Advantages: good value, lovely grdens and poolside
Disadvantages: slow check in, naff music

...I have just came back from spending a lovely sun-soaked week in Marrakesh in Morocco. I had a fabulous time and also found a hotel that I would really recommend which is the Hotel Amine. We booked the four star Amine through Teletext. I had initially set my heart on a small riad (traditional courtyard style house) in the middle of the medina (the old town). We ended up at the Amine in Marrakesh's new town because I was holidaying with a female friend and we wanted a twin room. The Amine was the only one where we could definitely book a twin room rather than just request it. My friend is a lovely person but I did not fancy sharing a double bed with her so the Amine was booked for £100 for a week's bed and breakfast. We arrived at the hotel after a 20 minute transfer from the airport by taxi. The standard rate for this is 150 Dirum... Read review

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Advantages: Elegant writing, absorbing story
Disadvantages: He's only written three books so far...

...Giles Foden's first novel follows a young Scotsman, Nicholas Garrigan, as his aspirations in the early 70's to escape a predictable career in medicine lead him to apply for work abroad in the Medical Division of the British Civil Service. Assigned to work as an assistant doctor at a remote practice in Uganda, Garrigan arrives in a country in the grip of the dictator Idi Amin and which is shortly to rush headlong into near anarchy. A coincidental encounter between Garrigan and Amin, where Garrigan is called upon to tend to Amin's injuries after a road accident, leads to Amin requesting Garrigan to become his personal physician. Garrigan, made acutely aware of Amin's control and influence, and in some awe of the man, eventually agrees. Little does Garrigan realise that he will not only be tending the dictator's medical needs... Read review

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Advantages: An excellent story, very eye opening. The performance by Whitaker
Disadvantages: Not going to have mass appeal

...Over the last month or so I seem to have been catching up with a number of films that I’d actually been quite keen to see when they were in the cinema. The latest one on my list was The Last King Of Scotland, a film I had heard a lot of good things about. So I sat down last night to finally catch up with the film and see what all the fuss was about. It’s based on the true story of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and the way he ruled Uganda during a certain phase of his dictatorship. Would the film life up to the expectations though? Well there was only one way to find out. The movie focuses on the view of Amin’s (Forest Whitaker) regime through the eyes of a Scotsman, Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy). When he helps Amin with a broken hand the dictator takes a liking to him and wants to make Garrigan his official physician. While Garrigan... Read review

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Advantages: Hot, sunny, varied food, cheap
Disadvantages: Nothing English at all, not for little children

...I'm not sure why my boyfriend and I decided to head to Marrakech or why we picked this hotel, maybe it was luck, maybe it was the cheapest thing that popped up through a search bar. Whatever it was, I like it! We've just come back from our trip and I only really have a few bad things to say about the hotel, and place in general. It's mainly only good qualities. We got off the plan and made it through the airport to an entrance/exit which is currently undergoing building work of two new terminals so it felt a bit odd and empty. There are handy cash machines and an exchange bureau which are handy as you can't get Dirhams in the UK. We were then outside in the half three in the afternoon sun and it was hot! Taxis were easy to spot and we set off on our journey to the Amine Hotel. I'm not sure if there are rules of the road... Read review

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Advantages: An amazing central performance from Whitaker, strong direction, characterisation and writing.
Disadvantages: Some characters are clear plot devices.

...In 1970, rather than join his father's staid family practice, newly qualified young doctor Nicholas Garrigan goes to Uganda in search of adventure. He reaches the country just as it is taken over in a military coup by General Idi Amin and his troops. For a time it seems the country will be rid of corruption and make the leap into modernity and prosperity. In a bizarre twist of fate, the doctor impresses the president in a moment of crisis and finds himself appointed as the head of state's personal physician and closest advisor. At first Garrigan is flattered by the attention and social status, but soon he discovers Amin's immense savagery and his own complicity in it. The young Scot tries to atone for his wrongdoings and finds himself tangled in a web of betrayal and horror as he attempts to escape Uganda alive. It's hard... Read review

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Advantages: Superb cinematography, Forest Whitaker's performance
Disadvantages: One really awful scene, silly ending

..."The Last King of Scotland" is adapted from Giles Foden's novel of the same name; for years I have been meaning to read it, this time I did the lazy thing and went to see the movie instead. THE PLOT Nicholas Garrigan is a newly qualified doctor who takes off for adventure in 1970s Uganda rather than settle down in provincial Scotland to become a GP like his father. He joins a rural medical centre and before long Scotland is a distant memory until one day when the newly installed President of Uganda (or as he calles himself "His Excellency President for Life Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, King of Scotland, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular."), Idi Amin, comes to speak at a nearby town. After the rally... Read review

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Advantages: Great performances, Tense, Compelling viewing
Disadvantages: Factually inaccurate

...One of the most misleading film/book titles ever in my opinion! So what is the film about? Is it any good? ------------------------------------------------------- This is the tale of how the films protagonist Dr Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) is taken under the wing of Ugandan president, Idi Amin (Forrest Whitaker). Amin just so happens to be a brutal dictator with a bit of a problem with trusting people. Garrigan had just finished university and felt like he was trapped into following on in exactly the same manner as his father, being a doctor in Scotland. He decided he needed to make a clean break and therefore flew out to Uganda for serving both the purposes of being great help to the health of the locals and also to gain some sense of adventure. On a chance meeting, Amin expresses his somewhat bizarre love of Scotland... Read review

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Advantages: Powerful, Passionate movie with an outstanding cast
Disadvantages: Does contain gore and distressing scenes

...**What Is It?** The Last King Of Scotland is based on the real life of the presidency of Idi Amin. This is a semi-fictional story based in Uganda, with big connections with Scotland. **When Was It Released** Released in January 2007 and released on DVD on 14th March. So it hasn't been out for very long. It is one of the most successful movies of 2007. **Charactors/Actors** James MacAvoy (Becoming Jane, Narnia) - Dr. Nicholas Garrigan- The main charactor behind the Last King of Scotland. This story is pretty much based on his characterisation throughout the movie. A fantastic performance from him. Forrest Whittaker (The Marsh, First Daughter) - Idi Amin- The president of Uganda whos ruthless regime kills 100,000's of Ugandans. You see his relationship with Dr Garrigan go to excentric levels. A breath taking performance from... Read review

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Advantages: This may help you come to terms with your infertility
Disadvantages: It might not be the right solution for you

.... Here goes! 1986 I move to London at the tender age of 21 and yes I probably thought the streets were paved with gold. Well, the job I had just obtained paid double to what I had been earning in Scotland! A month after I arrive in London, I meet a tall, dark, handsome African stranger called Amin, whilst celebrating my 22nd birthday. I refuse a number of “dates” with him, but he’s persistent and eventually I give in. Amin is Sudanese, a Muslim and looking for a wife to bear his children! His character is interesting; he’s a permanent student, thinks he is a devout Muslim, yet drinks alcohol and gambles with money received by way of state benefits. 1988 Amin and I are still together and we’re trying to conceive. Interestingly, Amin takes the view that you get pregnant first and then you get married. I’m young, naïve and buy... Read review

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Advantages: Addictive, exhilirating, powerful
Disadvantages: None

...What can I say? Forest Whitaker's performance as Idi Amin in this very addictive film is so good it's scary. Of course the barbaric dictator was scary, but this performance seems to capture the real man so perfectly giving a real taste of the fearful presence he would have been. There's no sign of theatrical tricks, no indulgence in disguise. It's extremely compelling and horifically terrifying. And that is saying a lot as I love my horror films! The film is also intelligent, witty and ruthlessly honest to the misguidance and misery at the heart of the story, Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock's script for "The Last King of Scotland," based on a novel by Giles Foden, takes a young Scottish doctor, dashed through with a serious itch to escape the confines of home, and hurtles him into an African political disaster, which undermines his... Read review

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