1st: Midnight in Paris – I wasn’t too keen on this back in January but I enjoyed it more on second viewing. It’s a clever film indeed and a must see for fans of the 1920s or Woody Allen.

6th: Small Time Crooks, The Ides of March – Only watched half of Small Time Crooks with my Mum before going out. I can hardly remember it now but I think it was ok.
The Ides of March is a decent film. Not quite as smartly written as if Aaron Sorkin had been the scriptwriter but Ryan Gosling and George Clooney show off their respective acting prowess.

7th: Yes Man. Anuvahood – I had to spend the afternoon sorting out my old laptop ready for selling so I thought I’d poke around with the Lovefilm instant account I’ve hardly touched. I settled on Yes Man which was daft really considering I own it on DVD. Enjoyable film (and good book too). Jim Carrey isn’t too over the top and there’s Bradley Cooper for me to gaze at. Win win.
I couldn’t sleep that night so thought I’d give Anuvahood a shot. It was awful. Avoid.

8th: The Mummy, Bad Teacher – The Mummy is a very enjoyable, old fashioned (despite being made in the 90s) romp of an action film, reminiscient of Indiana Jones really. Great way to spend an afternoon.
Bad Teacher was cheap to buy in Tesco. It’s ok with a few laugh out loud moments but a little weak otherwise.

9th: The In-Laws, Red, Wedding Crashers – The In-Laws is another very easy to watch film (yeah, nothing challenging this month. My brain had enough trouble with life!). Michael Douglas is a spy whose son (a young Ryan Reynolds) is getting married just as he’s finalising a big project. Chaos ensues when Ryan Reynolds’ future father in law gets involved. It’s quite like a lot of 80s comedies which is probably why it suits Michael Douglas.
Red offers a great cast, a predictable story and lots of explosions. It’s hard to dislike anything with a cast as varied as Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman.
Wedding Crashers is a film I know far too well but I was in dire need of falling asleep to something familiar and comforting. Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and Bradley Cooper fit the bill.

11th: Big, The Proposal – Love Big. Fantastic film that’s touching yet very funny. Tom Hanks is brilliant in it.
The Proposal is an underrated but very predictable rom com. Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock perform their roles admirably but do expect to switch your brain off for a couple of hours.

21st: The Change Up – Fast becoming Ryan Reynolds’ month in this household, I picked up The Change Up for £10 on blu-ray. It’s a little crude in places but in the good way. Nice to see Jason Bateman not playing the straight man too.

26th: The Avengers (cinema) – YAY. The Avengers has a very good chance of being my favourite film of the year. I adored every second of it. The Hulk steals every scene he’s in but all the other characters are still great. It’s just an utterly brilliant example of a Blockbuster movie. Get to it if you haven’t watched it yet.

27th: Cedar Rapids – This was switched off about 45 minutes in. It’s just not funny. At all.

28th: Stripes – Something that should have been switched off 45 minutes in – a very dated 80s comedy with Bill Murray. It’s just bad and sexist and unfunny and, ugh, dated.

1st: Starsky and Hutch: Not the old school variety, the Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn film. It’s a fun film. Mindless but entertaining. I’ve seen it a few times over the years but I always forget how much I enjoy it. I’m honestly not sure there’s much more to say about it than that really. Enjoy ‘Frat Pack’ films? This one will suit you.

2nd: Real Steel: Oh dear, oh dear. This was a free rental courtesy of a good friend. I switched it off within an hour or so. I expected some saccharine and Disney-ish style nature but not even the charm of Hugh Jackman could save it, or the allure of boxing robots. Just utterly dire. Given that I nearly saw this at the cinema (I expected mindless fun), I was pretty disappointed.

5th: The Lion King 2: Yeah, I know. I adore the first Lion King film. I was at the right age for it when it first came out and it’s always been an important part of my childhood. As it was on, I thought I’d see what the sequel was like. It’s not great. I know I’m an adult now so it’s not aimed at me but I still enjoy (far too) many animated films. This wasn’t really one of them. It’s loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, thus very, very predictable. There’s hardly any humour either which is a bit rubbish.

8th: How Do You Know?: Talking of limited humour: a Reese Witherspoon/Paul Rudd rom com! I think How Do You Know? bombed at the cinema. I went to see it at the cinema but then I’m willing to see most things at the cinema. I’m pretty sure no one else saw it though. It’s not very funny and Witherspoon in particular is immensely irritating. Give it a miss.

11th: Safe House (cinema): Deviating away from everyone else’s opinions, I’m not much of a fan of Denzel Washington. I like Ryan Reynolds though. Previously not in a ‘Ooh he’s attractive’ sort of way (although he’s certainly growing on me), there’s just something appealing about him and I reckon he could do well if he chose the right scripts. Safe House was nearly the right script. It’s not his usual role and he does well thanks to that. It’s not taxing by any means. The usual rogue CIA agent stuff really but it’s quite smart and a decent way of spending a couple of hours.

14th: Shame (cinema): A different kind of cinematic experience. Shame is grim, very grim. It’s also a fantastic example of Fassbender’s acting ability. He’s a real chameleon of an actor and deserves to go far. Carey Mulligan is great in it too but overshadowed a little. Seemingly a popular trend, Shame spends a lot of time focusing on knowing looks rather than guiding the viewer. This makes for a far more satisfying experience, reading between the lines. Do see it. Do expect misery.

16th: Tower Heist: I’m struggling to remember much to do with this film. I think it was ok but very formulaic. Great cast underused. That sounds familiar. The fact I remember so little probably says it all though!

20th: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (cinema), The Hangover: I didn’t expect to enjoy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I’m not a huge fan of British comedies and while I knew the cast would be great, I thought the script would be weak. Turns out I was wrong. It’s a great film. Very funny and sharp. Some great insights in there too.

I’ve said a lot about The Hangover before. It’s fun and one of the most enjoyable comedies I’ve seen in recent years. I’ve also said plenty about what I think of Bradley Cooper too which helps.

24th: The Lion King 1 1/2: Is it The Lion King 1 1/2 or The Lion King 3? Who knows. It’s still not as good as the first one but showing the film’s story from Timon and Pumbaa’s perspective is a nice idea. Kids will like it a lot more than the mediocre The Lion King 2.

27th: 21 Jump Street (cinema): What a surprise! I’ve never seen the TV series so didn’t really know what to expect. It’s a smart, slightly self referential film that shows off that Channing Tatum can do more than melodrama and Jonah Hill doesn’t have to play supporting roles all the time. Very funny.

30th: We Need To Talk About Kevin: Not funny by any means. We Need To Talk About Kevin starts slowly. It’s another film that uses knowing looks more than dialogue, especially for the first 30 minutes or so. Once it gets going though, it’s phenomenal. Tilda Swinton is absolutely amazing in it and the kids playing Kevin are also astonishingly good. It will genuinely put you off having children but it’ll fascinate you along the way. Analysing it afterwards demonstrates just how much depth there is too, and I really want to read the book soon. Film of my month by far.

1st: The Ghost: I’ve seen The Ghost a couple of times before but that’s how much I enjoy it. It’s focused on the corruption of power and a certain passage of recent history in the UK and it’s very interesting. Ewan McGregor does a weak accent as usual but otherwise he’s sound. As a rare change, Pierce Brosnan discovers the ability to act and plays a very slimy politician. It walks that often welcome path of being quite intelligent but not to the point where you feel mentally drained by the end of it. Just enough to get the brain cells ticking along a little bit.

2nd: The Change Up: Unlike The Ghost, The Change Up isn’t very bright, but it is great fun. Happy waster Ryan Reynolds and uptight family man Jason Bateman swap bodies. Chaos ensues. Fortunately, both actors do a great job of riffing off their usual routines and it’s a great way of spending a couple of hours. A film I’ll certainly be buying when it’s a little bit cheaper on Blu-ray (this one was a rental).

3rd: Crazy, Stupid, Love: Ryan Gosling can do no wrong at the moment. I think we’ve all established this. Crazy, Stupid, Love could have just been a regular rom-com that tested no one and was utterly forgettable. Great turns by pretty much everyone in this film (and it’s a decent cast with Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone) ensures the script is very sharp and witty, while maintaining a comfortable level of sentimentality (but never too much). Another one, I’ll be over once it drops in price a little (I’m trying to cut back on purchases and focusing on rentals).

4th: The Debt: Good pedigree in terms of writers Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and directing courtesy of John Madden. Pity it’s not a very good film. Too many stupid things occur in this film about Mossad agents hunting down Nazis that mean it’s just not very good. Great idea and all that. Poorly implemented.

6th: 30 Minutes Or Less: Short yet sweet, 30 Minutes Or Less is all about a pizza delivery guy (Jesse Eisenberg) having a bomb strapped to him by Danny McBride and being forced to rob a bank. It’s less than an hour and a half long but it’s a fun way of spending that time even if it’s hardly testing material for the cast.

7th: The Guard: I think I did The Guard an injustice. I was doing something else while watching it, and I think it deserved my full attention. It’s deeply, deeply dark and also pretty funny. Brendan Gleeson is fantastic as ever. Do watch it and pay attention (unlike me).

9th: Hanna: A friend raved about this. A lot. As in, it was one of his favourite films of the year alongside Drive. I wasn’t impressed. Again, it felt like there were too many strange decisions made and I suffered from disliking the main role far too much to care, as I suspect I should have.

10th: 4,3,2,1: My Mum saw this a while back and recommended I saw it. Not my usual thing (or hers either), I gave it a shot and was pleasantly surprised. Noel Clarke’s always seemed pretty talented and this film has proven that to me. It’s one of those films where, if it was placed in the ‘correct’ order, it’d be pretty average, but the cutting is what makes it so gripping. It’s fast paced and keeps the viewer entertained throughout. It also features some exceptionally well written female roles which makes a change.

13th: Fright Night: This is the remake of the 1980s film. I’ve not sen the original. This film isn’t very good. I’ve seen worse but it’s lacking in humour for too much of the film. Colin Farrell does a decent enough job, David Tennant appears to be doing an impression of Russell Brand. Make of that what you will!

14th: The Muppets (cinema), Warrior: One of these films is my film of the month and will almost certainly feature in my Top 5 of the year. No, not Warrior. I didn’t like that. I’m talking about The Muppets! The Muppets is fantastic. A friend described it as a year’s supply of Prozac in film form. He’s right. It’s fantastic. Within seconds, even the grumpiest of person will smile like a loon. It’s just utterly wonderful. So free of cynicism and smart remarks, yet not excessively full of sugar coated ridiculous glee. Just see it. Amazing.

Warrior: I didn’t like. I switched it off halfway through so maybe it improved. I suspect that it just wasn’t for me. The fact I disliked all the main characters didn’t help at all.

15th: Blue Valentine: I wasn’t impressed by this. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling act reasonably but I struggled to become engrossed in their tale of breaking up. It was a film that reminded me of just how well (500) Days of Summer deals with the same subject. Watch that instead.

18th: Mission Impossible: I don’t remember buying the Mission Impossible 1 and 2 boxset but clearly I did at some point. As I loved Ghost Protocol, I thought I’d return to the series. Mission Impossible 1 isn’t great. It’s incredibly slow and not overly interesting. Best just giving this a miss really.

21st: Captain America: Got this on Blu-ray for Christmas. About time I watched it! I saw Captain America originally at the cinema. It was fun. It still is on the small screen too. Not much else to say really. Enjoy comic book films? This is a decent one of those.

24th: The Woman in Black (cinema): Hmm. I had a bit of a problem with The Woman in Black which wasn’t the film’s fault. I had the worst example of kids at the cinema I’ve had in years (and given how often I go to the cinema, that’s a lot of visits). Sitting directly behind me (it was a busy cinema so I had no chance of moving), they kept talking loudly throughout the film and also kept laughing at every other moment in the film. They did quieten down in places (mostly when either myself or the security guard who came in every now and then glared) but it was a pretty bad experience. Having said that, I’m not convinced I’d have liked this much anyway. Every jumpy moment was telegraphed to the point that I could predict it all. It didn’t build suspense enough for me to be drawn in so much that I stopped thinking about what was going on and just went with the flow. Still, Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t as bad as I thought he’d be so that was a blessing.

27th: The Reality of Love: The TiVo box picked this one up as it had Bradley Cooper in it. Well done TiVo box. You were quite smart. Unfortunately, this film was dire and I switched it off within about 30 minutes. It’s a very bad TV movie. The kind that you know the actors only agreed to do because they were desperate for money. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

28th: One for the Money (cinema): Went to see this as my Mum loves the Stephanie Plum series of books by Janet Evanovich and she was keen to see it. It was pretty bad. She reckoned it was nothing like the book and I just thought it was a bit rubbish with wafer thin characterisations and a sense that two of the leading men should have been sexy but really, really weren’t. Give it a miss.

3rd: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (cinema) – The first cinema trip of the year. How exciting! Good way to start the cinematic year too. Ghost Protocol is an excellent example of what Tom Cruise does so well and how much fun an over the top action blockbuster can be. I enjoyed it even more than Sherlock Holmes 2 which is saying a lot coming from me.

6th: The Inbetweeners – A Christmas present. I’d seen this twice at the cinema and loved it. It’s still great. I hadn’t really watched much of the TV series beforehand so having spent the intervening weeks watching it, it was great to see the film and get the in-jokes. It’s a film that knows when to stop with the laughs and not stretch a joke too far. Excellent fun.

7th: The 41 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall And Felt Superbad About It (part) – The least said about this the better. To be fair, I knew it’d be crap. I didn’t realise how crap it would be though. Awful, just awful.

10th: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (cinema) – This one is tricky to discuss without spoiling for those yet to see/read it. I’ve not read the book or seen the original film. Daniel Craig is predictably great in it but Rooney Mara is fantastic in it. Real star in the making. It’s a difficult film to watch in places and I’m still not overly convinced that some of it needed to be so graphic. Somewhat disturbingly, an old guy in the audience at the cinema laughed at a few particularly unpleasant moments. Erm yeah. Odd. It’s a good film and I’m keen to see the sequels but probably not one that I would watch many times.

12th: Gulliver’s Travels, Horrible Bosses – Gulliver’s Travels was on Sky Movies which is why I bothered watching it. It’s really not very good.

Horrible Bosses is very formulaic and nothing that will stick in the memory for any great length of time but it does the job of making 2 hours pass smoothly!

13th: Stand By Me – I’ve never seen this before. People go on about it a lot though so I recorded it ages ago. Then Dark Bunny Tees were running an offer where you bought one t-shirt and got a random one free. I love the designs of their shirts and any excuse to buy one and all that. I ordered the Shaun of the Dead one and got the Stand By Me one free. Stand By Me is a good film. That’s about all that needs to be said. I can see why it sticks in people’s memories.

14th: Limitless, Made – Getting near to the end of our month of Sky Movies, this is about where I realised I’d seen everything I wanted to see. I own Limitless on Blu-ray yet I still ended up watching it. It’s got Bradley Cooper in it which makes me biased but I do contest that it’s a decent story. The book’s not bad either.

I watched Made as part of my free trial with Netflix. The cast looked ok. The film is not all that at all. Jon Favreau did a great job with Swingers and Iron Man but Made was not one of his great successes by a long shot.

16th: Limitless – I wanted something to watch with one eye while I worked. That’s my excuse.

17th: Midnight in Paris (cinema) – This is an awkward one for me to rate. For those who love the 1920s and the culture of it all, it’s amazing. It’s very self indulgent of Woody Allen and many fans of the decade will adore the nostalgic vibe that it gives off. Owen Wilson makes a fine double for Allen and demonstrates that he can actually act. The problem is I’m not a big fan of the 1920s culture so it didn’t quite work for me. I can see why it was nominated for so many awards though, it’s very well made and it is clearly Allen’s best work for years.

20th: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Vampires Suck – Eclectic mix I know. Fear and Loathing – erm yeah. It’s bizarre (although not the weirdest film I’ve seen all month – see below). I honestly don’t know what I thought of it. I’m probably just best off admitting it wasn’t for me.

Vampires Suck is beyond stupid and having only seen one Twilight film, I suspect I missed some references. It is silly fun though.

21st: The Game – Nokkonwud got me this for Christmas. I’d not heard of it before despite being a fan of David Fincher’s. It’s a great story. One that’s very difficult to talk about though without spoiling something. Do see it if you get a chance though. It’s worth it.

24th: Haywire (cinema) – This was interesting. Is it a regular spy/rogue agent action film? Is it a clever thriller? Erm, what is it? I don’t know. It’s very stylish, much like Soderbergh’s previous work. The action is quite brutal and realistic. The acting is OK but the likes of Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor don’t stretch themselves. Unlike many action film scripts, male roles feel underwritten and cardboard cutout-ish with the female lead written in a much more intruging fashion. It’s worth a watch.

27th: The Tree of Life – THIS is the most bizarre film I’ve seen all month (and currently all year too). I’ve never seen a Terence Malick film before. I had no idea what to expect and mostly chose to watch it as it’s nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. The story sounds simple enough. The tale of Sean Penn as a child growing up in heavily religious Texas in the 1950s and some struggles along the way. That part is quite interesting and straightforward. The weird part is interspersing it with what looks like the Universe beginning and some other very surreal imagery. It’d be interesting but those sections go on a little too long and I found my attention wavering. It’s an interesting film but one that requires some effort.

28th: Drive – Twitter followers will know how desperate I’ve been to see this. My local cinema only showed it for a week and then only at very late times, so I missed it then. So I was left to wait for the blu-ray. It was worth the wait. Loved it. Ryan Gosling is effortlessly cool and an exciting enigma of a character. Everything about his character is shades of grey rather than obvious. He manages to say so much while actually hardly saying anything. It’s exceptionally nasty in places but in a relatively realistic way rather than over the top. So glad to see the relationship between Carey Mulligan’s character and Gosling’s isn’t rushed through and feels like it’s naturally developed. It’s just fantastic.

31st: The Money Pit, 127 Hours – The Money Pit was a Netflix choice. It hasn’t aged hugely well but it has its moments of great humour.

In the case of 127 Hours, I’m undecided. I loved the ending (when he reaches safety – not the few minutes after that which was stupid and patronised the viewer). It genuinely made me feel happy even though I knew the result anyway. The rest of it though was unsurprisingly slow and sluggish. Worst of all, I felt no empathy towards the main character as he seemed like an arrogant idiot (which is a mean thing to say really considering it’s a true story!). Maybe I’m just heartless or maybe it was Franco’s portrayal but, excluding the last few minutes, I just didn’t feel enough towards him to maintain my interest.

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!