The Cherries v The Saints

Last night, Bournemouth met Southampton for the first time in a very long time, in the first round of the Carling Cup.

It didn't quite go the Cherries' way, but they put up a good show, and confidence must be raised as the season begins.

You can view the match report here: BBC Sport - Football - Southampton 2-0 Bournemouth

Anyway, whilst they may have lost last night; there are two further meetings of the clubs, in the League One fixtures, and as I write this, Bournemouth are ahead of Southampton (albeit by one place!)  Gotta take what you can!

Come on you Cherries.....

IMDb - Movies in your pocket(?)

Review time once more, and this time it's another FREE app, available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

I'm a bit of a cinema fan; as you may have gathered from previous posts, and I'm also a user of IMDb.

What is IMDb?  It's the Internet Movie Database.  Part of the Amazon group, IMDB tells you everything you ever wanted to know about films, actors, directors, what's in production and lots, lots, more.

As described on Wikipedia:

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games, and most recently, fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. IMDb launched on October 17, 1990, and in 1998 was acquired by Amazon.com.

It's a veritable treasure trove of information. From film reviews, to useless information; from comments by users, to quotes from directors et al.

There is now an app on the iPad, that, for film lovers, is an absolute must have.  Not only does it highlight the latest releases, but you can search on the actors, see which films they've appeared in, and watch trailers of most movies.  Indeed, there are some classic trailers to watch.

I love the fact that you can seamlessly drill down further, from details about an actor, to films they've appeared in, to looking at other actors, directors etc.

The App does allow you to set your current location, but that appears to have no effect; that I have noticed, so I'm unsure as to the reason behind this.  I can only assume it works better in the US, where the local film times can be displayed.  It would be great if you could do this for the UK too.

Overall, it's presented beautifully, and takes full advantage of the graphical ability and screen size of the iPad.

The A Team - Theme

The A-Team is a fun-packed, not to be taken seriously, movie, set before the men become "imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit".

Here is the theme tune as you may never have heard it before.

Toy Story 3D - The Toys Are Back In Town

Second visit to the cinema this week, and let's be honest, it was a much lighter film this time.

Toy Story 3 (in 3D) is, without a doubt, a cinematic feast.  Pixar have, once more, produced a film that is light hearted, funny, emotional and so well delivered, that you have to remember that this is just animation.

I can hear Oscar calling already.


The voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen once more take the lead roles of Woody and Buzz Lightyear, and Joan Cusack, John Ratzenburger, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles and Michael Keaton also appear.

Jon Morris, the voice of Andy, first appeared as the young boy, in the original, so it's nice that they brought him back as the 17-year old, about to go to college.

Walt Disney Pictures summarise the story as follows:

Woody, Buzz and the whole gang are back. As their owner Andy prepares to depart for college, his loyal toys find themselves in daycare where untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice. So, it's all for one and one for all as they join Barbie's counterpart Ken, a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear to plan their great escape.

The great thing about this is that Pixar don't use the 3D effect as a gimmick.  There is nothing 'flying' out of the screen at you; the effect is purely used to tell the story.  It's bright, the characters well drawn, the textures of the materials are perfect. It's most definitely worth a second viewing.


Oh, and have your kleenex handy; Pixar have become masters of tugging at the heart-strings, and this is no exception!


In true Pixar style, the programme started with a Pixar short, called Day & Night.  A lovely film about two characters; one a bright sunny fellow, the other a stranger of darker moods.  Their suspicions turn to curiosity, and over time they find their friendship can offer a new perspective on the world.


Make sure you're not late to miss this....

Inception

I recently saw "Inception"; the latest offering from Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight).

It's a very clever film, which although a little confusing in the opening scenes, quickly establishes itself as gripping thriller / action adventure.

The story is unique in concept, and I'm not going to spoil it for you; except introduce the trailer



They do say that pictures speak a thousand words...

Say no more...