Search
Search results
Little Ray Of Sunshine (41 KP) rated It’s a Wonderful Life in Books
Jan 11, 2019 (Updated Feb 10, 2019)
Book Review | It's a Wonderful by Julia Williams
Before I opened the book I was amazed by the beautiful cover. I loved I received this right before the Christmas holidays.
This book is set from 3 characters point of view Beth, Beth’s Sister Lou, and Beth’s Husband Daniel.
Beth as everything she wants a perfect life, perfect job and a perfect husband and 2 children, Sam and Megan. But not everything is perfect as Beth doesn’t feel that her husband Daniel doesn’t support her job picture-book artist. But when she is struggling to get the ideas flowing and she doesn’t get along with her editor Vanessa. Vanessa brings in help has the new art director and old flame of Beth called Jack Stevens. When she sees him she is transported back to when they were in college and she starts to contemplate if she was still with Jack what her life would be like, she can’t get Jack out her mind. Will Beth be tempted to have an affair with Jack? When he tells her that he made mistake in the past.
While Beth is struggling to get inspiration on her book and her mind is on Jack her husband is struggling with his new job as a head teacher for a school want needs help as they had bad results from Ofsted. Daniel is struggling to balance school and handle his children he hardly sees as they have grown up, Sam keeps getting drunk hanging out with his friends and doesn’t care about his GCSE’s and Megan is also hanging out with the wrong people. He just wants a better life with them than he did with his father. Daniel’s father Reggie comes back into his life trying to build bridges but he doesn’t want anything to do with him. But Reggie wants to see his grandchildren. So when Sam and Megan meet him they want him to be back in their dad’s life and Sam starts to bond and they have a lot in common as they both creative and love music. This is where it breaks the family apart as Sam, Megan and Beth want Daniel to hear his dad out and see why he left him when he was younger. You see Daniel’s past and how he feels toward his dad and he wants to build bridges with his dad but he's scared that he will walk out of all their lives. Will he forgive his dad and find out what truly happened and why he left?
Beth’s sister Lou is going through a bad patch in her life and her also as a big secret from her family. She just feels that her family especially her mum and dad wouldn’t like that she feels attraction to other women. She feels that she's the black sheep of the family as Beth is the ‘perfect’ one and their brother Ged is the ‘golden’ boy and never does anything wrong. She's going through a break up from her Girlfriend Jo as she felt that their relationship was one way as Jo never had time for her. Lou also lost her job so she had to move back in with her mum and dad. But when she moved in she notices something wrong with their mum and dad. It turned out that their dad was having an affair with women from an art class. Lou felt her life and her parent's lives are falling apart. You feel sorry for her as you want her to have a happy life. Will their parents accept that she feels more attractive to women?
As you can see the book is based around Christmas and being with their family but everything seems perfect on the outside but once you get reading into the book you see that be careful what you wish for.
This book was a heartwarming book and I can’t wait to read more of Julia Williams books. She really grabbed me into their world and it shows me that all families aren’t perfect. I felt their mum is like mine as my mum always plans in advance for Christmas.
I will make sure to purchase more of her books as she grabbed me from the first page and it made me feel all warm inside.
Thanks, Julia x
This book is set from 3 characters point of view Beth, Beth’s Sister Lou, and Beth’s Husband Daniel.
Beth as everything she wants a perfect life, perfect job and a perfect husband and 2 children, Sam and Megan. But not everything is perfect as Beth doesn’t feel that her husband Daniel doesn’t support her job picture-book artist. But when she is struggling to get the ideas flowing and she doesn’t get along with her editor Vanessa. Vanessa brings in help has the new art director and old flame of Beth called Jack Stevens. When she sees him she is transported back to when they were in college and she starts to contemplate if she was still with Jack what her life would be like, she can’t get Jack out her mind. Will Beth be tempted to have an affair with Jack? When he tells her that he made mistake in the past.
While Beth is struggling to get inspiration on her book and her mind is on Jack her husband is struggling with his new job as a head teacher for a school want needs help as they had bad results from Ofsted. Daniel is struggling to balance school and handle his children he hardly sees as they have grown up, Sam keeps getting drunk hanging out with his friends and doesn’t care about his GCSE’s and Megan is also hanging out with the wrong people. He just wants a better life with them than he did with his father. Daniel’s father Reggie comes back into his life trying to build bridges but he doesn’t want anything to do with him. But Reggie wants to see his grandchildren. So when Sam and Megan meet him they want him to be back in their dad’s life and Sam starts to bond and they have a lot in common as they both creative and love music. This is where it breaks the family apart as Sam, Megan and Beth want Daniel to hear his dad out and see why he left him when he was younger. You see Daniel’s past and how he feels toward his dad and he wants to build bridges with his dad but he's scared that he will walk out of all their lives. Will he forgive his dad and find out what truly happened and why he left?
Beth’s sister Lou is going through a bad patch in her life and her also as a big secret from her family. She just feels that her family especially her mum and dad wouldn’t like that she feels attraction to other women. She feels that she's the black sheep of the family as Beth is the ‘perfect’ one and their brother Ged is the ‘golden’ boy and never does anything wrong. She's going through a break up from her Girlfriend Jo as she felt that their relationship was one way as Jo never had time for her. Lou also lost her job so she had to move back in with her mum and dad. But when she moved in she notices something wrong with their mum and dad. It turned out that their dad was having an affair with women from an art class. Lou felt her life and her parent's lives are falling apart. You feel sorry for her as you want her to have a happy life. Will their parents accept that she feels more attractive to women?
As you can see the book is based around Christmas and being with their family but everything seems perfect on the outside but once you get reading into the book you see that be careful what you wish for.
This book was a heartwarming book and I can’t wait to read more of Julia Williams books. She really grabbed me into their world and it shows me that all families aren’t perfect. I felt their mum is like mine as my mum always plans in advance for Christmas.
I will make sure to purchase more of her books as she grabbed me from the first page and it made me feel all warm inside.
Thanks, Julia x
Gareth von Kallenbach (965 KP) rated Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
The El Royale Hotel sit directly on the California and Nevada border just outside of Lake Tahoe. In its heyday, the novelty hotel, vibrant and bustling with activity. Even getting visits from famous actors, singers and politicians. But by the 1960s those days had gone and now it is rundown and mostly vacant. Then on one fateful day a group of random strangers meet at the El Royale. There is a minister, Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges), on his way back from Oakland visiting his brother. Singer Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo) who came to the El Royale because her midday casino singing gig in Reno didn’t pay enough for her to stay anywhere else. Then there is Laramie Seymour Sullivan (John Hamm) the vacuum salesman who talks fast and loud. His company does all the hotel bookings so he was stuck with the El Royale, but he is dead set on enjoying the luxurious Honeymoon Suite given the choices. Lastly, there is Emily (Dakota Johnson) she doesn’t say much besides she wants a room far away from the other guests. The mismatched group is all greeted by the bellhop/bar tender/service manager Miles (Lewis Pullman). All seems like a chance meeting of a group of travelers. But nothing is what it seems. By the nights end all manner of secrets will come out and all the guests’ lives will be in jeopardy.
El Royale is a well-crafted and executed mystery/thriller. Writer and Director Drew Goddard (The Martian) does a great job of telling an original story. It keeps you guessing to the end. The cast for the most part is really good. Chris Hemsworth (as Billy Lee) and Cailee Spaeny (as Ruth Summersping) have more underwhelming performances compared to the rest of the cast but still good. Cynthia Erivo, for me, had a great performance. I thought her voice was amazing and how her character was developed throughout the film was interesting and well done. The pace of the movie does start out somewhat slow but rapidly builds and overall is good. The film is set in the 1960s and definitely feels like of that era with the music, news stories, overall appearance of the hotel rooms, etc.
I enjoyed this film. I thought the way the story unfolded was interesting and original. One part that really occurred to be later is that you never really knew who the hero of the film was or would wind up being. When I thought I had it figured out something would happen to change my mind. Or maybe there was not really hero. The slow build up was a little long for me but otherwise it was a great movie theater experience.
El Royale is a well-crafted and executed mystery/thriller. Writer and Director Drew Goddard (The Martian) does a great job of telling an original story. It keeps you guessing to the end. The cast for the most part is really good. Chris Hemsworth (as Billy Lee) and Cailee Spaeny (as Ruth Summersping) have more underwhelming performances compared to the rest of the cast but still good. Cynthia Erivo, for me, had a great performance. I thought her voice was amazing and how her character was developed throughout the film was interesting and well done. The pace of the movie does start out somewhat slow but rapidly builds and overall is good. The film is set in the 1960s and definitely feels like of that era with the music, news stories, overall appearance of the hotel rooms, etc.
I enjoyed this film. I thought the way the story unfolded was interesting and original. One part that really occurred to be later is that you never really knew who the hero of the film was or would wind up being. When I thought I had it figured out something would happen to change my mind. Or maybe there was not really hero. The slow build up was a little long for me but otherwise it was a great movie theater experience.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Why is everyone not raving about this movie?
Imagine a ménage à trois of Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino at the Overlook Hotel with a banging 60’s soundtrack. Got that unpleasant vision in your mind? Good! You’re halfway there to getting the feel of “Bad Times at the El Royale”. And they really are bad times!
The Plot
It’s 1969 and an oddball set of characters arrive at the faded glory of the El Royale hotel at Lake Tahoe: “a bi-state establishment” straddling the Nevada/California border: so describes the manager-cum-bellhop-cum-bartender-cum-cleaner Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman, soon to appear as Maverick in the “Top Gun” sequel). The motley crew include Laramie Seymour Sullivan, a vacuum cleaner salesman (Jon Hamm); Father Daniel Flynn, an oddly-acting priest (Jeff Bridges); Darlene Sweet, a struggling Motown-style singer (Cynthia Erivo); and Emily Summerspring, a rude and abrupt hippy-chick with attitude (Dakota Johnson). But noone is quite who they seem and their twisted and convoluted lives combine in a memorable night of surprise and violence at the El Royale.
The turns
I’ve often expressed my admiration for the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards and their category of “Best Ensemble Cast”: at a time when there are controversial suggestions of additions to the Oscars, this is one I would like to see (along with a “Best Stunt Team” award that I’ve previously lobbied for). And here is my second serious candidate for the “Best Ensemble Cast” Oscar in 2018, my first being “Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri” (which in their books would count as 2017 anyway!) Everyone really works hard on this film and the larger than life characters suck you into the story because of the quality and intensity of their performances.
Out in front of the pack are the simply brilliant Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo, an actress new to me who has a great voice and made a big impression. Scenes between the pair are just electric. Jon Hamm is as quirkily great as ever and Dakota “not Fanning” Johnson is far better in this film than any recent stuff I’ve seen her in. Another standout was another newcomer to me – young Cailee Spaeny as Rose, looking for all the world in some scenes like a young Carey Mulligan. While we’re on lookalikes, Lewis Pullman (best known to me for “Battle of the Sexes“) looks very like Tom Holland in some scenes.
The Review
I found this film to be just enormously entertaining. It is very Tarantino-esque in its claustrophobic nature (compare it with “The Hateful 8” in that respect) and with its quirky episodic flash cards (compare with “Pulp Fiction” or “Kill Bill”) but for me was much more appetising since – although very violent – it never stooped to the queasy “blow your face off” excesses of Tarantino, that I personally find distasteful. Where it apes Hitchcock is in its intricate plotting: the story regularly throws you off-balance with some genuinely surprising twists and turns that you never see coming. And the interesting time-splicing and flashbacks also keep you on your mental toes. To say any more or to give any examples would be a spoilerish crime, so I will refrain. This is a dish best served cold (so avoid the trailer if you can).
The film has a marvellous sense of place and time and key to establishing that is some superb set design; some brilliant costumes; and – most of all – an exquisitely chosen song catalogue. The great Michael Giacchino is behind the music, and he does a truly fabulous job, not just with the song selection but also with the background music. This never seems to intrude noticeably until the end titles, when you realise it’s been insistently working on you all the time: the best sort of soundtrack.
There are some films that make you marvel how someone sat at a keyboard and got a screenplay down on paper so satisfyingly. While it could be accused of aping Tarantino somewhat, for me this is still one such film. The writer/director Drew Goddard has come from the J.J. Abrams stable of “Alias” and “Lost”, and has previously written the great screenplays for films including “Cloverfield”, “The Martian” and “World War Z“. His only previous directorial feature was “The Cabin in the Woods” (which I’ve not seen), but after this he is definitely on my movie radar: his next film will be “X-force”: a “Deadpool 2” follow-on with Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz, and I can’t wait to see that.
If there’s a criticism it’s that at 141 minutes its a tad long. It never to me felt like a film that long, such was the entertainment value, but while I just loved the development of character just a few of the scenes felt a little leisurely and superfluous. Trim 10 minutes off the running time – no more – and it might have felt tighter still.
I didn’t mention one star name in “The Turns” section, and that’s Chris Hemsworth. He actually does a great job in his demanding Messianic role of Billy Lee, but I just had trouble equating the “Thor” star as being “all kinds of bad”: this felt like a slight misstep in the casting to me.
Summary
This film is without a doubt going to storm into my Top 10 for the year. It’s an entertaining delight, full of twists, turns, deliciously wordy dialogue and a satisfyingly open ending. I can’t believe this film hasn’t been top billing in multiplexes up and down the country for WEEKS on end. If you get the chance, my advice would be to seek this out before it disappears.
The Plot
It’s 1969 and an oddball set of characters arrive at the faded glory of the El Royale hotel at Lake Tahoe: “a bi-state establishment” straddling the Nevada/California border: so describes the manager-cum-bellhop-cum-bartender-cum-cleaner Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman, soon to appear as Maverick in the “Top Gun” sequel). The motley crew include Laramie Seymour Sullivan, a vacuum cleaner salesman (Jon Hamm); Father Daniel Flynn, an oddly-acting priest (Jeff Bridges); Darlene Sweet, a struggling Motown-style singer (Cynthia Erivo); and Emily Summerspring, a rude and abrupt hippy-chick with attitude (Dakota Johnson). But noone is quite who they seem and their twisted and convoluted lives combine in a memorable night of surprise and violence at the El Royale.
The turns
I’ve often expressed my admiration for the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards and their category of “Best Ensemble Cast”: at a time when there are controversial suggestions of additions to the Oscars, this is one I would like to see (along with a “Best Stunt Team” award that I’ve previously lobbied for). And here is my second serious candidate for the “Best Ensemble Cast” Oscar in 2018, my first being “Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri” (which in their books would count as 2017 anyway!) Everyone really works hard on this film and the larger than life characters suck you into the story because of the quality and intensity of their performances.
Out in front of the pack are the simply brilliant Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo, an actress new to me who has a great voice and made a big impression. Scenes between the pair are just electric. Jon Hamm is as quirkily great as ever and Dakota “not Fanning” Johnson is far better in this film than any recent stuff I’ve seen her in. Another standout was another newcomer to me – young Cailee Spaeny as Rose, looking for all the world in some scenes like a young Carey Mulligan. While we’re on lookalikes, Lewis Pullman (best known to me for “Battle of the Sexes“) looks very like Tom Holland in some scenes.
The Review
I found this film to be just enormously entertaining. It is very Tarantino-esque in its claustrophobic nature (compare it with “The Hateful 8” in that respect) and with its quirky episodic flash cards (compare with “Pulp Fiction” or “Kill Bill”) but for me was much more appetising since – although very violent – it never stooped to the queasy “blow your face off” excesses of Tarantino, that I personally find distasteful. Where it apes Hitchcock is in its intricate plotting: the story regularly throws you off-balance with some genuinely surprising twists and turns that you never see coming. And the interesting time-splicing and flashbacks also keep you on your mental toes. To say any more or to give any examples would be a spoilerish crime, so I will refrain. This is a dish best served cold (so avoid the trailer if you can).
The film has a marvellous sense of place and time and key to establishing that is some superb set design; some brilliant costumes; and – most of all – an exquisitely chosen song catalogue. The great Michael Giacchino is behind the music, and he does a truly fabulous job, not just with the song selection but also with the background music. This never seems to intrude noticeably until the end titles, when you realise it’s been insistently working on you all the time: the best sort of soundtrack.
There are some films that make you marvel how someone sat at a keyboard and got a screenplay down on paper so satisfyingly. While it could be accused of aping Tarantino somewhat, for me this is still one such film. The writer/director Drew Goddard has come from the J.J. Abrams stable of “Alias” and “Lost”, and has previously written the great screenplays for films including “Cloverfield”, “The Martian” and “World War Z“. His only previous directorial feature was “The Cabin in the Woods” (which I’ve not seen), but after this he is definitely on my movie radar: his next film will be “X-force”: a “Deadpool 2” follow-on with Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz, and I can’t wait to see that.
If there’s a criticism it’s that at 141 minutes its a tad long. It never to me felt like a film that long, such was the entertainment value, but while I just loved the development of character just a few of the scenes felt a little leisurely and superfluous. Trim 10 minutes off the running time – no more – and it might have felt tighter still.
I didn’t mention one star name in “The Turns” section, and that’s Chris Hemsworth. He actually does a great job in his demanding Messianic role of Billy Lee, but I just had trouble equating the “Thor” star as being “all kinds of bad”: this felt like a slight misstep in the casting to me.
Summary
This film is without a doubt going to storm into my Top 10 for the year. It’s an entertaining delight, full of twists, turns, deliciously wordy dialogue and a satisfyingly open ending. I can’t believe this film hasn’t been top billing in multiplexes up and down the country for WEEKS on end. If you get the chance, my advice would be to seek this out before it disappears.