Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Published August 2, 2016
Published August 2, 2016
Published August 1, 2016
Published August 1, 2016
Published August 1, 2016
This is such a unique idea for a story, and one that really makes you ponder, from the start to the finish. It glosses over some slightly more important questions at the beginning - how did this woman give birth to a full size grown man, and what happened to her afterwards? How did they manage to keep it under wraps for so long?
Published July 31, 2016
This came recommended by good friend Lukeh, and as it has Paul Rudd AND Selena Gomez in it, I was on board immediately. It was a great recommendation as I loved the film. It took a little while to understand where it was coming from, not that it got off to a slow start, but just you’re not quite sure where it stands - is it a comedy, drama, how are you supposed to be feeling about these characters and what they’re going through?
Published July 31, 2016
It’s the first time in, perhaps forever, that I have stayed up until the midnight release date for a book, but I was so eager to see what happens in the next part of Harry Potter’s story, that I read the first act before finally admitting defeat and getting some sleep. The rest of it was read in just a few hours upon waking, and what a great story it is.
Published July 29, 2016
This one was unknown to me, but in the search for something mindless, fun and action-packed after a long work week, we opted for Arnold Schwarzenegger doing what he does best: muscles and unintentional comedy. I was expecting it to be pretty bad, and I can’t argue that it was some brilliant filmmaking, but I did actually really enjoy it. Arnie can’t act but that’s not why we watch him, and he used his ridiculous strength well in this one. The child wasn’t irritating, which helps, and I actually really liked the pilot woman who helped him out.
Published July 28, 2016
Published July 27, 2016
Published July 26, 2016
Published July 25, 2016
Published July 25, 2016
Published July 25, 2016
I’d always wondered about this book but had never really been inclined to read it until the kerfuffle kicked up over the sequel/first draft that was published last year. With my interested piqued, I finally got round to reading it, and what a wonderful book it was. I understand the fuss now, I really do.
Published July 24, 2016
I actually found myself laughing out loud more than I’d anticipated, it was funny all the way through. Some of the jokes were crude, some obvious, some more nuanced and detailed, I really liked the variety. It was a bit weird watching OJ in a film but thankfully he wasn’t in it that much, and when he was, he was just being thrown around for comic effect anyway. I was also surprised how many liberties the script writers were allowed to take with the Queen! Bit dated in places, but overall entertaining.
Published July 24, 2016
Published July 24, 2016
In honour of Garry Marshall, we quickly righted this wrong and watched the film. It’s quaint to see Hathaway so young but so quirky already, but if I’m honest, the star of the film for me was Joe. His guidance of the potential princess, his all-knowing attitude as a chauffeur, and the spark of romance with the wonderful Julie Andrews, awww, it has my heart warming just thinking about him.
Published July 23, 2016
It wasn’t quite as good as I’d built it up in my head, but it was still a really good film. It got off to a slow start, I think, but once things picked up and everyone started acting like complete maniacs, it was a lot of fun. I was impressed with the effects, a few of them went a bit wonky, but there were a couple that I’m still not sure how would be achieved today, let alone twenty years ago. Some of the fashion choices haven’t aged particularly well and I was annoyed at the scene where Goldie has lipstick on her teeth - they couldn’t have shot that again?
Published July 22, 2016
This one was similar to the last, in that it looked like it had the potential to be a good film, but the story didn’t quite make sense. Also, there were some seriously dodgy special effects along the way (some of the London river stuff was particularly bad). Having said that, there was one sequence that was really good, where it was a long one-shot take as the battle took place in the streets. Really liked that.
Published July 22, 2016
Published July 21, 2016
This book is a love story, written in two parts - the present where a new widow is forced to remember an old love, and then the past, catching up the story of the three main characters until the present. I struggled, a little, with the way the book is structured, because you start at the end, where it is obvious what is going to happen, so the rest of it seems a little fruitless.
Published July 20, 2016
A long, long while back, I wrote my five reasons for not going to the cinema anymore, and occasionally if I’m ever asked why I dislike watching films on the big screen, I point people towards that post. All of it still holds true, and as I get more cranky and my TV setup at home gets more awesome, there’s less of a reason to fork out for cinema tickets for any blockbuster release.
Published July 19, 2016
I’ve been looking forward to this since I saw the first trailer, and at last, it arrived. I loved it just as much as I thought I would, it’s the perfect mix of cute and funny, as well as telling a serious tale with genuine feelings. I actually thought some elements of it were a bit much for a kids film, but that’s what parents are for, isn’t it, to decide on that kind of thing. As an adult, I thought it was perfectly pitched, and really, truly, hilarious in places.
Published July 18, 2016
Published July 18, 2016
Published July 17, 2016
Looking at Rotten Tomatoes just before publishing, I noticed this film has 0% on the tomatometer. Now, that’s because it’s in cinemas now and so lacking in reviewers, but even so, that seems incredibly harsh. It’s clearly a low budget movie, an indy that does look cheap in places - the producers clearly spent some money on a drone and were damned if they weren’t going to get maximum use out of it. So it did look cheaper than your average blockbuster, but I still thought it was a lot of fun.
Published July 17, 2016
My Life List has featured “watch a professional ballet performance” for a long time, and I’ve never quite got round to it. I’ve just recently realised why that is, considering how much I love the theatre and would grab any excuse to go. I have a weird obsession with ballet that manifests itself by me loving the behind the scenes activities – training and classes, rehearsal, choreography and dance schools – but then not being at all interested in the end result.
Published July 16, 2016
We know now that the NFL tried to quash some or all of this movie, and that the story behind this is no doubt a lot, lot worse. That explains why once the concussion findings have been published and the news is out there, the film gets a bit wobbly in its pacing - almost like it can’t decide whether to go full out on the good versus bad guys, and instead sits nervously in between the two.
Published July 16, 2016
Apple Music gets quite a lot of stick for its functionality and usability, and I can understand the complaints to a degree. However, I’ve used it constantly these past six months for my weekly album adventure and much more, so I’m listening to more music than I probably have before in my life. I’m comfortable with how it works and I love it being part of my iOS experience. There’s one feature I really would like, though, and that is a Reading List style place to save things for the future. If you use Safari, you’ll know it’s easy to save whatever web page you’re on to your Reading List so that you can revisit it at a later date. Or if you’re anything like me, save stuff that you take several months to get round to looking at.
Published July 15, 2016
Published July 15, 2016
Written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, you have to expect this book to be slightly crazy, pretty funny, and insanely well structured. It was all of those things. I’m not sure it was 100% to my tastes, but I did enjoy it, particularly the way all the characters seemed to be drawn inexorably towards each other.
Published July 13, 2016
The 2016 Wimbledon Championships drew to a close this past weekend with Williams and Murray taking their respective crowns and bringing to an end two weeks of spectacular tennis. I’ve never felt quite so on top of all the Wimbledon action as I have this year, well not since I once took a whole week off to watch nothing but the tennis. There are two reasons why I’ve managed to stay so informed. One is the brilliant Live at Wimbledon radio, which provided all day every day coverage either of everything going on across the grounds, or more specific channels for Centre Court and Court One. The other weapon in my knowledge arsenal was the fantastic Tennis Podcast.
Published July 13, 2016
I have to be honest, I didn’t really enjoy this one at all. There didn’t seem to be a clear angle with it - you can tell the author wanted to stick with rabbits that weren’t acting too human, and it was interesting to see where they didn’t understand human ideas, like the sea and bridges, but equally, these rabbits were capable of getting in a boat in a bid for freedom and rescuing each other from garden hutches.
Published July 12, 2016
Now, I have to be careful writing this post, because in our household there is one human who is utterly obsessed beyond comprehension with Taylor Swift, and just to be clear, it’s not me. I like Ms Swift, I think she’s very talented and pulled off an incredible feat switching from country to pop the way she did. 1989 is a really good album. I also like the stuff she does with her fans and the way she really seems to care about what’s going on around her. (That’s enough praise to get me out of trouble, isn’t it?)
Published July 11, 2016
Published July 11, 2016
Published July 11, 2016
I didn’t realise I was eagerly awaiting the fourth series of Orange is the New Black, not until the Netflix Twitter account started to count down to its release date. Then I remembered how much I enjoy the show, and how long it has been since we were last allowed a glimpse of what was going on at Litchfield Correctional Facility. The release of series four coincided with a period of time where I happened to be in front of a screen for a good portion of the day. Or five days. And that’s what it took me to watch it through - the first time I’ve really, truly, binge-watched something the way all the jokes suggest.
Published July 9, 2016
This was a fascinating one. I remembered from the trailer that it was going to be something of an action movie with big waves, but it wasn’t your traditional blockbuster. It was a lot more slow-moving, building tension every step of the way and really engaging with the character so that you care what happens in those horrifying conditions.
Published July 4, 2016
Published July 4, 2016
Published July 2, 2016
Published July 1, 2016
Turns out, it was a really good film. The start tells the story of a boy and a girl in love, but their situation so quickly changes and spirals out of control that you’re left wandering what on earth happened. The story moves somehow quite slowly, but keeps the tension ramping up so that there are moments that are properly edge-of-your-seat.
Published July 1, 2016
Published June 29, 2016
Published June 29, 2016
I always find the idea of short story collections more exciting in principal than I usually find them in practice, and this one had more anticipation thanks to the names attached. It’s kind of cynical to say ‘we’re giving some authors a bigger stage thanks to Lee Child and Jeffrey Deaver’ but equally, they’re upfront and honest about it and it works! So no complaints here.
Published June 27, 2016
Published June 27, 2016
Published June 25, 2016
Published June 24, 2016
We were looking for something to take our minds off what had been a long week and an extremely mind-boggling (Brexit-filled) day. Who better to turn to than Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock? I can’t believe I haven’t seen this one already, given my love for Sandy, but it was the perfect film to rectify the situation.
Published June 24, 2016
The BBC Good Food Show has been on my to do list for a while, and this year I finally managed to find time to attend the show for a few hours. It’s bad timing really, because I haven’t been cooking or baking as much as I used to, but even so, I’m still keen on seeing what the best of the kitchen world has to offer. In all honesty, I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping the show would have innovation and cool kitchen tools, areas for increasing food knowledge, cooking skills and creating more interesting dishes. Generally, I just wanted a bit of inspiration.
Published June 21, 2016
Apple’s WWDC took place last week, and whilst the keynote speech that kicks the event off was interesting for its new developments introduced, it wasn’t my favourite part of the week. Apple have done a great job upping their game in terms of providing coverage of the conference for those who can’t make the trip. They stream all the sessions live, and record them all for later watching on demand.