based on real life

Film Review – Bank of Dave (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Yet again, I’m writing a review of a film I wasn’t expecting to watch this week. I was supposed to be watching Wakanda Forever but didn’t give myself enough time. So, I ended up going for this. I was probably going to watch it anyway though. Mostly because of Rory Kinnear. He’s one of our greatest stage actors but I’ve never seen him in a film role worthy of his talent. It doesn’t help that I refuse to watch Men because I think he’d creep me out too much. I don’t want it to put me off him. I didn’t really think that Bank of Dave would be the role he was looking for but I figured it would be a feel-good story. Something that I needed after a busy and stressful week.

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Film Review – House of Gucci (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I always meant to watch this before now. It was one of those films I was more excited about than I’d expected. I just never go around to it. Why? It just seemed so long. When did we decide that films must be so bloody long these days? It feels as though we either get 90 minutes or a 3-hour epic. And what is the benefit of a long film? If anything, it just means you can’t tell your story succinctly enough. What better way to tell people that you don’t know how to tell a story than by making it go on for an hour longer than necessary? This week, I decided to suck it up and braced myself for the 158-minute runtime. I know that’s not actually a lot in the grand scheme of things but it was a work night and I was already exhausted. Who knew if I would be able to concentrate on this enough to get a good idea of how good it was? At least if the film didn’t keep me engaged then Adam Driver’s face would.

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Book Review – The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I’ve been waiting for this to become available on my library app for ages. I was really looking forward to reading it. In my head, it was going to be like The Lighthouse but without much wanking over mermaids. Using my library app has really opened my eyes to how other people approach books. I started this as soon as I got hold of it and finished it in one day. The person before me had it for ages. Is that how other people handle library books? I mean there are so many audiobooks to choose from? And they’re free? Why hold onto one for ages? Anyway, this wasn’t the book I was expecting to review today, but it feels appropriate to add it to my Halloween TBR.

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Film Review – The One And Only Ivan (2020)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

When I read Katherine Applegate’s book The One and Only Ivan last week, I didn’t know it has been adapted into a film. So, it seemed like the perfect choice for my film review this week. It’s an annoyingly common theme within the bookish community that the book always has to be better. That no film adaptation can ever be as good as the written word. I’ve already written a post about how wrong this idea is, so I don’t judge a film until I’ve seen it. Meaning I had to see if this lived up to the book.

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Book Review – The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I haven’t had much time for reading this weekend, so my first review of this week is going to be a small one. This was another audiobook that I borrowed from the library. It sounded really cute and I love an anthropomorphic animal tale. Even if it is based on an awful true story. I guess it reminds me of the books I read as a child. There were so many books about animals having crazy adventures. This seemed like a good chance to recapture my childhood as I went about a dull day at work.

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Film Review – Operation Mincemeat (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

There’s such an overwhelming sense of patriotism hitting the UK these days. And not the good kind. The very unhelpful kind. It feels like every time something happens, people on the right are bringing up the blitz spirit. When we were in the midst of the pandemic, Tory MPs and their supporters proudly announced that people didn’t hide away in WW2. What they failed to mention is that that’s exactly what they did during air raids. There’s nothing like the overconfidence of a rich guy talking about a war that ended before they were born.

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Film Review – Nomadland (2020)

films, reviews

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I’m still pretty far behind on recent Oscar winning films. I barely watched anything during the various lockdowns as I much preferred something lighter and sillier during that period. Thankfully they’re all becoming widely available now, which makes catching up really easy. The other day I remembered that this was on Disney+ and decided it finally was time to watch it. Yes, I’m extremely late to the party but let’s not worry about that too much. What matters is that I’m watching it at all.

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Film Review – Spencer (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Did you hear about the drama at the Oscars? Yes, I know. Kristen Stewart dared to wear shorts! I swear the only stories not about the thing were about her shorts. To be fair, they were short shorts but I still fail to see why it was such big news. Oscars fashion is always kind of questionable and compared to many people Stewart looked normal. I think she looked phenomenal. What I didn’t know is whether her nomination was worth it. Was she as good as everyone says or did she just happen to be playing a beloved figure?

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Film Review – The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

So, last night’s Oscars ceremony was pretty memorable, right? It’s a shame that Chris Rock’s bad and offensive joke is the thing that people will remember more than anything. I know most people are focusing on Will Smith’s reaction, and it’s not something I’m dismissing. However, the conversation should really be about why that joke was even made in the first place. You might think I’m a little oversensitive as a fellow alopecia sufferer but that doesn’t make Rock’s joke any less misogynistic, disrespectful and totally unnecessary. Why bring her into it? Why make a joke about an illness that she can’t do anything about? Fuck, Chris Rock.

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Film Review – The Courier (2020)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Thanks to my birthday this weekend, I didn’t have a lot of time to watch a film for my review. So, I ended up doing what I always used to do. Going to whichever streaming service I saw first and finding the shortest film that didn’t sound awful. I figured this based on a true story film would be just the thing. Intense enough to keep me interested but not too long to be too complicated. The fact that this also contained Benedict Cumberbatch’s face was just an added bonus.

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