Where?
This year’s contest is being held in Azerbaijan. Baku to be exact. Last year’s winners were of course Eldar & Nigar with their song “Running Scared” and so earned the right for their country to be the hosts of the 2012 competition. The actual venue for the contest is a brand new arena that can hold 23,000 people, that is being built as I write this, but only 16,000 will be allowed to attend each show on each night. The concert complex is called the Baku Crystal Hall. Here is an artist’s impression of what it will look like upon completion.

When?
So now we know where the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest is going to be held, what about when? Well quite simply, there are three main dates for your calendar. The 1st Semi Final takes place on 22nd May, the 2nd Semi Final on 24th May and then the Grand Final on the 26th May.

Why?
So many people say to me when I talk about Eurovision – “oh I’m not watching that rubbish, it’s just a load of joke music from other countries that is cheesy as hell, why would I watch or be interested in that?” Well, firstly, it is no longer what people remember it as. The Eurovision Song Contest has evolved into a pretty serious deal over the years and the standard of songs entered is very high now. Yes, you do still get a couple of entries that take it all as a laugh and do it for a giggle, but with the qualification process now in place for entries, and then having to actually qualify for the grand final, those songs are usually got rid of pretty early on.

I enjoy hearing some music from other countries and still listen to entries from a few years ago on my iPod which just shows that it’s not just a cheese-fest anymore. Countries take it seriously and even some big name artists have entered (and won) in recent years like Lena from Germany who is a huge star and represented her country two years running (2010 & 2011), so its a big deal for many musicians now.

Right, that’s the wheres, the whens and the whys for you on this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. In the coming weeks, I shall be blogging about the actual entries and their songs for Europe, so stay tuned and check back often. Get hitting that Like button and follow me on Twitter. Thanks for reading =)

In a stark contrast to the so-called adventure movie that is Hugo, I had the pleasure of watching The Adventures Of Tintin : The Secret Of The Unicorn two nights ago. Now THIS is how to make an adventure movie. The Steven Spielberg directed animated feature is not only exciting, but is brilliantly cast, amazingly made and leaves you wanting more of the Tintin stories to be turned into full length movies just like this one.

Based upon the original Herge story, which was one of his favourite creations, The Secret Of The Unicorn tells the story of Sir Francis Haddock and the riddles he has left inside 3 model ships that will lead to the lost treasure of the pirate Red Rackham. It is purely an adventure story and unlike some of Herge’s other books, contains no political undertones whatsoever. That made it the ideal starting point for a more up to date version of the story to be produced.

With writing from Doctor Who and Sherlock talent Steven Moffat, alongside Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) and Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs The World), the screenplay is tremendous and true to the original texts. The movie is produced by Peter Jackson and I saw a 3D trailer for this at the cinema when I went to see The Three Musketeers. I knew then that I wanted to see this movie for definite and have been waiting ever since.

The cast is incredible. Jamie Bell takes on the lead role of Tintin himself with the amazing Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. Also starring are Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, Daniel Craig, Toby Jones, Daniel Mays, Mackenzie Crook, and many more. They all deliver a top-notch performance behind the mics and show that they can be just as good off camera as on it.

What makes this film brilliant though is the animation. It is truly STUNNING. Things have come a long way since the mid 1990s and Toy Story. The characters are so realistic, you can even see the actors faces to a certain extent in the characters and it is almost as if they are actually there on screen, its that good. There are a few nice references to the original artworks by Herge himself, but even now, they still look the same only more real if that makes any sense at all.

I really was blown away by this movie and although it’s not a Senna or A Few Good Men which are much different kinds of movie, this one gets a simply brilliant 9/10 from me and I hope that they go on to make more of them. I find it absolutely criminal that it has only been nominated in one category for The Oscars and it’s not even a technical one, it’s Best Score. The work that has gone into this movie and it has been completely snubbed in favour of the likes of Puss In Boots and Rango which are, in my opinion, hugely inferior films. Mr Spielberg must have upset someone in Hollywood by the looks of things with his other big entry this year, War Horse getting the thumbs down from The Academy aswell.

Check out the trailer and Domestic Goddess’ review and then if you get a chance to see the movie, take it, you will NOT be disappointed.

I have just seen the new version and would like to share my thoughts on how the new version shapes up. There has been quite a bit of talk about this movie recently and its been quite a hit at the box office so far fighting it out with the hugely popular film The Muppets (which I have yet to see).

The story follows a young lawyer who has to travel to a remote village and deal with the final estate and affairs of the recently deceased widow Alice Drablow. In this version he is called Arthur Kipps and played by Daniel Radcliffe in a huge departure from his Harry Potter days, which hopefully will now move well into the past for him so that he can progress as an actor. In this Hammer interpretation of the tale (which is great to see – Hammer making great horror again) the cast has been kept small and also stars Ciaran Hinds as Sam Daily, the wealthy man from the village that helps Kipps deal with what he is about to experience at the house where he is dealing with all the paperwork of the Alice Drablow estate.

I have to be honest here and say that the movie is very similar to the 1989 BBC version, but this is something that doesn’t spoil the story one little bit. The classic plot of a great ghost story is still there, but with todays filmmaking techniques and modern technology regarding special effects, the production quality is far greater. Imagine how Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing would look if all those classic Hammer’s had been made today. – Yeah, bloody great =) (pun intended).

Radcliffe does a good job, but you can see that he has still to shake off the Harry Potter sense of foreboding look that he had for many of those films, but I think that doing this movie was a good move for him and there is much more to come from him. There are some really good moments that make you jump in this movie, even the ones you know are coming and that’s the mark of a good horror for me. I was not wrong in my expectations of this movie when I wrote the review of the old version and I give it an extra half mark for better production, but only for that. The film itself is faithful to the story and therefore gets a spine-chilling 8.5/10 from me. Enjoy the trailer once more and grab a chance to see it.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, which was a surprising revelation to me to begin with as I thought this style of film was quite a departure for him, having known him for films like Casino, Goodfellas and of course Taxi Driver.

The film’s story is the tale of a boy called Hugo Cabret who is played by Asa Butterfield. Hugo lives within the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. He is an orphan and winds the clocks which he also maintains due to his knowledge of the mechanics of machines. His father (Jude Law) taught him a lot about them and when he was alive they worked together on a clockwork automaton which Hugo continues to work on after his father’s death. He finds himself wrapped up in a mystery concerning the automaton and its creator.

Filmed in a very distinct style, Scorsese captures the essence of French filmmaking of yester year and there are a lot of section in the film that appear like silent movies, yet are hot at the same time, but if there had been no audio, they would not have been out-of-place in the 1930s. The special effects are excellent and some of the scene changes are nicely done. The cast is full of famous faces such as Ben Kingsley, Francis de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Ray Winstone, Sacha Baron Cohen and Christopher Lee, but in my opinion I thought pretty much all of these big names with the exception of Kingsley and Cohen were seriously underused.

The other aspect I found frustrating was the plot. The film makes out to be an epic adventure movie, but I thought that the story was quite thin when we see past the initial synopsis and that disappointed me. I’m not sure why it has been nominated for so many Oscars and it has been largely snubbed at the big award ceremonies thus far as a film. I think it could be this year’s surprise let down at the Academy Awards with a lot of the other films taking the big awards instead.

I feel that the film could have been a lot more, but a basic story void and a distinct lack of excitement for a movie billed as an adventure drama leaves me to give this film only a 5/10 and most of that is for the special effects, which have been seen before. There is nothing ground-breaking here. Enjoy the trailer in the meantime.

“Time For School“

Post up some of your favourite movies where school or a classroom is the main setting for the story. I think this is a great opportunity for some classic movies to be revisited.

My first choice is a film that when I mention it to people, they look at me blankly. I remember seeing it long ago and liked it a lot and should get a hold of it again to see if the appeal is still there. Renaissance Man is a 90s Danny DeVito movie about an out of luck businessman who has to take a job as a teacher at a US Army training camp.

Through the works of Shakespeare, he is able to inspire a group of soldiers and make sure that they pass basic training where otherwise they might not have. Although marketed as a comedy drama, I think this is an incorrect label. Although there are a few funny bits in the movie and its star of course known for the comedy genre, the movie itself is much more than that and offers some very touching and inspiring scenes between teacher and student. Well worth a watch.

Next up from me is Dangerous Minds. When an ex-marine is given a job as a teacher in an inner city school, she has to gain the trust and respect of her troublesome students using unconventional means. All the kids have their own problems and Michelle Pfeiffer’s character Louanne Johnson has to put her own personal marriage split aside to focus all her attention on trying to save these kids from a life of crime, jail and possible death and give them a better future. The movie featured the hit single by Coolio, “Gangsta’s Paradise” and was pretty successful at the box office aswell.

Lastly today is a movie that I should definitely acquire and see for the first time in years, Dead Poet’s Society. I think it was the first time I had seen comedian Robin Williams do anything but comedy and I thought he was fantastic as a serious actor. It certainly showed a very different side to him and a few careers were launched off the back of the movie like Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles for example. Once again it is the use of unconventional means to inspire students that is the theme here and everyone’s lives are changed forever through the use of poetry and finding the courage to stand up for what they believe in. A must see.

So those are my choices, but I know you guys will have some even better ones that I have not included in my list. Have fun with this one and remember to visit other people’s blogs. Leave your comments and links below =)

Just this morning as I was cleaning my car off, a van almost skidded into me to stop for another car coming the other way. Simply by going too fast. The it took him ages to get away again because he was revving the car in 1st gear instead of a slow and steady 2nd. For all the American reading this, we have manual gearboxes here

So tomorrow is a big day for Xander. He starts nursery school properly after his test day went great. Instead of half an hour, he had a 45 minute session and didn’t want to leave! He is very excited about starting properly and even mentioned today that “Miss Davis” (his new teacher) would take the big blocks through from another room, so already he’s got the hang of calling the teacher by their name. Very sweet.

Its been a bumper week on the blog with reader figures above a hundred a day since last week which is great news. I think the publicity I have received from my A-Z promo video is helping to spread my blog posts across the interweb and its good to know. Coming soon is of course the A-Z Blog Challenge starting in April, but before that starts I will be beginning to write my Eurovision 2012 posts in preparation for this year’s song contest. I intend to be a lot more organised than I was last year, but with a year’s blogging experience now under my belt, I have discovered that advance scheduling is a great tool.

I have added a couple of pages at the top of the blog. A-Z Challenge and Eurovision 2012. Please check for updates. As for movie reviews, I haven’t actually watched anything much this week, it was a week of catching up with TV. Tonight though is a movie night and the movie Hugo will be the next subject for my Oscar Blog series. I’m quite looking forward to the movie after initial scepticism. I also have The Muppets to watch soon so look out for my review of that through the week.

Now though, it is time to go and make some nice footprints in what little snow there is. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough to take the sledge out and its melting fast. Enjoy your weekends everyone and see you next week. Thanks for reading =)

So I have a question for you. Why is it that a customary handshake between players between QPR and Chelsea is cancelled amidst the racism row involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand, yet one between Manchester United and Liverpool on the return of Suarez since being banned for 8 matches for racially abusing Patrice Evra (and being found guilty) is not?

Personally I don’t see the difference here. The actions on the field by that poor excuse for a professional footballer Suarez and his manager’s comments after the match could have caused untold trouble in the city of Manchester and lets face it, they’ve rioted for less. They were irresponsible, childish and unprofessional. The sooner the owners of Liverpool FC get shot of the Uruguayan the better for the whole image of the club. Dalgleish should also be tossed out for standing by that player. His actions in defence of his striker have brought shame on the club and more importantly the whole game of football into disrepute. I think the quickness of their apologies after the game show that something was said by the owners, but its actions that speak volumes and Liverpool FC need to turn the dials up to 11 to get out of this one any time soon.

“Follow Follow“. Yes, it seems that Glasgow Rangers are indeed following a number of clubs down the administration route. The club has been docked 10 point in the SPL effectively handing the tile to rivals Celtic over an unpaid £9M tax bill. The club is also facing the outcome of another tax tribunal which could cost the club up to £75M. Rangers are in such financial disarray it is hard to see how the club can continue to function as it is. It is a stark reminder of past high-profile clubs in this situation such as Leeds Utd and more recently Portsmouth who have again slipped into the financial quicksand. I think in the case of Rangers, it could be considered, in terms of league status as Real Madrid or Barcelona going bust, so it’s quite a big deal. Personally, I couldn’t care less. Scottish football is dull to watch, and I hope the same happens to Celtic. There is no place for religion in football support in my opinion and I’d be glad to see the back of the pair of them…unfortunately, Celtic have learned the error of their ways and now cut their cloth accordingly. Sensible.

I Have Another Manager In Here Somewhere...

Finally Chelsea. Owner Roman Abramovich has been keeping a close watch on the day-to-day running of the club and especially on the training ground this week. The rumour mill is bulging with stories that Andre Villa-Boas is going to get the boot, especially is he doesn’t guide the team to a top 4 placing this year. That in itself would be a massive failure for the club, but for Christ’s sake Roman, bugger off and let the man do his job without watching over his shoulder. It’s like me storming into one of your power companies, sacking everyone and then saying “right this is how I’m going to do it now”. I know as much about energy business and Russian politics as you do football, so leave the man and the team alone to get on with it. I’m backing AVB to build his team and if it comes at the cost of the Champions League then so be it. Transition is a gradual process. The pundits and the media will all be calling for his head, and they’ll probably get it, but what difference is it going to make? And then who do we get – Fabio Capello? a manager that’s even more negative than Jose Mourinho when it comes to tactics? No thank you.

I was undecided which way to go on this topic, whether it be mental pain or actual physical pain, so in the end I chose to pick a couple from each side of the fence. I hope you like my choices.

First up, a film that I saw and reviewed only the other night, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. The story of a boy who finds a mysterious key in his father’s closet a year after his death in the World Trade Centre tragedy of 9/11. There haven’t been that many movies that I have cried a lot at, but this is one of them. Its a really good story, delightful acting and very, very moving. It has been nominated for Best Film at this year’s Oscars and I for hope that it gets the win. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must. (Reviewed Here).

Second, is one of my favourite horror films, Hellraiser II – Hellbound. When a gifted child is given the famous puzzle box to solve by her unscrupulous doctor in order for him to marvekl at the secrets and wonders of Hell, Pinhead gives him a dose of his own medicine and causes pain in unimaginable ways as a reward. Full of violence and graphic images, this horror classic was the 1988 follow up to Clive Barker’s original Hellraiser movie.(Reviewed Here).

Third, we are back to emotional pain here with one of the other films that has made me cry uncontrollably, Schindler’s List. Based upon true events surround the Nazi entrepeneur Oskar Schindler during the Second World War who managed to overcome his greed and political views to save thousands of Jews from the Holocaust at much cost to himself, this black and white movie regarded by many as one of Steven Spielberg’s finest films, without giving too much away, there are many moments in the film where just can’t keep it together any longer. The fact that its all true makes it all the more painful.

Lastly, we’ll go for a dollop of horror again with Silence Of The Lambs. Hannibal Lecter is one of Anthony Hopkins best loved parts and the murdering cannibal inflicts a lot of pain on his victims. At the time of its release, it pushed the boundaries or psycholgical horror like never before and there are some real “yuck” scenes in the movie. The film certainly gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “face mask”. If you haven’t seen this classic horror, why not? (Reviewed Here).

So there are my four choices, I hope you enjoy them, check out the reviews and remember to visit others’ blogs.

Well as you would expect, I worked my day off yet again this week. I think I now haven’t taken my day off through the week since about mid November last year, lol. Seems ridiculous doesn’t it, but if they keep asking, I’m not going to turn down a day’s pay that’s easily earned. Plus, it helps with the bills.

Off to ASDA again soon, pick up a few things and when we get back, I think its time the fish had their tank cleaned out. Its been a while since I last did it, but now that it no longer sits in the window the algae build up has been extremely slow this time around, making it much less of a chore to look after them.

The big news of the week though is that having accepted Xander’s nursery placement at Kittybrewster Primary School, they phoned to offer him a test day this coming Thursday! Very fast, I really didn’t expect it to come around like this, but what seems like 5 minutes since we took him home from the hospital, he is already going to nursery school! Phew, that didn’t take long did it? I think he’s looking forward to it and if he enjoys the test day, then I think he’ll be starting properly the following week. So he’s getting in early, basically a half-year early and once the current crop of kids move up to Primary 1, then Xander should be able to switch to a morning slot no problem which is great.

Here at Smurfin’ The Web, I have been continuing my Oscar series of blogs with a review of the movie Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close which I thought was magnificent so check out the review here. I have also made a small video to promote my participation in the A-Z Blog Challenge which starts in April. Basically for each day of April, I will be blogging about a particular subject, but each day will feature a post that starts with a different letter of the alphabet, so April 1st will be “A”, the 2nd “B” etc etc. It will be fun and will hopefully generate some traffic through my blog and I might find something I like from someone else aswell. Here is the video…

Well, I guess I should be getting going and finish getting dressed ready for the shops. I’d also like to wish one of our mum friends Jaye Donald a happy birthday for today. I know she reads this blog and I hope that your boys give you a great day today. Enjoy your Sunday folks, Look out for more from me through the week. Thanks for reading.

Now I like a good action flick, and a great science fiction epic, but I think last night I saw one of the best dramas I have ever seen. It is ranked as the complete outsider for the Best Picture award.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a film by Scott Rudin who has produced some of the biggest movies in recent times and has a history of picking up the best film gong at The Oscars. The story is about a boy, Oskar Schell played here by Thomas Horn who loses his father Thomas (Tom Hanks)  in the 9/11 Twin Towers tragedy. They had a very close relationship due to Oskar suffering from possible Asperger’s syndrome. When a year later Oskar finds a key in his dad’s closet, he makes it his mission in life to travel the whole of New York and find the lock that the key fits. The only clue he has is a name, “Black“.

The cast is not only brilliant, but the story is truly moving. There are many things I remember about that day. Even in Scotland, I can recall the horror I felt for the people of New York experiencing that, and this film really hits it home just what the victims must have gone through well after the tragedy itself. Sandra Bullock plays Linda, Oskar’s mother and she is marvellous. Long gone are the days of driving a bus alongside Keanu Reeves (who doesn’t appear in this movie), I can tell you. Also appearing is Max von Sydow. A legend in acting and this movie has earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination and he doesn’t even say a word for the entirety of the film.

The star of the show here though is Thomas Horn. Not a lot is known about him, only that it is his first film and he is very, very talented as an actor. I would say that if he sticks it out, he could go on to be very big in the movie world in the same way Dakota Fanning did, although she seems to have disappeared for a while. The character of Oskar is compelling, heart-breaking, guilt ridden, lonely, afraid yet extremely determined and stubborn. Horn does it all here and I say he is one to watch out for in the coming years.

It’s a movie about grief and how people deal with it essentially. There have been many who haven’t given this film much acclaim or feel that it is a let down. I say, “what do they know?”. Very rarely do I give a movie top marks, but today I give this very good film 10/10. You WILL cry, but you will understand it better if you have children. I thought I had picked my winner for the Best Film award with The Descendants. I have changed my mind. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is easily the best one of the nominees I have watched to date and it will deserve any award it gets. Here is the trailer, I hope you check this movie out if you get the chance.