Reviews of things
I have two more full weeks at work and then I'm on four or three day weeks to use up my annual leave before I get to say, "Well I'd say it's been nice knowing you all but it really hasn't, bye then!" at the end of August. \o/
What follows is things I have been doing instead of doing practical move like things.
Books: I have recently finished Gossip From The Forest: The Tangled Roots of Our Forests and Fairytales bu Sara Maitland. It was not exactly what I was expecting as it involved much more discussion of, well, forestry, than I was anticipating. It was actually quite fascinatng though and I learned a little about something I previoulsy knew nothing about. I am currently readng seminal biography Richard I by John Gillingham. Ive had this for ages but am just getting round to reading it. I put it off as it's part of the, again seminal, Yale English Monarchs Series and the one I read about Henry II took me about a year and while clearly a labour of love by the author was realy rather, well, dull. Gillingham's biography is much snappier and I'm really enjoying it. It also indicates to the extent the TV show would write itself. There's a brilliant quote from when a clerk during the third crusade splutteringly asked if Richard really thought trying to take a beach was a good idea. Richard replied, "Get on with your writing Sir Clerk and leave the chivilarly to me."
Films: My last cinema trip was to see Spy which was hilarious, I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see Fiege's Ghostbusters reboot. Despite the fact the whole world must have seen it by now due tp the money it's made I have not seen Jurrasic World. This is primarily because I was the only cinema loving child in the early 90's who thought Jurrasic Park was both goofy and boring. On DVD I have watched Get on Up which is the James Brown biopic. I do love a musical bipoic and really must start a drinking game every time there's a flashback to some icon of 20th Century American music's impovrished Southern childhood. This one starts really promisingly with a bit of fourth wall breaking and this continues through out but it's mainly the usual tropes of these films. As I enjoy this sort of thing though I still, well, enjoyed it. Chadwick Boseman is brilliant as Brown and I'm really looking forward to him entering the MCU as Black Panther now.
TV: 2015 seems to be the year I watch TV! I am still enjoying the utterly fabulous and ridiculous Empire. I read the other week it is loosely based on The Lion in Winter which is obvious now and explains a lot re the plot and my enjoyment of it. I have continued to watch Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. The production values and the acting are top notch but I'm finding something a little hollow about it. In hindsight I can't actally remember any of the plot from the book and I wonder if the abreviated narrative for TV is the problem (and possibly the reason it's completely tanked for the BBC). I'm also enjoying Humans and am of course rooting for the robots and hating most of the actual humans, especially the vile, bullying, elder daughter of the main family. She's the sort of person that would probably drown kittens for fun.
What follows is things I have been doing instead of doing practical move like things.
Books: I have recently finished Gossip From The Forest: The Tangled Roots of Our Forests and Fairytales bu Sara Maitland. It was not exactly what I was expecting as it involved much more discussion of, well, forestry, than I was anticipating. It was actually quite fascinatng though and I learned a little about something I previoulsy knew nothing about. I am currently readng seminal biography Richard I by John Gillingham. Ive had this for ages but am just getting round to reading it. I put it off as it's part of the, again seminal, Yale English Monarchs Series and the one I read about Henry II took me about a year and while clearly a labour of love by the author was realy rather, well, dull. Gillingham's biography is much snappier and I'm really enjoying it. It also indicates to the extent the TV show would write itself. There's a brilliant quote from when a clerk during the third crusade splutteringly asked if Richard really thought trying to take a beach was a good idea. Richard replied, "Get on with your writing Sir Clerk and leave the chivilarly to me."
Films: My last cinema trip was to see Spy which was hilarious, I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see Fiege's Ghostbusters reboot. Despite the fact the whole world must have seen it by now due tp the money it's made I have not seen Jurrasic World. This is primarily because I was the only cinema loving child in the early 90's who thought Jurrasic Park was both goofy and boring. On DVD I have watched Get on Up which is the James Brown biopic. I do love a musical bipoic and really must start a drinking game every time there's a flashback to some icon of 20th Century American music's impovrished Southern childhood. This one starts really promisingly with a bit of fourth wall breaking and this continues through out but it's mainly the usual tropes of these films. As I enjoy this sort of thing though I still, well, enjoyed it. Chadwick Boseman is brilliant as Brown and I'm really looking forward to him entering the MCU as Black Panther now.
TV: 2015 seems to be the year I watch TV! I am still enjoying the utterly fabulous and ridiculous Empire. I read the other week it is loosely based on The Lion in Winter which is obvious now and explains a lot re the plot and my enjoyment of it. I have continued to watch Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. The production values and the acting are top notch but I'm finding something a little hollow about it. In hindsight I can't actally remember any of the plot from the book and I wonder if the abreviated narrative for TV is the problem (and possibly the reason it's completely tanked for the BBC). I'm also enjoying Humans and am of course rooting for the robots and hating most of the actual humans, especially the vile, bullying, elder daughter of the main family. She's the sort of person that would probably drown kittens for fun.