The Adventures of Dysfunctional Dan

Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to watch as many of this year's Best Picture Oscar nominees as I can. I managed to watch 6 out of the 8 nominees which I think is good going. I thought I'd share my thoughts on each film and conclude which film deserves to win. A Star is Born This is a 21st century remake of the 1976 remake of a 1937 film. Directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, it sees famous country star Jackson Maine who has major issues discover untapped talent Ally, played by Lady Gaga. It's described as a 'musical romantic drama' which is not the sort of film I'd normally watch. I quite liked the way the music is used though as unlike in most musicals the songs happen when the leads are either rehearsing or performing them to an audience rather than just bursting into song at random points. It's really a film about being a star, cynically showing us what it can be like and what it can do to a person. My biggest issue with it was...

Ronan Keating once sang that life is a rollercoaster. It's a pretty terrible song but the concept is true. Ups and downs come as us all and for me over the last few weeks they have been coming thick and fast. For much of last week I was going through a big downer. Regularly, the feeling that I'm worthless and no use to anyone rises to the surface and threatens to drown me. You may have heard of something called imposter syndrome where someone doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. This is something I can relate to very closely. Last week I walked into a room and was told that several senior members of staff were discussing how good I am at my job. I couldn't help but feel that they were mistaken. Actually, I still think like that. I feel like most of what others attribute as skills are really mostly down to luck. I think the only reason I work well with children is that I'm male and they are used to mostly wo...

New research released this week found that a quarter of twenty to thirty-four year-olds live at home with their parents. I am one of that number. There's a weird stigma attached to living at home in your twenties. It's something I tend to shy away from telling people. There's an assumption that you must be somehow weird or unhinged to have not moved into your own place. But according to these statistics over three million around my age are in the same position- surely not all three million of us are weird? There's only one reason why that number is so high and why the number has increased by almost a million over the last twenty years. Money. House prices have risen dramatically but wages have not increased at anywhere near the same rate. It's not quite so bad if you live in the North of the country but here on the South coast, house prices are extortionate. My only hope for owning my own property is to save for years on end. Renting is an option and something...

Who was the greatest person of the 20th century? That's the question posed by BBC TV show Icons , the live final of which airs this week. In many ways, it's a silly question. There's no clear definition of what makes someone great and comparing people from completely different fields is nigh on impossible, the classic comparing apples and oranges scenario. It's an interesting idea though and today I am going to decide who I think should win. Let's begin with the categories that I really think should not win. One of these is entertainers; I think that entertainers do not have the significant impact that others do. Sure, lots of people watch and admire them but I think that the impact outside their field is limited. The public voted David Bowie as the greatest entertainer which I suspect is largely just because he died fairly recently. This post is proof that there really is a Peanuts image for everything... Similarly, I would argue that sports stars are just ...