King Arthur

...was no Excalibur, but enjoyable fun, and at least seemed vaguely founded in the alleged real beginnings of Arthurian mythology with the action taking place at Mons Bodonis. Still not sure what I think of Keira Knightley - OK in Bend It Like Beckham, routine in The Hole, OK in KA, feisty in Pirates of the Caribbean (more so than an insipid Orlando Bloom), not really in Love Actually that much. Pretty face syndrome?

On an entirely unrelated note, The Village's "twist", if I am to believe my sources, sounds dreadful - a rip-off of Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, and many others. Is M. Knight a director of deflationary value?

Films

Or fil-ems as everyone used to say at my Primary School in Yorkshire. Before Sunset was perfect as a follow-up to Before Sunrise - I will not comment any more. Another must see, surprisingly is The Bourne Supremacy: I must confess that I haven't seen the first in the series, but this sequel was spot-on - a garotting scene a bit like Marathon Man, a washed-out, beat-up feel like a sixties spy drama (think Michael Caine, or even Melville's Le Samourai a bit), Matt Damon more like Ripley than "Will", and the best car chase I have seen since Ronin or Taxi. If you want Boys Own escapism, you can't go wrong.

The "Angus" Diet

Much as it may malign me to say so, the "Angus Diet" site from Burger King is an inspired piece of Atkins rip-off, and to be fair to BK, a bit of ritual self-humiliation at the same time (as burger joints have profited from the low-carb Atkins acolytes and South Beachers). Harry Enfield displays the right amount of swiss cheese (dare I say "Swiss Tony" cheese?) to go with the burgers. The only regret I can see is if BK get associated with Angus Steak Houses (rather than Aberdeen Angus) - which are a London tourist trap, and - from what I remember of a documentary a couple of years back, not always as sanitary as one might expect!

Stepford Wives Remake Revisited

Obviously, I only went to see this in the interests of science (and because it was a Sunday evening): I still hold my prejudices, but it was slightly better than I expected. The first half is a lightly amusing comedy about not fitting into a community along with the rising suspicion that the wives of Stepford, Connecticut are robots. From then on, it was a laughable descent into some hinterland between comedy/romance/suspense, and what a waste of decent actors! Anyway, suffice to say that the plot twist was ludicrous, but not even in an ironic, post-modern way. Thumbs down-ish, the Haunted Mansion was more scary.