’d see it! It’s pretty good. I can see why others love it so. Captures the spirit of the season nicely and has some very funny moments.

27th: Fred Claus – Another Christmassy film. Fred Claus isn’t great though. Vince Vaughn does the same old role that he always does. It wears thin a little. Nice idea for a film though and sort of ties in with the Arthur Christmas theme really. You’d never watch it outside of Christmas though and I’ll probably never see it again either.

29th: Sherlock Holmes 2 (cinema) – I’ve been looking forward to this since the moment I limped out of the cinema after seeing the first one. The film didn’t cause the limp by the way, I was still on crutches at the time. The second one isn’t as good as the first. I felt a bit disappointed. It’s Moriarty’s fault. He’s just not psychotic enough to me, nor as unhinged as he should have been. Mark Strong in the first film had fantastic screen presence, equal to Robert Downey Jr’s, plus he was downright fearsome. Moriarty does not. It all feels a bit limp compared to the fantastic chemistry that Downey Jr and Jude Law clearly have. Real shame. It is good, just not as good.

31st: The Three Musketeers, Footloose – The Three Musketeers was the 1993 version with Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland. I used to love it as a kid. I was an idiot. It’s pretty dire.

On a dire note, I’d never seen Footloose before until this day. I stumbled into it as it was showing on Film 4. I kept watching but I’m not sure why. It was awful! So very cheesy, badly acted and the music was pretty bad too. I get it, dancing is a metaphor for sex. There really is no need to overplay it and act like dancing is the most important thing ever. Still, it made me keep watching so it must have done something right. How embarrassing!

Here’s the list of what’s there to keep me busy till then. Bear in mind, it’s not a comprehensive list. It’s solely purchases since around August/September, rather than the full complement of 20+ years gaming.

Super Mario 3D Land
Despite owning a 3DS since launch day, it’s never really grabbed me as much as it should have (even after buying Ocarina of Time!). Things have partially changed thanks to Super Mario 3D Land (and Tetris). I’m about halfway through it so far and greatly enjoying it. Old school Mario with a hint of 3D is ideal for me as I’ve never really been gripped by the likes of either Mario Galaxys. Shouldn’t take me too long to complete though considering how fast I’m progressing so far!

Demon’s Souls
I really need to give this a shot. Now that the PS3 is solely mine again (it was being used as a Blu-ray player previously), this is a good time to try Demon’s Souls. My lack of patience and gaming ability will probably stop me progressing far though but I’m keen to have experienced some of it!

inFamous 2
It was £7 so I couldn’t resist even though I didn’t get on with inFamous 1 hugely well, preferring Prototype. No idea how long this will take me and I reckon it’ll probably be further down the pile of games.

Need for Speed: The Run
I was given this and being given presents is always nice! Not sure I’ll really play it though considering the pretty dire reviews. At least if I do, it won’t take me long!

Uncharted 3
I’m about halfway through this. I MUST finish it. Loved the first two but this one has really struggled to grip me which is so disappointing. I will finish it though, then I’ll know I’ve given it the best shot possible to hook me.

Metroid: Other M
I’ve heard hugely mixed things about this. As it only cost me £5, I was intrigued to have my own opinion. Any ideas how long it will take to complete?

Xenoblade Chronicles
I know this one is going to be a beast to complete! I’m only about 20 hours in but adore it. This is going to be a long term project but I’m very keen.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations
I’ve practically finished the main storyline already but I intend on gaining some more achievements and generally messing around. I prefer Brotherhood and AC2 but this is still a solid enough entry in the franchise. This one is certain to be first off my To Play list.

Batman: Arkham City
I suspect I’m only about an hour or two away from completing this. It’s not gripped me like Asylum did before it though so it’s taken me a while to get this far. Much like Uncharted 3, I want to finish it so I can form a solid opinion.

Battlefield 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

These two are very similar. I’ve finished the single player campaigns (MW3 is much better than BF3′s!) and dabbled in the multiplayer sections but I want to play more. Plus I want to check out the co-op modes if I can. These two can’t really be completed but I want to get a lot more time with them!

Driver: San Francisco
This was a pleasant surprise for me upon its initial release. I played it for a few days after renting it then Nokkon lent it to me before trading it in. Fortunately, he then bought me it for Christmas so I can get on with completing the single player. Yay! Reckon it’ll take me about 10 hours to complete considering my limited skills at driving games.

FIFA 12
I got this for my birthday in October and loved it. Time and work got in the way though and I want to return to it, gain a few more achievements and generally improve my skills. It’s not one that I can complete but I do want to enjoy it more.

Forza Motorsport 4
I’m about halfway through Forza 4. I want to finish it basically! No idea how long it’ll take. Probably quite a while.

Gears of War 3
I’ve finished the single player campaign but I want to play more multiplayer and hopefully some co-op too. I’ve loved every minute of it so far.

Green Lantern
Easy one to clear off the pile: Finish it. I’m not expecting anything amazing but I have a soft spot for film tie ins and it was cheap. I doubt it’s long or difficult to finish.

Halo Anniversary

Halo Reach

Complete these two either alone or with a friend, plus play more of the multiplayer. Simple!

Rage
The last game I purchased in December. Thanks to the Gamestation sale and reward points, it only cost me £3.71 and should arrive tomorrow. I’ve heard it’s pretty long.

Sims 3 Pets
My guilty pleasure. Love The Sims. Loved The Sims 3 on the 360 and gained all the achievements for it. That’s exactly what I aim to do with this one. It might take a while but I’ll no doubt love it!

That lot should keep me busy for a while. There’s always others like LittleBigPlanet 2 and numerous others if I somehow clear this pile fast!

It’s been a busy year for games but I’m struggling to think of games that I think will be games worth returning to in years to come. Like the films of this year, there are many games I’d give 4 out of 5 to but hardly any I’d give 5 stars.

Still reading despite all that? Well done!

PS3 Exclusive
LittleBigPlanet 2

Tough one! For much of this year, the PS3 has been a blu-ray player in the living room so it hasn’t really been played on much except for work purposes. I’m keen to try Ico and Shadow of the Colossus at some point (they came out on the PS2 during a rare time in my life where I didn’t game much), I picked up inFamous 2 the other day for £7 and I’m part way through Uncharted 3. I did play Killzone 3 but found it a bit dull sadly. So, as much as I would love to say Uncharted 3, the winner has to be LittleBigPlanet 2!

Uncharted 3 has mostly disappointed me so far while LittleBigPlanet 2 has made me smile consistently as I played it, even if I haven’t played it as much as I should have.

Xbox 360 Exclusive
Gears of War 3

Easy! For the two weeks prior to Gears 3′s release, I played Gears of War 2′s multiplayer solidly in order to gain some precious achievements and mostly have fun. It made me wish I’d played it more at its peak. Funnily enough, that’s exactly how I feel about Gears 3. I’ve played and loved the single player campaign but haven’t yet played it in co-op with friends. It’s a similar story with the multiplayer, having still not hooked up with friends for any great length of time. The constant stream of experience and medals just adds to the fun and addictive package. Love it.

Wii Exclusive
Xenoblade Chronicles

No brainer even though I’m only 12 hours in and nowhere near completing it. Xenoblade Chronicles is that breath of fresh air that the JRPG genre has needed for years. Honourable mention must go to Kirby’s Epic Yarn (released in 2011 in the UK) as, while it’s very short, it’s the happiest game I’ve ever played!

Ridiculous amount of hours put into but not quite deserving of a GOTY award
Skyrim

Familiarity breeds contempt. Skyrim starts out amazing. Spend long enough playing it that you gain all 1000 achievement points and a plethora of flaws emerge. It’s glitchy and the scripting is very iffy in places. Some of it can’t be helped in the game’s efforts to be non-linear but it still grates after a while. I’d have loved it if it had been half its length but more tightly designed. Unfortunately, you spend as much time as I have wandering around identical dungeons and it gets annoying. Still, it kept me hooked for a good 70 hours so it’s not all bad!

Might have been GOTY
Zelda: Skyward Sword – If I’d actually played it. Its reliance on motion controls put me off for reasons that I’ve frequently ranted about on Twitter (my Mum likes Zelda but thanks to her arm/neck disability, she can’t play games with motion controls thus she’s missing out when games really should be open to all!), plus I’d have to buy a Motion Plus thingy which puts me off a bit having spent a fair bit to get Xenoblade Chronicles to its optimal level by buying a Classic Controller.

Batman: Arkham City – If I’d played the game everyone else seems to be raving about. I’m very near the end and I still don’t get the fuss! Much preferred the tight narrative of Arkham Asylum.

Old faithful award
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

OK, technically it’s a new game but it’s not really. We all know that MW3 is a rehash and upgrade of Black Ops which was a slight change away from MW2 which was a slight improvement on MW1. I like it though. Black Ops had a shocking single player campaign but MW3 is pretty good for the genre. Utterly ridiculous, sure, but that’s what I want from such a game. It’s like going to see a big blockbuster action film. Predictable yet fun.

These awards do miss out such gems as Forza 4, Battlefield 3 as well as surprises such as Sonic Generations, Driver: San Francisco and harsh mistresses like Dark Souls. Over Christmas I’ve been enjoying Super Mario 3D Land too despite its ridiculous title. I still maintain it’s been a good year for gaming rather than a great one though.

Deciding what my films of the year are though is tough. Much like the gaming year, it’s been a good year for films but I’m struggling to think of something that will stick in my memory for many years to come. Simply put, there are plenty of 4 star games/films out there, not so many 5 stars though.

I’ll resurrect the categories from last year to add some structure to this ramble of a blog post.

Most overrated
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

Oh Potter. I’m not much of a Harry Potter fan admittedly but I ended up watching all of the Harry Potter films in preparation for this as my Mum was keen to see her first Potter film at the cinema. Part One was ridiculously slow and dull with some utterly cringeworthy acting too. Wandering around the wilderness in a book for a long time is probably quite interesting. In a film, it feels needless and could have done with some hefty editing.

Honourable mention in this category goes to Bridesmaids. Ignore all the comments about how it’s a female Hangover. It’s not. It’s just a regular chickflick with slightly more attitude but not enough to propel it any higher than average. It makes being female look utterly boring!

Most watched at the cinema
Limitless, The Hangover 2 and The Inbetweeners

A dead heat between these three, each watched twice. The Hangover 2 isn’t anywhere near as good as the first but it is entertaining, plus the Bradley Cooper factor helps. I maintain Limitless is quite a good film with an interesting concept. Oh and there’s Bradley Cooper again…

The Inbetweeners has no men worth looking at but it’s bloody good fun. This year’s Hangover funnily enough (unlike Bridesmaids!).

Most thought provoking
50/50

I don’t think I’ve seen any particularly thought provoking films that came out this year which has been a real shame. I saw Rendition for the first time but that’s not new. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was very interesting, but thought provoking? Nope.

So I’m giving this award to 50/50 purely because it’s an interesting look at how to deal with such grim news. I’ll talk about that more shortly though.

Redemption of the year
?

No one has really redeemed themselves this year like Leonardo DiCaprio did in 2010. I dislike Michael Cera less thanks to discovering Arrested Development but he still plays the same role in every film, I’ve just learnt to put up with it.

I’m pleased to see Joseph Gordon Levitt shining through now but I always knew that he was a good actor. Maybe Jude Law? He seems to have settled down a bit and become a reasonable actor. No one’s truly stood out to me yet though.

Maybe 2012 will be the year that Charlie Sheen redeems all……or perhaps not.

Ignored by everyone but really quite good
The Devil’s Double

I can’t think of anyone else I know who’s seen this but The Devil’s Double is really rather good. Clearly demonstrating that Dominic Cooper can be a great actor if given the right script, it’s not an easy watch but it is gripping. I’m unsure of its accuracy but it’s not meant to be a documentary so the story it tells (Saddam Hussein’s son ‘hires’ a body double – some poor sod who’s unlucky enough to look like him) is very interesting.

Film that delivered exactly what I expected
Sherlock Holmes 2

Bigger, better, funnier is how Empire described Sherlock Holmes 2. It’s certainly bigger. I’m not so sure about better or funnier. I’m unconvinced by Moriarity who lacks any real menance. It delivers exactly what you expect though. It’s fun, action packed and exciteable. Liked the first one? This is a no brainer.

Biggest surprise
The Inbetweeners

I’d seen a few episodes of The Inbetweeners but that was about it. My Mum and I were looking for something to see one Bank Holiday and that was the only film on at the time we were standing outside the cinema so we gave it a shot. Funniest film I’ve seen all year! Ended up seeing it a second time not long after and now I own the Blu-ray. Well written to ensure plenty of laughs but never overdoing it.

Second best film of the year
The Fighter

Somewhat deserving of the previous award is The Fighter. I’ve never seen a boxing film before due to having no interest at all in the sport. I like Christian Bale though and I wanted to see all the Oscar nominated films. I wasn’t a fan of Mark Wahlberg though as, while he always seems like a nice person, he really can’t act. He just looks a bit befuddled most of the time. Fortunately, he was great in The Fighter and Christian Bale was mesmerising and deserving of the Oscar. From the moment the film started, I was hooked. It’s not really about boxing anyway, more about family dynamics.

Film of the Year
50/50

Pipping The Fighter to the prize of my film of the year is 50/50 – a film that genuinely does make you cry as much as it makes you laugh. Joseph Gordon Levitt was always a great actor before but since 50/50, he really should be appreciated by more people. He conveys the humour in tragedy while also showing the desperation and denial perfectly too. As cliched as it sounds (and believe me, I hate this phrase), it really is quite an uplifting film despite the subject matter.

There are a few films I haven’t seen that I’m very keen to catch up with. Notably, Midnight in Paris, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Drive. All films that my local cinema decided not to show (or in the case of Drive, only show at about 11pm at night for a few nights). I’m seeing Midnight in Paris in the next few weeks at the local arthouse cinema (as well as Shame which I’m very keen to see!) and I have Drive pre-ordered on Blu-ray. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these categories change around. Oh and I’ll be seeing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in the next week too!

2012: I’m most looking forward to J Edgar, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers and Skyfall. Plus catching up on some older classics that I’ve bought over the past year and still not seen!

It holds a huge amount of memories for me despite its relative youthfulness (sort of – it’s 8 years old now).

When it first came out in 2003, I was a first year at University. It was a crap academic year. I’d coped stupidly badly after a break up (the kind of thing in hindsight that you realise just how young you were at the time but it felt so, so important at the time!) but really the main problem was the plethora of upheaval I had going on at the time plus some less than helpful new housemates.

I went to see Love Actually with my Mum having got some free tickets from a copy of Heat magazine. It was a great couple of hours of mother/daughter bonding. Due to the whole silly break up thing, I remember mostly emphathising with the Andrew Lincoln character and the whole unrequited love thing. Even more so given that I was on a bit of a Dido kick at the time and one of her songs featured during a relevant scene. Yeah, I was so cool in 2003.

I got out of that crappy phase of life and Love Actually turned into a good, happy Christmas film. One that me and my Dad would always persuade my Mum to watch every Christmas even though we all knew the script.

Along the way, I reacted differently to the film each time. As I grew up, I appreciated the complexities of life. Not in terms of being able to relate directly but to see the different shades of life. It’s become an interesting benchmark of how I’ve changed as I’ve grown up a bit more.

In all Richard Curtis films, there’s the sad, poignant bit. Much in life really. Now, I watch it and get the terrible sadness of Liam Neeson’s situation in the film (and tragically in life now too). That’s not to say that Love Actually does that part well. From what I’ve seen and know of how my Mum feels, it’s quite ridiculous to think that his character would be happy to date Claudia Schiffer a month after the death of his wife (even if it is Claudia Schiffer!), but this is a film. Things have to be wrapped up relatively fast. Plus it is Christmas. No one wants to spend time with the grieving at Christmas. In a film or otherwise. Blunt but true.

It’s weird seeing a film so regularly yet seeing it from a different perspective each time. I’m not saying Love Actually is an amazing film for everyone but it has its place in life for me. My Mum and I couldn’t watch it for the first couple of years after my Dad died. We watched it last year but didn’t really enjoy it. I watched it on my own today and quite enjoyed it. It looks likely I’ll be watching it a second time, with my Mum this time, soon.

It still feels odd to do so though. Like a lot of things in life, especially around Christmas.

The kind folks at Three UK have provided me with an iPhone accessory to give out to someone on here, in order to promote their iPhone services.

So what have I got to give away? It’s a Kensington Charge and Sync Dock for the iPhone which are rather useful devices that look shiny on a desk.

What do you need to do to win this? Not much!

Just comment on this blog post and I’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday 19th December at 7pmish. Oh and make sure the email address you enter is valid otherwise I can’t contact you!

Anyway, on with the write up. In all, I’m up to 231! A ridiculous number across a year.

1st: The Ides of March (cinema) – All was well at this time so a rare (for November) trip to the cinema. Great film. Probably nothing hugely special in the script department but Ryan Gosling’s performance ensured it was a cut above the rest. I’ve still not seen Drive. I can’t wait for the Blu-ray release next month. Political film fans: do go see this by the way. It might not be up to Aaron Sorkin levels but it’s still worth a watch.

2nd: Flatliners – Never seen this, always wanted to so I’m glad it was on TV. Good film. Creepy but good. Demonstrates how good Kevin Bacon can be too.

4th: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil – This was a total surprise! A good friend of mine mostly made me watch it as I was distinctly unsure about it. Loved it. Admittedly the first 30 minutes or so is vastly superior to the rest of it but it’s still very good. Those slasher films where the hillbillies chase after the innocent US teens? Think that but from the hillbillies’ perspective. Oh and they’re not the bad guys. Great stuff.

5th: X-Men First Class – Saw this at the cinema. Picked up the Blu-ray. Excellent film. Always been an X-Men fan thanks to a childhood of watching the Marvel Action Hour and tracking down comicbooks. It does a good job of explaining the origins even despite a little creative license that I can forgive it. Looking forward to the next film.

8th: Michael Clayton – I deprived this film a little, only watching it with one eye. It’s a film that you need to concentrate a little more than that. What I did pay attention to though was a great film. Good performance by George Clooney too.

11th: Bridesmaids – Saw this at the cinema and wasn’t convinced. Touted as a female Hangover, it’s really not. It’s too chick flickish and just not very funny really. While The Hangover made me think it looked excellent fun to be male, Bridesmaids just reminded me of the restrictions that women place on their own fun. Ultimately, while there are great individual turns from Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd, the film as a whole left me cold. My Mum liked it at the cinema but having rewatched it on DVD she was as unimpressed as me. To the point that I cancelled a pre-order I had for it for a Christmas!

12th: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – My Mum’s choice as it was her birthday and she was ill. It’s not bad. Not one of Woody Allen’s bests by a long shot though. Little too samey compared to his other work.

13th: Iron Man (part) – Can’t resist this film and it happened to be on. Only watched about half of it. Loved every second as always. Love comic book heroes, love anything with Robert Downey Jr in. Perfect!

14th: Hot Fuzz – Finally got round to watching the Blu-ray of this that I got for my birthday in October. Great film. So many little nuances and cool in jokes to spot. While Shaun of the Dead is my favourite, Hot Fuzz is probably the superior one of the two.

16th: Get Him To The Greek, All About Steve, Lethal Weapon 3 (part), Airplane (part) – Yes, 4 films. Otherwise known as ‘We signed up to Sky Movies today’ day. Get Him To The Greek has been much maligned, probably because a lot of people can’t stand Russell Brand. I like him and I like this film. I think it’s actually quite sad in the end and sharply cynical.

While I’m on the ‘liking films others hate’ kick, All About Steve is the same. I really don’t get why it’s hated so much more than other inferior rom coms. It’s no masterpiece by a long shot but it’s fine. A lot worse films have been rewarded better reviews than All About Steve.

Lethal Weapon 3 has aged absolutely terribly. Switched it off disappointed.

Airplane is an utter classic comedy film. I know the script thanks to having watched it as a kid tons. If you haven’t seen it, you really, really must.

17th: The Joneses – Strange film. Difficult to label really. I think it’s widely regarded as a rom com. It’s really, really not. It’s quite a cynical look at consumerism and how everyone has to have what their neighbours have (hence the Joneses…keeping up with the…you get it). It’s certainly interesting.

18th: Dinner for Schmucks – Not a great film at all. Very easy to watch though. Steve Carrell is criminally underused. Nice turn by Chris O Dowd near the end in a very silly sequence.

19th: Valentine’s Day, Iron Man 2 – Talking of not great films but easy to watch, Valentine’s Day. Not a lot to say about it really. Iron Man 2 probably isn’t as good as the first Iron Man but it is good fun. So yeah, a day of fun but shallow.

20th: Sherlock Holmes, Date Night, Extract, The Invention of Lying – Can’t resist Sherlock Holmes or Robert Downey Jr. Good Sunday afternoon film too! Date Night is underrated on the silly but fun comedy front and a suitable partner to Sherlock Holmes style daringness. Stumbled across Extract and it looked good as it starred Jason Bateman and was written by the same guy as Office Space. It was ok. Nothing amazing. Shame really. The Invention of Lying is far from Ricky Gervais’ best work but it’s ok. Easy enough to watch. Clearly, the 20th was a day where easy to watch films were vital!

21st: The Informant – I don’t remember this particularly clearly thanks to doing half a dozen other things at the same time. Oops. I did watch this a while back though and remember liking it at least. So erm, yeah.

22nd: Killers, Grown Ups, Youth in Revolt, When Harry Met Sally (part) – Killers is not a great film. Ashton Kutcher, while easy on the eye, is not a great actor but he is likeable. The film is an entertaining enough proposition but don’t go out of your way to see it. Grown Ups is much the same. Mindless but entertaining at the time. Then you get to the end and realise you wasted two hours!

Youth in Revolt is a more interesting film. I can’t stand Michael Cera but he’s redeemed himself a bit thanks to me discovering Arrested Development and my love of Scott Pilgrim (the film NOT the character!). The first 30 minutes of Youth in Revolt is great then it falters a little. It’s still enjoyable but you can’t help but feel disappointed after such a great opening.

When Harry Met Sally regularly vies for the title of my favourite film of all time. The other film being Shaun of the Dead. I absolutely adore When Harry Met Sally. So quote worthy and sharply written. I caught it about 30 minutes in late that night and stayed up to watch it despite owning the DVD. If you’ve not seen it, you really, really should see it.

23rd: The A-Team, Burke & Hare – Bradley Cooper is in The A-Team. I don’t think I need to say any more than that as to my reasonings behind watching it! I’ve seen Burke & Hare before too. The accents are atrocious but again falls into the easy to watch camp. Can you tell the last week or so of November was the most tiring and the time in which I needed the easiest of films to watch?

24th: Hot Tub Time Machine, The Rum Diary (cinema) – Yup, another easy to watch film. Hot Tub Time Machine isn’t great but it’s fun. John Cusack is underused but when isn’t he these days? What happened to the Grosse Point Blank days?! Now, he’s hardly in anything good. Such a shame.

The Rum Diary was the first cinema visit since the start of the month which is ages compared to usual months! Johnny Depp plays his usual role but that’s no bad thing at all. It also feels a little long with the story losing its way somewhere in the middle. It’s worth a watch though. I really want to read the book now too.

25th: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (part) – Stumbled across this when I was planning to play a game instead. The fact that I ended up watching most of it is a testament to what a quality kids film it is. Did remind me of a child I know though! Must watch the whole film at some point.

26th: The Tailor of Panama (part) – I should probably scratch this off the list as I really didn’t pay proper attention to it despite watching over half of it (my definition for it making the list). Pierce Brosnan really can’t act and does an absolutely bizarre accent in this.

27th: Catch Me If You Can (part) – Yet another film I’ve seen before and one that Leonardo DiCaprio shines in, as always.

28th: Due Date – Stick this under the shallow Robert Downey Jr list of films I watch. I’m not coming out of this month’s roundup well, am I?

29th: Dream House (cinema), GI Joe (part), Rendition – Dream House sounded good. The cast was quite good. The trailer looked quite good too. On that note, don’t see the trailer before seeing the film. It spoils things. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a crap film. I can only assume that Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz signed up to do it just so they could spend some time together. It also gets absolutely ridiculous near the end. I like silly films. This one though is just pure ‘WTF went through your head you silly, silly writer?!’.

On a silly note, I switched GI Joe off 30 minutes in. It didn’t feel silly, it just felt boring. Boo.

Rendition was the highlight of the day. Often uncomfortable to watch, it’s a fascinating insight into a world that shouldn’t be real. Unfortunately as it’s based on a true story, it is, at least partially so.

Phew, that was a huge roundup. One month to go! Then I’m not quite sure what to do next. Whether to continue with this or not.

Anyway, work update otherwise known as me talking myself up slightly.

First up, I’ve written a couple of reviews for IncGamers! Hopefully there will be more to come soon.

I reviewed Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken which was quite a pleasant surprise of a game.

Most surprising of all was the other game I reviewed: Sonic Generations! I really liked it despite its flaws (hence the score). I played it solidly over a weekend as my editor wanted a fast turnaround yet still had an urge to return to it which is saying something. I can see how it wouldn’t be worth £40 though.

Continuing the chicken theme and in honour of Thanksgiving, I wrote a piece for GamePro called Attack of the Mutant Turkeys. I looked at the 10 best moments of poultry-themed violence in games. I could have quite easily extended that to 20. Games are obsessed with chickens!

So yeah, that’s some of what’s kept me busy over the past few weeks. There’s a review of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 going up over at play.tm soon too.