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1900 (Novecento) (1977)
1900 (Novecento) (1977)
1977 | Drama, History, International
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 is one of my favorites. It’s epic — when I saw it at a film festival, they literally had an intermission where they served pasta and red wine. It was wonderful. It’s a thin, handsome Gérard Depardieu in the prime of his youth, and Robert De Niro doing a great aging character, the rich boy. Depardieu [as] the poor boy. Probably one of the greatest entrances in the history of cinema for the beautiful actress Dominique Sanda. And Bertolucci uses this town, this little village — and you see it go from the turn of the century to WWII, and it changes with the seasons, and the time. And one of the best villains ever, Donald Sutherland, as this sort of grand guignol, a fascista, brown shirt — you know, black shirt — that is corrupted by the Mussolini movement in Italy. And he just completely surprises you with his performance. It’s really wonderful and kinky, and strange and beautiful. And the music is extraordinary. Yeah, it’s really a great film — a long movie, but a great movie — and it really left an indelible stamp on my brain. All these movies in my top five are what I call “desert island” movies. These are films that I can see again and again, and they have sequences or images in them, or they’ve left such a film memory in my imagination — such a stamp on my memory and imagination — that I can see them again and again."

Source
  
TE
The Ex Hex
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
8 of 235
Kindle
The Ex Hex
By Erin Sterling
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.

That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.

Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.

This was a fun light read. Inoffensive and such a joy to read. Funny in places too. It was a very hyped up book and for once I was glad I actually lived up to expectations.
  
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Lee (2222 KP) rated Supernova (2020) in Movies

Oct 12, 2020  
Supernova (2020)
Supernova (2020)
2020 | Drama
7
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
When I first saw the trailer for Supernova, I could tell that we were in for a fairly intense depiction of dementia and its effect on loved ones, delivered by a couple of veteran actors at the top of their game. Consequently, it was one of the movies I was most looking forward to as part of this years London Film Festival, and while it wasn’t quite as full-on or emotional for me as I was expecting, that’s certainly not the fault of Colin Firth or Stanley Tucci, who are both outstanding.

“We’re not going back, you know,” Sam (Firth) says to husband Tusker (Tucci) as they head off in their campervan for a road trip. He’s referring to any items they might have needed for the trip which are left behind, but those words will prove to hold a much deeper meaning as their journey progresses. Tusker, a best-selling author, has deliberately left his medication at home, having decided that it is having no effect in his battle with dementia. When Sam leaves Tusker in the van to head into a supermarket for supplies, he returns to find Tusker missing - a frantic drive down nearby country lanes finds him standing alone, lost and confused. His mind is clearly beginning to fail him.

As they put the incident behind them and continue their journey, we get a real sense of the love and commitment they both share. As they travel through the beautiful scenery of the Lake District, they bicker and joke with each other, like a gay version of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon series, The Trip. “It isn’t even satisfying half the time,” Tusker admits after teasing Sam. When asked why he bothers anymore, he just smiles and replies “Because of the other half.”

Tusker continues to work on a new novel, but is finding it increasingly difficult to write anymore and has instead become preoccupied with gazing at the night sky, fascinated with astronomy. Sam, a semi-retired concert pianist, has taken a break to join Tusker on one last road-trip, revisiting locations from their lives together. They stop off at the home of Sam’s sister and her family, where a surprise birthday party brings together old friends and distant family. A chance to reminisce and take stock of what the future holds as Tusker continues to deteriorate. But a discovery during the party leads to some more serious discussions between Sam and Tusker, forcing them to acknowledge and attempt to come to terms with what lies ahead for them both.

Supernova didn’t head in the direction I expected it to, or deliver it in the way I envisioned from the trailer. For the most part, it’s just simple conversations between two lovers, sometimes playful, sometimes deadly serious. But it is delivered by two incredible actors, on peak-form and with such wonderful chemistry. And while it didn’t quite leave me feeling as emotional as it did for many others who watched it as part of the festival, it certainly managed to make a lasting impact.
  
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ClareR (5991 KP) rated Something Dark in Books

Nov 12, 2017  
Something Dark
Something Dark
Lemn Sissay | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An unflinching look at the Social Care system in the UK
I went to see Lemn Sissay read poems from his last book 'Gold From The Stone' last year at the Chester Literature Festival, and I've been hooked ever since. His poetry is very personal, and so I was interested to see what this would be like.

This is his story of being taken in to care and the resultant damage. It's a one man show, there's no one else on stage with him, and I think this is indicative of how his life has been lived. He has always had to be self sufficient, from the day that his Foster parents (who had parented him from birth) told him at the age of 11 that 'he' didn't love them anymore (it would be more accurate to say that they didn't love him). They didn't even say goodbye to him: his brothers and sisters didn't get to say goodbye, and he was ushered into a car with his social worker and taken to a children's home.


This illustrates how children in care are 'emancipated' at 18 and expected to cope on their own. Most of them have no family or many friends, and are left to fend for themselves. Lemn was given the information to start the search for his birth mother, which is a very interesting part of the story (which I won't divulge!)


I'm actually going to see this performed by Lemn next week (14/11/17), and I'm very much looking forward to it.