Modern Love (2019-2021)

I was only drawn to this really because of the cast, not genre, but actually I got pulled in regardless. It's a charming anthology series which explores love in all of its complicated and beautiful forms.

Each episode is a standalone story inspired by the Modern Love column (whatever that is). It starts off with a blinder of an episode starring Cristin Milioti as she tries to navigate life alone in New York, looking for love, getting pregnant and only really connecting with the doorman of the building she lives in - with emotional and moving outcomes. I was hooked!

They're not all up to that standard, but they certainly are very good and, as I say, with a plethora of stars/cameos including Anne Hathaway, Andy Garcia, Dev Patel, Julia Garner, Olivia Cooke, Sofia Boutella, Shea Whigham, Andrew Scott and even Ed Sheeran what's not to like!

All sorts of little stories from different writers, directors and produces make it up into a delightful little series, beautifully acted by all, designed generally to tug at the heartstrings. And it does. In the final episode it is nicely pulled together with little catch-ups regarding each of the stories that have gone before it - it really is ever so nicely packaged.

I've only seen the first series and according to reviewers the second and final series takes a bit of a dive, so I'm shying away - but with the continued cast line-up it's hard to see how it can be that bad! Coming up are Minnie Driver, Anna Paquin, Miranda Richardson and loads more. What could go wrong!

Anyway, Season 1 is certainly recommended and it's on Amazon Prime Video. The episodes are 30-minute bite-sized too and there's 8 in each season. I guess many will pass it off as 'one for the ladies' but if so, their loss. I must have got in touch with my feminine side!

Arcadian (2024)

This Nicolas Cage 'monster horror' from last year has just now made it to various streaming services so I thought I'd give it a go. It's another post-apocalyptic world setting where nobody seems to know what happened, short of an opening sequence years before as our main man legs it out of the city and holds aloft his twin baby sons, Lion King style!

Skip ahead 15 years to the current and still nobody seems to know what happened to the world apart from there being no contact with the society outside of their valley (of 23 houses) and a bunch of creatures who roam outside during the hours of darkness. Much like in the series From (2022) everyone locks up and barricades themselves in their houses from dusk 'til dawn every day. The creatures bang and crash each night to try and get in, but (up to now) the vigilant inhabitants' measures have repelled their attempts.

Until one fateful day when headstrong son Thomas (who is chasing the teenage girl, Charlotte, at the next farm along, bending the rules that his brother, Joseph, sticks to - as defined by dad, Paul), falls into a crevice, whacks his head and is out, cold for a time. Joseph heads back to the house in time for darkness but loving dad heads out, dark or not, to rescue Thomas. This is the point at which we get a first viewing and interaction with the 'monsters' but unfortunately, in doing so, dad gets injured badly and Thomas and Joseph have to carry him back on their makeshift buggy.

Dad needs medicines to stop him dying, Charlotte's family have some, so Thomas heads over to talk them into sharing - but they won't. Or even help by giving them shelter. Everyone is clearly very frightened and focused on survival of their own folk. So it's back to their own house to board-up again. Charlotte, against the wishes of her family, however, secretly gives Thomas some tablets and this action, in one way or another leads to chaos at Charlotte's house with a major creature-attack. So all four of them head for Paul's house, where the creatures are burrowing underground by now to get in.

It's all good fun and actually, the creatures are very nicely imagined and created for the story with some very funny quirky behaviours just prior to launching their attack on humans! I'm sure it's not supposed to be funny, but as usual with this genre of film, it looks it to me! (In fact if they dispensed with it, they probably have a much better hit rate!) By the way, the creatures only seem to be interested in humans and not dogs, cows, sheep which these families seem to keep. Lucky animals, then!

The main players in the cast, Nic Cage (Face/Off, Leaving Las Vegas), Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space), Jaeden Martell (Knives Out) and Sadi Soverall (Saltburn, Little Bone Lodge) all do a good-enough job, though without a huge amount of character injected into their roles. In actual fact, Nic Cage's character isn't really in it that much as unconscious - so most of the focus is actually on the three teens, giving it something of a Disney feel at some points.

The most tedious part of the film without a doubt is the hugely widespread use of handheld camerawork. Makes you feel sick by the end of the 90 minutes. Perhaps that's the idea! It feels like a bit of an excuse to get a film out there to make some money with nobody really trying very hard, apart from the creature creations team - which are very much the stars of the show. When they are on screen it's rip-roaring fun!

Moto Watch Fit - A Smart Dumbwatch!

Having had a meander away from WearOS with the CMF Watch Pro 2 recently, with pretty positive results, I thought I'd give Motorola a try with their new one, the Moto Watch Fit. It's an oblong, Apple-style shape I guess, rather than the circular that CMF (and many others) went for with their take on what is, really, more of a Smart Dumbwatch!

It's an attractive-looking device which comes with a green/yellow fabric strap, they call it Trekking Green (a Pantone colour of course), which uses Velcro-type stuff to attach and wrap around the wrist. Works well and the design accommodates for very large and small wrists. If you don't like that, though, you can swap it for another one (from Moto or anywhere else) as the lugs are a standard 22mm, so well done Moto.

One of the huge advantages of not being baked into the WearOS platform is battery life - and as with the CMF watch, it can last weeks instead of hours (or just about a day or two with some of them if you're lucky) with WearOS. Moto claim here 16 days, which I shall be putting to the test of course. The downside is that unlike WearOS it doesn't plug into an ecosystem with universal apps, app store and open nature that developers can write for and make available. What you get here is what Moto (will) serve up and make available.

So the first casualty of that is no access to the million and one watch faces that are available for WearOS, but to be fair, Moto supply 80 choices, so surely something to suit everyone! In fact, one could say that a million and one is far too much choice, flexible an option as it is! Most people, in my experience, are going to pick one they like and stick with it anyway. There's also an option to use Moto AI, inside the companion app (so not relying on any particular (Moto) phone), to create your own watch face using text prompts - so we are back to a million and one after all!

It's £89.99 in the UK at time of writing and has, up to now, been quite hard to get from mainstream stockists. I got mine direct from MotorolaUK's website and it was delivered for free, and promptly by UPS. For the purposes of this review, I have paired it up with my Moto Razr 50, but as it's completely universal and controlled entirely by the app, it will work just the same on any Android phone. And just to prove it, I also set it up on my Pixel 9. The box it arrives in is white, 3" x 3" x 2". Inside you get a USB-C to proprietary cable (don't lose it as there's no other way to charge the watch) and a couple of 'lug adapters' in case, as I said above, you don't want to use their supplied strap and prefer another 22mm one. The supplied one is also a little elasticated. Not hugely, but enough to ensure that once you have it set for the size of your wrist, it can be wrenched off over the hand without having to undo it every time. Just.

Physically, it measures 44.46mm high, 37.9mm wide and is 9.5mm fat (in the middle). It weighs 25g which is not surprising as per the aluminium frame, and it feels/looks stealth-like on the wrist. You hardly know it's there really, light as a feather. Alongside my Pixel Watch 3 (45mm version) it feels/looks positively dinky, the latter being fatter and bigger in every direction. But then, as above, it does a lot more, so probably not surprising - and the Pixel also has a gorgeous domed screen glass which is a step up really in terms of class - again, not surprising at significantly more cash - in fact about three times as much! The very slightly curved (at the edges) screen is smooth and lovely under the fingers - and the surrounding aluminium gives it a polished look/feel too. On the right side is a button sitting slightly proud of the flat, which largely functions as a 'get home' or power-functions button. There's no sensor in it. On the back it's black with a central island housing sensors and to one edge, the release for the strap lug assembly.

So yes, the 1.9" screen is an OLED one, fronted with Gorilla Glass 3 (so watch out for micro-scratches or get some sort of protector, I guess), the watch is certified as IP6/8 and to 5 ATM so should be good for wearing pretty much all the time, whatever you're doing, going by that. I wore it in the shower last night - hopefully I haven't knackered it! They say it's not 'waterproof' and only certified for 'fresh water' so maybe not soap and shampoo! As with Moto phones, the OLED panel is gorgeous. Bright and colourful and vibrant. Don't know if it's the same P-OLED as the phones, but it looks like it might well be. The screen can be set to always-on, or not, timed and adjusted for brightness. The always on display is not the watch face that you choose but rather, after the screen timeout length you set, goes to the same Moto-stylised AoD clock that is present on the modern Razr phones - which is very nice. But there's no way to change that.

The watch doesn't have a speaker or microphone, so notifications are visual and vibration-based only and making/taking phone calls directly on it are right out! The Moto Watch App, on any Android 12 or newer phone, connected via Bluetooth 5.3, controls all of this and is almost as littered with options as a WearOS companion app. The vibration motor has 3 levels of intensity and I have it on the top one, which feels right for me. Not enough to wake or annoy, but enough to make me notice. You can then have a dot on the screen when something has come in, if you like.

There's a 'tiled' UI which the user can add/remove stuff from (via the watch or app), such as weather, fitness, sleep, music controls, steps, heart rate, blood/oxygen - much of the stuff you'd expect on higher-end smartwatch systems really. The UI is a swiping one of course and you swipe right from the home screen for a list of the Moto 'apps' - yes, each 'function' is considered an 'app'. Music controls, weather, Heart rate, torch, workout and so on. Swipe left for whatever tiles you've set up in rotation, up for notifications and down for 'quick settings' (which you can assign/add/remove in the app. Here is where you will also see the current state of battery (if you don't have it in your watch face) and confirmation that Bluetooth is connected.

I have to admit that I'm not much of a fitness fanatic, so testing here will be about the basics, not going down the gym! The first thing I noticed was how badly I sleep! As you can see from my screenshot here, I keep waking up and most of my sleep is of the 'light' variety! I've never done any sleep tracking much before because 'smart' watches have batteries that I always feel that I need to charge overnight, along with my phone. Yes, I know, it could be charged fairly quickly each morning, but I like to wake in the morning knowing that my devices are ready to go! With a 16-day battery (potentially) this goes away and lets me leave the watch on as I sleep. The blood/oxygen seems to work as it should, usually offering me a reading of about 98%, so I must be healthy (at least in that respect!), heart rate, which can be set to how often you want it 'measuring', there's a 'stress' measure which seems to tell me that I'm calm(!) - and other stuff, hooked up to Health Connect (Google's replacement for their Google Fit app) if you let it, before heading into all the 'workout' type stuff.

There are over 100 'sports modes' for those who want to use them, which you can select on the watch and start things going manually. It's not smart enough to detect what you're doing automatically, but when you're done it does write the data to the app (which, if you sign into a Moto account, will save the data for you in their cloud too). I guess that if you're serious about fitness you'd likely have a more up-market, less budget device than this anyway which will detect more. Bu there's outdoor walking, indoor walking, skipping, cycling, swimming, rowing, badminton, calories burnt - all the usual stuff you'd expect from a fitness app/watch. There's GPS built into the watch, so you can get distance tracking within the data too. You can set goals and track progress then review it all in the app.

Testing the battery now and the claim for 'up to 16 days'. This, of course, will be an estimate based on someone using the watch without an always on display running constantly - or spending 8 hours a day in the gym - or getting 200 vibrating notifications a day - or constantly running music (and thus controlling it), and so on. You get the idea. Probably 16 days under very strict conditions. However, we'll see I shall fully charge it now, wear it and not take it off, then see what happens. Motorola don't seem to quote anywhere how long it takes to charge from 0% to 100% but rather confirm on their website that users will "get power for the day with a 5-minute charge" - whatever that means! Observing now as I charge from 50% - it's taken 20 minutes to get to 75% - then another 40 minutes to get to 100% (an hour from 50% to full). So I guess that (based on the second half being generally longer to charge than the first with these devices' batteries), maybe an hour and a half, start to finish. Which is no investment in time at all if it does, indeed, last 16 days! I'll come back here and update this when tested fully.

But overall, it's a great watch for the (relatively) simple life. I think it does more than the average fitness band type device - and certainly feels much more like a 'watch' than a 'band'. Does most of what I need it to do - and seems to do it well, with more functionality than I had hoped for - and an app which is very detailed and has oodles of settings and options to play with. I hope they bring more watch faces along as time goes - as more than 80 as there may be, many of them are kind of cartoony/childish - and maybe that's where Moto think that they're pitching this watch. But I think it's neat and very good value for money for those who are happy to trade a deeper ecosystem functions for battery life and something a bit simpler. Recommended.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of May 2025

 ...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 852 - Trapped!

Sunday 4th May

Ian Furlong joins Steve and I again this week as we delve into a whole ton of mobile-related topics and a couple not! OneUI 7, CMF, Samsung EcoSystem, Moto (of course), keyboards, powerbanks - and even Lego 3D printing! Something for everyone, so do join us for an hour.

Whatever Works

Episode 225 - Flexible Pole Erection!
Monday 5th May
Aidan and I are back with another Therapeutic Hour to smash the middle-aged irritation out of anyone! Oodles of fabric-sized Hiplocks, Muc-Off Puppy Leads and Ivy-flavoured Wheat Bran - all making Miniml sense! Available in the usual places now so get stuck in. Oh, and don't live alone - and cheer up, you miseries!

Projector Room

Episode 185 - The Cherry Cleaner
Wednesday 7th May

Gareth, Allan and I are back again with another peep into all things film, cinema and TV. This time we Cherry pick some Thunderbolts, Take the Money and Run, have a Cleaner attack on The Bayou and visit The Last Man on Earth as he moves From The Eternaut to a Sleeper! Available in the usual places, so go get it!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 853 - Ted and the iPhone 16!

Saturday 10th May

Steve and I are here with something of an Apple Special as he lends me his unit and I try to get my head round it, coming from a long and happy 15 years of Android and 20 of Google! Some other bits squeezed in too, though, including our look forward to the new Sony stuff coming this week!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 854 - Motovator!

Sunday 18th May

Steve and I are joined, virtually, by Wilkin Lee this week as he and James Raeburn chatted to him about all things Moto at a Show'n'Tell in the week! Good to get an insight direct from Moto Marketing about what they're up to and for us to see the latest hardware. Also time to chew over The Android Show, Sony's new Xperia and Headphones - and Steve's look/see at the iPhone 16 which we covered in-depth last week. Plus all the other usual stuff. So do join us.

Projector Room

Episode 186 - Deep Space Super Shark
Wednesday 21st May

Gareth, Allan and I are here again with our fortnightly roundup of film, cinema and TV. This time we face the End Times with Heart Eyes, check out The Tomb in a Prison Ship, hop aboard the Avalanche Express and all shout NORM! together.

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 855 - Battling Entropy

Sunday 25th May

Malcolm Bryant joins Steve and I this week as we deep-dive into all sorts of developer stuff that Malcolm's been, well, developing! A Podcatcher App for starters for SmartWatch and Phone. I've had first hands-on with the Moto Edge 60 - but find my SIM Card in a Nothing Phone - while Steve's creating YouTube Shorts galore on all sorts of topics - and has even found the budget, bargain Sammy of the year! All now available in the usual nooks and crannies, so do join us!

Whatever Works

Episode 226 - Crocs Clock Shock!
Tuesday 27th May
Aidan and I are here again with another roundup of Whatever Works for us and you! This time we're driving spikes into the ground (possibly from a pen), alarming doors, burning weeds, remembering proper bulbs, squeezing toothpaste, designing amphibious cars and juicing with war babies! So do join us for another hour of hoots!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 856 - The Ultimate Phone!

Saturday 31st May

Joe Hickey joins Steve and I this week as we delve in, once again, to all things phone! Joe's been playing with loads of Honor phones, Steve's rekindled Bygone Beauties with the Nokia N96 whilst switching between different sized iPhones and as for me, I'm Mostly Thinking Moto!

The Podcasts

PodHubUK - Phones Show Chat - The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea

The Salt Path (2024) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

The Salt Path (12a) is the film adaptation of the international best selling memoir of the same name by Raynor Winn. It covers a transformative period in her and her husband, Moth's, life after being swindled out of their home and farm in Staffordshire - and at the same time, Moth getting a devastating diagnosis of CBD or Corticobasal Degeneration Disease. A rare and progressive neurodegenerative condition which is characterized by gradually worsening problems with movement, speech, and memory.

As they are finally evicted from their beloved home, they decide the best antidote to all this terrible circumstance is to go walking. With the small amount of money they have remaining, Raynor (Gillian Anderson) and Moth (Jason Isaacs) buy a decent quality tent, a pair of sleeping bags, a few other camping essentials and head off to the South West Coast Path starting in Minehead, Somerset.

The core of this incredible story is the bond of this couple who, "For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health" truly live up to those traditional marriage vows and they are a strength greater than the sum of their union. Anderson and Isaac's performances are spellbinding as the intrepid couple, as we see them tackling the beautiful and varied topography of Britain's South West coastline. Slowly traversing down steep hills, along rocky beaches and climbing endless steps hewn into the cliff sides - camping wherever they can (as Moth's condition occasionally flares up) and sometimes encountering the wrath of locals walking their dogs - "You Can't Camp Here!" they cry!

The long walk is punctuated with short flashbacks to events that led to their homelessness. The only slightly fortunate coincidence was that their son and daughter were both of the age that university and a gap year, funded by their own meagre savings, were just on the horizon as they packed up their family house. Otherwise the couple received a weekly benefit of £48 provided by a government tax credit due to Moth's inability to work. This was supplemented by the kindness of strangers along the path and some timely public performance speaking in towns.

The rugged landscape combined with the ever-changing British weather could be thought of as a character in its own right here - and on occasion, seemed to be tormenting our main protagonists. At other times, different natural elements uplifted their entire outlook. Most of all, this is a tale of love, courage, togetherness and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. As the credits rolled on the 1h 55m film, it left me with a feeling of pure joy!

What I use my Smartphone for...

I've been reflecting on this question recently, considering the rising cost of flagship phones, the amazing feature-sets of Android mid-range phones and super prices and capabilities of even the cheapest budget ones. So could I live with a cheaper, simpler phone, I wondered, leaving all the AI-shenanigans and top-end, expensive, best-of-everything to those who really need it all (or have plenty of cash).

So, what do I use my Smartphone for? My daily routine is depicted here, bit of a simple brainstorm really, along with headings to describe my use and verdict at the end, answering my own question!

In bed in the morning
Checking GMail
Checking MeWe
Checking Inoreader
Checking Google News
Using Instapaper (for use later on PC)

In bed at night
TikTok until tired enough to sleep
Smart Audiobook Player - sending me to sleep

Exclusively used on phone
Phone
SMS/RCS (and backup/restore)
Tapo - for Smart Home Light Plugs
Camera
Podcast Addict
AA (vehicle rescue service - if ever needed)
What3words (if ever needed)
Google Wallet - for paying in shops and loyalty cards
Google Authenticator
Counting Steps (when I'm on a health kick)!
Smart Watch stuff

Exclusively used on PC
Audacity
Amolto
MSPublisher
Plex

Can use on a phone (if needed, if away from PC) but always on PC if I can
Google Drive
Playing Music
Watching video/film
Gemini/Chrome
Checking weather
Social Media
Calculator
Calendar
Location Sharing in Google Maps
File Management
Find Hub (formerly Find My Device)
Google Keep
IMDb
MSTeams
Thunderbird
Google Meet
Google Lens
Banking

Google Photos

Photo editing
Amazon shopping
Royal Mail stuff
Clock/alarms/alerts/Notifications
Wikipedia
Reading news
…and more, I'm sure!

Verdict
I’m sure there are gaps, but pretty much as many services I can, I access routinely via my PC, not phone. Yes, no doubt a reflection of not having much of a life (as others might see it!) but also that it just seems so much better to me, all round, to use a big monitor, keyboard and mouse if I can, over squinting at a tiny screen that I need glasses to see! Much else of what I do seems to be for TechToy or Phone Reviewing purposes/tinkering. I think that smartphones, for me, have just become playthings - which means that I really can - if I choose - use a very simple, cheap phone which will meet pretty much all I want to do. After that, it’s unnecessary, but desirable preferences - like macro, good speakers, AoD, PC Modes etc. Not that I don't want to play with phones - I love doing that and it's great to see what's going on in the evolving techsphere, so don't think that this reflective piece/brainstorm means that I've lost interest - more a stock-taking exercise!

Little Bone Lodge (2023)

Also known as The Last Exit for an American release, this 90-minute film has a fair bit going for it. Directed by Matthias Hoene (Cockneys vs Zombies) it's classified as a horror/thriller, but the horror is more about body-horror than anything that will scare the living daylights out of the viewer. It's more subtle than that and has some nice twists and turns along the way.

Vanessa Redgrave's daughter Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck, Anonymous) plays the lead amongst a British cast including Sadie Soverall (Saltburn, Arcadian), Neil Linpow (who also wrote the story) and Harry Cadby - these forming the main key figures in the story. The story is about an isolated Scottish house in which Mama (Richardson), daughter Maisy (Soverall) and Pa (Roger Ajogbe) live. One wild stormy night, two men, Jack (Linpow) and Matty (Cadby), turn up on the doorstep asking for help as they'd had a car accident. Mama was very reluctant to let them in, but did in the end.

Jack was unconscious and had something pole-like sticking out of his torso which Mama proceeded to remove - and stitch up the hole (claiming to be an anaesthetist by profession) to save his life. They had no phone. Or TV. Or anything to connect them with the outside world much and Mama was strangely overprotective of Maisy - who came across throughout as a childlike figure defying her chronological age. Pa is in a wheelchair and Mama has to inject him with something every few hours to keep him comfortable. As you can see, it's a very odd little house and family, the truth about which comes out later!

Everything is not all as it seems with Jack and Matty, either - as Matty also comes across as childlike and sometimes uncontrolled, with Jack having to calm him. Turns out that they are brothers and Jack's role is to look after Matty as he's had a background of mental health issues. Mama takes Jack to his overturned car to collect something that will help calm Matty and when they are there, she sees a dead body in the back of it. Jack whips out a gun and here starts the outflow of the truth about the brothers and their criminal activity - they're basically on-the-run from the law.

So, that's about all the setup you need to know in order to enjoy the unfolding of what's going on, what has gone on and what's going happen as we head towards the grand finale. It's nicely paced with reveals coming out on a well-timed schedule, keeping interest high, edge-of-the-seat often, tense, dark and suspenseful - no silly jump-scares. It's certainly character-driven with a small cast and mostly shot in one location. There are some lovely visuals of the eerie Scottish landscape and backdrop, through the wild weather.

The central performances are very good indeed, particularly the two female leads who turn their delivery of shock, horror, thrills and anxiety well as the story unfolds and twists arrive. And the story is quite nicely crafted - a bit far-fetched ultimately but there's a satisfying outcome for those who stick around. And you should. Few would be disappointed. It's out there on various streaming services, but don't forget the alternative title.