The best of Johnny

Watching Alice in Wonderland again has spurred me on to writing my next post. Johnny Depp is a brilliant actor, who plays such diverse roles and truly makes you believe he is that character. Here are my top 10 Johnny Depp characters:

10. Customer in Suit Store (Fast Show) Not necessarily a full blown character, but thoroughly entertaining to see Johnny pop up in a classic British show

9. Sam (Benny & Joon) A sweet film and Johnny plays the quirky Sam perfectly

8. Ed Wood (Ed Wood) A great portrayal of the weird director

7. Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) I'm not really a fan of the film, but Johnny plays a great Wonka none the less

6. Sir James Matthew Barrie (Finding Neverland) I love the ‘Just a Dog’ line and attempt (badly) to say the line with a Scottish accent myself

5. Cry Baby (Cry Baby) Perhaps a role that Johnny wants to forget, but it’s a classic in my eyes

4. Roux (Chocolat) Well, this one is just for his beautiful tanned gypsyness!

3. Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland) A lot of make-up makes this character look brilliant, but its Johnny’s Scottish accent outbursts and believable ‘madness’ that make him the perfect Hatter

2. Edward Scissorhands (Edward Scissorhands) A brilliant performance from Johnny, who spends most of the film not talking and uses his eyes, expressions (and scissors), etc in a very early role for Jonny, showing why he deserves to be part of Hollywood royalty

1. Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Carribean) Just brilliant, even if some of the films disappoint they are worth watching just for Jack

Leave a comment and let me know which is your favourite character, perhaps one that isn’t on this list?

Countdown to Grey's Anatomy Epic Season Finale - Spolier Alert

We are only one day away from the Grey's Anatomy epic double episode season finale. After last year's dramatic cliffhanger between George and Izzie (which was ruined by the interviews the actors did with the American press over the Summer)I have been left pondering how Shona Rimes could possibly top it..that is until I saw this sneak peek at the first 10 minutes of the episode.

I was left with a jaw that literally dropped to the floor, and am now counting down the days until I can finally see the exciting episode. If you don't think you can cope with only watching 10 minutes and having to wait for the rest of the episode then look away now, but I expect it won't be as much of a cliff hanger as the last 10 minutes!

Watch out here he comes....

I’ve just seen the season finale of Smallville season 9 and what an ending it was. I’m pleased that it has been booked for a tenth season, which will make it the longest running sci-fi TV programme ever, but this season finale not only teased us with a taste of Clark Kent post Smallville, but also showed that he now has the infamous suit, that we can only hope he will finally wear in the last scene of season 10.

Not only that, but the episode was action packed with cliff hangers to leave us gagging for the next season as well as a fantastic fight scene between Clark and Zod.  Smallville has really stepped up its game after a couple of disappointing seasons and as sad as I will be to see it end, I can’t wait for Clark Kent to become Superman after a decade of waiting.

From Geek to Gleek

Glee has inspired me again for my next post, my top on screen geeks across TV and film. The following 10 geeks are in no particular order...

1. Starting with Glee, the annoying yet entertaining Rachel Berry from Glee. Ironically honest, she is “like Tinkerbell and needs applause to stay alive”.

2. Bill Haverchuck from Freaks & Geeks, played by the brilliant Martin Starr, Haverchuck is the funniest TV geek ever.

3. Gosh, Napoleon Dynamite from the film of the same name is a geek with brilliant dance moves

4. For those who are children of the 90’s will remember Dustin Diamond’s Screech as everyone’s favourite geek in Saved by the Bell.

5. Richard Rubin as himself in Beauty and the Geek is a real life geek, a real life Screech in fact.

6. David Schwimmer’s Ross Geller in Friends, the dinosaur geek who always seems to get the ladies, and get them down the aisle as well.

7. Gareth Keenan played by Makenzie Crook in The Office is easily wound up by Tim Canterbury.

8. Steve Carell as the loveable 40 Year Old Virgin Andy Stitzer provides us with plenty of laughs, especially with the classic waxing scene.

9. This one time at band camp, Alison Hannigan played Michelle Flaherty in the American Pie movies and provided us with a few uncomfortable laughs.

10. And saving the best till last, Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. Need I say more?

That's my top ten, post your thoughts on those that should be added to the list...

Adaptations add bite to the book...

Now, I’m never one to say a film or TV adaptation of a book is ever as good as the read itself. I’m not much of a reader as I’m more of a visual person, but when I do read it’s usually something that I know I use as an excuse to be more critical of something I will be watching. Those that have read the Harry Potter books know that although the films are great, they are not even a dusting on the original stories in the books (the special effects don’t do JK Rowling’s descriptions justice).

But the recent rise in the ‘Paranormal Romance’ adaptation have pleasantly surprised me. I’ve been listening to the Sookie Stackhouse audiobooks (adapted to True Blood), which has an amazing narrator in Joanna Parker (on several occasions I forgot that she was just one person doing the voice of every character, including a brilliant Eric) and although the books are amazingly exciting, funny and a little on the erotic side, where Alan Ball has changed parts of the story for his True Blood series he has truly changed them for the better.

Another example is the popular ITV2 series Vampire Diaries. This series started out as a TV version of the Twilight Saga, but has quickly turned into a much darker, edger show. Again, with these books I am listening to the audiobook versions, I’m currently listening to The Fury, and it seems like they have taken some these characters names and the element of a diary, rings to allow vampires to stay out in the sun...and created an entirely new concept. If it wasn’t for watching the TV show I wouldn’t continue with these books, Elena is a selfish ‘queen bee’ who is rude to her friends and Bonnie is of Scottish decent, still a witch but really her only skill is to allow a paranormal being to use her body to communicate with Elena.

The final example I would like to raise, and I apologies if I offend any Twi-hard teenage fans out there is the Twilight Saga. There is a great story idea in these books, but they read as if they are written by a child. Often cheesy and feeling like a copy of the Sookie Stackhouse storyline these books annoyed me, but I kept reading as I wanted to know what happened next - I just wished someone else had told me. The films, so far, have taken the story of the books and, as you would expect from a film, taken out the fluffy descriptions (except for the pointless and cheesy slow motion running scene in New Moon) and just given us the story as it should have been told.

What interests me the most from these book to TV/Film is although you would expect to know what will happen next, these are adaptations that are ignoring the original idea of their creators and delivering something that has taken the world by storm and creating the new ‘Paranormal Romance’ genre.