Travellers heading to Florida know that it is the kind of place where you can either turn your nose up at the commercialism and OTT nature of the tourism, or just delve into it head first and enjoy it. Whether you're a kid travelling with your parents, a backpacker travelling...

As amusing as Nick Clegg's 'I'm Sorry' video was, let's not forget why the original video existed in the first place. The Lib Dems' whole 2010 election campaign - and Clegg's sudden popularity boost - was based on the fact that they promised to abolish student tuition fees, something that...

Households all over the world are looking for as many ways as possible to save a little extra cash. We're told every five minutes that the recession is coming to an end, only to be met with more news of doom and gloom in the five minutes afterwards. You know...

Everybody knows how important it is to have life insurance, particularly if you have beneficiaries such as a partner or children. The peace of mind that comes from being covered with a great policy cannot be underestimated, especially when the pay out from that policy will go towards supporting your...

We've all seen the expensive - and often incredibly annoying - TV adverts about car insurance, and how they can save you money and all the rest of it. But sometimes it has to be about more than just saving money, and more about what it actually covers. You often...

This may raise a few eyebrows, but this writer fully believes that procrastination is perfectly healthy and an important part of the writing process. People like to talk about "the dreaded writers block", but instead of letting it get a hold of you and allowing it to reduce you to...

Every story needs a great main character. Hero, anti-hero or villain, the main character should be interesting enough for anyone who finds the story to be enthralled and engaged from the first word until the last. Lance Armstrong is the ultimate inspiration for writers, and you can learn a lot...

The High Street has taken the brunt of the recession, with store closures affecting communities small and large and resulting in job losses across the board. With the recent troubles of Blockbuster Video and HMV hitting the news, the glum outlook for the retail industry doesn't look like changing any...

My girlfriend, fiancée, partner, whatever... and I have been together since January 2002 and in June 2014, finally take the plunge and get married. As Chris Farley would say: "Whoopty-freakin'-do!"

We haven't done the whole 'relationship by numbers' thing very well, really. A lot of couples you can set your...

They don't clean up at the Oscars or make the critics swoon, but action movies make big money at the box office and when executed well, can often become a favourite amongst movie fans. The likes of Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Predator and Kill Bill Vol 1 are of the...

Screenwriters and filmmakers do not get an easy ride when making a name for themselves and when they're trying to break through in the industry. The chances of you handing your screenplay to somebody and the next year you're the toast of Hollywood are about a billion to one. And...

Before your band can reach the heights of Coldplay or U2, you have to build your audience and that means playing as many gigs as possible. When you're just starting out, the chances are that your budget will be pretty slim, meaning that you are unlikely to be able to...

"We do little homages in our films, and we thought it was a very appropriate homage to let Studio Ghibli know how much they mean to us." - John Lasseter on Totoro's cameo in Toy Story 3.

These days hardly a week goes by without an animated film released at...

Today, 20 November is the 20th anniversary of the fire at Windsor Castle. It was a sad day in 1992 when, during refurbishment work on the 900 year old castle, a spotlight was believed to have overheated and caught fire to one of the curtains by the altar.

History is...

Hollywood knows all about creating epic carnage on the big screen. The average Hollywood blockbuster has a budget of $150 million, and if the main aim of that blockbuster is to wow the audience with special effects, action sequences and set pieces designed to blow the mind of cinema-goers from...

As soon as November comes around, the retail industry starts its campaign to get you through their doors as the countdown to Christmas begins. Before you know it, every store you enter will be playing Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney and you'll be humming Last Christmas without being aware that you're...

Throughout history, fire has been involved in some of mankind's most important moments, and it still continues to shock, surprise and teach us lessons about the way that we build our homes, businesses and many other structures. It is fire that has helped develop the way we create and design...

The days of lugging vast amounts of equipment around when you're making a film is fast coming to an end, especially in the world of low budget filmmaking. It used to be pretty difficult to put together a film crew and the funding to get the equipment you need, but...

If there is one film that fills me with more emotions that I can neither understand or bear it is Bill Forsyth's 1983 Scottish comedy Local Hero. It is a film that makes you laugh yet has a melancholic tone that always seems one step away from breaking your heart....

Most of the memories I have of children's films I watched as a child involve me being terrified, and 1985's Return to Oz is one of those films that ingrained itself on my memory.

There are many great scares to choose from: The incredibly creepy Wheelers; the head-switching witch, Mombi;...