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Leaving
I frequently think that if I were to vanish tomorrow, no-one would notice or care. I don't matter to anyone and therefore its not important. Sometimes, I feel like packing myself and the bird up, and the two of us just going. Because by the time anyone did bother to notice, we'd be long gone. -
Land Of The...
21. Joy (dir. David O'Russell, 2016) I originally watched this a couple of weeks ago, mainly because I like Jennifer Lawrence, and also because her previous collaborations with O'Russell have been good. And it is pretty good - the story of Joy Mantango, who went from near-broke housewife to millionairess inventor via a cable shopping channel - is ( Read more... ) -
22. The Reader on the 6.27, Jean-Paul Diederlaurent (2014)
Just a vague shape hovering on the edge of people's field of vision.This beautiful little novel is one that once you start, you can't put down. Guylain Vignolles is an isolated man, working at a paper pulping factory, living alone aside from his goldfish, cut off from humanity. Except he likes to read aloud, to those commuters he encounters daily ( Read more... ) -
21. Rule Britannia, Daphne Du Maurier (1972)
This is what happens to people when they lose their identity, when they stop being themselves...the person doesn't develop, it gets swamped, and it happens to communities, to villages, to countries under invasion, however benign the intention.This, Du Maurier's last novel, is a surprisingly prescient and topical piece of work. Set in the late 1970s ( Read more... ) -
The Good, The Bad, and The Strange...
In the last couple of weeks, I've watched 4 films, and 1 boxset, so here are the reviews...
16. Deutschland 83 (dirs. Edward Berger and Samira Radsi, 2016)
This eight part series is something I wanted to watch in one go - and then being sensible kicked in and I managed to stretch it over 4 days. Unlike the increasingly tiresome The Americans, ( Read more... ) -
20. To The Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey (2016)
That is the excitement. We catch only glimpses, a burst of movement, a flap of wings, yet it is life itself beating at shadow's edge. It is the unfolding of potential; all of what we might experience and see and learn awaits us.This is a phenomenal book - the type of book that immediately made me want to flip to the start and read all over again. ( Read more... ) -
Four by Four...
One of the many benefits of a staycation (aside from my local Costa, local gym, my cockatiel, being able to cook and eat food I like, sleep when I like, and no bloody jetlag) is the fact I can watch films. So, four films I've enjoyed over the last couple of weeks...
12. High Rise (dir. Ben Wheatley, 2016)If you haven't read JG Ballard's dystopian ( Read more... ) -
Just to Say..
Yes, I am pleased Theresa May is going to be PM. Mainly because the alternative of Dolores Umbridge's less nice sister, Boris the Buffon, and Gove the Cove was fucking hideous ( Read more... ) -
Oh, FFS...
Getting seriously pissed off with comments about "the British public." Just for the record ( Read more... ) -
Me and EU
Right. Time to stop panicking, crying, freaking out - time for a hard hat, cool head, and some thinking ( Read more... )