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ClareR (5885 KP) rated Boy Swallows Universe in Books
Jun 1, 2021
Boy Swallows Universe is the second book in a month that:
I nearly gave up on,
I’m glad I didn’t.
It’s the story of Eli Bell, a 12 year old boy who lives in the Brisbane suburbs with his mum, stepdad and older brother. All sounds normal, until we find out that his mum and stepdad are ex-junkies, his stepdad sells heroin, and his brother is an elective mute following a traumatic, unnamed event.
Drug dealing aside, Eli and Gus’ mum, Frances and Stepdad Lyle, seem really nice! And their babysitter is equally lovely, despite the fact that he’s a murderer who has served his time. Despite all the crime and criminals around him, Eli just wants to grow up to be a good person, a crime journalist - after all, he has in depth knowledge!
This is a dark and sad book in parts, yet there were still events that made me laugh - there’s humour in even the darkest moments. Eli’s life is a one of trials and hardships, and reflects his indomitable spirit. He tries to see the good in everything, and I loved that about him.
I nearly gave up on,
I’m glad I didn’t.
It’s the story of Eli Bell, a 12 year old boy who lives in the Brisbane suburbs with his mum, stepdad and older brother. All sounds normal, until we find out that his mum and stepdad are ex-junkies, his stepdad sells heroin, and his brother is an elective mute following a traumatic, unnamed event.
Drug dealing aside, Eli and Gus’ mum, Frances and Stepdad Lyle, seem really nice! And their babysitter is equally lovely, despite the fact that he’s a murderer who has served his time. Despite all the crime and criminals around him, Eli just wants to grow up to be a good person, a crime journalist - after all, he has in depth knowledge!
This is a dark and sad book in parts, yet there were still events that made me laugh - there’s humour in even the darkest moments. Eli’s life is a one of trials and hardships, and reflects his indomitable spirit. He tries to see the good in everything, and I loved that about him.

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Status Update (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Ross Lynch stars as Kyle Moore, a teenager who after being uprooted by his parents' separation and unable to fit into his new hometown, stumbles upon a magical app that causes his social media updates to come true.
My mum asked me what I'd seen this month and so we went through the list with a brief description of the ones she hadn't heard of. When I got to this one... "It's so much fun, you'd hate it, dad would love it." Mum will watch a lot of things, but daft humour isn't really one of them. Dad and I are all over them though.
I would totally abuse an app that made my status updates come true... of course I'd want to check that it didn't apply things retroactively, and that I could dial my sarcasm back a lot to protect myself from worse self afflicted issues than happen in the film.
It's a fun diversion, a feel good film that has clearly been trying to tick all the boxes on what makes people go to the cinema... bit of wacky mystery, some singing and dancing, a bitchy gay... it's got all the things we love.
My mum asked me what I'd seen this month and so we went through the list with a brief description of the ones she hadn't heard of. When I got to this one... "It's so much fun, you'd hate it, dad would love it." Mum will watch a lot of things, but daft humour isn't really one of them. Dad and I are all over them though.
I would totally abuse an app that made my status updates come true... of course I'd want to check that it didn't apply things retroactively, and that I could dial my sarcasm back a lot to protect myself from worse self afflicted issues than happen in the film.
It's a fun diversion, a feel good film that has clearly been trying to tick all the boxes on what makes people go to the cinema... bit of wacky mystery, some singing and dancing, a bitchy gay... it's got all the things we love.

Vegas (725 KP) rated Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018) in Movies
Jul 10, 2019
The story (2 more)
The horror isn't horrific
The comedy isn't funy
I expected more from this cast
Not sure where to go with this, I don't like starting a a film and not finishing it, so I kept going with it, and by the time that it kicked into gear near the end, I found I had lost all interest and was doing a other things while watching it... Not caring who lived and who died....
I expected good things from a cast that included Michael Sheen, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Margot Robbie... However I was massively disappointed, apart from the very occasional funny bit, the humour didn't work and wasn't funny and the horror until near the end was almost non existent...
I was trying to think of some positive things to say but all I could come up with was that the setting the school was in was beautiful and looked amazing, with doesn't really help with summing up the film...
Die hard Simon Pegg/Nick Frost fans will probably like it, but, I think it's a film that you won't miss anything if you don't bother with it.
I expected good things from a cast that included Michael Sheen, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Margot Robbie... However I was massively disappointed, apart from the very occasional funny bit, the humour didn't work and wasn't funny and the horror until near the end was almost non existent...
I was trying to think of some positive things to say but all I could come up with was that the setting the school was in was beautiful and looked amazing, with doesn't really help with summing up the film...
Die hard Simon Pegg/Nick Frost fans will probably like it, but, I think it's a film that you won't miss anything if you don't bother with it.

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Juliet, Naked (2018) in Movies
Jul 13, 2019
Not up to Nick Hornby’s usual standards
Nick Hornby’s books are marvellous, so adapting them into films is an obvious choice for getting a sure fire hit (a la About a Boy). However sadly this doesn’t quite work for Juliet, Naked.
The plot itself is fine, fairly interesting yet doesn’t appears to be very in depth and i feel like there’s probably a lot missing in this that was in the book. It’s a good idea, just not very well executed and a little dull. It tries for humour but isn’t particularly funny and the romance side is a little lacking too sadly. I’ve always liked Ethan Hawke and he’s good in this but perhaps a little underused, and Rose Byrne is good but her accent is definitely a bit dodgy! Not too sure what was going on with Chris O’Dowd though, I’m not his biggest fan anyway but I found him particularly irritating in this but that may have just been his character. It’s a shame really that this film appears to be lacking all of the usual magic you’d see with Nick Hornby. Think I’ll just go read the book.
The plot itself is fine, fairly interesting yet doesn’t appears to be very in depth and i feel like there’s probably a lot missing in this that was in the book. It’s a good idea, just not very well executed and a little dull. It tries for humour but isn’t particularly funny and the romance side is a little lacking too sadly. I’ve always liked Ethan Hawke and he’s good in this but perhaps a little underused, and Rose Byrne is good but her accent is definitely a bit dodgy! Not too sure what was going on with Chris O’Dowd though, I’m not his biggest fan anyway but I found him particularly irritating in this but that may have just been his character. It’s a shame really that this film appears to be lacking all of the usual magic you’d see with Nick Hornby. Think I’ll just go read the book.

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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) in Movies
Jul 29, 2020
Probably the best Robin Hood film?
Let's be honest, Robin Hood has been done on screen more times than we can count & potentially aside from the animated Disney film, it's probably safe to say Men in Tights is by far the best Robin Hood film out there.
They don't make films like this anymore. It looks terrible, and well that's the point. You really can't beat a good spoof/parody. Cary Elwes makes a wonderful Robin Hood (with a English accent as the film so rightly points out) and the rest of the cast too camp it up to the max. Admittedly this film hasn't aged particularly well and some of the humour isn't quite as funny as I remember, but you can't go wrong with a Mel Brooks film. Man is a genius and the fact that he also appears as Rabbi Tuckman is a brilliant move. Also the Men in Tights song is absolutely hilarious.
It really is a shame they dont make films like this anymore as they'd make the world of cinema a brighter and happier place. Need more writers like Mel Brooks that's for sure!
They don't make films like this anymore. It looks terrible, and well that's the point. You really can't beat a good spoof/parody. Cary Elwes makes a wonderful Robin Hood (with a English accent as the film so rightly points out) and the rest of the cast too camp it up to the max. Admittedly this film hasn't aged particularly well and some of the humour isn't quite as funny as I remember, but you can't go wrong with a Mel Brooks film. Man is a genius and the fact that he also appears as Rabbi Tuckman is a brilliant move. Also the Men in Tights song is absolutely hilarious.
It really is a shame they dont make films like this anymore as they'd make the world of cinema a brighter and happier place. Need more writers like Mel Brooks that's for sure!

David McK (3562 KP) rated How to Survive the End of the World (When It's In Your Own Head) in Books
May 26, 2020
OK, that was good.
Written by a comedian - Aaron Gillies - I came across this when a friend recommended it in one of my WhatsApp group chats. I'm not sure why: we hadn't been discussing the subject matter, but none-the-less (and for 99p) I thought I would give it a shot. And I'm glad I did.
Whilst there are parts that were completely alien to me (and I'm not a fan of the swearing: it's not funny, it's not clever, and it's not smart), there were other parts where it felt like the author had, essentially, been riding around in my brain for the day: almost as if he and I had inhabited the same little part of this space-time continuum.
An easy read (if not an easy subject matter) and Aaron Gillies doesn't claim to hold all the answers, simply providing his experiences and what has worked for him, alongside some dark humour that actually had me laughing out loud at one or two moments in the narrative (is that the right word?).
And now with a bonus chapter on 'How to Survive a Global Pandemic" ...
Written by a comedian - Aaron Gillies - I came across this when a friend recommended it in one of my WhatsApp group chats. I'm not sure why: we hadn't been discussing the subject matter, but none-the-less (and for 99p) I thought I would give it a shot. And I'm glad I did.
Whilst there are parts that were completely alien to me (and I'm not a fan of the swearing: it's not funny, it's not clever, and it's not smart), there were other parts where it felt like the author had, essentially, been riding around in my brain for the day: almost as if he and I had inhabited the same little part of this space-time continuum.
An easy read (if not an easy subject matter) and Aaron Gillies doesn't claim to hold all the answers, simply providing his experiences and what has worked for him, alongside some dark humour that actually had me laughing out loud at one or two moments in the narrative (is that the right word?).
And now with a bonus chapter on 'How to Survive a Global Pandemic" ...

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