“Hard Brexit” woes as pound falls to 31-year low against the dollar
As the Conservative party conference appears to be ratcheting up the anti-EU sentiment within the party, a ‘hard Brexit’ seems more likely, even though, ironically, some of the conference centre was actually funded via EU cash. The anti European hyperbole and Theresa May’s fears of being attacked by the right of her party, led her to reveal that article 50 will be invoked by March 2017, this means the UK will be out of Europe by 2019. However, there may be...
GOLDCAR Rental so bad it has its own complaints website
GOLDCAR car rental reviews are so bad, one disgruntled punter started his own complaints website Spanish car rental company GOLDCAR is so dreadful that someone has created a GOLDCAR complaints website for people to share their awful experiences. One fed up customer created the site Goldcarcomplaints.com to vent his frustration at the terrible experience and lack of customer service after hiring a car with the company, and now the site attracts thousands of hits every year with people complaining about their own...
Review: The Girl on The Train
“I’m not the girl I used to be - I think people can see that on my face,” confesses Emily Blunt’s character, Rachel, in the opening scene of The Girl on The Train. Finally, Paula Hawkins’ bestselling thriller has transferred to our screens - and it doesn’t disappoint. Refreshingly, the plot stays faithful to the book - bar ditching London for New York as the location. Rachel is the alcoholic narrator who is obsessed with her ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux)...
Research Finds Bacteria in School Lunchboxes Could Trigger Asthma and Eczema
A new study has found bacteria in children's lunchboxes could trigger health problem such as asthma and eczema. Seven in ten fabric lunchboxes tested at a school in Bath contained mould which could trigger health problems, and one in five was found to contain Staphylococci which can cause serious food poisoning if ingested in food. In the tests, 73 per cent of fabric lunch boxes tested were found to contain mould counts of up to 950 colony forming units (CFU) per...
Tories Debate Brexit in Convention Centre Paid For by EU
The Conservative Party Conference in which Theresa May promised to "look beyond Europe" is being held in a conference hall paid for by the European Union. As pointed out in an amusing letter submitted to the Financial Times, Birmingham International Convention Centre received £49.7 million of its construction costs from the European Regional Development Fund. Indeed, the foundation stone was laid by European Commission president Jacques Delors. Prime Minister May has used the conference to unveil plans to trigger Article 50 by...
DVD Review: The Hills Have Eyes
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer When we consider early Wes Craven films, it is Last House on the Left (1972) which often grabs the plaudits for the way it helped redefine the horror genre with its grimness. While this is true, in terms of craft, The Hills Have Eyes is far more accomplished in executing the same ideas. Last House’s grimness made it stand out, but The Hills Have Eyes’ central conflict is realised with far more confidence. Now with...
DVD Review: Fight Valley
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer It’s hard to say too much about Fight Valley. It’s very hard to say anything particularly pleasant. There’s nothing more painful for a film writer, than viewing a film that doesn’t emit any pleasure in any moment of its running time. You don’t watch a b-movie like this looking for a film that defines a generation, but you expect it to at least have a decent ass kicking. Using popular UFC stars to try and...
DVD Review: Money Monster
Review by Leslie Byron Pitt/@Afrofilmviewer Money Monster comes in at a lean 90 minutes and only flounders once or twice. Partly because it’s a film with a fair amount of moving parts. But also because it pulls a few of its punches. It becomes clear that director Jodie Foster doesn’t want to leave the audience too disheartened. The film steers away at any true cynicism about its subjects. It wishes to entertain and does so with a sufficient amount of...
The Aliens Are Coming But How Will We Cope?
When the astronomer Percival Lowell claimed he had found canals on Mars, that might have been the first truly scientific attempt to prove alien life exists. Today, Lowell's Martian canals are an embarrassment to the Arizona observatory that bares his name. But if Lowell was wrong about the specifics, he was right about the general trend. Most scientists agree that alien life exists somewhere in the universe. Just fifty years ago the idea was outlandish in educated circles, now governments...