webstercharlotte

Hadn't heard of this at all until just today when I was searching something on Google so watched it thinking and hoping it was promising.

Firstly I'm a lifelong lucid dreamer and have been plagued by nightmares, night terrors and sleep walking since being a very young child. The dreams and nightmares are typically anxiety based and tend to follow a theme of being on aircraft that's plummeting to the Earth, alien abduction or frantically searching for or trying to do the most simple task urgently (like dialling a telephone number to get help I can never punch in the numbers in right order)

Over time I sort of figured out how to suss that it's a dream and became a lucid dreamer, manipulating and changing something terrifying into whatever I wanted or, when it's really scary, shouting myself awake again. The first experience of sleep paralysis in the sense that's it discussed here came later on in life but follows a near identical and pretty eerie word for word one as many others. Unable to move / frozen / trying desperately to scream and having large dark shadows looming over the side of my bed sometimes "lifting" me off the mattress accompanied by weird buzzing or fuzzy sounds etc.

Some of the descriptions in this were literally identical including the guy who willed himself to roll over and onto his girlfriend so she'd wake up and then waking up. The tall dark looming shadows, sudden horrifically loud screams and people rapidly shooting over from the far side of the bedroom right 2cm from my face - often with screams and faces morphing horribly.

I can test and outsmart some of the scariest dreams an example being when I was dreaming about riding a roller coaster with my husband and the train derailing at speed. Whilst hurtling and in mid air in sheer panic, it suddenly dawned on me this wasn't real and I turned to my husband and said "We're dreaming this - we're not crashing at all it's just a dream"

"WHAT?? WTF are you talking about????"

"Nah mate honest. We're just dreaming and I know cos we went to the theme park today, got home and I fell asleep on the sofa which is where I am right now we're not here"

"You sure?"

"I'm positive - trust me we're gonna wake up any second now"

Poof! Eyes open, wide awake and sure enough I was on the sofa having dozed off after a busy day at said theme park .

I was prescribed sleeping tablets by the doctor once which I tried out to see if they helped with nightmares but it turned out they made things even worse because I tend to have nightmares almost every night without fail but when I fell into one, the sleeping tablets were keeping my brain on the down and preventing me from shouting myself awake. I knew I was dreaming, knew the meds were in my system keeping me asleep and knew I had no choice but to ride it out for however long it took them to wear off which just exacerbated the sheer primal fear to no end.

In the last year or so my adult daughter has left home and moved in with her boyfriend and being a freaky sleep walker and having mad bouts of shouting and turning things upside down in my sleep, I've gone and slept in her room now and then so I don't disturb others.

Odd thing is whenever I go in there recently, I have the most horrible dreams and hallucinations of random people rapidly zooming over and getting all up in my face which jolts me clean out of sleep with a gasp.

Knowing SP is more common when laying on your back I made a conscious effort to sleep on my side or propped up which definitely helped but when I'm in my daughter's room, it doesn't matter when, how and which way I sleep or what I try doing to prevent having another jump scare nightmare.

Whenever she comes home to stay, she has been having the same and people coming in her room running over to her and has been having similar dreams in her own bed this last year too (coincidentally when I have)

Interestingly I only have these fast people showing up and bothering me when I'm in her bedroom and we've lived in this house over 20yrs it's bizarre. Even more bizarre is it nearly always happens between 3 and 4am which made my daughter go "Oh my God I keep bolting out of sleep with the same thing at that time!!!!!"

I ended up digging out some of my old books and reading up because this new experience is trickier than the lifelong nightmares and lucid dreams in that being so fast and furious, my brain doesn't have chance to figure out it's a dream and do anything about it. I don't like that I seemingly have little control over this one so can't find a way around it - hence why I started reading up again and was intrigued that people often report having the same experiences in a specific room or place.

This documentary really fell short in terms of pointing out this type of similarity, delving into the most common and sometimes inexplicable experiences shared by people and it really went down the route of more spiritual and paranormal which I don't think helps anyone least of all those who daren't tell anyone what they are experiencing for fear of being seen as barmy.

One of two people seemed to have got stuck on their SP experience as being something of a real, demonic entity that's actually, physically visiting and harming them and some seem to have found a way of coping or learning to manipulate and overcome it through a belief that Jesus banished the demons and is keeping them dreaming of sunshine sprinkles and rainbows.

It doesn't matter how or in what way someone finds a way to cope or overcome this very real, utterly terrifying and even debilitating condition but sadly, this film seems to lean too much towards supporting that angle for the sake of making good entertainment.

For that reason it fell short and let itself down badly because it's just given more weight to the belief many people have that SP is just the odd scary dream and the personal accounts and experiences elaborated to the point of being outrageous.

As I say, for me it was figuring out that sleeping flat on my back seemed to induce it (and taking steps to make sure I didn't roll over into that position wherever possible) and then figuring out that medication to help me sleep actually made things far worse than without.

I noticed if I sleep in a totally darkened and silent room, I'm more prone to having bouts of SP and nightmares so sleep with the TV either on mute or music playing quietly helps as does a few drops of lavender oils and tea light candles.

I just found it so interesting how recently I've had this new thing of people suddenly rushing and running over to me whenever I sleep in my daughter's room, it happens the same sort of time early hours and then discovering my daughter has been having similar and when she's back home, nearly always has the same with some random man sprinting over and shouting her name at the top of his voice.

It is still not well researched, studied or fully understood so there would be limited if not generic views and info from medical professional and sleep disorder experts but it would certainly help to get a better overall and more balanced understanding rather than painting it out to be made up and bits added on.

The guy that remarked how he finds ways to ward off bouts on a short term temporary basis but it somehow adapts and finds its way back again I could relate to 100% but the way it was put over and edited made him sound like he wasn't a full set.

We still understand so little about the complexities of the brain with Charles Bonnet Syndrome one of the most fascinating yet relatively unknown and all too often misdiagnosed in older people as being some sort of cognitive impairment / dementia (CBS is a phenomenon that causes visual hallucinations predominantly experienced by people with impaired sight and in some cases in those who are completely blind)

Allowing it 6/10 purely because of the personal accounts and descriptions being eerily similar to people the world over, from all walks of life and different cultures but can't rate any higher just because it lacked some actual information and details about what we DO understand.

Watched this whole documentary again recently having seen it back when it first aired and it's even more shocking second time round.

The death penalty for me and probably for many in UK is not something that's easy to wrap my head around or find any logic, reasoning or argument. It bothers me to no end how in many countries, the law not only allows but requires execution of a human being. Not only that, those whose crimes are typically punishable by death are often people with severe mental health conditions, people whose steady road to committing their crimes followed a series of dire hands life threw them (often victims themselves) or the worst one - people who are entirely innocent.

The one thing many people argue or will put to you about the death penalty is usually "What if it was one of your family members they tortured and killed?" to which my answer is always "If it were my family, ideally the law would find and arrest the person before I found out who they were cos if I did and had half a chance - I'd kill them myself. No two ways about it either I would actually kill them with my bare hands and consider it a job well done and serve my time without argument"

The difficulty is that a civilised society doesn't and shouldn't us all to go around taking our pound of flesh and proverbial eye. That's why we have laws and judicial process.

Politics aside and regardless of where in the world you live and which side of fence you might sit, the premise behind this documentary is one I think most reasonable people would agree on being that if we are going to kill people as punishment, it should be done as swiftly and humanely as possible. They're already being legally strapped down and executed so there is no need to add an extra little swifty trick and make their ending as horrific, painful and long as possible.

At this time this aired there were ongoing cases being heard regarding what was argued to be an unnecessarily long, painful and horrifying execution by lethal injection. The death sentence itself wasn't the issue as such but more with the drugs most commonly used and the widely reported bungled executions due to technicians (not trained medical staff) being up front and centre.

So with that, former UK politician Michael Portillo set about researching all previous and current methods of execution used around the world to see if there is a simpler and more humane way of putting someone to death.

Michael goes through each horrific method of execution from way back when including how hanging was trial, error, Godawful results that even now aren't guaranteed a quick, painless or humane way to go.

He sees what happens to a pig carcass when given the equivalent as per electric chair, meets the man who designed the current methods of lethal injection and who says openly and honestly that it was never intended to be used by untrained technicals without any medical training or carried out in the way it is now as standard practice.

The Hippocratic Oath prevents medical staff from taking part in executions with the professional basis of "do no harm" seemingly not applicable, afforded or extended to all. If your ethics, morals, personal belief and professional qualification prevents you from doing harm to someone, it should also prevent you standing and watching whilst someone else causes untold distress and suffering attempting to do what they are untrained to do and you have the means, skill, ability and a duty of care to prevent.

Michael himself steps up and experiences first-hand the effects of CS Gas to replicate the effects of dying in a gas chamber and then goes inside a hyperbaric chamber to experience hypoxia at high altitude. One of the greatest dangers to pilots is suffering from hypoxia at high altitude largely because their cognitive ability declines so rapidly but they remain oblivious to it becoming increasingly confident and euphoric which means they don't know when they're in danger and need someone else to step in and take over. Hypoxia has claimed many lives as a result of pilots not able to work out simple warning alarms in the cockpit blaring or follow basic instruction from ATC.

Under medical supervision, once at high altitude Michael is asked to remove his oxygen mask and carry out the most basic tasks such as completing a child's shape-sorter toy, answering what playing card is being held up in front of him and can't work out the answer to eight minus four.

Then the final task. He's told to pull up the switches and resume his oxygen supply immediately or he'll die. Michael sits there hopelessly but happily fiddling with his toy and smiling at the guy telling him he's about to die. They shove his oxygen back on him and within a matter of seconds he's back to normal and able to answer the simple questions but said he thought he was performing the tasks really well and just felt totally relaxed, happy and in his own little world.

Therein lay the answer to his question of whether it's possible to kill someone humanely - induced hypoxia. It would offer a quick, painless and humane death and the additional bonus of removing some burden of guilt in that the person at a certain point whilst still fully conscious, could even be offered an opportunity to save their own life and not choose to.

Armed with his finding Michael takes all his research and information to a pro-death penalty Professor who is one of the most disturbing individuals and in my opinion, far worse and more twisted than most death row inmates.

He fobs Michael off and claims that method of execution would be a terrible idea on the basis that it's too humane and the condemned person ought to endure pain, suffering and an end I wouldn't expect anyone other than the victim's loved ones to even want let alone utter on camera.

That seems to be the take home message from this which is all the more worrying. The ending of someone's life in itself isn't enough and the system wants them to die a horrendous death.

Even with the lethal injection there are so many simple, easier and much more cost effective ways than still continuing to be used such as administering a single massive dose of barbiturates (overdose of general anaesthetic) which would require minimal involvement from medical staff other than to insert a cannula in advance, step back and let the technicians come in and push a syringe through and therefore less training, money spent on the training and less money still from using one drug rather than a combination of drugs which have known interactions and adverse effects i.e. One drug not doing its job or counteracting the effect of the others.

The average length of time for a person to die between administration of the injection until the heart and breathing stops is twelve minutes. There should be no need whatsoever for it to take any longer than one or maybe two minutes absolute max. Within seconds of the injection being administered the person is rendered unconscious. If you want to further cut costs just wait until they're out cold, stick on a mask and use gas inhalation to finish off but it would seem the issue isn't with cost, medical ethics or state laws, it's with making that last punishment the worst one imaginable.

I'm abhorrent to the death penalty but as someone who has over 20yrs experience in health and medical and ten years working in palliative care and end of life, I couldn't physically stand there and allow someone to suffer like that and would rather move the technicians aside, take over, administer the injection and finish the job myself than allow that to happen.

My moral compass would be tuned more to this being a human being suffering needlessly rather than being stuck with the crap excuse that it goes against my professional ethics.

That it takes so long, the alternatives are still not being given the time of day and people who society considers qualified, very intelligent and high standing, respectable humans actually wanting this to be dragged out and very painfully, paints a grim picture of the US judicial system and barbaric death penalty laws.

You have to be seriously short on wiring somewhere along the lines to be someone that society deems to hold the higher ground and take advantage to cause anyone a long, painful and torturous end.

They put people on death row for that kind of stuff.

Quick Quiz:

When told the orca deliberately left drunken eejit's boat untouched because he wants to fight him, which of the following does he say he will do?

A) I won't do that b) I won't fight him at all c) I'LL FIGHT YOU!!!!!!!!!

I dunno what to say really. It started off with the right idea having sought to find something even more terrifying and deadly than the great white shark and the producer's brother happened to have a keen interest in marine biology and rightly suggested orca own the oceans and have no natural predators other than humans.

The general gist is that drunken eejit with a boat is asked to catch and kill on contract and whilst his boat is targeted and about to be attacked by a great white shark, an orca intercepts out of nowhere and kills it.

The shark whinnies / does a loud Tarzan-type screech when he's hit.

The orca roars like a lion. Actually does the MGM roar.

Drunken eejit turns his attention and harpoon to Mrs Orca and fires at her then unceremoniously hangs her upside down from her tail fluke over the deck of the boat as Mr Orca looks on angrily roaring all the while.

She starts bleeding out and then miscarries her unborn butternut squash before dying.

Mr Orca not a bit happy and decides to go on an inexplicable campaign against humans who are entirely innocent and several of which sympathised and tried to prevent the Mrs getting shot.

No matter. He's off on one now and committed so with that Mr Orca kills innocents, bites the leg off a young girl, susses out how to ram and disconnect pipes and cut off gas supplies to all the residents in the nearly village.

Some annoying bint we're supposed to believe is the academic and general fountain on knowledge on everything concerning whales. She's in the middle of a class teaching her students all the knowledge they need to soak up and process and then plays a recording of orca calls only they're humpbacks.

Rather than help or actually try to put things right with Mr Orca and save all this grief, death and burst gas lines she just encourages the eejit to go out and fight the orca on the water. Honest to God. She's like one of those drunken girlfriends outside pubs and taxi ranks at 2am causing aggro and drama between her boyfriend and someone else then when it all kicks off she tries to break it up as though she hadn't totally meant for that to happen.

Anyway eejit eventually decides the only way to settle this is in fact to go and fight the orca. He doesn't so much fight it as just piss about on bits of ice floes Mr Orca is a master at breaking off into smaller pieces.

Eventually after a random game of see-saw, the orca either shoves his body down too hard on the see-saw or punts eejit with his tail I can't remember which but the eejit goes sailing through the air, crashes down on the ice and dies.

The annoying bint stands looking the orca right in his eye as though they're having some deep meaning telepathic conversation and with seemingly some understanding or agreement reached, the orca swans off and leaves the one person that could have helped avoid this entire mess but chose to cause as much chaos as she could.

It's dreadful. I am saying that even accounting for the fact it was made in 1977 but allowing for it being a little of its time, it's a vile wet and explosive diarrhoea.

Take my hat off to anyone that trudges out there to those islands in that weather and freezing cold Godawful type of environment just to observe and record wild animals.

However, I thought for a long time this was the same but older, slightly dodgy version of"Killer Whales" documentary and only realised it's a different filmmaker/

Crozet islands are so isolated being just a tiny patch of land in the middle of vast ocean so not much goes on anwyay so this has little to offer in terms of footage, scenery apart form the odd very select few scenes and some odd attempts to give it a boost with a humourous voice over and dubbing I can't weigh up but maybe English isn't the first language so I'll give it the benefit of doubt and move on.

Delphine appears briefly buit as a huge, imposing dark shadow from the murky water but silently gliding past to check out why there's a dude with a camera hiding in her kelp.

Not sure if this was an effort to follow up on the family after six years or just a guy that wanted to go and visit but whatever the case, this one sadly fails to capture any of the charm.

First airing in 2000, this documentary captured the daily lives, trials and tribulations of one orca family off the Crozet Islands focusing on the youngest, most wayward and accident prone youngster who has since gained an online following.

"Delphine" is that one child who would lick a frozen lamppost and need firefighters to remove her and the post so she can be treated in hospital.

Headache of the family, Delphine is seen learning how to walk, talk, crawl, stalk, ambush, hunt and hone her craft using the family's techniques to sucessfully ambush and get herself beached to catch seals, pups and penguins for the rest of her family at which point, she will finally be a killer whale.

Within the space of two weeks she gets herself stranded and needed to be rescued and helped back into the water, then ends up lost in a thick bed of kelp but finally learns to focus, listen and learn behaviours and techinques needed to help her catch and put food on the table.

It's an outstanding documentary that was a made to TV movie barely heard of and not marketed or advertised well at all but that's more the shame really. Considering the generic type, quality and content of independent documentaries particularly on killer whales in general, this one sitting in a quiet corner covered in a dust sheets and unheard of is shocking.

Good news is the film makers have announced plans to release a follow up in the next year or two and which will feature the same family group including mother of two and now huge imposing matriarch "Delphine"

This one group having been, observed and followed during the summers for over two decades makes this a gem with incredible footage seldom offered unless it's BBC Earth.

Delphine being effectively forced to get herself beached by the adults so they can teach her how to get back off again I think is one of the most amazing and unique pieces of footage I've ever seen.

There are some unintentionally hilarious moments particularly featuring the locals on land bickering, squabbling and noises those elephant seals produce. Then there's angry birds going around headbutting sleeping seals or yelling at the newborn pups for absolutely no reason whatsoever. It's all these little things they captured that just make it brilliantly.

Tthere are some gut-wrenching moments as Delphine gets lost (again) and is crying out distress calls to her family that go unanswered for over two hours whilst she is found.

The lack of music, narration, voiceover or cutting away instead sticking with this one lost orca and deafening silence gives a sense of feeling lost with her. Cameraman stays under the water but does nothing else other than be a quiet reassurance without interference.

There are of course scenes where seal pups sadly get rammed and punted but that's to be expected in any nature documentary.

Recommend to anyone especially people who have had a bellyful of watching films and documentaries about captive orca and marine parks that leaves you just "Pfffftt...."

Angry bird running about slapping its feeties on the sand and headbutting a sleeping elephant seal killed me.

This picks up Matt & Trey's return to the studios in which they have less than one week to come up, write and have ready the first episode of the fifteenth South Park series following their return from writing and opening the musical "Book of Mormon"

For anyone not already aware, the entire process of writing a live theatre production like that isn't just draining beyond belief it's also entirely different - almost polar opposites of that involved with writing a 22 minute animated comedy. Not only that they came back with no literal clue what to even use for writing so even getting back into that mindset is an achievement in itself let alone putting an entire episode together ready to air in just six days.

The cameras are allowed briefly to record Matt & Trey with the other writers bouncing around ideas which is not a place anyone is or has been allowed to venture before. As Matt says and another writer agrees, it's a very vulnerable place to be throwing out ideas most of which will be rejected and maybe two or three out of every 100 even making it into further conversation but the culture within the studios and especially amongst the team is one that means they feel able to expose themselves and not worry about ridicule and being ripped on for an idea that's dire.

It was interesting to hear amongst the many topics, ideas and suggestions thrown out casually, one that Matt mentioned which was something he read about NCAA / basketball players making others a small fortune for their efforts but whose own Mothers weren't even paid to go see them play at any of the games (which would later be the 5th episode "Crack Baby Athletic Association") . Seeing hidden camera footage of Trey pacing full circles around the writers room like an injured animal trying to think up ideas gives an even greater sense of the stress, anxiety and incredible pressure they're under and have been subjecting to themselves for over 20yrs.

It gives you new found and full respect to the animation and sound / editing team who get extra tense and worried when there's not much noise and laughing from the writers room because the writing and voice recording is done first and then handed over to the animators. The amount of absolute belly laughing inside the sound booth whilst they are recording must be a nightmare for the sound guys to edit and cut out all the sniggering and wheezing from Matt & Trey's mic and al the while, Anne Garafino (God love her) has to take the initial ideas and intentions they have for each episode and run it by the legal standards making sure it's allowed to air.

Anne is such a sweet, gentle natured soul and although obviously not by any stretch easily offended or a prude given how long she has been working with Matt & Trey, it's still funny to hear her talk and make the phone call to run the initial ideas by their legal standards people and include what type of detail will be included i.e. The scenes showing characters with their mouth sewn to someone's arsehole and how much crap will be visible.

For me personally, at just shy of 45mins long it felt like too much time was spent covering older ground and recapping the origins of South Park and generally going back over well trudged ground. I wouldn't have thought this would appeal to many other than existing and well established fans most of whom would know this already.

The other minor gripe is that I got the distinct impression Matt & Trey weren't entirely 100% comfortable or keen to have even filmed this which I know they're fiercely private and guarded about anyway so it seemed an odd thing they would allow the cameras to follow them. I understand that entirely and would have preferred they weren't asked to give interviews on camera or if the cameras had stuck solely to a fly on the wall footage (as seen when Trey is pacing the writers room) or better still, scratched that and focused more on the animation / general creative team and how they work day to day.

I dunno there's just always something really uncomfortable in any interviews with Matt & Trey where you know they've been asked to sit just so, have really crap generic questions put forward or asked to do impressions and they oblige because they're such professionals but you can feel the awkwardness and sympathise.

Would love to have just seen how the team works from when they get back the recording and start the animation process to match. Would also love to see more of Anne at work if not an entire documentary dedicated to her job being "Oh God no... I have to people call up and try explaining this??"

A definite one South Park fans will love for sure though.

Another superb insight into the genius and incredible worth ethic and attention to detail that is everything Matt Stone & Trey Parker do and have ever done together. This one will really appeal to any fans whose eye tends to be drawn to the small, more subtle detail in the background which in all of their work be it the South Park episodes or the movies / musical.

Firstly, this movie was and remains the most painful, challenging and soul destroying project Matt & Trey ever worked on together to the point of them swearing never again to work with puppets and yet as with everything else they do, despite the utter tedium and the amount of graft and stress they encountered - they still refused to skip out or cut corners on anything and maintained their commitment and dedication to finish what they started.

"Building the world" covers everything from the sets and deliberate placing of all landmarks from each country in one area and stereotypical / generic ornamental items. For example the Paris set includes all of France's main landmarks together in one place and its paved cobblestones are shaped like croissants and the shots of North Korea includes "buildings" that are all made from Chinese take-away boxes.

Team America's belt buckles were US quarters, someone has a small pair of nail clippers attached to the utility belt and palm trees include leaves made from crumpled US dollars (and some cannabis plants) with the meeting with all the world leaders just filled with the best, most detailed stereotype for each country's representative.

The level of time, effort and painstaking detail that went into creating and building the world and the immense length of time researching and getting the tiniest thing absolutely perfect is breath-taking. Better still is the overwhelming majority of all this detail will be completely missed by most people and it's not until you see this you even realise just what went into creating the sets, what the props are and can full appreciate it all.

One of my favourite things Matt & Trey have always done consistently well is make a conscious effort to give something a deliberate "naff" feel and effect often using real life people and animals in and amongst their animation such as in South Park's "Pandemic" episodes with giant Guinea pigs storming the set dressed in various costume. They do the same here with King Jong's attack panthers which are just actual cats they released onto the set. The only thing I'd like to have seen is in the writing and recording of its music. Trey Parker's ability to make a scene that's so utterly crass, puerile and childish but give it an entirely different feel with the use of superbly written and emotive music is what gives his work that extra touch of pure genius. As a musician I have so much mad appreciation for how he manages to pull off some of the most vile, childish and puerile scenes and use music to invoke the most genuine, sincere sounding music despite what we're seeing on the screen such as when Gary nearly spews up his own pelvis behind the bar for example.

Fans of the movie and of Parker & Stone's work overall will absolutely love this and probably find themselves coming back to it more than once and then rewatching the film in its entirety to catch all the stuff that's included it's incredible how much is there under their typical "blink and you'll miss it" style.

First it's worth keeping in mind when this film was made cos it is very much of its time. That said it's conflicting in that despite the crappy writing, poor script and poor acting most of the time, there are surprising bits of detail and knowledge / background about Orca as a species thrown in here and there I hadn't expected to be included in an early 90's cheesy family film about freeing a captive orca.

Anyway the premise and plot is a pretty simple one. Foster kid with issues, a bad temper and a lack of direction and general form for getting into trouble is tasked with cleaning up after himself at the marine park he'd gone to one night and spray painted. Whilst scrubbing he comes face to face with its resident orca through the glass (complete with lightning and simultaneous crack of thunder as is tradition in these films) and shats his pants only to discover from a safe distance in the safety of daylight and two experienced trainers that "Willy" isn't the savage man eating beast he first thought.

Encouraged by the two experienced adults, Jesse starts to spend more time at the pool with Willy and learns basics of marine mammal training, develops rapport and a relationship (and in a slow-mo montage) his crimes are limited to nicking fish from the docks on his bike and legging it back to the pool as a treat for his new friend.

Despite Michael Madson aka "Mr Blonde" being as a foster parent, he and his wife struggle to reach and get through to a child who in the great scheme of things really isn't that bad at all. Jesse is initially just an annoying brat sort of troublesome and only needed a literal firm "Hey! Wind your neck and your arse in before I throw you in that sodding tank"

He seems too much for Mr and Mrs Blonde to manage however and his only real discipline and direction seems to be through daily visits and care of Willy. That's not entirely unrealistic given that many kids the world over benefit and are helped and rehabiliated / set on the right track in life through their new found respect and relationships formed with animals.

Jesse hears Willy making what I swear sounds like Peter Griffin going "Heee-hee-heee" at night in his efforts to communicate to his family still roaming the nearby shores from where he was captured.

Michael Ironside of all people owns the park and makes an attempt to smash the tanks and kill Willy for insurance because he's making them no money at all. With that, Jesse realises he has to help him get back to them, an elaborate and slightly absurd plan emerges and Willy is busted out, carted on a flat bed and eventually lowered into a cove and an excessively long goodbye is said by Jesse wasting precious time they don't have to spare before he turns into a fully fledged orca trainer and with one signal, Willy leaps a daft high wall and yeeeeeeeee look at that he's all free.

Nice enough story and bittersweet for many reasons.

The film itself references aspects of orca culture which watching nearly 30yrs after its release, struck me as remarkably well researched and detailed in a lot of ways including how in the wild, male orca never leave their mothers and remain with her and the family pod for life, some mention of dialect and how each pod has its all specific form of language and communication (Willy calling to his family in the style of Peter Griffin)

The setting being in the Pacific Northwest and inclusion of Randolph (indigenous character) also surprised me. Randolph teaches Jesse about the history of his people culture which includes revering, respecting and protecting the creature for whom they first coined the term "Blackfish"

Randolph even teaches Jesse a Haida prayer which he later recites to Willy and earlier in the film, he talked about Willy's unpredictability and distrust of humans which given he has someone whose culture instils the need to respect, revere and protect him - I'm not surprised Willy was a bit sore.

In that sense it's lazy script writing and poorly thought out to have had Randolph and his colleague - an experienced trainer not felt a need or been concerned enough about Willy to have done something themselves and waited for Jesse to come up with the idea. I just don't get the point of having a character with that level of detail and background only for him to stand around at the side of a small pool and watch his spiritual animal and much loved "Blackfish" languish. Nice going Randolph!!

Anyway what I will say is Free Willy is a nice, gentle and less graphic / upsetting introduction for younger children to learn about the plight of whales and dolphins in captivity. I think the worst or most frightening this is when Jesse first comes face to face with Willy who commands lightning, thunder and is by the tank glass going "Yeeeee hi human how's it going?" but that's it - pretty safe.

Many anti-captivity documentaries and animal rights groups (PETA especially) are very heavy handed with horrific images and footage that will scare kids half to death which isn't helpful if you want to just start an age appropriate, less terrifying conversation and steer them into developing a good moral compass.

The credits roll to Michael Jackson's "Will you be there?" and footage of wild orca off the BC coast which is a nice touch.

For any younger children that want to learn more afterwards without being traumatised, I do recommend watching "Keiko - The Untold Story" which gives incredible insight into the work that went into transferring him from the park after the cameras stopped rolling and the incredible work that went into his rehabilitation and reintroduction to the open ocean. It isn't sensationalistic, doesn't weigh heavily on either side of the argument as to whether it failed or was right, wrong and is a safe step-up.

Crappy acting, lazy writing, dodgy slo-mo montages and such but for its effort and generally good, safe and family friendly introduction to the plight of the oceans overall - I'm giving a solid 7/10.

Victoria Stillwell had the right idea and the best intentions I guess starting out by working part time as a dog walker to supplement her income when she was still an actress. VS took inspiration from watching Jo Frost on "Supernanny" and from her contacts in show-business, was able to pitch her idea for a show with her being the dog owner equivalent and the rest - a pretty poor history but you get the idea.

She quickly went from a decent enough start, offering good basic advice to first time, novice owners then became an outspoken "expert" with the brass to criticise and rip on other trainers she deems out of touch, cruel and whose methods are aversive and abusive, Cesar Milan being the one she was almost obsessed with to a point of it getting embarrassing.

Calling out CM at every opportunity frequently citing his lack of formal training or qualifications was rich given dog training and behaviourists aren't regulated so there are no formally recognised / accredited qualifications she can claim to have. When "Me or The Dog" came on the air, VS didn't have and had never owned a dog of her own and her inspiration for the show came from watching Jo Frost (who also lacks formal training / qualifications and has no children of her own but her methods, technique and approaches are tried, tested and proven) There's nothing wrong with how and which way she got to where she is but VS took the idea, got overexcited and started to actually believe her own hype. Clearly loves what she does and has some sound knowledge and experience in a general sense but the idea she can take control of the most unruly and challenging dog in one minute is ridiculous.

It wouldn't be were the dogs in need of anything over above and beyond the most basic training which can be easily and quickly put into place.

She goes the long winded and drawn out way of doing everything, frequently fails to address issues directly and places the onus on people rather than address the dog's behaviour.

As the series progressed she became more cocksure, confident and ended up losing patience, sympathy and understanding for owners many of whom ARE clueless but will not lose the habit of a lifetime overnight. She got a little too comfortable playing into the role of "No nonsense British female dog trainer" which seems to have gone down especially amongst audiences in the US.

Interestingly, the vast majority of her work, associations and recognition and general fan base seems to be in the US. She doesn't quite cut it or pass herself off as well in the UK and has a "Marmite" sort of personality.

There's nothing wrong with the techniques, methods and training she uses as such but she has allowed herself to get so cocksure and confident it got old fast and very irritating. Ironically the episodes she received the most flak and negative criticism about I don't feel she warranted or were justified.

If you a new, novice first time owner looking for basic training information and guidance to start off on the right foot, you won't go too far wrong with watching and reading some of VS's books alongside others particularly books about your dog's breed and its specific traits, quirks and habits.

In that sense - I would recommend VS no problem.

However, she has a very basic 101 beginner approach which needs keeping in mind and for dogs that have more complex, challenging issues or show / have been aggressive and are becoming an increasing concern - for the love of God take your time to read up, research, get proper veterinary and behaviourist advice (not a trainer - a behaviourist) because in many cases, trying to apply what VS does in a scenario where that ship has long since sailed can do more harm than good.

This one really has people going at each other and declaring war on those not sitting firmly on either side of the fence eh? Ah well that's human behaviour but I'm gonna wade in with my thoughts if not for morale support for only a small handful of others seem to share the same.

The hype over this is something of a mystery to me and in the nicest way, I can only assume the majority that rave and can say nothing but good about this one are coming at it without having much prior knowledge or experience with musicals (or PT Barnum) but I'm from a musical / theatre background and later became well read and researched on all things related to the origins of the circus so can be accused of just being precious.

Thing is, I'm not being precious at all. It's a really bright, colourful, dazzling confused mess.

Starting with the good points about it - the aforementioned really bright, colourful and dazzling stuff which is what's so confusing and conflicting.

The costumes, editing, choreography and music I can live with. Actually the music is pretty good I do like a fair few songs quite a lot and don't think they were badly placed or misplaced at all with the era as a lot seem to take issue with. It just feels like someone sat down and wrote all the songs, did all the choreography, sorted the costumes and props, got a shipload of coke for the CGI crew and then a week before its release they went "Oh no.. did anyone do a storyline or plot or anything like that?"

It really does feel like they had the best ingredients, the most lush recipe for a rich velvet cake and in the excitement someone forgot to put it in the oven.

There is literally nothing holding the whole thing together and I did start to lose focus and fade out a bit so had to skip back to see what I'd missed between Zac Effron and Trapeze girl. One second he was seeing her for the first time and immediately falling in love and then next thing they have this whole "We have come such a long way" thing. I have no idea how got from A - Z but they did.

Bearded lady is happily singing from behind a sheet hung on a washing line, Barnum rudely barges in all "Ah my good lady with the fine beard and boobies I must have you join my show!" and then next thing she's giving herself black eyes bouncing and dancing around with some strangely new found confidence that runneth over more than her top. It'd take some real bravery courage to bust out a routine with a beard like that but again - she found it and it comes from her hidden behind washing to leading a full ensemble.

Backing dancers we're given a speed dating introduction during the scenes were Barnum is dishing out wanted posters for "Unique Persons" written by HR staff way ahead of their time and that's it. No other character development or real storyline or plot or anything in-between the songs is going on. They had a week to come up with something I'm sure but a quick read of Wiki must have thrown a spanner in the works so they filtered out the worst, tweaked the little things like means of extinguishing the fire ("Can we CGI belugas or do we just grab buckets from the storage? Yeah let's go with buckets. We're already on thin ice with the elephants and lions and stuff...)

A huge disappointment and WTF moment was the scene where Barnum first hears and falls in love with the voice of Jenny Lind and I say disappointment because at the first chorus I went "That's not her voice..." and it distracted me enough that I paused the film to do a quick Google search and sure enough it wasn't. My issue isn't with her being dubbed and I appreciate the actress felt Loren's voice was more powerful and fitting than her own (agreed) but it showed and painfully so.

On the plus side although a tad hypocritical and contradictory I know, at least Hugh Jackman was and is much nicer to look at than PT Barnum himself. If you aren't familiar - Barnum in real life looked like a thumb. Google him if you're not familiar. An actual thumb.

I didn't expect much in the way of historical accuracy by any stretch but the origins of the circus and the individuals that formed part of Barnum's side show and freaks is fascinating to start with. I thought the whole thing about accepting people for who they are inside and celebrating the differences in all of us was going to be really told through the real life characters i.e. Bearded lady, Jenny Lind, General Tom Thumb etc.

Bizarrely it makes the people they're trying to celebrate crass caricatures of themselves which nobody seems to have noticed.

General Tom Thumb for example is depicted in this film as the wacky, crazy funny little guy struggling to stay balanced on the back of an elephant calf. In reality he became wildly rich, famous and even bailed out Barnum when he hit the skids and needed money. He married, had a family, had his own purpose built home made and like, love or loathe Barnum, the man did him this opportunity which would not have been afforded anywhere else at all.

The hate from people that take issue with "glorifying" Barnum to me is right out of the idiots pocket book guide on how to be offended and woke with all the other cool kids. Barnum never claimed to be much beyond a businessman and those he exploited he actually gave an opportunity to avoid being horribly exploited and abused as was pretty much standard at the time.

What I will say is this would have been superb if they'd taken it straight to the stage. It feels like it was born for Broadway and as a live production, would have more time to develop and been a strong show.

The same music, choreography and talented cast - even including some lighting trickery or puppets for the animals - I imagine it as being an absolutely superb but even bigger, better version of Circus 1903

PS. Seriously - Barnum looked like a thumb.

I struggled with this but only because Renée Zellweger has such prominent facial features that are hard to ignore and only in small parts here and there did I think otherwise. This isn't to say she didn't do a good job nor am I criticising her overall performance at all - I just couldn't personally get beyond seeing Renée Zellweger.

It's a sad, pretty grim account of Judy's last year when the money, fame, love and work had long since dried up and very few offers were forthcoming. The odd flashbacks to her a child and the damage that was done at such a young age didn't really do justice to the full extent of what was sheer abuse towards her as a child star. The flashback to her being given an ultimatum as she stood on the yellow brick itself was tame by all accounts. For example one of the harshest things I learned about her time filming Wizard of Oz was the level of harassment she received on set from almost everyone but Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch) and Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion) and they served as her protectors and looked after her throughout the entirety of filming.

In the film where she first meets Cowardly Lion and he's sobbing and wailing uncontrollably, you can see Dorothy hold up Toto to her face and use him to hide a smirk very faintly for a brief second or two. She had in fact been literally slapped around the face in the several takes beforehand to stop her laughing and it's those sort of details I felt were missing and would have really given the audience a much greater insight into what she had to put up with and from such a young age.

The constant enforced diet and funnelling uppers and downers down her neck certainly weren't a picnic and do give some idea but she had to go through so much more I felt could have been included in the flashback. Being literally slapped round the face for daring to laugh at Cowardly Lion was maybe a step too far I dunno but it would have had its impact.

That all said and done, this is a decent if not slow paced and sad account into Judy's final year and deserves a solid 6 I think.

Great documentary and respectful portrait of a quiet, very reserved and mild mannered lady from Wales who decided after overhearing a conversation that she fancied breeding a racehorse despite zero experience (if you don't count the time she spent breeding whippets, budgies and racing pigeons) and the group of thoroughly decent human beings that chipped in endured a roller-coaster lasting several years.

From newborn foal to racing yard joke to a possible contender, the brink of death and back to ultimate glory. Sounds like the worst, cheesiest storyline straight out of a Disney movie but it's as further from it as you can possibly get.

This works so well because of the talking heads and interviews with those involved and there's absolutely no airs, graces, kiss my arse or suck my fat one. They're as genuine, down to Earth and honest as it gets. Even the posh folk from the elite world of racing have to be given full credit for their searing, brutal honesty.

A TB chestnut mare and failed racehorse, heavily scarred, overweight and with a poor temperament and tendency to throw her riders was bought from a muddy paddock for just a few hundred quid with the intention being for her to foal what these novice owners hoped would become a decent racehorse. The owners - all 23 of them could only afford the cheapest stallion available so picked him and not long after, a gangly chestnut foal was born nobody saw coming and even Disney would deem too far fetched if they were creating him for a feel good family movie.

Kept on an allotment and fed veg peelings and whatever was going spare initially, the owners eventually saved up enough to pay the fees for him to be professionally trained. The yard staff and trainer admitted when Jan and Daisy rocked up enquiring about training "Dream" for them, they really thought the couple were tourists that just wanted to have a day of tyre kicking and time wasting before going back to their Butlins chalet.

With a slow, inconsistent start, this gangly outsider owned by commoners turned out to be an actual contender, full of cocksure confidence and with attitude, arrogance and deciding on his terms when and where he felt like running. That quirk reminded me of so many horses I've known, loved, ridden and been infuriated with as they give everything for you and would jump through a brick wall if asked one day only to go "Nah.. don't feel like it today mate gonna kick back and watch The Kardashian's" another.

"Dream" became the surprise to everyone but suffered an injury that sees the majority of racehorses euthanised. The footage of him hit the landing side and his foreleg just go made me wince and mentally pull him up and the screens appearing and surrounding him straight after made my heart sink even though I know his story and that it didn't end there on the course that day.

Due to his success on the track, his insurance value had risen and at the time of his injury he was worth around £180,000 so in the nicest way, Dream was worth more to them all dead than alive but with only a small chance the vets could do something to keep him alive - even if he never raced again in his life - the syndicate agreed to try doing everything possible and opted to have him transferred to an equine hospital immediately and attempt to treat and save his life.

It's worth keeping in mind how incredibly unlikely it was vets would be successful saving his leg at all and how much the insurance money that mean to these people who barely had a pot to pee in at the end of each month. Say what you will about the racing industry and its often cruel, cold-minded mentality in many respects, this lot genuinely cared about this horse and did what they felt was right for him not what was recommended and they stood to gain financially from doing.

Against all odds Dream recovered and went on to return to win the Welsh Grand National at which point he'd safely assured his place in the history books.

I did feel for Jan and Howard in their differing ideas following his win at the Welsh. On one hand I understood how and why Howard felt strongly there was just one last step left in this incredible journey and go big in the Grand National but on the other, I sensed and shared Jan's regret at having not retired him right after he won the Welsh.

He ran his heart out, he earned his place amongst the elites and had done more than anyone ever imagined so I would have personally retired him the second he passed the finish post and let him bow out gracefully rather than dare push my luck and risk him going over the fences in the Grand National.

Howard's wife came over as the only person that didn't support him, understand the love her husband had for this horse and I suspect she might have been one of a select few who was maybe even annoyed at their decision to save and not euthanise him on the course. Harsh I know but that's the feeling I got from the interviews she gave. Not sure if she was included to balance things out or what but she just comes across as a woman that wouldn't give a tiny toss if Dream had ended up in her lasagne.

Jan however - totally different soul and I felt her tears talking about the "pact" she made with Dream and promise to bring him back home to her when he'd had enough and couldn't or didn't want to run any more. She made good on her promise and made sure after his retirement he remained well cared for as he rightly deserves and still is to this day.

The only thing I'd have liked is to hear a little more background and info as to what Janet and Daisy's prior experience was with horses. Although new to racing, they both had some knowledge and Daisy talked of his love for both riding and driving so they didn't go in entirely blind. Maybe that was skipped over because of the likelihood their background is with hardier Welsh Cobs and not TB chasers but it's still relevant or at least it is to me.

I learned to ride as a very young kid with Irish gypsy cobs and later rode racehorses and showjumpers so to me it's not remotely irrelevant or insignificant.

If you've had the sort of quiet conversations with a horse that Jan talks of having with Dream, you'll understand and not need another word of explanation.

If you read this and think I sound like a 10yr old girl with a bedroom full of pink and silver unicorns, I can't explain it anyway so won't waste time trying.

If you've ever ridden / competed with a horse you know inside out, back to front and whose one consistency is being so bloody inconsisent, you'll appreciate this fella. He's a diamond.

As someone from a legal background and with many years experience working with and alongside some of the UK's most ruthless and brilliant QC's, Rob Rinder gets my respect purely for his knowledge, experience, skill and ultimately making judgements within the law. He knows his stuff and I'm sure meeting him on the wrong side of a courtroom would be an absolute nightmare.

It's for the same reason I also dislike the show intensely. Firstly he takes forever to get through the basics and crux of the case and it's not taking time to gather evidence, facts and details of any real erlevant. It's purely emotive stuff and raking up the relationship dynamics and having Michelle on hand with tissues when they inevitably start bawling and sobbing. By the time he gets round the actually summing up and making a judgement he could have heard another two or three cases it just takes so long. Whilst it's good that he does explain how he has to make his judgements and puts it into simple layman's terms so everyone is clear on the how and why points, he really overdoes it sometimes and sounds like he's addressing 8yr old kids.

ITV had Jeremy Kyle still running at the same time this prime viewing for the daytime don't work and doss all day viewers so they no doubt wanted to really push this persona he went with the persona going with the imaginative "outrageous, camp as Christmas gay man and no-nonsense UK answer to Judge Judy" and it lands like a wet fart.

Went into this without having any idea it was even a new TV series I just saw the banner ad whilst looking through something to watch one night when I couldn't sleep. Did initially groan a little bit internally in the hope this wasn't going to be watching a brilliant Judge now way beyond her best before but actually, I was pleasantly surprised. It does take a few episodes to warm and get the gist of her new setup so if you're not aversely affected by the first one, give it time and watch a few more before giving it the death penalty.

First thing I noticed is how well she looks. Whether it's been the time off, a bit of work done or just the change of colour in robes and the set or whatever - she looks really well, freshened up and brighter in general.

I then noticed a change in Bailiff which I was really glad to see. Byrd seems to have been really popular with most people and his departure is what I gather irks and has gone down badly with many. I personally never liked him nor understood how and why Judge Judy would have him behave and conduct himself the way he did in her court. He wasn't some jumped up nightclub bouncer hired for TV - he was a law enforcement officer and court bailiff so the unprofessional swagger, attitude and arrogance was so unprofessional and unnecessary.

Anyway he's gone and in his place a super sweet bailiff Kevin who is polite, well mannered, attentive and not leaning against the set doing crosswords or whatever.

The two young ladies sat at either side of her I didn't quite get at first and felt like they could have been a token addition but it turns out they do have a place and role both of which are good additions. One is the court reporter providing transcription to allow Judge Judy clarification of an exact quote or statement someone said. The other is the clerk with access to internet and relevant databases to check specific queries and provide accurate information on the spot.

The feel, tone and pace is a little slower than with the older shows but again, I think that works better as she does allow that bit more time to speak with each person, go through the basic info and gist of their case. She's not softened or lost her touch by any means - she's just toned down the yelling and belittling and I don't think there's been any real hand banging / chair bouncing as yet but she's still very much got the old trademark "Shhhhhhhh!!!" and "Just a second..."

What I really dislike is the little girly chit-chat she has right at the end in her chambers with one of the girls (not sure if it's her granddaughter but that's irrelevant) The credits roll and as before, each side has their little swipe at the other over the outcome and then it cuts to them having a little two or three minute chat about the case and its outcome. Why? Who did that and why?

It feels like Jerry Springer's "Final Thought" and just forced, naff and lets down each episode right at the very last as well. Maybe a second series will have tweaked and ironed out the creases but that little couple of minutes for BFF girly chat in chambers needs to go.

The review written by rooprect says everything there is to say really.

This was a superb series in which albums aren't just given a bit of info and their tracks played over narration and clips put together by someone rehashing and churning out crap.

The artists are completely involved, interviewed and seem to take real enjoyment in explaining the album, taking apart the music, how it was created, constructed and picking out their best and most favourite little snippets which to the untrained ear you otherwise miss. It's a pretty long, laborious process to record and put any music together so once done it's like handing in a final paper you've spent two years on and kicking back a huge sigh of relief that it's done with.

It's the albums and artists you don't necessarily expect much from I found the most interesting and ended up completely immersed throughout.

Again it's been mentioned how Black Sabbath's Paranoid was put together using the most unlikely sources, sounds, instruments and their inspiration coming from the most random places but you find most of the classic albums and greatest musicians are filled with that stuff it's just not immediately obvious.

Def Leppard's "Hysteria" was great even though I'm not a huge fan of the band or album itself. I have always had mad appreciation for that drumbeat used in "Rocket" so hearing Joe Elliot talk about its inspiration sent me off down the rabbit hole and discovering another several artists and albums that just.. wow.

Paul Simon's "Graceland" is probably my favourite episode mostly because Paul Simon's excitement and enthusiasm is so contagious and the time, effort and detail he takes to explain everything from the mixing desk makes you really sense how keen he is to share the little things and what's hiding out. He' s like a kid at Christmas it's brilliant.

Someone else commented on the lack of female artists in this series as though they've been deliberately ignored or just not considered in the first place. Bearing in mind there are only 44 albums included in the entire series, there are countless classics you could add to the collection and have enough to keep it running for another 20yrs.

Trouble is to feature in the episode requires the consent and co-operation from the artists themselves and if they don't want to be interviewed or don't want to sit and pick apart their work in such detail I guess they won't feature. Fleetwood Mac discussing the making of Rumours was really interesting and the fact they managed to make it at all incredible but it's a wonder they will touch the story behind that album after decades of being asked and explaining the same old same old.

One of the most interesting, fascinating musicians and albums I'd love to have seen feature is Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" particularly with more in-depth discussion about the B-side to the album (The Ninth Wave) because even now after all these years, I keep hearing something new and discovering something different now and then that makes me go "Oh my God... that's superb"

Again despite being on of music's all time most successful musicians with groundbreaking and "classic" albums, she's a fiercely private person that doesn't do interviews so won't have featured.

I grew up in a family of musicians and can sing, play piano and harp and as a kid my brothers were playing in bands and had me listening to everything from Slayer, Iron Maiden, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles to Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone. I learned to drum on an old beer covered Marshall amp to the theme from "Warriors" but even with older brothers in their teens, hair down to their knees and metal fans in the 80's, there was no such thing as a genre that was good, bad or I should like more than any other. It shaped my appreciation for all music and in particular the little things and devil in the detail.

If you're a musician, sound engineer / music nerd or just an average Joe fan of a particular album, there's still likely to be something you'll like.

If you're Kate Bush reading this - come on lady get your act together. You're a few episodes that need sorting but an indepth special for "Ninth Wave" is long overdue and there's things I want to know woman...

Another superb episode of "Classic Albums" I think anyone with even mild appreciation or knowledge for the band will find something to enjoy. For me it was hearing Joe Elliot's acoustic rendition of "Hysteria" and hearing him explain why, when and where they got the drum beat from "Rocket"

For years, literally since I was a kid and first learning to play the drums on an old knackered beer covered Marshall amp at my brother's band practice room, that drum beat stood out as immense and unique to the rest of the album. I sing, play piano and harp but remain a drummer at heart I think and "Rocket" has always sounded the tits. I remember being 12 or 13yrs old at the stables drumming that beat on an upturned bucket with two good study pony carrots.

Sure as God made babies, Joe explained someone else played him a tape with the same drumbeat and made him as hooked on it as I was which made me search for and discover the existence of "Burundi Black" and then go "OH MY GOD THAT'S ACE!!!" and realise the influence on other artists. I love it when you go from minor almost passing curiosity about something to going head first into the rabbit hole and when you come out, there's an entirely new world full of music waiting to lead you elsewhere. This is what Classic Albums does and this one did for me.

I did not know what nonsense I've been singing during the middle part of Rocket either although I knew it was nonsense just not how much. Sounded to me as a 10yr old something like "Face" or "Fights" and I never took note or made time to find out cos I was too caught up in that awesome drum beat. Turns out it's "Bites" as in "Love Bites" and I'm grateful to have been put right but still sing my alternate nonsense version anyway.

True solidarity and friendship abound with this lot which I know everyone tends to jump at pointing out like it's the only thing about the group that needs to be said but seriously, they overcame a lot of struggles, lot of battles, loss and bereavement and nobody skipped out, ditched or felt it was too much time and effort to keep up.

It's an issue for any drummer to lose an arm. It's an even bigger issue when you're a drummer in one of the most successful rock bands. It's not a problem if you're old mates from Sheffield though... Nowt bothers us Northern Folk.

That drum beat though...

I loved watching all the "Classic Album" episodes even for albums and artists I didn't particularly like much because the devil in the detail gives such a unique insight and new found respect.

Although aware of the album and a few of its best tracks, Graceland wasn't something I fully appreciated until watching this episode when it first aired on VH1 I think it was. At the time I was in my late teens and had not long since discovered a love for African music having performed with the original production of "Yanomamo" a few years earlier.

I loved how Paul Simon speaks and talks us through each track pointing out what he loves, what little things he threw in that are barely noticeable until he isolates parts of the track and removes others then explains what he used to create specific sounds that make you go "Ooooooh yeah!!!"

I loved hearing how initially things felt strained because as musicians that performed adhoc in the streets of South Africa they weren't used to a recording studio environment and the pressure they felt and put themselves under made it difficult for them to loosen up enough and just do what they did. Paul Simon recognised this, eased off any / all pressure and just encouraged them to do their thing and go home / record themselves away from the studio however they would normally play and feel most comfortable then bring it back the day or so later ad they'd see what they could do.

The results were amazing which is often the case when you ease off and stop trying too hard including Paul's bafflement at hearing what he thought was background noise during one part. Turned out to the deep bass vocal sounds as heard by Lady Blacksmith in "Homeless" that made me go "Ooooh my God yeah!!" because alone and done just by Joseph makes you appreciate the depth of it and that sound coming from the toes up it's incredible.

Paul at the mixing desk playing through tracks and picking out his favourite parts, lyrics and isolating specific instruments to highlight what sound he liked and chose to place subtly makes you hear the whole thing in a different light because without the isolation you really wouldn't notice it at all.

There's a tinge of sadness for me in seeing his regret at the only line on the entire album he would do differently (literally one line in "Graceland") and you get the sense that although his greatest work and he knows it, he still felt like if only he'd changed that one line... I almost leaned in wanting to go "What are you nuts? One line that ONE LINE bugs you???!"

I love listening to Paul Simon though and imagine how good it would be to just kick back and have a few beers in the pub just listening to him talk.

The music on the album is superb anyway but for me, this episode gives an entirely new edge to it, makes you appreciate it all over again but with greater depth.

You get the impression the political outrage and controversy was everywhere BUT amongst this group of musicians that were coming together and playing together escaping what was going on outside in the real world.

This is one for musicians and lovers of the devil in detail and I almost envy anyone who has yet to see and discover this gem for the first time.

Enjoy!

Champions could and should have been a superb film had it been true to its story and not rushed and aimed towards having US audience appeal. It would have appealed to everyone - horse-racing fans or just average movie audiences alike but it was too quick and keen to make the most of the success story whilst it was still in everyone's mind but then again it is was made by Ladbrokes.

As a horse-mad kid I loved this film for its opening shot and music and the dramatic climax being the 1981 Grand National even feeling genuine flutters of nerves as Bob (John Hurt) was weighing in and gearing up to ride the race of his life.

Didn't care for much in-between other than seeing Bob's harrowing but touching transformation as he battles cancer which takes him from resignation and almost bitter resentment to finding strength, courage and determination after children make him realise he either fights for himself and Aldaniti or gives up on them both.

As an adult I have even less time and respect for anything other than its respectful tribute to the strength, courage and determination of those with cancer, the fact John Hurt actually rode Aldaniti (aged 44 over fences as an amateur which is no easy task) and for its beautiful score.

Aldaniti and Bob Champion had been a successful paring until leg injury put Aldaniti out and off the track for over a year which for most horses would have been the end to his racing career if not his life given the difficulties in treating that level of injury. However the owner's promise to keep persevering and treating Aldaniti was more to help motivate Bob who was at this time undergoing gruelling chemotherapy with the end goal "If you recover - you can ride him in the National" being something of a carrot on a stick nobody realistically expected either to see.

The Grand National is run over four miles with 30 fences to jump some of which have since been modified for safety but in the 70's and 80's they were notorious and often fatal. I was a competitive rider for years and would hurtle around XC courses and steam over fences in open team chase events like a lunatic but even I knew then the madness in going that distance, over so many fences with so many horses going over with you so tightly bunched in together during the National.

The year before Bob and Aldaniti won, only four horses managed to finish the race which gives some idea as to how difficult and gruelling it is.

I understand Ladbrokes and Embassy must have almost peed their pants when given the rights to this movie especially as one about "Red Rum" was still off the cards but it shows. A sultry Kirstie Alley is thrown in briefly for the "Wit-Woo" factor wearing tight top, jhods, shiny riding boots and her hair and make up done beautifully.

It feels generic and cliché and some real and genuine reflection, explanation and focus could have been on emphasising exactly what the Grand National is and what is involved in just getting to and completing the most gruelling steeplechase in British racing let alone winning.

I'm giving this a 6/10 because it does have some superb shots, because John Hurt actually rode Aldaniti in his 40's, because it's a true story and a brilliant one and because of the beautiful score by Carl Davis.

Would love to see this remade at some point but with time, care, patience and full due respect given to this legendary team both of whom have since been lost.

Just don't give it to Randox or Disney...

Firstly I hadn't expected a great deal from this one given it's a Disney film but it managed to be bad enough I forwarded through the mast majority.

I think maybe it misses if you're an avid fan or just know enough about Secretariat to appreciate how incredible he was. I'm not a big fan nor particularly knowledgeable about US racing (which differs considerably from racing in the UK) but having seen that horse run, the way he's last out and at a splutter then just kicks in ludicrous speed passing and going way up ahead of the others flipping the finger at them all got my attention first and foremost.

For a horse that dominated the sport on the flat and his back end being the powerhouse that propelled him I couldn't help wonder if and how he would have faired as a steeplechaser over fences as big as those seen in races such as the Grand National.

There's backstory about Secretariat's breeding, birth and the role of Penny Tweedy which never seems to get beyond that angle. Dialogue is slow and there are too many painfully long, tedious scenes I ended up forwarding through because I got the gist of them being emotive and playing the Disney part but being of little relevance to the incredible story about this truly incredible horse.

Disappointed in Eddie Sweat being given such little screen time and even less credit for his part (and no small part either) in Secretariat's story and I'm not sure why that is and the reason for his story being kept back in favour of Tweedy's but then again - it's a Disney film.

This film is very much of its time. Almost no dialogue and entirely made up of dodgy music that often doesn't quite fit but again - you have to bear in mind when it was made and it's a very tedious, drawn out affair for adults to watch. Kids of 6yrs and over will probably enjoy and find it engaging and the very slight moments of peril aren't what I think justifies any warning, trauma or need to book kids in advance for PTSD.

There's a big cat pushed off a rock (shot but you can tell he's been nudged) a bird of prey that swoops and steals off with a plush cub teddy and then a wolf that looks remarkably like a German Shepherd / Malamute type mix going for a Burton off a cliff but really made me laugh cos I'd read the review someone posted and included reference to him going over the edge with "Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooowl" and that's literally what happened making it even funnier.

I always love reading the reviews from people who are distraught at the perceived violence and threat of nature going as far as to say it traumatised them when the reality of Mother Nature is far worse. Benji would have grabbed, ragged and had that rabbit down his neck no problem. He'd have helped himself to the pheasant before letting the cubs have whatever was left and given the reference to him getting excited at fish when he was with his owner, I dunno why Benji wouldn't have been at the river catching or salmon or whatever else for the cubs and for himself so he didn't have to live on raspberries. There's a staggering amount of creatures in close proximity to each other in broad daylight and for a dog we're expected to believe is that smart, he was a bit dumb in not running to his owner when he first landed and got out of the helicopter to let him know he was there and then alert him to the plight of the cubs. Really not sure what his strategy was or is supposed to be other than him repeatedly avoiding being seen by his owner and running around aimlessly in a gorgeous forest.

The scenery is stunning and for adults watching with kids and looking for a bit of something to keep it interesting, I recommend a drinking game and downing a shot each time the camera zooms in. You'll be absolutely hammered by the end of it cos someone found and went mad with the zoom.

Couldn't get through this for love nor money unfortunately the editing and frantic darting from one shot to the next, quirky "wacky" sound effects and camera angles and each person interviewed who given their roles would have been really interesting to listen to gets no more than about 10 seconds tops before they cut off and go somewhere else. At one point - I think to express the right person or place - someone clapped his hands and went "Bam!" and the camera actually did a shaking effect.

Really, really bad. What a waste.

Once my dog ate a large section of cooked turkey giblets string included and when he did a poo the string ran through the middle of it holding section of poo together in one long line. That's what this is like in terms of its musical strength. It's one bit of poo strung together by very poor string-like dialogue.

This doesn't know what it is or what it's trying to be is the take-home feeling I had. The cast aren't bad as in their vocals and performances (characters aside) are pretty sharp and don't miss but they're lost in the tack. I feel bad for the cast to be honest they must have known this was a big chance to take and it was gonna be loved or loathed. Maybe it will do well or at least better as a live stage show complete with audience but I can recall and sing at least one line from every song having just watched it the once so that's how mediocre and run of the mill generic, predictable and generally naff and unremarkable the songs are.

Stage, costumes, lighting etc - really well done. Just not enough to carry the rest unfortunately.