Jennifer Garner: Makes Me Happy

"cute women - another reason to be cheerful"

"All men seek happiness," says Blaise Pascal. "This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man..."

I believe Pascal is right. And, I came across a blog which was merrily proclaiming the lifestyle of "Christian Hedonism" - the believe that God purposefully designed us to pursue happiness...

But surely seeking your own happiness isn't sound biblical doctrine? Aren't Christians supposed to seek God, not their own pleasure? Apparently this isn't so far removed as might be thought... Pleasure-seeking (hedonism): basically means that we value most what we delight in most. Pleasure is not then God's competitor if we accredit Him with having created whatever it is that we're enjoying...

I mean - if a friend tells you, "I really enjoy being with you," you wouldn't accuse him of being self-centered. Why? Because your friend's delight in you is the evidence that you have great value in his / her heart.

Might not the same be true of God? So whilst marvelling at the physically pleasant attributes of Jennifer Garner may not be everybody's idea of a religious expression of worship - but taking pleasure in God's creation is actually exactly what He'd like us to be doing!

Sign me up as a devout Christian Hedonist...

Worship with me by click these links to other Darkmatters posts about Jennifer Garner:

She is Great Looking

Elektra Is "Awful" Admits Garner

Film Review: Elektra

Film Review: Below

"an express elevator to hell"

Below
Dir. David Twohy

Reviewed by Matt Acock


“Try not to fraternize with the men. They can be a little... strange.”
“Strange, as in superstitious?”
“As in ‘strange’."

Welcome to a cool, nerve jangling submarine thriller in which there is more than just the threat of mines, depth charges and torpedoes at stake – this sub has got a malign presence which is making things go ‘bump in the night’ – but where can you hide when you’re six hundred feet beneath the waves?

I was drawn to this film for many reasons – not least of which is that it was in part written by Darren Aronofsky – he of the magnificent ‘Pi’ and ‘Requiem for a Dream’… Directed by David Twohy after his cult smash ‘Pitch Black’ and before his dumb but fun ‘Chronicles of Riddick’ follow up…

There is a lot to enjoy here – just about every WW2 cliché gets a good going over with some additional dangers thrown in for good measure. The tense atmosphere on board the sub is really well handled and the frights are of the ‘music announces them a mile away’ type but still effective. Some excellent shots of the sub itself and a good eye for framing the scenes for maximum impact puts lifts this B movie up with the best sub films - Crimson Tide, Hunt for Red October etc...

Dexter Fletcher pops up as a Brit survivor along with London born Olivia Williams. The yank crew are standard off the shelf characters but they do get some cool dialogue – at one point they ponder whether they’re all actually dead which is fun.

Dive dive dive for some spooky submarine thrills!

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (direct hit)

Tiger Woods PSP

"I'm Tiger Woods"

Along with an extremely exciting Masters 2005, I've been enjoying a weekend of mini golf... against Tiger Woods himself... and my father in law too...
Yes, much to the bemusement of my lovely wife, I've become addicted to Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the PSP. The graphics and game play are pretty much up to the delicious PS2 standards, the fact that you can take your round of golf with you wherever you go – that’s a thing of beauty!!

Tiger Woods on the PSP is a just great game…

As they say at McDonald's “I’m lovin it!”

Film Review: Sahara

"ooh - check our matching trousers"

Sahara (12a)
Dir. Breck Eisner

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


Adventure has a new name… Unfortunately it’s just not quite as good as the old one it had and for my money - Indiana Jones would kick Dirk Pitt’s butt any day of the week!! Sahara you see suffers from a bad case of “trying to keep up with the Jones’” but if it’s a mind numbing blast of daring do and swashbuckling adventure you’re looking for – then you could probably do worse than take in some of this sandy action. Based ever so loosely on one of Clive Cussler’s popular novels (of which there are many more just waiting their turn to be sequels should this one make enough cash), Sahara tries really hard to entertain and occasionally succeeds.

Matthew McConaughey is the Dirk in question and he struts his manly stuff as one of the most preposterous action hero wannabe’s for some time. Fortunately he’s not alone as he has trusty sidekick Steve ‘National Security’ Zahn on hand to deliver the necessary funnies and take the pratt falls. Penélope Cruz tries and fails to do anything other than look cute and completely unbelievable as the World Health Organisation representative on the trail of a deadly plague. The plot throws the principle characters together in Africa where Dirk is searching for lost treasure aboard a fabled lost ‘ship of death’ which may or may not have something to do with the growing number of people going down with the plague. The baddies of the piece are Lambert ‘Merovingian from the Matrix’ Wilson and Lennie ‘Snatch’ James as an unscrupulous businessman and a paranoid African warlord. Neither is nasty enough to warrant too much attention and there is very little doubt at any point that good will win the day…

McConaughey of course doesn’t waste any opportunity to take his shirt off and pull some ‘ooh look at my muscles’ poses – which I guess will please those who like muscular chaps with unnervingly white teeth.
For me though Sahara was a near miss, not as much fun as Pirates of the Caribbean and not packing enough of a punch to come near to the Indy films. This is an action adventure for those who don’t want to be troubled by too much action or adventure.
So, watch it at your peril, you’ll be picking the sand out of your under garments for weeks to come…

Darkmatt Rating: ö ö (undemanding)

Serenity Film - Also a comic !?

I’m getting very excited about the fact that Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, is making his big-screen debut as writer/director with Serenity - follow-up to his wonderful cult-hit TV show Firefly… And today I heard that there will be a three issue comic miniseries based on the film…

The plot goes like this - the crew of Serenity once again find themselves broke and on the wrong side of a number of very large firearms, making the first issue a case study in how to mix intense, Whedon-style character interaction with cinematic action and violence. Artist Will Conrad and colourist Laura Martin paint a rough and wild world of adventure across a strange and dangerous universe…

Each issue is going to have three cover choices, one for each member of the Serenity crew, drawn by the biggest names in comics. Issue #1 features Mal by John Cassaday, Inara by J. G. Jones, and Jayne by Bryan Hitch.

Read what I thought of the TV series: Firefly

GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX (VOL 1)

"tasteful shot of female heroine... anime style"

GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX (VOL 1)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Step this way for a cool dose of cyberpunk, anime crime fighting, existentialism and a heroine who thanks to having a 'cyber' body is pretty uninhibited when it comes to dressing sensibly...

The plot of this TV series assumes that the events of Ghost In The Shell (1995) never happened, and is thus an alternate timeline. It has some lovely quirky bits like the text that appears around a "Laughing Man" icon shown quite often in the show; "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." which is a line from J.D. Salinger's "A Catcher in the Rye." etc - so it's not perhaps the low brow blatantly sexist cartoon that you might have been expecting...


"bigger the better seems to be the weaponry order of the day"

I loved both the Ghost In The Shell films and apparently there are 26 episodes of this - so having just watched the first 4 on my PSP, I think I'm hooked for the duration.

This is a great intro for people who may have never tried anime... and despite having a few annoying bits (what are those child voiced robot tanks about eh?) - the artwork is of a high standard, the plots interesting and the female is um, well, she reminds me of my wife!!

Darkmatt Rating: ö ö ö ö (cool)

Read my review of Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence

Which bunny are you?

Congratulations. You are the kiss my ass happy bunny.

which happy bunny are you?

Man, picked this up off Rachel W's blog - don't normally go in for this kind of thing but upon seeing my results I thought I'd share them with you. How do you know when your ass is happy though?

Film Review: Dead Man's Shoes

"be sure your sins will find you out..."


Dead Man’s Shoes

Dir. Shane Meadows

Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20)

“God will forgive them. He'll forgive them, & allow them into Heaven. I can't live with that.”

Dead Man’s Shoes is a highly accomplished film, a bold, stark, utterly gripping, unsettling & powerful drama, which mixes humour and horror with strong characters and an emotive ‘revenge’ theme. And if that were not cause for celebration enough – it’s a British film!!

Caution though, watch this and you will not easily forget it, so if you’re of nervous or sensitive disposition you might want to think twice...

The story is of two close brothers who return to the northern English hometown they left years before. Richard (an unbelievable performance by Paddy Considine) is strong and purposeful, a man on a mission, an angel of death with a heart of darkness… But all of his cold, hard anger and homicidal hatred comes from the fact that he loves his younger brother Anthony (powerfully portrayed with real feeling by Toby Kebbell). Younger and slightly retarded, hesitant but with a ‘true heart’, he worships everything Richard does…

Vengeance is the order of the day, revenge on a bunch of loser scum drug dealers at whose hands Anthony has suffered whilst Richard has been away in the army. Led by the wannabe hard man Sonny (Gary Stretch who also starred in Alexandra with Kebbell) this lot have it coming and we get to watch as they are terrorised, freaked out, humiliated and murdered one by one…

It’s strong stuff but Dead Man’s Shoes works on many levels and it is shot in such a matter of fact way that it will get under your skin.

As the cool Ducks over at Duck Mafia point out – the film has several strong religious aspects:

“Dead Man’s Shoes is no less about Christ than Mel Gibson’s The Passion. It opens with Richard’s sombre statement of intent, “God will forgive them…” etc and ends with a God-like point of view shot from the clouds accompanied by the sounds of a Church choir. Richard takes on the role of a vengeful God while his mentally challenged brother Anthony assumes the role of Christ.
The most striking connection between Anthony and Christ is made in a late scene in which Sonny’s gang mercilessly tortures Anthony near an abandoned farmhouse. Bringing to mind the suffering of Christ, the scene emphasises the belief that Christ chose, and was not forced, to die for the sins of humanity. There is even a Pontius Pilate figure, who has the power to stop the ordeal but does not.
Another similarity becomes apparent with a key revelation in the film. Although Anthony exhibits an appealing type of simplicity and grace from the beginning, Meadows grants him actual transcendence by the story’s conclusion. The many shots of Richard and Anthony walking through field and forest achieve a level of spirituality.”

And whilst that’s quite a stretch, it is interesting stuff… and the tagline that ‘he’s in all of us’ only reinforces the ‘what would you do?’ question that you can’t help but ask when watching it…


It also made me appreciate just how strong a bond between brothers can be (as an only child I enjoy watching my sons interact and wonder what it would have been like to have brother) – so all in all this is a thinking person’s thriller and I recommend it heartily!!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:


ööööö
(powerful and compelling)

Imagine a world where the earth is becoming hell?

Click below to find out about my  dark sci-fi novel...

Film Review: The Ring Two

"boredom comes full circle"

The Ring Two
Dir. Hideo Nakata

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Somewhere out there is a haunted individual… He or she is having terrible nightmares, visions of ghastly things and they can’t shake the feeling that a lot of people wish them ill…
That person is the one who said “Hey, let’s follow up the successful nail biting, freaky and truly disturbing original US The Ring remake with The Ring 2 – it’ll be great!!” Unfortunately they deserve all the negativity because they have unleashed a truly mind numbing dud on the world…

I enjoyed The Ring, it was nicely freaky and built up no small amount of tension. The Ring 2 isn’t and doesn’t. How did they get it so wrong this time? The original Japanese Ring 2 was much more gripping and effective, the US version is just limp and whilst it is mildly unsettling – I found it hard work to muster any enthusiasm for it. Even the delicious Naomi ‘soon to be in King Kong’ Watts can’t save this – but that hasn’t stopped it topping the charts in both the US and here in the UK…

Of course, they don't dream, you know. The dead don't dream, and the dead never sleep. They wait, they watch for a way to get back – and the dead are unlikely to happy if they get to see how duff The Ring Two is…

The scariest thing about this is how terrifyingly dull it is…

Darkmatt Rating: ö (dull)

Film Review: Be Cool

"are we cool?"

Be Cool (12a)
Dir. F. Gary Gray

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Now… this should be the coolest film on the planet - John Travolta is back his super cool gangster ‘Chili Palmer’ in this sequel to the “cool” comedy smash Get Shorty. And it’s absolutely choc full of cool stars – Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman, James Woods, The Rock, Vince Vaughan and it even has a Steven ‘lead singer of Aerosmith’ Tyler cameo as himself… Based on a cool novel by Elmore Leonard and directed by the bloke who remade the Italian Job – how could it fail to be the coolest film of the year?

Be Cool is fun, brash and in patches very cool, but it’s also absolutely disposable entertainment and doesn’t really deliver on its significant promise …
But don’t worry about that too much. Look, Mmmmm, so many stars, so many “humorous” situations… Come on let’s just gorge ourselves on this quality Hollywood junk food – it might make you feel a bit sick afterwards but man it’s hot spicy and satisfying while it lasts…

Travolta’s Chili Palmer really is a cool character – and here he gets mixed up with all sorts of bother when he moves from the film industry of Get Shorty to try his hand in the music business. Understandably he hooks up with Edie Athens (Uma Thurman) who owns two things of note: 1. a record company with serious debts and 2. one of the tiniest bikinis ever to grace the screen. There are of course plenty of sharks in the music industry and the power struggle that ensues over ‘hot’ new property Linda Moon (Christina Milian) involves the Russian mafia, some gangster rappers and unscrupulous music boss Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel). Also caught up in the many-layered plot are a sleazy music manager named Raji (Vince Vaughn) who thinks he’s black, and his gay bodyguard Elliot (The Rock showing that he really can do comedy) who thinks he’s an actor.

It all cracks along in an fairly enjoyable fashion, with many a nod and a wink to the audience including the very dangerous line “I hate sequels” when discussing lame follow ups to good movies. Travolta and Thurman get to do another dance floor number, the Rock steals the show with his camp antics and Steven Tyler tries to straight face the line “I'm not one of those singers who appears in movies!”
I guess everyone is looking for their next big hit, I just don’t think Be Cool is necessarily it…

Darkmatt Rating: öö (coolish)

Random Travolta Homage

"ah, ah, ah, ah, - staying alive, staying alive etc"

In response to meeting the great JT himself (see interview Matt Adcock Meets John Travolta) I had to post the above pic - for some strange reason I was one of the few people who actually quite enjoyed 'Staying Alive' - especially the end dance spectacular 'Satan's Alley' or whatever it was called...

So in a probably vain attempt to gage the readership of Darkmatters Blog - feel free to post your top JT movies in the comments section and we can compare notes:

My Top 5 are:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Get Shorty
3. Grease
4. Carrie
5. Staying Alive

Matt Adcock Meets John Travolta

"altogether now... he's behind you"

Everybody Be Cool this is an interview…

Matt Adcock Meets John Travolta

Cool, calm and collected – looking very good for his 51 years, in walks John Travolta and I feel slightly awed. Here he is in the flesh, the iconic dancer from Saturday Night Fever, the Grease ‘lightning’ superstar, the Pulp Fiction hitman and um, the dodgy looking alien from Battlefield Earth… Okay, apart from that last one, this guy is the last word in cool but for me his ‘coolest’ role is as Chili Palmer in Get Shorty and now back in Be Cool…

How do you see Chili Palmer?

“Chili’s a gangster, but he has an image of himself as much cooler gangster, more along the lines of James Bond. And one of my favourite screen idols was Sean Connery, in particular as Bond, so I just took that as inspiration for my own take on Chili Palmer. When Get Shorty first came out I actually got a call from Sean who said: ‘I just saw the film and I loved it.’
So, Chili is fearless and never loses his cool, he's dapper, elegant, fun, and romantic. Chili embodies all the things the Bond character does. But America has no character like Bond so I figured, why not make him the American answer to that – a kind of ‘street James Bond’?”

Chili Palmer is definitely cool but are you cool in real life?

“At home it’s hard to be ‘cool’ when my 4 year-old daughter is quick to tell me: "Oh Dad, stop it!" I wish I could be more like Chili in real life.”

I can relate, with a 4 year old at home too but what would you say is ‘cool’ for you?

“Want to know what’s cool? My planes are cool. They're in the backyard. A few days ago I kissed the kids goodbye in the pool, walked 20 steps, got in the plane and flew to London. That's cool.”

Can’t argue with that, so what was your favourite line in Be Cool?

“One of my favourite lines in the film is Cedric’s (Cedric the Entertainer who plays a rap-artist producer), he’s about to shoot somebody and he says, ‘and don’t tell me to be cool. I am cool.’ Isn’t that everything this movie is?”

How was getting down on the dance floor again with Uma Thurman?

“With this movie being set in the music industry, we couldn’t resist it. The Black Eyed Peas had done a brilliant rap version of a Joabim song called ‘Sexy’ and it was exactly what I wanted to dance to. The dance scene was always going to happen in this film, getting to dance with Uma again was a bonus!”

What about working with The Rock (who plays Elliot – a camp bodyguard / wannabe actor)?

“After listening to Elliot do his audition monologue – I can relate to how Chili reacts. I think I'm very kind to people who aren't particularly good. I feel I would have probably responded exactly like he does, being very calm and non-reactive and giving some gentle words of advice. I like the idea that Chili would sooner kick his ass than insult his talent.”

Finally – is there any chance of you doing a Grease sequel (I have to ask as my wife is a huge Grease fan)?

“Let's not go there… Grease must be left alone.”

Darkmatters Fiction - CLERIC artwork

CLERIC...

This is cool, as my novel Darkmatters creeps ever nearer completion (still aiming for this Summer!!) I have commissioned a very talented fantasy artist 'Keith Thompson' to come up with some initial visuals of the characters.

Below I'd like to introduce you to the "Hero" of Darkmatters - Cleric.

It's an absolute head rush to see something that as existed only in my head and in words on page suddenly take form... click the picture to see it in more detail...

"a friend of mine..."

Cleric’s memories of his past loves were vivid – imperfect yet comforting unless picked at for any length of time, a lot like scar tissue – almost as good as before but never quite the original. At least he could still differentiate between his memories and reality – which was more than his 'friend' Sxboy (SB) could. SB was wired, living in a half trance never more than a nanosecond away from his hardwired lustjoints. To say ‘addicted’ was not to fully acknowledge just how fully he had been taken over by his obsession. His mind boiled with a million images of scantly clad females – always almost but never quite naked – and his libido burned white hot, every second of every hour. Yet ironically it had been a long long time since he had actually been intimate with a woman. Having been one of the first to be fitted with a Scon8 chip, he was forever lost in his own make believe fantasy world – all in the comfort of his own mind – and due to this rendering most of his social skills obsolete, it really disadvantaged him when trying to impress the fairer sex.The institute for populace deviance owned and monitored the data stream from his Scon8 chip and had found a way to fund their work by broadcasting the highlights on one of the multitude of ‘arousal’ channels…

OK - so Cleric has a dodgy taste in friends but he still just might get the girl, kill the baddies and save the entire planet - you'll have chance to find out if the ultimate confrontation between good and evil ends in tears when Darkmatters hits the shelves...

read sneak peeks here:

A Brief History Of Darkmatter

Cleric Shows Up

Fear Of Death

Film Scene - gun battle

Test Subject #30022

Cleric Gets Mugged

PSP - the reason we have thumbs?

"Matt's commute to work"

PSP - it's out in the USA now, out in Japan... but nobody knows for sure when it will come out over here in the UK... Still, I'm happily playing my Japanese import model (perfect, no dead pixels, 1Gb mem stick) and pretty much everyone who has a play with it (WipEout Pure is a great intro game) walks away slack jawed and vowing to get one - it kind of sells itself.

Anyway - I heard today that the latest South Park episode was written about the PSP - Kenny got one, Cartman wanted it etc... and then I stumbled over the wicked cartoon above at www.penny-arcade.com/ which is a site well worth a look... seems the PSP is seeping into the universal conciousness of society nicely...

So, think I'm gonna go bag some Metal Gear Acid plus maybe a Tiger Woods Golf?

Film Review: Stander

"You're Scheming On A Thing; That's Sabotage"

Stander
Dir. Bronwen Hughes

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Good cop – great criminal!!

Stander is cool crime caper based on the true story of André Stander, a South African homicide/robbery police captain who became one of the most notorious bank robbers in the country.

Thomas ‘The Punisher’ Jane plays the lead and obviously has a lot of fun as the cop who decides to defy the system and goes on an audacious crime spree; robbing banks during his lunch hour then returning to the scene of the crime to lead the investigation.

He gets taken down by his cop colleagues and jailed – and it is his speech in front of the court which highlights his dismay at being part of the oppressive system which sees him having to shoot and kill a black protester: “I'm tried for robbing banks. But, I have killed unarmed people.” To which the Judge replies “That is not the business of the court.”

It doesn’t end there – in jail Stander gets to know Allan Heyl (David O'Hara) and Lee McCall (a great turn by Dexter Fletcher). After a daring jailbreak, the 'Stander Gang' – looking for all the world like the Beastie Boys in their Sabotage video - go on a top robbery rampage. Their crimes get increasingly bold – even returning to a bank to rob it again when they hear the manager boasting that he had a second safe hidden…

So, loved by the public, their blatant disregard for authority makes them folk heroes and enemy no. 1 of the State.

Stander is a great film – it shows the issues of the time in a powerful way and ramps up enough robbery action to satisfy crime fans. It has a fun vibe too, some of the most wicked moustaches you’ll ever see and characters that you can’t help being sucked in by. A classy soundtrack helps nail this as a film really worth checking out when it opens at the end of May in the UK.

Darkmatt Rating: öööö (top drawer)

Film Review: The Punisher

"your punishment - watch the DVD"

The Punisher
Dir. Jonathan Hensleigh

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“God's going to sit this one out” says Frank Castle aka The Punisher and to be honest I don’t blame God for doing that… The Punisher is a kick ass Marvel comic book hero who has been unlucky twice now in his cinematic turns. First there was the Dolph Lundgren (last seen in 2004’s ‘Fat Slags’ - the movie, as a gym instructor) version back in 1989. That film’s claim to fame was that 91 people got killed individually on screen, not including those who died en masse in explosions, etc… I’m not sure if any of those were reflections of audience members but safe to say that it was no classic (although now I have a strange desire to watch it again after seeing this new version).

As Frank himself says: “Those who do evil to others - the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists - you will come to know me well…”– I guess they’re the type of people who will get this on DVD?
Still, The Punisher isn’t the worst action film I’ve ever seen but the tone jumps about horribly so that you can never be entirely sure whether to laugh or cry. Just for the record, The Punisher's arsenal includes: two modified Colt M1911 pistols, a Glock 18 with extended magazine and folding buttstock, a Colt Commando with attached M203 Grenade Launcher, a Colt Python revolver, a spring-loaded knife and a Claymore anti-personnel mine – but somehow it still doesn’t feel like he’s mean enough…

Stand out scenes were, um, damn there must have been some but all I can remember is some fat blonde Russian hitman having a slapstick slapdown (whilst looking a little bit like a blimped out Dolph Lundgren), the character called 'Spacker Dave' was played by Ben 'was cool in Hostage' Foster, oh and John Travolta who did his patented ‘arch villain’ bit. More about John Travolta soon as I got to meet him the other week at the UK Press Launch of Be Cool so check back for that.

Alas Frank Castle really is dead.

Call me The Punisher and please give me a better plot in the sequel…

Darkmatt Rating: öö (punishment for the viewer)

Film Review: Valiant

"pigeons - not just flying rats but war heroes!!"

Valiant (U)

Dir. Gary Chapman

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
No it’s, Super…oh hang on I’m pretty sure that IS a bird – but not just any bird… That’s Valiant – heroic CGI wood pigeon, bravest of the brave, one patriotic little Brit who will stand up to the might of the Nazi hawks and try and save the day.

If you’re hankering for something a bit different, something to amuse the kids, make you smile and tickle your ‘proud to be British’ buttons then look no further. You don’t even have to like pigeons very much, but thanks to the excellent voice talents of Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry, John Cleese and Rik Mayall – to name but a few – you could well find a small place in your heart for them anyway.

Bizarre as it might sound, this is a thoroughly ‘old fashioned’ digitally animated comedy telling the story of a little pigeon named Valiant (McGregor). Valiant is a Nemo like runt-of-the-litter who overcomes his small size to help the Allies war effort by flying vital messages across the English Channel, whilst trying to avoid being eaten by the enemy's falcon brigade.

Based on the ‘real life’ Royal Homing Pigeon Service whose birds won more than 30 medals during WW2!? Valiant might be choc full of patriotism, clichés and bodily function gags (care of Gervais’ Bugsy) – but it also serves as a salute to the role that homing pigeons actually played in the war.

Try as it might, Valiant probably isn’t going to trouble the likes of the mighty Pixar or out gross the latest flash CGI film - Robots (which also has a character voiced by McGregor). But Vanguard productions have put a lot of heart into their film and it’s hard not to be swept up in the ‘bunch of unlikely misfits get entrusted with the big mission’ excitement.

Tim Curry is great as Von Talon, the lead pigeon menacing Nazi falcon, and Gervais pretty much steals the show as reluctant hero Bugsy who provides most of the comic relief. As the Brentmeister himself explains: “I have always wanted to be a big mouthy bird!” and that’s exactly what Bugsy is…

So the first 3D CGI film to be produced in the UK, turns out to be a hit, it’s a feel good, family friendly treat that deserves to be seen.

Darkmatt Rating: ööö (Tally Ho!!)

Read my interview with one of the 'Valiant' stars: Matt Adcock Meets Ricky Gervais

PSP WipEout Pure = Heaven on Earth

"Sony PSP wipes the smile off competitors faces with WipEout Pure"

WipEout Pure - US version

The PSP really is an amazing little piece of hardware - and now that the US launch has taken place the US games are finding their way over to the UK,

which is s w e e t !!!

I picked up WipEout Pure and have not been able to put it down since. This game captures the perfect vibe that Wipeout games have always been associated with - insane speed, multi vehicle combat, gorgeous graphics and serious playability...

Put it this way, if you like videogames even a tiny bit, WipEout Pure will blow your socks off and put a mile wide grin on your face.

"come on then...

temporary shields can lead to brash comments in multiplayer wireless mode"

Doctor Who Will See You... On Saturday!!

"artwork by insane creative genius and school-time friend who introduced me to the joys of CARTER USM...

Mister Lee Davies - remember that name he's gonna be big!!"

Who? is back...

The Doctor, a renegade Time Lord, an eccentric, highly-intelligent scientist from a distant planet...
Travelling through time and space in the TARDIS (which looks like an old Police telephone box and is larger on the inside than on the outside). The destroyer of Daleks, crusher of Cybermen and nemesis of The Master. He saves planets for a living - well more of a hobby actually, but he's quite good at it. He's saved us from alien menaces and evil from before time began - but just who is he?

Well, this time he's played by Christopher Eccleston and has a new sidekick Rose Tyler (Billie Piper)...

And we of the Adcock household are very excited about the new series (hopefully it will get that balance between being scary enough and fun enough to be embraced by my cool kids Luke and James -who don't even know who Dr Who? is... yet).

Bush captured 'thinking up some foreign policy'

"the most powerful man on the planet... on the toilet"

I have a friend named Lee Davies, he's gifted, he can conjure up superb visual artworks like the one above. Man I'd love to be able to draw like that but my thing is writing (which is far less cool to look at).

Click the title of this post to see some more of Lee's artwork!!

Or click here to see Lee's visual of the new Dr Who? Doctor Who