This ye ar marks the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage to New York City. On the 15^th of April 1912, the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after she was struck by an iceberg, killing 1514 people. At the time of her maiden voyage, she was the largest ship ever to be built at over 32m tall, 269m long and 28m wide.

The iceberg hit the Titanic at 11:40pm (ships time, 2:40am GMT) on the 14^th of April 1912. Over the next two and half hours after the iceberg had hit the ship slowly filled up with water and sank, her spine finally snapping at 2:20am. During the time in which the ship was sinking, the lifeboats were deployed, saving a total of 710 people out of her original 2224. Even if the lifeboats had been…

The Great Dictator is Charlie Chaplin’s first talking film released in October 1940 and typically Chaplin plays the lead role as well as writing, directing and producing the film. It tells the story of the ruthless, yet rather farcical, dictator of Tomainia, Adenoid Hynkel, (sound strangely familiar?) and his uncanny lookalike Jewish barber who is never named throughout the film.  It shows Hynkel’s persecution of the Jew s and his plans to invade neighbouring country, Osterlich, with the ultimate gain to rule the world. If you hadn’t already worked it out, The Great Dictator is a satire on Adolf Hitler and fascist Germany.

Being one of the great pioneers of slapstick, Chaplin pulls off yet another hilarious slapstick performance in the film with memorable scenes being the…

Let me guess, you raised your eyebrows a little at the very mention of the word; sighed frustratedly. Hasn’t J.K.Rowling done enough? I have to admit that I felt the same way, when, a few days ago, I signed myself up to Pottermore. Well, I thought, I might as well see what it’s like, it’s an experiment, I mean, I’ve seen all the films and read all the books and I’m pretty sure I have most of them on audio tape. Okay, so there was that one time that I queued up at midnight for the last book and then refused to eat until I had finished it. Or that time when [Spoiler alert! – oh who am I kidding, everyone’s read it] Fred died and I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry until J.K .Rowling damn well reincarnated the adorable little prankster. But besides that I’m barely even a fan of Harry Potter, and anyhow, Pottermore can’t really be all that, can it?

So I dutifully filled in the questionnaire and got my username (ThornMirror27840 –…

As we come ever nearer to the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games, the team creating the – highly controversial – identity that the event has taken thus far (that’s mascots, logos, faulty clocks and interestingly American official food) have designed it wise to announce the slogan chosen to represent everything the UK can provide to international sport. A slogan being, as any good dictionary will joyfully define, the phrase chosen to encapsulate the beliefs and ideals encompassed therein.

Right. So what, Planet Earth, can Britain do for you? Why are we holding the Olympics? What do we believe gives us the edge? Who better to ask than Lord Coe?

What’s that Seb? Oh right. We can ‘inspire a generation’.

I’m not so much a…

When two cops in their mid twenties go undercover as high scho ol students in order to crack a teenage drug ring, hilarity inevitably ensues. Like most American high school comedies, there is plenty of slapstick, swearing and high speed chases thrown in for good measure.

Although the film is set at high school, adults will also enjoy the humour the film has to provide along with teenagers. 21 Jump Street demonstrates the significant change in the social classes over the previous 10 years, as Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) discover that the days of Jocks vs. Nerds are now long gone and they find that eco-cool, internet-savvy, appropriately dressed, politically correct and sexually liberated teenagers now occupy the peak of the school’s social…

This coming of age story follows Charlie, an awkward and shy freshman at high school who is experiencing the twists and turns of teenage life. As the reader of the book, you are the recipient of Charlie’s letters, in which he documents everything that happens to him in an honest and poignant manner. Charlie is so open and revealing in these letters that you will find yourself becoming more and more involved in his experiences as his stories unravel.