I don’t know if you’ve heard about A Game Of Thrones, I heard chatter about it earlier this year on Twitter and wanted to see for myself if it lived up to the praise heaped upon it. I’m confident enough to say that it certainly does and delivers it in spades. I ended up watching the entire first season of the show in one sitting!

The show is based on a series of books by George R. R. Martin and although I haven’t had a chance to read any of them yet, reviews seem to suggest that he follows in the footsteps of the likes of Tolkein. The production value of each episode easily rivals that of something like Lord Of The Rings and the narrative is so rich and interesting, the acting is excellent and the girls are gorgeous. I’m eagerly anticipating the second series.

In the meantime, I think I’m going to have to pick up the books as I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

I finished reading Scott Pilgrim a while ago, having picked it up after first seeing the trailer for the film and wondering what it was all about. I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed the collection with it’s themes of love, video games and pop culture and it’s hilarious. I wasn’t overly fond of the adaption for the big screen but in case you missed it, you can now pick up this stunning box set of Scott Pilgrim which I do suggest you pick up!

Saint Young Men is a manga by Hikaru Nakamura, it follows the story of bizarrely enough, a young Jesus and Buddha who live in Modern Day Tokyo. It won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for Short Work Manga but I still don’t think it’s something I’d particularly want to read but I liked the artwork enough to share it with you.

The latest news is that the international release of the iPad will be delayed until May. In the meantime then, Alice for iPad is another fantastic and innovative demonstration of what the device is capable of and how that might revolutionise the way we interact with media.

Rather than try and explain what makes it so special, watch the video below to see for yourself. Although I have been sceptical I’m convinced that the third-party applications for the device are going to turn it into a must buy piece of technology.

The Guardian report that Jonny Greenwood from my favourite band, Radiohead will make a return to film scoring. He’d previously worked on “There Will Be Blood”, for which he received a Grammy-nomination. What’s the new film he’s working for, well it’s none other than Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami which is being directed by Anh Hung Tran. The film isn’t due for release until December in Japan. However so far it all looks like it’s going to be a very promising production.

Much like the iPhone, I wasn’t quite convinced with Apple’s first attempt although I would still have described it as a ‘game-changer‘. It wasn’t until subsequent iterations and more importantly the App Store that the iPhone really blossomed. Similarly then, although I’m not convinced by the iPad, the promise of unique applications with innovative interfaces certainly appeals to me.

One such application is Panelfly, a digital comic book reader, I’ve already succumbed to reading comic books using my computer but have always found this to be a clunky half-measure interface. I have acquired the seminal Manga series Akira. I love the movie but have been told several times that the original comic book source material expands and clarifies some of the sketchier moments of the film. An iPad running this software to read Akira seems like an awesome way to get through the thousands of pages it spans.

Before I leave you, I’ll leave you some recommendations based on what I’ve enjoyed, Katsuhiro Otomo’s earlier work on Domu is fantastic as is Monster by Naoki Urusawa. I thought Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata was awesome along with The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and finally if you haven’t already The Watchmen by Alan Moore which Time includes in it’s list of 100 greatest works of fiction ever created.

I just happened upon an offer by the World Cinema Directory who are offering the opportunity to download the ‘Directory Of World Cinema – Japan‘ for free for a limited time only. It retails on Amazon for £12.80 so it’s a brilliant deal. Grab it while you can!

If you follow my blog at all, all two of you, you’ll know that I’m quite the Japanese film fan, well film fan in general I suppose. I’m excited about the prospect of the BFI Southbank showcasing the latest work of Hirokazu Kore-eda. If you haven’t seen it already, even if you’re not a fan of Japanese film per se, you should check out ‘Nobody Knows‘ (currently only £3.98) which deals with the theme of abandoned children. Which sadly judging by the frequency of similar stories on Japan Today seems to be a common occurrence. Based on this previous work and the understanding that this new film aspires to that other great Japanese film master, Yasujirō Ozu I’m suitably encouraged that I won’t be disappointed.

“Transcendent…Completely Absorbing, so sure of its own scale and scope that while you’re watching it, the rest of the world fades into irrelevance.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times

At the same time as seeing ‘Nobody Knows’ initially I picked up a copy of ‘Canary‘ on the basis that it appeared highly in the Midnight Eye best films of the year coverage. Although dealing with the same idea of abandoned children this film explores the story of the people involved with the Aum cult who carried out the Sarin gas attacks in Tokyo. If you’re at all interested in that particular event I highly recommend Haruki Murakami’s Underground interviews with survivors of the attack and even some of the people involved with the cult, it’s well worth reading. Anyway that’s all for now!

It’s recommendation time again, after speedily making my way through the five series of The Wire that I recently wrote about, I needed something else to keep me occupied in the evenings during my tenure at The Kent & Canterbury Hospital.

Now considering all my other nerdtastic past times, it may come somewhat as a surprise that aside from the distinguished work of Alan Moore on the Watchmen, I have no other comic book experience. This all led me to pursue Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead after hearing whispers across the internet from a broad range of sources, including Charlie Brooker who deserves much credit for his acerbic wit amongst others who praise the series highly.

I’ve had the luxury of being able to catch up on the previous six years within the span of a few evenings and now freshly caught up with the tale, I’m stuck waiting for the latest release scheduled for monthly intervals. The story is on-going and so who knows how long I’ll stick with it but it comes highly recommended by me and many others before me. You can conveniently buy The Walking Dead in collected volumes, which would be the best way to go.

EDIT Here’s a fan made opening for the television series which looks incredible!

I usually have a few podcasts queued up to listen to throughout the day, to help make dull activities as painless as possible. Unfortunately the cost to me of my love of the convenience and frequency of podcasts is that my reading habit has deteriorated into non-existence.

Only as a result of having nothing left to listen to tonight, I’ve resorted to picking up The Stand by Stephen King from the point I last put it down, now over a year ago! Maybe I should give audio-books a go, since I don’t know how I plan to get through these books on my shelf, which in the past would have never presented a challenge to me.