Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall this was a great movie. The atmosphere is dark and foreboding from get go and Javier Bardem is fantastic in the hitman role. He’s like a human terminator all the way through. Tommy Lee Jones is society’s conscience worrying about how the world is degrading and Josh Brolin is the unwitting victim that doesn’t know he’s in over his head.
I have to say though that I didn’t like the end. The very final scene just didn’t do it for me. I would have much preferred to finish it with the scene just before. Also everything seemed to be happening at a steady pace and then boom, it’s all over. It just felt wrong to me. However, I’d still recommend it and I’m glad I watched it.
Jack Ryan, as a young covert C.I.A. analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Having read the reviews my expectations we’re low enough going into this but it’s actually a pretty good movie. Typical action movie fare but well done. Decent story that storms along at a good speed and four good actors that work well together and are well cast for the parts they play even if the Russian accents are more Hollywood than Moscow. Definitely worth watching.
The CIA’s most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The 5th and most likely final, installment of the Bourne Series of movies. It follows on directly from The Bourne Ultimatum and recall requires knowledge of at least the first three movies in the series. If you have watched and enjoyed them then this one will come as no surprise as it keeps to the same story and characters.
It’s far from predictable though. The quality of production and direction is superb and the story moves at a perfect pace that keeps the action fast without losing control of the story. It all leads up to an excellent final confrontation proceeded by a great car chase and face to face action scene.
The two main characters are fantastically portrayed by Matt Damon (definitely one of my favourite actors) and Tommy Lee Jones but are very well supported by CIA agent Alicia Vikander and asset Vincent Cassel
If this is the final Bourne movie then it’s a very fitting end to an excellent series of movies.
On Tuesday last week our restrictions were relaxed to allow us to exercise up to 5km from home as opposed to the original 2km. Apart from an aborted MTB spin it took me a full week to yesterday to get motivated to get out on my road bike.
I had identified what looked like a pretty decent route that used some familiar roads but also threw in a few completely unknown sections to give a distance of 35-45km that could easily be stretched to 60km with a little bit of repetition.
I had planned to go out shortly after lunch but my motivation was still low and with the weather looking poorer than the last few days, it took until 3pm before I forcibly pealed myself off the sofa.
There was a noticeably sharp edge to the wind that created a dither about clothes and I eventually settled on jersey and gillet with arm warmers based on the fact it allowed me to remove layers if needed. Turned out I needed them all, especially on the descents and the only change was opening zips on the longer climbs. Definite change to my last few spins.
For a route that was chosen from a map based simply on the 5km radius it turned out pretty good. There are a good mix of climbs and descents, some short, some long and apart from a couple of short sections good surfaces. Turned out to be way more climbing than I expected though and with tired and achy legs and a reasonably strong Northerly breeze I really struggled and it felt much harder than it should have and despite it being my first proper cycle since 26th March I didn’t really enjoy it. I ended up taking the shorter option of 35km instead of the 45ish I had originally planned.
Despite all this moaning and complaining it is a good route, one I will be repeating over the next few weeks of continued restrictions and possibly beyond when I want a short but challenging spin.
One stretch is really enjoyable. Although it’s uphill it’s lined with fairly mature conifers on both sides and almost up to the edge of the road. It creates a great tunnel effect and a reasonably unusual sight around here as a lot of the mature forestry has been harvested over the last few years and the new plantings are still very young. Worth stopping for a photo
Her life is devoted to justice; for those she never even knew. In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Temperance detects an alarming pattern and she plunges into a harrowing search for a killer. But her investigation is about to place those closest to her, her best friend and her own daughter, in mortal danger…
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
This was a good book but I found it hard to get into. Nothing much seemed to be happening for the first half/two thirds of the story but it did definitely pick up towards the finish. The story skips around quite a bit which makes it a difficult one to read in small chunks and the style also doesn’t lend itself to reading one chapter at a time. The introduction of a lot of unfamiliar Canadian police and political organisations and acronyms compounded this.
My other issue was the unavoidable comparisons to Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. I had read a few of this Temperance Brennan series a number of years ago and found them quite good and when I went back looking for them found Kay Scarpetta instead. That was unfortunate as Temperance Brennan is a much better series as far as I remember.
Temperance is also a much better character and despite some annoying personality characteristics is very likeable. Then there is the permanently pissed off and dismissive Claudel and the smoldering relationship with Ryan. The development of the murderer and the building of the case against him is well done.
I’m expecting to enjoy the rest of the series and possibly consign Kay Scarpetta to the bin once and for all.
The year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years – and it’s meant billions for OmniCorp’s bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
It’s hard to watch this reboot and not compare it to the original 1987 movie. In some ways it almost the same but it has been changed. The premise for the creation of a RobCop is different and the corporation involvement has been brought up to date with modern day. Saying that the main storyline of the struggle between man and machine is pretty much the same.
As action movies go it was pretty decent but not outstanding. The special effects are pretty good and the action scenes short but good. The last 20-30min are probably the best of the whole movie.
The two most familiar actors are Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson. They both play baddies. Keaton is the obvious bad guy but Jackson is the subtle manipulating media that’s very relevant in today’s modern world.
If you liked this then make sure you go back and watch the 1987 original at some stage.
If all goes according to the government’s “Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business” announced on Friday 1st May then Phase 1 is due to start on Monday 18th May which is exactly one week today. In a nutshell I could be back at work in 7 days!
I’ve pretty much been in lockdown for 8 weeks today as I was self-isolating for 2 weeks after returning from Switzerland on March 15th and this ran into the official lockdown. Lots of good stuff has been done during lockdown but I’ve definitely slipped into the habit of going to bed late and getting up late. That needs to stop or a 6:50am alarm could come as a nasty shock on Monday morning!
Starting this morning the alarm was set for 7:50am and I was out of bed by 8:05. The plan is to dial this back by 5min each morning and go to bed a little earlier each night until I’m close to being back in the old routine. I hope it is as easy as it sounds!
I’m not the handiest person when it comes to bicycle repair and maintenance and my main cycling fear during lockdown is that I would break something beyond my basic repair skills. That happened yesterday!
My cycling mileage has steadily decreased over the 8 weeks of restrictions but the MTB has been neglected the most. Apart from a short and uninspiring spin around the local roads my MTB hasn’t seen much use since since the end of March.
On Tuesday our exercise restriction was relaxed to allow us to go up to 5km from home for exercise. This covers two and most of a third forestry area that are perfect for a 60-90min blast on the MTB. On our last couple of visits to Monellan for walking we also discovered 2 new trails off the main tracks and perfect for a bit of “natural” MTBing.
On Friday I managed to shake off my resurgent cycling ennui and decided to dust off the MTB. Down the road, across a rough farm track, back on the road for 2km and into the woods. The first bit of trail runs down the side of the river and along the original estate wall before meeting up with another trail. Along the wall the trail passes through a number of narrow gaps between trees and on some of these someone has added piles of small branches to create small jumps for ponies. These also make perfect small jumps for a MTB. The third jump has been made too big to take with a bike so I detoured to the left to avoid it. As I passed I didn’t see the end of one of the branches sticking out that managed to catch my rear wheel and drivetrain. By the time I realised what had happened the damage was done!
Thankfully the hanger did its job and broke before the derailleur itself was damaged. A bit of online research and it looks like an easy repair but getting the part will be the tricky bit. There are a multitude of hangers available to buy and you need to buy the exact one to match your frame.
Normally a quick call to Halfords and I would have one within a couple of days. Unfortunately all the Halfords stores are currently closed in RoI and services in NI are highly limited plus my nearest NI stores are approx 45min away.
An online chat with the UK website resulted in a recommendation to contact a store and discuss with store staff as the online rep was working from home with limited access to information. I’ve decided to wait until tomorrow to try and make sure I get a more experienced member of staff on shift.
At least getting home was easier. Catriona and Conor were walking in Monellan so a short wait for them to appear on the trail and I was able to head to the car park, load the bike into the back of the car and wait for them to finish. A 4km walk home pushing a broken bike wouldn’t have been much fun!
With the untimely death of his beloved wife still bitter in his mouth, John Wick, the expert former assassin, receives one final gift from her–a precious keepsake to help John find a new meaning in life now that she is gone. But when the arrogant Russian mob prince, Iosef Tarasov, and his men pay Wick a rather unwelcome visit to rob him of his prized 1969 Mustang and his wife’s present, the legendary hitman will be forced to unearth his meticulously concealed identity. Blind with revenge, John will immediately unleash a carefully orchestrated maelstrom of destruction against the sophisticated kingpin, Viggo Tarasov, and his family, who are fully aware of his lethal capacity. Now, only blood can quench the boogeyman’s thirst for retribution.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Simple and uncomplicated, but therefore a bit predictable, storyline.
Lots of big names and familiar faces. Marred at times by wooden and unconvincing performances, particularly the two main Russian characters.
Very violent but well choreographed action scenes and an excellent sound track.
Keanu Reeves did well in the lead role but couldn’t help but feel that it would have suited a more familiar action star.
The two sequels have good reviews so looking forward to seeing how the story develops.
At Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician – and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever.
Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun.
Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilization. Pug’s destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
While this is undoubtedly a very good book my high rating may be influenced by nostalgia as much as anything else. It was one of the very first fantasy books that I read and one of the small number that got me really interested in the genre. I first read it in my late teens and have come back to it a number of times over the years.
The story itself isn’t that complicated and neither are the characters but it still manages to incorporate a large number of characters, all with an impact on the story and span two worlds with very different cultures.
The style of writing is very much that of the early 80s. This story comes at the very beginning of the emergence of fantasy fiction and is very different to many books being written today. It’s a simpler style of writing and no adult themes. I found it very refreshing to be honest.
The author has written a considerable number of books in the world of Midkemia and Kelewan and this is just the first installment. It’s hard to believe that this was his first published novel. The story of the Magician and the Riftwar Saga is an introduction to two amazing worlds and I’d highly recommend it.
niall harran 