The Stranger
7.5
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TV Show Watch
Based on Harlan Coben's novel of the same name, the series will follow Adam Price, who seems to be...
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012)
8.4
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Movie
A film adaptation based on Lionel Shriver's dramatic, epistolary novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin...
The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated Bottomland in Books
Oct 5, 2020
David McK (3425 KP) rated Sharpe's Honour in TV
Nov 14, 2021 (Updated Nov 14, 2021)
I say 'based on' as, because while the main thrust of the storyline is the same, the TV movie of necessity abbreviates the novel somewhat: most noticeably (I felt) watering down quite substantially the role of El Matarife in the proceedings.
As this starts, Sharpe is still mourning the death of his wife Teresa, while Napoleon - in his first appearance in the series - is in retreat from Russia, and with Major Pierre Ducos hatching a plan to drive a wedge between the Spanish and British allies while also getting his revenge on Sharpe by provoking a duel between Sharpe and a Spanish nobleman who he (Ducos) later murders, with Sharpe then taking the rap for said murder (until he is later able to prove his innocence).
David McK (3425 KP) rated Backwards (Red Dwarf #4) in Books
Jan 28, 2019 (Updated Sep 17, 2019)
More so than either of the previous two books, this novel has a plot all of its own, with that plot containing elements of the TV show on which it is based. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the final portion of the book, which takes the episode 'Gunmen of the Apocalypse' as it's basis. The novel also has a role to play for 'Ace' Rimmer, tracing how his life differed from Arnold Rimmer's back to a single event in his childhood.
Written by only one of the two authors responsible for the previous books, this is also not quite as funny as either of those books.
Blaze (2018)
9.0
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Movie
Blaze is an upcoming American biographical drama film directed by Ethan Hawke based on the life of...
biography drama music
Lucy L (0 KP) rated The Essex Serpent in Books
Mar 9, 2018
It is a beautifully written novel and the detail is gorgeous, but at times it felt slow with little to hold my attention. I found myself skimming ahead sometimes. The characters weren’t always relatable and I didn’t feel any great connection to any of them. The promises of the Essex serpent itself is handled well and used expertly to draw out everyone’s heightened fears feeding off their own misdeeds.
I would still recommend this book. Just maybe not for anyone looking for a rousing novel. However a calm afternoon with a pot of tea to yourself it’s worth giving it a go.
Based on a True Story
8.0
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Book
Today I know that L. is the sole reason for my powerlessness. And that the two years that we were...
Crime fiction drama
Shadowmagic
Podcast
"Hi, my name is Conor. Other than my father being a bit of an eccentric lunatic, my life was pretty...
David McK (3425 KP) rated Sharpe's Enemy (1994) in Movies
Oct 17, 2021 (Updated Oct 17, 2021)
This is the one that has Elizabeth Hurley in it (proving she can't act), and that has the second - and last - appearance of Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, alongside the first appearance of the French spymaster Pierre Ducos.
it's also no as polished as the previous entry in the series, with the shocking moment towards the end failing to really hit home, and with the entire thing feeling, maybe, half an hour longer than it needed to be.