'Kick-Ass' dir. Matthew Vaughn

My expectations were somewhat muted before watching this one. This is largely due to the fact that comic 'fan boys' are increasingly dominating the Hollywood fantasy market and there have unfortunately been some real stinkers in amongst these recent films. However, having been thoroughly entertained for two hours, I can gladly state that this is certainly not the case with Kick-Ass.

The set up is perhaps grimly familiar to a British audience:- an American high school loser is madly in love with a girl who is out of his league. He reads too many comic books and ends up wanting to become a real-life superhero. Yet, despite all the cliched avenues this film could take, it successfully avoids all of them.

Our hero, Dave Lizewski, finds himself a very fetching wetsuit and proceeds to fight crime in the local neighbourhood. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he soon finds himself in hospital. Undeterred, he returns to the streets and as a result of youtube he quickly becomes a phenomenon known only as 'Kick-Ass'.

Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, 'Kick-Ass' finds himself the target of local crime lord Frank D'Amico, played wonderfully straight by Mark Strong. Dave soon finds himself way out of his depth. Yet, help is soon at hand, 'Big Daddy' (Nic Cage on brilliant form) and 'Hit-Girl' soon dig him out of a hole. These two are the real deal, they are professionals, even though they happen to be father and daughter.

'Hit-Girl' is a gift of a character - a young girl whose foul mouth would make a marine blush. The dynamic between the two is truly unique, perhaps represented best by her birthday gift - a pair of knuckle dusters. They have enough nous to keep their presence unknown. However, 'Kick-Ass' is less fortunate.

After being trapped by an elaborate ruse, he finds himself in desperate jeopardy. We see Dave for what he really is, a young man who would be just as scared as any of us at getting beaten up by mobsters. Nonetheless, you cannot help but root for him. He is a genuine hero beset by his own inadequacies. He is a fool but a noble one at that. For all the ludicrous ultra-violence of some of the death sequences, there is always a clear line between the good and the bad.

This film confronts why some people want to put on latex and look like an idiot. It also confronts why most of us want to fight crime. However, perhaps most importantly it demonstrates how ill-suited many of us are to doing just that. Not the most challenging film of the year, but by far the most entertaining.

'The good man Jesus and the scoundrel Christ' by Phillip Pullman

Phillip Pullman has once again surprised us with a refreshing take on one of the most well-worn stories in the world. There are few authors who are quite so aggressive on behalf of Atheism and it is clear from the start what his view is on the Christian myth. Nevertheless, he treads a fine line between being hyper-critical and recognising the contribution that Christianity has made to society.

The novel opens with the story of Joseph and Mary, who are mercifully not shrouded with mystery or crowned with halo's as the nature of their relationship is explored. Mary gives birth to twins, namely Jesus and Christ who offer different perspectives on the events of the rest of the novel. Jesus is certain of all of his actions, he preaches from a young age on morality and seems to have no trouble following his own path. By contrast, Christ is a very dependent child, more likely to have problems adapting to the outside world and as a consequence is in thrall to his brother.

Therefore, we follow Jesus through the eyes of Christ, who is watching him at every sermon. Pullman has Jesus deliver the familiar proverbs in a new and interesting way. We find that he is utterly rooted in his own sense of right, intractable in argument for tolerance. It is an interesting brush with his aggressive pacifism of the New Testament. However, Christ sees all this through a more recognisably human viewpoint. He is concerned about the consequences of his brother's actions and he worries about his long term future.

We are confronted by the anxiety of Christ as he sees his brother becoming increasingly a danger to himself: 'King Jesus' is daubed repeatedly on walls in the towns where he is present. The Romans are starting to take an interest in this preacher. Christ realises that he must now choose whether his own life is more valuable than that of his brother. Old jealousies rear their head as he makes his decision.

The end comes swiftly. Christ is racked with guilt for his role in his brother's death and it is at this point that Pullman takes us on something of a diversion. He has his central character make a long solliloquy on his loss of faith and his belief that the world is not perfect. Christ, unlike Jesus, is a realist in this story and yet, like all realists, Christ has made a decision based on what was best for himself. We find that he has no defence left when confronted with the consequences of his past.

As ever, Pullman uses the close of his book to question the role of the church. He seems to argue through his characters that it creates more problems than it solves but he is mature enough to balance the argument elsewhere in the narrative. It makes for an interesting read although at times it felt rather like the author was speaking through his characters rather than the characters speaking for themselves. Despite this, it is more than just a morality play and it does not shy away from humanising the birth of Christianity.

'Nocturnes' by Kazuo Ishiguro

As ever, Kazuo Ishiguro has presented us with a conundrum. Do we read this work as a set of stories about music? Or do they hold a much deeper meaning? On the surface, we are presented with five tales about getting older but gradually we are forced to confront what that means to each of the characters in these stories.

Ishiguro is on much lighter form in this than in his previous work Never Let Me Go. As proof, there is a frankly hilarious incident in the fourth story involves a turkey and an award for 'jazz musician of the year'. All the stories have such moments, yet all of them invoke a sentimentality for lost youth.

We are confronted by musicians who feel lost in a world where their skills are not in demand. Ishiguro seems to have endless patience for their insecurities. All his characters feel thoroughly human. That is a great credit to the time put into this work. Four years in total.

There are five short stories in this collection:

Crooner reads much like the biography of a member of the rat pack. It is told from the point of view of an observer, a young Polish man just after the fall of the USSR. The young man idolises the crooner of the title yet he bears witness to the collapse of his marriage. His ignorance of Western values becomes clear in his reaction to the divorce, brought about as a result of practicality rather than dislike.

Come Rain or Come Shine is an evocation of a friendship that has long worn past its use. A middle-aged EFL teacher returns to Britain to visit friends, finding himself on the recieving end of some intense and unwanted scrutiny from them. Just as suspected, this is as much a defence mechanism for the couple involved as it is genuine criticism. We are confronted with the ridiculous pace of modern life and how some of us are unbending servants to it.

Malvern Hills follows a musician on an unwilling jaunt to his sister's hotel. After an unfortunate spat with a Swiss couple staying there, he leaves temporarily for the hills with his guitar. The couple follow him and reveal that they are perhaps not quite as aggressive as first appearances suggested. As they talk, they reveal the disappointments of their lives that have led them there. Ishiguro draws on the accounts of many professional musicians about the difficulties of touring in demonstrating how this affects family life.

Nocturne picks up the thread of the last story as a struggling jazz musician is persuaded to have cosmetic surgery to improve his career prospects. During his downtime at a hotel following this, he finds himself confronted by the wife from the first story Crooner. She is drastically changed and both of them find that they are unable to sleep in their current state. On a walk around the hotel, they attempt to recreate some of their better moments yet they are too different to co-operate for long.

Cellists is perhaps the most fascinating of all of them. During the holiday season, a woman invites a young Cellist over to play for her. Through subtle prodding of his technique she reveals a great knowledge of the instrument. Yet, she has not played in many years. He finds that afterwards he cannot play as well without her present. This story explores with fascinating clarity what it is to continue living whilst knowing that your best days are behind you.

The collection is a very worthwhile read. Perhaps not as moving as Remains of the Day or as tragic as Never Let Me Go but extremely impressive nonetheless.

'The day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham

Bill Masen wakes in a hospital to find that he is the only sighted man in a city of the blind. During the next few hours, he walks the streets of London to find out exactly what has caused this catastrophe. That is the disorientating start to this wonderful novel, which hinges on those lucky few whose sight has survived. The cause of this mass blindness appears to have been a meteor shower the previous evening. All who witnessed it became victims.

Yet, Masen suspects that there is another force at work, the plant life that he helped bring into existence in Britain known as 'Triffids'. They are highly intellegent plants that are capable of movement. Perhaps most suspiciously of all, they are man-made, rumoured to have been stolen from a laboratory in the USSR. Governments in Western Europe allowed them to pollenate due to their oil being valuable.

Masen became a cultivator of sorts for this oil. This knowledge of the plants is an advantage that may yet help him survive. We bear close witness to his discomfort with this awareness. Wyndham is one of the first of many 20th Century storytellers to confront humanity's hubris when a technology gets out of control. The triffids stalk the streets as a constant menace, yet they are not the only hazard that Masen encounters.

He eventually locates another person who is still sighted. She has been tied and bound by one of the many wanderers that haunt the streets. Masen releases her and manages to find a colony that avoided the meteor shower. His companion, Josella, takes him to this compound and we are reassured that there may yet be a civilised future for those who are left. However, they are both captured and become prey for the gangs who are by now stalking the streets.

The most horrendous aspects of human nature are on display as sighted despots lead legions of the blind into the most deplorable acts in search of food. Wyndham confronts this collapse with a great deal of calm, he is not prone to sentiment when describing the end of society. Bill and Josella escape seperately yet in truth their trials have just begun.

Away from London, life is hardly a rural idyll. As the human population dwindles, Triffids begin to take control of the open land. Masen follows a clue to try and find Josella but he has no success and briefly becomes an unwilling member of a fundamentalist sect. He leaves with his new companion Wilfred Coker, who is just as sceptical about the value of religion after such an event. However, Masen quickly realises that they have no hope on their own.

During all this, Masen's one objective is to find Josella but he can only recall one possible place that she may be living. He leaves Coker to look after other survivors so that he can find the woman he loves. In such an aggressive world, where the protagonists are required to destroy repeatedly to survive, it is refreshing to note that a source of hope still exists. It is a harsh, desperate life that they lead together but it is perhaps the best they can manage.

There are no melancholic reflections by any of the main characters, just a simple need to adapt and survive. Wyndham is reflecting the era in which he is writing, published in 1951, this toughness perhaps reveals the difficulties of living through a major war. Masen and Josella are decent people who give purpose to each other, they rarely lapse into self-pity. Yet, as their world collapses, they have to work hard to move forward.

At times, the dialogue in the novel feels a little strained. Even by fifties standards, it seems overly formal yet there are no such questions about the narrative. Wyndham has created an excellent book that attempts to answer why we as a species deserve to survive. It is a credit to him that the answer is never in doubt.

'Inception' dir. Christopher Nolan

It was something of a shock to be confronted by something so intellegent and gripping. Given that recent releases include a surfeit of Hollywood staples (re-makes, teen horror, more teen horror), Nolan's film certainly distinguishes itself by being different. It mixes high-octane action sequences with a script that stops to question the motives of its characters.

The result is a film that crosses genres, it could easily be classified as a sci-fi, mystery or thriller and it has a good case for being all three. The action mainly centres around Leo Di Caprio's character Justin Cobb as he prepares a heist to steal corporate secrets. However, it is quickly revealed that this is no ordinary crime thriller. Cobb is a criminal who works exclusively in dreams.

Their target is the heir to a large corporation, a man called Robert Fischer who is brilliantly played by Cillian Murphy. The gang force Fischer in his sub-concious state to confront his difficult relationship with his father. Their theory is that a created thought, or 'inception' will force him to disinherit his company. As they burrow more deeply into his sub-concious it becomes clear that this is no ordinary task.

Cobb is made to confront his own demons, namely in the shape of his wife Mal, who haunts his every thought. His ability to do his job is hamstrung by his inability to let go of her and it quickly becomes clear that this may cost him his life. This secret has only been revealed to Ariadne, a student who joins them to work at creating Fischer's thought.

Mal is played with shocking clarity by Marion Cotillard, who portrays someone who indulges her own anger to the detriment of any other emotion. The film reveals precisely why it is justified but never loses the sense that she always had that element within her. At certain points, Cobb and Mal dominate the film to such an extent that it does slow down but that is only for a brief moment in the second act.

There is no question that taken as a whole, Inception makes a strong impression. In fact, it does to such an extent that it would be difficult to find many that rank alongside it. Nolan would be doing well to better it but given past form, no one could put it past him.

'A History of Britain (Vol I) - At the edge of The World? 3000BC-AD1603' by Simon Schama

As the title suggests, this book takes something of a broad perspective on early British history. Not that this is necessarily to its detriment, it reads more like a novel than a typical historical work. That is a credit to Schama who livens up a subject which often drives people away with dry prose and even drier analysis.

It moves quickly through the neolithic and Roman periods and onto medieval history. It seems that this is the real highlight for Schama, his enthusiasm for his work is most notable when he writing about instability. His superb deconstruction of Richard II during the peasants revolt is a prime example of this. However, he is sensible enough to avoid the mistake of dividing British history into 'good' and 'bad' monarchs.

Case studies are provided to act as background to the narrative. Eyewitness accounts of Thomas Becket's various disputes with Henry II being particularly impressive. Another example is the dark humour of the portrait of the 'Three living and three dead', an especially poignant work about the black death. Schama's background as an art historian undoubtedly influenced the images selected for the book.

There are several moments where it seems that there will be a shift towards a more conventional telling, especially during the section on Edward I. Nonetheless, he is quick to address this with acknowledgements that both sides committed atrocities during that conflict. He does well to shy away from the Braveheart perspective on William Wallace, who was in fact just as coldly ruthless as Edward.

Understandably, he treads carefully as we reach the Tudor period. Perhaps the most well-known of all parts of British history, Schama sticks closely to fact and is not given to romanticising Henry VIII in particular. Many recent depictions of the Tudors have played on the idea that it was an era of frivolous courtly love spoilt by the odd religious schism. That view is given short shrift as we are quickly introduced to the ruthlessness of Henry, Edward VI and Mary. The harrowing section on the death of Anne Boleyn being a particular highlight.

Fortunately he is also not given to glorifying Elizabeth I. He recognises her immense contribution towards religious healing in Britain but also sees that she was often maddeningly indecisive, especially when dealing with the many threats on her life. He recognises that when 'Gloriana' was at the peak of her powers, she was indeed a formidable monarch but that, as she went into decline, she was used by those closest to her.

There is no doubt that this reflects the balanced nature of the first volume of this work. Though there are many ways in which it is a conventional telling of early British history it does not shy away from occasional revisionism. Schama makes the point very early on that it is a personal history, not meant as definitive and it certainly does not feel at any point as if the reader is being dictated to. He is often condemned for being middle-brow but the length of the bibliography at the back should put paid to those assumptions.

Not only a fine academic work but a brilliant read. That is not a sentence I write very often.

'Dune' by Frank Herbert

This novel is an epic in both scale and length. At times, the imagination required to picture such an alien landscape is difficult to comprehend. Just as difficult, in fact, as wading through some of the over-extended sentences that Herbert is prone to using on occasion. Open any page in Dune and both will be present in large doses.

That is not to say that it is not an enjoyable read, it certainly is, but it is by no means a fast one. At first, we are introduced to the House Atreides, of which the main character Paul is a member. His father, Duke Leto, has been maneuvered into taking over the governorship of a barren desert world known as Arrakis.

Their stay on Arrakis quickly descends into violence as it gradually becomes clear that the Duke is being used. His great rival, the Baron Harkonnen is behind this plot. Harkonnen is a fantastic literary creation, full of the contradictions and bloodlust of a man obsessed with power. The contempt with which he treats even his own family is something to behold.

Amongst the chaos following the Baron's plot, we pick up the story with Paul, who is cast out amongst the natives of Arrakis. Paul's tale is one that is often difficult to follow, largely due to the sheer number of names that Herbert insists on calling him, for example: Paul, Muad'Dib, Kwaitz-Haderach and Usul to mention but a few. Nonetheless, the harsh beauty of the landscape is conveyed throughout and the characterisation of the natives is very well executed.

Following a series of violent encounters, Paul finds himself as the leader of the natives. He is pushed forward following a prophecy given to them and as a result finds himself as the leader of not just an army, but a religious movement. It is a role that he resists but nonetheless has to accept. As a result, by the close of the book, he has become assured in his decisions, perhaps to his detriment.

His mother Jessica, who accompanies him throughout, attempts to keep him on a mortal plane but she struggles with the task. She gives birth to Paul's sister, who may yet hold the key to his grand plans. The climax of the book leaves as many questions as it does answers but it can be assured that both of them have an important role to play in the remaining books of the trilogy.

Overall, 'Dune' is a fine work of Science Fiction that is perhaps not worthy of the title 'greatest ever' with which it is often burdened. It is a book filled with tremendous landscapes, yet, sometimes the similies seem just as extended. Despite that reservation, I would recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in sci-fi.