Then today I was in Tesco and what did I find? Linda McCartney Sausage Rolls!

And they are delicious!

Linda McCartney, you have made my day!

Happy tummy, happy Brogen

As if Ryan Gosling’s fantastic past work, his amazing band Dead Man’s Bones and last month’s Drive and Crazy Stupid Love were not enough for us all to collectively swoon over – there is something there for everyone – we also have The Ides of March to look forward to. It’s got Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti… What’s not to like? Oh, and it’s directed by someone named George Clooney. Heard of him? Me either!

From the looks of this trailer, The Ides of March is going to be great.

The Ides of March is released in Ireland on October 28th.

Mad Men Opening Titles Re-Design from Paul Rogers on Vimeo.

Mad Men is one of the slickest and sexiest shows on TV, and this opening credit sequence – while not as effortlessly cool as Don Draper – reflects the setting of the show. The sequence also tells us a little bit about the characters, before we see a single frame of the show itself. Nice work.

Any excuse to think about Don Draper makes me happy…

Finally, after 12 years, Harry Potter is coming to an end. I have been trying to write a blog post on this for a little while now, but I have really had to think about this a lot.

For me, the Harry Potter series began on July 8th 1999 when Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published. I didn’t get the book when it came out, but it was the book that caught my attention. While standing in Easons on O’Connell Street, I read the synopsis at the back of the book, then went up to the counter with the first three books in my hand. I read them all within days, and was hooked. I love kids books – I was devastated when Roald Dahl died – so it is no surprise that I picked up this series of books. I was not expecting them to be so well written, imagined and detailed. I was completely engrossed.

The characters were so real – with a hint of magic about them – that they spoke to me instantly. I could remember what it was like being the kid who didn’t fit in like Harry, the kid who had bushy hair like Hermione, and I was (and always will be the ginger kid), like Ron. The books also reminded me what it was like to be a child, to have the hope that you were special and different from everyone else: so when Harry got the letter from Dumbledore telling him he had a place at Hogwarts, the child in me was delighted (and a little bit jealous).

Although I was not the initial target audience – I was 19 when I first picked up a Harry Potter book – I grew as Harry, Ron and Hermione grew. I laughed with them, cried with them and as they fought bigger and bigger battles, so did I; albeit without magic and not quite on the same level as them. I queued at midnight book launches in Dublin and London to be the first to get my hands on the books, then stayed up all night reading them: I had to know what happened next. I cried at the end of every book, but especially the later ones. How could JK Rowling make me love someone then take them away from me!?

A part of me always knew the books would be made into films – they were too successful not to be – and as casting choices were confirmed, my excitement for the films grew and grew. Alan Rickman? Yes please. Richard Harris? Yes please. Fiona Shaw? Yes please! And those kids! They looked perfect! Look at them!!

I was brought to the press show of the first film by a friend. She may have regretted this choice though, because I was so excited I was bouncing up and down. She told me later that she thought I was going to pass out.

I have to admit, the films – while wonderful – didn’t grip me in the same way as the books. Maybe it was because I knew what was going to happen, maybe it was because the story had to be so condensed to fit into a film that was not eight hours long or maybe it was something I am still not able to put my finger on. That said, however, I think the films were the best they could be. They were beautifully shot, well cast and acted incredibly (for the most part). They improved as they went on, as the cast and crew became more comfortable, and the script writers discovered secrets as the books came out.

The films grew and became darker as the audience (and young cast) did. To me, the strongest indication of this was the logo at the start of the films. In Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, the logo was gold. By the time we got to Goblet of Fire, it was silver. In Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1, the logo was actually rusting and beginning to fall apart. The logo signified the tone of the film, and the unity of the wizarding world.

The final book was published in 2007, but the story didn’t feel finished simply because I knew there were more books to come. The films rolled on, and on July 15th the story will officially end. This is the first time that I will not see the film at the press show and while this is outside my control, it actually makes me happy. I am not ready for this story to end, and the longer I wait to see the film, the longer it will last.

I can understand why fans slept in Trafalgar Square waiting for the premiere. These films have been going for 10 years. All fans have grown with them, they have laughed and cried with these characters, and this really is the end of Harry Potter. This was their chance to say goodbye to a part of their lives, big or small. I very much doubt that I would have joined them – even if I did live in London – but I can understand why the fans braved the elements. This was not just about seeing their idols, this was about saying thank you.

I grew with Harry and Harry grew with me. While I am not done yet – not by a long shot – Harry finally is, and it’s breaking my little heart.

What can I say? Beautiful landscapes, horses that do not (seem to) talk and a warrior girl with red hair and a bow and arrow… Not to mention a will-o-the-wisp. Have you been watching my dreams again, Mr Lasseter?

I love Pixar, so I am biased, but I am very excited to see what Brave is all about.

Thanks to @DisneyMoviesIrl for the trailer.

I adored the boys (as I affectionately called them) – their songs made me dance, sing and cry (sometimes at the same time), I loved their sense of humour and the fun they seemed to have together and I had my mind blown on September 3rd 1993 when I saw the boys perform live at The Point. My favourite member was Robbie; I loved the rest of the boys, just not quite as much.

My room was covered with posters of Take That, and I mean covered. Some of the posters overlapped, the ceiling was enveloped and I had a border of posters across the floor. I had a deep bay window at the time, and it was filled with merchandise that was – as I look back – ridiculous. Alarm clocks, jewellery, perfume. You name it, I had it.

It’s strange to me now how much the little I knew of Take That affected my life. I remember reading Take That: In Private one night. There is a part in the book where Jason has a throat infection and rings home to talk to his mum. The thought of Jason being ill reduced me to tears. OK, I was 14, but still…

On July 16th 1995 my world imploded. I was enjoying a lie in – school was out for the summer – but was woken up by a phone call from my mum. She had heard on the Gerry Ryan show that Robbie had left Take That and rang to tell me. I hung up the phone and started crying. I didn’t stop for about four days.

This was the first time I had experienced heartbreak. I was always so logical about things that went wrong, but the idea that Robbie was no longer in Take That devastated me. It was as though he had died. I was convinced I would never see or hear about him again and that he was simply… gone. Of course this was not the case, and was probably never going to be the case, but it is hard to convince a heartbroken 15-year-old that the man who had just walked away from the pop group that she worshipped would go on to be the biggest artist in the world – for a while, at least.

I went to see Take That in Manchester, and missed Robbie through the whole performance, even when I got a wave from Jason. Take That split up the following year and while I was sad, I didn’t cry half as much as I cried for Robbie. Eventually, life went on. I grew up, I left school, I went to college… I met Gary, Robbie and Mark over the years and I still loved the boys somewhere deep inside, but that part of my life was over… Wasn’t it?

I do not need to tell you what happened next. Take That reformed as a four piece and the world went mad. I always maintained I would be front and centre for their reunion gig. And I was. I travelled around the UK and Ireland to see them. I met them in bars and had chats with them. I was delighted, but not nearly as obsessed as I had been 10 years before. This was fantastic, pure nostalgia mixed with new admiration but I could never imagine a day when Robbie would speak to Gary Barlow again, let alone appear on stage with him.

I could not be more wrong, 15 years to the day that Robbie left, Take That announced his return, along with a new album and tour. My 15-year-old heartbreak began to heal.

Last weekend I saw Take That – the original Take That – on stage in Croke Park. Twice. It is very difficult to describe how I felt seeing Robbie back on stage with the boys, but suffice it to say that I was bawling crying. I never ever thought I would see the day this would happen. I couldn’t help remembering myself as a teenager and wishing I could say to her – “It’s all right Brogen, really. A day will come when Take That will reform and you will be there to see it”. Even as I think of the person I used to be, I remember her pain and it’s hard to believe that things have finally come full circle.

The cracks in my heart – 16 years old – have finally healed. If only all heartbreaks could be so smoothly mended.

Thanks for everything, Take That. Thanks for leaving, and thanks for coming back.

I have been a fan of Jackass since the early days, and met Ryan Dunn in 2003, and again last year. He was an absolute gentleman both times.

Even though he made a living out of launching himself off things, shoving things into himself and getting hit by more things, it never occurred to me that he would die so young.

So long Ryan. Thanks for all the laughs you gave us in your short time in this world.

Here is the very bad video of Brad Pitt arriving earlier at the Press Conference for The Tree of Life…

(Stick with it until about 30 seconds in)

And yes, it was WAY calmer than it was for Johnny Depp.

The movie is ah-may-zing by the way.

I will blog properly when I get time, too much work to do now, and I am far too tired!

Danny McBride is one of those people.

The lovely people over at Entertainment One seemed to think this would be pretty cool as well, and last night after the screening of Your Highness, a lucky few were invited to go for a Knight Out With Danny McBride.

My job sucks, I mean go for drinks with Danny McBride!? On a school night?

I have to confess, the setup seemed sort of weird – would he even sit with us, and if he did, what do you talk about with someone you know so much about, but who knows nothing about you? – but it actually worked really well. We piled into The Brazen Head where Danny was already holding court. The boys (including Niall, Joe and Andy) had arrived before us, so they were already deep in conversation with Danny so we didn’t butt in. We hadn’t seen each other in ages, so it was good to catch up with Sarina, Roe and Sue… Even if the conversation was mostly about The Wire. Ugh.

Eventually the boys were told to stop hogging Danny, and we switched, like a game of group speed dating. Danny was sweet, funny, surprisingly normal and actually seemed to care about what we had to say.

And what did we say? Well, we talked about…

• The fact that Sarina had spilled Coca-Cola on me.
• iPhone apps.
• Whether Danny is on Twitter or Facebook. He’s not.
• Jet lag.
• John Stamos’s famous flip out on Aussie TV.
• Neil Prendeville.
• Sleep… and the lack of.
• Babies.

…and other everyday stuff. Actually, what we talked about was pretty mundane. Maybe the first group were more interesting… No one talked about the movie or Will Ferrell and no one tried to record the conversation (which Danny thought was weird). It was just us sitting in the pub talking to Danny McBride. I did ask him if he thought the situation was a little odd though. He’d done blogger nights out for Eastbound and Down so he was sort of used to it, but he agreed it was a little strange. Glad it was not just me…

When I interviewed Danny today for movies.ie, he asked me if I got the Coca-Cola out of my jeans (aww). The interview went well (you can read it here), I even got to meet the lovely Gemma.

All in all a really fun couple of days, slightly surreal, but fun.

Danny McBride is my new favourite.

…And he does have pretty darn good hair.

I was walking to work, listening this…

And just as the song reached the crescendo at 5:08 minutes in, the sun broke through the clouds. Sort of like this…

Just for a moment, I was bathed in light and smiling like a fool.