Flightplan (2005)
Movie Watch
Airplane engineer Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is heading home from Germany to New York on a...
Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon
Book
The breakout star of this summer's blockbuster Avengers film, Clint Barton - aka the self-made hero...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2163 KP) rated And Then There Were Crumbs in Books
Nov 22, 2019
Between the fact that this is a culinary cozy and it is set in the Florida Keys, I was ready to sit back and enjoy. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. I was captivated at first. The setting is very real and fun and comes to life. Kate quickly makes a lot of fantastic friends, and I enjoyed hanging out with all of them. The further I went into the book, the more frustrated I became with the pacing of the mystery. We spend significantly more time watching Kate work to save and transform the bakery while Sam is in jail than we do getting clues to who might have killed Stewart. It’s a shame because there is a good mystery here; we just needed more of it. All the baking certainly made me hungry for bread and cookies, but there aren’t any recipes at the end of this book. Plenty of people seem to love this book, so if the premise interests you, I recommend you pick it up and judge the results for yourself.
Mad Men - Season 1
TV Season
Season one takes place between March and November 1960. It introduces the fictional advertising...
City of the Beasts
Book
An ecological romance with a pulsing heart, equal parts Rider Haggard and Chico Buarque -- one of...
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Love And Friendship (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Playing many different ends against the middle, Lady Susan – with the collusion of her American friend Alicia (Chloë Sevigny) – attempts to both find a suitably rich suitor for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) as well as finding a rich husband for herself to allow her to stay in the manor (sic) to which she has become accustomed. A tale of deception, pregnancy and a marriage of convenience follows: does Lady Susan have to choose between her sexual desires and the rich, stupid and dull Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett, “David Brent: Life on the Road”). Or can she have her cake and eat it?
Based on a Jane Austen short story, “Lady Susan”, this is a delight from beginning to end. However, it does require the attention of the viewer: characters get introduced to you in rapid fire succession, and keeping track of who’s who and how they interrelate is quite a challenge.
But this is a tour de force for Kate “Underworld” Beckinsale who delivers a depth of acting ability that I’ve not seen from her in the past. Her comic timing is just sublime, and while comedies are often overlooked in Awards season, this is a role for which she richly deserves both BAFTA and Oscar recognition.
Stephen Fry joins what is a superb ensemble cast. But outstanding among them is Tom Bennett who is simply hilarious as the nice but dim Sir James. The comic routine about his misunderstanding of “Churchill” (Church – Hill) – a running gag – is sublime and a challenger (with “Was that it t’were so simple”) for the comedy routine of the year.
Directed by Whit Stilman (“The Last Days of Disco”) from his own screenplay, this is one for the more sophisticated viewer: requiring of your full attention, but a treat for the eyes, ears and brain.
The Silver Wolf
Book
The extraordinarily rich, dark, panoramic tale of an orphaned boy's quest for truth and then for...
Historical fiction 17th Century The Thirty Years War Europe
Go Faster Food: Over 100 Energy-boosting Recipes for Runners, Cyclists, Swimmers and Rowers
Book
Are you a runner, cyclist, swimmer or rower? Do you want to up your game and ensure you're getting...
The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in 18th-Century Britain
Book
Pioneered by William Hogarth (1697-1764) and his peers in the early 18th century, and then...