I swear, this has to be the most heartwarmingly fun movie I’ve seen in my entire life. Kikujiro follows a little boy called Masuo trying to meet his estranged mother for the first time, and the slacker guy with a crazy sense of morals who has to get him there. When it all goes wrong, the people they meet on the way find ways to make Masuo’s summer a whole heap of fun. It’s silly humour easily matches Western counterparts like Kevin Smith or Monty Python and there’s absolutely no reason why anyone wouldn’t love this film to a rabid smooshy bloody death.

Narrated by the adult voice of his daughter, The Twilight Samurai is a memoir of a Junior Samurai and his family felled by sickness and poverty, and how he struggled to bring happiness and luck to them. When it came to the samurai aspect, the mesmerising factor only really came into full effect in the solitary man-and-his-sword scene (the contrast of silver blade against black sky is exquisite). However: I was impressed by the complicated stifled air in the human interaction, and within that, the way emotion was laid out in small gestures. The Devil’s in the details.

A group of violent prisoners take over the plane they are being transported in, and make a bid for freedom. Nicholas Cage plays the free man on his way to meet his wife and child. Violence ensues! The plot goes a little dead in places, but John Malkovich is the perfect bad guy, and makes the action worth watching.

Not to be obsessed over for more than 7 days in a row. The best combination involves multi-grain bread, a little heart romaine lettuce, soy marge, medium sized fried eggs and grilled bacon.

Out of all of his books, this reminded me most of Murakami’s film “Audition”... not so much in terms of the pitch of drama, but the sheer creepiness of the violence and the violent character.

Wow, what a monster. Beautifully written/translated story of two orphans who are left in a coin locker after they are born, and the confusion and mental unrest this event causes them.

William Peterson is absolutely stunning in this movie, which is clearly the film that birthed the character of Gil Grissom in CSI. I had no idea of Peterson’s acting calibre until I watched this… he blows his co-stars away.

Goofy, slick, intelligent french comedy. I liked this a lot. Absolutely pisses on the poor-excuses-for-comedy movies coming out of Hollywood.

Threesomes, cult joining and an illfamed boring tourist resort. Pretty short book, but the price I paid reflected it. Good read. Houellebecq is (unintentionally?) pretty damn funny.

I know these books aren’t really great literature, but if you’re looking for a CSI fix between seasons, they do their job well. This one gets extra points for the GSR factor – the ending made me laugh out loud.