Simon Drew

Guess what? I’ve met Simon Drew, famous artist and comic genius stationed in Dartmouth, while I was on holiday there. I took one look into his shop window and was instantly hooked, and amazed at his artistic and humorous masterpieces! I felt compelled to venture into the shop immediately and as I walked in noticed a rather eccentric looking man with a very peculiar dress sense and alternative spectacles. Lets say he was the kind of person who would definitely stand out in a crowd. Anyway, five minutes later he asked if he could help me and my parents.

You see, I was looking for a rather inventive and equally as thoughtfully brilliant greeting card containing smart wordplay (as most of his work incorporates) in the form of “Jimi Hen Drinks”, which refers to both the famous guitarist and a drinking hen at a local pub.

It turned out that the product had been discontinued because of the bizarre reason that it had become too popular! I can certainly understand why. Luckily, he still had a crate full of the item, and produced one for me to buy. Not only had he gone to the trouble of fetching the card, but he was also immensely generous in giving me his latest book filled with fifty pages of pure genius absolutely free!

He also owns another shop further down Foss Street run by his wife, where you can purchase mugs, tea towels, tee-shirts etc. with his prints on them.

If you are interested in his works, here is the address of his website:

www.simondrew.co.uk

Terminator Salvation Film Review

Terminator Salvation Film Review

When I went to see this film, at first I did not know what to expect. Although Arnold Schwarzenegger has been replaced by another actor, I knew that Christian Bale is usually reliable in his choice of films, so I decided to go along with it…

For starters, if you aren’t keen on special effects, almost non- stop violence and a quite basic plot, turn away now. This is most definitely not the film for you. Although I did enjoy the action bits, they became rather tiresome, and I felt as if I longed for something of a bit more complex plot towards the end of the film.

That said, the acting is quite good. As usual, Christian Bale plays a solemn, dead serious character, and the terminator quite similar. I wouldn’t say that, although the film is set in a dark, depressing environment, it is a particularly depressing film. The action is fast paced and in actual fact, keeps the film alive even if it is sometimes too often.

Overall, a sturdy film with good acting and loads of action, but a bit of a failure when it comes to a complex plot. Only really for a certain type of audience: male!

7.5/10

Imperial War Museum North Review

Imperial War Museum North Review

When some people think of history museums, or most museums for that matter, they instantly think, “ boring ”. A long, tiring and uninteresting, perhaps even pathetic way to spend a day, which could, regrettably be so much better. But this is not the case for the Imperial War Museum North.

Firstly, you might be interested to know that the museum is a very strange building indeed. Set out to represent broken shards of the earth shattered by war and conflict, it is a rather lets say, unusual design, but none the less visually impressive and eye catching. The entrance is also rather strange, as it is not obvious where it is. The three shards are Air, Earth and Water, representing war in the air, on land and at sea. The architect Daniel Libeskind was the designer.

As you reach the air shard and walk into the entrance you will notice a lift at the bottom, which will take you up to the viewing point. I should warn you that, if you’re scared of heights it is probably best if you do not look upwards while you are in this shard, as the very top of the building is visible surrounded by metal poles all the way down, and this may put you off the viewing experience slightly.

I must admit that, I myself am quite afraid of heights, but nether the less, entered the lift. I was rather shocked to notice that, the lift shook rather noticeably on ascent but to my relief, it did not have glass windows or a glass floor! When it reached the viewing point, I was surprised yet again that we weren’t as high up as I expected. I walked now, quite relaxed towards the viewing platform and looked out. Everything was fine until I looked down...

Anyway, that’s enough about that. The other two shards were the water shard (an eating area) and the earth shard. The actual museum part was split up into two parts, both fantastic and equally as interesting. The smaller one was filled with prisoner of war (or POW) information, artefacts and activities. The artefacts were fascinating including a wooden horse (remember The Great Escape?) and a reconstructed plane made out of prisoners’ sheets .

The larger section contained plenty of helpful facts and information, whilst keeping younger people entertained with hands on activities. Regular videos ingeniously projected onto almost all of the white painted walls were an extra treat and helped to simplify the information for those who don’t have time to or don’t want to read all the text. Various model exhibits such as a Harrier jump-jet and a Russian Tank are also featured in this section.

A guided tour was also brilliantly informative, explaining the meaning of the building’s structure. The gift shop was very well stocked and overall it was a very interesting and enjoyable trip, with added bonuses in the viewing point, guided tour, and projected films.

9/10.

Lowry Gallery Review

Lowry Gallery Review

When I entered the Lowry gallery, I expected there to be tons and tons of information, paintings and other interesting things to do concerning the artist. Instead, the gallery contained about a handful of what I had expected, and was quite a great deal smaller than what I imagined it to be…

Don’t get me wrong, the gallery was very interesting and informative about the artist. The dancing section didn’t do much for me either, but I can appreciate how it could seem interesting to certain people. There were seemingly fun and enjoyable activities to do with balance etc, and films, which showed you what dancers, needed to do to dance properly.

Speaking of films, there was a twenty-minute film on in a separate section to the gallery about Lowry himself. It was very interesting, with quotes from narrators and Lowry himself and studied various aspects of his work, eg that following his mother’s death, he became quite depressed and painted pictures to keep his mind off mourning for her.

I found some of his pictures quite disturbing, especially the “cripples” painting, which depicted characters with disabilities such as a man with a hook for a hand, and another man without legs wheeling around in some sort of bizarre trolley. I did like most of his paintings though, as the designs seemed simple, yet effective.

An upstairs section proved short, but relatively interesting with some different artistic ideas. Downstairs from that, there were wonderful viewing points of the canal with chairs to sit down on. I wasn’t very keen on the modern art in that section, though.

Overall enjoyable and interesting, but short (about an hour and a half to look round it all) and a bit disappointing in size.

Overall:

6.5/10

By Patrick Johnson 9S1

National Media Museum Review

National Media Museum Review

I must admit, this wasn’t the first time I had visited the National Media museum. About two years ago, I went on a school trip to the museum with the Turton media club. I could not remember much about the outing, only that it was an exciting and wholly worthwhile experience, which ventured into quite a few aspects of film, television and media. I also felt that the first time I went, I did not fully explore all the areas of the museum and only spent time on some of the higher upper floors instead of spending equal time on them all.

I must say that, for anyone, even people who may not be that interested in the media, this museum is a spectacular day out. It’s immense exhibits demonstrated on each floor are fascinating, my favourites being “the Kodak Gallery”, “Experience TV and TV Heaven” and the “Animation Gallery”.

Although a lot of the museum is hands-on experience, just as much is about looking and learning about things as well. For example, while most of the brilliant TV Heaven section encourages you to take part in various activities, eg. being the key reader in a news broadcast and super imposing yourself against a blue screen to create your image on different backgrounds, the equally compelling “Don McCullin: In England” gallery is more a visual experience which includes black and white photographs and an interesting video about both the photographs and Don McCullin himself.

Although I did not see the IMAX movie showing Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince this time, I did see a rather stunning Egyptian documentary on screen the first time I came and remember it quite clearly as an awesome experience.

I did, however attend a guided “insight” tour, around the three million items the museum holds behind closed doors, including the world’s most important photographic collection and the largest collection of TV technology and cinematography in the country. I saw different sized cameras and other objects from past years in various rooms such as the “Large Object” and the “Small Object” rooms. Some very early sixties televisions, and a few of the earliest games and game consoles/computers
plus an excellent tour guide curator, all helped to make the tour even better.

Café food was good, with a quite wide selection and buffet type of routine. There was also a picnic section for people who had brought their own lunches.

Overall, a brilliant and entirely worthwhile experience suitable for anyone no matter how interested in the subject:

9/10

Patrick Johnson 9S1

Salford Museum and Art Gallery Review

Salford Museum And Art Gallery Review

I went to visit this museum on the same day I visited The Lowry, and must say that Salford Museum and Art Gallery was far superior. While the two may be roughly similar in size, Salford Museum had its very own remade Victorian Street, some large valuable paintings and even a musical Quiffs, Riffs and Tiffs section! The Lowry had about a hundred pictures, a twenty minute video, a brief dancing section and an also rather short upstairs exhibition. I’m sure you can at least guess now why I preferred Salford Museum.

Firstly, lets talk about the paintings section of the museum. Once you have entered the museum and walked up the stairs past some small but rather interesting modern artworks, you will notice a room to your left. This is the first of two medium sized rooms covering two very different but fascinating topics- paintings and music. Once inside the room, you will no doubt notice about 25 brilliant and rather large paintings, some pottery and rather fine furniture. Don’t just think that this section is for adults though, as there are plenty of activities for children too, including replicas of olden day’s hats to try on and some activity sheets to keep them busy.

Moving on into the second room, the Quiffs, Riffs and Tiffs musical section, you will find that your surroundings have changed dramatically. The paintings have been replaced with a fascinating collection of memorabilia spanning the decades.The pottery replaced with album art covers and photographs, and the fine furniture with a rather large juke box and a piano. The exhibit starts with the 1950’s and ends with the 2000’s with lots of colourful album art, gold discs, a teddy boy outfit and a juke box also adds to the musical feeling with songs from bands spanning from the 50’s all the way to modern day.

Finally, downstairs the Lark Hill Place or Victorian Street is an enchanting attraction, with original shop fronts and some authentic noises to add to the effect. Children will love this part, as it contains plenty of Victorian style costumes they can try on. There’s a horse drawn carriage at the far end, the Blue Lion pub and a chemists shop window. The street has apparently been used for filming television programmes.

Overall: A genuinely worthwhile and interesting place which tries it’s hardest to keep the adults and children happy. A great morning out for the whole family especially the Quiffs Riffs and Tiffs if like me you’re interested in music.

8.5/10

By Patrick Johnson 10S1

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince Film Review

When I went to see this film at the cinema, I knew it would be worthwhile. So far, all the Harry Potter films have been brilliant, especially the earliest ones. Each film seems darker and more grown up than the last, with more disturbing moments, visual effects and wizard action. But is this a good thing? Lets find out…

Firstly, I would like to point out that the latest Harry Potter film features spectacular special effects and wand fights, but I can also regrettably say that they were in quite small supply. Although there isn’t exactly no action at all in the film, I expected, especially towards the end, a little bit more thrilling sorcery.

This aside, the acting was top notch as usual for a Harry Potter film, the plot was strong, but perhaps not as strong as some of the previous films, and the cinematography was stunning, with some scenes posing darker environments, and others shedding fabulous light on the screen.

A few matches of quidditch helped to boost up the film in my expectations, as these matches are always thrilling and exciting. Added love interest, but not as much as some people say there is, with Ron the centre of attention this time around. When Ron falls for another girl, Hermione becomes jealous and is at loggerheads with this girl every time she sees her.

WARNING: THIS NEXT SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS

The death of Dumbledore came of no surprise to me, as I clearly remember the event from the Half Blood Prince book. This scene was well done, with Dumbledore falling from a great height to the ground below. Shortly afterwards, the dark wizards and witches suddenly disappear for some reason, and the wizards and witches at Hogwarts raise their wands as a salute for their fallen headmaster. The death mark sign in the sky (I must say, it did look rather effective) is vanquished and Hogwarts is left at peace, for now…

END SECTION

Overall the film is great, well acted, with a compelling plot and brilliant cinematography, but perhaps I expected something more…

8/10