For me, as a BIG Marvel fan (since the very first in 2008), I can’t quite recall why I didn’t see this at the cinema when it was released back in July of this year. Maybe it was simply that the highly infectious ailment called ‘super-hero fatigue’ had finally caught up with me too, after previously infecting most fans of this genre! Simply put: there were just too many Marvel Films being released, and it was difficult to keep up. Oh, and the quality suffered too!

In this fan’s eyes, some of the past batch of Marvel so-called ‘blockbusters’ just weren’t busting ANY blocks at all!

Yes, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels and finally, the woeful Thor: Love and Thunder, I’m looking at you lot! . Having said that, the more recent: Thunderbolts, Deadpool & Wolverine and finally Captain America, Brand New World have all been marked improvements

So, this is THE Marvel movie that is supposed to put Marvel Productions back on track, and judging by most of the reviews at the time, it seems that everyone was satisfied after just a few weeks in the cinema – including the professional critics! . Since then, ordinary punters seem to agree, as it has taken over $519m at the Box Office to date – which is perfectly respectable!

Tonight, therefore, was going to be the perfect combo of a great film (hopefully!) and a yummy meal (definitely!) as we invited Jo and Janet around for another of our Movie Nights/TV Dinners with Friends. Well, even if the movie turns out to be a disaster, we know the food and company is going to tick all the boxes!

Previous TV Dinners/Movie Nights
Paddington in Peru – March 2025
Avatar, The Way of Water – February 2025
Grease – January 2025
The Imitation Game – August 2024
Mexican Possible 3 – March 2024
Top Gun: Maverick (again!) – August 2023
Spider-man – Into the Spiderverse – June 2023
The Banshees of Inisherin – March 2023
Top Gun: Maverick – February 2023
The King’s Man – October 2022
Dune (the original) – November 2021
Black Panther – June 2018

With Ann in the kitchen, you can’t go wrong! On tonight’s menu…

• Ox Cheek Casserole (a low and slow 4 hours of cooking)
• Mashed Potato
• Roasted Squash
• Cabbage, followed by
• Apple & Raspberry Crumble
• REAL Custard

With the food doing its usual magic, it was time to settle down for the Film…

7.50pm: We’re going in! See you in 114 minutes!

Synopsis

On an parallel-Earth in 1964, the world celebrates the fourth anniversary of astronauts Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm becoming the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four after they gained superhuman abilities from exposure to cosmic rays during a previous space mission. The team struggle against the world-devouring Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer. After the Surfer reveals Earth’s doom, the Fantastic Four attempt to negotiate, but are forced into a difficult choice.

Any good?

Well, that was all very watchable and good to have a variation on the usual ‘good vs evil’ trope. The SFX, as you might imagine, were top notch and in spite of the almost two-hour runtime, it didn’t feel that long. Given that Fantastic Four has seen a number of on-screen interpretations over the years (1994, 2005, 2007 and 2015) this, for me, was by far the best, not just because of the generous budget ($200-250m) but for the non-standard storyline and great cinematography. If you’re not a fan of the genre, this one won’t change your mind, but it was a good bit of escapist fun – AND, more crucially, more like Marvel Productions used to be. It seems that the deliberate reduction in the number of films Marvel is turning out has had a knock-on effect regarding quality – great news!

Don’t forget to stick with the credits, as halfway through, there’s a sneak-peek of a character (possibly) from a future Marvel movie – Avengers: Doomsday – scheduled for Christmas NEXT year

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

We got together with John & Trish round at ours for our first Movie Night of 2025.

Our Film of choice was the iconic Grease, from 1978. Ann laid on some food too!

We even squeezed in a Cheeseboard!!

It was great to see Grease again. I think we knew all the tunes and all the lyrics too! . By 10pm, the film had ended and we chatted about ‘this and that’ Meanwhile, outside, it had snowed!

Just after 10.30, we said our goodbyes and agreed to do this again before too long! Gosh! It looked cold out there!

A bit of essential ‘deck clearing’ before we called it a night just after 11!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Movie Night: Grease appeared first on Steve's Blog.

It’s fair to say we love a good pie and a pud! We also like a great movie and an evening with friends. So, why not combine all three!?

Tonight, inspired by our recent visit with John & Trish to Bletchley Park and then our first visit to PieFest a few weeks ago – tonight, it all came together with the perfect combo of pie, people and moving pictures. John & Trish popped around to watch the 2014 film ‘The Imitation Game‘ whilst Ann recreated the famous Lord Woolton Pie and Bread and Apple Pudding from the war years. We last saw the film at the cinema when it first came out in 2014 and gave it five stars – let’s hope the food is as popular!

If you’ve not heard of the pie before, I’m not surprised, as I can’t think it features much on peoples ‘to eat’ list these days! . There seems to be quite a few variations about – some have mash on the top, some have a white sauce inside – so it was difficult to be sure ours was ‘authentic’. We kept ours simple, featuring a combination of cauliflower, swede and carrots thickened with oatmeal (weird!) – and with the pastry made, in part, from mashed potato (yes, really!), it sounded like an acquired taste, for sure! .

With home-grown green-beans helped along with some extra mashed potato and gravy, we were all set to travel back to the 40s!. And with possibly one of our last opportunities to eat outside (the sun had been shining most of the day) and period music courtesy of Amazon, all we needed was sirens and a speech by Churchill to complete the illusion!

And what of the pie itself? I think honestly, to everyone’s surprise, it was absolutely delicious! Really! We knew it would be ‘OK’ (you can’t go wrong with Ann in the Galley!) but it really did exceed all our expectations! . Well done Mrs P!

After the main course, it was for the film – and it was as good as we remember it first time around.

Completing the 1940’s theme, Ann served up ‘Bread & Apple Pudding’ – another wartime favourite – and again, it was delicious.

By the time we hit the Cheese, we headed back to 2024 judging by the amount on offer! Typically, back in the 40s, it was 1 ounce per person per week. Looking at the size of the cheeseboard (and all of us being confirmed ‘cheese monsters’) meant we had enough cheese for about 5 years!

It had been a great evening and the wartime theme worked well. I dropped John & Trish back at theirs just after 10pm. That left Ann to deal with more 21st century matters including emptying the dishwasher! A great division of labour!

Pie recipe HERE

Pud recipe HERE

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Movie Night: The Imitation Game appeared first on Steve's Blog.

We invited John & Trish around tonight for a Mexican meal and a movie night!

On the menu?

• Chilli Con Carne
• Mexican Chicken
• Stuffed Peppers

Unsurprisingly, it all went down a treat!

The choice of tonight’s Film was easy! Trish, even though she likes Tom Cruise, hadn’t seen Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part 1) – sorted! It was probably our favourite film of 2023, having seen it when it first came out in July last year and then again over Christmas, courtesy of a gift from Sky – so this was our THIRD viewing, and it never fails to disappoint!

We can’t wait for ‘Part 2’ that’s out sometime next year! .

And if all that Mexican food wasn’t enough, Ann laid on a Cheeseboard to keep us company during the film! . I think I better not weigh myself tomorrow!!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Mexican: Possible 3! appeared first on Steve's Blog.

Well, I think that’s a record (even for us, as big Tom Cruise fans!).

We first saw Top Gun – Maverick with Jo & Janet just after it first came out (June 2022).

Next, it was at one of our TV Dinners with David & Valerie (February 2023) and more recently, at Boughton House (May 2023) with Jo, Janet & Carol – where we also ran into Rosi and David.

So, tonight made it our fourth viewing, this time with good friends Trish & John – their first watch – all helped along with one of Ann’s superb TV Dinners!

We’re pleased to report that the combination of Tom Cruise, Lasagne & Salad, followed by Cheese and Biscuits plus a cheeky Rhubarb Crumble all went down a treat! . There was also some Prosecco, a bottle of Rosé and a Shiraz in there somewhere too! . It seemed strange doing all this in the MIDDLE of a week (rather than the usual Friday or Saturday), but we soon got used to it! .

It turned into a relatively late one for us – for all the right reasons – and I eventually dropped J&T back at theirs just before 11pm. We all agreed that we’d do something similar again where the challenge will be to find a movie that we all like. My suggestion is Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part 1) that we saw at the cinema back in July.

Nighty-night!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Top Gun: Maverick (again!) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

It was another of our ‘Dinner-on-a-tray-with-a-movie-night! We invited Jo round (Janet’s away in Kos) to watch Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse on DVD.

Released in 2018, and with a respectable runtime of just under two hours (1h 56m), it was worth a rewatch as it’s the indirect prequel to: Spider-man – ACROSS the Spider-verse that’s just out across cinemas in the UK (I’m planning to see it with Jo next Tuesday).

Official Poster

What’s the Story?

Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realises that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.

Cast & Creatives

Directed by – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Story by – Phil Lord

Screenplay by – Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman

Music by – Daniel Pemberton

Editing by – Robert Fisher Jr.

Casting by – Mary Hidalgo

Special Effects – Colin Nicholson

Full list HERE

Any good?

Ann served up Chicken Casserole – so that was an immediate five-star affair, but what about the DVD??

Well, the first thing to remind any potential viewers is that it’s computer animation – not your usual film. If that’s not your thing, then stop reading now! However, if you didn’t see it when it first came out (somehow, I missed it in 2018) AND you’re not averse to a grown-up ‘cartoon for kids and adults alike’, then stick around! Not sure why it got a PG rating though????

First of all, let me say that it’s a complex story – ‘the Multiverse’ – but delivered in a very accessible way. In my view, this one is much more easily grasped, compared with say, the ultra-complex (and rather messy) Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022).

Clever and witty dialogue, a decent soundtrack and the clever use of screen space make this worth a watch for just those reasons alone. In short, it’s a treat in every sense! But above all, it’s the animation that stands out and is probably like nothing like you’ve seen before! At times, it looked almost ‘real’ in spite of the characters deliberately designed to look cartoonish. In fact, I’d say it’s this realism alone (rather than the storyline – as intriguing as it is) that will stick with you after the credits.

Although the now-famous Marvel Studios were part of this production, it was Sony who, at the time, had the rights to the Spider-man catalogue and therefore bagged the lead credits at the start. Maybe because of that, there are no Marvel-esque mid-credit (or post-credit) scenes to stick around for.

Wow! A great watch, where even Ann (who’s not moved much by all this super-hero nonsense) remarked on the quality of the animation! Praise indeed!!!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse appeared first on Steve's Blog.

It’s Movie Night at the Palmer’s!

But really, it was just a good excuse to catch up with great friends and neighbours – Jo & Janet.

We originally saw The King’s Man with Ralph & Karen on Boxing Day last year when it first came out at the cinema – and it didn’t disappoint. Our second rewatch tonight left us with the same view! Brilliant!

And no Movie-Night or get-together works quite as well unless surrounded by something good to eat – and tonight was no exception. So, how about homemade Cottage Pie helped along with a generous glug of Vintage Port added to the cooking process to raise the flavour to another level?

Dessert too! Luckily, we just had room for Ann’s Profiteroles! Well, it would have been rude not to!

A great evening, but by 9.35pm, we were all flagging (could it be just fatigue or maybe the copious amounts of alcohol consumed?). It was great to catch-up and we all felt that ‘Movie-Night-and-a-meal could become a semi-regular event. Suits me!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Movie Night: The King’s Man – Revisited appeared first on Steve's Blog.

It’s Monday Movie Night here!

Having seen the new production of ‘Dune’ at the cinema recently, we all agreed it would be good to go back and watch the original that hit the cinemas back in December 1984.

I recall seeing it (somewhere!) when it was first out, and by the end, came out feeling mighty disappointed. I was also miffed having endured the what-seemed-endless-at-the-time, its 2 hour 17 minute duration!

On the positive side, it did attract a then star cast of Kyle MacLachlan, Patrick Stewart, Brad Dourif, Dean Stockwell, Virginia Madsen, José Ferrer, Sting, Linda Hunt and Max von Sydow, amongst others.

Sadly, in spite of what, on paper, should have been a surefire hit, it turned out to be a box-office disaster (commercially speaking) grossing just $30.9 million from a $40 million budget! On release, David Lynch, the Director, disowned the film, and even today, in 2021, the debate continues as to whether it was truly a disaster – or just ‘misunderstood’.

It’s 6.30pm and with Jo & Janet for company, given the movie’s run-time, we were all going to need some sustenance. Ann whizzed-up her Cottage Pie with a Kick (the ‘kick’ being a generous slug of port for the meat to bathe in whilst cooking). Meanwhile, Janet provided a Lemon & Pimm’s Pudding (with Ann’s homemade Fruit Trifle on standby, just in case we were still hungry!)

We were!

Back to the film… Streaming in glorious 4K with 5.1 audio (courtesy of Amazon Prime Video) we grabbed our cutlery and our trays – and hit the play button…

Obviously, movie special effects have come a long way in almost 40 years, but putting that to one side, would the original be really as bad as I remember it – or would 37 years of subsequent cinema-going have shifted my view?

First impression? Certainly, the 4K remaster looked very crisp indeed and the sound was very crystal clear.

All-in-all, for a movie that’s nearly 40 years old, I thought it held up pretty well! But, as expected, the special effects were quite basic (by 21st century standards!). However, in the absence of any CGI, the scale models were VERY convincing – all credit to the model builders!

Some on-screen effects, caused a titter this end, such as the initial fight scene between characters Paul Adreides and Gurney Halleck (Sir Patrick Stewart with hair!) with their ‘shields on’, were a bit ‘8-bit’!

In the first hour, scene-by-scene, there was a strong similarity between the recent 2021 production and this one. Continuing the theme of credible special effects, particularly impressive was the first worm attack on the spice-harvester ship.

Those of a nervous disposition will still find this version equally tense with some of the earlier scenes best watched when you’re NOT eating!

We were! Yuk!

By the second hour, the story started to deviate from the 2021 version – we were now seeing content that wasn’t present in the 2021 production. This included another significant worm scene and the continuation of some very credible special effects during the action sequences. I suspect these scenes will become ‘Part 2’ of the 2021 Dune, hopefully, released in the next few years.

Fans of Sting will be pleased to hear there’s a short scene where he gets to show-off his highly buffed body, with just a skimpy pair of underpants to spare his (and our) blushes! No idea where he put his guitar, but he was clearly pleased to see us!

Talking of worms, if you thought the 2021 version was a bit ‘worm-lite’, then you’ll be very satisfied with this earlier production – scary beasts!

By the time the credits rolled, we all felt the movie had been a good one! It’s quite ‘talky’ in places (especially in the first hour) where the narrative was, at times, quite complex. Into the second hour, and it began to feel more action-based leading to a very satisfying (if somewhat corny) ending. At the time of release it was felt that it was the sort of film that was ‘unfilmable’, but I think they pulled it off!

So, was it as bad I remember it?

Actually, no, not a bit of it! I don’t think it could be described as a typical sci-fi action movie (well, maybe apart from the final act)… perhaps more a ‘thinking man’s Star Wars’ – but that’s a compliment!

IMHO, this earlier production has stood the test of time really well! Perhaps back when it was first released, I was too eager to compare it to its predecessors such as Star Wars!

Go watch!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Film: Dune (1984) appeared first on Steve's Blog.

If you like your super-hero movies – and also cats – this then was the perfect combo! Tonight was movie-night at ours with the recent release of Black Panther (on 4K UHD* of course!)

Joining us: Jo and Janet with a few nibbles and some drinkies too!! – another perfect combo! Janet brought up a rather new Gin – Seville Orange!

It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway!), the FOOD and DRINK was top-notch, but what about the Film?

For me, the origin-story movies of the plethora of these Marvel’s super-hero outings, always seem to enjoy a better narrative – less full-on battles/violence/SFX – instead, more emphasis on a straightforward back-story. So, if you’re new to all of this peeps-in-tights stuff, before Black Panther, maybe try whetting your appetite on Captain America – The First Avenger and/or the more recent Wonder Woman – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Back to tonight’s presentation then, this was the origin story for Black Panther, Marvel’s first black super-hero, and here’s a short summary of the plot.

After the death of his father, T’Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as King. When a known enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa  – as King and as Black Panther – gets tested to the full, and where the future of the whole Wakanda nation is threatened…

A good old-fashioned ‘good-v-evil’ yarn then! – and it turned out to be a really good story! Great acting, stunning cinematography, a well-crafted soundtrack that made the best use of our multi-speaker set-up and finally, just the right amount of SFX to make it all believable. The deliberate NOT-by-the-numbers plot development kept us guessing, and as normal for Marvel’s movies, it was worth fast-forwarding to just after the credits to snatch a sneak-peak of what looks to be good signs for a Black Panther II

*Super techy explanation HERE, with a more understandable version here and finally, the wiki entry HERE. And don’t even get me started on how HDR fits into all of this!

Steve Palmer

I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!

I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!

StevePalmerTheBlogger.com

The post Film Night: Black Panther appeared first on Steve's Blog.