Here's a shout out to all of the directors that have given me a memorable viewing experience at some point in my lifetime. This list is designed to give credit to my favourite director's work and offer homage to their incredible efforts. I have also cited my favourite movie offering from each director as well, just in case you wanted to know where I thought that they had put down their best work thus far. 
What made me really happy when I was compiling this list was just how varied, vast and interesting the styles of direction are that I have been fortunate enough to experience, but what made me really sad was the lack of female directors that made this list. Clearly, the role of director is still a very male dominated field in Hollywood. I did happen to notice that all of the best movie nominations at the Golden Globes this year were all for male directors. And the saddest thing of all about this is, that it is not at all indicative of female directorial ability or talent in any way, shape or form, what it is indicative of is the lack of opportunities for upcoming female directors, and that is something that really needs to change.
Some of the best movies and television programs that I have seen over the last few years were both written and directed by women. Women have incredible and engaging stories to tell both in front of and behind the camera, and I for one would like to see more of them in the future. So, please make sure that you too are making an effort to see more movies that have been directed women in a show of support for all of the female directing pioneers that are out there telling their stories and sharing their visions in a very male dominated industry. 
So without any further ado, here are my favourite movie directors (in no particular order other than my recall ability) and my favourite movies that they have brought to life on screen. 
David Lynch - A true visionary in every sense, he's the man behind Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man and Eraserhead. Lynch is known for his surrealist cinema stylings and deeply original point of view.
BEST MOVIE: Mulholland Drive
Wes Anderson - The king of quirk with a distinct visual style and amusing narrative. He's delivered gems like The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel and has produced two incredible stop motion children's animations as well, one of which is on my Hall of Fame.
BEST MOVIE: Fantastic Mr Fox
Lars von Trier- A Danish director and scriptwriter that has had a long and controversial career. Basically he seems to enjoy destroying beautiful things in all of his films, which are gritty and damning. He's responsible for Nymphomaniac, Antichrist, Dancer in the Dark and Dogville, which all left a mark on me. 
BEST MOVIE: Melancholia
Jason Reitman - Reitman seems to 'get' women and understand difficult relationship dynamics, and his films certainly portray that knowledge. He brought us Juno, Up in the Air, Tully and Young Adult which were all exceptionally good. 
BEST MOVIE: Labor Day 
Taika Waititi - A clever New Zealand comedy filmmaker who always seems to get the right balance between poignancy and laughs in his films. He's the funny guy behind Moana (he wrote the first screenplay), What We Do in the Shadows, Eagle vs Shark, Boy and most recently Jojo Rabbit. 
BEST MOVIE: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Peter Jackson - Jackson is responsible for all of the journeys that I took in darkened cinemas to Middle Earth, I bloody love ya Peter! Besides the all of the LOTR's and The Hobbits, he is also the man behind King Kong, The Lovely Bones and the incredible documentary They Shall Not Grow Old. 
BEST MOVIE: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
John Hughes - Hughes pretty much dictated everything that I became obsessed with in my teens. From bad boys to '80's fashion Hughes could do no wrong. I have rewatched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles and Weird Science countless times, they're absolute classics. 
BEST MOVIE: The Breakfast Club
Stanley Kubrick  - Probably one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Kubrick has crossed so many genres that his body of work is dizzying! He gave us giants like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Spartacus and A Clockwork Orange. 
BEST MOVIE: Eyes Wide Shut
Alejandro González Iñárritu - With a flair for telling the most compelling international stories about the human condition, this highly acclaimed Mexican director gave us some unforgettable cinematic experiences like Birdman, Amores Perros, 21 Grams and The Revenant. 
BEST MOVIE: Babel
Oliver Stone - A controversial director that has been accused of being a conspiracy theorist. He actually wrote the script for Scarface (which was directed by Brian De Palma) and also gave us Platoon, The Doors, Born on the Fourth of July and Wall Street. 
BEST MOVIE: Natural Born Killers
Michel Gondry - A French director that uses strong visual themes and compositions (often called Mise-en-scene)  to tell a story. Because of this, Gondry's movies are visually striking and are often considered to be art house or avante-garde. He gave us The Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind and most recently the brilliant  television series Kidding. 
BEST MOVIE: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Guillermo del Toro - A visionary fantasy director from Mexico who creatively brings monsters and mythical creatures to life in his films. Generally science fiction, horror or fantasy based, del Toro gave us some amazing otherworldly journeys through The Shape of Water, Hellboy and Crimson Peak.
BEST MOVIE: Pan's Labyrinth
Danny Boyle - This British director delivers equal measures of intense action and sincere emotion into everything that he does.  He's tried his hand at many genres and kept us gripped with Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, The Beach and more recently, Yesterday.
BEST MOVIE: Slumdog Millionaire
Sam Mendes - The buzz around this director has been huge this year, given the success of 1917. However, let's not forget all of his other epic offerings like American Beauty, Skyfall and Revolutionary Road.
BEST MOVIE: 1917 
James Wan  - An Australian-Malaysian director who rose to prominence after he co-created the Saw film franchise. Since then he has been scaring the pants off people with memorable horror films like The Conjuring, Insidious and Annabelle films.
BEST MOVIE: The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case
Greta Gerwig - Actress and filmmaker, Gerwig collaborated with her partner (who is also a director) Noah Baumbach on several films before she kicked off her solo directing career in 2017 with Lady Bird. Since then, Gerwig has become a respected and predominant modern Hollywood director. 
BEST MOVIE: Little Women
Ridley Scott - I feel like I grew up watching Ridley Scott action and science fiction films. He's been entertaining me for decades and he's had some mind blowingly great movies like Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and American Gangster. 
BEST MOVIE: The Martian
Michael Moore - A controversial American documentary filmmaker that gets up in everyone's face; love him or hate him, Michael Moore is hard to ignore. He's hit some very high notes with Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko and Where to Invade Next. 
BEST MOVIE: Bowling for Columbine
Guy Ritchie - Before he married Madonna, Ritchie was making heaps of kick arse British gangster movies that were really funny and very entertaining.  He has just recently gone back to doing that again with The Gentlemen, but let's not forget that he also did Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla and believe it or not, the 2019 live action version of Aladdin. 
BEST MOVIE: Snatch
Jim Jarmusch - The patron saint of independent cinema since the '80's, Jarmusch's films are really arty, really cool, very edgy and hypnotically contemplative. He gave us Paterson, Deadman and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. 
BEST MOVIE: Only Lovers Left Alive
Steven Soderbergh - When Soderbergh made Unsane in 2018 and filmed it all on his iphone he made us feel like we were wasting our lives! He's a pioneer of independent cinema and his body of work is incredibly impressive; he gave us Contagion, Erin Brockovich and the Ocean's franchise. 
BEST MOVIE: Logan Lucky 
Christopher Nolan - He probably got a bit pigeon-holed for a while due to his Batman trilogy efforts (which I also loved) but let's not forget that he also gave us other memorable epics like Inception, Dunkirk and Memento. 
BEST MOVIE: Interstellar
Sam Raimi - Raimi terrified audiences in the 80's with The Evil Dead and then enchanted them in the early 2000's with Spiderman so it would be fair to say that his work is varied and vast. He also gave us some very noteworthy cult horror movies like Army of Darkness, Drag Me to Hell and Don't Breathe.
BEST MOVIE: The Evil Dead
Clint Eastwood - He blew everyone away when he started directing and acting in a string of extremely good and Oscar worthy movies, which he is still doing to this day. The man's got some serious talent and gave us gems like  Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River.
BEST MOVIE: Unforgiven
Tim Burton - No-one does eccentric gothic horror and fantasy films better than Burton, he is the master! He has a style that is all his own, and with a lot of help from wife Helena Bonham Carter and actor Johnny Depp he's given us fantastical romps into magical fantasy worlds that have included Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Beetlejuice, Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands and Alice in Wonderland. 
BEST MOVIE: Sweeney Todd
Ang Lee - A visionary and a genuinely beautiful storyteller. It's rare for me not to get choked up when I watch an Ang Lee movie, they are just so deeply affecting. He gave us the gorgeous Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Life of Pi and The Ice Storm. 
BEST MOVIE: Brokeback Mountain
Sofia Coppola - Daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia has proven her worth as a director in her own right by delivering thoughtful explorations of female relationships and genuine, modern impressions of the human experience. She was responsible for The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette and The Beguiled. 
BEST MOVIE: Lost in Translation
Judd Apatow -An American comedy director that started out producing and developing the television show Freaks and Geeks in the late 90's. He went on to direct Trainwreck, The 40-year-old Virgin and Knocked Up and also write some of the funniest movies that I have ever seen. 
​BEST MOVIE: Superbad
Alfred Hitchcock - The most influential and extensively studied filmmaker in the history of cinema, how could I possibly leave Hitchcock off my list? He's been giving audiences thrills and chills for years, and he still is with his extensive repertoire of thriller classics like North by Northwest, The Birds, Rear Window and Vertigo.
BEST MOVIE: Psycho
David Fincher - Ever since I saw The Game in 1997 I became interested in seeing more of Fincher's work. He's delivered a strong, controversial and impactful body of work and was responsible for Seven, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network and Gone Girl.
BEST MOVIE: Fight Club
Paolo Sorrentino - An Italian director with an eye for truly beautiful and meaningful cinema. His films are absolute masterpieces and offer viewers moments of contemplation and glimpses of magic - I am obsessed with his work. He's responsible for Youth and This Must Be the Place. 
BEST MOVIE: The Great Beauty.
Joel and Ethan Coen - Genius brothers who bring something fresh, quirky and unique to the screen every time.  Their repertoire is so vast and so excellent that I really struggled to pick my favourite because they delivered The Big Lebowski, Blood Simple, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Fargo, Raising Arizona, Burn After Reading and True Grit, all of which were exceptionally great.
BEST MOVIE: No Country For Old Men
Alfonso Cuaron - A critically acclaimed Mexican director with an impeccable body of high quality work that crosses just about every genre of cinema including thriller, fantasy, science fiction and drama. Thanks Cuaron for giving us truly unforgettable moments like Y Tu Mama Tambien, Gravity and Children of Men.
BEST MOVIE: Roma
Francis Ford Coppola - Widely considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Coppola practically had an all out nervous breakdown whilst filming Apocalypse Now in 1979. His commitment to 'getting the film right' has led people to see him a visionary of cinema. He gave us such giants as The Godfather trilogy, Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Outsiders. 
BEST MOVIE: Apocalypse Now
Quentin Tarantino - Known for his uber violent, non-linear storylines that contain extended dialogue, huge ensemble casts and loads of Pop Culture references, Tarantino has a style that is all his own. Many of his films pay homage to all of his own cinematic loves, especially Japanese martial arts, kung fu movies, spaghetti westerns and Italian horror. He's the man behind the following cinematic  juggernauts - Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Django Unchained, Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2, Death Proof and The Hateful Eight.
BEST MOVIE: Inglourious Basterds
Martin McDonagh - Considered to be the most acclaimed living Irish- British playwright, McDonagh caught my attentions when he made In Bruge, and then delivered again with Seven Psychopaths in 2012. But we all know him best for his amazing 2017 offering that made my Hall of Fame.
BEST MOVIE: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Kathryn Bigelow - Spreading herself across a wide range of genres, Bigelow is not afraid to grapple the big topics. She is forging the way for future female directors with her stellar repertoire which includes Zero Dark Thirty, Near Dark and Point Break.
BEST MOVIE: The Hurt Locker
Darren Aronofsky - A director with a flair for delivering surreal, melodramatic and often disturbing content in his movies. Audiences often seem divided on Aronofsky's material, but I think that he is one of the most talented filmmakers of his generation. He brought us Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, Pi, The Fountain and Mother!
BEST MOVIE: The Wrestler
Steven Spielberg - Okay, I know that he can be cheesy as hell, but when he gets it right - he really gets it right. There's a reason that Spielberg is still filling cinemas, the man knows how to make a movie. Besides I was virtually raised on Spielberg's material. He gave us E.T., Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Ready Player One, Schindler's List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, War of the Worlds and Jaws. 
BEST MOVIE: A.I. 
Tarsem Singh - An Indian director that creates films that are a complete immersion and a true feast for the senses. Stunning and absolutely unforgettable, I love his vision and wish that he would make more movies. Singh gave us Immortals, The Cell and Mirror Mirror.
BEST MOVIE: The Fall
Paul Thomas Anderson - Contemplative and filled with flawed and desperate characters, Anderson's movies explore dysfunctional families, alienation and loneliness and they are deeply affecting. He delivered some of my favourite cinematic experiences like Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love.
BEST MOVIE: There Will Be Blood.
Martin Scorsese - An American director best known for his gangster and crime movies, he is widely considered to be one of the most influential directors of the New Hollywood era. He tends to cast the same actors in many of his movies, and he has a long professional relationship with Robert De Niro. Scorsese gave us Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, The Departed, Raging Bull and most recently The Irishman. 
BEST MOVIE: Casino
David Cronenberg - Sometimes called the 'Baron of Blood' due to his visceral body horror movies. Cronenberg has made films that people never forget that they have seen, because they are so grotesque! It's really no surprise that I love his work! He gave us The Fly, Videodrome and  Scanners.
BEST MOVIE: eXistenZ
Alexander Payne -  One of the best filmmakers of all time, Payne's movies are full of dark humour and satirical depictions of a dysfunctional modern America. He's the man behind Sideways, About Schmidt and Nebraska.
BEST MOVIE: The Descendants
Jennifer Kent - Kent made her directorial debut in 2014 with the haunting film The Babadook. She is an Australian director that is willing to handle sensitive and disturbing material. Her 2018 movie The Nightingale caused waves due to it's graphic content, but I thought that it was one of the best film of that year. 
BEST MOVIE: The Nightingale
Roman Polanski - I wish that someone that wasn't a pedophile had directed Rosemary's Baby because it's definitely one of my favourite movies of all time. But the love ends there Roman because you're just not a good guy. 
BEST MOVIE: Rosemary's Baby 
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: aka 'I still love ya'

• Terrence Malick - The Thin Red Line and The Tree of Life, total game changers.
• Brian de Palma - Carrie and Scarface, enough said. 
• Dario Argento - 1977 Suspiria, nothing has come close to matching it in crazy colour design and stylised macabre.
• Neill Blomkamp - District 9 was next level genius, can we get more of that please? 
• Baz Luhrmann - Absolutely loved the Red Curtain Trilogy, and let's not forget The Great Gatsby or Australia. 
• Duncan Jones - you had me at Moon.
• Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea, one of the most affecting movies I've ever seen.
• Woody Allen - actually I really don't love ya - NOT at all, you're a weirdo and you're a creep! However, I cannot deny that Blue Jasmine, Annie Hall, Mighty Aphrodite and Vicky Cristina Barcelona were all worthy watches. 

I have no idea how December just suddenly arrived. Actually, I have no idea what happened to this year in general, it just doesn't feel like we are reaching the end of another year. And what a year it has been, talk about the best of times and the worst of times... it's been a year of complete polarities and I really haven't processed all of the goings on properly yet, and I more than likely won't now until the school term ends in three weeks time. 
That being said, there is nothing like being busy to distract one from all worry and strife, so the hectic state of December poses some welcome this year for me and in all honesty I am looking forward to the days falling away at the unrelenting pace that they will from here on in. Let them go I say, let the year end! I am ready to gain a fresh start and shake off 2019 like an old winter coat. I am looking forward to a long summer break full of of pointless novels, cocktail concoctions, midnight movie marathons and unlimited meditation and yoga sessions. Looking forward to it? Hell, I am craving it!  
The Christmas tree has gone up here and even thought the festive decorations have been strewn about the house, it still feels completely surreal and unbelievable to think that Christmas is only 24 days away. I have barely even acknowledged the concept of Christmas shopping, which feels not only premature but also somewhat overwhelming to me at the moment. It might be a good year to do all of my Christmas shopping online which would save me the gauntlet of fake santas, antsy people, tired kids, overstocked shops, horrific Christmas music and general indecision. No-one will care if I am procrastinating online with my gift choices and I can do it in my pajamas on a Sunday morning from the comfort of my bed which is also a pretty huge bonus!  
However, to be honest I am finding that I am struggling to find the time to do much of anything lately. I have been dreadfully neglectful of Spicywatch and have been blogging only half as much as I would like to. I have a stockpile of unwatched movies, TV series, audio books and podcasts that would be considered ridiculous to anyone but myself. My garden basically looks like jungle and my veggie patch has either gone to seed or gone to God; and everywhere that I look I see things that are needing my attention but I am just not interested in doing any of it. And it's weird because I am not depressed, sad or anything like that, I am just not as motivated as I usually am. I am...hmmm... the best way that I can put it is that I am just 'going along for the ride.' 
And I suppose that sometimes it is not a bad thing to just 'go along for the ride' but it isn't something that I do very often and it is weird to feel so damn unenthusiastic when I am usually quite the opposite. And I do understand full well that this state won't last forever, and that it is probably just the acceptance stage of my grieving that is causing me to feel this way, which is totally natural and doesn't require me to overthink or even address it but to just 'go along with it.' 
And so I shall, I will just go with it and allow the silly season to take me wherever it may. Everything else can wait until I have more free time and a renewed sense of motivation, which will return to me eventually, but for now I shall relax my mind and gently float downstream...there's no need to swim against the current right now. 

I do love a good horror anthology movie, and there are some absolute rippers out there. I think that when it comes to good anthology movies, you always feel like you are getting more bang for your buck and horror is the perfect genre for a short sharp burst of thrill and wicked excitement. The first horror anthology film that I ever saw was The Twilight Zone Movie in 1983. My parents took me to the Melton theatre to see it when I was 9 years old and it scared the absolute shit out of me, but it also started my love of short story horror, a love that has never gone away. 
The main problem that I have with horror anthology movies is that a lot of the time they can be extremely underwhelming and not very well executed. Some directors will cut corners because they aren't delivering a full length film and the end result can be more scab than scare. Which was unfortunately the case with the latest horror anthology to hit cinemas last month Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark. This film may hold some appeal with younger audiences, but a word of caution to any serious horror anthology veterans out there, prepare to be somewhat underwhelmed!
It could in fact be said that horror anthologies are often pretty bloody awful, but sometimes on the rare occasion when they do get the short story horror recipe just right, it can actually be highly entertaining, clever and completely engrossing.
And so, with all that being said, I feel that I must share a list of my favourite horror anthology movies with you. After all, Halloween is just on the horizon and any of these collections of horror treasure would make a perfect viewing choice for a ghoulish Halloween night in! 

1. Ghost Stories 
2. Three...Extremes
3. The ABC's of Death 
4. Trick 'r Treat
5. Tales from the Crypt 
6. The Twilight Zone Movie
7. Creepshow
8. Creepshow 2 
9. Tales from the Darkside
10. Cat's Eye

GHOST STORIES
Release Date: 2018
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 98 mins
An anthology horror film, written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, that was based on their stage play of the same name. The film comprises of three short tales of ghostly sightings and supernatural phenomenon, which  are interwoven with one main story that holds it all together. If you were ever a fan of old school horror anthologies like Creepshow, then you will probably enjoy this as much as I did. 
Phillip Goodman is a well known debunker of fraudulent psychics and a serious sceptic of everything paranormal. He receives an invitation from a fellow paranormal debunker that was one of his childhood inspirations back in the 1970's. The ageing investigator asks him to re-open three old cases that he could never prove to be fake. Goodman agrees and discovers more than he bargained for along the way. 
There is no denying that this film is creepy and at times perplexing as well, it uses genuinely effective methods of horror and it isn't reliant on jump scares or CGI effects to elicit fear, and for me it really worked. The three short stories were really interesting, probably more so than the main tale that binds it all together, but even still I really enjoyed Ghost Stories and was genuinely creeped out by its weird and often unsettling content. 
FINAL SAY: We have to be very careful what we choose to believe. 
3.5 Chilli Peppers ​

Whenever I tell people that I have a website that is dedicated to reviewing movies they always ask me the same question - What's Your Favourite Movie of All Time? As a lover of movies, this is one of the hardest questions that I ever get asked because it is almost impossible to choose just one movie when I have seen and enjoyed so many.
There is a reason that I have a Hall of Fame page that is dedicated to movies that I gave 5 Chilli Peppers to, and that's because I find it so hard to compare movies from different genres against each other. If someone asks me what my favourite movie is, I usually respond with 'that depends on which genre you're talking about.'
If I could have the option of choosing a favourite in each genre, then I could definitely tell you my favourites without any trouble at all:
DRAMA: Manchester by the Sea
HORROR: Rosemary's Baby
SCIENCE FICTION: Interstellar
​WAR: Inglourious Basterds
SUPER: Avengers: Endgame
COMEDY: Snatch
CRIME/ACTION: No Country for Old Men
ART HOUSE: Youth
FOREIGN: The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) 
FANTASY: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
GRITTY: Melancholia
ROMANCE: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
KID FRIENDLY: Kubo and the Two Strings 

So why are these my favourite films when I have so many more listed on my Hall of Fame that are also 5 Chilli Peppers worthy? Well that's easy, these are the movies that I go back to time and time again and always enjoy them just as much as I did the first time that I watched them. All of them had an effect on me in one way or another and all of them left me pondering after I had seen them. I guess that I really don't have one favourite movie of all time, I actually have 13, which also happens to be my lucky number! 

Most people have suffered from some form of anxiety in their lives, some more severe than others, but we all know what it feels like to be anxious, worried or stressed. Unfortunately, anxiety is not something that many people would feel comfortable to admit to having because we all feel so much pressure to appear 'put together.' No-one wants to seem like they haven't got their shit together because we all exist in the same world, a world that praises high achievers and snubs failure. It's a social status quo and we are all expected to adhere to the unspoken parametres within that expectation, but for people with anxiety it can be very challenging to keep it all together without sacrificing their overall wellbeing. 
Chronic anxiety sufferers are usually acutely aware of their condition and are often medicated and/or professionally supported to manage their stress levels, but high functioning anxiety sufferers can go completely unnoticed and may not even be aware that they have anxiety themselves. Unchecked high functioning anxiety sufferers can develop into chronic sufferers if they don't receive proper treatment or intervention. It is therefore extremely important for everyone to be aware of the signs and symptoms of high functioning anxiety so that they can identify when others may require support, or if they are suffering from any unchecked symptoms themselves. 
1. Hair pulling and skin picking
This is a very typical sign in anxiety sufferers. Nail biting, picking the skin around nails, cracking knuckles, biting the inside of their mouth or pacing around are all physically signs that the sufferer is attempting to release anxiety. 
2. Lying in Bed Awake
Anxiety sufferers have sleep problems because they cannot shut off their minds, ongoing sleep deprivation will only escalate a sufferers anxiety levels if it goes unchecked. 
3. Experience Racing Thoughts
Another common symptom of anxiety sufferers is compulsive overthinking, they will think about things far into the future and even go through several scenarios in their minds. They will struggle to unwind or shut down after a working day. 
4. Overplanning
Extensive to-do lists, over-researching topics, planning the week ahead in extreme detail and over packing for simple excursions are all signs that a person is dealing with anxiety.
5. Counting
Anxious people often count items in a room, like lights on the roof or tiles on a floor in an attempt to quiet their racing mind. 
6. Engaging in Rituals
Just like counting, needing things to be competed in a ritualistic form are ways of releasing anxiety. However, often the rituals become so ingrained that they actually elevate a sufferers anxiety levels when they become obsessive. 
7. Procrastinating
Many high functioning anxiety sufferers are also perfectionists, so they will procrastinate things that may feel like they are not up to completing successfully. 
8. Writing Dozens of Notes
Anxiety sufferers will want to write everything down in an attempt to stay in control. They will have Post-it notes plastered everywhere, it makes them feel like they have increased their bandwidth for higher performance. 
9. Over-Organising
Creating systems of predictability decreases anxiety for sufferers. They will want a clear schedule when they are taken out of their usual environment and they prefer to design that themselves. 
10. Unexplained aches and soreness in muscles
This is because anxiety sufferers tend to tighten up involuntarily which can lead to a sore neck, back and shoulders. They may need to see their physiotherapist more as a consequence.

As I mentioned earlier, we have all suffered from some form of anxiety in our lives and if you suffer from one or two of these symptoms occasionally then you probably don't really have anything to worry about. However, if you can relate to more than half of these symptoms, then you may be suffering from high functioning anxiety. So, if you feel like any of your symptoms are holding you back from feeling happy or being more fulfilled, then it is probably time for you to talk to a therapist about some treatment and strategies to help you manage your anxiety levels. Remember, unchecked high functioning anxiety can lead to more serious health complications down the track if it is left untreated, so if you are concerned about your stress or anxiety levels get some professional advice and support as soon as you can. 

​IT FOLLOWS
Release Date: 2015
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 100 mins 
When it comes to creepy as hell concepts, this film wins hands down. Directed and written by David Robert Mitchell, It Follows is a smart and original horror that will make even the toughest horror fans edgy with it's fast building paranoia. 
19 year old Jay has the worst sexual encounter possible, discovering soon after that her sexual partner has passed on to her an insidious and relentless being that follows it's prey day and night until it destroys them. The only way to get rid of this follower is to have sex with someone else and then they become the followed, however, if they should be killed by it, then it automatically transfers itself back to the last in line. 
This is terrifically atmospheric horror, working on multiple levels and rife with tension and anxiety. The story plays out well, with a cast of virtually unknown youngsters all behaving convincingly horrified and concerned, and the overall feeling that you are left with is one of unease, what more could you ask for when it comes to horror? 
FINAL SAY: It could look like someone you know, or it could be a stranger in a crowd.
4 Chilli Peppers

One of the things that I do enjoy most about a mid-winter break is the ability to catch up on some late night viewing and couch potato antics without any guilty feelings whatsoever. Not having to get up and go to work in the morning allows me to indulge in the pleasure of watching entire seasons of television programs and back to back movies, and honestly it is just heaven. With a good strong coffee in hand, a couple of fluffed up pillows and a cosy blanket, I have managed to wonderfully while away many of my holiday evenings in front of the idiot box and I am more than happy to share my joyful at home viewing highlights with you, should you also wish to indulge in some quality lounge room viewing. 

As far as television goes, there has been no shortage of high quality, engaging programming to get completely lost in this year. I have watched a tonne of television this year, more than I ever have before and a lot of it has been of a really high standard as well. The best that I have seen and would highly recommend so far this year are: (in no particular order) 
Escape at Dannemora (Stan) - dramatisation
Sally 4Ever (HBO - Foxtel) - comedy
After Life (Netflix) - comedy drama
Les Miserables (BBC - Foxtel) - period drama
Game of Thrones - S8 (HBO - Foxtel) - fantasy drama
American Gods S2 (Amazon Prime) - fantasy drama
What We Do in the Shadows (FX - Foxtel) - horror comedy 
This Country (Stan) - comedy mockumentary 
Forever (Amazon Prime) - fantasy drama
Killing Eve s2 (ABC iview) - crime drama
The Last O.G. S2 (Stan) - comedy 
The Let Down S2 (ABC iview) - comedy 
Bad Omens (Amazon Prime) - fantasy drama
Detectorists S3 (ABC iview)  - comedy 
Gentleman Jack (HBO - Foxtel) - period drama
Bridget & Eamon (Amazon Prime) - comedy 
Euphoria (HBO - Foxtel) - drama
Chernobyl (HBO - Foxtel) - dramatisation 
The Act: Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose (Hulu - Foxtel) - dramatisation 
Perpetual Grace (Stan) - art house 
Big Little Lies S2 (HBO - Foxtel) - drama
Stranger Things S3 (Netflix)  - science fiction

To be honest, quality movies to view at home have been a little thinner on the ground, but it is often quite hard for me to find things that I haven't already seen on streaming channels because I go to the movies so often. Seth and I have been trawling through a lot of classic horror, which SBS on demand has an excellent selection of, should you need to sate a yearning for retro horror like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Hellraiser or Scanners. Aside from that Amazon Prime has the largest B grade horror library that I have ever encountered, admittedly it is mostly shit, but you can find the odd retro gem in there as well like Night of the Living Dead, Carrie,  Zombieland and the Friday the 13th Series. 
However, without further ado, here is a list of the best movies that I have watched on the couch (not at the cinema) this year so far: (again listed in no particular order)
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool - Netflix (Romance) 
It's Actually a Funny Story - Netflix (Drama)
Suspiria - Amazon Prime (Horror) 
Hush - Netflix (Horror) 
Tully - Netflix (Drama)
The Poughkeepsie Tapes - Stan (Gritty) 
Observance - Amazon Prime (Horror)
American Animals - Foxtel (Crime) 
I am Mother - Netflix (Sci-Fi) 
Pin Cushion - SBS on demand (Gritty) 
Mandy - Foxtel (Horror) 
Full reviews of all of these films can be found on the corresponding genre lists in the drop down menu above if you're looking for more information.
Happy viewing my friends! 

I cannot say exactly how many times I have heard people complaining to me how much certain things annoy or upset them, like horror movies or certain kinds of reality TV programs or the evening news. Sometimes people even complained to me about how much they hate social media, yet they have every form of it on their phone and will even check it when I am right there in front of them. Hmm.....I have to say that I see a few problems with this kind of behaviour. 
I have a real problem with people saying how much certain forms of media disturb them when they actually have a lot of power to control the amounts that will actually filter through to them in the first place. Don't like horror? Cool then don't watch it. Don't like the horrible stories on the news? Well there is an off button that you can click if it is affecting you too much, so use it. Not enjoying social media platforms? Well, just delete your accounts. No-one is holding anyone to ransom on any of these issues, you do not have to watch or participate in any of these forms of media if you find them disturbing, but for some reason people feel like they do have to and it's annoying as hell to me.
Free will people, participate or don't, watch or look away, this isn't the set of the movie A Clockwork Orange, no-one is holding your eyeballs open with toothpicks and insisting that you watch, you actually don't have to watch anything that you don't want to do. You don't ever have to watch things that you don't like and you don't have to subject yourself to things that upset you, and just for the record, you are not going to get martyred for enduring Facebook or Instagram, so just delete your profile if it gives you the shits. 
It's normal and fine to not like certain things or to not want to be subjected to continual media propaganda or political hype all of the time, but what I don't get is, why does anyone feel like they need to? Just look away, switch off, choose not to be a cog in the machine if that makes you feel better, just do whatever makes you happy. Just don't look if it offends you, and move on. Whatever you do, just do me a favour and don't keep on thinking that anyone actually cares if you don't like to watch certain things, because they don't care, they really just don't care at all. And trust me when I say that no-one is ever going to think that you're a legend for watching the nightly news or posting on Facebook if you hate it. 
And while I am on a rant, can I just say that checking your social media or using your phone when you are with me is never going to garner favour because I really don't like it. I find constant phone check-ins as socially inept and rude as helicopter parents. I am a pre-tech aged person, therefore the allure of devices are limited for me at best. I can still hold really excellent conversations and I do not need to have my phone out on the table when I am around people. My phone is not my security blanket, I functioned for many years without it and guess what? I survived!  And I could live without a mobile phone again in a heartbeat because I actually believe that their existence has been detrimental to proper social interaction overall anyway.
Also, I do not care two shits about your social media goings on, I really don't, so please don't include me or subject me to your online fodder when you are around me. I value face to face, non-interrupted conversation when I am with a person. I do not leave my house to look at other people's phone screens, I could stay at home and look at my own if that's what I wanted to do. I spend time with people for their company, not their crafty use of mobile phones. Sure I like the odd meme, who doesn't? But if you are on your phone for more than 10% of our interactions, I'm not going to be enjoying it, just saying.
However, why should you care what I think anyway? Well, truth be told you shouldn't, do whatever makes you happy, my opinions on phone usage are irrelevant because odds are if you are the type of person who would use their phone that often, then we probably wouldn't hang out together anyway.
​Let's be honest, the bottom line is that I don't have to endure anything that offends me and neither do you, so if it offends you, I say just look away. 

I was getting ready for work the other day and a song from The Lost Boys soundtrack popped up on one of my Spotify playlists, and wow....what a blast from the past! I was instantly transported back to the 1980's, a time when I was an impressionable teenager who was coming of age and was easily obsessed with things of a pop culture nature (not much has changed there). And it was with a smile that I fondly reminisced the things that I had obsessed over at that time in my life. 
The Lost Boys movie was definitely one of those obsessions for me, I loved that film and had Lost Boys posters on the inside my wardrobe because I wasn't allowed to hang pictures up on my bedroom wall. I thought that it was the coolest movie that I had ever seen, probably because it was packed to the rafters with smoking hot teen boys, but I think that I also loved it because all of the characters in the movie seemed to have so many exciting things going on in their lives, and at that time in my life I didn't have a lot going at all, just an intense teenage yearning and a burning curiosity. 
'80's movies will always hold a very special place in my heart, because I was completely obsessed with them as a teenager. Horror, sci-fi, comedy and adventure movies were my favourite genres and I filled many of my bored teenage days with films that I devoutly watched over and over again on the VCR all by myself in the mostly unused and very cold 2nd lounge room of our house. It was there, huddled under a blanket that I spent many wintery weekends, watching and rewatching my favourite movies obsessively. I was almost able to recite some of those films line for line, and I know that that sounds really dorky, but you have to remember that this was a time before the internet and if you weren't running with the cool kids (which I wasn't) there wasn't exactly a lot to do with your time. Besides, a VCR was actually a pretty cool thing to have back then and having access to your own library of tapes was even better!
I was part of the MTV generation, so watching movies was a way to connect with my teenage awkwardness and also a way to vicariously generate some self discovery through the experiences of other teens on screen. It was clearly a time in my life that solidified my movie obsession and also started a genuine thirst within me for more cinematic experiences that would allow me to vicariously see the world through other people's eyes. However, no matter how many movies I watch in my life, I will always and forever have the softest spot for a good '80's teen flick.
Here is a list of my favourite teen movies (in no particular order) that I have seen way too many times for my own good, and even though some of them are not even 3 chilli peppers worthy of being on my genre lists, I cannot deny that I still have a soft spot for the nostalgia that they ignite in me whenever I watch them. 

• The Breakfast Club
• Sixteen Candles
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off
• Weird Science
• Better Off Dead
• Back to the Future
• The Goonies 
• One Crazy Summer
• Fright Night
• Stand by Me

and of course....The Lost Boys.

I have just reached the halfway point of my Autumn holiday break; the time has gone so fast and man oh man, I have been so damn productive! I'm actually pretty chuffed about how much I have managed to get done and genuinely pleased with my consistent efforts to use my time wisely. I've been ticking boxes like a boss, catching up on all of my 'to do' tasks and generally taking care of business in a way that I can't usually manage when I am working and it's been bloody amazing!
In the last 7 days I have serviced my car, been to the dentist, seen the doctor, had a stay in hospital to get something corrected that I've put off for way too long, caught up with my parents, hung out with my kids, had my eyebrows done and my hair trimmed, celebrated a friends birthday, gone to the movies (twice actually), checked out the Picasso collection at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, completed an online PD module, finally put all of my New Zealand holiday photos into an album, planned my Easter Sunday gathering and even spent some time drawing and painting. Phew!
Next week I have another art gallery visit, a few blood tests, a catch up with some friends, an overnight trip to Queenscliff, Craig's birthday and also Easter to wrangle; basically a walk in the park after last week's mammoth effort. I am hoping that there will be some room for at least one more decent sleep in before it all comes to an end!
I'm also quite proud of the fact that even though my usual routine has been totally thrown out of the window, I've not compromised on my daily yoga practises, walks, meditation, reading, podcast listening, TV binging or movie watching over the holiday period. I have read almost three books in 10 days and faithfully watched at least one film a day since I went on holidays over a week ago. For some unknown reason a large majority of those films have unintentionally been horror movies, but as a huge horror fan this has presented me with some surprisingly enjoyable viewings.
When it comes to TV, like 95% of the rest of the world, I am most excited about Game of Thrones returning tomorrow to kick off the final and most anticipated TV episodes of all time; which I fully intend to faithfully glue myself to the couch for every Monday evening, for the duration. I can't recall a time when I was so looking forward to a TV show returning before, and I suppose that's because we really don't have to wait for programs to come out that often anymore.
G.O.T. has been an 8 season, 9 year viewing commitment, which is rare even for an avid viewer like myself. The last show that I faithfully watched without missing an episode for 9 entire seasons was Seinfeld which ended in 1998, so yeah, it's been a while since I've been this committed to a TV show. Apparently if you watch the first 7 seasons of G.O.T. all up, it would take two days, 15 hours and 30 minutes, which is how much of my life I have given to the show so far, and clearly I am willing to offer even more! Even though I often tire of a lot of long winded TV series, G.O.T. hasn't worn me out yet, so bring it on I say! I am ready for all of the scandal, dragons,  and visceral goings on that Season 8 can deliver, and if any of the other seasons are something to go on, there is definitely going to be some surprises in store!

John Lennon once said:
It's easier to shout 'Revolution' or 'Power to the People' than it is to look at yourself and try and find out what's real and what isn't, when you try pull the wool over your own eyes and your own hypocrisy. 
I have been really investigating my own essence a lot lately, which sounds bloody kinky I know, but I assure you that it isn't. By essence I mean, who I am at the root of it all. Who I am when no-one is around, who I am when I don't have to be a certain way or fill a certain role, who I actually am when everything is stripped back to the basics. Just me, without my belongings, my friends, my family, my external pretenses, just me and only me, me alone. And it has been one of the strangest and most interesting ponderings that I have engaged in, and it has really made me address my own ethics, values and personal goals. 
Lying to ourselves is so easy, we do it all the time. We create excuses, manufacture obligations, revel in distraction and allow ourselves to engage in the drama of others; all so that we can lie to ourselves, hide from our fears and avoid our true nature. Generally speaking, addressing ourselves face on is a pretty scary prospect, but it is inevitable that at some point in everyone's life that they will have to address themselves and consider their place in this world, whether they want to or not. 
And honestly, everyone probably should. A life spent without any contemplation, reflection or introspection sounds like a pretty crummy life to me, and a rather underdeveloped one as well. If you don't stop to self assess and have a look at yourself once and awhile, well sorry but, you might just be an asshole. Anyone that travels through their entire life without ever pondering themselves, stepping back from their everyday existence and questioning their own motives doesn't sound like someone that I would like to spend time with. 
Anyone who is interested in learning the whole truth about themselves (which the Buddhists call dharma) is a warrior, because facing who you really are at the core of your being takes guts and bravery. Unless you are the enlightened one him or herself, then you are probably going to come up against some shit that you don't necessarily like about yourself. It could be stuff that was programmed into you from an early age, it could be something that you'd said or done that was unkind, it could be a belief about something or someone that you have allowed to cloud your better judgement or could be a habit or opinion that you have formed that no longer serves who you are.
You may feel guilty, bad, ashamed or even terrible about yourself when you start to explore and look at yourself deeper, and you may not like what you find, and that's okay too because it is signpost that you know a better way of being and that you have the power to change your direction. The important thing to do with those feelings is not to linger on them, but to use them to arm yourself with better tools and strategies. By doing this you are teaching yourself to be proactive not reactive to the world around you, and you are cultivating a more stoic and real approach to life. You are training yourself to live without regret and shame, because you know that you are in control of making your own better choices. 
It requires fearlessness and willingness, but it is a worthwhile undertaking to attend to from time to time to help you to grow into the best version of yourself. To face yourself you need to be still and quiet and above all else honest. Acknowledge where you've been, recognise where you are and cultivate a pathway ahead that brings you closer to who you want to be. 
I'm not gonna lie to you, it's frickin hard work, but any work of the self always is. Most of us are more than willing to roll up our sleeves to pitch in and help others, but even more willingly to neglect the work of the self. I tell you with all honesty, the work of the self is where the real growth occurs, so take the wool from your eyes, stop being distracted and spend a little time getting to know yourself on a deeper level because a better you is just around the corner. 

I often get asked by people that never watch horror movies about my levels of tolerance to scary and supernatural material.  'How do you watch all that horror and not get totally freaked out?' they ask me, claiming that the Freddy Kruegers and Babadooks of the cinematic world would keep them awake for nights on end if they were watching it.  
My reply to these enquiries are always the same, and it has nothing to do with having a high tolerance to violent or disturbing material, quite the opposite really. My reason for not being deeply affected by horror is that it is, for the most part, absolutely implausible bullshit. I am not going to be kept awake at night worrying about fictional characters, spooks or demonic behaviours when I know that they are nothing more than the creations of someones overactive imagination.
I totally respect horror for it's genuinely entertaining and inventive storytelling and I enjoy the thrill of watching horror, but it doesn't keep me awake at night or affect me that deeply because my brain can tune it out based on the fact that is all untrue. What does keep me awake at night are movies that are based on true crime stories, actual events and tragedies and tales of home invasion. I have spent a lot more time lying in bed at night trying to clear the cache of some of the stuff on my gritty/ documentary and crime lists than I have ever spent pondering a rogue werewolf or a poltergeist. 
​When a film has an element of realism or fact attached to it then my mind interprets it on a whole other level. I can recall my father telling me when I was small that being scared of ghosts was just plain stupid and that the real dangers in the world and the things to worry about and look out for were the bad people who are very much alive and kicking. 'The dead can't hurt you' he said 'it's the live ones that you need to watch out for.' And I think that I have always hung my hat on that advice and it has allowed me to keep my focus on the rational things to be afraid of and not the fables and fantasies.  
There are some genuinely depraved and sick individuals out there in the world that make your average vampire and werewolf look like kittens. After all, a werewolf is really just a wild animal driven by the need to feed and even a vampire can be taken down with a bit of sunlight and decent sharpened stake, but the real life sickos of the world are far more insidious than that. They are often intelligent, manipulative and far more deranged than any Hollywood monster or horror character has ever been. 
It's the grizzly Ted Bundy, Andrei Chikatilo, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Gacy types of the world that keep me awake at night. Serial stalkers that prey on the weak and the innocent, have no remorse for their actions, cannot control their impulses and are prone to the cruelest and the most violently inhumane acts ever know to man, they are the terrors of the world that mess with my mind at night. They are the reason that I can't listen to True Crime podcasts and avoid watching too many crime investigation dramas. Give me a rampaging ghost or demonic possession over a true crime story any day thanks, at least I know that I will get some sleep and not feel unsafe all of the time. 
Truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is much much darker as well, and it is important to remember that most movie monsters and horror characters are all actually derived from the evils of man in the first place anyway. The real evils of the world are not only more disturbing, they are also constantly humming in the background, unseen and mostly unconsidered as well. And unlike a supernatural villain, they cannot be dismissed as folly or fiction either. There are no Hollywood sets, costumes or blood spatter effects going on in true crime stories, they are about real life monsters and their real life victims and the dreadful terrors that they endured, which easily makes them the most evil, horrific and unforgettable stories to wrap you head around.
​True crime is the stuff of nightmares, not horror movies, and that is why watching horror movies does not  keep me awake at night. 

I love going to the movies or sitting down to watch a film and finding a hidden gem. Sometimes I get the most delightfully unexpected surprise from a movie that I wasn't expecting it from, and I just love it when that happens, it really spins my tyres! And it really doesn't happen as often as I would like, a lot of the time when I leave a cinema or get off the couch after a movie I am left with a rather underwhelmed kind of a feeling or even worse, I start to contemplate the hours that I just wasted and will never get back again!
Life is way too short to waste reading bad books, watching poor movies and wasting your precious and valuable free time having mediocre experiences. Especially cinematic ones, after all that's why you have me! I've already found heaps of hidden gems for you, so you can just relax and enjoy the movies that I consider to be the best (and unmissable) hidden gems that you may have accidentally missed or overlooked.
Now, don't feel bad about it, people actually miss a lot of top quality viewing experiences all of the time because smaller and independent movies just get squashed by blockbuster movies, and most people just aren't going to the movies to see small budget or independent films. They also aren't going to the cinema half as much as I am either I would imagine, so it's more than likely that you've missed some of these rippers along the way, not through any fault of your own, but just from a lack of exposure; but never fear....I've got your back!
In no particular order (and remember that my full reviews of these films are on their genre lists if you want more information), here are my top 20 picks for hidden gem movies that you may have missed: 

1. The One I Love (Romance) 
2. Don Jon (Drama)
3. The Cabin in the Woods (Horror)
4. The Only Lovers Left Alive (Art House)
5. Short Term 12 (Drama)
6. A Ghost Story (Art House)
7. Wind River (Drama)
8. Once (Foreign/Romance)
9. Calvary (Art House/Foreign)
10. Moon (sci-fi)
11. Ingrid Goes West (Drama)
12. Son of Rambow (Comedy)
13. Sightseers (Foreign) 
14. In the Mood for Love (Foreign)
15. Young Adult (Drama)
16. Beautiful Boy (Drama)
17. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Drama)
18. Youth (Drama)
19. The Fall (Fantasy)
20. The Grand Seduction (Comedy)

I have only been back at work for two days and I have already found my number one hidden gem movie of the year! How good is that? And when you are as movie obsessed as I am and constantly thirsting for quality entertainment, then that is something to get happy about!

That time has rolled around again, the time for me to collate all of my viewing efforts and put forward my recommendations for the best viewing choices of 2018. As I have mentioned before, quality television really dominated my time this year and I gave more 5 Chilli Pepper ratings to TV series than I gave to movies this year. To be honest, overall I do feel that the quality of movies this year was not as strong as it was in 2017, and I feel like I watched a lot more mediocre movies than I did last year as well, but sometimes that happens. 
In total I viewed 253 movies in 2018 and 133 TV series (some of which had several seasons). I have watched programs across every genre, and I can honestly say that there were excellent offerings in all of those genres in both movies and television. This year I am not going to list my least favorite viewings for 2018 because I have made myself a new years resolution to be more positive and to not focus on the negative things, so to list the worst things I saw in 2018 would be counterproductive to that resolution. Besides, as I have said before, even if I didn't love it, doesn't mean that someone else won't or that it is rubbish. At the end of the day, even the movies that we don't really enjoy have required a lot of time, money and effort to be produced; to shit on someone else's dream or vision is a pretty lousy thing to do, so I am choosing not to go there. 
I hope that you find something on these lists that you have not seen yet and can hopefully now explore. For full reviews of all of the recommended movies below, just go to the appropriate genre tab at the top of the page.
So without any further ado, here are my TOP MOVIE CHOICES (2018 release):  

• ROMA - Foreign 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Hereditary - Horror 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Beautiful Boy - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Isle of Dogs - Kid Friendly 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• BlacKkKlannsman  - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• A Star in Born - Romance 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Tale - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Paddington 2 - Kid Friendly 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Avengers: Infinity War -  Super 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Art House 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Upgrade - Science Fiction/ Action 4 Chilli Peppers  
• John Leguizamo: Latin History for Morons - Documentary 4 Chilli Peppers 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• A Quiet Place - Sci-Fi/ Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Annihilation - Sci-Fi 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Black Panther - Super 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Ready Player One - Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• The Breaker Upperers - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Searching - Crime 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Game Night - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Love, Simon - Romance 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Blockers - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers

Here are my top recommendations for pre- 2018 releases that I didn't see until 2018: 

• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame)
• Bright Star - Romance 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Wind River - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Good Time - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Shape of Water - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Coco - Kid Friendly 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Mudbound - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Call Me by Your Name  - Romance 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Ingrid Goes West - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Beasts of No Nation - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Tunnel - Foreign 4 Chilli Peppers 

BEST TELEVISION SERIES of 2018: 

• Master of None S2 - Comedy/ Drama 5 Chilli Peppers 
• One Strange Rock - Documentary 5 Chilli Peppers
• Atlanta S2 - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• Sharp Objects - Crime 5 Chilli Peppers
• Patrick Melrose - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• Kidding - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Who is America? - Comedy/ Documentary 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Here and Now - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Maniac - Sci-Fi 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events S2 - Fantasy/ Kid Friendly 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Mosaic - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• The End of the Fucking World S1 - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• Dirk Gently S2 - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers
• Barry S1 - Crime/ Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• AHS - Apocalypse - Horror 4 Chilli Peppers
• Mr Inbetween - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - Documentary 4 Chilli Peppers
• Just Another Immigrant - Comedy  4 Chilli Peppers
• Mr Mercedes S1 - Crime  4 Chilli Peppers
• Wanderlust - Drama  4 Chilli Peppers
• The Miracle - Foreign  4 Chilli Peppers
• Anne with an E S2 - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Britannia S1 - Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Ash vs Evil Dead S3 - Horror/ Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Swedish Dicks S2 - Comedy/ Crime 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Future Man - Sci-Fi/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• GLOW S2 - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• The Detectorists S2 - Comedy/ Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch - Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Wellington Paranormal - Horror/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• The Kominsky Method - Drama/ Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 

So many people have asked me if I think that a remake can be better than an original version of a movie, and my answer is always the same: 'Yes! Of course it can!' With movie technology continually improving, we can now enjoy advanced CGI effects and superior sound and visual experiences, which in short means that we can have a more immersive cinematic experience than we ever could have had before. However, that does not necessarily make the original version redundant or of lesser value and importance, because if I was also asked if remakes were always better the original versions, I would most definitely answer 'Hell No!' 
To this day I still watch a lot of classic movies, and by classic I mean movies from the 1930's to the 1970's. Movies from that time period didn't have a lot of options in the effects and sound department compared to today's standards, so they are often movies that relied on excellent acting and directing to deliver their stories. I have a stockpile of movies on my 'still need to see' list (which seems to be ever expanding and absolutely endless) and around 70% of them would fall into the classic film category. Most of them are very good, some of them are downright legendary and could not be improved upon by a remake, but some of them certainly could. 
To be better than the original movie, there needs to be an improvement on all fronts, and not just in the effects department, because if the storyline is thin then my attention is never held for very long by CGI effects and all of the other bells and whistles that filmmakers feel compelled to throw at movies. For me, there needs to be something fresh about a remake that warrants the movie being remade in the first place. The perspective needs to alter in some way or the story has to become enhanced or given more depth or meaning in a remake. The actors need to be every bit as good and preferably better than the original actors and the director needs to be an avid fan of the original in a way that forces them to keep the integrity of the original intact, in other words it needs to not feel like a director's ego trip, which has happened so many times in remakes. 
There have in fact been heaps of excellent remakes that are deserving of your time, even if you have seen and enjoyed the original version. 
Here is my list of the best movie remakes that I have experienced, in no particular order:
Romeo and Juliet -Baz Luhrmann perfectly remixed this Shakespearean classic by installing a couple of modern heart-throbs and infusing it with a funky fresh soundtrack, and it is slice of pure brilliance. 
Mad Max: Fury Road - I also really liked the original, but the heart-pounding, high octane, adrenaline rush action of the remake was just so damn good, oh and Tom Hardy was in it, definitely a bonus. 
The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau's version of this Rudyard Kipling's classic is a perfect example of how CGI can be used to enhance an experience. It is magical!
Dawn of the Dead - This comedy/ horror homage to George A. Romero from Zack Snyder is a brain eating spectacular, so much blood and tasteless humour! 
Blair Witch - I didn't really like The Blair Witch Project original, but I really got creeped out by the 2016 remake that was simply called Blair Witch. Kept me away from camping for years!
A Star is Born - remade four times, and finally they got it right! The onscreen chemistry  of Coops and Gaga and the modern musical score made this new take an old romance a real winner. 
Ghostbusters - The girls had a swing at it in 2016 and were every bit as good as the boys were in 1984, and they didn't try to 'remake' it so much as have another go at something similar and I enjoyed it a lot. 
The Ring - The 1998 Japanese version was still really good, but the 2002 Gore Verbinski English language remake had an expanded storyline and some extra creepy CGI visuals. The acting was seriously stepped up in this version as well. 
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Dracula has been done to death (pardon the pun) but when Francis Ford Coppola had a go, well it was just magic, finally something Stoker would've loved!
IT - Probably the best horror remake of all time, the effects and storyline have been fine tuned to perfection, unmissable remake material. 
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -Tim Burton takes us on a delicious and disturbing romp into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in this accurate realisation of Roald Dahl's classic tale that his own family were involved in creating.
King Kong - Peter Jackson's epic realisation of Skull Island and the tragic tale of Mighty Kong is by far the best version to see for all of it's impressive CGI effects and in depth story telling. 

Lots to consider at the moment.
The world is kind of whizzing past me in a wild flurry of activity and I am desperately trying to keep a hold on everything and remain positive, polite and jovial. Enjoy the ride Barb...remember you said you were going to enjoy the ride? says the voice in the back of my mind. And then the voice in the front of my mind says, what are you bloody well doing lollygagging about when Christmas is coming in twenty days? You aren't even close to ready for this!  
And I am constantly fighting between these two state of being at the moment, one is a state of blissful acceptance and joyful meandering and the other is a state of slight concern and mild panic. I say mild panic because I am not actually freaking out, but I do know that things are starting to mount up around me and that I am having to try my best to eliminate any clutter as it occurs so that it doesn't get too hectic. However, this need to eliminate the clutter as soon as possible has also caused another condition to occur; the 'too many balls in the air' condition that plagues everyone at some point around the silly season. Curses on the balls I say, I don't want balls to keep in the air, I want a blissful ride! 
Unfortunately, most of these said 'balls' have just arrived of their own volition and have not been of my own making at all, and this entire experience has swiftly reminded me that no matter how good my intentions may have been to remain all zen and joyful on the road to Christmas, that the rest of the world is not always sharing that sentiment with me and that poses a pretty big challenge to my plans. Every year I tell myself to slow down and enjoy the ride and every year it gets harder and harder to follow through with that idea because everyone else seems to be stressing out around me. 
It can be really hard to find enough down time at this time of the year as well, which means that I don't get nearly enough time on the yoga mat, the hiking tracks or the meditation pillow and that generally means that I am not really operating at my most tolerant levels either; and when you go and smash that together with every other pre-Christmas concern and 55 very tired foundation students a day...well, you know where this is going...not to a very zen like place that's for sure. 
However, as I said it is only slight concern and mild panic at this point, certainly nothing that I cannot manage and considering some of the side balls that I have had tossed at me over the last week, I think that I am actually doing okay. Got a whole new mantra going and everything:
Enjoy the ride Barb...enjoy the ride!

Just when you think that you have dealt with the worst of the weather for the year, another round of cold, windy and rainy days arrives, swiftly reminding me that I live in Western Victoria and that November is definitely no guarantee of clear skies and sunshine. However, to be completely fair and honest, it is actually quite nice to have a very decent excuse to pound the couch and catch up on a lot of television that I have stockpiled over the last few weeks, so the recent bout of bad weather hasn't really dampened my spirits that much at all. 
Quality television opportunities are arriving in buckets at the moment, and I am seriously struggling to keep up with the high volume of television series that have continually popped up over the last few months. Never in my life have I watched this much television before, and for good reason, there never used to be this much good television to indulge in! These days, that is certainly not the case, because as soon as I finish one series another six sprout up in it's place. It's like whacking the head off a hydra, the more that you cull the more that new ones seem to arise in their place and it is getting harder and harder to squeeze in as many movies as I would like now that I am getting snowed under with television. 
And I suppose that's why it is imperative to also be really discerning about which television programmes you put your time and energy into, because you can literally find yourself watching hours and hours of mediocre shit just because the show delivered a strong and promising pilot episode and now you feel compelled to see it through. Trust me, I have been roped into watching a number of TV series for that very reason, and I have since learnt that being faithful to a television series but not discerning about its actual content will waste hours of your life that you will never get back, so don't let a series hoodwink you into watching series upon series of tripe if it's not going anywhere, there's too much good stuff around these days to allow yourself to do that. 
Here's my top ten 'avoid at all costs' (aka. what a load of shit) television shows that are not worthy of yours (or anyones for that matter) time:
1. The Walking Dead - probably the most pitifully sad, dragged out, outdated garbage that is still being peddled to the masses. Woefully bad and shameful, I actually feel bad for the cast now, they even look bored delivering it.
2. Modern Family - I think that nine seasons of this has been rolled out now, and it is always the same formula. In nine years not one character has developed beyond who they were in season one, how is that even possible? Blah!
3. The Bachelor / The Bachelorette - why are people even watching shows like this? The premise is awful, the people despicable and the whole concept is deplorable, need I say more? 
4.The Exorcist - we did not need to go here, no one needed to go here, I went there...I really wish I hadn't! The movie is more than enough of that thanks very much, can't believe it got 2 seasons!
5.  Nailed It! - Any television show that has founded its name from a meme or Youtube channel is never worthy of your time, this is just pitiful viewing. The cakes on this show are bad for a reason, the bakers are fucking idiots! 
6. The Handmaid's Tale s2 - started out with some promise, and I was enjoying it, and then.....they totally dropped the ball and went for cheesy and unbelievably stupid story arcs that all had to involve torture or brutal death scenes. Season 1's boots were too big to fill. 
7. Snowfall - I sat through two full seasons of this show about drug dealers because I really liked the first two episodes. It did not get better than the first two episodes, but rather proceeded into a slow and arduous decline. I wasted hours hoping it would improve ...a waste of my time! 
8. American Survivor - if you thought that Australian survivor was getting sad, think again. American Survivor is gut wrenchingly sad, it is utterly unwatchable in every respect and quite possibly the saddest shit on modern television. 
9. No Tomorrow - I was sucked into watching this because it had good online reviews, it was also the last time that I allowed online reviews to dictate what I watch. Think fuzz feel good meets apocalypse and gets all kissy and convenient and you'll be in the wheelhouse. God it was bad. How it got good reviews still kills me. 
10. America's Next top Model - I admit that I got pulled back in this year and gave it another go, and I did love to hate all of the bitchy waifs as they fought their way to the top, but at the end of the day it is a dreadful show. Even when they are trying to be all forward thinking with plus size models and a controversial judging panel, everyone knows that the fashion industry is still as deep as a puddle and rife with terrible people. 
So there it is, my avoid at all costs television list. Hopefully you won't fall into any of those horrific and painful viewing experiences yourself!

Trick 'r Treating on October 31st in Australia sure is a hotly contested topic. I heard some ladies at the hairdressers tonight going right off about it, they were saying that it is stupid and American and unseasonal and that if any kids knock on their doors looking for candy they will tell them to piss off! Woah, a bit harsh I thought. Sure, it isn't Autumn here when Halloween occurs which does make it a little un-pumpkin, chestnut and acorn friendly, but aside of that, it isn't actually American at all, it's Pagan and the bottom line is that it's fun! 
Kids love Halloween, they love dressing up and playing spooks and who wouldn't want to knock on peoples doors and get free lollies? Uh, it's frickin amazing and just because we never got to do it when we were kids doesn't mean that we shouldn't let them do it now. If you're going to use un-seasonal as your excuse for hating Trick 'r Treaters then boo to you, you're lame! I bet you still eat roasts at Christmas time even when it's hot and do all of the other Pagan based stuff the happens at Yuletide like  bringing an evergreen into your home and decorating it to welcome the coming spring....aka your Christmas Tree! That is not very seasonally appropriate is it? But it is fun, so we do it and Halloween shouldn't be any different. 
The ladies that were paying out Halloween tonight were also saying how sick it was to send your kids out for candy to strangers houses. Yes, sending your kids out to strangers houses for candy is sick, which is why 99% of the kids participating have an adult with them when they Trick 'r Treat. Safe and wholesome Halloween Trick 'r Treating can be orchestrated and seriously, if you were some Sweeney Todd type trying to lure kids into your home with candy to turn them into pies, you would hardly chose to do that on Halloween when there would be possible witnesses and the most easily traceable crime trail in all history would you? I bet that half of the people that say things like that wouldn't think twice about plopping their poor kids onto some unknown santa's lap at the mall for a happy snap would they? Are those kinds of strangers in red suits that hug unknown children at the mall better than the strangers that give out candy on Halloween? Doubtful, very bloody doubtful, but people only see what they want to see. 
We actually have a lot of little Trick 'r Treaters out here in Enfield ever year and it doesn't offend me in the least. They are often quite small and very enthusiastic and the vast majority of them are done and dusted by 7.30pm. They dress up like their lives depend on it, their faces painted and little plastic pumpkin bags in their hands, and they are always super grateful for the lollies that they receive. Some good samaritan mails everyone in our area an orange balloon to hang on their letterbox on the evening of Halloween and if you don't want to participate you just don't hang your balloon and if you run out of candy you just take your balloon down, pretty simple really. It's organised, it's optional and it's safe because all of the children are accompanied by an adult. Where is the harm in that? 
Sometimes I think that people just decide that they don't like Halloween because they can't be bothered, which essentially is fine, no-one says that you have to be bothered; but please stop making it out to be such a big horrible ordeal when it really isn't. Halloween to kids means fun, and well, even to some adults too if I'm being really honest about it, so stop being such bloody grumpy goblins, buy a few lollies and join in the fun as well, it's only one night of the year for goodness sake! 

Celebrated Halloween a little early this year, perhaps it was the full moon or maybe it was just because the 27th was the closest date that we could all manage to gather together, but whatever the reason, the Samhain vibes were flowing on Saturday. 
Whenever people get together at my place, there is always food involved. Not only do I love to eat, I also really love to cook as well, so any celebration is a good occasion for a big cook up around the bench in Enfield. Which is exactly what Zoe, Seth, Helen, Craig and I did this year, we made a delicious feast from scratch to share together.
​Our meal consisted of two different types of ravioli (pumpkin/feta and beef/mushroom) and a delicious tomato based sauce to accompany them. We also made vanilla poached pears in a salted caramel sauce with vanilla ice-cream for dessert, which was an amazing and decadent finish to our evening's festivities. Whilst we cooked, we listened to some tunes and shared some Halloween-ish cocktails and then spent the dark hours indulging in one of my favourite things in the world, B-grade horror. 
I absolutely love B-grade horror, especially B-grade horror from the 80's and 90's because those two decades were rife with poor writing, dreadfully acting, mediocre effects and cliche horror tropes that make them so damn awful that they are absolutely hilarious. I usually call them D-grade because they are so genuinely bad, which should give you some idea of the quality that I am talking about, D-grade means 'woah-fully good' material to me.
On the agenda for B-Grade gold this year? Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood, the name really says it all doesn't it? It is truly classy viewing, I can assure you. Made in 1996, this 87 minute fantasy/horror got a whopping 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, and stars Angie Everhart and Corey Feldman in two of the lead roles; need I say more? In a word it is dreadful; rife with grotuetous titty shots, full of cheesy one liners, the soundtrack seems like it was recorded by someone that cannot sing in their living room with a boombox and the characters are dressed primarily in cheap silks, denim jackets and tennis shorts. It is just so bad that it defies explanation really, it's the ultimate B-grade horror find, and after a few nice strong cocktails, it is the funniest movie that you could ever see. We were literally crying with laughter at some points during the movie. 
And that is how all B-grade horror/ fantasy and sci-fi movies need to be viewed, half pissed and with really good company. Over the years we have watched some absolutely pearlers out here together that just shouldn't be missed; they are so bad, they are actually good! 
Some of my personal favourites and highly recommended B-Grade offerings are:

• Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
• Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) - just outside of the 90's era but you'd never know!
• They Live (1988)
• Evil Dead 3: The Army of Darkness (1992)
• Tremors (1990)
• Highlander (1986)
• Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
• Day of the Dead (1985)
• Critters (1986) 
• The Thing (1982) 
• Warlock (1989)
• Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
• Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)  -a bit older, and quite possibly the worst horror movie ever made, it is unbelievably bad and hilarious. 

With Halloween just around the corner, you don't have to opt for a serious horror movie scare; a cheesy B-Grade retro horrorfest is just as enjoyable, and maybe even a lot more fun! 

Don't really know what happened, but somehow October just arrived. How we have already reached the tenth month of the year fills me with great confusion and concern, because it was around October last year that I went for my first job interview in over a decade and started to forge a new way of being for myself. In some ways that feels like it was very long time ago, because I have made so many changes to my life since October last year, and then in other ways it feels like it was only a few months ago that I plucked up enough guts to throw caution to the wind and put myself out there again.
However, no matter how you look at it, there is no denying that October has just snuck in the back door and that we have well and truly arrived at the 'ber' months of the year. This means that it will only be a matter of time before the onslaught of 'way too bloody early' Christmas propaganda and paraphernalia arrives in stores, spurring on early hysteria and panic among the masses and obligating us all to make lists, shop and prepare. Bottom line for me here is that there is no fricken' way that I am ready for another Christmas yet, and I flat out refuse to acknowledge any of that early stuff and nonsense of Christmas until I have at least managed to milk a decent Halloween celebration out of October. 
Until the ghosts, goblins and ghouls have come out to play for Samhain, I am not doing any department store trees, front yard twinkling lights, Christmas shopping lists or pudding recipe chatter, I will not even entertain it! The Christmas decorations and Christmas tree do not come out in our house until the start of December, and then (and only then) will I happily allow a full 25 days of hysteria and anticipation, damn I'll even encourage it! But just like eating easter eggs before Easter Sunday or hot cross buns before the week of Easter arrives, some things are better to wait for and Christmas mania definitely falls into that category for me. 
Nope, October is all about freaky deaky horror for me, the freak-ier and deak-ier the better. I generally re-watch all of my fave horror movies over October and search out some new material to bring to the fold as well. Making candy apples, carving pumpkins and inventing dark and desirable new cocktails is what October is for. And it's the last month to splurge in couch slouching before the weather gets really hot and we all get a lot more social and start heading outdoors in the evenings.
So, with only four weeks until Halloween (and impending hysteria) arrives, I think that I might get my thinking cap on and plan a night of fun and festivities in Enfield. And above all, there will have to be some terrifically terrifying movie choices for my guests, so I must begin my research asap!

I did something this week that I have never done before in my life, I asked to speak to a manager about poor customer service. Being a person who used to work in the service industry myself, I think that I am pretty lenient when it comes to customer service. I understand that no-one can be at their best 100% of the time and I am usually reasonably accommodating to that fact. I normally would never request to speak a store manager to complain or 'dob' in a worker for their poor service, but on Friday at a well known Australian supermarket chain, I did. And I did it because of the disgraceful service that I received from not one, but two of their staff. 
Let me tell you exactly what occurred. I was in the fresh produce section and realised that there were no produce plastic bags on the rolls in the area that I was in, none in that entire row actually, and I stopped a young female staff member as she was scooting past me and asked -'excuse me, there are no plastic bags in this aisle, could I please get some more?' She did not speak to me, but held out a hand and pointed to another staff member at the other end of the isle, which I found extremely rude for a start. Then when I started to approach the other staff member that she had directed me towards, she quickly wheeled her cart out the back and was gone. Hmmmmm....okay, clearly not the best customer service day at this supermarket, but I just laughed and turned to Seth and commented to him that it was a 'not my job - not my problem' situation and went on with my shopping. 
That was when I overheard the young female staff member that I had first approached at the end of another produce isle, casually bitching to a fellow staff member about how rude all of the customers were today and how she was tired of our surly behaviour. They were both laughing and agreeing and then the first female walked away and the one that she was moaning to came to my end of the produce section. I'm not going to lie here, I was actually pretty annoyed at this stage and I approached the new female staff member and calmly said 'Hello, I was wondering if we could get some plastic bags on the rolls down this isle because there aren't any. I did already ask the young lady that was busy bitching to you down the other end about how surly the customers are today, but she didn't even have the respect to speak to me.'
At first the girl looked shocked, she shifted from foot to foot and then she laughed and said 'we don't have any more bags,' and then she turned her back to me and went on with stacking the fruit. I went on to say, 'you are joking, are you seriously trying to tell me that there aren't any replacement produce bags in this supermarket?' and she then replied to me in a very condescending tone.... now wait for it because this was the when the pin popped out of my grenade, 'there's some in other isles you know, just go and get one from the other end of the produce section.' And that was it, I was just absolutely livid...I felt really really angry, I was triggered, it was like a bomb went off in me. For some reason this simple chain of events had really got me cross, cross enough to go to another staff member and ask to speak to a manager. 
I would like to point out that in spite of me feeling exceptionally cross, I did not yell and I did not abuse anyone, I just calmly told the manager what had happened, and I stated that the young ladies had made me feel extremely unwelcome in the store and that the customer service standards were absolutely appalling. And get this, while I was telling the manager my story, the two young ladies that had just made me feel like crap were standing together in the produce section eyeballing me, whispering behind their hands and giggling, which I also pointed out to the manager in the hope that they would get a decent arse kicking for being so flippant and rude. 
Easily the worst customer service that I have ever had in my life - EVER! And after speaking to the manager who just seemed as ill equipped and lost as his dreadful produce girls, I went home and got onto the supermarket website and made another formal complaint. I was on a roll! And like I said, I would normally just let things go, but I have never felt so mistreated in a shopping environment in my entire life, and considering the fact that I didn't even shout, demand or abuse anyone, then the treatment that I got was totally uncalled for as well. 
I am hoping that this is just an isolated incident and that it isn't an illustration of how low customer service standards have fallen recently, because if I had to put up with that shit every time that I went out shopping, then I would just start to shop online. Talk about ruining a person's zen on a Friday afternoon, it was not a nice start to my weekend at all!

Mental wellness is something that most of us will struggle with at some point in our lives. Even the most seemingly 'put together' people have lapses into the world of imbalanced thought and mental challenge from time to time, they are just a lot better at hiding it from everyone. However, whatever walk of life you are from, whatever your background is, whatever your social standing is, you will inevitably, at some point, feel not so fantastic, wonder what the hell you are doing with your life and question whether you are operating at your best. 
It's completely normal to not feel 100% mentally balanced all of the time, hell some people lead very regular lives and feel mostly mentally unwell a lot of the time, it's just not something that a lot of people feel comfortable about proclaiming to the world, because no-one really wants to appear like they haven't got their shit together. However, letting pride dictate how we deal with our mental health issues is archaic and unproductive to societal wellness and we really need to strive to move away from that outdated and counterproductive mindset. We all really need to know, that it is totally okay to not feel okay all of the time. 
​As time rolls on and the methods of researching mental health improve, we are learning how to diagnose, treat and support each with our mental wellness; the old school shame and stigma that was attached to mental health is now being shed and people are feeling more comfortable to come forward, share their stories and be honest about how they are feeling, and in turn receive better support than they ever have been able to before. 
It is a brave new world when it comes to mental health. Gone are the days of closet depression and hidden anxieties as people are now learning to recognize and own their individual mental wellness levels. More people than ever before are seeking treatment and support and we are slowly but surely learning tolerance, detection, prevention and intervention that will definitely set us up for a brighter future together in the coming years.
And the real work surrounding mental wellness is something that we need to be vigilant about every day.  Each of us must make an effort to recognize the signs within ourselves that tell us when our levy has run dry or we have met our own personal limits. And those limits are unique for everyone, and we must respect that and support that understanding. We must become ninjas at recognizing when we are at the top of our game and when we may be feeling weak. When we are at our peak, we have an obligation to assist those that may be feeling weak, and when we are weak we need to feel safe and secure enough to seek support from the strong. We all owe it to each other to be tolerant, supportive and unwavering in our commitment to our own mental health and our support of the wellness of others. 
R U OK? Day is coming up on Thursday September 13th,  which is a national day dedicated to reminding us that we need to check in with each other and support each other with mental wellness. Don't forget to check in with your friends, family, work colleagues and community on that day, and every other day that you can when you are feeling strong enough to support the wellbeing of others. Mental health is the responsibility of us all and it's not something that we can ever afford to ignore. 

Movies that are based on games....hmmm.....not exactly the most successful movie genre and for a good reason really, because most of them are absolutely shithouse. Time and time again movie makers have attempted to recreate the magic of a quality game experience and interpret it into an engaging movie, and time and time again they have failed dismally. 
Why do games adapted into movies fail so often? Simply because games put you into a first person experience; a complete immersion into a full blown sensory experience. No movie, no matter how awesome it is, can offer the same level of immersion that a game can. There is a reason that people can wander around in the open play landscapes of a game for hours on end, and it is not just because the graphics are awesome. It's because they are in control of the environment and the events that play out, in a movie the only one in control is the director and half the time they are working with a pretty thin storyline. 
Games do not require multi layered or deeply intelligent storylines, and I mean no respect to gamers by saying that. But it is true, most gamers prefer a simple storyline, if they wanted something deeper they would be watching movies and not gaming. Gamers want to solve puzzles, navigate landscapes and basically level up, sure some storyline is required so that players can engage with their characters and the situation or problem within the game, but it doesn't need to be excessively complex or convoluted. More weapons and power ups and less of the jibber jabber is generally appreciated by a lot of gamers. Therefore, when a film studio picks up on a game that is hugely popular and then attempts to interpret it into an epic blockbuster it fails dismally, because most games aren't designed for storyline or character development, which are essential components in any decent movie. 
Quite often, hit movies are re-interpreted into games with some level of success, especially children's movies which require less storyline overall in game play mode. Those Lego games are so damn entertaining and I have wasted days of my life playing those, and every successful Disney movie ever made has spawned a game off the back of it's box office success, from Toy Story to The Pirates of Caribbean, there have been so many. Also children's movies with a fantasy or magical element to them transition seamlessly to a first player gaming model; Harry Potter and LOTR games are great examples of that. It seems that going from a movie to a game is a much better formula overall than going from a game to  a movie.
Have there actually been any good game to movie interpretations? A couple were okay, and I do say that generously, but they are pretty damn thin on the ground. Generally they are unwatchable shit but I am hoping that someday soon a director will hit the right formula and prove to everyone that the gaming genre can be interpreted well. 
Here is my list of the best game to movie adaptations, but as I said...it's thin on the ground and it's a rather sad line up overall. 
1. Silent Hill - hardly brilliant material, but for fans of horror it's a worthy watch, just so that you know who Pyramid Head and those weird arse nurses are. 3 Chilli Peppers
2. Resident Evil - the first one was watchable and that's where the joy ends. 2.5 Chilli Peppers
3. Prince of Persia - it has a very buff Jake Gyllenhaal in it, for that reason alone it is worth a look. 2 Chilli Peppers
4. Warcraft- I know that I slept through most of this film, but I also know that they tried really hard to make this watchable, so kudos for that. 1.5 Chilli Peppers
5. Tomb Raider - They just keep on coming, and they aren't getting any better. Marginally tolerable material with lots of hot chicks, but shithouse storylines.  1 Chilli Pepper
6. Assassins Creed - it has Michael Fassbender in it, that immediately earned it a chilli pepper. 1 Chilli Pepper

Even though I like to think of myself as being reasonably tech savvy, the truth is that I am still totally old school when it comes to certain things. Everyone that was born a Gen X (as I was) or earlier likes to imagine that they are really up with the latest mod cons and gadgetry that is available today, but anyone that even says 'mod cons' is not nearly as tech savvy as they would like to think they are and I know for a fact that I fall into that category. 
I shamefully still read all of my books and magazines in hard copy, regardless of the abundant opportunities that I have to go digital, which is pretty crazy but hey, I like to feel a book in my hand, it's part of my make up now. In fact I even still subscribe to magazines in hard copy and borrow books and DVD's from the local library  which I am pretty sure that no-one under 40 is doing these days. But as I said, it's in my blood now. When you have been doing something for long enough, it is hard to let go of it, even when you are aware that a new and probably better way is available to you. 
So is that just a way of kicking it old school or is it really being an old fuddy duddy pain in the arse? Because I think that I am starting to tread a thin line lately. I still adore a whole lot of old school and dated things that most people are totally over. Like photographs, not instagram shots, but real photos of real people doing real things, that you can hold in your hand. Why do people not like photographs as much anymore? I am still nuts about photos and photo albums and I especially like really old photographs. I also still adore the virtually unused but absolutely amazing fountain pen, and I adore handwritten notes, poetry, cards and letters. I love home cooking, board games, collecting and handwriting recipes into my recipe book, keeping a journal, baking bread, picnics, talking on the phone and retro music compilations. 
Just the other day I caught myself reminiscing about an old school milk bar, the type that had all of the one and two cent lollies lined up under the glass and you could get a little white bag of goodies that were individually selected for just 10 cents. And there were real treasures to be had if you could be patient enough to save up for them, like the all so chic chocolate cigarettes at 25 cents a packet or the illustrious Bubble O' Bill that would set you back a few days of after school bliss to indulge in. I hate to use the term kids these days, but hell, I kind of have to....kids these days will never understand the joy of such a selection or the excitement that was felt when you spied the stamp for a free Sunny Boy ice block on the inside of the wrapper of the one that you had just opened. Pure innocent joy.
And kids today will never understand that joy because everything for them now is completely accessible and available all of the time. Nothing when I was growing up was available all of the time, and although it meant that we had to wait for everything, I think that we also cared about it more for that reason as well. It is true that innovation and technology has enabled a lot of progression, but some of those advances have caused societal and social setbacks that I doubt that any of us could've predicted.
So many people are virtually glued to their devices 24/7 now and they are completely removed from a lot of simple life pleasures. People are spending hours posting pictures, having rants and sharing various goings on about their lives on social media, but half of them don't even know how to hold a decent conversation anymore. It's pretty woeful in some respects. If keeping some old school practises alive makes me feel more alive and in touch with my life, then I am certainly not in any hurry to give them away. Call me corny or old fashioned, it really doesn't matter to me. I like what I like, and although I do love technology, I will always have a place in my heart for the traditional, the old school and the outdated things, even when everyone else has decided that they are unnecessary. 
​And did I tell you how much I love old school horror yet? 

As much as we want everything to remain somewhat logical in our lives, we do have to make peace with the reality of our lives as well, and that means that we need to be able to accept that some things just won't make any sense. In life, there will be many unanswered questions, confusing interludes, incomplete stories and unsolvable dilemmas, and that is just the tip of the iceberg, because essentially life is just one big mystery and for that reason, some parts of it are not going to make any sense at all; not even a bit. Some parts of your life will be downright frustrating and annoying and absolutely illogical and no matter how much you ponder it, it just won't make any sense. 
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with things not making sense or 'adding-up' in our lives, it should be expected a little more often if you ask me because it happens to us all from time to time. However, learning to accept that some things just won't make any sense and may not ever be properly resolved or understood can be extremely challenging for many of us. Knowing that some things just won't make sense and accepting that some things just won't make sense are not that same thing, and people get into all sorts of bother when they cannot accept when things aren't balancing out with their expectations or ideals.
We all like to imagine that our lives are pretty linear and that we have a certain amount of control over how things will play out for us. We also all get a bit excited about the prospect of a happy ending, a tidy resolution or a big box with a bow that we can pop things into and forget about until we are ready to pull them back out again; but in truth, life rarely allows for things to be that organized and logical, we just like to give ourselves the illusion that it does because it feels a shitload safer and saner than admitting that a lot of the time things just don't make any sense. 
Now I know that some people are going to disagree with me on this topic, claiming that there is always a reason for everything and that nothing just happens without there being a bigger or higher purpose to it all; and to those people I say bullshit!  You can believe whatever you want, but trust me when I tell you that not everything that happens in life occurs for a reason. A whole lot of shit that happens (and will happen to you in life) is utterly purposeless, pointless, meaningless and inconsequential, it is just stuff that happens that doesn't make sense and it doesn't need to. You don't need to fix it, you don't need to stay up late at night deconstructing it, you just have to accept it. It is that simple. Rather than adopting some privileged 'everything happens for a reason' mantra, what you really need to adopt  is the smarts to recognise what you can control in this life and what you cannot. What is worth your time and what is not and what needs fixing and what just needs to be accepted.
One of the greatest challenges that we are presented with in this life is learning to accept that some chapters in our lives have to close without any real closure at all and that no matter how many hours we may pour into some puzzles, the truth is that they were never actually made to be solved in the first place. Some things just won't make sense and nothing that we do, will ever make that truth any different and all that you have to do is accept that fact and get on with living your life. 

When we think about what get passed along to us from our families in a hereditarial fashion we generally think about things like physical attributes or genetic indicators, be they good or bad; but we really don't consider what else has been passed along to us that could be causing a lot of damage to our general well being. 
Recent research now indicates that trauma or post traumatic stress disorders (PSTD) can actually impact the next generation through what is known as transgenerational trauma. We all know that trauma is an emotional response to something distressing or disturbing and victims of trauma quite often suffer from recurring nightmares, depression and a range of other stress related illnesses that can have a serious impact on their ability to function in society and within their communities. However, we also now have mounting scientific evidence that proves that future generations of trauma victims can be affected biologically by the trauma that their families went through. 
The studies began with descendants of survivors of the Holocaust, who in spite of being removed from their parents' experiences, were seeking mental health treatment. Similar findings were discovered when studies were also undertaken on other descendants of families that had experienced the destructive effects of catastrophic events such as war, genocide and terrorism; many were suffering from mental health conditions and in some instances the rates of suicide were also notably higher. 
A study from Neuroscience found that stress had an impact on a person's "epigenetic markers" which perform modifications to gene expression instead of a change to the genetic code itself. In the study, mice who had been exposed to trauma early in life displayed behaviours consistent with depression as well as impaired metabolism. The symptoms were passed on, not through genetics but through the father's sperm, and it impacted the next generation of mice.
These findings are already beginning to be put to good use. At a hospital in Atlanta, trauma victims in the ER who tested positive for the genes associated with PTSD received psychotherapy which in turn lead to the development of fewer symptoms. 
It is good to know that science is helping us to decode the links between historical trauma and how it possibly links to the escalating levels of anxiety and depression in society today. Transgenerational trauma reminds us all that our family and cultural history is shaping who we are today and that seeking support and treatment for any type of trauma related symptom is vital in eliminating it for future generations.