Nothing major planned this weekend, apart from a small gathering for my first cousin’s first birthday. Nothing major, but a special moment for a new family. So that was Saturday, but in the evening I decided to sit down and watch a movie on Sky. This was the first time in months that I had been able to enjoy a Saturday night premiere in the comfortable of my living room. Thanks to Sky’s MultiStart, I was able to select my start time. Originally I was going to watch the scheduled screening at 9pm, but by the time I got myself off the computer it was very late, so I went interactive and tuned into the 9.45pm screening, which was due to start in seven minutes. To create the perfect atmosphere, I switched off the main lounge light and switched on the table lamp on the side. Perfect. Volume on surround sound, up! I had been invited to watch this movie on the big screen, last May by some Uni friends. I remember it was a Wednesday, because they were using the Orange Wednesday two for one tickets. Possible the last Wednesday in May, a few days before I left Leicester to return home to Wycombe for good. To cut a long story short, I declined the invitation, as I had other more pressing things to do, like begin packing. So finally I had a chance to watch the film, knowing already that I should not expect too much. I would describe Van Helsing as fantasy adventure, it could have been darker, but the director, producer opted for a more light hearted approach. As entertainment goes, it was well worth watching and some of the special effects were amazing. If you liked The Mummy or The Mummy Returns, you will like this (and not just because they are from the same director). Sure the plot is a bit more far fetched, but Kate Beckinsale does help easy the pain, being quiet easy on the eye. The ending was a bit mushy, but understandably so. I have a feeling we won’t be seeing a sequel (or prequel for that matter). Sometimes, I think we forget that films are there to entertain us and not just fill in a few spare hours when we have nothing better to do. Sure, I could take some time finding further wholes in this movie but there is no need. You know what to expect from the opening scene, and it does well to meet and sometimes surpass your expectations. I am not a big fan of Hugh Jackman, but he is a good action hero, but not quite the accomplished actor, let’s say like Tom Cruise. The subject matter intrigues me, so a quick hunt around the web, brought up this ready made mix. If only more people would create pages like those, it would make blogging a much easier process. I would mention a topic and then just create a quick hyperlink. Oh well, hunting around Google is not too bad! Today I was hoping to go and meet up with a friend, whom I had not seen for ages. Unfortunately, he was not feeling well, so we decided against it. So, with a free afternoon ahead of me, I decided what to do. Cleaning the car, was high on the list of priorities, but I also needed to sort out some of my paper work and do some shredding. At lunchtime, I grabbed some food and my sister scrolled down the Sky Movie channels. One of Murdoch’s controllers was in the mood to take us back to the 1980s. One of my favourite movies, from my favourite year of all time was on Sky Movies 2, while on the next channel, they had my favourite superhero film (possibly of all time), Superman II.

Watching the climax of the movie, bought back so many memories. Thankfully, there was another screening at 6pm, this evening, so I added to the Personal Planner. Everyone knows I love the 1980s, but I remember watching this movie recently on a Sunday evening on five but perhaps blogging about it slipped my mind. Never mind, I can make up for that miss opportunity now. The best place to start is IMBD hub and move on from there. The movie works for one reason alone, because Michael J. Fox adds something unique, some average boy next door humour to this tale of a hero having to wear a mask. I will also admit that when I first saw this movie, I had a major crush on Boof, played by Susan Ursitti. (What can I say, I had a thing for the wholesome sweet girl look) The most memorable part of the movie is the ‘van surfing’ which introduced me to the sounds of the Beach Boys for the very first time. It was such an outrageous concept and looked so cool! I think I have said enough, time for some images. Note to self, I should really get some screen capture software and stop taking photos with my digital camera.

More than half way through the summer and I appeared to have achieved nothing. Nothing seems to be happening, nothing new to report. Same old, same old, as the saying goes. Empty. That is how I feel, like I am running on empty. Hopefully, just around the corner will be the spark to get me going and the luck to see me through. God knows I’ve been in for a bit of a rough ride recently. Something, even I do not deserve. The amount of spam I have been having on my guestbook has become intolerable and I will be looking to remove it from this site very soon. The worst entries are those people thanking me for a ‘great site’ then advertising their major wake up juice or property development in Kazakhstan.