http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty I'm 30 from Nottingham, UK. This is a blog that does politics with a libertarian bias, film reviews, sports event reports, television reviews and a bit fo anything else I feel like. en Kevina76 Kevina76 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:00:25 +0100 daily 1 Prime Minister's Question Time - 19th March 2008 Venue - Palace of Westminster at 12.00 pm The Final PMQ's before easter, and with the budget having gone down like, well, it just went down really, and Cameron now having amassed huge leads in the polls, Cameron would surely have a field day against the poor beleagued Prime Minister right? er, well, to a degree, but it took a while to get going. After the usual first question from a  Labour backbencher asking if the Prime Minister agrees hes the best thing since sliced bread, well not quite but it must have been dull, as I don't remember what she asked, Cameron stood up and asked about the violence in Tibet. No points to be scored on this one obviously, this became very clear when Brown announced he was going to meet the Dali Lama and Cameron, get this, congratulated him on doing the right thing. To much hilarity Brown responded that the Governemnt always make the right decisions, like decisions in the Budget that now... Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:00:25 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Prime-Minister-Question-Brown-signed-the-cheques/51/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Prime-Minister-Question-Brown-signed-the-cheques/51/  A Little later than planned, sorry, here are the winners   Best Supporting Actor Phillip Seymour-Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War) Ryan Gosling (Fracture) Chris Cooper (The Kingdom) Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) Jake Gyllenhall (Rendition) And the winner is ... Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) - A tight one between him and Seymour-Hoffman, but Wilkinson's powerful portrayal of a man who on one hand was losing the plot and on the other was fighting for something worthwhile edged it. Best Supporting Actress Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum) Amy Adams (Charlie Wilson's War) Alison Janney (Juno) Jessica Garner (Juno) Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) And the winner is ... Amy Adams (Charlie Wilson's War) - To play a quietly powerful foil to the confident character of someone like Tom Hanks with such charisma is a tough thing to do, Adams did, this gave it an extra dimension... Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:49:30 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Moon-of-Liberty-Film-award-2007-2008-Winners/50/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Moon-of-Liberty-Film-award-2007-2008-Winners/50/ OK, here we go with this years nominees for my own film awards of 2007/08 Best Supporting Actor Phillip Seymour-Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War) Ryan Gosling (Fracture) Chris Cooper (The Kingdom) Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) Jake Gyllenhall (Rendition) Moon of Liberty award notes -  Gyllenhall is nominated for the 2nd time in this category, he was for 'Brokeback Mountain' two years ago. Wilkinson was nominated for Best Actor 2 years ago for 'The Exocism of Emily Rose.' Neither won though, and the rest are first time nominees, so a first time winner is guaranteed. Best Supporting Actress Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum) Amy Adams (Charlie Wilson's War) Alison Janney (Juno) Jessica Garner (Juno) Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) Moon of Liberty award notes - Alison Janney is part of a strong showing of the TV's 'The West Wing' in this years awards,... Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:23:00 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Moon-Of-Liberty-Film-Award-nominees-2007-2008/49/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Moon-Of-Liberty-Film-Award-nominees-2007-2008/49/ The TV section of this blog is very thin, mainly becuase I don't watch much, over the next few weeks though I want to look to change that. It's very easy to sit here and say TV was better in my day, but was it? or is this just an illusion? I am fortunate to have a few days off over the next couple of weeks, so I want to look at modern TV in every aspect. How does it compare? I want to look at the chedules and how they have changed, or not. What does the age of multi-channels really bring to television, as against the days where four channels were all that was available. Does the internet change the way TV, particularly news and current affairs programmes operate? What about day time TV, is there really a 'Jeremy Kyle' generation, if so what does it mean? What about childrens TV? Is it really in decline as many state, or is that just a rose tinted view of the world? What about the Friday night and Saturday night schedules? Do they match up to the fare we got many years ago,... Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:50:44 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-British-TV-project/48/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-British-TV-project/48/ The Oscars Aftermath Last week I gave some predicitions on the OSCAR's, see below, Just to gloat a little, of the seven predicitions I gave, six of them were correct. In the case of Best Film, sadly, as I would have loved to have been wrong. The Love it or hate it Cohen Brothers film 'No Country for Old Men' took out the best film category, with the Cohen Brothers winning best Director, and Barnden for the supporting actor. The European theme was continued in the other acting categories to. Marion Coutillard did, as I also predicted, win best actress for 'Le Vie On Rose.' The one I got wrong created some British cheer, Tilda Swinton won the best Supporting Actress for 'Michael Clayton.' A fine performance it was too. Daniel Day Lewis took home best Actor in the most predictable category of the night. The more technical categories were shared around, 'The Bourne Ultimatum' got three awards including sound editing and sound mixing.... Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:31:00 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/THE-OSCARS-The-Aftermath/47/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/THE-OSCARS-The-Aftermath/47/ Are The Sun Opening a dangerous box? It's one the the most emotive questions of all, how would you react if someone you loved or cared for was murdered? The reality is of course, you don't know, and hopefully you never will as that would mean it has happened to you. I would guess the reaction would be absed on emotion rather than logic, and human beings should surely be no other way, but it is no way to run a justice system. Murderers it would seem, are not hard to find in the news these days. From the recent conviction of Steve Wright for the Soham murders, to todays conviction of Levi Bellfield . The question of how to repsond to murder, personally and in terms of law is right at the front of the agenda. The mother of Sally Ann Bowman was clear in her response, she wanted the murderer dead . It's impossible not to sympathise with her position, but is a life for a life really the way forward? The Sun used this call to 'open the debate' on the reintroduction... Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:59:13 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Are-The-Sun-opening-a-dangerous-box/46/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Are-The-Sun-opening-a-dangerous-box/46/ There Will Be Blood Starring - Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin O'Conner, Dillon Freasier, Mary Elizabeth Barrett, Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Oil, Capitalism and religion, big subjects come together in a rare Daniel Day-Lewis film as he takes on the lead role of Daniel Plainview, an oil man who will stop at nothing to own the land and be the biggest tycoon of them all. When he is tipped off by a young man named Paul as to where a large new oil reserve is, he finds himself trying to convince the local community welded together by a local church headed by Paul's brother Ely (Paul Dano) who seems very sceptical of the motives of Plainview, who treats with contempt and then ditches his deaf son, has utter contempt for the local church, and gradually becomes more and more ruthless. The movie has some of the  most annoying sound effects, at key points a sound that feels like a swarm of noisy wasps at times ensures we lose the tension of the moment as you... Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:54:09 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/There-Will-Be-Blood/45/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/There-Will-Be-Blood/45/ The 80th Academy Award's go ahead in one week's time, writers strike averted and all. It promises however to be a night of very few surpises in the main categories, as most seem locked. Personally I would love to see an upset in the Best Film category as I don't believe 'No Country For Old Men' deserves to win. However, it almost certainly will, 'It Will Be Blood appears to be it's only challenger, a film not on general release inthe UK until next week, thus I cannot really comment on it's merits (review will be here as soon as possible). The outsider is the well put together 'Juno' but the race appears to be between the first two. The problem is those not keen on 'No Country' will split between the other two, meaning while No Country is clearly a love it or hate it film, those who love it should have enough votes to carry the day. It's dual directors, the Cohen brothers, will also win best director, they have no serious challenger. In... Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:10:12 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-OSCAR-s-2008/44/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-OSCAR-s-2008/44/ And finally for tonight's reviews, a mix of the serious and comedic Juno Starring - Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney, JK Simmons Directed by Jason Reitman Juno (Ellen Page) is a smart young girl with a reasoanbly streetwise attitude. When she decides to sleep with Bleeker (Michael Cera) she falls into every young girl's nightmare trap of pregnancy. Thankfully she gets more backing than she expects from her dad (JK Simmons) and stepmum (Allison Janney) when she rejects abortion and decides to have the baby and look for adoptive parents. In the local paper they find Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark. (Jason Bateman) They appear probably a little posh for Juno's taste but they seem to be willing to give the baby a good home in any case so despite her personal msigivings she is happy have have them as the parents. Through the period she strikes up a friendship with Mark, who is into similar music, plays a guitar,... Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:41:17 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Juno/43/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Juno/43/ Here is number three. The (imo only) completely overated favourite for Best Film at the OSCARS. No Country For Old Men Starring - Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Barden, Josh Brolin, Kelly McDonald, Woody Harrelson Directed by Joel Cohen & Ethen Cohen When Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) picks up a suitcase full of money, little does he know he will be hunted down for it by a range of individuals, particularly the twisted killer Anton Chigurh. (Javier Barnden) Also on the case is small town cop Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) who seems to be of the view everything was better and less violent in the 'good old days.' Chigurh is a mysterious killer who on occasion gives his potential victim a coin flip chance to stay alive, as we observe through one service station scene he does not kill the person if they win the coin flip. He tries to chase down Moss as Bell tries to chase him down. At one stage we also get the intervention of Carson Wells (Harrelson) who tries to... Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:55:00 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/No-Country-For-Old-Men/42/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/No-Country-For-Old-Men/42/ Second up, the one man crusade against the Red Army. Charlie Wilson's War Starring - Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, Amy Adams, Shiri Appleby Directed by Mike Nichols Said to be based on true events, Charley Wilson (Tom Hanks) holds the easiest congressional district in the US house of representatives. His Texas base is made up of small towns who don't want very much, just governemnt to leave them alone. This gives him plenty of time to indulge in things most politicians would get slaughtered for. Aided by his more intelligent than he thinks advised, Bonnie Bach (Amy Adams) and an office of very attractive if not hugely intelligent young ladies, Wilson's main interest is international issues. He likes to keep on top of what is going on, especially as the Soviet Army are about to begin an assault on Afghanistan. He finds the effort to help the Afghans amounts to a miniscule $5 million dollars. He also finds that Joanne... Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:32:21 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Charlie-Wilson-s-War/41/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Charlie-Wilson-s-War/41/ It's OSCAR night this time next week, so here come 5 back to back posts, four film reviews, and an OSCAR preview. Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Starring - Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron-Cohen Directed by Tim Burton As Benjamin Barker (Sweeny Todd) returns to London from a spell in prison, sentenced unjustly by Judge Turpin. (Alan Rickman) He takes on the new persona of Sweeney Todd. He then meets pie shop owner Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham-Carter), after taking on one of her 'Worst pies in London,' He tells how he vows revenge on the judge who falsely imprisoned him, purely becuase he fell in love with the lady the judge wanted for himself. The sub-plot is Tobias, who was on the boat with Todd on the way back to London, who falls for what seems to be the judges daughter through a window, as she is not allowed out due to the judge keeping her under watch. It is then revealed Barker his... Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:09:00 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Sweeney-Todd-The-Demon-Barber-of-Fleet-Street/40/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Sweeney-Todd-The-Demon-Barber-of-Fleet-Street/40/ Sunday 11th February - Kick off 4.00 pm FA Carling Premiereship - Venue, Stamford Bridge Chelsea Vs Liverpool - Seen on Sky Sports, Commentators Rob Hawthrone and Andy Gray Watching this game you would hardly have known it was one both teams could have done with the win. Earlier in the day Manchester City had beaten Manchester United. This gave Chelsea the chance to gain 3 points on United to keep them in the title race, and from Liverpool's perspective meant a rival for the fourth European Cup spot had got their three points, and with other contenders, Everton and Aston Villa, both winning on Saturday, Liverpool needed the win to not lose ground. Liverpool started the better in a cagey opening. Their passing was bright early on and they had the better of the early possession. The first chance fell to Peter Crouch after a good move by Liverpool allowed Ryan Babel to feed in Crouch who put the ball wide when he really should have at least hit the target. ... Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:17:00 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Chelsea-Vs-Liverpool/39/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Chelsea-Vs-Liverpool/39/ Firstly sorry to anyone who reads this for being lazy and not updating for a while. We are at OSCAR and BAFTA time, so not to be outdone, over the next few weeks I will be doing my own film awards, the winners will almost certainly bare no resemblence to the real awards, but I don't really care. There will be awards for lead actor and actress, supporting actor and actress, best director, best film and best entertainment films for films of a more light-hearted nature, animimations, comedies, rom-coms, loose children's book adaptations ect. Films in the entertainment category can be in the main categories if I consider them good enough. This will be the third year I have put my own awards together. So just for the records, the current role of honour before I started this blog for the previous two years reads as follows. Best Film  2005-06 - The Constant Gardener 2006-07 - The Prestige Best Entertainment Film 2005-06 - The Chronicals of... Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:47:32 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-Moon-Of-Liberty-Film-Awards/38/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-Moon-Of-Liberty-Film-Awards/38/ 2007 has gone, and could prove to be a hugely significant year. A significant year in politics, a significant year in English football (if football is what you call it.) A significant year in the way Britain is run, a depressingly significant year in the world of entertainment. But it's in the political arena where 2007 has seen most movement. I will start this year review with the world of UK politics. UK Politics The year started with Tony Blair (remember him) as Prime Minister. David Cameron for the Conservatives was on the rise, the Liberal Democrats where nowhere and the scene was abuzz as we knew we would have a new PM by the end of the year. The favourite, Gordon Brown, was visibly trying to crush any opposition to him in the forthcoming leadership contests, polls suggesting he would do worse than Tony Blair however, meant many were looking for an alternative, possibly including Tony Blair himself, as all reports had his relatiosnhip with Gordon Brown hitting an all time low.... Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:49:13 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Review-of-the-year/37/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Review-of-the-year/37/ Hitman (2007) Starring - Timothy Olyphant, Oleg Kurylenko, Dougray Scott, Michael Offei Directed by - Xavier Gens I was looking forward to this film as the last computor game to film adaptation I saw, Silent Hill, was a film a really enjoyed. Timothy Olyphant plays a hitman known just as 'Hitman 47' as he came from a background of trained killers, given numbers but not names. He kidnaps, then forms a twisted relationship with Nika (Oleg Kurylenko.) Sadly, like the film as a whole, this relationship does not spark at all. The other part fo the story is two British detectives from Interpol investigating the attemtped assassination of the Russian President. With Hitman 47 involved, these stories intertwine to create a series of action series. Michael Offai playing Jenkins, the sidekick to Mike Whitter (Dougray Scott) was one bright spark in an otherwise dull movie, full of acting performances that at no point stirred the emotion, or any reason to care about the... Sun, 09 Dec 2007 01:37:29 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Hitman/36/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Hitman/36/ The Golden Compass (2007) Starring - Dakota Blue Richard, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Daniel Craig, Ben Walker Directed by - Chris Weitz It's almost Christmas so it must be time for a good fantasy entertainment film. The Golden Compass does the job almost perfectly. The film combining the introduction of a new child starlet in Dakota blue Richard playing Lyra, As well as the in-demand Casino Royale duo of Daniel Craig and Eva Green, with Nicole Kidman thrown in, create a fine cast to take us on a wonderful ride. Even Ian McKellam and Lovejoy himslef, Ian McShane, join in the fun as the voices behind two talking polar bears, or Ice bears as we should call them in this film. The story is based in a universe paralell to Earth. Where as on Eartht he human soul lives in the body, in this world the soul lives alongside you in the form of an animal. Young Lyra is a rebellious young thing with an ever changing soul to match, children's souls can change as they have not... Sun, 09 Dec 2007 01:03:59 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-Golden-Compass/35/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/The-Golden-Compass/35/ Saturday 9th December - Kick off 5.15 pm  FA Carling Premiership - Venue - Madejski Stadium, Reading Reading Vs Liverpool - Seen on Satanta Sports, Liverpool, on a role with five straight wins came to Reading ahead of big games with marseille and Machester United ahead in the next seven days. Manager Rafael Benitez tinkered with the team, maybe with those games in mind, he brough Sissoko for Lucas in midfield, brough in Vornonin to play on the right side meaning Crouch had to play on the left in a 4-5-1 formation, changes he would today regret. Reading came into the game having lost every single game they had ever played against Liverpool, but soon started the better of the two sides, playing a high pressure game that ensure Liverpool could not get into any sort of rythmn. A stalemate was broken on 15 minutes due to an incorrect refereeing decision. Gunnarson was brought down by Jamir Carragher just out side the box, after consulting the assistant, the ref... Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:34:00 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Reading-Vs-Liverpool/34/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Reading-Vs-Liverpool/34/ Rendition (2007) Starring - Risse Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhall, Omar Metwally, Alan Arkin, Merryll Streep Directed by - Gavin Hood If you want a spine-chilling critique of US Governemnt policy, forget Michael Moore's over the top Liberal rants, forget the wars on Iraq or Afghanistan, watch this film instead. It in clear terms demonstrates the errors of Rendition, apolciy where suspected terrorists are shipped out of the country and sent somehere where the normal laws of justice are rendered irrelevant. This film runs two plots concurrently. on one hand there is Anwar, an Egyptian who had lived in the US for over 20 years, suspected of having terrorist links, he is arrested but knowing the evidence against him is flimsy, in order to detain him he is sent to a brutal prison abroad. His treatment is 'observed' by Douglas (Jake Gyllenhall), a man who has taken over the role after his colleague was killed by a suicide bombing that takes place at the start of... Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:15:18 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Rendition/33/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/Rendition/33/ England Vs South Africa Venue - Stade De France, Paris Saturday 20th October, Kick Off 8.00pm The most unlikely of World Cup Finals produced a fairly dull game in terms of a spectical, but with the World Championship at stake, only the result mattered. England, the defending champions and back from the dead after the humilaiting 36-0 defeat by the same South African opponents only four weeks ago, were one more shock away from retaining the title. The South African began favouirtes and were looking for their title back after the 1995 triumph on home soil. The momentum was with England, after surprise wins over Austrlia and the hosts France, but they began tentatively making a few mistakes. England's lineout began to creak as South Africa took the first two lineout, Pat Matfield won the first, for it it was the start of an awesome night that made Englands prospects harder the longer the game went Kicking was a major feature of the game, as it has been so often... Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:02:23 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/2007-Rugby-World-Cup-Final/32/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/The_Moon_of_Liberty/2007-Rugby-World-Cup-Final/32/