Inception

It's very rare that you can go to the cinema and see something that has the financial backing the same size as the budget deficit but isn't about moping vampires or fighting robots. Inception is not like anything you'll see at the cinema this year. Unless you deliberately go to an art cinema to watch an obscure foreign film just to say otherwise. But then you'd be a pretentious shit. So swings and roundabouts. The lead up to this film was very hush hush and with good reason. It's hard to explain what happens without it sounding like a confusing mess. But basically, it's a film about people who trained to steal information and ideas from peoples dreams who take up the oppertunity to place an idea in someone's head through "inception". It's essentially a heist movie. He gets the job offer, assembles a team, starts the heist. You know the rest.

It's so much more than that though. The outlandish setting keeps you on your toes the whole time. Not to mention that the visuals are stunning, some of the best I have ever seen. Suffice to say that the scenes from the trailer are even more mind-blowing at the multiplex. The script, whilst a little wordy, keeps the balance of complex and engaging and Di Caprio leads with a great performance, with the rest of the cast not too far behind. But overall it's the perfect cinema experience, the perfect to retort to whether Avatar is the future of cinema. It doesn't have to be, we just need more big budget, big idea masterpieces like this. In a word stunning.

Red Dead Redemption

It's funny how you can instantly fall in love with a game for the the poorest reasons. Like being able to name your rival "Tosser" in the Pokemon games and then laugh hysterically every time you run in to him on the SS Anne. Or that in the latest FIFA game you scan a photo of your face in with a ridiculous glitter Hitler moustache and watch yourself do cartwheels with a silvery upper lip every time you score. As they say, it's the little things. In Red Dead Redemption you can shoot animals, skin them, and then sell said skin for a small profit. On paper it's dull. In practice it's probably also quite dull. However I've spent 3 of my first four hours playtime doing it. Painfully addictive. I haven't even found a bear yet. I'll never do anything else if I find one. For me it proves the level of immersion this game offers. GTA IV suffered from a slightly stilted and familiar setting. We've been stealing yellow cabs for ten years now in various guises. RDR opens up the world of the Western to a new generation and feels very fresh in comparison. The greatest test will of course be whether I can now buy and wear a pair of cowboy boots without being socially outcast. The proof will be in the freshly skinned carcass no doubt.

World Cup

A lot has gone on since my inaugural declaration of disappointment in the tournament. Firstly then, England. In many ways it was no different at all, watching Heskey running on in the 70th odd minute to save the game is a sadly familiar sight to us all. Yet the pain of it all still rests high on the shoulders. It's easy to sit and point the blame at the under-performing players; Rooney, Lampard (as ever), Terry, Johnson. But my real bugbear was Capello's unwillingness to change it up at all. It's a World Cup after all, you can't put your best players out and the rub your hands as the magic happens. But, the stern Italian is staying and will hopefully realise a lot of the horses in this team need to go out to pasture.

Luckily for us though this World Cup's middle name has been capitulation. France were more farcical than even the most optimistic of alliterative writers. Italy played as much exciting football as the Sam Allardyce dream league and then there's the likes of Ivory Coast, Cameroon and South Africa all doing wonders for Pele's predictions of greatness for African football. But even with these let-downs it's been a great ride. Germany's demolitions of both England and Argentina were as ruthless as stereotypes would suggest and point to a horrid time for sluggish Spain in the semis. The rise of outsiders Uruguay have brought much joy to many disgruntled English fans like myself but it's Holland that are my favourite though. I've always had a soft spot for the neon orange of the Dutch. The return of Robben has sparked them into life and an unfathomable win over everyone's tip Brazil. Should they beat underdogs Uruguay in the semis we'll be left with a head says Germany and heart says Holland final of epic proportions. Who ever said football wasn't exciting?