Chindie

Less of a shooter (although you're still picking up guns and the like and using them regularly. Unless you want to develop your character into a more if a brawler, for example) than Borderlands, much more of an in depth RPG. You'll complete some quests just by talking, you'll open new avenues to completing tasks depending on how you've developed your character which mean sometimes you'll complete a task by killing everyone in an area and taking something when they're all dead, and other players might complete the same mission by sneaking in and charming their way through before carefully stealing the item instead. If you've ever seen Skyrim being played, it's basically that in a different setting with guns and weird pulp 50s sci-fi postapocalypse leaning.

Massive open world RPG set in the US following a nuclear war. You wander out into the wasteland of ruined towns and cities, having been raised in a fallout shelter, and more or less stumble into your own adventures, finding other survivors, picking up quests, developing your character with different perks, and fighting various mutants and hostile people you stumble on.

On the contrary I'd say the standard set by that trailer makes Five Armies look like Citizen Kane.

I hate the John Lewis ad every year. I don't like that their adverts consistently push this message that somehow John Lewis is more than a shop, that being just a shop is beneath John Lewis and actually it's part of the family. They're always vomit inducing middle class wankery.

I'd disagree with you there mate. Some of the Warcraft Lore is utterly fantastic, and down the years there have been story strands that have made even a cynical bastard like myself 'Ooo and ah' In fact, one of the reasons I was so positive about a Warcraft movie (or a series of Warcraft movies) is that they have such a rich tapestry of stories and history to choose from it's easy pickings. Basically, everything is there on a plate. I'd have to bow to your greater knowledge on that front, I was just going off my impression of the series over the years. Either way I'll be astounded if that movie is any good.

I've never had any connection to Warcraft, so I'm not best placed to criticise it, but I always felt that the games style was a very rote pulp fantasy set up with lore that no-one overly cares about, which makes a movie struggle to appeal on anything other than the IP name pulling fans in. And that appears to be exactly what that is. A lot of that weird recent development of CGI costing silly money that still look shit in that trailer too. Got flop written all over it.

I'd agree with photos being unreliable as an ID. I have an older brother. Whilst there's obviously some resemblance, we don't look all that alike, at all. Since I was a child people have had trouble telling us apart in photos, despite us clearly not looking anything like each other.

That looks absolutely dreadful.

Mexes, Ndjeng, Ramirez. Sucker for a quality volley. Carli Lloyd's effort is the least impressive goal from the centre circle I've ever seen.

It's a Bethesda open world RPG, it'll be absolutely riddled with bugs on Day One. Comes with the territory.

Benedict Cumberbatch, probably on set filming Dr Strange.

How can you say 'all the bits are there', but 'the connective tissue is lacking' and 'the skeleton is bollocks' - what other 'bits' are there? The Bits - on paper excellent cast, interesting exotic locations, good sets and art design, very good action sequences, nice 'ideas' in the plot... It has the component parts of a good Bond adventure. The connective tissue, and skeleton - the plot and script are weak, with the villains threat completely under blown, plot developments tossed aside, characters completely underdeveloped and subsequently their relationships and interactions don't work or are extremely unbelievable, it's villain is absent throughout the movie and doesn't have the presence to make up for it because of the plots failings... Etc etc. Basically there's the component fundamental parts of a decent traditional Bond movie on paper, bar a decent plot and script, so when it comes together the superficial stuff is ok but what joins it all together is weak and means it's a bit of a disappointment.

I did a rerun recently of some of his older series and found then as enjoyable as ever. I was never a great lover of Roman history but listened to the Fall of the Roman Republic again and loved it. The man is brilliant at what he does, fascinating and detailed but engrossing and engaging with it. Strangely my favourite of his though is Prophets of Doom. It's a weird little one off compared to his epic series, and he personally dislikes it, but I find is a story with everything - a little known tale in the English speaking world, its funny, gruesome, shocking, riddled with sex, opens your eyes to areas of faith and religion you just don't consider... It's brilliant. The concept of 'a walkie talkie to God' still makes me snigger every time. The new series has started very well and again is an area of history I'm not that familiar with but Carlin guides you through it as expertly as ever.

Sadly I can't play all day. I don't work for the NSA, sadly, either. I also don't tend to troll. I do take a deep interest in this subject, to the extent most of my education beyond GCSE is dedicated to it. You aren't just listing possibilities, you're laying out what you think happened which is predicated on a Hollywood take of international relations. I say this a skeptic, so I tend not to follow the official line. You'll note my earlier post which leant away from accepting this was a bomb, yet. The Egyptians can get support without resorting to some grand event like this. They're a developing country in a position of interest to a number of players. They come to the table in any negotiation with a power, global or regional, with cards to play with.

If the US wants to involve itself with Egypt, they'll involve themselves again with Egypt. They don't need to manufacture a disaster to do it, via proxies or whatever. They don't need to develop a narrative to do so - they already have it. The Russians have all the reasons they need to involve themselves in this situation already. And so on and so forth. There's no conspiracy.

I'll wait for confirmation it was a bomb before going too heavy on this, but that was always the only likely malicious third party involvement. If it is a bomb, there's no conspiracy. I know some people desperately want there to be, but it'll be as simple as a bunch of backwards Islamists attacking a nation they see as an aggressor in a cowardly fashion. No more. Forget wild thoughts of false flag operations or shady activity. Nobody benefits.

You won't like it.

Saw Spectre the other day. Sam Mendes makes a traditional Bond movie with a Moore era undertone. It's nothing special. Opens with a needless bit of dick waving by the cinematographer, one of those fake long cut scenes which doesn't achieve anything beyond stroking the filmmakers ego, it goes through the requisite Bond framework, it has absolutely absurd treatment of its female characters (Monica Belluchi is on screen for 5 minutes and in that time the plot manages to embarrass itself, and nobody, no-one at all, who doesn't suffer with social disabilities, is buying the relationship between Bond and whatever Seydouxs character is called), it has a strangely effective threatening henchman in Batista, who is probably the best thing about the movie, and Mendes gives us another underused undercooked absentee villain. Oh and it makes a really cackhanded attempt to make an overarching plot for Craig's Bond, when everyone and his dog knows Skyfall is a silly curiosity of a Bond film and makes even less sense than usual in any attempt at making a Bond continuity. It's all a bit tired. Not a bad movie by any means but this really should have been far better than it is. All the bits are there. The connective tissue of the movie is lacking though, and the skeleton in the shape of the script and plot is bollocks. It feels like it wanted the plot to inspire awe and intrigue and blow you away with its secrets, but everyone already knew all the secrets and it tosses any buildup to something meaningful away without conviction. More Quantum of Solace than Casino Royale, sadly.

My thoughts exactly Could you elaborate please?

You could put your house on it now. The turn around needed to get to the kind of level you'll usually need to survive come May is near unprecedented. You're looking at asking a team so far showing itself to be particularly bad relegation fodder to turn into the standard usually vying for the Europa League places on a points per game basis, more or less. Ain't happening. We're done. Unless Remi Garde is a miracle worker, and I say that as someone who rates him. The team simply isn't good enough and we've wasted too many points already.

This team is absolutely shite. It'll be a miracle if this team does anything bar go down with a wimper.

I hope he's a **** miracle worker. Just being pretty good isn't going to cut it. He needs to be **** incredible. Man's either insane or got brass bollocks. Good luck to him.

He isn't very good. Him and Baker having as many appearances as they have for us shows how dogshit we've been for years.

Very much looking forward to it. Interesting there's almost no hint to what the story of Preacher actually is as well...

Erdogan will attack their constitution which had prevented him going further down the hardliner Islamist path he wants to go, which will fundamentally alter Turkey, and how it positions and aligns itself in the world. In short, Turkey is not going to be the country it's been positioning itself as for the past couple of decades much longer, and that's going to lead to civil unrest in the more cosmopolitan areas of the country even more than there already is, and cause more unrest in the region generally. Erdogan unchecked is unlikely to be good.