"The Luck of Relian Kru" (1987) is set in a fanciful fantasy world. Relian Kru is a nobly born young man dogged by malevolent bad luck. He ends up at the castle of a sorcerer hoping that magic can cure his malaise. But the sorcerer has other plans for Relian Kru... "Relian Kru" reads so much like a book by Jack Vance that one might accuse the authoress of plagiarism, or think that Paula Volsky is a pseudonym of Jack Vance. But imitating if it is imitating Jack Vance is a sure way to please this reader, as I admire Jack Vance's skills at creating worlds and people for his novels. The little details matter, the names borne by the characters, their costumes and habits and singular occupations, these for me make a great book as much as the drama and storyline. And Paula Volsky has embellished "Relian Kru" richly. The plot is not complicated, it takes a back seat to the rich tapestry of the world Relian Kru inhabits, but the denouement is satisfying and worth getting to.

Snow came, changing our garden from neglectedness into a thing of beauty.

Our annual pilgrimage to see the snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey. How much is the National Trust running Anglesey Abbey for us to see our heritage, how much is it running it as a business? I was struck as we sat in the posh cafeteria by the adverts for people to hire Anglesey Abbey for weddings and corporate events.

My first time in Japan, seeing many shrines and cherry blossoms. I caught a faint glimpse of Mount Fuji, and stayed in a temple on Mount Koyasan.

Virginia and I together with her parents hired a boat from Richardsons in Acle to do a one week cruise on the Norfolk Broads in late May. The helpful people at the now closed "Horizon boatyard" gave us a crash course in handling the boat then sent us on our way. The professionals made it all look easy from steering the boat to mooring it - but such skills need longer than a week for me to acquire.

"Od Magic" (2005) is a wondrous multiply threaded narrative. The wizard Od recruits a new gardener Brendan for her school in Kelior, but he is more than he or others suspect. The kings of Kelior have made Od's school more of a way to stifle magic than to encourage it, they even fear a trickster Tyramin who comes to Kelior to amuse the common people. Princess Sulys is not so sure she wants the future her father has mapped out for her. A host of rich well drawn characters fill this book which is told from multiple perspectives. There's no one really evil in this book, just the way what would be called bureaucracy in our world warps the thinking of the people it nominally serves. "Od Magic" could be seen as both commenting on the way human societies tend to get old and gnarly, and also as offering hope that people can find their humanity again. Whether the magic in "Od Magic" is a metaphor for something else, or just part of the tapestry of a glorious story, there are a number of kinds of magic in "Od Magic". There is the wondrous ancient magic which the gardener is in tune with despite himself, there is the regulated controlled magic of the school, and there is Tyramin's popular magic which exists beneath the radar as far as authority is concerned. The moral may be that we all need to take a walk on the wild side from time to time. As the magicians from the cloistered school need to get out into the Twilight Quarter of Kelior to know what magic really is. Wonderful.

"Total Recall" is a film inspired by a story by Philip K. Dick. Arnold Schwarzenegger's role suits his acting style to a T. The plot has a construction worker discovering he is in fact a spy with a vital secret about Mars and aliens which the bad guys will go to any lengths to suppress. Or the plot is about a construction worker who has a memory implant about being a spy with a vital secret which leaves him lost inside his own mind. The film deliberately does not force either interpretation, both are valid. "Total Recall" rattles along at high speed, not taking itself too seriously. The set pieces and plot twists are like a roller coaster ride. Verhoeven was given enough leeway to create a world for the story to take place in, and a vivid world it is. The effects are dated, now so much would be done with computer graphics, but it is still very watchable 20 years on. Personally I view the film as Arnie has lost his mind to the memory implant.

"The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav" is set in a fantasy land with magic and portals to lands of faerie. Geron, a humble bird catcher, goes on a long quest to return a fairy Nuri back to her home so the evil Seer won't use her to further his nefarious plans. A very traditional point and click Adventure game. You move from location to location as you solve puzzles. Most of the locations are almost single scene with only one or two problems to solve, but some locations are bigger with involved multiple problems. I solved the game without a walkthrough but I felt the good story motivated me to continue on some of the harder puzzles. The game is generously long, with plenty of characters to meet, and lovingly drawn scenes. Just when I thought the game had finished there was a sudden twist, and Geron was where he didn't expect to be. And it was there that the puzzles were at their best, fantastical and magical. The characters have minimal lip synching and facial animation, but I got used to that. Sometimes the game mechanics are a bit odd, being thorough as with any game helps. Geron is not a saint, and makes some choices which have repercussions. Great. They do still make them like that!

"a Grain of Truth" is a beautiful game by Marek and Marcin Rudowski. The refreshingly different storyline has Myosotis travelling her world, trading stories. She hopes one day to find her own story which has been mysteriously taken from her. You play Myosotis as she goes in quest of a wise man who lives among the floating rocks who's bound to know everything. Myosotis's world of strange creatures and mystical trees has been fleshed out previously adding depth to "a Grain of Truth". The 2d third-person perspective game has been implemented in HTML5 and worked fine in my Safari browser. An impressive demonstration of what can be done in a browser based game. It is also free so one can overlook the odd English, or the occasional references to one playing a game. The drawings are lovely and special. Particularly striking was the crew harvesting clouds on a Cloud Eater to produce sleep friendly pillows. The puzzles are standard Adventure game puzzles, but despite being a free browser game there is a map for quick navigation and a mix of inventory / dialogue / mini games. I just wished the game was longer - there was a previous game "Bell's Heart", the ending hints there could be more.

"Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time" is a 1998 Adventure game from the talented Presto Studios. Presto Studios have sadly shut their doors but Tommy Yune (art director) has put a lot of material up at The Journeyman Project Trilogy. "Legacy of Time" is a point and click adventure with no timed or action sequences. There is a sound puzzle but that can be solved without tone matching. The puzzles range from inventory based to dialogue to finding combinations to open doors. Sometimes inventory items can be used far from where they're found. 360 node views. Strong orchestral music track. The plot of "Legacy" has you (as hero Gage Blackwood) visiting Shangri-La, Eldorado, and Atlantis in quest of three pieces of an alien artefact to save the Earth in the future. You have a sidekick called Arthur who offers help from time to time. In addition Arthur has some very witty comments to make as you play - the humour may not suit all, but Arthur can be quietened. There is a lot of great NPC interaction here, well thought through. The three places are living places, not just places for puzzles. The characters have depth, a worldview. You feel for them, knowing they're each doomed to be obliterated soon after you visit them. Adding to the depth of immersion is that (courtesy of your chameleon jumpsuit) you take on the appearance of characters in each time period, and NPCs respond to you differently. The game feels cinematic, particularly in its impressive cutscenes. These really set the scene and scale of the game, heighten the feeling. The ending cutscene is moving and profound. From start to finish well written and well produced - one of the few games I can replay and replay.

"Lost Horizon" is an Adventure game from the team responsible for the "Secret Files" games. Very interesting extra on the game DVD is a prototype of "Lost Horizon" which hints at a different storyline, and also uses 3D models from the "Secret Files" games! The plot (which for me is the weakest part of "Lost Horizon") is rather run-of-the-mill. The Nazis are after the mystical powers of Tibet, and as Fenton Paddock your job is to stop them. You will trek around the globe collecting stuff, and then have a final showdown in Shambala. At times you play as Kim (a Hong Kong girl,) and in the endgame also as another British soldier who has reached Shambala ahead of Fenton. The dual character gameplay is particularly good and inventive, adding depth to the experience. Fenton has lots of humorous asides to make as he performs the roundabout actions one tends to do in games of this ilk. You meet a range of characters in various locations like Indian jungles, Arab markets, and the German Olympics. The game is made by people who know how to make Adventure games, there are plentiful cutscenes as Fenton performs in front of you, the game is helpful like highlighting interactive hotspots. This is a traditional adventure, no timed puzzles or death sequences or dead ends. Even sequences like the car chase in Hong Kong is fair Adventuring. The puzzles are nearly all inventory puzzles, but you're never faced with impossibles numbers of combinations to try. I played through without having to refer to a walkthrough, yet got a sense of accomplishment from solving the challenges. A good solid chunk of Adventuring. A better plot would have been nice, but a fun sequence of puzzles. The dual character gameplay is particularly enjoyable.

"Louvre: The Final Curse" is an Adventure game set in the Louvre in Paris. You visit the Louvre at three different times during its long history to retrieve four magical artefacts (so the bad guys can't use them to make the apocalypse happen.) "Louvre" (also known as "The Messenger") is a point and click adventure, there is a timed sequence at the end of each of the historical periods. The puzzles are mostly inventory based, with some doors and cabinets to open by finding key sequences. A very useful in-game map can be used to quickly jump to places you've already been. You're limited as to the number of items you can carry, but you can store items in a special chest which turns up in many locations. There are only 8 savegame slots. "Louvre" is played with a first person perspective. The game uses 360 node views, the cursor indicates when you're over something you can interact with. You can die during the game so saving regularly is a good habit. You meet quite a few characters and this, together with the different appearances of the Louvre for each time period, give a sense of being inside the history. There is a certain amount of edutainment in the game, which doesn't get in the way if you don't want it to. Your player character is Morgana who is wont during various cutscenes to climb ropes and descend wells in her leather catsuit. This does add a certain spice to proceedings. The cutscenes can be skipped.

"Machinarium" is set in a wonderful mechanical city of robots. There's no spoken dialogue, but none is needed as you help your robot save the day. The imaginative setting offers a reflection on our world and foibles. The game is worth playing for the scenes you see alone. The gameplay is mainly traditional inventory based Adventure gameplay, but has two arcade sequences. "Machinarium" is implemented in Flash, and the user interface is at times a bit clunky. There are inbuilt hints, and also a help system - which oddly has to be accessed by beating an arcade game so I found it unusable. The puzzles hark back to the golden age of Adventure games, and are nicely nontrivial. The robot has to be within reach of a hotspot before the cursor will indicate it is a hotspot. Particularly when holding inventory items it can be unclear that the game is indicating an interaction is possible. The robot only has a few places in each scene he will stand in.

"Nightmare Adventures: Witch's Prison" is a Adventure-lite casual game in which you guide the heroine to the heart of the mystery in Blackwater Asylum. This isn't horror as such but there is a macabre edge to many of the scenes. The game is well produced - user friendly, well drawn. The characters are not voiced but I didn't miss that. The puzzles range from using inventory items to standalone puzzles like sliders. There was only one what I would call a hidden object puzzle, and that was optional I think. As such this is a good game for Adventurers to play who bemoan the death of Adventure games. The story is a journey to the Heart of Darkness, but perhaps the game needed to be longer to fully develop that journey. The ending of the game might hint at a sequel, if there was one I would certainly play it. As with many Adventure games disbelief needs to be suspended as one comes across the puzzles in the Asylum. One of the great puzzles I remember in "Zork Grand Inquisitor" is the one you solve with brute force rather than cleverness. A nice play. Recommended.

"Darkstar: The Interactive Movie" is a game that's taken its creator J. Allen Williams ten years to realise. The actors are largely from "Mystery Science Theater 3000", and the narration was done by Peter Graves as his last work. "Darkstar" is space opera set in a future after Earth has been destroyed by an armada from Mars. Mars is where the do-gooders on Earth exiled all the bad people so they could have a good time. Sadly the bad people came back with a large chip on their shoulder. The Earth government as a dying act sent four ships to "Darkstar", a wormhole in space, in a desperate attempt to change history. One plays as the captain of the Westwick ship, who awakes to find his memories erased, the ship damaged, one crew member mysteriously missing, another dead with a missing hand. I haven't seen any "Mystery Science Theater 3000", but the name matches the mood of "Darkstar". The game is set in an advanced future, with a trip to an alien planet. There's a Shakespearian plot with double crosses, and tragedy, and good intentions gone bad. There is a mordant vein of humour, and jaded heroism. The spaceship "Westwick" where most of the gameplay happens is lavishly realised, and populated with detail. There is a lot of FMV (full motion video) as one moves around, and manipulates what's available to manipulate. As the plot moves forward there are long cutscenes too. There are numerous ways to die in the game, and dead ends if you haven't done certain deeds - following the walkthrough I found necessary. Dying is fun as you get appropriate cutscenes and comments from Peter Graves. The puzzles themselves are not difficult. Finding them is. The nodes you navigate between are randomly connected and arranged. You may only be able to reach that vital switch if you move further away to a more distant node which does have a path to the switch. Infuriating. There is a horrible maze which is both frustrating and imaginatively realised. Inventory items are automatically used at appropriate points if you have them. The game at times makes choices for you. So from that point of view it is more interactive movie than game. The message is suitable for a Shakespeare tragedy. Something along the lines of good and evil cannot be separated without dire consequences. This is a game to play for the way its world has been realised, both in terms of environment and also backstory. As stunning in that way as when I first played "Riven". The navigation around the gameworld, and some of the gameplay is definitely misguided, but the game still ought to be played for what essentially one person achieved.

"Little Sister" (1998) is the story of Mitsuko, the little sister of the title. Raised in court seclusion she comes up against the cruel grime of the real world on a trip. Her brother-in-law is murdered by bandits, and her elder sister left demented. To restore her sister's soul Mitsuko goes on a strange odyssey into a world of Japanese spirits and demons. Kara Dalkey has set her book somewhere refreshingly different, and introduces us to the Japan of the 1200s (perhaps I should say a Japan of the 1200s.) We learn naturally about "tengus" and Gods, and enter a little into how people in the late Heian thought. The story in "Little Sister" is not merely set against a feudal Japanese backdrop, its logic is appropriate too. Too many times authors just borrow period words and dress and furnishing but still write contemporary fiction. Mitsuko makes an enchanting and spirited heroine as she walks the paths of Japanese spirits and demons. A different and worthwhile read.

"Maddigan's Quest" is a post-apocalyptic story by Margaret Mahy, a leading New Zealand's childrens' writer. "Maddigan's Quest" (also known as "Maddigan's Fantasia" ) centres on the Fantasia, a circus group who tour what remains of civilisation after some indistinct disaster. The Fantasia get involved with a mysterious pair of boys and their baby sister who have time travelled from the future. Key to the future is a secret quest the Fantasia are on for their home city Solis. But also from the future have come the henchmen of an evil warped dictator. "Maddigan's Quest" functions on a number of levels. It is a childrens' adventure story, episodic as the Fantasia go from place to place and encounter danger and challenges. It is also a coming of age story based on the protagonist Garland who has to come to terms with what has happened. The story is told mainly from her perspective. The time travel element is not well developed, there are aspects of what does it mean to tinker with time, what is allowable, can one actually change anything. Central to "Maddigan's Quest" is a diary that Garland keeps. This device adds depth to the narrative, makes the story feel more two-dimensional. The time travellers bring a copy of Garland's diary (old in its years,) but their copy changes as they affect the past. This book is also about books in another way - the world of "Maddigan's Quest" is disjointed as the maps are wearing out. Libraries are precious treasure houses, safe passages for the past to reach the future. Quite enjoyable, after reading this I started my own quest for the DVD of the TV series and other books by Margaret Mahy.

"Ombria in Shadow" (2002) is the story of "Ombria", and its shadows. On the surface sinister "Domina Pearl" weaves her spiderwebs, and princes die. Under the surface of "Ombria" the sorceress "Faey" creates poisons and antidotes impartially. Most of "Ombria" only know of one plane of existence. "Faey" has made a girl Mag out of wax. Mag roams freely between shadow and light and shadow, but one day Mag swallows a golden heart and changes for ever. No one knows "Ducon's" father. "Ducon" draws pictures of the shadows, of the darknesses in alleyways and doorways. As "Ducon" draws he draws into "Ombria" things out of the shadows. "Ombria" is a rich and complex work. On one level it is about evil and good, innocence and corruption. On another level it is about much more, about the shadows that history and art and desire cast. About the shadows that the years cast inside us. McKillip does not describe everything to the last detail, does not explain what happens. But her writing is full of poetry and lyricism. A deserving winner of an award for fantasy.

"The Anubis Gates" (Tim Powers 1983) is Powers mixing it up again. This time ancient Egyptian sorcerers seeking to restore the old gods Osiris and company to prominence. Time travelling tourists dropping in to see their favourite poets in old London. Beggar gangs, werewolves, gypsies, transference of souls. English professor Brendan Doyle gets stranded in early 1800s London when he acts as guide for fans of Coleridge who want to see Coleridge in the flesh. He undergoes harrowing adventures at the hands of magicians and criminals and a body stealing werewolf. In the end he learns the answers to a mysterious poet William Ashbless. The little touches in Powers stay with me long after the main plot line has got blurred. So the sorcerers who have to keep themselves tethered to the Earth lest the Moon pull them to itself. The underworld gang with its factory for deforming beggars to make them more pitiable. The interplay between science and magic. The clinging on of ancient Gods. Great stuff.

"Declare" (Tim Powers 2000) is another of the author's harmonising of real history, mythology, and inventive storytelling. This time Powers mixes in the Cold War complete with Kim Philby, Arabian djinn, an on off romance between a British and Soviet spy, and Noah's Ark on a peak in Ararat. The author's painstaking research gives a depth to the espionage background, and to the magical elements. When reading Powers I feel there's always more behind each sentence, stories untold. Reading Powers is like wandering through an exotic city, one may not see every lane every alley but the sensation is of something rich and strange. Powers' alternative history of the Cold War reads very well. A lot better than the 'actual' mundane unmagical history! But what is history? Even history is subjective, not objective. For those who believe in demons demons do exist.

"Dinner at Deviant's Palace" (1985) by Tim Powers describes Greg Rivas's quest to save the woman he loves from a religious cult. Set in post-apocalypse California, where electricity and internal combustion are historical footnotes. Rivas is a redemptionist famed for freeing souls from the clutches of Norton Jaybush and his church. But he will have to go further than ever before to save Urania. As in the best books the physical journey undertaken by Rivas mirrors a psychological journey in which he rediscovers himself. "Dinner at Deviant's Palace" is a journey into the heart of darkness, and Powers is familiar with various religious practices. It can be read as antireligious. But I enjoyed reading it, good ideas and some good puns like the "hemogoblin".

"Last Call" (Tim Powers 1992) is another of the author's bravura reworking of real history and mythology and invention. "Last Call" marries Tarot cards up with Las Vegas's gambling and mobs, tossing in Bugsy Siegel as a Fisher King persona. The plot has gambler Scott Crane seeking to reclaim his soul after losing it in an arcane card game on Lake Mead. He has to return to the heart of darkness in Las Vegas, and enter into a strange otherworld, to be redeemed. Besides the rich world Tim Powers weaves together from history and fantasy there is also a big hand of characters who play their roles in "Last Call" like the cards in a card game. The number of ideas Powers includes is dazzling but they're all relevant to the whole, all part of the narrative. A masterpiece - oddly moral despite the alienness.

"Delicatessen" is the film which made its directors "Jeunet" and "Caro" well known. It stars "Dominique Pinon" who also appears in other films by the directors. "Delicatessen" is set in a Dickensian future, fog shrouded streets hiding technological and moral decay. A circus clown mourning his lost partner comes to stay at a butcher's shop. What he doesn't know is where the butcher gets his choice cuts from, and that he's next on the list to supply his venal fellow lodgers. Will a romance with the myopic butcher's daughters, and the underground vegan rebels, save his bacon? This film is a very black comedy, with crazy moments of invention. What could have been a Hammer style horror is lifted by scenes of sublime direction. The butcher's shop is a wonderful madhouse for the eye to behold, it feels more like something from the 1950s than the 1990s. There is a stylish scene where the clown (played by Pinon) tries to cure the squeaking of springs in a bed. Sound plays a key role in the film, from the ghostly voice encouraging a suicidal wife to the heavenly sound of a bowed saw. Innocence triumphs in the end against corrupt cynicism. Perhaps the message of the film is to keep a sense of wonder in the mundane, no matter how mundane it is.

"Over The Hedge" is a computer animated film adaptation of a comic of the same name. It stars a little family of woodland animals who wake up from their hibernation to find the humans have built a new housing estate round their turf. In trying to come with terms with this change of scenery they are not helped by a smart alec raccoon who has a hidden agenda for teaching them to scavenge for human junk. The raccoon needs the junk to pay off a bear whose stash the raccoon inadvertently destroyed. The comic is very satirical about humans and their habits, and the satire makes it into the film. Perhaps a comedy is not the right vehicle to really attack human greed, and human dislocation from Mother Earth, but through the eyes of the animals we do see humanity being selfish. The film is a family comedy with a wholesome message about family, and the possibility of redemption. Bad guys also get their comeuppance. The animation is very well done, and there are glorious moments where the film gives way to those making it having fun. Such as when the raccoon opens a packet of cheese snacks and the the impact on the naive woodland animals is depicted as similar to an atomic bomb. The humans are played larger than life, particularly the "verminator" tasked with removing nature from the plastic wonderland of the housing estate. A great piece of animation, a successful film based on a comic.

"Always - Sunset on Third Street" is a magical Japanese film about a small street community in Tokyo of the 1950s. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki it combines technical wizardry with deep felt humanity. The film weaves together multiple storylines - a girl coming from the countryside whose dreams of being a secretary in a big car company unravel when she ends up as a bicycle repair apprentice. There's the wannabee prizewinning author who finds himself forced into looking after an unsettled kid. There's a doctor recovering from the death of his family in the still recent war. Even more than this the film weaves together the changes happening in Japan of the time. A TV tower is being constructed marking the renaissance of Japan. Fridges are replacing the men who used to deliver ice. Coca cola is invading the shops but meeting resistance from those who are puzzled why they should drink soya sauce. And in a brilliant scene the whole street crowds into a living room to see the first TV. An emotionally involving film, with characters who are being human and for which one can root. The film starts and ends with glorious sequences of pure transcendental cinema that lift the soul.

"High Sierra" is a black and white gangster movie directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. Roy Earle is a tough guy released from prison so he can do a job for a crime boss. But crime doesn't pay, and the film and Earle end on the hard rocks of the Sierra Nevada. Put like that "High Sierra" sounds like many other gangster films. But this is Greek tragedy disguised as a gangster film. Destiny / the Gods / society have doomed both Bogart's and Lupino's characters. Bogart's character may see himself as the champion of a poor innocent club footed girl, see this as his means of redemption, but this is just wishful thinking. The dog which attaches itself to Bogart and Lupino is a divine harbinger of bad things to come. Bogart makes his character more 3-dimensional than most gangsters by adding vulnerability. The weaknesses that Earle has make Earle strangely more dangerous than a normal assembly line hoodlum. One can see that here is a character twisted and hardened by his past. Bogart's character is aware at some level that there is no way out, that his choices in letting Lupino stay with him, in letting the dog come along, are ensuring his fate. A classic gangster film of the 1940s, lean economical and profoundly tragic.

"Strictly Ballroom" is a film set in the tinselled tawdriness of ballroom dancing in Oz. Scott has been raised to be a champion by his dance mad mother, but he has this slight flaw. He wants to dance his own steps not follow the rules. Can he succeed against the establishment, particularly when saddled with a beginner for a partner? The plot may be a run-of-the-mill underdogs to heroes plot. In a common motif Scott learns how to put his heart into his dancing boots from an unexpected quarter. A bit like martial arts films. What makes this film is firstly the richness of the characters, Scott's mother is one of the cameo performances that make this film come alive. Solid actors breathe conviction into otherwise limp unconvincing dialogue. Even the leads are not as wooden as normal but have depth, have personality. The second strength is the way the director presents the film - he moves from a quasi-documentary feel to a surreal series of events (at point in a character's daydreams a rival has had an accident, and then it happens in reality.) Tremendous stuff.

"Written By" is a film set in contemporary Hong Kong, around a family trying to cope with tragedy and loss. The father died in a car accident 10 years ago, and the daughter was blinded. The daughter tries to heal the wounds by writing a novel about an alternate reality in which the father survived and was blinded but the rest of the family died. The film blends stories inside stories with Hong Kong folklore about ghosts and reincarnation. So much of the film is stories being written about stories being written that the viewer becomes as entwined as the daughter is in her tale telling. Life as a tragedy told by a concealed author. Marooned by repeated disaster the daughter hovers about going where she believes her loved ones have gone. Special effects are used wisely and economically to support the film. There is a nicely done sequence where the family and furniture get rehoused in a cemetery near the funicular railway. The scenes set in a Chinese afterworld are poetic in their vision. A really strong performance from the young actress playing the daughter. No glib answers here about fate and predestination, but proof that film (like the book the daughter writes inside the film) can help us work through our inner emotions and feelings.

"The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec" is a live action film based on the comics by Jacques Tardi. If I remember properly it's the amalgam of two adventures for Adele that Tardi did. Set mainly in early 1900s Paris the film follows the odyssey of the titular Adele to cure her sister. It's a rather complicated odyssey involving Egyptian tombs and pterodactyls and rescues from the guillotine and resurrection magic. All because of a game of tennis. Besson skates a skilful line from black comedy to slapstick to comedy of observation to a little heroics. A French female Indiana Jones who doesn't take herself too seriously. There are a number of great sequences in the film as Besson pokes fun at officialdom and official ways. It does partly feel like he is poking fun at the France of today as much of the France of the early 1900s. Adele may be trying to escape the restrictions of our current age as much as the fin de siecle. If one's making a film for a 2000s audience it's hard to not import 2000s worldviews into a representation of the past. I enjoyed this one. Recommended.

"Spiderwick Chronicles" is a very pleasing book adaptation. Perhaps a well-worn story, family get uprooted from the big city to an old house in the woods where they discover a magical world. The children unwittingly provide a big bad ogre with the way to bring disorder and hurt to this world. With the aid of unlikely allies they must defend their new home against the forces of darkness. The film is a little changed from the series of books, not as harsh in some places, the children are older. Whether the film is faithful to the books I cannot say but the world visualised in the film is wonderful. The house is a vital actor in the film, Arthur Spiderwick's study itself is a believable collection of bric-a-brac. Spiderwick's book, a central plot device, is lovingly drawn. The story flows well, not getting stale and keeping one guessing. Quaintly the American children are not played by Americans, but come over well. The twins are played by the same actor (Freddie Highmore.) There are some deeper themes bubbling along (the family doesn't include the father, and there's some coming to terms with that.) I really enjoyed this, one of the best films of its type.

"Spirited Away" is an animated film created by Hayao Miyazaki. A Japanese family move from the city into the suburbs, and blunder through a tunnel into a leisure centre for demons and spirits. The parents are turned into pigs after gobbling up the witchy food, and 10-year old Chihiro finds herself working in the strangest bathhouse as she searches for a way to change her parents back. The animation is old school compared with the computer animation Hollywood produces. But perhaps because of this "Spirited Away" more easily transports us into a magical world, where the fantastic makes sense. The images and events in "Spirited Away" are highly imaginative, and the storyline unpredictable. The film on the surface may be a fable for children, but speaks to adults too. One theme in the film is Chihiro coming to terms with moving away from the city into the suburbs, her emotional journey. Another theme is family, and discovering how important that is. Ecology is an important theme in a number of Ghibli's films. The bathhouse speaks of physical cleansing, but also of spiritual cleansing too. Chihiro wins through by being herself, by acting as a catalyst for change, not by force. "Spirited Away" is not only one of the greatest cartoon films ever produced, it is one of the greatest films ever produced.

The film "Bodyguards and Assassins" tells the heroic tale of the bodyguards who sacrificed themselves so Sun Yatsen could come to Hong Kong in 1906. He was a key figure in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, inspired by western ideas of democracy to bring China into the 20th century. Sun Yatsen had come to Hong Kong to address fellow revolutionaries, but the Dowager Empress Cixi ordered his assassination. As the British running Hong Kong chose to keep out of a Chinese versus Chinese disagreement it was up to a motley group of locals to keep Sun alive. The film feels authentic enough, I'm assuming Sun Yatsen did visit Hong Kong in 1906. The action scenes are rooted in reality which brings us closer to the people involved. There is a grimness and intensity here, particularly as the rickshaws roll and the assassins attack in near real-time. What's left when Sun leaves Hong Kong are questions - about the cost of revolutions, about how much each life is worth. Some like Sun see the ends justifying the means even though they speak elegantly about blood being shed. Very watchable, not the usual martial arts epic.

"Chocolate" is another martial arts film from the director of the seminal "Ong Bak". This time instead of "Tony Jaa" we have "JeeJa Yanin" playing an autistic girl trying to raise money to treat her mother's cancer. As the money raising involves collecting underworld debts she has to be persuasive with her hands, elbows, knees, etc. "JeeJa Yanin" is for me as eye opening as Tony Jaa was in "Ong Bak". The martial arts are more of a dance than in "Ong Bak", but martial arts films have been compared to Fred Astaire dance movies (with a lot of justification.) As in "Ong Bak" the accent is on realism, no stunt doubles, no wirework - the outtakes show how much everyone put into the film. The action is varied, evisceral, and hypnotic. As in "Ong Bak" there are unexpected moments of cinema. The moment in the ice factory where "JeeJa's" character erupts into action is well done. The plot is simple, the baddies get bashed, one couldn't accuse the film of the same realism there as with the action. Influences bleed through from other films ( "JeeJa's" character learns from watching "Ong Bak" on the TV.) The depiction of autism some will find disagreeable. But taken as an actioner this is a great watch.

The film "Ong Bak" showcases the martial arts abilities of Tony Jaa. Directed by Prachya Pinkaew, fight choreography by Panna Rittikrai, this film brought Thai cinema to a new level. The plot is basic - baddie steals a Buddhist idol from a poor Thai village, villagers send Tony Jaa off to the corrupt big city to retrieve it. Endangering his principles Tony Jaa does a lot of fighting to retrieve the idol and save the village. The fighting is done without wirework or stunt doubles adding a vital immediacy to the action. Tony Jaa is wondrously athletic in the title role, and there is variety and imagination in the fights and staging. For this reason alone this is a must-see for martial arts fans. There are moments of pure cinema in this film such as when Tony Jaa's character is underwater, and discovers where the gang who stole the Buddhist idol have hidden their loot. The storyline is not complicated (like most martial arts actioners), and right triumphs in the end (a large Buddha crushes the main bad guy at then end.) A rich film.

"Cleopatra: A Queen's Destiny" is set in Cleopatra's Egypt, and has you as Thomas investigating the mysterious disappearance of astrologer Akkad and his daughter Iris. In your quest you will visit the Pharos Lighthouse, mix potions, persuade ancient machinery to work, penetrate mausoleums, deal with crocodiles, and learn a little Greek. The puzzles are all standard Adventuring fare, no arcade or timed challenges. The clues you find seem to have lost something in translation at one or two points. The game takes place over a number of days and according to your choice at the start some of these days will be lucky, some unlucky. On unlucky days extra problems are added which means writing a walkthrough is trickier. The pre-rendered graphics as in other Kheops games are lush and enchanting. The sounds don't detract, provided they're there I don't notice them that much. The Pharos Lighthouse was my favourite part of the game, but the ending is fun too - games need decent endings to be memorable. OK not epic perhaps but an enjoyable play. One I could play again!

"Eschalon Book 2" is a traditional turn-based RPG game. You can play either a male or female character, and choose between playing as a fighter or mage or thief. The game is presented as an isometric third-person view, with dynamic weather which affects gameplay (so firebolts don't work so well when it's raining.) Dialogue is text-based rather than spoken. The plot carries on from Eschalon Book 1. It's a standard quest for powerful object, but there are plenty of side quests and NPCs to talk to. There is a nice range of dungeons to trawl through, locations to locate, and enemies to fight. The graphic quality (I played at 1028 by 768 resolution) is great, one can play as a dedicated mage which I prefer unlike the first game, and I enjoyed playing. Definitely looking forward to the third game. The ending was a bit of an anticlimax, at least for my mage who could cast Invisibility. The last boss General "Ghorr" became gore rather too easily. But there had been some good battles up to that point. Striking a good balance is difficult, the first game again was too easy at the end. The second game also seemed to be incomplete. You can reach the entrances to dungeons only to be told your way does not lie there. The end scoresheet you get said I had achieved no challenges - I didn't get any challenges to achieve so that was confusing. Dialogues didn't always reflect actions - so if you talk to the guards you must pass to get to "Durnore" after already passing you get nonsense. But overall this was a good game.

"Police Story" is directed by and stars Jackie Chan in full flow action. The plot (films tend to be saddled with them) is about a lone Hong Kong cop taking on a drug kingpin. The story provides enough excuses for great action sequences interleaved with comedy. There are many memorable innovative sequences, from the car chase through a shanty town, through Jackie clinging onto a double decker bus by umbrella, to the glass smashing finale in a department store where our hero wins out against officialdom and the drug lord. The film is tongue in cheek, but the action sequences are played full on. Serious injuries were taken making this film. Maggie Cheung suffers nobly as Chan's girlfriend, backed up by Brigitte Lin as an important witness. Significantly or not the drug lord is played by Chu Yuan an old-time director of many Shaw epics. So the ending of the film could be seen as Chan's brand of comedy action knocking out the serious films that Chan got his film start in.

"Bubble Fiction" is a time travel comedy which sees a deeply indebted bar girl jump back to the boom years of the Japanese economy. Courtesy of a washing machine modified by her genius mother who has got lost in the past trying to rescue the Japanese financial system. (Coincidentally or not "Back to the Future" was originally going to use a domestic appliance as time machine.) "Bubble Fiction" could be seen as a clone of "Back to the Future" - it works for the same reason as "Back to the Future" works. The comedy arises from the clash of our now with an alien past. The film like "Back to the Future" hangs together so loose ends are cleverly tied up by the end high note. Some of the fun in "Bubble Fiction" depends on knowing who's doing the cameos, and why the cameos are fun - otherwise the fun is funny peculiar. So we see in 1985 the guy running the Japanese football team in 2005, and our time traveller can encourage him. The male lead Abe Hiroshi is a strong lead, playing distinct roles in the different time periods. The tongue in cheek scenes are varied, and we end on an uplifting note. Very watchable if not profound.

"City of Lost Children" is another film from the directing team of Jeunet and Caro who did "Delicatessen". It stars the American actor Ron Perlman, and a very confident performance by by an 11-year Judith Vittet. "City of Lost Children" is set in a rundown steampunk future more than worthy of Jules Verne. A mad scientist Krank is kidnapping children so he can steal their dreams. An ex-whaler played by Perlman starts on a strange odyssey to rescue his adopted son. The son has been kidnapped by a cult in league with Krank. The whaler's quest involves him with a gang of orphans who steal for a sinister Siamese couple. The film has many fine moments of invention. The way the children perform their robberies is as wonderful as it is unexpected and roundabout. Events happen according to a Lewis Carroll style logic. There is black comedy, and dark evil, but innocent good wins out perhaps in spite of itself. The sounds of the film are profound, particularly the barrel organ which plays to control the lethal mosquito. The mosquito is among the computer generated images in the film which was technically ambitious for its time. As Krank has to dream dreams vicariously perhaps the film comments on modern society where so many of us live vicariously. Are we less real than characters in soap operas?