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Real Steel (2011)
Real Steel (2011)
2011 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Rock em Sock em Robots?
Feel good family film that plays like a version of Rocky, in a future (of 2020!) where robot boxing has replaced the real thing, with Hugh Jackman portraying a down on his luck boxer who reconnects with his estranged 11 year old son over a summer period, following the demise of his ex.

All the main beats from Rocky are here: the rags to riches story, the romance/love story bit, the final boxing match against an opponent named after a Greek God...

(NB that's not to say this isn't enjoyable: it is!)
  
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ClareR (5879 KP) rated Herc in Books

Jun 26, 2024  
Herc
Herc
Phoenicia Rogerson | 2024 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Herc is the story of Hercules told by the people who knew him. I really enjoyed this style of storytelling, it seemed more personal, and unlike the traditional myths, we could see how Hercules actions impacted on those around him, and those he loved.

This isn’t a story for the faint-hearted. It’s graphic both in violence (he was a violent man) and sex (who liked sex). Also, it would probably help if you knew the story of Hercules before starting this. It can dart around a bit from person to person.

Recommended for the Greek mythology fans 🙋🏼‍♀️
  
Get Him to the Greek (2010)
Get Him to the Greek (2010)
2010 | Comedy
6
6.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Russell Brand created one of the more memorable characters of 2008 in Forgetting Sarah Marshall with his role as Aldous Snow. Get Him to the Greek is by and large an extension of his role in that movie, but ramped up in the “crazy rock star” department. Jonah Hill, playing the ambitious record company intern Aaron Green tries to bring Aldous Snow from London to Los Angeles to play a show at the Greek Theater. The problem with this simplistic plot is that it doesn’t lead to any character development, and only leads to more jokes. While surprisingly funny in some parts, the characters don’t really make a splash unless they’re doing something ridiculous, which happens quite often.

The main characters, drunk on absinthe in one scene, deliver truly cringe-worthy performances, and I’m not talking about funny cringes. Later on in the film, another scene with another drug is sure to be remembered as one of the funniest bits in the entire film. Unfortunately, this is representative of the entire film. There are hits and misses on nearly every metric you can think of. Rose Byrne and Sean Combs are fantastic in their respective supporting roles, Russell Brand is charmingly hilarious with his rock star attitude, and while Jonah Hill does a good job of showing the anxiety of a responsible guy just trying to handle an irresponsible rock star, he’s still miles away from his scene-stealing performance in Superbad.

In the end, however, Get Him to the Greek just had no closure. The ending was forced, like the director ran out of time, and the lack of character growth really forced the film to rely on a “moral of the story” type of ending, which ended up muddling the film’s ending further. Still, the ending doesn’t detract wholly from the movie. Much like watching a lesser version of Spinal Tap, this movie is still amusing to watch.
  
O Horos Tou Sifaka by Giannis Markopoulos
O Horos Tou Sifaka by Giannis Markopoulos
2000 | World
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"My dad’s Greek and he came to Britain when he was nine or ten. Like a lot of people, he used music to maintain his identity and when I was a kid, he used to play a lot of the stuff that he brought with him - everything from contemporary rock to older folk and then Yannis Markopoulos as well. He’s one of Greece’s foremost composers. He’s from Crete and he sort of interpolates melodies and rhythms in a way that’s thousands of years old really. “This particular song has a real resonance for me, because it’s probably the first piece of music I can remember the experience of listening to. My dad used to put it on when I was two or three years old and he’d put me on his shoulders and spin me around. It’s incredibly hypnotic and repetitive and I remember this amazing sensation of the first time I had that feeling of music moving me beyond the state of resting existence. It’s stuck with me and I can still put it on and get chills from it - partly because it’s a very powerful piece of music anyway, and partly because it has that incredible memory attached for me as well. “Greek music is still a big part of my life. A few years ago I was involved in this performance at the Barbican where various musicians got together to perform the music and tell the story of another Greek composer, Markos Vamvakaris, and I was the narrator. I joined the rest of the musicians to sing with them at the end of the show and it was a great moment for me. When you’re a generation removed it’s tougher to stay in touch with your national identity, you have to put a little bit more effort in to appreciate your history and your heritage, but it’s worth it"

Source
  
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ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Figurine in Books

Nov 20, 2023  
The Figurine
The Figurine
Victoria Hislop | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I do love Victoria Hislop books, and in The Figurine I was transported back to Greece in the 1960’s with dictators ruling and a young girl, Helena, visiting her affluent grandparents on her own. Her grandfather is authoritarian, aloof, and never really connects with his granddaughter, but her grandmother clearly adores her. Through these summer visits, Helena grows to love Greece, even if she never manages to form a relationship with her grandfather.

As she gets older, Helena goes to university, meets a man who convinces her to go on archaeological digs on Greek Islands, and she then discovers antiques in her grandparents flat after their deaths - antiques that should not be owned by a private collector at all. These antiques are not acquired under legitimate means, and just how they were acquired soon becomes very clear to Helena. With the help of some Greek friends she is able to start the process of returning the valuable antiques to their rightful owners - the Greek people.

There is still the matter of a dodgy, antique smuggling boyfriend to deal with, and to do so involves the help of friends in London. So this story goes between London and Greece - and believe me when I say that Greece is painted in a much more favourable light than London. Everything seems grey and cold in London, and Greece is all sunshine and warmth. I know where I would rather be.

I love how Hislop writes about Greece: she’s clearly a Hellenophile, and why wouldn’t she be?! It’s a beautiful country. And when the matter of an ancient figurine comes up (that of the title of the book), we see how important even the smallest piece of Greece’s history is to the country as a whole.

Another gorgeous book from Victoria Hislop - a good one to read during the dull winter months that we have coming our way!

Read on The Pigeonhole.