-an OD of Love-

In a match made in heaven, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's bestselling novel, "Good Omens," finally makes its screen debut in a six-part series after almost three decades since its publication. Previously adapted for radio in 2014, this highly anticipated TV adaptation promises to captivate audiences with its gloriously silly, funny, and clever story about the impending apocalypse and the epic battle to prevent it. Even if you've never delved into the works of either writer, fear not, as "Good Omens" is a show that anyone can enjoy. The story revolves around an unlikely duo—an angel named Aziraphale, portrayed by the brilliant Michael Sheen, and his demon counterpart, Crowley, brought to life by the charismatic David Tennant. These two immortal beings have been residing on Earth since the days of the Garden of Eden and have, over the centuries, developed a peculiar and friendly relationship through their many encounters. However, their cozy existence is th...

In a gripping new BBC series, 'The Sixth Commandment,' the story of unconventional love and an intricate web of manipulation is brought to life. This harrowing true-crime drama sheds light on the chilling case of murderer Ben Field and the gas-lighting abuse he inflicted upon his vulnerable neighbors. With insights from the cast and creators, including renowned actors Timothy Spall and Anne Reid, this series takes viewers on a journey through the disturbing realities of this shocking case. Uncovering a Disturbing Love Story: 'The Sixth Commandment' explores the perplexing tale of cherished teacher Peter Farquhar (played by Timothy Spall) and the enigmatic student, Ben Field (played by Éanna Hardwicke). Set against the backdrop of their unlikely encounter, the drama delves into the strange and unsettling criminal events that unfolded. Field, a churchwarden, embarked on a campaign of harassment disguised as love, targeting Farquhar, a devoted Christian four decades his se...

This little trattoria in a quiet back street of M’Skala was a true gem of a find. The food was by far and the most authentic and delicious my wife and I had experienced so far, better than most foo d we had in restaurants in Rome. Service was absolutely superb with wait ers who seemed genuinely excited by the food and wine of the region. A really excell ent experience. Infused with the romance of Vecchia Roma, this quiet, yet lively Mediterranean trattoria cannot fail to delight with its infectious atmosphere and the view which nowadays has become a rarity in my little country. The place is lively, the staff work fast but are respectful of your pr ivacy. Lunch for six including 2 bottles of good wine, drinks, coffees, sweets and liqueurs will leave you with a wonderfully full stomach and only a mildly depleted wallet at 140 euro for the six of us. From the moment you are ushered through the doors by the affable wife of the owner and the owner himself, Da Rocco, impres...

As most of my readers know I tend to have a soft spot with anything which is usually designed to be enjoyed mostly by children. Could it be that a (small :)) part of me never accepted the idea of growing up or the reason might be that when I think of getting older, I just get rid of the idea and that helps me feel younger at heart. Well as you might have read earlier one of the best film in my opinion of 2007 was Ratatouille and after the massive success made from Pixar thanks to the little character of Remy, on the 17th of June and that means that probably we will be seeing it in Malta around October if not for the Christmas season, we will have a new contender to soften our heart. Its/His name is Wall-E and so is the name of the new animated film by Disney-Pixar. Wall-E is a tiny robot, with sweet eyes very clumsy but otherwise a fantastic little thing. Here is the latest teaser/trailer and I recommend you watch this precious new gem, which I’m sure will have the same repeated succe...

RATATOUILLE "Ratatouille" is, quite simply, the perfect family film ... and so much more. It tells the charming story of a rat who wants to be a chef but can't because, well, he's a health-code violation. And they say originality is dead in Hollywood. No, this computer-generated masterpiece from Pixar Animation Studios is the best so far and more specifically, writer/director/oh, or the living genius Brad Bird. When Disney said no one could make a family movie about creatures as disgusting as rats (let alone one involving cooking), with a difficult to pronounce French title no less, he did it anyway. Bless him. Bird also directed the criminally unsuccessful The Iron Giant as well as Pixar's The Incredibles and with Ratatouille, we can start calling him the new king of animation. The film connects on many levels. For kids, it teaches an important lesson of acceptance through cute and appealing characters. For adults, it wrestles with far deeper concerns: Is the act...

Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss He brings the arena rock, she brings the integrity. Is it mutual exploitation? Yes 100%. But it's also a lovely little mixture in which two voices flirt and harmonize over a set of should have been classics. The moments when Krauss abandons her precision soprano and lets loose are breathtaking, but it's Plant, toned down to a delicate mountain strum, who's the real surprise. An amazing experiment by producer T-Bone Burnett who deserves a lot of credit for making all the right instrument choices and then shaking his record collection for obscurities and all together they make them so good they make you wonder why they were ever obscure. In Rainbows by Radiohead The most surprising thing about Radiohead's seventh album turned out to be neither the method of distribution (email) nor the suggested retail price (whatever you want) but the fact that when the thing finally materialized... it speaks elegance! Alright, it's no...

Take three characters; a handsome charmer Tommaso Massi, who’s a humble waiter, Bruno, a fantastic chef and friend of Tommaso and Laura a beautiful American girl who’s studying architecture in Italy. Add the beautiful sights and sensations of Rome blend together until mixed thoroughly. Add to these, humor, spice and romance and you are left with a sensational book from the author Anthony Capella that will draw you in from the first page and leaving you wanting more on the last page. I absolutely loved this book; it would be easy to devour this in a single sitting, as I did just when I got my hands on it on my way home on the bus (something which usually I hate doing) and I did not put it down until the last page in the next two hours, but then I recommend that on your second or third ‘serving’, read about twenty pages a day because the descriptions of Bruno's cooking really should be savored. Trust me when I say that you can almost taste the food that Bruno prepares in the story, y...

Lately I had the opportunity to go and see the representations of Equus at St. James Cavalier, by a theatre company I have never heard before called Unifaun Theater. It was fantastic for several reasons! I had to "strongly encourage" my date to come along, she is young and not much into these sort of shows but even thou it is not her usual cup of tea (excuse my pun) I could see in her eyes that she has enjoyed every minute of it. Equus is not easy (I don’t even know how to pronounce it right:)). It is a kind of psychological detective story, a play which does an unusual thing. It asks why? Most plays tell us how. Equus is a psychological inquiry into a crime, a journey into someone's mind. It is a kind of highbrow suspense story, a psychic and mythic thriller, but also an essay in character and motive. It is the documentation of a crime. The story has been based on a flimsily documented but apparently true incident of a young stable hand has attacked six horses in their s...

I’ve been meaning to post these couple of reviews ages ago, but I had to finish some assignments before I had some free time to dot down a couple of lines. The first one is about a movie I saw a couple of months ago called Hairspray. At last we have a new movie musical that really is a movie musical – a bold, unapologetic movie musical that nearly jumps off the screen and challenges all of your silly hang-ups about movie musicals. In the days when Hollywood lost its way when it attempts to make film musicals for people who don't like film musicals. It is pointless because these audiences would draw back no matter how cautiously on-screen singing was presented. In the meantime, the studios alienated those fans who do like musicals. With Hairspray, it found its way back and, for once, gets it right. The people who made this film instinctively know that the best way to introduce a song on screen is to jump right into it. And that's what "Hairspray" does; it immediately ...

Everyone has his or her own interpretation of what a tribute band is or should be. In my humble experience, a tribute band is usually headed by a decent singer that can hit a majority of the notes of the singer he/she is trying to imitate and a capable band that is typically nowhere near the skill level of the band they are copying but does a decent job mimicking their heroes. Overall, most tribute bands do a fairly decent job at paying homage to the musical past of some of the top legends in music and, for the most part I am satisfied paying 10 or 15 bucks to see them as they are adequate and I may never get an opportunity to see the real deal anytime soon so I am pacified. Sometimes you run across a tribute band that really rocks and exceeds your expectations such as the Van Halen tribute band the Atomic Punks, the All-Female AC/DC tribute band Hell's Belles or the Led Zeppelin tribute band No Quarter. All three of these bands rock and they each have exceeded my expectations and ...

So many of the old classic rockers (and by that we mean the folks dominating FM radio in the late 60s and 70s—and for that matter, now) choose to rest on their success, to simply parrot their past triumphs on record and wallow in the past in concert. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you still enjoy playing the old stuff, and it comes through in your performance, who's to say you shouldn't play it? But it leaves an artist, no matter how great, in the uncomfortable position of being a nostalgia act and let’s face it, artistically irrelevant in the contemporary music landscape. Robert Plant, who shall forever have the title "former Led Zeppelin front man" attached to his name, despite having not been in that band since 1980, is not one of those artists. A fascination with world music, especially that found in Northern Africa and the Middle East, that dates back to his Zeppelin days has ensured a degree of adventurousness not often found in so-called "herit...

For one night only, the 29th of June 2007, the fans of good old rock music were treated to an evening like no other, an evening that sent shock waves throughout the crowded streets as Brian Adams well and truly rocked our little island.This was the first and hope, not the only Maltese date for Brian, whom at the end of the concert he also confirmed that the rumours that he has some Maltese blood rushing thru his veins, were for real. He certainly didn’t disappoint his fans in his more then two hour long set at Luxol’s Football ground in St. Andrews. The concert, in aid of the ‘Find Madeleine’ campaign was a cavalcade of rock. Opening for Brian was the veteran Maltes band Winter Moods, a band with some varied and interesting tunes, which were toe-tapping pieces of music brilliance. This little known abroad band, who have four fantastic albums and two EPs under their belt (my favourite being Morning Ale) and have a great follow up in Malta, have a special way to lift the crowds spirit a...

During my lunch break I came across a February’s, TV guide, on the coffee table so I just went thru the pictures as I wasn’t interested what was being transmitted in the air at that time as it was well almost the end of March and you know on TV guides since there are a lot of listings, the editor usually only allows a couple of lines to describe the pick of the day one's eyes tend to fall on what I like to call Le Locandine. The pick of the day on one particular day was the movie ‘The Secretary’. Don’t tell what was it that mostly caught my eyes since there was only a small picture of a very naive girl in her 20's and the lines said that it is a romantic film with a twist between two mentally disturbed people. I don’t know if it was the twist or that the film speaks about disturbed people that tricked my mind but I remember something made me take note of the title to check if it was available from one of the DVD rental houses near where I live. When i gave up managing to find t...