Awkward.


Possibly my favourite (and most used) word ever. Awkward. 'Awkward' seems to be a rising phenomenon these days. I mean if you think about it, new 'awkward' hand signs are created every day. We started with your standard turtle but now we've moved on to bigger and better things - my favourite being the awkward salmon. So it kinda makes sense that someone would tap into it and entitle a television show 'awkward'.

This TV show is basically about a 15 year old girl, Jenna Hamilton, who is the school loser, barely noticed by anyone. Until, that is, she has an accident and she breaks her arm, but rather unfortunate circumstances make it look like attempted suicide. Now she's getting all sorts of attention at school, but not the attention you'd want - at least not at first. She's figuring out what it means to be a teenager and how to deal with the bitchy cheerleaders and the fit jocks - two of which seem to have a very keen interest in her.

The show premières with Jenna losing her virginity in a cupboard and this is probably what made me a fan of the show. No, not because I'm a sick minded freak, but because it truly was awkward. I hate how the majority of teen dramas make everything in life and love look so god damn easy when it isn't. Losing your virginity is awkward, sure a lucky few have those magical firework moments but the majority of teenagers don't, so I praise them for telling it as it is.

I thought that the acting was pretty good in this series. Teen dramas have a tendency to over exaggerate absolutely everything and go totally OTT with the preppy accents, but this drama seemed a lot more realistic. I think that the reason this show just works is because they actors don't really have to act. They've probably all experienced it before and for once someone has made a TV show about what it's actually like to be a normal teenager. The main character, Jenna Hamilton, is played by Ashley Rickards, also played Sam on One Tree Hill, and Matty McKibben is played by Beau Mirchoff, probably best known for playing Danny Bolen on Desperate Housewives.

The plot is interesting with all sorts of twists and turns that you weren't expecting from the onset and it's not a predictable drama. Some would probably say that this isn't any more realistic than your other teen dramas like 90210, but it is. Sure if the hottest guy in school fell for the biggest loser and proptly announced to the whole school that they were dating it would be pretty unrealistc. BUT. The hottest guy in school fell for the biggest loser and struggles to accept his feelings because he doesn't want to hurt his social reputation and that's a hell of a lot more realistic - in my opinion anyway.

Yep, they are behind a dumpster.

Probably the only thing about this show that bothers me is the fact that the main character is 15. She doesn't look 15, she doesn't act 15, and the things she does certainly aren't very appropriate for a 15 year old *cough* flashing at school and lots of sex *cough* I just think that this is sending the wrong message out to fifteen year old girls and they should have made Jenna's character at least 16 or 17.

There are only ten episodes in the first season and episode 7 aired last night so if you're going to start watching this, you've got a bit of catching up to do. However, I definitely recommend that you do watch Awkward, especially if you're a teenager trying to figure out how to make it through high school because you'll be able to relate to Jenna Hamilton. It won't take you long to catch up as I only started watching this show yesterday (yes, yesterday) and each episode was only around 21 minutes long so if you've got a couple of hours to kill this evening I'd give it a shot - I'm already hooked.

Catch Awkward on MTV every Tuesday evening.

Potted Potter - the unauthorised Potter experience. 



I first heard about Potted Potter whilst waiting in the seriously long queue for wristbands at the Harry Potter premiere back in July. As a major fan of the series I was looking for anything to help carry me through my Potterless days so as soon as I got home I booked tickets.

Booking, Price and Availability
As this wasn't a proper theatre show the tickets were fairly cheap with under 16s costing £16, adults costing £22. If you're booking for a family of 4 tickets only cost £16 each. I was very happy with this considering my Love Never Dies tickets set me back £75, with this being almost one third of the price. The booking was a disaster. If you're going to book tickets for this online do not, I repeat, do not, use the Garrick Theatre's website. It seems simple enough until it asks for your credit card details and then all hell breaks loose with complications and in the end I just had to cancel the order. The screen then said that the tickets had been reserved for me and I could simply call the help line to retrieve them and use a different payment method; however, when I called them (between the hours stated) nobody picked up. I tried again, picking different tickets this time as my previous ones were now 'unavailable', with the same results. I was getting very frustrated as I now had two sets of tickets reserved with no way of having them re-released. Not only did this make me very annoyed, but it also meant that neither I, nor anyone else in the general public, could now purchase these tickets just because the website started malfunctioning when I began the payment process. I gave up completely and moved over to ticketmaster.co.uk. Here I got a very different experience. It was a smooth process, all I had to do was pick the date, use their interactive map to see which seats I wanted, enter my payment details and voila! The tickets were booked. ticketmaster.co.uk is definitely my favourite website for booking tickets on as it has such a wide variety of tickets from sports to exhibitions to musicals to concerts and much much more. The booking process on their website is simple and quick, no hassle at all, so I highly recommend you use ticketmaster.co.uk when buying tickets as opposed to going directly to the theatre's website as I have found it to be much more reliable. As I said before, this isn't a major theatre production, it's just a 70 minute show that two Potter fans have created and they are now touring around Britain performing it. This meant that tickets were very easy to come by and they weren't very high in demand. Even though the show is closing fairly soon there are still plenty of tickets to choose from, so don't worry about booking late.

Getting there, the theatre itself and seats
Potted Potter is currently being shown at the Garrick theatre in central London. It is very easy to get to with Charing Cross station only a 5 minute walk away. It is located on a main road (Charing Cross Road) so you don't have to spend ages looking around for it. At the moment there are some refurbishments going on in the building next door so there is a lot of scaffolding next to the theatre but apart from that it's easy to see from afar. You can get to Charing Cross from either the Bakerloo or the Northern line, both of which usually have good service on the underground. The theatre is very close to Leicester and Trafalgar Square so if you're going to see this, you may as well make a day of it and visit the sights and do a bit of shopping too. The theatre was actually quite a lot smaller than I expected (even smaller than the Adelphi where Love Never Dies was performed). There are two very small bars located inside, the Foyer bar, and the Circle bar. You can buy drinks/sweets/programmes here. The auditorium is split into three levels with a total of 732 seats (bit of a random number), which is quite a lot seeing as the theatre is so narrow. I was sat in the dress circle (second level) and there was a large slanting ceiling above me which made the theatre feel even smaller and there was a slight sense of claustrophobia. However, I was in row E, which is quite near the back of the Dress Circle, but because the way they layered the seats I had an almost perfect view. I could see some of the audience members sitting in the stalls at the front standing up every now and again to see what was going on at the back of the stage so I think in this case it is better to be higher up.


The Show
As soon as I entered there was a man on the stage sitting on a little train reading Harry Potter. He literally just sat there for about half an hour reading. It was a little odd. This is a two man show - literally. The only two people on stage are Dan and Jeff (supposedly they are on CBBC, but they must be fairly recent additions since I have never heard of them). The show wasn't what I was expected at all. I was expecting a funny parody of all 7 Harry Potter books but instead we got Jeff briefly explaining the plot, stopping every now and again and stepping out of character to tell Dan off for doing something wrong. Jeff played Harry Potter and Dan played every other character and for some reason Ron was a gangster, Hagrid was Scottish, Hermione was a man, Voldemort was the devil - and oh, the list goes on. This is definitely a show for younger Harry Potter fans, I'd recommend this for 5-12 year olds and their parents. I found the humour a little laborious at times but nonetheless it was still rather funny. I have to admit that I thought it was funniest was Dan did something wrong. For example, he went off stage and came back on with chocolate all over his face but it was clear that in the hurry he had smeared much too much on and he now had a resemblance to Jesus. Dan himself was trying not to laugh but it was quite difficult not to. He improvised the humour to explain himself and this was funniest. It was a very interactive show with 'quidditch' matched - beach ball being thrown around the audience - and a lot of shouting out from the audience, if you're in the stalls you may even get sprayed with a water gun. Without a doubt the funniest moment was when two seekers were invited onto the stage and they had to catch the snitch (Jeff in a gold costume) and a little 8 year old girl brought him to the floor. I don't think that that was supposed to happen and the audience was in hysterics. It really is humorous watching an unsuspecting 40 year old getting floored by an 8 year old. There is also a 'music-off' between Voldemort and Harry Potter right at the end to the music 'I Will Survive' which is rather clever and funny.


All in all, this show was very funny, but the improvised bits were the funniest and the humour is definitely that that will appeal to the younger generation. If your children are Harry Potter fans then I highly recommend you take them to see this as they will no doubt be highly entertained for about 70 mins.

This show ends on the 3rd of September so book your tickets now!

Doctor Who Series 6 Part 2.



So after what seems like the wait of a life time, Doctor Who Series 6 Part 2 is back! Part 1 ended with the unveiling of Doctor River Song's identity which many fans have been speculating since .. well the beginning of time! In case you haven't watched Part 1 yet, I won't tell you who she is, but boy oh boy was it unexpected, and definitely worth the wait! The episode that premieres tonight is called 'Let's Kill Hilter', quite a controversial title that many have been displeased about. From this we can assume that The Doctor and his quest to find Melody will take him back to the 1930/40s so it should be an exciting episode. Here's the BBC press release:


In the desperate search for Melody Pond, the TARDIS crash lands in Thirties Berlin, as the time-travelling drama returns for the second half of the series shown earlier in the year. The Doctor comes face to face with the greatest war criminal in the Universe. And Hitler. Old friendships are tested to their limits as the Doctor suffers the ultimate betrayal and learns a harsh lesson in the cruelest warfare of all. As precious time ebbs away, the Doctor must teach his adversaries that time travel has responsibilities. And he must succeed before an almighty price is paid.

Here's a quick recap for those of you who've forgotten what happened in Part 1. The Doctor was shot by the 'Impossible Astronaut' - a little girl. This little girl seems to have the ability to regenerate - is she a timelord? Amy turned out to be one of the goo flesh - in order to hide her pregnancy - and was far far away in a station somewhere in space, and River Song's identity was revealed.

I'm hoping that these threads/questions will all be solved in the second part of this season as I don't know how long they can continue this particular thread of the story before people get bored as the unveiling of River Song's identity has both left fans hungry for more and also reassured them of some events in the future. I'd heard a rumour that David Tennant would also be featuring in tonight's episode but now it appears that Matt Smith will be joined by Catherine Tate, Billie Piper and Freema Agyeman who all have cameo roles. This is indeed very exciting as we will see the three women who were assistants to The Doctor during the (much-loved) time of David Tennant. Don't miss out!

Bingo Liner.


Just thought I'd tap into the whole online gaming phenomenon, particularly gambling games such as Texas Hold'Em Poker and Bingo. I see adverts for websites where you can play bingo online EVERYWHERE. They're on the television, they're in the sidebar on every web page and countless Bingo related emails fill up my spam box everyday. Seeing as more and more of these sites are popping up I'm assuming business men are making very good money from them.. and vice versa since many people are using them.

At the moment, Bingo Liner is the leading online 3D Bingo website. You need to download the site before you can play but this is a really simple process and doesn't take long at all. After that, you can just log on as you would on any other site. This website is basically Habbo Hotel for Bingo players. Habbo Hotel is a website where you basically create and control an avatar in a 'hotel' and make online friends. Instead, Bingo Liner is on a ship and real money is involved. Your 3D character interacts with other characters just like a human being so you feel like you're actually on a cruise liner, so if you're looking for a cheap holiday experience, here's one! I think Bingo Liner offers newcomers the best deal with £10 for bingo and 200 slot spins free trial - no purchase required. There are lots and lots of other offers that are constantly being updated by the Chat Managers so if you decide to join, make sure to look out for these as you could be in for some big money! 


I've heard people say that they've earned hundreds and hundreds of pounds on this site, and Bingo Liner is quick with it's payouts. Obviously these games all come with risks so whether or not you will earn bags of money is up to fate I guess but it's all a bit of fun. There are lots of different games to choose from, not just Bingo, including scratch cards, casino games, pull tabs and other instant games. The animations and sounds  are realistic and sleek and have a real casino like feel. In addition you can have some fun playing the side games at the same time as your Bingo game so you don't get bored! 


If you think Bingo is boring, think again. You could be earning lots of money! 


CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE BINGO LINER WEBSITE

Love Never Dies.



I haven't been to the theatre in years, but after hearing so many of my friends go on and on about what amazing times they had watching this and that I decided that I too would grace theatre's doors, especially since I remember how much I loved going to see shows when I was younger. It's difficult to choose which show you want to watch or even what type of show to watch because there are just so many. If you, like me, are having difficulty choosing then I highly recommend that you use ticketmaster.co.uk because they sell tickets for literally every show out there and they're all arranged into categories to make it easier for you to choose. You can even see which are the most popular shows at the moment and what others are looking for giving you a rough indication of which shows are the best and are in demand.

Booking
As I just said, I booked my tickets on ticketmaster.co.uk and it was a really easy process. All I had to do was pick the date and time I wanted and then it led me to a simple form that was very easy to fill out. I paid with my mum's credit card (don't worry, she knew I had it!) and it was very smooth sailing with no problems at all and I was finished within a couple of minutes. There is a timer on each page telling you how long you have before your seats become available for everyone else again so I highly recommend you keep your credit card and details close at hand as theatre tickets can be extremely competitive. For this particular show I had to pick up tickets from the box office of the day of the show which meant there were no extra postage fees or anything like that. All you need to do is bring the credit card you booked with and voila, you can have your tickets! Very easy.

Availability and Price
As for availability, well everyone knows good tickets are hard to find at short notice, but miraculously I managed to find 4 seats only a couple of days before the performance. The cheaper seats sell out very quickly and usually the ones left are at least £50 and above, so if you only want to spend a little I recommend booking tickets as far in advance as possible. Each ticket cost £73.50 which may seem quite pricey but I think it was worth every penny considering how great the performance was and how good the seats were. I believe the most expensive seats cost £103 and these were right in the centre; however, I don't think you need to spend that much money when you can get seats that are just as good a little off centre. I believe that the cheapest tickets available are at the very back and they cost £29.50. This is very high up and I didn't get a chance to see but I think that the only thing visible up there is the top of the actors heads, which is a shame.

Getting there and the theatre itself
Love Never Dies is currently being shown at the Adelphi Theatre which is situated on The Strand, London. It is very easy to find as it is a main road and the closest station is Charing Cross (northern line). All I had to do was come out of the station and follow the road for 5 minutes and I was there. The theatre wasn't as big as I was expecting, but it didn't really need to be any bigger than it was for Love Never Dies. Although there are a couple of dance scenes there's never really a need for a large amount of space on stage. The outside of the theatre isn't particularly grand, it is painted a simple black with a large 'Love Never Dies' sign on it. It is clear from the building's exterior and interior that it is in the Art Deco style (I did a project on this for my Art GCSE). There were staff inside were friendly, welcoming, very neatly presented and were happy to help when asked. There was 'Love Never Dies' merchandise being sold as well as programmes (two for £10 - one with information, one (very nicely presented) picture booklet), ice-cream and sweets/chocolates. Everything was very easy to locate as the ticket booths/merchandise/food/loos/entrance to stalls/dress circle were all in the main foyer.

Seats
I was sat in row M in the stalls, which may seem really far back and low down, but it actually wasn't. I had a very clear view of the stage from all angles as I was sat right in the centre and I didn't have to tilt my head upwards to see what was going on. Even with people in front of me I still had a very clear view. However, I was sat with a small boy and he had a little difficult seeing and so we had to prop him up on our coats. Later, I was told that there are booster seats available for children so if you're planning on going with someone really short or a young child I recommend you ask for one of these as soon as you find your place. The seats are extremely comfortable with great cushioning and arm rests. In front of you there is also a pair of binoculars which you can hire for £1 (you don't get your money back after you re-insert your binoculars), but I don't think these are necessary unless if your seated at the very very back/top.

The Set
One would think that the theatre was one of the only places that had remained true to it's original style, so I was quite surprised to see projections being used in this production. Ordinarily I would have been very against this, but it actually really enhanced the performance and made up for certain aspects and settings that would have been impossible to create with stage props. I have no idea how it worked, but it really was a marvellous piece of technology. There was a see-through screen at the forefront of the stage and there were all sorts of pictures - a sort of prologue - being shown at the beginning and this was very useful as I haven't seen Phantom of the Opera. Then, later on, during some carnival scenes the screen was used again to project the moon and a pier and even though it was in front of the actors, somehow it was made to look very 3D and far away in the distance. It was truly magical! There were other screens used during the performance; however, these were simple still image screens at the back of the stage and although they were also very realistic, they were no way near as impressive as the invisible electronic screen at the front with moving images. There were smooth transitions between scenes and I was actually shocked at how quickly they managed to completely transform the stage. I, myself, have been part of the tech team for a couple of productions and I know the hard work that the crew have to put in to be as speedy as possible, but with stage props and settings as large as the ones used in Love Never Dies, i was truly gobsmacked at their efficiency. There were many neat little tricks used to create certain scenes and it was all rather clever. For example, to show that the characters were in some sort of attic they placed something that looked like just the top of a staircase on stage, perfectly aligned with the manhole leading down under the stage, which was really very effective in making it look like the characters had actually been walking up a long flight of stairs. In addition the stage was able to rotate which meant that you could see what was going on in the wings and on the front of the stage (I'm talking about the show in the show, little confusing) and see characters behind stage and on stage at the same time. It was also used to show characters moving between rooms as the stage rotated as they walked through the doorway making it a really smooth transition and meant that the entire stage could be used all the time as opposed to having half the stage blacked out as I have seen in other productions.

The acting
I was glad to see each and every actor compeltely immersed in their role. I was most impresed by the phantom (played by Ramin Karimloo) as I could see all his emotions and every action was precise and meaningful right to the tips of his fingers. I've never seen such depth of emotion in any play or film and I was nearly brought to tears several times. There is one little boy in this opera and I was impressed by his skills for such a young person. He was awfully cute and really focussed, he wasn't distracted by anything at all, even when he was just standing on stage doing nothing there was no fidgeting. There were a couple of circus like scenes which were captivating as there were real acrobats and dancers, it was like having a real circus on stage. There was fire, there were people dangling from the ceiling, people bending in half, standing on top of each other, being thrown across the room, everything! One thing that was more of an effect than acting was that there was a part when a person with real legs but a skeleton for an upper body walked across the room pushing a table. I was dumbfounded, how were these legs moving by themselves?! I then realised that a woman must've been bent in half with her upper body inside the table and the skeleton top attached to her back. The effect of this was truly eerie and I genuinely believed it was half skeleton half human!

The singing
This may sound stupid of me, but although it was an opera, I didn't know that the entire production would be conveyed through song. I was nervous that this would be the sort of opera that was incredibly hard to understand as they notes would all merge into one, but every single lyric was perfectly clear. Love never dies is a romantic story and I can't think of any better way to convey your love than through song - and such beautiful songs they were! The lyrics told a story and it was so enchanting to hear the beautiful voices tell this emotional tale. The actors themselves had phenomenal voices. I have never, in all my life, ever heard such great singers. Their voice ranges were out of this world and I could really feel their characters emotions through every song. The men were able to show anger and love in their voices whilst still retaining their masculinity and the women's sweet sweet voices could also be used to show their sadness and their anger. I'm completely addicted to the soundtrack because the songs are just so darn beautiful to the ears. At the beginning I was wondering whether or not their voices were really operatic ... with the tremors and all, and they were! Turns out they were just saving their voices for the really interesting bits. The voices that struck me the most were that of the Phantom (Ramin Karimloo) and of Christine (Celia Graham). Ramin's voice was magical because of the emotion and feeling conveyed in his voice and Celia's voice was just so sweet and perfect for the role - her vocal range is incredible. The little boy, Gustav, also did quite a lot of singing and although he had a slight lisp he was able to hit some very high notes with great clarity - I was really impressed. I would happily buy the soundtrack just buy itself because the songs are so great.

All in all, this was the most incredible production I've ever seen. Everything about it is so perfect, so well rehearsed. It's not just a romantic story but an exciting one filled with creepy music, pitch-perfect voices, fabulous dances and circus acts, spellbinding effects, deep and emotional acting, one of the best evenings of my life for sure! 

X Factor.


The X Factor has always been a popular television show in the UK but ever since the last series and Simon Cowell's decision to create X Factor USA there seems to have been an awful lot of press about the show and it's contestants. As most of you will have heard, there was a huge debacle over whether or not Cheryl Cole would be a judge on the new American X Factor and launch her career over the big pond. After a couple of episodes she was axed from the show and word has it that she is still not on speaking terms with Simon Cowell. Apparently she was replaced because her Jeordie accent was hard to understand, but of course they quickly denied this to avoid the risk of being sued for discrimination. Her replacement was Nicole Scherzinger, who made a guest appearance in the last series, and is apparently a better judge for the show and will bring it more publicity as she has a higher profile in the US.

As a result of the launch of the X Factor in the USA, neither Simon Cowell nor Cheryl Cole will be returning for this year's X Factor and the new judging panel has been revealed. This year we can expect the return of Louis Walsh and he is joined by three newbies: Kelly Rowland, Gary Barlow and Tulisa from NDubz. Personally, I don't think these people are very suitable judges. It would be good to see Louis back, but without Simon we've lost the competition between the two that the X Factor was known for. Gary Barlow has quite a lot of experience in the music industry but we shall have to wait and see as for whether he is a good judge. I'm not really looking forward to having Tulisa or Kelly Rowland on the show as I don't think that either have enough experience or wisdom to be able to judge other people's singing, nor are either that popular. We shall see what happens tonight.

X Factor 2011's new judging panel (From left to right: Gary Barlow, Tulisa, Kelly Rowland, Louis Walsh)

Although the show has even been aired yet, there already appears to be a favourite to win: Janet Devlin. She is a 16 year girl who apparently wowed the judges with her cover of 'Your Song' at her audition (to be shown this Sunday). Louis Walsh was reported to have said: 'I don't think you have any idea how good you are'. People already seem to be certain that Janet will make it to this year's final. Here's the video she uploaded to youtube, check out her channel for lots more. She indeed very good at singing and has a unique voice that has similarities to Ellie Goulding's but whether or not she will make it all the way is yet to be seen.

The new series of the X Factor begins tonight on ITV 1 at 8p.m. Don't miss it! 

UPDATE.

The Judging Panel.

I wasn't really looking forward to this year's X Factor as I thought the new judges were really going to bring the show down, but I was actually pleasantly surpirsed that the newcomers seem to do a very good job. Gary Barlow is definitely the new Simon as he's not afraid to voice his opinion and he basically says it how it is. He seems to be extremely harsh and his views are usually black and white - love or hate, there seems to be no inbetween. As I said before, I thought he would be good because of his experience in this industry (over 20 years), and I was right, since Take That have been together, broken up, lost Robbie, come back, gained Robbie... it's been a roller coaster for them! So he offers great perspective on the ups and downs of the music world. As for Tulisa, I've realised that she worked incredibly hard to get to where she is today. She became a part of NDubz when she was just 11 and now at 23 she is not only part of a group that has had several chart topping singles but also the youngest judge that the X Factor has ever seen. She seems to judge the contestants fairly and is definitely the new Cheryl. Kelly Rowland seems like a good judge of character and offers some sound advice to the contestants. As she's from the US where things are bigger (but not necessarily better!) she knows what it's like to make it to the big time. Especially since she was part of Destiny's Child alongside Beyonce and now has a very successful career as a solo artist. Louis Walsh is... well Louis Walsh. He's formed some of the greatest bands including Westlife, he was also the mentor for X Factor runners up JLS - now a very successful boyband, so he offers experience from the other side to producing music - the managing, so he too, knows what you need to be a star.

Looks like it's going to be an interesting series with already some thoroughly entertaining, yet slightly disturbing, performances from our fellow British citizens and with a great judging panel on hand, we're sure to find a star!

The X Factor will be back tomorrow night (Sunday 21st August 2011), on ITV 1.

Cars 2.



So most people will have heard of Cars - a very popular Pixar feature film - but, personally, I took one look at it and thought that it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. Personally, I thought it was a stupid idea and the whole concept seemed really annoying to me. That said, I never in a million years thought that I'd be sat in a cinema screen watching the sequel. Cars 2. I was, unfortunately, dragged to the cinema by a small ten year old boy to see this movie and I have to be honest, I was dreading it! But the strange this is... I actually really enjoyed it... or at least I could see why kids would enjoy it. I was really quite surprised at myself! But that's what happened. I guess this shows that you should never judge a movie before that you've seen it because you could end up being pleasantly surprised!

If I had to sum up what I think Cars 2 is about in just one sentence I'd probably say: A funny children's James Bond with anthropomorphic cars. Basically, Lightning McQueen decides to participate in a  new racing series called the 'World Grand Prix'. After persuasion from his girlfriend, McQueen agrees to allow his best friend, Mater, to accompany him; however, Mater - a clutzy tow-truck - repeatedly embarrasses celebrity McQueen and so Mater decides to go home. At the same time, oil tycoons are plotting to secure oil profits by making all Allinoil fuel catch fire during the race and subsequently these cars would be severely damaged and unable to compete. This would make the public doubt the safety of the Allinoil and so they would rely further on the tycoon's oil instead. Two British spies try to stop this from happening  and attempt to meet with an American spy who will give them more information on the mastermind behind this plot; however, these two spies mistake Mater for their American contact and so he gets sucked into the world of spies. Then the rest of the story kicks off and the action begins.

As for the movie itself, I thought that the animation was absolutely brilliant. The movements were flawless and smooth, not that I really expected anything less from Pixar, and there was such attention to detail. The action is this movie is perfect with all the cool moves, the big explosions and random things flying through the air. Whoever did did the graphics and animation for this really deserves a pat on the back. Although most of the movie looks like a real child's animation, at one point, I really did think that the setting looked realistic. In addition, I thought the soundtrack was excellent, and it's extremely rare for me to actually notice the soundtrack in a children's animation. The suspense music was sleek and spy-like to give the movie a suave and cool edge, and they had cheesy music playing in all the funny moments which just made the whole experience that much funnier.

The voices and accents are excellent and the actor's all do a great job of portraying their car's personality. There are quite a lot of famous names behind the cars with Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Jason Isaacs, Emily Mortimer, Lewis Hamilton and many many more! Sometimes the voices don't quite match their characters or they just feel out of place, but in this movie they really do seem to embody the cars and take on their personalities.

Mater, the clutzy tow-truck come spy.

I especially loved how each and every car had it's own personality and you could tell from just one look at it's model/colour/size/design exactly what sort of car it was. There are loads and loads of cars in this movie and they're all different and unique. Even the 'extras' were all really well animated an designed and not all of the characters are cars! There are also anthropomorphic planes/boats/trains, which is all great fun.

I genuinely thought that this movie was quite funny. The design of the cars is an over-exaggerated version of their personality so there are cars with buckteeth, eyepieces, French moustaches, all sorts! Their 'accessories' are also matched by their accents, be it Italian, West American or British. My favourite line was: 'Wasabi?' 'Oh same old, same old, what's up with you?'

Cars 2 received mixed reviews, with most critics saying that although visually it was brilliant, the plot didn't match up. I disagree. I thought that this was a funny and heart warming tale about a car who's mistaken for a spy and is thrust into a world he doesn't understand. There were some really emotional moments where the cars showed what real friendship and love is which was awfully cute. Perhaps it's more like Alex Rider or Agent Cody Banks than James Bond as the protagonist wasn't that suave and he was new to the whole 'spy' thing. This was a funny secret agent movie with cars instead of humans. There were plenty of high speed chases, explosions, camouflages, car crashes etc. I think that the plot was interesting for the kids and highly entertaining, so I'm going to ignore all the bad reviews.

This may sound stupid, but whilst watching this movie, I didn't even think that what was going on was that unrealistic. I thought it was going to be ridiculous, but I was actually so immersed in the world of Cars that I actually started to believe that Cars could actually have feelings. Initially I thought that as cars don't have arms or legs they couldn't possibly make the characters in this mimic the actions of humans, but somehow, they can! I love how they adapted everything from our world to match theirs, especially when the characters were in Tokyo - or should I say, Towkyo. They actually captured the Japanese culture really well with sumo wrestling and Japanese theatre - everything you would expect - the only difference is, all the characters are cars. There was the same attention to detail when the cars all came to London. There were the iconic big, red, double decker buses and even a car who was the 'Queen' of England! My favourite sort of foreign scene was when Mater went to the loo in Tokyo. Now in most oriental countries, the public toilets is still a hole in the ground, and I was glad (and amused) to see that they used these 'hole-in-the-ground' toilets AND that they were extremely high-tech (there was even a TV in there), which sort of mocked how good Japan is with technology.

All in all, with bright colours, lively action and catchy music, this makes for an excellent family film. The kids around me were captivated from the very beginning with the humour and cheesy banter and I highly recommend you take your kids to see this. (Even if you don't have kids I think you'll enjoy this as this is one for all ages!)

Gossip Girl Season 4. 



Many of you will have already watched season 4 of Gossip Girl when it was first aired on TV last September, but for those of you that missed it, here's your chance to catch up. As expected, the latest season of Gossip Girl  was filled with feuds, money, shopping, secrets, love-affairs, friendships, hidden identities, hidden objectives, handsome men, beautiful women- I could go on, but you know the drill.

Some have said that they believe this to be this to be the best season yet and I can see why. I think that this season does a good job of meshing all the characters together for once. In previous seasons we have seen the characters in Brooklyn and the characters living in the Upper East Side lead very separate lives with only a couple of characters coming into contact with each other (namely Dan and Serena). However, season 4 sees all of the characters coming together with new relationships forming and old relationships falling apart. After the marriage of Lily and Rufus, Dan has become a much bigger player in the Upper East Side and people are starting to see him less as 'Brooklyn boy' and more as Daniel Humprey, love interest of the Serena Van Der Woodsen and friend of Nathaniel Archibald (and later, Blair Waldorf - shocker). I think the marriage of the two parents was a wise move and it really cemented the bridge between Brooklyn and the Upper East Side allowing more character interactions.

Expect to see some familiar faces from the past popping up to cause trouble again, but don't expect this to be the last time you see them, they may just appear when you least expect it. There are also some new characters who add weight and mystery to the drama. Be wary of these new characters, they may not be who they appear to be, then again, people rarely are in Gossip Girl.

I take it that since they decided to include a picture of Blair and Chuck together on the front cover of the DVD set that the producers think that they are the focal point of this season. I know that the relationship between Chuck and Blair has most viewers hooked, especially since they've got this whole Romeo and Juliet/Lizzie and Darcy thing going on and you'll be pleased to hear that there is a hell of a Chuck/Blair roller coaster waiting for you. Chuck and Blair do finally figure out how they truly feel about each other at the end of this so there probably won't be that much Chuck/Blair drama in season 5. Suck it up while you can! I was extremely shocked by the way the Chuck/Blair drama panned out in this season, I was caught completely off-guard and didn't expect a thing. I'm not going to spoil it for you and tell you what happened, but boy oh boy this is an exciting jaw dropper.

Chuck and Blair deep in conversation

There are some very big twists and turns in this season and just when you think you've got it all figured out something comes along and changes everything. I was hooked to Gossip Girl from episode one and the drama is so much more intense in this season with each and every episode leaving you begging for more.

Here's just a quick overview of the plot without giving too much away. For those of you who watched season 3 you will remember that last season finale we were left with a massive cliff hanger after Chuck had been shot and left on the streets bleeding. Firstly, we see how the rest of this story panned out and also Blair and Serena's adventures in Paris. The first half of the season is very much focussed on the arrival of the character 'Juliet'. No one can quite figure out what her motives are but she has a grim determination to wreak havoc with Serena's life. She also manages to rope in two other prominent characters to help her with her plans. Who is she and what does want? After this, the plot moves over to focus more on Chuck and his life's struggles. To be (with Blair) or not to be (with Blair)? That is the question. (Literally.) Chuck has many life choices to make regarding himself, his business and his relationship with Blair. What will come first, work or love? For the last couple of episodes we see the arrival of Charlie, Serena's cousin who has been raised far away from all the glitz and the glam of the Upper East Side. At first everything seems normal, but suddenly Charlie's behaviour becomes suspect to Serena. What is she hiding and what does she want?

So, I haven't mentioned very much of the other characters but of course, Serena does play a very large role in this season; however, her problems seem to be very much family-orientated and not boy-related. In fact, she doesn't really have any particularly major going on in the boyfriend department, or nothing that's particularly gripping. Nate finds himself a new girlfriend but now he is torn. How can he choose between his best friend and his girlfriend? Trouble ensues. We see Dan become a bigger part of the Upper East Side and he becomes much more accustomed to their ways and manners and is less condescending of them. Some parts of his previous relationship with Serena is reactivated by other characters as he tries to form new relationships which is very exciting. Jenny and Vanessa are of course still skulking around in the background appearing every now and again to cause trouble. Lily Van Der Woodsen plays a much more prominent role in this season than she has in any other as issues from Serena's past crop up again, meaning Lily has to deal with the aftermath.

What's Nate doing with Serena's new enemy - Juliet?

The season finale is definitely the best episode of the season and it not only wraps up loose ends but it also creates many more which will no doubt be sorted out in season 5. Some plot lines from earlier in the season that you thought had be put to sleep will rise again to slap you in the face. It really was one of the best season finales of any show that I've ever seen  that has got the exact balance between coming-to-an-end and leaving-you-begging-for-more that makes this a great conclusion for season 4 whilst leaving enough juice to keep you hanging on to see what happens in season 5.

If you missed Gossip Girl whilst it was aired on television then I highly recommend you buy this on DVD or rent it from your local video store because it is definitely worth it. This is the best season of Gossip Girl yet which the most drama, action, tension, mystery and suspense yet!

ON ON DVD TODAY. (15TH AUGUST 2011)

Available on amazon.co.uk for £27.99
Available on amazon.com for $36.99

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Who is Chuck's mysterious lady friend? Yes, that is the Clemence Poesy who played Fleur Delacour  in Harry Potter (see - I can include Harry Potter in all  of my posts whilst still making it relevant)

Beaver Falls.




Beaver Falls is a new comedy currently airing on E4 every Wednesday night. It's basically about three lads who decide to go to America for the summer after they graduate from Oxford Brookes University (not to be confused with the Oxford University) because they think they'll be 'living the American dream'. They have applied for jobs at Beaver Falls Summer Camp but things don't quite go as planned when they are assigned to look after (and bunk with) the social misfits or the 'fatties' of the camp. All three guys have very different hopes for the summer, but all revolve around the same thing: women. Flynn, the popular one, is determined to sleep with as many women as possible, but his motives may not be what they first seem; A-rab (no, that is not his real name, yes, that is a racist joke) wants to get over the girl who broke his heart and Barry, the virgin, just wants to get within ten-feet of a girl.

Initially I was very confused when I started watching this. Was it an American production or a British one? It is in fact a British Dramedy, but by bringing three English lads to America they've tried to combine the typical British comedy with the typical American teen drama. For all you Brits out there, just imagine dumping the cast of the Inbetweeners in an American summer camp.

The review of Beaver Falls have been fairly mixed with some people saying that it lacks originality and just isn't as funny as it's contenders, whilst others saying that despite all of the above it still cracks a smile and is therefore worth it. I agree with the latter. Let's be honest. No TV show these days is completely original. Heck the season finales of Gossip Girl and 90210 were the same and the aired on the same night but no one complained too much. And anyways, what's so bad about Inbetweeners-in-the-USA? I love the Inbetweeners. I love America. It's a win-win for me.

Personally, I think this show is really funny. The humour is more PG than that of the Inbetweeners but there's still a fair bit of swearing involved. There's also a fair bit of sex but it's not graphic at all, in fact, there are only brief screenshots to let you know that it's going on and the rest is up to your own imagination. I think what I find interesting about this show is the attitudes of the Americans and the British towards each other. Each character makes their attitude clear and for the most part I think they're fairly accurate and this is quite humorous. My favourite scene is the first scene when the three boys first arrive in the USA and they're getting through customs. This is the best representation of how Americans perceive foreigners and I thought it was hilarious. I've always wanted to go on 'Camp America' (maybe that's why I really like this show) and even though television isn't the best place to get an idea of what real summer camps are like, it's a start.

I think the acting from the three main British boys is excellent and realistic. Some of the Americans are a little over the top... mainly the Camp Leader, but I guess that's all part of the humour. You probably won't recognise many of the actors in this, especially the British ones, as they're quite obscure, but that doesn't mean they're not talented! Flynn - charming, Scottish (little hard to understand at times) - is played by Sam Robertson (some may recognise him from Coronation Street); A-rab is played by Arsher Ali, John Dagleish plays Barry. This little group of friends just click. They make for an excellent and comic trio and their personalities perfectly compliment each others with each person bringing something different to the group.

I highly recommend this if you're looking for a some summer humour. It's not entirely original but I don't think that matters, the content still makes me laugh nonetheless. Catch Beaver Falls every Wednesday at 9pm on E4. (Three episodes have already aired, and there are another three to go - it is a short first season).

Can you guess who's who?

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Crazy Stupid Love.

From looking at the promotional poster and the title I thought that this movie looked terrible. I could't tell anything about what the film was about from looking at the poster but it certainly didn't look like anything to do with love. I didn't even recognise the actors in it (I think I'm going blind). On closer analysis I realised that I recognised all of them and they were all pretty well known so I decided to give it a chance.

As Crazy Stupid Love is a romantic comedy I assumed that reviews of it would be pretty bad, but I was wrong, as it actually has a rating of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is remarkable for this genre. Perhaps the reason that it has such a high rating is because it's not about sappy love, it's about real love, about fighting for the one you love. Now it sounds like it might be a heavy movie, but it's not, the comic elements make it light-hearted and funny and there were several moments where I actually laughed out loud as opposed to the casual grin the usual rom-com cheesy jokes bring to my face.

This movie is basically about Cal (Steve Carell) and his family and friend's and their issues regarding love. Within the first couple of minutes of the film, Cal's wife has already asked him for a divorce, something I really wasn't expecting and that's when the story really kicks off. Cal meets Jason at a bar who really gives him a kick up the backside and helps him get his life sorted. Sort of. Well he manages to get Cal to stop moping around and he attempts to turn him into a suave and sexy man. Personally, I thought the movie got off to a rather slow start, but stick with it, it's definitely worth it and it gets much better. There is a large age range between the characters experiencing love and this brings diversity and some hilarity. It also shows that love is for everyone and anyone and you never know when it may strike.

Crazy Stupid Love combines a great plot with great actors and that's the key to it's success. Firstly, the actors bring recognition, as they are all quite famous and well-known. The protagonist is Steve Carell and he's joined by Ryan Gosling (The Notebook), Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), Emma Stone (Easy A), Maisa Tomei (The Wrestler), Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class), Analeigh Tipton (America's Next Top Model), and many many more. As you can see these people are all well established with large numbers of nominated movies under their belts. Steve Carell is known for playing the role of the awkward guy who can't get the girl and initially that's exactly who his character, Cal, is, but then, he undergoes a transformation with the help of his new friend Jacob (Gosling) and he transforms and becomes confident and sexy, something which I, personally, have never seen Steve Carell pull off and surprisingly, he does it quite well. Most of the characters in this movie undergo some sort of personality tranformation during this movie and that is what really showed how talented all the actors were. The transitions were smooth and

I think what I love most about this movie is how the plot all came together. I have been able to predict the end of 99% of the rom-coms that I've watched in my life, but this one was different, I wasn't entirely sure what was coming or how it was going to happen. At the end, it becomes clear how all the different pieces of the story slot together and it really was quite ingenious and I was quite surprised.

I think this movie will appeal to both men and women because as I said, it isn't your usual sappy rom-com, with moments that kind of make you want to vomit. Men shouldn't be embarassed to go and see this in cinemas as they should find this equally enjoyable as women. If you're already in love then I guess you'll be able to relate to this even more than the rest of us so I definitely recommend it for you. As I mentioned there is a diverse age range in this movie so I think teenagers and above will find this movie appealing and funny.

I really love how all their adverts fit together... kind of like the plot ... and the balance between romance and comedy ... everything about this movie just works!

One Direction's debut single.

Submarine. 



I'm guessing that most of you won't have heard of this movie and even less of you will have actually watched it. For those of you who think that the poster is vaguely familiar to you, it's probably because it was advertised on the underground and you probably passed it everyday on your way to work (if you're British anyway). This is a fresh British comedy and is director Richard Ayoade's debut film. What's so unique about Submarine is that it doesn't revolve around your usual teen drama. It isn't a high school drama with the set out social circles and same old jokes, it is real. The protagonists aren't the hottest people in school or the most popular. It's a story about two teenagers trying to figure out their lives, their relationship and their family issues.

The plot basically revolves around Oliver and Jordana during that 'coming-of-age' period of their lives. Oliver seems to be the school loser and Jodana has that 'too-cool-for-school' air going on. They seem to make quite an unusual pairing, but perhaps that's what's so brilliant about them. Oliver seems shy and nervous but he knows what he wants and he's not afraid to try. One of his main goals in life is to lose his virginity before his next birthday... I guess he has that in common with every other teenage boy, but apart from that, his character is quite unique. He struggles to try and mend the crumbling relationship between his parents at the same time he is trying to figure out his own relationship and what his feelings for Jordana are. Jordana herself doesn't let on a lot about her personal life at all, until one moment when she suddenly decides that she trusts Oliver and she opens up to him. However, she is very upfront about her feelings and isn't afraid to say what she's thinking, she's definitely the 'man' of the relationship. At first their relationship seems like just a bit of fun but as time goes on both of them begin to wonder if they want more. Both have complicated family lives and this further complicates their own relationship.

The pair live in a remote British village where there aren't any cinemas or shops or cool teen places to hang and it's the perfect setting for the story because it means you don't get distracted by the generic going ons of a busy city. Even the clothes they wear are pretty much the same the entire way through the movie ensuring the focus really is upon their acting and the story they're telling. The idea of this movie was that it wouldn't be set in any particular time; however, there are no mobile phones and they are still using polaroid cameras so there is the suggestion that it is set in the 80s.

Just look at the sheer awkwardness on his face... This is a real teen drama.

The acting is really really good in this, the story is sort of raw and edgy and they used the perfect cast for this. There are couple of familiar faces who perhaps you won't be able to pinpoint so I'll remind you. The protagonist, Oliver Tate, is played by Craig Roberts, who some teenagers may recognise from the CBBC shows 'Young Dracula' and 'The Story of Tracy Beaker'. Jordana is played by Yasmin Paige who also portrayed Maria Jackson in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' (also on CBBC) as well as many other works including the film Ballet Shoes (which also starred Harry Potter actress Emma Watson). You'll also recognise Noah Taylor, who plays Oliver's dad, previously known as 'Mr Bucket' from the most recent adaption of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Oliver's mother is played by Sally Hawkins who was also in Made in Dagenham and Happy-Go-Lucky. I could on, but I won't bore you with more facts, so if you really want check the film out on wikipedia here: Submarine (2010 film). As you can see, although the names of these actors aren't instantly recognisable, you'll find that you've seen them many many times before and all their faces should be familiar to you. There is quite a small bunch of actors in this film and that really helps to keep the plot together and keep the focus of the film.

I have to admit despite the fact I had been bombarded by adverts for this film on the London Underground I still wasn't that keen to see this movie. I mean, just look at the promotional poster, all I see is an awkward teenage boy. Now I see the beauty of the simplicity of the poster. This film really is quite under-rated and I think it should be more popular and given the credit that it deserves. I love the awkwardness between the characters at times because let's be honest, relationships don't go smoothly and flow like a river there are bumps and uncertainties on the way. I also love that this movie doesn't try to cover up the true dramas that people face in their lives but it portrays them accurately and realistically. I'd say this film would probably relate better to British audiences, it sort of captures the essence of teenage life away from the hustle and bustle of big English cities, but I'm sure that other audiences will also be captivated by this story. I highly recommend this movie to everyone and anyone and I implore you to please, please, please, give it the chance that it deserves.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Very cool advert.

Uh oh. Trouble's brewing.