Dark Knight Rises IMAX Movie Review

We used some of Barry's Birthday voucher to see Dark Knight Rises in IMAX. The film is fantastic, although very, very dark in tone. Bane played by Hardy is an excellent baddy for this film, basically turning the whole of Gotham vigilante and disavowing all forms of authority, all the time threatening to blow up the entire city up if anyone tries to leave. Batman who is still in hiding from Dark Knight teams up with an unusual choice of a cat burglar. Catwoman played by Hathaway is superb, playing a witty and sarcastic character skilled at the art of deception. Batman basically comes out of retirement and with Catwoman sets about trying to free Gotham. There are a few twists and turns in the story, such as who is who's father/daughter and a few surprise characters reappear. IMAX was superb as usual, with the sound thundering and the Batplane and explosions rumbling right through your body. While the film is very good, is was just too dark and not as enjoyable as Avengers.

Ben 8 out of 10
Barry 7 out of 10

http://www.thedarkknightrises.com

Go Ape!

Barry was "working from home" today, so we actually went to Go Ape in Bracknell's Swinley Forest. Barry loved it, but for some reason I got the shakes from the height even though we've done it before.

• See all the photos here...

To turn 3D off, click the red "3D" button at the bottom of the video window and click "Turn off 3D"

Madonna MDNA in Edinburgh

This weekend we popped up to Edinburgh, the furthest north we have ever been, to see Madonna's MDNA concert in Murryfield Rugby Stadium. Oh and we made a bit of time for Edinburgh Castle too!

• See all the photos here...

Amazing Spider-man IMAX 3D Movie Review

The opening of this movie is practically the same as the first one. Geek photographer gets bitten by spider, Uncle gets murdered, then goes on crime fighting spree dressed in spandex. The back story of the Parker parents is slightly different, which leads to this film's baddy, the Lizard! Garfield plays a younger, jokier hero, which was missing from the other films. Amazing Spider-man is also much darker than the previous trilogy, and at 12A is certainly pushing the limits of that rating, with some genuinely scary and jumpy moments. It just takes too long to go through the back story, which is a shame as the rest of the film is very good. IMAX sound certainly thunders, but the 3D sucks yet again. There are some excellent moments that could have used the 3D to make things pop out of the screen, but for some reason movie studios seem to be afraid of making things fly out the screen at you!

Ben 8 out of 10
Barry 7 out of 10

http://www.theamazingspiderman.com/

Ghost the Musical Theatre Review

Part two of Barry's birthday surprise was to see Ghost The Musical in London's Piccadilly Theatre. Based on the 80's film about boyfriend and girlfriend who are double crossed by their best friend, which leads to Sam becoming a ghost. While the story is familiar, the songs aren't apart from the obvious one, and the actors can certainly belt them out, but unfortunately they were largely forgettable. However the scenery was stunning, using a giant jumb-o-tron video wall, like you see at concerts, but its constantly on the move, changing shape and setting the scene. There was also lots of projection on a front see through screen, like rain and ghosts floating. The dancing is also very unique, using some sort of stop motion slowing down effect, when combined with strobes looks very weird in a good way. Finalising the effects are the illusions, with people walking through things, vanishing and floating. One particular scene on the subway train is unlike anything we've seen, with the jumb-o-tron being the train, the actors behind it, coming in and out through a door and people/rubbish floating in slow-mo as the ghosts fight. It really is amazing. Watch the video below for a taster.....

Ben 4 out of 5
Barry 4 out of 5

London Comic Con 2012

As the first surprise of Barry's birthday, we went to London Comic Con again. There were loads of stars out signing autographs (for a fee), lots of cosplay and loads of stalls of comics. We didn't stay too long, as not heavily into comics, but had a quick glance round the stars and saw Jeri Ryan (from Star Trek Voyager) doing a bit of a talk.

• See all the photos here...

Northney Farm Tea Rooms

Quick flying visit to mum's today for lunch at the tea room. As we were leaving it was milking time and we waiting and watched the cows cross the road.

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift Film Review

There is literally nothing on at the cinema that we want to see, so chanced Ice Age 4. Glad we did as far better than 3 and probably just beat out 2 too! As the subtitle continental drift suggests the ice is now breaking apart and Manny, Diego and Sid get washed out to sea on an iceburg. While they are trying to get home, they bump into the films baddies, a group of pirates lead by Cap'n Gutt. A whole host of swashbuckling activites obviously happen. All the other characters see auxiliary to the action, but Scrat is his usual nutty self. Its a shame we didn't see this in 3D, as it had a lot of very obvious things flying at you, so not sure if this is a full on 3D film finally??


Ben 7 out of 10
Barry 7 out of 10

http://www.iceagemovie.com/