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Louise (64 KP) rated Goth Girl: and the Ghost of a Mouse in Books

Jul 2, 2018

Ada Goth lives in Ghastly-Gorm Hall with her father, servants and a few ghosts. Ada’s father likes to keep himself to himself even when it comes to his daughter, he makes her wear clumpy shoes so he can hear her coming. Ada is very much alone in this huge mansion style house until one evening she meets a ghost in the form of a Mouse called Ishmael. Ishmael informs Ada that he was killed by a Mouse trap and that he is to roam the hall for all eternity. Together they go and investigate the rooms in which Ishmael was killed when they come upon some strange things and other denizens.

The book had a lot of characters in it, all shapes and sizes all very whimsical but none have much depth to them, you don’t get to find out an awful lot. I wish Ishmael could have been in the book a bit more than he was. He was introduced in chapter 1 and then didn’t have much involvement. The story is very slow to start off with and only really starts to get going in the second half.

This book definitely had its quirks, I loved the use of the footnotes that were written by ‘The foot’ which made me chuckle. There is also literary references such as Von Hellsung and Hebe Poppins. The Comic book at the back was an added bonus! I didn’t realise this was included when I picked it up.

This book is beautiful, it has a purple ribbon and metallic page edges, inside the cover is decorated in a silver/gold foil and also there is an additional pocket with a miniature comic book called ‘Memoirs of Mouse’. Not only did Chris Riddell Illustrate this book but he also wrote it. I love his artwork, it’s so detailed and definitely stunning to look at all in black and white. Everything was on point regarding presentation.

Overall I rated this 3.5 stars out of 5.

Kudos

JT (287 KP) rated Headhunters (2012) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Headhunters (2012)

2012 | Action, International, Mystery

7.6

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Roger Brown (Hennie) has it all, a gorgeous wife a beautiful house and lots of money. As a headhunter for a recruitment company he supplements this lifestyle by stealing rare and expensive paintings and replacing them with perfect copies.

At his wife Diana’s art gallery he is introduced to Clas (Coster-Waldau) who he lines up for a potential job with a big client. When Roger discovers that Clas is in possession of a rare painting he takes the opportunity to steal it, not realizing however that his actions will be traced back to him.

It’s clear that Roger’s flamboyant lifestyle and trophy wife is compensation for his own inferiority complex, as he explains in the opening monologue of the film. Filled with paranoia he soon believes that Clas is out to kill him, either for stealing the painting or to get rid of him so Clas can have Diana for his own.

It’s a simple game of cat and mouse between Roger and Clas that escalates into epic proportions as Roger goes on the run. Clas is extremely cool and calculated in his approach and toys with Roger, it’s a film that will keep you on the edge of your seat, tension that foreign film is seemingly well known for.

It’s adapted from the Jo Nesbø novel of the same name, and to be honest once Roger goes on the run it turns from thriller to black comedy and back again in an instant. Some scenes have shock value, others will turn your head away from the screen no sooner look at it but it’s all good fun.

Roger is put through the wringer as he’s slowly hunted down, avoiding capture by hiding in human faeces, trying to escape on the slowest form of transport imaginable and driven off the end of a cliff. At the end of all this the sympathy for Roger is overwhelming.

It’s a comically engaging film with twists and turns, gruesome in parts which you won’t expect.