 |
Friday Night Dinner
by mbaggott1
Friday Night dinner is a comedy based sitcom around a family of four people (The Goodman's) and what they typically do on a Friday night. First broadcast in February 2011 a very well known actor who is one of the main family members in this show Simon Bird. If you think your family are a bit odd and have disfunctional relationships try ... watching this. The language can be crude and some of the story lines or beyond bizzare but that is what makes it fun.
Adam (played by Simon Bird)- The oldest of the two brothers, he likes to get his younger brother Jonny in trouble. His aim is to be a famous musician but he hasn't had a lot of luck so has edged his way into what he finds a boring and dead end career in script writer for adverts. Adam doesn't feel like he gets on with his family at times they often pester him about his love life or lack of one. He is well groomed and looks after himself he enjoys family dinners on Friday nights for a little while before things get out of hand and he just wants to escape.
Jonny (played by Tom Roenthal)- The youngest of the boys Jonny works as an estate agent and gets caught up in a relationship with his estate agent manager.He defines his job as a real one compared to older brother Adam's. Jonny is a cheeky lad who loves the girls and the attention from his mother. He gets kicks out of annoying his brother too.
Mum, Jackie (played by Tams in Greig)- Jackie adores her two boys and would do anything for them both. She is a loving woman and can be very sexy and flirtatious she has a childish sense of humour and has a short fuse. She always wants the best for her boys and loves a good old chat with Best friend Oval. She likes to think of herself as peacemaker in the family but that isn't always the case.
Dad, Marin (played by Paul Ritter)- It is safe to say Martin is very unique he likes to walk around the house airing his chest to family and occasional friends. He struggles to hear and wears a hearing aid using this to his advantage especially during arguements. He likes to scavenge from the house bin and hide snacks in the bathroom.
Jim, the neighbour (played by Mark Heap)- Jim is neighbour of the Goodman's he is an usual sort he is infact petriffied of his own dog. He always turns up to the Goodman's on Friday night uninvited hoping for a nice meal, he fancies Jackie and hints at it a lot. Jim is never without his dog Wilson.
If you like a good old comedy sitcom with a very unique family this programme is for you, the follow up series is fantastic and gives us more hilarious gags and awkward situations. However disfunctional the family are its nice to seen they come together once a week whether the boys want to or not and sit down and have a less than civilised dinner at home discussing topics from there lives.
My opinion. It is truly worth a watch, there are some hilarious scenes the sitcom was actually written by Simon Bird from the inbetweeners. If you like the Inbetweeners you will love this. No I matter what humour you like there scenes in this that will make everyone giggle. It is cringy, funny, heart warming and different to say the least!
For £7.99 I think it is a bargain , if you like it that much you can watch it over and over again. The sort of programme you can watch with anyone!
Read the complete review |
 |
Fresh Meat: Series 1
by mbaggott1
Fresh Meat delves into the life of a group of six young students starting out at University. It is a comedy series which consists of 8 episodes. There are some familiar faces in this series.
Each episode is often based around a certain character, the first episode introduces the characters nicely and allows us to see what they are ... really like and why they are in this rented student accomodation all together. they start off as individuals who do not know each other and as the series progresses the students find themselves in some awkward and tricky situations and some situations that many students can relate too.
The Characters
JP (played by Jack Whitehall)- A posh boy from the country who didn't make it into a 'proper' University. He likes to think of himself as one of a kind someone who shouldn't need to be associated with people who do not have wealth or brains like him. He has some strange bonds with the other students, he irritates them all but always looks to them when he needs help. He starts off the series trending on peoples toes a little which is no surprise seeing has he has one of the most bizarre personalities the house mates have ever set eyes upon. He doesn't care what people really think of him though but because he is rich his so called 'friends' sponge off of him for money, JP see's nothing wrong with this as he feels its makes him look a popular and like a nice person which will help him attract 'girls'. JP's parents don't often keep in contact he has a very respectful relationship with his parents and a snesible one if only they knew what he really acted like especially when drunk their opinions of there posh little son might dramatically change.
Oregon (played by Charlotte Ritchie)- Oregon has been brought up well, very polite and well educated, but she doesn't want to be known as Melissa so she reinvents herself and uses the name Oregon. Her aim is too be cool and try and fit in by making up stories and acting like a completely different person? Her friendships with her housemates are tested by this. She is worried people may think she is boring so tries to act like someone else sleeping with a teacher and failing her coursework too try and act cool and fit in. All Melissa/Oregon really wants is to have cool friends and seem like a hardcore person but in fact she is a nice person anyway who drives a normal car like many students and has money and the knowledge to survive at University. Melissa especially looks up to Vod one of her housemates (described below). Vod likes to break the rules, smoke, do drugs, drink alcohol and have a good time. Melissa thinks by changing her name and acting like a 'cool' person she will fit in more but truthfully it is clear throughout the series her lies will eventually catch up with her and who knows maybe her housemates will like her for who she is when she cuts out all of the lies.
Josie (played by Kimberley Nixon)- Arrives from Wales her ambition to be a dentist. She is very helpful around the house and gets on with everyone, she has some feelings for a housemate but it wasn't the housemate she hooked up with on the first night in there new home which made things awkward for people as they didn't really know each other then. Josie has some hilarious one liners and often makes people feel weird when she comes out with them, for instance when she was sleeping with this housemate she said something along the lines of 'hump me with your massive ****' to try and get him in the mood. Her feelings for another housemate soon develop as the series goes on but has she left it too late to say something and make a move? Oh i forgot to mention she does have a boyfriend called Dave that she left in Wales for University as well. Josie is a pleasant housemate at most times but does have a mouth on her and does like to make sure she is heard a lot of the time.
Vod (Played by Zawe Ashton)- an independent individual, who has come from a rough background, she likes to drink, smoke and break the rules. She never really bothers to much to do her coursework until the last minute. She is very relaxed and Oregon wishes she could be just like Vod, infact Oregon just wants to try and impress her and others around her. Vod doesn't really get to grips very well with doing work at University instead likes to feel young and have a good time and she definitely does a fantastic job at this. As the series goes on a lot of her housemates are intrigued about her sexuality due to her Butch look people think she may not be entirely straight as people confront her on this matter Vod doesn't really know herself she thinks she is straight and hasn't doen anything for people to think otherwise but is so laid back about it she doesn't think anything of it or even care.
Kingsley (played by Joe Thomas)- Kingsley has been through a lot with his mother looking after her for years before deciding to make something of his life, he is very music orientated and looks forward to meeting new people and enjoying life but he is still hesitant about the experience. He is a mature student who has progressive feelings for another housemate as the series goes along. But is it too late for anything to happen will they ruin their chance? Kingsley almost feels sometimes that he is better than the other housemates and doesn't always think that their time is worth anything. Although Kingsley being intellectually stupid is persuades to change University causes as a joke, he does so but realises after it is all finalised his friend didn't actually change course either. Silly Kingsley!
Howard (played by Greg McHugh)- before the other students arrived Howard was already living in the house. He likes to think of himself as a recluse who hides away in his room playing with his gadgets. He has a very strong accent and some hilarious one liners. It is safe to say he is a character who can make people feel very awkward. In the second series things with Howard get deeper as he starts to actually show an attraction to one lady imparticular which confuses him as he is usually the only housemate who never shows feelings about anything or to anyone.
My Opinion- Fresh Meat is a very funny show all the students have very different personalities and all get themselves in some strange situations to say the least. They do what most students do drink, have fun, get themselves into trouble but unfortunately not all of them actually do well in Uni. By the end of the series we get a feel of what they are all really like and why they are in this bizzare house. They all do their own thing but at the ed of it no matter how many disagreements they have had they are all like one weird big family. All some big personalities and some challenging events for them in this series but they all get on well and in very different ways attempt to make the most of their first year at University for better or worse well you will have to watch to find out.
The actors are incredible and most of all believable, students may watch this and realise that their lives aren't far from this. For me I am going to University this year, if I ended up in a house with people like this it would make University worth it and I hope I would make friends just like these. Hoping of course not to get lead astray though or get myself into to much trouble!
All housemates take a journey through the series whether good or bad they all learn something from it which leads onto a funnier series 2. Series 2 is hilarious and dives deeper into their lives ad what they actually do on a daily basis whilst at University. Truly impressive series some hilarious scenes that must have been awkward to film and overall a massive laugh.
Fresh Meat Series 1 DVD costs around £14 and is truly worth the money, guaranteed a laugh and maybe you can relate to some of the scenes or might hope one day to relate to them!
Read the complete review |
|
|
Flying Monsters (Blu-ray 3D)
by broxi3781
I'm not normally one for film reviews, but seeing as most of the 3D films here are going without reviews - and I can find very few to read before I buy - I've decided to jump in. For me, watching a 3D film is a family night activity - so I choose ones I think the children will enjoy - or in some cases, such as this one they choose the ... film. My sons wanted this after seeing the picture as I browsed Amazon. Both of them love dinosaurs, and pterosaurs, but we really do not have as many books and films with the flying reptiles as we do with land based dinosaurs, and the picture on this film is cracker.
I had been considering this Bluray for some time anyway. It is only £7.25 on Amazon new and it has some excellent reviews - and one very poor one. It features David Attenborough who has been known as the voice of the BBC's wildlife programmes for many years. I had mistakenly assumed this was a BBC production, so of course expected a high standard of research and credibility. This is in fact not connected to the BBC in anyway - it was produced by Sky 3D, but it if I didn't know better I would think I was watching a BBC documentary. This is very well researched and informative and an absolutely outstanding documentary. My sons were both interested in this, and we all learned quite a lot about fossils, Mary Anning, and the evolution of flight.
As much as we all enjoyed this though - this film was obviously made for adults, not children, and at times they did find it a bit dry. My oldest has more than an average interest in fossils and paleontology, but many children may grow very impatient with the long narratives which show only a few fossils, landscapes and humans. There is some beautiful scenery here, some type of jungles, the Jurassic coast and a a fossil pit which - if I recall correctly was the Solnhofen Limestones Beds of Germany. Both of my children did feel that this film did not have enough pterosaurs, and would have very much preferred the narrative over scenes of flying reptiles as opposed to looking at Mr Attenborough speaking. I have to agree with them in this - the narrative was fascinating, but I feel quite a bit more animation could have been worked in. I did not time the scenes with pterosaurs,as that would really take from the fun of watching the film, but I would guess that the animated segments make up less than one third of the viewing time.
When we did see animated scenes though they were breathtaking. This is really intense 3D - if you want things popping out of screens that look as if you can reach up and grab them - this is the film for you. My youngest son did actually get up and reach up to catch one of the pterosaurs at one point - it is truly stunning. This is both the best and the worst 3D I have seen on our 3D TV, surpassing even Sharks 3D in some short colourful segments. The 3D is incredible - but at times it seems a bit off. I found text burred and quickly gave up trying to read anything, and I did find some segments of the animated film sequences had slight blurring as well. I have watched a few full length features without eye strain, but 15 minutes into this - I did feel eye strain and ended up with a rather sore head by the end. I found myself closing my eyes for more and more of the talking scenes - and just watching the incredible scenes of flight. There are sequences where swarms of insects do look so real you could almost start itching them imagining the swarms of flying bugs and the pterosaurs swooping and diving through the jungle is truly an exceptional sight. I just have the feeling that this represents the cutting edge of 3D technology and as with any new a developing technology the odd bug still exists in the process.
This film begins with a short clip of a modern gliding lizard and then goes on, in a story like narrative to explain how scientists believe flight developed in early reptiles. The films switches between fossil evidence, computer reconstructions, simple narrative and 3D animation. The main creatures featured are Dimorophodon, Darwinopterus, Tapejara and Quetzalacoatus. It's hard to say which creature was the most fascinating. Dimorphodon is is featured on the cover and the acrobatics of this creature as well as strange appearance are fascinating. Darwinopterus is aptly named as he shows a linkage between the early smaller pterosaurs who were unable to walk properly due to flaps of skin which served as wings and the later flying giants with were far more mobile on land as well. Tapejara you simply have to see to believe with a large crest and sail like wings which scientist believed allowed him to effortlessly harness the winds and race across the surface of the sea like a sailing ship. Finally Quetzalacoatus is the size of a small plane, and none of the earlier material I had come across showed what seemed to be a viable method for this massive creature to become airborne. This film presents an exceptionally plausible theory and if you are interested in the evolution of flight for any reason - this alone makes the purchase worthwhile.
I am glad I bought this. I did have some problems with the 3D, but you do have the option of watching this in 2D on the same disc. This is the only extra though. There is no making of or extra scenes, but I really don't care for these anyway. My sons did both enjoy - and I feel that they both learned something - especially the oldest. I do feel that if he had not already read so many other books on dinosaurs and paleontology that some of this would have been over his head though. I would very strongly recommend this for adults and older children. For younger children I will only recommend if they have some background in the subject and are able to sit quietly through some dry narrative. I will note that this film does not show any real bloodshed or gore - so there isn't really anything to frighten a child, but it does show some creatures die and become fossils. The whole premise of this film is the evolution of flight - so if you do not wish to teach your children evolution - this film would be a very poor choice.
But - after speaking to my seven year old - he does recommend this move for other children. he says it has some "really cool bits" and the 3D is "awesome". He does say that it has too much people and not enough pterosaurs, a point seconded by my 4 year old, but both boys say they enjoyed it, they will watch it again, and I should buy them more films like this.
I am really wavering between a 4 and 5 star rating due to the short segments where the picture blurred and the eye strain involved. I do feel the very educational nature of this programme, the low price and the stunning 3D combine to make this a product I would recommend - and that perhaps a few bugs can be forgiven a technology in its infancy so I giving this a full 5 stars - but I would prefer 4.5 and will mention that if you are sensitive to eye strain with 3D - this might not be the best choice. I would also not want children watching this over and over again, but imagine once every few weeks will do them no harm.
The running time for this programme is 70 minutes. I viewed this on a passive 3D TV, but of course it can be viewed on passive or active 3D. A 3D compatible TV, Bluray player and glasses are required.
Read the complete review |
