A Fun New Way to Learn Languages

I remember my school days, spent lounging at the back of Spanish class during my A-levels, idly doodling in my notepad or else trying to keep up with the rest of the class as I desperately tried to recall the Spanish for "Lorca uses lots of phallic imagery in his plays". The thing is, I wasn't all that bad at Spanish; it's just that, compared to the others, I wasn't all that good. Much of that was of course down to me: I rarely took the time to look at the vocabulary or revise until exams came by, at which point it was already too late. I seem to recall doodling during much of my preparation time for the oral exam, too, actually.

But the past month or so has led me back into languages, through a route I hadn't hitherto given much thought. With the advent of smaller, faster technology we have more and more ways to access information, a fact which Muzzy and Rosetta Stone have taken into account with their DVDs and computer software. But me? I've gone for something a little smaller, more... handheld.

Movies, Oscars and a pre-Valentine's Day Apology...

I feel like Inside Llewyn Davis has really drawn the short straw in being out this year. In time for the Oscars this February, it's netted just two nominations (for cinematography and sound mixing - how did this miss Best original score?!), coming up against such giants as American Hustle and Gravity. Which seems a shame, really, given my opinions.

'Tis the Season...

I really should stop reviewing movies. For one thing, I can't stand any of them. I go in expecting something brilliant, and the half I like is always overshadowed by the half I detest. Sometimes there's too much story getting in the way of a cheap-thrills B-movie ride, sometimes there's all action when we need some quiet talk and agonised looks. I hate trilogies, I hate superhero movies, I hate plodding crime "thrillers". I hate movies, basically. But I really hate the fact that awards-season is rolling round now, because it means we get into these thick, story-heavy movies at a time when you need a marshmallowy chocolate winter warmer.

A beautiful end to the year

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a happy new year. For my part, I got a £20 Steam code and bought a ton of new games with it, of which more next week. More importantly, around Christmas I saw two absolutely wonderful movies, and that's what I want to talk about here.

Beautiful Games

The past month or so I've been playing a lot of new video games, because it's amazing what you can find for free if you know where to look. I'll go into some detail down below, but before that I want to say: it's amazing how beautiful you can make games in a short amount of time.

Why I kinda hate superhero movies. And trilogies in general...

Okay, so I don't know what started off the whole trilogy thing. Maybe it was the Godfather, or the Dollars trilogy. Answers vary, some even dating as far back as Boris Karloff's stint as Frankenstein in Frankenstein(1931), Bride of Frankenstein(1935), and Son of Frankenstein(1939). I couldn't say for sure, of course - I haven't seen enough films to say for certain, and even if I had my opinion is a drop in the film-review ocean - but what I do know is this:

I utterly hate them.

Two Toms on top form, in two very different movies

Having adjusted to uni life, it's been nice to relax and unwind this past week. Since yesterday, I've seen two films, and it's remarkable how good cinema has become now the summer blockbuster season is over. The two films I watched bridged the gap between vacuous action movie and Autumn Oscar-bait, and it's interesting to see the contrast, but also the stand-out performances which really make both films. So here we go: my review of Thor: The Dark World and Captain Phillips.