rich_jacko

I've finally got around to finishing my latest modular building project, which I've been working on intermittently for about a year. So here it is:



The Museum is 1,700 pieces in four sections. Unlike certain other museums, this one has a dinosaur skeleton in the entrance hall - the T. Rex from the Research Institute set. The ground floor is devoted to natural history and geology, the first floor to various historical artefacts, and the second floor to maps, exploration and astronomy, with the telescope from the Research Institute gazing out through a suspiciously TIE Fighter-esque window at the top of the building. The roofline to this neo-gothic building incorporates castle flags and some elements from Hogwarts.

The Toy Shop sits beside it, again in four sections, containing 1,840 bricks. I built this one partly to make up for not owning the Grand Emporium set, and partly to contain the minifig-scale toys that I've acquired with various Christmas sets over the years. The first floor has viewing windows to watch the model train above the entrance spin around (yes, it moves!). Naturally the top floor is a Lego shop, mashing together elements from two official sets, plus others I added. Livening up the roofline are big models of a hot air balloon, a rocket ship and an aeroplane.

Here are some close-up views inside, to help give you a feel for the interiors:

...and some more views of the outside. I've added flower beds, a rainbow bench and various other bits of street furniture to round off the set. These make up 180 pieces, bringing the total build to 3,720 pieces (or 3,860 once you include all the minifigures). No wonder it took a while!

Next project - working all my various modular buildings together...

In-between trips to Leeds last week, I went to a lecture at Sheffield Uni by Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry.

It had the slightly long-winded title, "Work habits: creative procrastination, endless coffee breaks, some thoughts on headphones, or how I eventually managed to overcome inertia and finish the darn book". That's a pretty good summary of what she talked about (plus an immortal cat, an ultra-long-distance relationship and the terror of writing circles).

It was an insight into the writing of The Other Husband, the unexpected (not least to the author) sequel to The Time Traveller's Wife. But it won't be a "more of the same" sequel; some of the ideas in it sound completely bonkers. The first draft was due in January, but probably won't be ready until next January. It will have taken six and a half years by then, averaging just 58 words a day. "Which I think we can all agree is ridiculous", its author admits.

The talk itself was a bit odd. She says normally wings it, but this time thought she'd better write a proper lecture. This meant she was mostly reading from a script. It was funny, sweary and illuminating, but still reading from a script. The best bits were when she looked up and deviated from the page.

This part of the evening was only 30 minutes though. Much better was the 45-minute question and answer session which followed. Having talked about the editing process and about writing character snippets she always knew would never make it into the final draft, I asked if she had a favourite idea that never met the cut. So I learned about Meema, the genetically engineered cat/girl, who won't be appearing in The Other Husband (See, I told you it sounded bonkers), but might appear in some other form in a different future novel.

I got her to autograph my copy of The Time Traveller's Wife at the book signing afterwards. She was there with her husband, Eddie Campbell, who is also famous in his own right as an illustrator (of Alan Moore's From Hell, among other things). I bought a copy of their collaborative short story collection, Bizarre Romance, which they both signed.

Overall, an intriguing and enjoyable evening.

Capernaum - There are echoes of City of God in this frighteningly vivid Lebanese film about a young boy's struggle for survival on the streets of Beirut. The title means "chaos" and there's plenty of that. Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) runs away from home after a terrible betrayal. Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw) is an undocumented migrant from Ethiopia. Their lives come together but are abruptly torn apart, leaving both struggling to survive. The film drives home the ease with which vulnerable people can fall into desperate measures and become exploited. But it isn't all bleak. There's humour and humanity, and a tremendous sense of energy and life throughout. Not the easiest film to watch, but a rewarding one.

Captain Marvel - 21 films into the MCU, and we finally get one with a female lead. Consequently, I really wanted to like Captain Marvel. Unfortunately the first 20 minutes or so were disappointing - Vers (Brie Larson) and Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) are Kree warriors fighting anonymous alien forces in a rather bland and generic space fantasy. But then we get a massive "WTF?" moment, Vers falls to Earth, Agents Fury and Coulson ("digitally de-aged" Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg) show up, and it gets a whole lot more interesting. I'm not sure when the 1990s became a historical setting, but the film makes the most of it with lots of references and gags. We start to dig into Vers's backstory, meeting the face of the Supreme Intelligence (Anette Benning) and a pilot (Lashana Lynch) who seems to know Vers very well. It's an origin story told almost in reverse, and it just keeps getting better and better as it goes on. So I'm pleased to say that, in the end, I really did like Captain Marvel! :o)

Us - This is more obviously a straight horror flick than the genre-bending Get Out (the previous film by Jordan Peele). It's not quite as clever or politically insightful, but that's setting the bar very high - If you haven't yet seen Get Out, you should. Us is nontheless a superbly written and made horror film. It seems something has been stewing beneath America for many years. As a child, Adelaide has a chilling encounter with a doppelgänger in an abandoned funhouse. Years later, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family return to the area and encounter a whole family of duplicates, who are murderous and speak in whispers. Things rapidly spiral into chaos. It's full of tension and brutality, but also pitch-black comedy. The answers to the mystery, when they come, if not completely satisfactory, are certainly weird and original.

Fighting With My Family - I've never been into WWE wrestling, but this film got such good reviews I thought I'd give it a go. Those reviews were completely justified; I loved this film! There's obviously a double-meaning to the title, with the WWE-obsessed family (an impressive Florence Pugh, her brother Jack Lowden and parents Nick Frost and Lena Headey) squabbling amongst themselves about their future as much as they fight in the ring. This is a labour of love from Stephen Merchant and Dwayne Johnson, based on the true story of a small-time wrestling family from Norwich who dream of making the big league in America. There's obvious comedy to be had from the culture clash but, whenever you think the film is pandering to stereotypes, it surprises you with characters that are much more rounded than they first appear. It's surprisingly charming and engaging, while also being very, very funny. Definitely recommended.

Dumbo - I'm not convinced about Disney's live-action/CGI re-makes, if they're just slavish recreations of the original animation. Fortunately Dumbo takes a different approach. While there are brief nods to many of the set-pieces from the original, there's a whole new story involving Colin Farrell returning from the war and trying to settle back into family life and work, all while their little circus run by Danny DeVito is in the process of being taken over by a villainous Michael Keaton. And whose side is Eva Green on? Sometimes there's so much drama it seems as if there's barely room for a flying elephant. The film starts out as a slightly uneasy marriage between scenes of pure Disney cutesiness and moments that are pure Tim Burton gothic. As the film goes on, it gets progressively less and less Disney, and more and more Tim Burton. This is a joy to watch unfold. I wonder what Uncle Walt would have made of "Nightmare Island"?

Pet Sematary - It was good; Dark Tower was dreadful. Stephen King novels do not always make great films, which is sadly the case with Pet Sematary [sic]. The set-up is decent - family with a haunted past moves to a small town; small town has strangely sinister traditions; John Lithgow knows more than he's letting on; dead pets sometimes come back to life; tragedy strikes. Unfortunately, the execution isn't as clever as the concept. The early scares are mainly cheap "make-you-jump" moments and towards the end it turns into a tedious by-the-numbers slasher flick. As with many film adaptations, I got the impression there's a lot more depth in the book. The film certainly introduces a lot of ideas that it doesn't have time to explore properly. The short running time also meant that the third act felt very rushed indeed (though perhaps that was a blessing). Not worth it.

Missing Link - I like Laika. There's something pleasingly old-fashioned and hand-made about stop-motion animation, and their films (Coraline, ParaNorman, Boxtrolls and Kubo) have all been full of Aardman-like charm that extends beyond merely using the same medium. The same's true of this latest offering, in which Hugh Jackman's Victorian explorer teams up with Zach Galifianakis's Sasquatch and Zoe Saldana's Lady Fortnight in a bid to discover Yetis at Shangri-La. There's plenty of comedy and high stakes and Around the World in 80 Days-type adventure and Stephen Fry as a dastardly villain, but it somehow fails to live up to Laika's previous efforts. It's entertaining enough, but not a must-see.

Avengers: Endgame (no spoilers!) - The secret to Marvel's success is, no matter how bonkers the concepts or the plots, they give us characters we really engage with and care about. The focus this time is (rightly) on the main heroes we've known all the way since "Phase 1", but along the way the story takes in more characters and references to previous films than you probably expect. Pretty much every entry in the 22-film saga is covered, so you'll need to have done your homework with this one! The first act sees our heroes dealing with the ramifications of Infinity War and struggling with what to do next. Act 2 kicks up a gear and spans many locations in a whirlwind of twists and surprises, from the heart-felt to the hilarious. If Act 3 is an indulgently over-the-top finale, boy, have they earned it and boy, is it a crowd-pleaser! What Marvel have achieved with this series is astonishing. Endgame is a satisfying, thrilling and emotional conclusion to so many story arcs, from the personal to the galaxy-spanning. I often feel some films are too long, but there's so much packed into this one that three hours flies past in no time at all. Event movies don't come any bigger or better than this.

I'd forgotten how much fun creating characters for roleplaying games can be. I've just finished preparing my latest one for Ed's new D&D game. I've gone for the contrasting combo of Forest Gnome and Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer, because... well... it's funny.

This is Dramble Tavartarr. He's your friendly, neighbourhood all-round entertainer, with a big stick and a tendency to play with fire. He's also going through a midlife crisis. Having recently turned the big 2-0-0, he has a bit of a complex about supposedly having a great destiny, but not having had the chance to live it yet. I've written an intro for him on our Google Group for the game, and I'm copying it here too for posterity.



"If you buy me a drink, I'll tell you a story."

"Many centuries ago, in arid and distant lands, far from The Valley, lived a mighty dragon. Well, he thought he was mighty (and to you and me he would appear quite fearsome, with his brass-like scales and fiery breath), but by dragon standards he wasn't really. Actually he was a bit of a softy. Liked to chatter with passers-by. If only there were more people passing by. Oh, how foolish for the dragon to wish for that! For giants are not friends of dragons. But the forest folk perhaps are..."

It was a quiet night at the Lakeside inn. An assorted group of humans, halflings and a particularly large half-orc sat huddled in a corner by the fire. A gnome was perched on a bar stool at the centre of the group. Smallish even by gnome standards, he nevertheless held the others in rapt attention. His wild hair flew around him and his eyes sparkled in the firelight as he continued:

"Enter our hero. He'd earned the name Warryn Wildwander when, as a young gnome, he got the wanderlust and began to venture far from home. His clan name was Warryn Tavartarr."

"Tavartarr? Isn't that *your* name, Brighteyes?"

Dramble smiled down from his stool at the eager young halfling. The kid was barely old enough to drink, and sat with his legs crossed on the floor as if he was still at school. He made Dramble feel old. He sighed inwardly and brushed off the feeling.

"Why, so it is!" he replied, with a wink to some of the older members of his audience, who'd heard this story before and knew what was coming.

Dramble continued. He blew on his pan flute - an eerie set of notes - as he began to tell of Warryn stumbling into a home of giants and, trembling, seeking refuge in a cave. Were his audience imagining it, or could they hear the distant sound of giant feet stomping across the fields outside the inn, drawing closer?

"Suddenly, Warryn heard a roar! Much closer and right behind him!" Two halflings and a human jumped. They hadn't imagined it; that had definitely been a creature roaring. It sounded like nothing they had ever heard (certainly nothing that lived in the Valley). Suddenly a burst of flames leapt out of the fire, shaping itself into the form of a dragon.

"It was the dragon, Smaheltersmiddibranner, and he was hiding from the giants too!"

"Wait... Smarheldy-what?"

"Smaheltersmiddibranner. Rolls off the tongue. Now, hiding they both may have been, but Warryn was fearful of ending up a dragon's lunch. He had to impress old Smiddibranner fast."

The story went on. Dramble told how Warryn had impressed the dragon with his quick wits, how they bonded over stories of distant lands, and how they worked together to deceive the giants into leaving them alone. As he did, flames danced in the air in front of him. They took the forms of marching giants, desert caves, and the clever duo of dragon and gnome, all accompanied by disembodied sounds and music he blew on his pipes. Fire flashed in Dramble's eyes as he played out the final chase. The others were sure it wasn't just the reflection from the flames.

"Oi, Jabble Dramble Firespinner, you watch it!" the barmaid shouted. That last fiery giant image had caught part of the counter alight as it ran away, coming rather too close to a clutch of bottles filled with spirits.

"Ooops!" Dramble had the decency to look sheepish. He waved a hand and the flames vanished abruptly.

"That's better," grunted the barmaid, though there was a smile on her face. "You know we likes you bringing folk in 'ere, entertaining 'em with your stories. Especially with how quiet it were yesterday. But it'd be better all round if you spins rather more stories and rather less fires, yes?"

It was Dramble's first evening in the Lakeside Inn for some days. Having been away in the Feygrove this past week, he had missed Dworic's pronouncement of the lost map's discovery, the two bands of adventurers who had ventured out, and the subdued atmosphere in the inn when the first band failed to return as expected the previous night. He was trying to raise everyone's spirits (but not light the spirits, ha!) but inwardly he was kicking himself. Two centuries in the Valley with hardly any excitement and he missed it when adventure finally called!

He hurried on to the finish. "Before they parted, Smaheltersmiddibranner, grateful for Warryn's help, bestowed a great gift on him. The blood of dragons would run in his veins! And not only his, but in certain others of his line who would come after him. They didn't appear in every generation, but those bearing the traits of the dragon...

Dramble paused for the final reveal, rolling his sleeves up to reveal a sheen of brassy scales covering the skin on his arms. There was a gasp, and one or two knowing nods.

"...are said to be destined for great things. Greater even than entertaining you all tonight!"

Dramble smiled. Of all the stories his family had taught him of how Warryn Wildwander had come by his draconic gifts, this was his favourite at the moment. The other one where Warryn had been rewarded for pulling a thorn out of the dragon's side was a little generic, but Dramble thought it had been improved enormously once he changed the thorn for an ogre's spear. The dragon had been called Glaedr Brightscales in that version. Warryn had ridden atop the dragon as together, Wildwander and Brightscales, they chased the ogre back to the mountains. But he'd told that one a lot, a generation ago in human and halfling timescales. This generation needed a fresh story.

He also liked the one where Warryn had been captured by a wicked dragon and tricked it into promising away its power, before using that power to escape its grasp. He might tell that one again some day. It had a lot of cleverness, with all its sneaking around, word tricks and illusions. He could spin that one out for a whole evening with all its twists and turns.

It sometimes felt hollow though. He'd pulled his closing line off with a grin and a flourish, but it had been both bittersweet and true. Two hundred years! He was practically middle-aged. Where was this great destiny he'd been promised all his life? He wanted to live the stories, not just tell them.

"Tell us another one, Brighteyes!"

Dramble was brought out of his reverie by the half-orc, who almost pushed him off his stool by what was clearly meant to be a gentle nudge with her beer tankard. Dramble offered his own tankard in return, now empty. The young halfling leapt up, grabbed it off him and ran to the bar to get another round in. As he did, Dramble settled back in his seat and began to blow a wistful tune.

What story should he tell next? There was the whole saga of Warryn's scrapes and conquests as he learned to master his powers; how he rose to become a mighty sorcerer before meeting an unfortunate end. Or a happily-ever-after end. Did they need to hear a happily-ever-after end this evening, after everything that had happened? Perhaps he could do the tales of some of Warryn's famous descendants instead. Maybe Ella Rosethorn? Or Fabien Fiddlefen and Summer Silverthread? Or...

Before the gnome could decide, the door to the inn burst open and a strangely assorted group wandered in. Dramble recognised a few of them by sight, and knew them to be the second party of explorers. They had returned! What wonders had they seen? What adventures must they have had? He had to know! This was his chance!

"Sorry, friends. Another night, perhaps. I think the stage is theirs now!"

The gnome leapt off his stool and nudged his way past the patrons nearer the entrance, who had stood up to greet the newcomers. The travellers looked down (Well, *most* of them looked down...) at the diminutive figure in front of them, who was grinning from ear to ear and offering an outstretched hand.

"Hi, the name's Dramble Warryn Smiddibranner. I'd be very pleased to make your acquaintance."

"If I buy you a drink, will you tell me your story?"

The Favourite - This is currently getting a lot of awards season praise, and deservedly so. It's a viciously black comedy that tells the at-least-partially-true story of the rivalry between Abigail (Emma Stone) and Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) for Queen Anne (Olivia Colman)'s affections. Personal rivalry, politics and backstabbing abound. Absurd and outrageously rude, while being surprisingly historically accurate, this is not a normal period drama. I loved it and laughed like a drain. Any film which includes in its cast list "Fastest Duck in the City" and "Naked Pomegranate Tory" has got to intrigue you at the very least...

Mary, Queen of Scots - This, on the other hand, was a disappointment. Billed as the story of the rivalry between Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) and Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), unfortunately both queens come across as being somewhat adrift on the seas of surrounding events and constantly manipulated by the men around them. They only meet once in the film, and it's a rather unsatisfactory scene in which I couldn't help but want to tell them both to get a grip. It's a meandering film that doesn't really go anywhere, glosses past a lot of the more interesting parts of Mary and Elizabeth's stories and is, on the whole, just a bit dull. Don't bother.

Glass - The third in M. Night Shyamalan's 'Unbreakable' trilogy. David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Kevin Wendall Crumb (James McAvoy) and Mr Glass himself (Samuel L. Jackson) all find themselves trapped in a psychiatric hospital, where Dr Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) tries to convince them their supposed superpowers are all a delusion. It's very much what you'd expect from Shyamalan - lots of clever connections with previous films, multiple plot threads and twists (some more obvious than others), and somewhat up its own arse. It's clever, and I like all the lead characters, but ultimately never quite hits the mark. If you saw the others, you might want to see this for completeness, but it won't win over any new fans.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - The third, and definitely final, HTTYD film. Our gang of vikings, led by Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Astrid (America Ferrera), are in search of a new home, safe from new-to-the-franchise dragon hunter, Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham). Meanwhile, Hiccup and Astrid have commitment issues, Toothless gets a girlfriend (Is this a kissing movie?) and starts to grow apart from Hiccup. Unfortunately, at times the film is too obsessed with bringing everything to a conclusion to remember to have fun. Ruff and Tuff are still a hoot, but they are the highlight. There's way too much human melodrama and not nearly enough of the sense of adrenaline and pure joy you got from the dragon-riding sequences of the earlier films. It's still enjoyable, but definitely the weakest of the three.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - Lego have very much hit a formula about families learning to "play well" together. This time around, it's the kid from the first film (Jadon Sand, now a teenager) and his younger sister (Brooklynn Prince) trying to get along. Translated into the Lego world, this means Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks)'s gritty, battle-scarred, teen-angsty Apocalypseburg being invaded by the glittery alien forces of General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), Queen Watevra (Tiffany Haddish) and their vampire heartthrob DJs. This does everything a sequel should - build on the strengths of the first film while taking it in enough of a new direction to be a worthwhile film in its own right. It may not feel as fresh, but it's a league above the Batman and Ninjago spin-offs. All the inventive silliness, self-reverential humour, pop culture gags and catchy songs are as good as the first time around. Everything is still awesome. :o)

Alita: Battle Angel - Robert Rodriguez: a director famous for making a $20 million movie look like a $200 million movie. So, when you pair him with James Cameron and give him an actual $200 million budget, you know it's going to look spectacular. Alita (Rosa Salazar) is an impressively-out-of-the-uncanny-valley cyborg, with no memory, found in a junk pile and brought back to life by Ido (Christoph Waltz) into a cyberpunk dystopia that's literally straight out of a mange comic. A centuries-ago war casts a long shadow, as does the mysterious flying city of Zalem. The story is bonkers and only half-told, with a lot of unexplained backstory and unresolved conflict left for sequels. But it's essentially about Alita working out what type of person she is. Plus cyborgs smashing the hell out of each other. The characters and action are strong enough to make it work. It's also a great IMAX experience, especially the Motorball sequences. Now this is podracing! ;o)

Inspired by the new Ultrakatty set, I give you a glorious, can't-believe-no-one's-thought-of-it-before, Lego Movie / My Neighbour Totoro crossover :o)

(Okay, so a Catbus should really have 12 legs and the proportions aren't quite right, but I'm working with the bricks I've got, and you get the idea!)

Total pieces (excluding minifigs): approx. 780
Total build time: approx. 4 hours

As I mentioned a year ago, I wanted to spend some time in 2018 actually re-reading some of the books I've already got, rather than merely devouring new ones. And I did. This year, I have re-read:

• His Dark Materials et al (Philip Pullman)
• all of The Dresden Files (Jim Butcher) - now please hurry up and finish writing Peace Talks, Jim!
• Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan Swift)
• various Roald Dahls, and also read Boy and Going Solo for the first time

I haven't only been re-reading, of course. On top of that, this year I have also read:

• The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage (Sydney Padua) - possibly my new favourite book ever!
• Dunstan (Conn Iggulden)
• Star Wars: Scoundrels (Timothy Zahn)
• The Furthest Station (Ben Aaronovitch)
• The Signalman (Charles Dickens)

...and quite a lot of non-fiction for a change:

• Harry Potter: A History of Magic (various)
• Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life (Peter Godfrey-Smith)
• Hello, Is This Planet Earth? (Major Tim Peake)
• Rise (Gina Miller)
• We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe (Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson)

I still have a few books waiting on my "to read" shelf, but beyond those, I have no idea what I'll be reading in 2019 yet! :o)

American Animals - This was a weird one. Part documentary, part drama, it tells the true-life story of four students who try to get rich by stealing rare books from their university library. The thing is, none of them knows how to pull off a heist, and a series of amateurish cock-ups show us what would go wrong if you or I tried this sort of thing for real, and why heists don't go like they usually do in the movies. The humour sits uneasily against the interviews with the real life people involved. It's an intriguing film, well made and well acted, but overall it doesn't work particularly well.

Crazy Rich Asians - I don't usually do rom-coms, but this one looked a bit different and had had a lot of hype. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Rachel (Constance Wu) is drawn into fabulously weatlhy Singapore circles as she meets boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding)'s family, who unbeknownst to her are billionnaires. It's a flimsy premise, and the set-up for stereotypical class war bitchiness. But it kind of works, thanks to the likeable leads and a strong performance from Michelle Yeoh as Nick's mother (When did she become old enough to play the lead's mother???), who is by far the most interesting character in the film. The scenery and big budget set-pieces help liven things up too.

A Simple Favour - This absolutely should not work. A Gone Girl type missing person mystery as a brash black comedy? That it does is mainly down to a smart, true-to-life performance from Anna Kendrick as single mom vlogger, Stephanie, who befriends rich businesswoman, Emily (Blake Lively), only for her to disappear. Did she run away? Was she murdered? Stephanie investigates and gets drawn ever deeper into Emily's strange and secretive life. The mystery itself is fairly clichéd, but it doesn't matter. The performances are great and the yo-yoing between serious drama and broad comedy works surprisingly well. A lot of fun.

The House With A Clock In Its Walls - An orphaned boy goes to live with his uncle (Jack Black), who just so happens to be an eccentric wizard. He and his frosty neigbour (Cate Blanchett) guard a deadly secret hidden within his house. Spielberg's name is attached - There's some evidence of his style, and fun to be had with the sniping between the adult leads, but otherwise this is pretty by-the-numbers kids' fantasy stuff. Not worth bothering with.

Bad Times At The El Royale - Drew "Cabin in the Woods" Goddard writes and directs a mystery set in a run-down motel. Without Joss Whedon on board, this is less over the top than CitW, but shares a few of its traits. There's more than a hint of Pulp Fiction and Lost about it too. The chapter-based plot jumps around in time, and every character has a secret (when Jeff Bridges is playing a priest, you just know something's up!), some of which are connected, others not. Very bloody, completely bonkers, and just a little bit brilliant. I enjoyed it a lot, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

First Man - A surprisingly downbeat and small-scale biopic of Neil Armstrong. It focuses just as much on Neil (Ryan Gosling)'s grief over the death of his daughter, and the impact that has on his family life, as it does over the mission to the moon. Like the man himself, it's quiet and introspective, with much left unsaid. The NASA parts of the story are a fascinating insight that hammers home the limited technology they had at the time and the fragility of what they were doing - very much "floating in a tin can". I'm not generally a fan of shakycam, but in this it really does make you feel like you're in the cockpit. A worthwhile watch, but perhaps not what you might expect.

The Breadwinner - I had to watch this one on DVD as the cinema release was very limited. It's an animation about Parvana, an 11-year-old girl growing up in Afghanistan under the Taliban. When her father is arrested, she disguises herself as a boy in order to support her family. It's a sensitive portrait of life under a harsh regime, and carefully researched to accurately represent Afghan culture. The "real world" events are intercut with a stylised folk tale, which is slightly reminiscent of "Kubo". While there's a definite story arc, it doesn't wrap up neatly. Parvana's daily struggle goes on. Thought-provoking.

Bohemian Rhapsody - As a Queen fan, I loved this. Okay, it's not exactly revelatory or hard-hitting, but there is drama in there - whether it be Freddie and his fiancée coming to terms with his sexuality, ructions within the band, escaping a self-destructive spiral, or learning of Freddie's terminal illness. This is an affectionate celebration rather than a tragedy, though - as Freddie says, he doesn't want to be an AIDS poster boy, but to carry on entertaining with his music. The film certainly honours that, ticking off all the essential hits. The insights into the song-writing feel true to life, and help make four rock legends feel like regular people. Ultimately, of course, it's the music that lifts it. The show must go on.

I haven't been to the cinema as much of late. Partly because I've been busy, but also because the amount of choice at Cineworld gets worse and worse. There have been some films I've wanted to see that don't seem to have made it to Sheffield at all, not even to the Showroom. Still, there have been a few things I've seen over the past couple of months, and most of them have been worthwhile:

Mary and the Witch's Flower - It's not strictly a Ghibli film, but it might as well be. A beautiful old-school animation that feels like a cross between Harry Potter and Spirited Away. Mary moves to the countryside, where she discovers an old broomstick and a mysterious flower in the woods, which take her off to a school of magic. But there are sinister goings-on at the school, and soon she has to try to rescue her friend, Peter. I saw the subtitled version, so I can't vouch for the English dub, but Ghibli have a good record on this front. The story isn't hugely original, but it's full of charm and (as you'd expect) visually it's enchanting to look at. Plus cats.

Deadpool 2 - Deadpool basically has two tricks - being outrageous and lampshading tropes. Both of those can be funny, and if you liked the original, there's more of the same here. This time Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is facing off agajnst the time-travelling Cable (Josh Brolin, in his second Marvel villain role within a month). It has its moments, mainly when it manages to pull off completely unexpected gags, but they're sparse. Personally I'm a bit "meh" about the whole thing. They've sort of promised there won't be a third; I probably won't bother if there is.

Solo: A Star Wars Story - I saw this with a large group as part of my birthday celebrations, and our overall consensus was, "It was fine." That's not to be negative - It ticks all the boxes; it's a fun heist movie; and Alden Ehrenreich is believably a younger Han Solo. There's an impressive supporting cast, including Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Childish Gambino and Paul Bettany. It's just that something about it didn't quite feel like Star Wars. I don't know whether it was the gangster tone, the way everything was drab and cloudy, or something else. The sequel-friendly ending was also rather unsatisfying. The whole Kessel caper was a joy from start to finish though, and I loved L3, who was very much this film's K2-SO. Overall, it was no Rogue One though.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Owen (Chris Pratt), Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Blue (Blue) are back for more dino action, with Jeff Goldblum filling in the "token original character" cameo. It's definitely a film of two halves: The first half of the film, on the island, with our heroes dodging dinos and molten lava, is garbage. The second half is... well... also garbage, but it is gloriously entertaining Hammer Horror garbage. Set in a gothic mansion and featuring a rooftop chase in a thunderstorm, a secret lab in the basement, dastardly villains, lots of creeping around in the dark, and more than a few "homages", it's a guilty pleasure.

Incredibles 2 - Another superhero movie that's more of the same, but when "the same" is a follow-up to possibility Pixar's best film, who's complaining? Picking up immediately where the first film left off (the Underminer!), our family of supers are still living in hiding from a world that sees superheroes as a public menace, until one of them gets an offer which seems too good to be true. This time it's Helen/Elastigirl, with Bob/Mr. Incredible being a stay-at-home dad. A lesser comedy would have massively played up the gender role-reversal angle, and had one or both parents fail miserably. This is much better. Both parents get some things right and some wrong. Both struggle to balance "work" and family. They disagree on some pretty fundamental things, but their relationship is still strong. All the original cast are back (Yes, including Edna!), along with new supers, and the set-pieces are still fast-paced and inventive. Special mention for Jack-Jack, for being a scene-stealing force of nature, whenever he appears!

The Secret of Marrowbone - I'm a sucker for Spanish horror, so this (English language) haunted house tale directed by Sergio G Sanchez drew me in. Jack (George MacKay) and his siblings flee to their mother's old family home to escape their violent father. But soon tragedy strikes and they must hide a secret. Youngest brother, Sam is terrified of a ghost in the house. All the mirrors remain hidden, and there's "blood money" in the grounds. Neighbour Allie (Anya Taylor-Joy) and lawyer Tom (Kyle Soller) become involved. The film uses all the haunted house tropes, and uses them well. And, like all good ghost stories, things aren't quite what they first appear to be...