academical

The Spartans, an epic history, by Paul Cartledge. Serious stuff for the thinking man (or woman) who's seen the movie 300.

I saw The Departed the night before last. Decent enough "actioner", and I quite enjoyed it, but it really had very little substance. Scorsese really doesn't make them like he used to. I haven't seen the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, of which I understand the Departed is just an American remake. I can't say I'm really interested in looking for it now, either. Funny to see a couple of posters above confuse it with Internal Affairs, which is a whole other movie.

The Da Vinci Code was never likely to make a good film. They handled the 'history' and the suspense well, but the enjoyment of the book is about the puzzles, and they don't really translate well from print to celluloid. How do you make a film about a series of word games?

Hmm .. every review I've seen or heard of has panned this. I still want to see it. I enjoyed the book (it was the first Ellroy I read), but mrs academical is getting harder to convince. Maybe I'll end up waiting for it on Sky.

Volver. 6 and a half out of 10. Quite funny for the first hour; predictable narrative; usual Almodovar mix of strong women, erotica, food, murder, and morbid humour. Good for fans of Penelope Cruz, but I'm not one.

First time poster. Virgin post. Just testing to see how this forum works.