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A Life in Football: My Autobiography
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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Wrighty's characteristic honesty means his book is far more engrossing...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated All Your Perfects in Books
Oct 1, 2020
This is the first book in my #atozchallenge! I'm challenging myself to read a book from my shelves that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Let's clear those shelves and delve into that backlist!
Quinn and Graham had the perfect romance and marriage. But now, that marriage is on the rocks and all those perfect memories threatened as their union is about to implode. If they can't talk to each other and work things out, they're done. Can they get past their problems and find that perfection again?
Wow, I picked a doozy for the first book in my challenge! This book was almost physically hard to read at times! It's a brutal look at a struggling marriage, as Quinn and Graham--once a perfect couple--can barely look at or talk to one another. Told in a then and now format from Quinn's perspective, we see how the two fell head over heels in love. And, conversely, we see how they fell apart. It's an emotional and tense read that's often bitterly sad and heartbreaking. Hoover makes you feel as if you're in the book, part of the characters' dissolving marriage.
This one hit home, as Quinn and Graham battle with infertility, something I know quite well. If you've struggled with this, this will be a hard read--yet you'll be able to find many parallels with the couple. It's not necessarily a happy book, yet it's romantic and sweet too. It presents a very realistic portrayal of marriage and one of the best portraits of a (straight) couple grappling with infertility that I've ever read.
This isn't an easy book to read, but it's really quite good. It packs a sucker punch, but in a good way. You'll find yourself lost in Quinn and Graham's world--I certainly recommend this fierce, touching look at love, marriage, and how far we will go for the ones we care about. 4+ stars.
Quinn and Graham had the perfect romance and marriage. But now, that marriage is on the rocks and all those perfect memories threatened as their union is about to implode. If they can't talk to each other and work things out, they're done. Can they get past their problems and find that perfection again?
Wow, I picked a doozy for the first book in my challenge! This book was almost physically hard to read at times! It's a brutal look at a struggling marriage, as Quinn and Graham--once a perfect couple--can barely look at or talk to one another. Told in a then and now format from Quinn's perspective, we see how the two fell head over heels in love. And, conversely, we see how they fell apart. It's an emotional and tense read that's often bitterly sad and heartbreaking. Hoover makes you feel as if you're in the book, part of the characters' dissolving marriage.
This one hit home, as Quinn and Graham battle with infertility, something I know quite well. If you've struggled with this, this will be a hard read--yet you'll be able to find many parallels with the couple. It's not necessarily a happy book, yet it's romantic and sweet too. It presents a very realistic portrayal of marriage and one of the best portraits of a (straight) couple grappling with infertility that I've ever read.
This isn't an easy book to read, but it's really quite good. It packs a sucker punch, but in a good way. You'll find yourself lost in Quinn and Graham's world--I certainly recommend this fierce, touching look at love, marriage, and how far we will go for the ones we care about. 4+ stars.
The Financial Times Guide to Value Investing: How to Become a Disciplined Investor
Book
'Glen Arnold makes complex investment concepts understandable. He explains what the masters of the...
A Dying Breed
Book
'HANINGTON EXCELS...AN IMPRESSIVE DEBUT' The Sunday Times 'THOUGHTFUL, ATMOSPHERIC AND GRIPPINGLY...
Lee (2222 KP) rated The Post (2017) in Movies
Jan 26, 2018
I saw The Post earlier this week and it's taken me quite a while to think about how to review it. To be honest, it didn't really do much for me at all. It's clearly a very important part of recent history, an interesting story with huge relevance in these current times, but the first half was just so dull!
Tom Hanks is obviously brilliant, playing Ben Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post. But it's Meryl Streep that really shines here as Katharine Graham, the country's first female newspaper publisher and Bens boss. Following her journey through the male led news industry as she gradually finds the strength and confidence she needs.
The second half ramps up the tension somewhat and is a great improvement over the first half. Unfortunately for me though it just wasn't enough to leave any kind of lasting impression.
Tom Hanks is obviously brilliant, playing Ben Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post. But it's Meryl Streep that really shines here as Katharine Graham, the country's first female newspaper publisher and Bens boss. Following her journey through the male led news industry as she gradually finds the strength and confidence she needs.
The second half ramps up the tension somewhat and is a great improvement over the first half. Unfortunately for me though it just wasn't enough to leave any kind of lasting impression.
This House
Book
This country doesn't need a constitution, never has, never will. We have History as our guide. In...
Almost the Perfect Murder: The Killing of Elaine O'Hara, the Extraordinary Garda Investigation and the Trial That Stunned the Nation: the Only Complete Inside Account
Book
'A book that had to be written and it's really well written ...fascinating.' Ray D'Arcy, RTE Radio 1...
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between
9.2
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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls...
memoir celebrity
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Post (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Landing the Hindenburg in a Thunderstorm.
What a combination: Streep, Hanks, Spielberg, Kaminski behind the camera, Williams behind the notes. What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing as it turns out. After, for me, the disappointment of “The BFG” here is Spielberg on firm ground and at the height of his game.
It’s 1971 and the New York Times is in trouble for publishing what became known as “The Pentagon Papers”: a damning account of multiple administration’s dodgy dealings around the Vietnam War, put together by Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood, “Star Trek: Into Darkness“) and meant for “posterity” – not for publication! Watching from the sidelines with frustration at their competitor’s scoop are the Washington Post’s editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks, “Bridge of Spies“, “Inferno“) and the new owner Kay Graham (Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins“, “Suffragette“). With immaculate timing, Graham is taking the paper public, so needs the newspaper embroiled in any sort of scandal like a hole in the head. But with the US First Amendment under pressure, will Graham and Bradlee put their business and their freedom at risk by publishing and being damned?
Bradlee (Tom Hanks) and Graham (Meryl Streep) in the Washington Post’s newsroom.
Both of the leads play characters that are quite strikingly out of character from their normal roles.
In a seamingly endless run of ‘kick-ass’ women in the movie driving seat, here I expected Streep to be in full “Iron Lady” mode, but in fact she starts the film as quite the opposite: nervous, timid, vascillating. For although the story is about “The Washington Post” and “The Pentagon Papers”, the real story is about Graham herself (Liz Hannah’s script is actually based on Graham’s autobiography). In many ways it’s about a woman, in a male world, overcoming her fear and finding her own voice. As has been demonstrated in many recent films (“Hidden Figures” for example) the working world for woman has changed so markedly since the 60’s and 70’s that it’s almost impossible to relate to these chavenistic attitudes. Graham is repeatedly downtrodden as “not good enough” by her underlings within earshot, and then thanks them “for their frankness”. When the women folk retire at dinner, to let the men-folk talk politics, Graham meekly goes with them. Even her father, for God’s sake, left the newspaper not to her but to her (now late) husband! It’s no surprise then that she is coming from a pretty low base of self-confidence, and her journey in the film – as expertly played by Streep – is an extraordinarily rousing one.
The real deal: Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham.
Hanks, normally the guy you’d most like to invite round for dinner (@tomhanks if you happen to be reading this sir, that’s a genuine invitation… we make a mean lasagne here!) also plays somewhat outside of his normal character here. As Bradlee, he is snappy, brusque and businesslike. Although I don’t think he could ever quite match the irascibility of the character’s portrayal by Jason Robards in the classic “All the President’s Men” – who could? – its a character with real screen presence.
The similarities with Alan J Pakula’s 1976 classic Watergate movie – one of my personal favourites – don’t stop there. The same sets that were once populated by Redford and Hoffman are gloriously reproduced with Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski delivering great tracking shots through the newsroom. (Watch out for Sacha Spielberg – daughter of Stephen and Kate Capshaw – who also turns up there delivering a package).
The scoop revealed: Odenkirk, Hanks and David Cross get the low-down.
The supporting cast includes Sarah Paulson (so memorable in “The Trial of O.J. Simpson”) as Bradlee’s wife Tony, Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”, “Get Out“) and Tracy Letts (“The Big Short“) as two of Graham’s board advisors and Jesse Plemons (“The Program“, “Bridge of Spies“) as the lead legal advisor. Particularly impressive though is Bob Odenkirk (“Breaking Bad”) as Ben Bagdikian, Bradlee’s lead investigative reporter on the case: all stress, loose change and paranoia in his dealings with the leaky Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys).
Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) ordering a drink for himself and his travelling companion.
In a memorable piece of casting Richard Nixon is played by…. Richard Nixon. Although a silluohetted Curzon Dobell stalks the Oval office, the ex-president’s original phone recordings are played on the soundtrack. (There, I knew those recordings would be useful for something… thank heavens he kept them all!)
The film also demonstrates in fascinating style the newsprint business of yesteryear. When I click a button on my PC and a beautifully laser-printed page streams out of my Epson printer, it still seems like witchcraft to me! But it is extraordinary to think that newspapers in those days were put together by typesetters manually building up the pages from embossed metal letters laboriously slotted into a frame. Brilliantly evocative.
Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) takes a risk.
If Spielberg has a fault, it is one of sentimentality – something that is pointed out in Susan Lacy’s superb HBO documentary on Spielberg (something I have yet to write a review on, but if you like Spielberg you should definitely seek out). Here he falls into that trap again, with an unnecessary bedroom scene between Graham and her daughter tipping the screenplay into mawkishness. It’s unnecessary since we don’t need the points raised rammed down our throats again. It’s something repeated in a rather bizarre final scene with Graham walking down the steps of the supreme court with admiring woman – only woman – watching her. These irritations tarnish for me what could have been a top-rated film.
But the movie is an impressive watch and older viewers, and anyone interested in American political history will, I think, love it. The film, especially with its nice epilogue, did make me immediately want to come home and put “All the President’s Men” on again… which is never a bad thing. Highly recommended.
Nothing as it turns out. After, for me, the disappointment of “The BFG” here is Spielberg on firm ground and at the height of his game.
It’s 1971 and the New York Times is in trouble for publishing what became known as “The Pentagon Papers”: a damning account of multiple administration’s dodgy dealings around the Vietnam War, put together by Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood, “Star Trek: Into Darkness“) and meant for “posterity” – not for publication! Watching from the sidelines with frustration at their competitor’s scoop are the Washington Post’s editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks, “Bridge of Spies“, “Inferno“) and the new owner Kay Graham (Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins“, “Suffragette“). With immaculate timing, Graham is taking the paper public, so needs the newspaper embroiled in any sort of scandal like a hole in the head. But with the US First Amendment under pressure, will Graham and Bradlee put their business and their freedom at risk by publishing and being damned?
Bradlee (Tom Hanks) and Graham (Meryl Streep) in the Washington Post’s newsroom.
Both of the leads play characters that are quite strikingly out of character from their normal roles.
In a seamingly endless run of ‘kick-ass’ women in the movie driving seat, here I expected Streep to be in full “Iron Lady” mode, but in fact she starts the film as quite the opposite: nervous, timid, vascillating. For although the story is about “The Washington Post” and “The Pentagon Papers”, the real story is about Graham herself (Liz Hannah’s script is actually based on Graham’s autobiography). In many ways it’s about a woman, in a male world, overcoming her fear and finding her own voice. As has been demonstrated in many recent films (“Hidden Figures” for example) the working world for woman has changed so markedly since the 60’s and 70’s that it’s almost impossible to relate to these chavenistic attitudes. Graham is repeatedly downtrodden as “not good enough” by her underlings within earshot, and then thanks them “for their frankness”. When the women folk retire at dinner, to let the men-folk talk politics, Graham meekly goes with them. Even her father, for God’s sake, left the newspaper not to her but to her (now late) husband! It’s no surprise then that she is coming from a pretty low base of self-confidence, and her journey in the film – as expertly played by Streep – is an extraordinarily rousing one.
The real deal: Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham.
Hanks, normally the guy you’d most like to invite round for dinner (@tomhanks if you happen to be reading this sir, that’s a genuine invitation… we make a mean lasagne here!) also plays somewhat outside of his normal character here. As Bradlee, he is snappy, brusque and businesslike. Although I don’t think he could ever quite match the irascibility of the character’s portrayal by Jason Robards in the classic “All the President’s Men” – who could? – its a character with real screen presence.
The similarities with Alan J Pakula’s 1976 classic Watergate movie – one of my personal favourites – don’t stop there. The same sets that were once populated by Redford and Hoffman are gloriously reproduced with Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski delivering great tracking shots through the newsroom. (Watch out for Sacha Spielberg – daughter of Stephen and Kate Capshaw – who also turns up there delivering a package).
The scoop revealed: Odenkirk, Hanks and David Cross get the low-down.
The supporting cast includes Sarah Paulson (so memorable in “The Trial of O.J. Simpson”) as Bradlee’s wife Tony, Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”, “Get Out“) and Tracy Letts (“The Big Short“) as two of Graham’s board advisors and Jesse Plemons (“The Program“, “Bridge of Spies“) as the lead legal advisor. Particularly impressive though is Bob Odenkirk (“Breaking Bad”) as Ben Bagdikian, Bradlee’s lead investigative reporter on the case: all stress, loose change and paranoia in his dealings with the leaky Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys).
Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) ordering a drink for himself and his travelling companion.
In a memorable piece of casting Richard Nixon is played by…. Richard Nixon. Although a silluohetted Curzon Dobell stalks the Oval office, the ex-president’s original phone recordings are played on the soundtrack. (There, I knew those recordings would be useful for something… thank heavens he kept them all!)
The film also demonstrates in fascinating style the newsprint business of yesteryear. When I click a button on my PC and a beautifully laser-printed page streams out of my Epson printer, it still seems like witchcraft to me! But it is extraordinary to think that newspapers in those days were put together by typesetters manually building up the pages from embossed metal letters laboriously slotted into a frame. Brilliantly evocative.
Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) takes a risk.
If Spielberg has a fault, it is one of sentimentality – something that is pointed out in Susan Lacy’s superb HBO documentary on Spielberg (something I have yet to write a review on, but if you like Spielberg you should definitely seek out). Here he falls into that trap again, with an unnecessary bedroom scene between Graham and her daughter tipping the screenplay into mawkishness. It’s unnecessary since we don’t need the points raised rammed down our throats again. It’s something repeated in a rather bizarre final scene with Graham walking down the steps of the supreme court with admiring woman – only woman – watching her. These irritations tarnish for me what could have been a top-rated film.
But the movie is an impressive watch and older viewers, and anyone interested in American political history will, I think, love it. The film, especially with its nice epilogue, did make me immediately want to come home and put “All the President’s Men” on again… which is never a bad thing. Highly recommended.