Moon (Sam Rockwell, dir Duncan Jones)

I saw Moon at the cinema this week, on the strength of a stylish poster that I pass every day in the tube station at Queensway and a single tweet from su_b. Plus I figured I should see a film about space before it left the cinema and the only option became watching it on our 15" television.

I'm glad I did – it turned out to be the best film I've seen this year, and probably in the last few years. A neat idea, well written and directed, with superb acting from Sam Rockwell. And you get a bonus Kevin Spacey too!

Although it's probably classified as science fiction, Moon is definitely for anyone, not just sci-fi fans. If you're an action junkie then you might consider it to be a bit slow, and on the way home we agreed that there are a couple of bits of the story that raise more questions than answers. But the concept, acting and superb scenery result in a story you could completely immerse yourself in.

And it was the right decision to watch it on the big screen. So unless you've got a huge tv, I recommend seeing it at the cinema if you can.

One of my questions was 'so who is Sam Rockwell anyway?' I hadn't heard of him but it turns out I just wasn't paying attention. His biggest film to date is Frost/Nixon, another one on my list of films that had finished at the cinema by the time I got round to deciding to see it... It's definitely on the DVD rental list now though.

Molly's Millions - Victoria Connelly

I met Victoria Connelly at her Molly's Millions book signing in Uxbridge a few weeks ago. I decided to buy the book after reading the opening pages where Molly is in a shop buying groceries. It was well observed and well written - I think we've all been there at least once in our lives!

If you're looking for a deep and meaningful read about life after a lottery win then this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for a light-hearted and funny story to read on the train, then I recommend this modern day rags-to-riches fairytale. Besides, who can resist such a pretty and cheery cover?

What integration!

I'm writing this to my blog from Microsoft Word. Is that good or bad?

Up till now: the autobiography - William Shatner

I'm starting with a book review of possibly the worst book I have ever read - it's certainly the worst biography (although to be fair I don't read that many). Which is a shame as William Shatner has had quite interesting and varied acting roles throughout his career, and worked quite hard at it.

Maybe he's showing his age. It's a completely self-indulgent book, with a confused timeline and random ideas. It starts by Shatner telling us all the ideas he had considered and discarded for his opening chapter and why he'd discarded them. All of them, in detail. And you can't quite help thinking even from the beginning that this book is all about showing off as much as possible about what he's done and why he thinks people love him.

A recurring construct throughout the book is to deliberately stop halfway through a sentence to pick up a previous idea that he left with an elipse in a previous paragraph (or chapter sometimes). This is a bad thing, in case I didn't make that clear.

But the most distressing thing is how he uses quotes and comments from former colleagues to show them off to a disadvantage, always with the undercurrent that he's better than them. He claims to not have had any idea (for the last 40 years) just how much his Star Trek colleagues hated him. But then maybe that's just self-confidence, which is ultimately what makes a good actor.

In short, he thinks he's hilarious, and while I think he's a good actor, comic genius he ain't. Is it harsh to say that he's better when he's pretending to be someone else?