I don’t watch horror films any more ‘cos I want to be able to sleep! This, however, ended up in my VCR without me thinking about what I was sitting down to watch. Just as well, then, that it wasn’t particulary scary!

Oh, it tries to be. Following the suicide of his wife, Bob De Niro ups sticks with cute daughter Dakota Fanning – to the most remote and huge house, beside some creepy woods… d’oh! Yeah, that sounds sensible. And of course little girly ends up with an imaginary friend… or does she?! Mwhahaha!

What follows is an exercise in misdirection, as every possible trail is led to explain some creepy goings-on. Which is fine. And the eventual answer is fine. But too much doesn’t really tie up – it’s done for the sake of being ‘creepy’ and is a bit too blatent to work on me. By the end I was more annoyed by all the red herrings than impressed by the ‘twist’, which was a shame.

So all in all… meh. Not an effective horror film, and no real depth at being anything else.

The third and final of the Chronicles of the Raven, and for all it’s fluff it’s definitely been enjoyable fluff.

Of the three, I’d say I liked this one the best. Barclay and the reader have both settled into his characters, and I still find them a likeable bunch. I suppose if picking faults I’d say that they’re getting a little less ‘developed’ and more stereotypes of themselves, but it’s okay.

The plot picks up about 5 years after Noonshade ends, and doesn’t gloss over all the problems caused by events in that novel. Specifically, what happens when two mages from different colleges have a baby. Imagine more power than the world has ever seen, all at the subconcious whim of a 5-year-old child…!

And while it stays fairly simple, the plot works better for it: we don’t have to struggle to relate to the motives of characters, some wanting to protect a child, others seeing her death as the only way to save the world from being destroyed by hurricanes, earthquakes and tidal waves caused as she struggles to prematurely learn to cope with immense magical abilities.

My big complaint about it all is the ending. There are a further three books – the Legends of the Raven – but it wasn’t until I reached the end of this one that I realised they must follow on quite closely. Well – I certainly hope they do, as there’s a large resolution somewhat missing at the end of Nightchild!!

I don’t want to mark these as not worth consuming, because I love the idea of herbal tea and these are some of the nicer ones I’ve tried. In fact, when I first got the pack I thought they were quite nice – unfortunately, the last couple I’ve had I’ve managed half a cup before I feel a bit bleugh with the blandness of it all. I keep thinking about drinking bathwater :(

I’m going to try taking the teabag out, instead of leaving it in (since the tea never feels strong enough, I didn’t see the problem – now I’m wondering!); and drinking it before it goes lukewarm. Fingers crossed I can like this stuff again!

(Am I being too too dull, writing about yogurts?!)

This is a rather bland strawberry yogurt – but it’s thick and creamy, and easy enough to think that the vanilla is taking the ‘strawberry-ness’ down a notch.

Ate one this morning poured over some fresh strawberries, and it was delicious! :)

The girl who sits beside me drinks this one, and while I thought it smelled lovely, I was very worried trying it that it would be very strong – but of course it’s not, it’s herbal tea!

The lemon doesn’t mean it tastes like lemsip, at all, thankfully! Ginger is supposed to be good for digestion, and is quite warming. The ‘ginger burn’ kind of lingered at the back of my throat for a good few hours afterwards, though.

First complaint: there is nothing obvious to suggest whether this is one or two portions. Assuming it was for one (and frankly, it was a cook in the micro thing, so I would have struggled to split it) I discovered it was too much – and yup, the nutritional info (and only that!) talks about half-pack portions. Sigh.

Bigger complaint, though, is that it doesn’t taste great. Why oh why does vegetarian so often equal bland? No call for it!

It wasn’t inedible, but it was deeply disappointing.

Soooo many interviews with JJ Abrams spouting off about how it’s a character-driven piece, with added action. How it’s about Ethan, and Julia, and their luuuuurve for each other.

Pass the sick bag.

No, not entirely, but the biggest cliche, the most predictable, seen it a hundred times before bit of this movie is: spy trying to have a real relationship and the struggle of keeping secrets from a loved one. Yawn yawn yawn.

Fortunately, for all it’s a “character-driven” film, the mush is waaaay overwhelmed by the action. And the action is fun! M:I-3 goes back more towards the original film (and probably the series, but sorry, am too young to remember that!), bringing back a whole team (albeit one overshadowed by “I’m a superstar” TC) dynamic and gadgets and tricks that are actually believable – well, amazing, but at least seeming to be vaguely in the realms of possibility, unlike film 2.

Explosions galore, TC getting smashed up a bit, car chases and lots and lots of running… shame it’s constantly interupted by shots of the ‘star’ looking broody and/or on the verge of sobbing like a six year old girlie, but still – the explosions! Wooo!!

Mindless, enjoyable fluff. Why not?

Doesn’t bare thinking about too hard, but my inner cynic shut up long enough to go “awww!” at some bits. There’s actually some good lessons to be learned in there, for that kind of woman – and the rest of us can feel fairly smug that we don’t act like that _{almost never} !

Following directly on from Dawnthief, the silly-titled Noonshade manages, imo, to be a more exciting installment in the Chronicles of the Raven. The spell that should have saved the day at the end of the first novel has caused an ever bigger problem – will dragons soon be destroying the land? And will there be much of a land left if the invading Wesmen forces succeed?

The weakness here, I would say, is that there are lots of disparate exciting elements. They do form a decent story, but when you start looking at it… I dunno. The fight for the college is shown with great emotional turmoil for those involved, but then the Raven kind of swan in and swoop back out again – it almost jars. Yes, there is good reason, but the real depth of feeling then seems placed in the wrong story segment.

Ack. I shouldn’t be disecting this! It’s fun, it’s pretty well written, and it switches the brain off for a bit.

It’s rare I buy ready-made stuff like this, but M&S’s vegetarian section has always drawn me. Add a buy-one-get-one-half-price offer, and I was for experimenting!

But this… hmm. Disappointing. Nice, perfectly edible, but just so nothing special. A bit bland. And the chutney overpowers everything in a not entirely pleasant way.

Considering you pay £4 for two – just not worth the admission fee, I’m afraid.