Month: June 2019

Boris and his leadership debate no shows!


‘My feeling about them is that they are essential, the viewers, the public does need to see interchange between their potential leaders. And I think the way for politicians to allay their anxieties about leadership debates is to have as many of them as possible, so you can make a cock up in one of them and say something sensible in the next and that is the way to do it’.

Those were the words of Boris Johnson, the front runner in the race to replace Theresa May as our next Prime Minister. Yet, the former foreign secretary and current MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip was the only one of the then six remaining candidates (Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey and Mark Harper had already been eliminated while Matt Hancock withdrew after the first round) not to show up for the first televised debate on Channel 4 last weekend. He has since refused to attend a lobby debate in Westminister and a Sky News televised debate yesterday. Channel 4 did not cancel and subsequently unseated him; leaving a podium empty to mark his absence but why did he not attend? read more

Avengers Endgame (2019).

Producer: Kevin Feige 
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
BBFC: 12A
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Evans, Brie Larsson, Scarlett Johnsson, Chris Hemsworth, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Gweneth Paltrow, Paul Rudd, Josh Brolin, 
Supporting cast: Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Pratt, Dave Battista, Vin Diesel, Sebastian Stan, Natalie Portman, Danai Gurira, Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Benedict Wong, Evangeline Lily, Elizabeth Olsen, Tilda Swinton, Tessa ThompsonPom Klementieff, Zoe Saldana, Taika Waititi, Hayley Atwell.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 97%
IMDb rating: 8.7/10
The Mind of Rowan Rating: 10/10.

This is it. After 21 different films spanning 11 years since Iron Man (2008) preceding it and at three hours the longest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it all comes down to this; the endgame. Trust me though, it does not feel like three hours when watching it.

If you are reading this and have not yet watched the movie yet then this is your one chance to click away and avoid spoilers. It has been out more than a month now. You have been warned! read more

Vettel takes the chequered flag but Hamilton the winner: Canadian Grand Prix 2019 Review

The 4.361km, 14 turn Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal hosted the 50th F1 Championship Canadian Grand Prix and kick-started a manic spell in F1 of 6 Grand Prix in the space of 9 weeks before the summer recess. It is also traditionally the first race that teams bring their first engine upgrades. Honda introduced their first update in Baku while Ferrari accelerated there’s to Spain leaving Renault and Mercedes to introduce upgrades. I’m not too sure if Renault did or brought their upgrade earlier but Mercedes certainly did and it helped set up a fairly exciting Canadian Grand Prix which ultimately ended in controversy.

Gilles Villeneuve Circuit. [Image from formula1.com].

There were some early eliminations in Qualifying as Kimi Raikkonen fell out at Q1 for the first time since the 2015 Austrian Grand Prix while Kevin Magnussen’s massive shunt at the Wall of Champions in Q2 brought out the red flags and ended Max Verstappen’s involvement; his first failure to reach Q3 since the US Grand Prix in October. Renault got all four of their peered cars into Q3 for the first time in 2019 and in the battle for pole, it was between Ferrari and Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel took his first pole position in 17 races with Lewis Hamilton qualifying 2nd to set up a tense race battle. read more

Hamilton miracle drive seals his third Monaco win as F1 mourns a legend: 2019 Monaco Grand Prix Review.

The principality of Monte Carlo marked 90 years of racing this year. The very first race in these famous streets was way back in 1929! Such a momentous occasion was marred slightly by the one name on everyone’s lips in the paddock; Nikia Lauda. The three-time World Champions death in the week preceding the race was marked with a minutes silence before the race [pictured above].

On the track, could Mercedes dominant start to 2019 be halted? Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was in fine form on Thursday practice topping both sessions but the home favourite Charles Leclerc looked to be in with a chance after he topped the final practice session. It went wrong for the Monegasque in Qualifying as believing him to be safe; kept him in the garage as Vettel improved to knock his teammate out. In the end, six-tenths covered 1st to 16th. Max Verstappen in the Red Bull looked to threaten for pole but it was Valtteri Bottas who looked to have pole position before Hamilton produced a stunning lap on his final Q3 run to pip his teammate by 0.082s. read more