Posted by sean on December 30, 2004 at 6:25 pm in Movies with No Comments


Well 2004 is vastly growing to a close, (as I type it is The Year 2005 minus 29hours and 24 minutes) it is time to list The Official Sparkster.net Top 10 Films of 2004.

1. Shrek 2
I absolutely love this film, now that it has been released on DVD I have seen it several times this year. The animation is fantastic and the humour is just hilarious. Not only is Shrek 2 my best film of the year, but also one of the best sequels I have ever seen – really looking forward to Shrek 3!

2. Collateral
Hard hitting action film starring Tom Cruise playing an untraditional role as the movie villain. His character of a cold blooded hit man is superb, this alongside an excellent supporting cast and storyline makes Collateral one of my top films of 2004.

3. Shaun of the Dead
Very funny film from the creators of TV’s Spaced. Shaun of the Dead has been able to do what so many other films have failed in the past – create a spoof horror films and make it very funny. What makes this movie even better is that it’s a British film. It’s great to see such quality film coming from this side of the pond.

4. Layer Cake
Another film from the creators of Lock, Stock and Snatch (note: not written by Guy Ritchie), this certainly didn’t disappoint. The film focused on the Class A Drugs Scene across Britain. Layer Cake was somewhat darker than Lock, Stock and Snatch although the “British Gangster” theme strongly remained.

5. Football Factory
The third British film in my Top 10 of 2004 and the one I didn’t see at the cinema. The film may well be called “Football Factory” but you don’t actually see a ball throughout the whole movie. The film follows the story of a group of football hooligans and the positives and negatives of their love for violence, drugs and trouble. Based upon the novel by John King, some have criticised the film for not being as good as the written piece. This aside, Football Factory is an extremely good British film.

6. Fahrenheit 9/11
The highly controversial documentary by Michael Moore about George Bush and his affairs (not the type of ‘affair’ associated with Bill Clinton!). The film was really interesting and showed what a lot of us expected – corruption does indeed exist across many parties.

7. Shark Tale
One of many computer animated films released in 2004 (do studios actually make cartoons anymore?). A very enjoyable family comedy which will no doubt appeal to viewers of all ages. The cast which includes Robert De Niro, Jack Black and Will Smith were all superb and the computer animated characters were modelled on them perfectly.

8. The Incredibles
I was kind of disappointed by this title. I first saw the trailer before Shrek 2 in the summer and thought it would be in my Top 5 of 2004. Still, The Incredibles was still a first-class movie, with excellent animation and humour. Just don’t expect another Shrek 2 like I did. Certainly worthy of my Top 10 movies though!

9. Bridget Jones’ Diary 2: The Edge of Reason
More British comedy here in this very funny sequel. Like the original, Bridget Jones 2 was full of cringe-worthy moments and very funny situations. This may be a chick-flick but is unlike most soppy-girl films, just watch the Die Hard Box Set afterwards to make you feel hard again :o)

10. Anchor Man
Now, this wasn’t a very popular film with critics but I thought it was hilarious. For anybody who as seen the Austin Powers movies, the humour is very similar, some people may even call it a rip-off. The jokes were very funny and the humour was both dry and very bizarre. I liked it a lot.

Other films worth mentioning that I liked which didn’t make the list…

Alien vs. Predator – highly underrated
Christmas with the Kranks – nice festive Christmas movie
Super Size Me – I’ll NEVER eat a McDonalds again (KFC & Burger King ok though!)
Bad Santa – Crude, dry & funny… and released in 2003
School of Rock – Technically a 2003 film, I saw it in 2004. Had it been made this year would have made the Top 10.

And two films you should avoid

Taxi (2004 version)
Churchill: The Hollywood Years

Posted by sean on December 29, 2004 at 7:15 pm in Television with No Comments



More Crap Festive TV Rast-Clarts!

Another disappointing Christmas Special last night, this time it was Bo Selecta causing the tiresome television viewing.

The episode was based upon the Bo Selecta bear who moved into Patsy Kensit’s house, drank beer, ate food and watched Sky+. A very poor episode even with cameos from Michael Jackson, Craig David, Mel B and numerous other characters.

The last seasonal offering comes from The Vicar of Dibley on New Years Day. If that proves to be as bad as the Christmas Day episode, 2004 will officially be declared “Worst Christmas TV Year Ever!”

What’s the point in having something as good as Sky+ if there’s nothing to record using it? It’s like having a BMW Z8 with no petrol.

Posted by sean on December 28, 2004 at 10:27 pm in Leeds United with No Comments



The Plymouth sailors get another stuffing from Super Leeds!

For it’s Leeds United, Leeds United FC.
We’re the greatest team in football, the world has ever seen!

Glory, Glory Leeds United
Glory, Glory Leeds United
Glory, Glory Leeds United and the Whites go marching on.
On! On! On!
On! On! On!

Excuse that sing song but I’m celebrating another win for the Super Whites who beat Plymouth 2-1 today at Elland Road.


Healy! Healy! Leeds United’s Saviour

October signing David Healy was yet again superb and is in strong contention for my player of the season. With Crewe at home on Jan 1st, Leeds could get three league wins in a row – the first time since 2002.

Keep it up Super Leeds!

Posted by sean on December 27, 2004 at 6:46 pm in Christmas, Leeds United, Television with No Comments


Well, it’s been a whole week since I last blogged. So extended was my absence that regular visitor Dan from Daninthemix.com thought I was dead, I’m sure he wasn’t the only one equally concerned! I’ve just been busy with Christmas and for once simply couldn’t think of anything worthy of blogging about.

I had a good Christmas seeing both family and friends. Got some good presents including a DAB Digital Radio, the 15minutes of snow we got was also good (although next year 15 hours would be nice!)

Christmas TV was bad. The Vicar of Dibley was very disappointing. It has lost the original humour of the classic episodes from the 90s, the characters have aged, the humour had changed and I was not impressed; hopefully the New Years Day special will be an improvement.

Dawn French’s friend Jennifer Saunders couldn’t do much better… in fact she did worse. Absolutely Fabulous was awful and certainly a show which should have been left in the last millennium. Series 1-3 of Ab Fab were great, everything after has just been poo.

Moving on from the dribble of Christmas telly, along with my DAB Radio, I also got a very, very nice Christmas present. It may have been a day late and not a material gift but it was quite possibly my best gift of Christmas. The present was 3 goals and 3 precious points for Leeds United who (against all the odds) beat Sunderland away on Boxing Day! I listened live on Radio Aire (over the Internet) and Leeds seemed to play really well!

In celebration of this wonderful victory, I made a goal/highlights montage of the game mixed into an infamous dance track – download it here.

Posted by sean on December 20, 2004 at 8:38 pm in Television with No Comments



Sky (Stephanie McIntosh) with her big juicy pair


Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours…

It’s Christmas time so once again the BBC has taken the only good soap off TV for two weeks, just like they did when the Olympics, tennis and football were on. OK, Australia gets a whole month’s break from the soap, but it’s still annoying how the BBC take it off TV so often. When everyone gets Digital TV and the BBC Sport channel is created they’ll have less of an excuse to take it off for sporting events.

To rub salt into the wounds they don’t cancel shit soaps like EastEnders and force dozens of episodes of it upon us over the Christmas and New Year period. Bah bum-hug!

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