Fisherman Wife, revisited

We are nothing but fair here, so when we reviewed The Fisherman’s Wife restaurant in Headingly, Leeds, also known as Bryans, We documented the extremely poor service throughout. That were very keen to make amends and show this was just a very unfortunate and unique incident. We were invited to dine again and chose to do so at their Whitby outlet.

We are delighted to report that we experienced a very warm welcome, one that was especially accommodating as we were visiting with our one month old son. Taking of orders was timely and the waitress was very keen to ensure one of my dining companions had her vegetarian needs met. This was to such an extent that one of the veggie options on the menu as adjusted slightly to further accommodate them. Other orders of jumbo fish and chips etc.. turned out indeed to be jumbo, hot and fresh out of the pan. My wife’s seabass was elegantly presented and hugely enjoyed thought the (supplementary) accompanying salad was perhaps a little small.

All meals arrived together and service was prompt throughout. Chuck in a great view out to sea and up to the abbey and it’s one of the most agreeable ways to sample the nations favourite dish.  Full marks to The Fisherman’s Wife.

The lies of Northern Rail...

Exposing the lies of Northern Rail.

For years we have put up  with lame excuses, unfulfilled promises and appalling services and all for rising costs. Yes, Northern Rail claim, but we are improving stations at facilities. Well yes, my local station Castleford was recently victim to these improvements. Trues it’s never been the most attractive of stations but nevertheless has two large sheltered areas. One where around 16 people could sit and read the timetables or buy tickets. It offered additional space for around a dozen more pople. All under cover from the elements. There was a second shelter, with around 15 more undercover seats and plenty of room for any number of people with pushchairs or wheelchair users.

The new improvements see the large shelter completely removed and six seats installed in the open air in its place. There is a small shelter, seats around a dozen but no extra space and difficult for pushchairs or wheelchairs. The timetables and ticket machines are now out in the open. This is improvement, by my estimation,  around  50% less seating and around 80% less shelter. Well done Northern Rail.

Last Thursday however we exposed the lies of staff which led to delays for passengers, annoyance and frustration and not a single apology forthcoming. The 17.16 Leeds To Goole train is usually made up of three carriages, its often two but its supposed to be four. Only once since they promised four carriages two years ago has that happened. The 17.16 is a very busy train, it its regularly the case that people are left at Leeds as they physically cannot get onto the train.

On arrival at Leeds last Thursday, I noticed that the train wasn’t listed on its normal platform, it had moved from its normal one and was showing it would not stop at Woodlesford or Castleford, these are the first two stops on the line and ones the train has to go through and in the case of Castleford it actually HAS to stop there as it turns around. The driver and guard were very clear, this train would not stop at either station. The Northern rail blokes on the platform also confirmed this but there was a distinct whiff of BS flying about..

I decided to go to customer services on the bridge and ask them how could it be that it wouldn’t stop? He told me it would, that they would announce it would after it had left the station, it was just a ploy because the train was only two carriages long and they didn’t want people to get on it. Outrageous, many people took them at their word and didn’t board. I knew they were lying so got on and as it sent off – with seats and space available – low and behold the announcement that they would in fact, be calling at both stations after all….. No comfort to the many people waiting at Leeds for the next train – which incidentally I am told was also late and short form (as they call it) i.e. not enough carriages.

After such an episode of outright lies, why would we believe anything that they say.. I am not exactly backwards at complaining, such is there poor service and total ambivalence. Out of the last three communications I got one reply. One was actually a very serious request for access to CCTV which they didn’t even bother to reply beyond initial acknowledgement. 

I would be very interested in any examples of shoddy service, or lies that you have, I really intend to ensure Northern Rail are brought to task as they are totally incapable of running trains or in fact dealing with customers at all.

Movie Review: Noah - Horribly miscast.

Darren Aronofsky continues to ambitiously experiment with genres in this Old Testament blockbuster, but this is his first real misstep as a filmmaker, as the impressive parts simply don't add up. Still, there are flashes of genius as the epic struggle between good and evil is echoed both in the grand spectacle and within the characters themselves.

It starts with the original sin, which divides Adam and Eve's sons - brutal killer Cain and peaceful caretaker Seth - into warring factions. A few generations later, all that's left of Seth's righteous line is Noah (Russell Crowe), his wife (Jennifer Connelly) and three sons (Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth and Leo McHugh Carroll), plus an adopted daughter (Emma Watson). After he has a vision that God is planning to cleanse mankind with a flood, Noah consults his grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) and builds an ark to save his family and all of earth's animals. He also gets help from the Watchers, rock-encrusted fallen angels who previously assisted Cain's descendant Tubal (Ray Winstone), who goes into battle mode to stop Noah.

All of this is inventively set in a post-apocalyptic landscape left in ruins after generations of fighting. And Noah is the last true believer tending to creation, refusing to eat meat (although he wears leather accessories) and ruling over his family like a tyrant. This of course creates various carefully scripted conflicts for his family over the months they're stuck in the ark. But the moralising is never as deep as it pretends to be.
That a simple biblical story is bloated beyond recognition isn't the problem. The script is badly overwritten, with simplistic characters (the women are only called upon to panic and shriek) and exaggerated dilemmas. And the casting is a mess. Despite decent performances, Crowe is far too blunt, Winstone too nasty, Lerman too pained, Booth too pretty, Hopkins just too much of a cliche.

That said, Aronofsky is incapable of making a boring movie. And the film is packed with wonders, including a riveting time-lapse creation account, impressively watery effects work and glorious Icelandic locations. But all of this is undermined by the melodramatic plotting, which neglects the dark, raw simplicity of a timeless legend about rebirth.

Movie Review: Rio 2 - One for the kids only, and only just.

After the snappy, clever 2011 original, this sequel feels rather lazy by comparison: it's still visually colourful and sometimes witty, but the overcrowded story is all over the place, mixing wacky slapstick and corny satire with a political message. And none of this is edgy enough to make it memorable, except perhaps the addition of one new character, a deranged poisonous frog with delusions of romance, voiced by the riotously operatic Kristin Chenoweth.

At the centre again are the rare blue macaws Blu and Jewel (Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway), who now have three feisty kids at their bird sanctuary in Rio de Janeiro. Then their human keepers Tulio and Linda (Rodrigo Santoro and Leslie Mann) spot another blue macaw deep in the Amazon, so Blu and Jewel fly off to investigate with their children and buddies (including Will.i.am and Jamie Foxx). Sure enough, this turns out to be Jewel's long-lost family, overseen by her father (Andy Garcia) and guarded by her heartthrob ex Roberto (Bruno Mars). But there's an evil logger threatening the rainforest, and Blu's old nemesis Nigel the cockatoo (Jemaine Clement) is out for revenge.

After the oddly flat prologue in Rio, the film kicks up a gear when it arrives in the jungle, where the imagery becomes far more dense and colourful, leading to some wonderfully outrageous musical numbers and raucous action sequences. The level of detail is impressive, as is the range of creatures thrown into the story. But the script never quite rises to this level of invention, once again simplistically putting the city-bird Blu in an alien natural environment, with added in-laws and ex-boyfriends. Much more fun is Nigel's interaction with his poison-frog sidekick, even if his subplot never builds any steam.

It's as if the filmmakers decided that keeping things hectic and nutty would make up for any real sense of character or story. Children probably won't mind much, since there's a visual vibrance to the animation and general goofiness all around. And the voice cast really go for broke, adding energy to every scene. But with everything in motion, there's nothing to hold our focus. So even if we end up caring about saving the rainforest, nothing has managed to spark our imagination.

Watch the trailer...

Michael Jacksons Xscape: Scrape that barrel dry..

A new Michael Jackson album has aired for the first time in a Knightsbridge hotel. Xscape is the self titled King of Pop’s second collection of 'new' material since his death in 2009.

In keeping with the secrecy that surrounded his every creative move when he was alive, we journalists were permitted to hear the album just once, after being scanned for electronic devices, but not allowed to know song titles or write anything constituting a review whilst there. Producers Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome “Jroc” Harmon and John McClain were named as those who had carried out what Jackson’s Epic Records head LA Reid called a “contemporising” of old vocals, but it was not revealed who had worked on which song.

“Michael left behind some performances that we take great pride in presenting through the vision of music producers he either worked directly with or expressed strong desire to work with,” said Reid.  Jerkins is the only producer who worked with Jackson in the flesh. The others have been brought in to give a modern, busy, largely electronic sound.

Unlike the previous posthumous album, Michael from 2010, there should be no controversy this time about whether the vocals are really his. Xscape ranges from presumably older songs delivered in the soft sweet tones of his Off the Wall period, to others utilising his more recent harsher bark.

It’s a dull and dated collection, and at eight songs it constitutes the bare minimum of what could be called an album. Either this means the barrel is now completely scraped or, more likely, Sony is holding plenty back for further lucrative releases.

Xscape is due for release on May 13 and should you feel so inclined available for pre-order at iTunes today.

Its a beautiful day: Michael Buble comes to Leeds Arena this Christmas...

Global singing sensation comes to the Leeds first direct arena for Christmas

After his perennial popularity resulted in phenomenal sales for his previous two tours, king of swing Michael Bublé comes to the first direct arena as part of a brand new UK Christmas tour.

Tickets for the Monday 8 December show go on sale this Friday from 9.00am, priced from £50.00.

Over 150,000 tickets were sold during a 10 date residency in London last summer, subscribers to Just Music will recall the amazing review we gave it, this was followed by a stellar sold out tour earlier this year. His last tour followed the release of his sixth studio album To Be Loved, which went straight to number after being released, and continues to chart in the top 20 almost a year after it was released.

Expect Bublé to play songs from his six albums, including hits from To Be Loved, Michael Bublé, It's Time, Call Me Irresponsible, Crazy Love and Christmas.

first direct arena Director of Sales and Marketing Tony Watson said "We are delighted to be one of three venues in Michael Bublé's announced December tour. Our arena is known for its fantastic sound and great atmosphere so we're sure Bublé fans old and new will have a fantastic festive time."

To book tickets for this event, visit www.firstdirectarena.com, phone 0844 248 1585, or book your tickets from the first direct arena box office, located in Trinity Leeds Customer Service Lounge up near Trinity Kitchen and Primark, from 9.00am Friday 4 April.

Muppets Most Wanted: Drop the Gervais and its OK

Where the 2011 reboot felt effortless in the way it recaptured that warmly anarchic Muppets humour, this sequel feels like it's working every step of the way. Yes, it's riotously silly and occasionally hilarious, but there are large chunks of the movie that just aren't funny at all, mainly because there's so much emphasis on the tangled web of a plot that the characters get lost in the shuffle.


It starts just as the last movie ended: the Muppets decide to do a sequel based on an idea from interloper Dominic (Ricky Gervais) to take their show on a world tour. But Dominic is actually in league with super-villain frog Constantine (Matt Vogel), who has just escaped from a gulag. So when the Muppet Show lands in Berlin, he orchestrates a swap: Constantine takes Kermit's place in the show, while Kermit (Steve Whitmire) is sent to Siberia under the watchful eye of guard Nadya (Tina Fey). Meanwhile, Interpol agent Jean-Pierre (Burrell) and CIA operative Sam Eagle (Eric Jacobson) are investigating a series of robberies mysteriously linked to Muppet performances in Berlin, Madrid and Dublin.

All of this builds to a head in London, where Constantine is staging an elaborate wedding to Miss Piggy (Jacobson) to distract from his real plan to steal the Crown Jewels. But this plot-strand feels predictable and limp compared to much more interesting character interaction. For example, scenes between Kermit and Fey are a lot more fun as they plan a musical revue with the inmates (and get Trejo and Liotta sing and dance!). And the escalating banter between Sam Eagle and Burrell is hilarious even as it indulges in cheap Euro-jokes.


By contrast, Gervais is never remotely funny, even in his own big song and dance number. And since the ensemble is scattered so far and wide, everyone on-screen feels like a supporting player. Still, these characters are enjoyable enough that we can't help but laugh. And playing spot the starry cameo is especially lively this time round. But the film reminds us that the Muppets are best when they're interacting with each other. And when we have no idea what they'll do next.