Newswipe with Charlie Brooker (BBC Four)

This is basically Screenwipe but instead concentrates solely on the news programs and the things they get up to. It isn't quite as good as Screenwipe but it does have a lot of good stuff in it, such as this. A second series was broadcast with six new episodes going out. Of course I had to watch them all via Youtube as I never remember when this is on.










Independence Day (Channel 4)

This movie just happened to be on one night and me and Ragey watched it whilst talking about it over MSN. Turns out this was the second time we've watched this movie in this way and we complained about the scene where the fire chases everyone and Will Smith's wife hides in a room which of course would not work in real life. Remember how a lot of movies have "From the makers of Independence Day" in their trailers? That's because this is the only decent film they've ever done. Some of Will Smith's lines still make me laugh and the battle scenes with the jets and alien fighters look good. I think the biggest revelation for us would be this, however.








Iron Man (1994 cartoon, DVD)

I came close to giving up on this as the latter half of the first season really is that bad. In particular, the last episode of season one had a really stupid plot (even more so than usual) where Tony Stark got married to Julia whilst the Mandarin wanted to find out who was inside Iron Man and guessed it must be Tony. But it turned out that the Tony Julia had married was actually a robot and then when Iron Man came in and took off his helmet it turned out it was some old lady, which Mandarin saw. But then when Mandarin went away it turned out the old lady was Tony Stark, just wearing a mask. It really is as stupid to watch as it sounds.

Thankfully season two was a lot better. The intro alone was a clear sign that it was going to be better. The animation was certainly a big improvement and the stories were more varied and a lot less stupid. Mandarin finally came across as a bad guy who really could take over the world during the last two episodes and there was another decent episode featuring the Incredible Hulk. All in all the first season wasn't good but season two saved Iron Man from being a total disaster.



Avatar (2009 film)

I rarely go to the movies but my dear sweet mother got tickets for us to see James Cameron's box office smash. And it wasn't bad! The plot was fairly simple but that's probably for the best for people like me. The CGI clearly was where all the effort went, it was enough to impress me and I hate CGI. The creatures were superbly animated and the big mech suits the humans used also looked great. The 3D effect is kind of just there, at first it was weird, then once you get use to it it doesn't really matter that much. And so when this gets broadcast on TV I'll probably whine about it being too long and being completely over-rated. Here, this is the script for Avatar 2, thank me later.

Dad like this movie but Mummy didn't. It was her idea to go and see it but she said she was bored after the first hour. I don't think she realised what kind of movie this was to be honest. Do your research next time Mum! Also she thought the A-Team movie "looked rubbish" and after seeing the trailer for it. Take that Hollywood!




Rocky IV (DVD)

Rocky III wasn't great and this sequel is on the same level. Basically the plot is near enough identical to the previous movie, with another really strong opponent (Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren) and Rocky has to beat him. This time the reason Rocky has to fight is because Drago kills his friend, Apollo Creed, in a match. I really don't think Apollo had to be killed off. Badly injured maybe but seriously, death seems a bit extreme. Anyway, the rest of the movie is the standard stuff as Rocky trains to become stronger and then has his fight with Drago, which he eventually wins. You just knew what was going to happen the moment Apollo died but I guess this was a little better than Rocky III thanks to the absence of Hulk Hogan. Rocky V is up next which I've heard is meant to be the worst one but I'll find out next month.