British

Film Review – Bullet Train (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

We’re going away tomorrow, so I should really be finishing packing. Or, at least, getting an early night so I can finish packing in the morning. Admittedly, we’re not setting off early but it still doesn’t seem wise to be sitting up writing blog posts. Still, I actually watched a film this week that wasn’t a rubbish animated film. It was a film that I was actually looking forward to seeing. I was meant to see it at the cinema when it came out but that never happened. It’s taken a while but I finally go around to it this week. All the more impressive considering it’s the first film I’ve seen in ages that’s had a run time of over 90 minutes.

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Film Review – Love Sarah (2020)

films, reviews

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

I love Yotam Ottolenghi. I am obsessed with his cookbooks even though I’ve only ever made a few recipes. That’s mostly because the ingredients always include something random that isn’t a cupboard staple. It’s also because they tend to be about 2 pages of instructions and who has the time? One day, I will go through them and make every single one. Or at least any without mushrooms, olives or any other foodstuff that I can’t stand. But for now, I can just dream of a time when I’m drawing in my own versions of his recipes. I’ve also never been to his place in London but I’ve walked past it and lusted over the cakes in the window. The same cakes that have a starring role in this film. I wanted to check it out as soon as I knew about the Ottolenghi connection but I didn’t exactly have high expectations.

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Film Review – Brian and Charles (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

It was the BAFTAs last weekend and there was a lot to take away from the ceremony. For one thing, all of the winners were white which seems ridiculous given the diversity among the nominees. For another, Colin Farrell didn’t win Best Actor for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin. One of the few things that we can say that BAFTA got right was nominating Brian and Charles for Outstanding British Film. It wasn’t exactly going to win because it was up against some stiff competition. However, I was happy to see it getting recognised. Even though I hadn’t actually seen it at that point. It was a film that I had been eyeing up for ages because it just sounded like my kind of thing. A quirky British film about a lonely weirdo. I loved the idea of it. The award ceremony on Sunday gave me the perfect excuse to finally watch it.

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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 – Your Christmas or Mine? (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Am I going mad or are there two different films with this exact premise this year? Either that or the main actors in this film are so utterly generic that every time I see the trailer I forget that I’ve already seen it. It’s not as if I ever expected this to be one of the greatest Christmas films ever. After all, the trailer makes it pretty obvious what’s going to happen. In fact, the premise alone makes it pretty obvious what’s going to happen. Both halves of a young couple end up at their partner’s house for Christmas. Hilarity ensues. Even if I was pretty convinced that hilarity would be the last thing on the menu. The least I could hope for would be an easy watch that didn’t require much attention.

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Book Review – The Bullet That Miss by Richard Osman

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Every time I browse the Waterstones website I stumble across another celebrity who has written a book. I blame Richard Osman. I understand that it’s not actually down to him but his success as a writer hasn’t helped. It’s as if publishers have finally realised that star power is a thing. Part of me is excited that people I like are writing books for me to read. The rest of me is slightly sad that these people are handed massive deals when other writers aren’t given a chance. After all, it doesn’t always work out. I’ve read plenty of celebrity novels that just fell flat.

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Book Review – No Shame by Tom Allen

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

There are a lot of British comedians who I would love to see live. One of them is Tom Allen. I think he’s amazingly funny and I enjoy seeing him appear on various TV shows. It also makes me feel slightly better about living at home that he’s only just moved into his own house! When this came up on Audible, I knew that I had to get it. Then I stumbled across a hardback copy in a charity shop and it seemed like something or someone was telling me to read it. I was meant to be reviewing my current read today but, thanks to my inability to read much, I knew I wasn’t going to manage it. I decided it was a good time to listen to the audiobook while I was working.

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Book Review – Burncoat by Sarah Hall

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I often wonder if this whole reviewing thing isn’t a little bit futile. Not the reading books or talking about them bit. I think that’s a great part of life and something that everyone should be encouraged to do more. No, I mean arbitrarily assigning a rating to everything that I read. I never used to do it but jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago. Ratings don’t really tell you very much because they’re so personal. Everyone has an individual spectrum of greatness and it’s all very dependent on context. Take Burncoat for example. I’ve seen plenty of people say they prefer it to The Fell but I’m the opposite. The difference? They read Sarah Hall first and I didn’t. If I’d read them in a different order would I have flipped? It’s both impossible to say and pointless to speculate. On with the review.

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Tuesday Review – No Time To Die (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I remember when it was announced that Daniel Craig was going to be James Bond. I have to admit, I didn’t particularly mind. Sure, I appreciated the films but I can’t say that I was that invested in the choice of actor. However, a friend of mine was really annoyed with the announcement. At the time, he was a huge fan of Clive Owen and was really annoyed that Owen hadn’t been picked. The fact he cared so much was weird at the time and it’s, obviously, even weirder now. After all, it’s 15 years since Casino Royale came out and Daniel Craig has proved to be a great choice. Clive Owen? He might still be working but he’s not exactly making headlines. You can’t quite imagine, had he actually been chosen, that Owen would have made it until 2021 in the role.

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Tuesday Review – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (2021)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I like to think that I’m a musical theatre geek but, the truth is, I don’t actually watch a lot of musical theatre. I’m not just talking about during the Pandemic but in general. I know the classics but there are so many modern examples that I know very little about. Aside from Hamilton, I’ve not kept up with contemporary musicals. Add that to the fact that I’d not watched the BBC3 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16 and you can see that I wasn’t really rushing to watch the film adaptation of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. But, I also think it should be celebrated for putting drag culture further into the public domain and, you know, Richard E Grant is everything. So, I settled down this weekend to watch it.

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