Event: Mince Pie Tasting

Apart from Heather, my household are real devils when it comes to the humble mince pie. As soon as Christmas appears its silly little head then you can be sure our fasting is over and boxes of pies will soon appear then disappear. But which is best?

This idea comes from Adam since he wanted to know if it was worth paying the extra for the ‘special’ mince pies or were we just as happy with the cheapo ones. For the preceding few weeks I picked up a box (and hid it from our gluttons) from a variety of stores. It would have been nice to purchase some from a posh shop in London (namely Selfridges or Harrods) but unfortunately my work pattern didn’t quite allow for this indulgence.

Once our pies were heated enough, a team of experts (aka my wider family) were assembled to score both the pie's looks and then its taste. As in true scientific testing, Adam and I implemented a double-blind testing approach in order that we couldn’t bias the final result. The overall score was weighted in favour of the taste versus looks. We also allowed additional comments where the judge thought of something more constructive than ‘yuk’ or ‘yummy’.

The final scores were:

Brand	Name	Cost	Looks	Taste	Total
Iceland	Luxury	£1.50	46	41	64
Asda	Baker's Selection	£0.89	37	48	67
Mr Kipling	Mice PIe	£1.50	34	40	57
Morrison	Mince Pie	£1.00	44	29	51
Asda	Extra Special	£1.50	34	46	63
Aldi	Holly Lane	£0.89	43	43	65

This gives top place to Asda’s standard mince pie (89p for 6). This even beat their ‘special’ mince pie in both looks and taste (two people commented that the special one tasted bland even though it contained brandy).

Second place goes to another budget mince pie, Holly Lane (from Aldis; 89p for 6).

Bringing up the rear, we have Mr Kipling (which had lots of fruit but didn’t taste that nice) and Morrisons (fruitless and tasteless).

Seems we have a simple moral here: don't to buy on price but to give the cheap end of the market your focus.

File Review: Moana

Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House Dir: Ron Clements, Don Hall "The ocean is calling." Genre: Comedy, Animation

Volunteer: Aladdin Pantomine

Second show today. I've decided that afternoon shows are far more fun since there are more children involved. Adults are just a bit more reserved and quieter.

Volunteer: Aladdin Pantomine

First of two shows today.

Event: 50 Cinema Reviews

Over the last 150 days I have diligently gone to the cinema to see almost every movie release in the UK. I’ve seen sub-titled movies from Poland, Japan and India, reviewed 2 zombie movies, seen some great action movies and some poor comedies. I have often disagreed with the film establishment on what makes a good movie and some of my scores do not even align with IMDB. I do however have a better understanding of what make an enjoyable movie to me.

In all I’ve reached my target of 50 movies in a record time. As my cinema sesson pass is still going strong, and I’m still enjoying my regular visits, I’m going to keep it going but with simpler reviews. Each review takes quite a bit of effort and I’ve now got plenty of other constraints on my time so my paperwork focus must go elsewhere.

As ever, let me know if you disagree with my assessments or I’ve missed a movie that I should have made the effort to go and see.

Happy film watching.

Volunteer: Santa In Love

This was just a short show with Santa and a fairy putting on a show for the kids, who ultimately meeting Santa and receiving a gift. All was good with 40 toddlers in a room but when a few of them are terrified of Santa then the crying can be draining after 5 minutes never mind after the full 45 minutes.

Recipe: Turkey, Ham and Leek Pie

So you had the Christmas Turkey and have been left with 10 kg uneaten meat. What are you going to do with it? Opposed to the regular turkey curry, this pie turns the left-overs into a hearty feast which tastes rather yummy.

I made the pie filling a couple of days earlier then stored it in the fridge. The stock was made from the bones and so gave the sauce a rich turkey flavour. Then on the day it took almost no time to build the pie before sitting down to a great treat. Almost worth having the turkey just for the pie.

The recipe can be found here: Turkey, Leek and Ham Pie

Film Review: Passengers

In future, in order to travel the vast distances of space it will become essential for all people on-board spaceships to sleep for vast parts of the journey. Passengers tells the story of what happens when some passengers wake up after only 30 years of a 120 year journey. Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is first to wake, then later Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) joins him in trying to find a way for them to survive the boredom of space, find the reason for the early wake-up call and ultimately find a way for them to go back to sleep. Having a very small cast allows the story to explore different sides of the characters, from loneliness to love, past to the future. Chris (who despite the billing is the main character), Jennifer and the android Arthur (Michael Sheen) are all great through both the mundane and action scenes. The script is the main weakness in the whole set up. Although the overall premise is good, some of the scenes would have fallen totally flat without the actors pulling off some great work. Clichés are abound and there are little surprises if you have seen the trailer. And why do we keep seeing Jennifer Lawrence in a swimsuit? (of course I know the answer but it adds little to the plot development) Overall, even with it shortfalls, this is a very decent film and well worth seeing

Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen Dir: Morten Tyldum "There is a reason they woke up" Genre: Drama

Support Cause: Remove Tallow from Bank Notes

A petition to remove tallow from plastic English bank notes.

Petition here

Volunteer: Aladdin Pantomine

I noticed that the Aladdin cast are getting more relaxed with the ad-libs now ... probably a sign they are much more relaxed with their script and each other.

Film Review: Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan

Although I’ve watched pieces of several Bollywood movies, I’ve never got more than 10 minutes in before I channel flicked. For my 50 movies I decided that I would watch one from start to finish, Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan was my random choice. This is the story of a man who tries to become a movie star but fails. To save face he promises his village that his son will instead become one. The comedy follows the life of Krishnan’s (Vishnu Unnikrishnan) attempts to get in front of the camera, his escapades with a pretty girl and the banter he has with his friend, and auto-rickshaw driver, Dasappan (Dharmajan Bolgatty). Before I get to an opinion I need to describe a little the background for my viewing. The cinema had perhaps 30 people including about 4 kids. Throughout the show these kids played around the seats, shouting and chasing, and even several times pulled my jumper to get me to play. Kinda added a chaotic Indian feeling to the whole affair. The sub-titles were also all over the place. Although I believe ever word the actors said was beautifully documented, the time the words were flashed on the screen was often far, far too short and no human would have been able to read this quick. This should have been film-maker 101 class even if it mean abridging some of the word phrases. I tried my best but there were times when I total lost the plot of the character banter. So onto the story, it was very fragmented and although comedies are allowed to be a little broken, there appeared to be little attempt in good continuity. Many of the jokes seriously failed with me, and only after I read some other reviews did I appreciate that the film was full of various in-jokes and contained many cultural cross references. So my final rating must be taken based on the fact that I neither speak the native language or could understand some of the jokes. The acting was often a little wooden, particularly attempts to cry. I’m not sure if this is a Bollywood style of acting or whether this was just plain old poor performances. I don’t have enough experience of this genre to possibly give it some leniency. I rate again based on my experience of Western styles. Finally, the most amusing element of the film for me was the fact that every time there was sight of a whiff of cigarette smoke or a glass of alcohol, then a health warning would appear along the bottom of the screen. Sometimes it was hard to even see the offending element since if might be hiding in a crowd scene in the background. I guess they have different film rules in India.

Prayaga Martin, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Rahul Madhav Dir: Nadirsha Language: Malayalam Genre: Comedy

Film Review: Pitbull - Niebezpieczne kobiety

Another sub-titled movie, this time Polish, comes in the form of Pitbull - Niebezpieczne kobiety (Tough Women). Coming after Pitbull and Pitbull - Nowe porzadki (New Orders), it is the 3rd in the series. The story in a multi-layered affair where we see several major characters interacting in a combination of storylines, including: Policeman put under protection because he killed biker during a raid Policeman’s daughter getting pregnant with bodyguard Woman joins police force and plays hardnut and gets suspended Tax collector is involved in fuel duty VAT fraud with biker And so on and so forth My biggest problem with the story is that I hadn’t seen the previous two films. From the cast lists it appears that many of the same characters had already been introduced to the public so this allowed the director to jump straight into the story. As a new viewer the number of characters and plotlines made it a challenge to keep all the threads clear in my head, particularly as I also spent significant time reading the subtitles and not the faces. In fairness, all elements of the film were good (acting/script/cinematography) and may in fact be excellent if I could have fully followed the action. Perhaps a second viewing is in order to really get to the bottom of the twists and turns.

Alicja Bachleda, Zuzanna Bernat, Piotr Bulcewicz Dir: Patryk Vega Language: Polish Genre: Action

Event: Bounce on a Trampoline

Apart from a couple of bounces on a friend’s trampoline, I haven’t had a good bounce for at least a couple of decades. So with the advent of the trampoline park it was definitely time to slip off the shoes and take to the stretched canvas.

In our area there are two parks, one in Stone and one Wolverhampton, but with Heather having been to both it was clear that Air Space in Wolverhampton was by far the largest so this was the venue of choice.

On arrival it’s definitely a woh moment. I’m used to 4 or 6 trampolines in a row but this venue has hundreds all laid out in different arenas.

They have a large freestyle area with wall running, high performance area with more powerful trampolines, dodgeball zone, volleyball zone, parkour zone as well as several of smaller zones with things to play on e.g. football, assault course, airbags, duck under/jump over a spinning bar.

Heather, Adam and myself had a great time and came away totally exhausted. I have no idea how people survive the 2 hour session option because 1 hour was quite enough for us. Highly recommended.

Film Review: Allied

Set during the 2nd World War, Allied follows the story of two undercover agents, Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard), as they work to assassinate the German Ambassador in Casablanca, and ultimately fall in love. The story then moves from Casablanca to London where they come under repeated attack from nightly German bombing runs. Their love blossoms, they get married and settle down. Although the story is a little slow at the beginning it greatly improves once the action kicks off. The plot has plenty of twist ‘n turns which keeps you guessing on the final outcome. Brad and Marion provide excellent performances and you feel real empathy for the characters as they face their various dilemmas.

Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris Dir: Robert Zemeckis "The enemy is listening" Genre: Drama

Recipe: Christmas Pudding

Coming up to Christmas there is nothing better than a rich Christmas pudding, and as I hadn’t made one in 25 years, it was time to give it another go.

After reading a few reviews, I plunked for the Nigel Slater recipe but it became clear pretty early on that this is a BIG pudding. Due to a lack of suitable steaming bowls I had to resort to creating two separate puddings. As it turns out, this was a piece of luck since the finished puddings were great and we could consume them it at the two separate Christmas parties we enjoy with Sue relatives and then mine.

Flaming the brandy over it was a little challenging but eventually we got a satisfying blue flame to engulf the pudding.

Ultimately a great pudding which was both moist and fruity, and with some fresh cream poured over the top, it was quite divine.

The recipe can be found here:

Recipe: Chicken Sag

I've always liked a spinach curry, or sag, so I've looked forward to creating my own. However in the lead up to Christmas I fell behind on my blogging and forgot to record the details. Anyway here's a picture I took. My notes say that I scored it a 5 but I've no idea why ;(

Support Cause: Reopen Kingsmead Car Park

A petition to reopen Kingsmead car park in order to help save the local businesses.

Petition here

Film Review: Sully: Miracle on the Hudson

Sully: Miracle on the Hudson tells the true story of an American pilot, Chesley Sullenberger (“Sully”, Tom Hanks), and how he was able to land a passenger airliner on the Hudson River after his two engines experience a bird strike and total fail. The main focus is Sully and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart), and how they cope with being made heroes by the public, then the pressures of the subsequent enquiry. As the investigation progresses and the heroics of Sully are challenged by various pieces of evidence, the story draws you in as you wonder what the truth really is. As ever, Tom Hanks excels in portraying a warm character who’s been put into a new and unexpected situation. While director, Clint Eastwood, has avoided glamorising the whole affair with extra drama, but focuses on the core facts. It would have been easy to give the story the Hollywood make-over but instead he keeps things simple, and for this reason it feels even more real.

Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney Dir: Clint Eastwood "The untold story behind the miracle on the Hudson" Genre: Drama

Film Review: Office Christmas Party

If your office is inline to be closed, and you have to make a final effort to save it, how far would you go? Well in Office Christmas Party they decide to go the whole hog in order to land a deal with a potential customer by showing that their company is full of ‘interesting’ people. Of course, all hell breaks out as the alcohol flows and the ideas get wilder. This is a fun Christmas themed film where Josh Parker (Jason Bateman) plays a crazy boss who wants to look after all his staff, while Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) is his straight-laced CEO sister who can’t wait to dump them all on the unemployment queue. Not only does Josh need to battle his sister but he also has to handle all the fallout from the craziness he creates from the various dumb party ideas. Overall a good fun film which is different enough to be likeable and will leave a smile on your face.

Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller Dir: Josh Gordon, Will Speck "Party like your job depends on it" Genre: Comedy

Voluteer: Aladdin Pantomine

The 'Front of House Manager' (FOH), Darren, sent out a message a few hours before the start of the show asking for some extra volunteers. As the rain was kinda miserable, I thought some live music peppered with some old jokes would cheer things up a bit. And so I found myself at the Gatehouse on a Saturday afternoon.

Recipe: Beef and Ale Stew With Dumplings

Although the basic recipe is similar to other beef and ale mixtures I've made in the past, the addition of the dumplings was new.

The dumplings are made from butter opposed to classic suet and hence should be a little better for you.

The family really liked this recipe, and the dumplings were devine and really worked well.

The recipe can be found here: Beef and Ale Stew with Dumplings

Volunteer: Aladdin Pantomine

How better to finish my training but experience my first (or many) pantomine shows, Aladdin. Tonight was 'press night' so lets see what the papers bring next week

Album Review: Enigma/The Fall Of A Rebel Angel

Over the last 25 years, seven records have been created by Cretu under the project name Enigma. Its been 8 years since the last one, Seven Lives Many Faces, so it was definitely time for another, and The Fall Of A Rebel Angel provide the incarnation. As with previous launches there have been no screaming fans, no hype and Cretu will continue to avoid the gossip pages. Despite this, he has still managed to sell 70 million records, reached the top of the charts 60 times and entered the top 10 an impressive 80 times. He stayed in the Billboard album charts for five years straight, got three Grammy nominations and has achieved Gold and Platinum sales over 100 times. But can he do it again?

Circle Eight (featuring Nanuk) The Omega Point Diving The Die Is Cast (featuring Mark Josher) Mother (featuring Anggun) Agnus Dei Sadeness (Part II) (featuring Anggun) Lost in Nothingness Oxygen Red (featuring Anggun) Confession of the Mind Absolvo Amen (featuring Aquilo)

The album is definitely part of Enigma right from the offset where we are taken back to the first album, MCMXC a.D.1990, with the bars from “this is the voice of Enigma….”. Later on we get a follow up on another old favourite, Sadeness, where a gothic orchestra samples Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor while Anggun provides some haunting vocals. As with previous album there are several tracks which lull you into a dreamy state. In both Diving and Lost In Nothingness we get sounds slowly fading from one note to the next backed by waves on a shingle beach. Absolvo has more water lapping, and deep echoes from singing in a church. If you’re tired then I expect it a challenge to stay awake to the end of the album. Not everything is totally chilled, and The Omega Point provides a slightly more rocky track. Other notable highlights include The Die Is Cast and its build up to a great climax, and Mother featuring the classic Enigma sound with Anggun hushed singing. It wouldn’t have been out of place to have listened to these tracks 25 years ago. The aptly named final track, Amen, provides the strongest track on the album. Aquilo's great vocals are emphasised against the moody melody. The addition of the beating back vocals helps Aquilo punch his vocals through. This is a good album that deserves to do better in the charts than its currently doing. Some of the melodies will sound familiar however in the new setting they provide continuity rather than leaving you feeling cheated.

Volunteer: Martyn Joseph

Martyn Joseph is great guitar (primarily acoustic) player. He entertains with selection of political and thought provoking songs. Enjoyed the show enough to buy one of his album. Martyn's website is here

Volunteer: Met Comedy

Regular comedy night in the Met theatre. Capacity is 150 people and tonight we had 110 people from the same group! Dave's 50th party in a comedy club was a good call since our 3 comedians were on form tonight. The fact that everyone seemed to know everyone added to the cross-audience banter.

Film Review: Bad Santa 2

Even though I’ve never seen Bad Santa, I thought jumping into the sequel, Bad Santa 2, would be no problem. After all it’s just a festive comedy. As far as the story goes then this is certainly true however in order to acclimatise to the extreme language and subject matter I think a warm up act would have been welcome. Washed up drunk, Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thorton), is joined by his mother (Kathy Bates) and midget Marcus (Tony Cox) to rob a charity of their Christmas collection. The three losers plan and exercise the robbery but of course since they are deadbeats everything goes wrong. With no redeeming features, every character is a very nasty piece of work and you find yourself hoping they all get caught. There are no heroes here. The film has plenty of funny scenes but expect lots of cringe moments too. If you’re at all sensitive to rude language or subject matter then give it a wide birth …. you will hate it. For those with a stronger stomach and who enjoy endless tirades of swear words then there’s enjoyment to be found.

Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox Dir: Mark Waters "Wilder. Drunker. Badder." Genre: Comedy

Film Review: Edge of Seventeen

Two coming-of-age movies in one week must be a record. First Your Name and now The Edge Of Seventeen. At least the underlying stories were completely different. In The Edge Of Seventeen we see Nadine (Hailee Stenfeld) struggling with all the life changes happening around her. First her best friend starts dating her brother, her self-confidence crashes, her single parent mum has lost her way and finally she fails to make any progress in her own love relationships. Identifying with her disinterested teacher (Woody Harrelson), she is able to discuss her issues with this confidant. He acts as a sounding board and while this clearly help the audience see what craziness is happening inside her head, the interactions are wonderfully scripted and acted, and were the highlight for the movie. The story is a bit of a slow in the first half but greatly improves later as the different story threads come together and various revelations start to play out.

Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner Dir: Kelly Fremon Craig "You're only young once... is it over yet?" Genre: Comedy, Drama

Film Review: Your Name

As a Japanese sub-titled animation film, I expected to be watching Your Name in a deserted theatre. I duly turned up 10 minutes before the film and was told it was full. Okay I’ll have a ticket for the showing 2 hours later. Full. Okay let’s go for the late show. Full. Shocked I walked away even more eager to see what I was missing. I returned a week later and although a seat was available, I was left to sit right in the corner. This is a popular film in central London. The story tells how a rural girl, Mitsuha, goes to sleep and wakes up exchanging life positions with a boy, Taki, who like in Tokyo. Each time they sleep another swap occurs and confusion ensues as they re-adjust to the different life. Eventually Mitsuha and Taki work out what is happening and start to communicate through leaving messages for each other to read the next time they swap. This is an unusual story and as the mystery of a pending disaster unfolds there is increased tension. At times the audience are in intense silence, at other times laughing loud. Given the sub-titles and the volume of some of the laughter, either the comedy didn’t quite hit it with me or the translations were a little lapse. Either way it was always fun when the boy woke up as a girl, checked out his new breasts and was also inevitably caught out by the girl’s sister. The animation was generally good however there were definitely two different qualities. At times the image was fine detailed e.g. raindrops on a pavement, while other times it was closer to traditional cartoon drawings. It wasn’t a problem but it did break the moment as the scenes switched.

Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryô Narita Dir: Makoto Shinkai Genre: Animated, Drama