Paddington

Charming, simple, poignant, hilarious, lovely...that's Paddington. Michael Bond's classic children's character has and probably always will retain that certain quintessential appeal, and thankfully this was the case when the bear from darkest Peru was transferred to the big screen.

I am quite the fan of Colin Firth's work, but I think him dropping out might well have been a boon for the film. Ben Whishaw's voice suits  and embodies the little bear instantly - utterly ready for anything, perfectly toned and instantly recognizably and definitively Paddington Bear.
As the film shows the little bear's journey from Peru to London, finding a new home, a family and identity on the way, Ben Whishaw is perfect during every single second we hear Paddington speak. And even when we don't, the combination of Whishaw's talented vocals plus the superb CGI and animations of Paddington render him superbly detailed, characteristically solid and utterly captivating throughout - a perfect leading character.

The human cast list isn't bad at all either. The very cartoonish but still brilliant villain of the piece is portrayed by the deliciously dazzling Nicole Kidman. The Browns (Paddington's adopted family) include the likes of Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins; two giant acting talents of the age. Plus we get supporting roles and cameos from the likes of Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Imelda Staunton and Sir Michael Gambon.
The cast list is stunning - and mostly all the performances are stunning in that they only add to the quality and charming feel of the film. However, I will say, as I have sometimes previously said with ensemble films - the great cast sometimes feels underused and just there for the sake of it. All the performances are good as I say, great even; but they are often seemingly quite shallow and one-dimensional. I know this film is all about Paddington and I know it is quite simple and light-hearted and to work it doesn't need to be much else - I just wish the great acting talent surrounding the bear had just a tad more to do.

Other than that - Paddington is glorious. The bear and the film. I was a touch nervous when I heard they were going to bring this one to the big screen, but in the event I am mightily glad they did.

The Great British Bake Off 2015

Another year; another trip to the tent. Yes, once again the one and only pure version (as opposed to Comic Relief and Sport Relief etc) of The Great British Bake Off returned to our telly boxes to once again prove to the nation just why we have all seemingly taken it so much to heart.
I've reviewed previous series of Bake Off and its sister special shows for a while now (see my BLOG ARCHIVE) so you and I both probably know by now the basic plots and formulas. Not to say it ain't good - its often great! But allow me if you will to skip a few scenes to the particular differences and highlights of this series in my view.


Firstly - huzzah! No "bin-gate"! The false drama and stunted scandal of last year's Baked Alaska meltdown really got on my wick last year, and thankfully the Bake Off team seem to have learnt from previous dips in performance (though probably not ratings) and we didn't see the like this year - just honest to good (and sometimes bad) baking.
We did however get the usual plethora of peeps hoping to be crowned Bake Off Champion. What's more we had the lows of the crop, or actually from my perspective not so much lows as non-entities. In many cases for me a lot of the competitors just faded instantly into obscurity, not even being memorable for all the wrong reasons. This lack of personality surprised me, and didn't really hit me until reflection following the conclusion of the series - the baking was there but for me some of the characters just didn't turn up. For me it is a case of 2 and 2. Two people that stood out in a negative and two in a positive light in my eyes. And that's it.
Despite her sometimes dour doom and gloom and tendency to over-complicate - I was really rooting for Scottish flower Flora to win - I thought she showed real flair and unusual charisma. Similarly I loved the odd, slightly loony lovable boffin vibe that finalist Ian gave off throughout.
The other two that caught my attention ended being the other two finalists. Tamal I thought was a very arrogant character, and though his bakes were very impressive in skill and execution, the delivery of himself as a person left a lot lacking in my view and did nothing but frustrate. Finalist and (SPOILER) eventual winner Nadiya also frustrated me a lot throughout - her constant neurotic mood swings and over-exaggerated facial expressions and reactions just struck me as attention-seeking (quite clever in a competition, though still shallow) and annoying. Yes she was a great baker, and she did sort of have a redeeming turn around in the final and thoroughly deserved to win, but I found the way she drew attention to herself left a sour aftertaste.

Other than that we had the usual class acts in judges Mary and Paul (though this year more than ever it was obvious that they edit Paul to seem nastier) and still the jewels in the Bake Off crown for me were the deliciously sassy, utterly hilarious and totally charming Mel and Sue - sheer joy to watch.
So, another Bake Off season gone; roll on the next time we hear the words - On Your Marks, Get Set - -BAKE!