3. Stephen King - Full Dark, No Stars.
Four novellas of varying levelsof unpleasantness. Good stuff - not King's best, but better than some of his more recent work. Opener 1922 in particular was unflinchingly, graphically, disturbingly violent.

2. Tom Rob Smith - Child 44.
Rather splendid Stalin-era thriller set in Soviet Russia. It's ostensibly about a mass murderer of children, but the genuinely psychotic nature of everyday life in those days shoves the killings well into the background. Marvellous (despite the preposterous twist at the end, which was shit on stilts).

Shall I do the book thing? I think I shall...

1. Dennis Lehane - Sacred.
Only recently started reading Lehane - although I've seen Shutter Island, adapted from his book, and of course he also worked as scriptwriter on The Wire - and he writes excellent, twisty, violent thrillers. Pulp, yes, but bloody good pulp (think Raymond Chandler rather than Dan ( Read more... )

I was going to scribble some sort of "best films of the 2010" list, but actually my cinema-going was rubbish last year due to being away on the road and other work commitments, so I didn't see that much. Therefore, here's just a few thoughts...

1. the most recent Harry Potter film was fucking dull, wasn't it? Apart from the scary lady who turned ( Read more... )

I hve a confession to make. I have an addiction. I am a Football Manager addict. And I have gone cold turkey.

From two occasionally overlapping points of view, Football Manager is the greatest game in the history of civilisation. For football fans, you can build fantasy teams, indulge your wildest prejudices (my brother-in-law, a fellow addict, ( Read more... )

Having just received the sad news of the death of an old and very dear family friend from my mother, I have decided to watch a rubbish film about a giant crocodile on iPlayer. It turns out that some total cock who was at drama school with me and whom I desperately dislike is in this film.

I am not in any films. Not even rubbish ones about giant ( Read more... )

Oh, look.

It's me! For the first time in over a year!

You'd think I'd have something to say, wouldn't you?

Ah, well.

xxx.

So, as it's Hallowe'en tomorrow, here's a definitive list of the ten scariest movies ever, in order. I will brook no argument, I am RIGHT. As always*.

1. Ringu. Ye Gods. Pure terrifying atmosphere all the way through, and the most unsettling ending ever committed to celluloid.
2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not as gory as the title suggests, and so ( Read more... )

So, my resolution in March to not neglect the LJ in favour of Facebook...has not worked very well. So! To some bullet points...

1. I no longer live in Watford. I live in Finchley, and this week I am attempting to paint large bits of the house.
2. I have had a very Shakespearean year - Caesar in February, Oberon and Theseus in an open-air A Midsummer ( Read more... )

Interesting to be proved wrong, I must say. Rarely is it so absolutely cut-and-dried.

I have frequently scorned the (as I saw it) lily-livered reluctance of Western cricket sides to tour the sub-continent, and Pakistan in particular. To be specific: no-one - really, you can check, no-one - suggested the Ashes series of 2005 should be called off, ( Read more... )