Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D (12A) ****

Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D (12A) ****

Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Tyrese Gibson, John Turtorro, Leonard Nimoy.

Dir: Michael Bay.

Michael Bay has always been a hit and miss director, producing some great films and some flops. With the third in the Transformers franchise, Dark of the Moon, Bay has definitely produced a hit.

Starring all of the old cast - minus Megan Fox following the now infamous fall out between her and Bay - plus Sam's (LeBeouf) new squeeze Carly (Huntington-Whiteley), the Autobots and their human allies have to save the Earth from the Decepticons one more time.

The story follows the revelation that the space race that saw Neil Armstrong land on the moon was actually because of a crashed Autobot ship, later found the be carrying a new weapon for the civil war and the old leader of the Autobots, Sentinel Prime (Nimoy).

The main selling point of the latest in the Transformers films, is of course the fact that it is shot in 3D. This has the effect of highlighting the brilliant CGI used throughout for both alien and the far fetched Earth technology.

The other big thing is of course the score of the film, which has always been emotive and well suited to each film, and Steve Jablonsky hasn't disappointed in the latest offering. That and the more than expected Linkin Park contribution really added to the depth of the film.

I'm not sure whether I was being naive when I heard LeBeouf and Bay saying that the latest film was a lot more serious and darker than the previous ones, especially the laugh out loud-ness of the second film (Devastators 'testicles'), I expected there to be almost no comedy in the film.

While there are significantly less comedic moments, I was surprised there were as many as there were which, in retrospect, servers well to break up the huge plot twist and the overall tone of the film.

At over two and a half hours, the film seems to be fairly neatly broken into two main stages, being about an hour/hour and a half of set up, and a good hour or so of fast paced robotic violence to round off the film.

All in all, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is going to be a must see for a lot of fans around the world - a pleasant middle to a summer of movies.

Green Lantern 3D (12A) ***

Green Lantern 3D (12A) ***

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard

Dir: Martin Campbell

Cocky fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Reynolds) is chosen by one of several thousand Green Lantern's to be the first human Lantern and fight a new evil in the universe, Paralax, a large entity which feeds off peoples' fears and resembles a cloud.

I expected a lot from Green Lantern after watching featurettes and trailers, and it did indeed deliver some great things.

For instance, the CGI is brilliant, with fantastic attention to detail with the muscle toning of the Lanterns' suit, the variety of different Lantern species and the backdrop of the Planet Oa. This is coupled with above average 3D effects, with only the slight double image behind text (which is good considering how messy effects that have been slapped on afterwards are).

One thing I couldn't help but notice was that Reynolds' portrayal of Jordan seemed to draw heavily on Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, with the arrogant, self centered hero. Fortunately however it worked well, and the similarities of arrogance and being knocked down a peg a too served to show the similarities and differences between the DC and Marvel universes.

As I'm touching on Marvel briefly, Green Lantern has also sparked my hopes for a Justice League film as Marvel brings us Avengers next year. With Superman: Man of Steel in the near future and a Batman reboot after Dark Knight Rises, it seems like the bigwigs at DC might have this in the pipeline. Keep your eyes peeled for anything about an Aquaman or Flash film anytime in the future and you never know.

This film was thoroughly enjoyable however, despite the 12A certification, younger audiences being admitted by 12's or older may find some scenes distressing which is my only main warning.

MotoGP Round 6 - Great Britain (Race Day)

MotoGP Round 6 - Great Britain (Race Day)

The weather at Silverstone lived up to the good old British norm, and the races took place in a cold, wet and windy setting. Despite this, the turn out at the track was high.

The big surprise of the day was Bradley Smith in the Moto2 race, who relished in the wet surface by climbing from 28th on the grid, to finishing 2nd behind Stefan Bradl.

British fans had something else to cheer about by the end of the Moto2 race, with Scott Redding finishing in 5th place, joining Smith in becoming the two highest placing British riders of the day.

Unfortunately, the home favourite for the MotoGP race, Cal Crutchlow, was unable to ride due to the injury sustained yesterday during qualifying, which left him with a broken left collar bone.

However, the race was still an eventful one, seeing Marco Simoncelli crash after just 10 laps as he fought for 3rd place from Dovizioso, followed by both factory Yamaha's, which paved the way for Casey Stoner to claim his 4th win of the season, which puts him first in the championship standings.

With Crutchlow out of the race, the hero of the day was the second Tech 3 rider, Colin Edwards, who roared in to 3rd place just 8 days after an operation on his collar bone. Hopefully this bodes well for Crutchlow, who we all hope is fit again for Assen.

In the 125cc race, three of the British contenders finished in succession, with Danny Kent scooping 10th, Danny Webb finishing 11th and Taylor Mackenzie finishing in 12th place.

The day didn't go so well for yesterdays pole qualifier Maverick Viñales, who crashed during lap 6, leaving the race win open to Jonas Folger, who was followed closely by Johann Zarco, with Hector Faubel making up the top 3.

MotoGP Round 6 - Great Britain (Qualifying)

Casey Stoner secured his place on pole position for tomorrow.

MotoGP Round 6 - Great Britain (Qualifying)

Today's qualifying session was a day for records, and hopes, to tumble.

The biggest news of course is the breaking of the qualifying lap record, first by Simoncelli, and then by Stoner, pushing the fastest lap of the new Silverstone circuit to 2'02.20, which bought him pole position in tomorrows race, with Simoncelli and Lorenzo completing the front row of the MotoGP grid.

Unfortunately, British rider Cal Crutchlow won't be competing, after a crash during his third lap of qualifying which left him with a broken left collar bone and a head concussion. Hopefully after surgery and a rest period, he will be up and running again by round 7 in Assen (Netherlands).

The peoples favourite Valentino Rossi trailed at the end of qualifying, only managing to secure 13th on the grid at the head of row 5.

Luck both worked for and against the main Brit's in the Moto2 qualifier, with Bradley Smith suffering engine difficulties which left him trailing in 28th on the grid, but Scott Redding placed the second fastest lap in the session, putting him between Marc Marquez and Stefan Bradl on the front row.

The 125 qualifier saw Maverick Viñales claim his first pole position, with Nicolas Terol and Johann Zarco claiming second and third respectively. Danny Kent claimed the highest position for tomorrows grid out of the British riders with 12th place, with Danny Webb claiming 15th.

Moto GP Round 6 - Great Britain (Friday)

Cal Crutchlow giving the crowds a thumbs up after FP2

Rossi throwing himself into Luffields

Moto GP Round 6 - Great Britain (Friday)

It was a great second day to the British round of the MotoGP today (If you count Thursday's Day of Champions as day 1). Even the heavens opening during the 125's second practice session didnt dampen spirits, with a quick swap from slicks to wets and the resumption of the session.

In the 125cc class, France's Johann Zarco topped the results after FP2 with the fastest time of 2'34.174, closely followed by Great Britain's own Danny Webb in 2nd with 2'36.956.

Great Britains' fortunes at the home race was strengthened in the Moto2, with Bradley Smith coming in the top three after FP2 with a lap of 2'16.741. He followed Marc Marquez (2nd with a time of 2'15.207) and Randy Krummenacher (1st with a time of 2'15.090).

Casey Stoner managed to hold off some fierce competition from Jorge Lorenzo during both practice sessions, with the pair swapping throughout before Stoner clinched the fastest time at 2'15.666. Marco Simoncelli came in 2nd with a time of 2'16.463 and Nicky Hayden rounded off the top three with a lap of 2'17.070.

And, again, GBR does itself proud with Cal Crutchlow coming fourth fastest at his home round praqctice, finishing ahead of the current champion Jorge Lorenzo and the struggling Valentino Rossi, with a time of 2'18.109.

X-Men: First Class (12A) *****

X-Men: First Class (12A) *****

Dir: Matthew Vaughn.

Starring: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon.

The latest addition to the X-Men franchise - arguably the most successful of the Marvel adaptations - is clearly influenced by both the Origins style, as well as the original three films.

Set in the troubled Cold War era, First Class see's the rise and rise of Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) as they come to terms with the emergence of mutants to the world, and fight Sebastian Shaw's (Bacon) efforts to start a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The film brings together a series of wonderfully poignant story lines, from Magneto's mission of revenge against the people who tortured him during the holocaust, to the battles of Mystique (Lawrence) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) to gain acceptance, both from humanity and, perhaps more importantly, themselves.

Happily, Marvel have carried on their streak of brilliant special effects (Thor's dodgy 3D not withstanding), with the brilliant prosthetics and make up for Lawrence's Mystique (and the appearance of young Mystique at the start of the film) to the CG of the most iconic scene of the film, with Magneto lifting a nuclear submarine out of the sea.

McAvoy and Fassbender's portrayal of Prof X and Magneto are both brilliant, showing the development of the depth of their relationship over such a short time through some very touching scenes, with the pairs' respect for each other felt throughout the franchise.

The second of the years' three Marvel films, and the 5th of the X-Men mini-franchise, I was so impressed by all of the levels and aspects this film brings together which make it a thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Round 5 - Catalunya MotoGP.

1st - Casey Stoner
2nd - Jorge Lorenzo
3rd - Ben Spies

(As this is a first attempt at sport-writing, please give some feedback so I know where I'm doing well/where I'm falling down etc. Thank you.)

Round five saw Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner claim his second win since Le Mans, which bumps him up to second, just seven points behind Jorge Lorenzo who finished 2nd.

The Fiat Yamaha team are sure to be happy after not just one, but two podium positions this week, with Ben Spies finishing 3rd, with Dovizioso finshing 4th on the other running Repsol Honda bike

Simoncelli didn't give it his all this round, probably after all of the controversy surrounding the incident with Dani Pedrosa in Le Mans which saw him get a ride through penalty, and Dani get a broken collar bone. Starting from pole position, he dropped back to 6th behind Valentino Rossi on the factory Ducati.

The race managed to go off almost without a hitch, except for an incident involving Randy De Puniet and Hiroshi Aoyama which saw them out of the running with 22 laps remaining.

As usual, all of the action was surrounding the 'stragglers', with a four way duel between Capirossi, Abraham, Barbera and Bautista for 9th place. An exciting bit of riding from all four as they fought to gain ground on one another, with Capirossi finally beating the rest.

And in the event before his home turf race, Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow achieved his highest position yet in a MotoGP race, finshing 7th ahead of Nicky Hayden.

With Lorenzo and Stoner seperated by just 7 points in the rider standings, a new series leader could happen during the next round at Silverstone.