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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Spare Room in Books
Feb 19, 2020 (Updated Feb 19, 2020)
While browsing Audible one day for an audiobook to listen to, I stumbled upon Spare Room by Dreda Say Mitchell. The book synopsis instantly had me hooked, and I knew I had to listen to this book. I ended up liking Spare Room very much!
Lisa is a young women with some psychological problems. However, she is determined to make it on her own without relying on her parents. When she spots an ad in the newspaper for a spare room in London for a great price, she inquires about the room and ends up living there. After finding a suicide note in her room, Lisa decides to find out more about this man while trying to figure out her own murky past. However, all this will place Lisa in grave danger.
The plot for Spare Room was highly interesting and written very well. Mitchell did a fantastic job at making it easy to transport readers into the setting. I felt like I was with Lisa every step of the way. The pacing, for the most part, is decent, and I found myself having to know more. There were a few spots were the pacing slowed, but for the most part, this book had a lot of action. I had to know more about Lisa's past. There were times I was questioning whether Lisa was sane horrific things happen to her or if she was just losing her mind. There were quite a few plot twists. Some were predictable, but others, I never saw coming. All of my questions were answered by the end of the book, and there were no cliff hangers which I was happy about.
The characters in Spare Room all felt realistic and like they were real people instead of characters in a novel. Mitchell did such a great job of breathing life into each individual character. Lisa was such a complex woman. I admired her tenacity to find out the truth at all costs even when she had everything going against her. Her determination was fierce, and she never let anyone get in her way. Alex was a sweetheart, and I loved how caring he was towards Lisa and how much he helped her out. Lisa's parents cared for Lisa, it was obvious, but I found myself wishing they would go about helping Lisa in better ways. Martha and Jack were fantastic! I always found myself not trusting Martha even though she came across as completely innocent to begin with, and I was always wondering if Jack really was as bad as Lisa thought he was. Patsy was probably my favorite character. That old woman reminded me of my grandma a lot of the time.
The narration, done by Kristin Atherton, was pretty good for the most part. I felt like Atherton started out the beginning of the book a bit flat, but she quickly got better. Her accents and voice changes for different characters were fantastic especially for the characters of Jack and Patsy.
Trigger warnings for Spare Room include violence, animal murder, attempted murder, murder, suicide, alcohol, some sex (though not graphic), profanity, and gas-lighting.
All in all, Spare Room weaves an interesting story with a fantastic cast of characters that will suck you right into their world. I would definitely recommend Spare Room by Dreda Say Mitchell to everyone aged 16+ who loves a great solid story.
Lisa is a young women with some psychological problems. However, she is determined to make it on her own without relying on her parents. When she spots an ad in the newspaper for a spare room in London for a great price, she inquires about the room and ends up living there. After finding a suicide note in her room, Lisa decides to find out more about this man while trying to figure out her own murky past. However, all this will place Lisa in grave danger.
The plot for Spare Room was highly interesting and written very well. Mitchell did a fantastic job at making it easy to transport readers into the setting. I felt like I was with Lisa every step of the way. The pacing, for the most part, is decent, and I found myself having to know more. There were a few spots were the pacing slowed, but for the most part, this book had a lot of action. I had to know more about Lisa's past. There were times I was questioning whether Lisa was sane horrific things happen to her or if she was just losing her mind. There were quite a few plot twists. Some were predictable, but others, I never saw coming. All of my questions were answered by the end of the book, and there were no cliff hangers which I was happy about.
The characters in Spare Room all felt realistic and like they were real people instead of characters in a novel. Mitchell did such a great job of breathing life into each individual character. Lisa was such a complex woman. I admired her tenacity to find out the truth at all costs even when she had everything going against her. Her determination was fierce, and she never let anyone get in her way. Alex was a sweetheart, and I loved how caring he was towards Lisa and how much he helped her out. Lisa's parents cared for Lisa, it was obvious, but I found myself wishing they would go about helping Lisa in better ways. Martha and Jack were fantastic! I always found myself not trusting Martha even though she came across as completely innocent to begin with, and I was always wondering if Jack really was as bad as Lisa thought he was. Patsy was probably my favorite character. That old woman reminded me of my grandma a lot of the time.
The narration, done by Kristin Atherton, was pretty good for the most part. I felt like Atherton started out the beginning of the book a bit flat, but she quickly got better. Her accents and voice changes for different characters were fantastic especially for the characters of Jack and Patsy.
Trigger warnings for Spare Room include violence, animal murder, attempted murder, murder, suicide, alcohol, some sex (though not graphic), profanity, and gas-lighting.
All in all, Spare Room weaves an interesting story with a fantastic cast of characters that will suck you right into their world. I would definitely recommend Spare Room by Dreda Say Mitchell to everyone aged 16+ who loves a great solid story.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Girl on the Train (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
You wonât uncork a bottle of Malbec again without thinking of this filmâŚ
âThe Girl on a Trainâ is the film adaptation of the best-seller by Paula Hawkins, transported from the London suburbs to New Yorkâs Hastings-on-Hudson.
Itâs actually rather a sordid story encompassing as it does alcoholism, murder, marital strife, deceit, sexual frustration, an historical tragedy and lashings and lashings of violence. Emily Blunt (âSicarioâ, âEdge of Tomorrowâ) plays Rachel, a divorcee with an alcohol problem who escapes into an obsessive fantasy each day as she passes her former neighbourhood on her commute into the city. Ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux, âZoolander 2â) lives in her old house with his second wife Anna (Rebecca âMI:5â Ferguson) and new baby Evie. But her real fantasy rests with cheerleader-style young neighbour Megan (Haley Bennett) who is actually locked in a frustratingly child-free marriage (frustrating for him at least) with the controlling and unpredictable Scott (Luke Evans, âThe Hobbitâ). A sixth party in this complex network is Meganâs psychiatrist Dr Kamal Abdic (Ădgar RamĂrez, âJoyâ).
In pure Hitchcockian style Megan witnesses mere glimpses of events from her twice-daily train and from these pieces together stories that suitably feed her psychosis. When âshit gets realâ and a key character goes missing, Megan surfaces her suspicions and obsessions to the police investigation (led by Detective Riley, the ever-excellent Allison Janney from âThe West Wingâ) and promptly makes herself suspect number one.
Readers of the book will already be aware of the twists and turns of the story, so will watch the film from a different perspective than I did. (Despite my best intentions I never managed to read the book first).
First up, you would have to say that Emily Bluntâs performance is outstanding in an extremely challenging acting role. Every nuance of shame, confusion, grief, fear, doubt and anger is beautifully enacted: it would not be a surprise to see her gain her first Oscar nomination for this. All the other lead roles are also delivered with great professionalism, with Haley Bennett (a busy month for her, with âThe Magnificent Sevenâ also out) being impressive and Rebecca Ferguson, one of my favourite current actresses, delivering another measured and delicate performance.
Girl on a Train, The
Rebecca Ferguson as Anna â âthere were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowdedâ
The supporting roles are also effective, with Darren Goldstein as the somewhat creepy âman in the suitâ and âFriendsâ star Lisa Kudrow popping up in an effective and pivotal role. The Screen Guild Awards have an excellent category for an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and it feels appropriate to nominate this cast for that award.
So itâs a blockbuster book with a rollercoaster story and a stellar cast, so what could go wrong? Well, something for sure. This is a case in point where I suspect it is easier to slowly peel back Rachelâs lost memory with pages and imagination than it is with dodgy fuzzy images on a big screen. Although the film comes in at only 112 minutes, the pacing in places is too slow (the screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson takes its time) and director Tate Taylor (âThe Helpâ) is no Hitchcock, or indeed a David Fincher (since the film has strong similarities to last yearâs âGone Girlâ: when the action does happen it lacks style, with the violence being on the brutal side and leaving little to the imagination.
Itâs by no means a bad film, and worth seeing for the acting performances alone. But itâs not a film I think that will trouble my top 10 for the year.
Itâs actually rather a sordid story encompassing as it does alcoholism, murder, marital strife, deceit, sexual frustration, an historical tragedy and lashings and lashings of violence. Emily Blunt (âSicarioâ, âEdge of Tomorrowâ) plays Rachel, a divorcee with an alcohol problem who escapes into an obsessive fantasy each day as she passes her former neighbourhood on her commute into the city. Ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux, âZoolander 2â) lives in her old house with his second wife Anna (Rebecca âMI:5â Ferguson) and new baby Evie. But her real fantasy rests with cheerleader-style young neighbour Megan (Haley Bennett) who is actually locked in a frustratingly child-free marriage (frustrating for him at least) with the controlling and unpredictable Scott (Luke Evans, âThe Hobbitâ). A sixth party in this complex network is Meganâs psychiatrist Dr Kamal Abdic (Ădgar RamĂrez, âJoyâ).
In pure Hitchcockian style Megan witnesses mere glimpses of events from her twice-daily train and from these pieces together stories that suitably feed her psychosis. When âshit gets realâ and a key character goes missing, Megan surfaces her suspicions and obsessions to the police investigation (led by Detective Riley, the ever-excellent Allison Janney from âThe West Wingâ) and promptly makes herself suspect number one.
Readers of the book will already be aware of the twists and turns of the story, so will watch the film from a different perspective than I did. (Despite my best intentions I never managed to read the book first).
First up, you would have to say that Emily Bluntâs performance is outstanding in an extremely challenging acting role. Every nuance of shame, confusion, grief, fear, doubt and anger is beautifully enacted: it would not be a surprise to see her gain her first Oscar nomination for this. All the other lead roles are also delivered with great professionalism, with Haley Bennett (a busy month for her, with âThe Magnificent Sevenâ also out) being impressive and Rebecca Ferguson, one of my favourite current actresses, delivering another measured and delicate performance.
Girl on a Train, The
Rebecca Ferguson as Anna â âthere were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowdedâ
The supporting roles are also effective, with Darren Goldstein as the somewhat creepy âman in the suitâ and âFriendsâ star Lisa Kudrow popping up in an effective and pivotal role. The Screen Guild Awards have an excellent category for an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and it feels appropriate to nominate this cast for that award.
So itâs a blockbuster book with a rollercoaster story and a stellar cast, so what could go wrong? Well, something for sure. This is a case in point where I suspect it is easier to slowly peel back Rachelâs lost memory with pages and imagination than it is with dodgy fuzzy images on a big screen. Although the film comes in at only 112 minutes, the pacing in places is too slow (the screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson takes its time) and director Tate Taylor (âThe Helpâ) is no Hitchcock, or indeed a David Fincher (since the film has strong similarities to last yearâs âGone Girlâ: when the action does happen it lacks style, with the violence being on the brutal side and leaving little to the imagination.
Itâs by no means a bad film, and worth seeing for the acting performances alone. But itâs not a film I think that will trouble my top 10 for the year.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Mary Poppins Returns (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
A valiant attempt to recreate a masterpiece.
How do you repaint a masterpiece: the Mona Lisa of childrenâs fantasy cinema? Some would say âYou shouldnât tryâ.
As Iâve said before, Mary Poppins was the first film I saw when it came out (or soon afterwards) at a very impressionable ageâŚ. I was said to have bawled my eyes out with âTHE MAGIC NANNY IS GOING AWAY!!â as Julie Andrews floated off! So as my last cinema trip of 2018 I went to see this sequel, 54 years after the original, with a sense of dread. Iâm relieved to say that although the film has its flaws itâs by no means the disaster I envisaged.
The plot
Itâs a fairly lightweight story. Now all grown up, young Michael from the original film (Ben Whishaw) has his own family. His troubles though come not singly but in battalions since not only is he grieving a recent loss but he is also about to be evicted from 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Help is at hand in that his father, George Banks, had shares with the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. But despite their best efforts neither he, his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) nor their chirpy âstrike a lightâ lamplighter friend Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) can find the all-important share certificates. With the deadline from bank manager Wilkins (Colin Firth) approaching, itâs fortuitous that Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) drops in to look after the Banks children â John (Nathanael Saleh), Anabel (Pixie Davies) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) â in her own inimitable fashion.
Songs that are more Meh-ry Poppins
I know musical taste is very personal. My biggest problem with the film though was that the songs by Marc Shaiman were, to me, on the lacklustre side. Only one jumped out and struck me: the jaunty vaudeville number âA Cover is not the Bookâ. Elsewhere they were â to me â unmemorable and nowhere near as catchy as those of âThe Greatest Showmanâ. (What amplified this for me was having some of the classic Sherman-brothers themes woven into the soundtrack that just made me realise what I was missing!) Richard M Sherman â now 90 â was credited with âMusic Consultantâ but I wonder how much input he actually had?
The other flaws
Another issue I had with the film was that it just tried WAAYYY too hard to tick off the key attributes of the original:
âMary in the mirrorâ â check
âBottomless carpet bagâ â check
âInitial fun in the nurseryâ â check
âQuirky trip to a cartoon landâ â check
âDance on the ceiling with a quirky relativeâ â check
âChirpy chimney sweepsâ â check (âEr⌠Mr Marshall⌠we couldnât get chimney sweeps⌠will lamplighters do?â âYeah, good enoughâ)
Another thing that struck me about the film â particularly as a film aimed at kids â is just how long it is. At 2 hours and 10 minutes itâs a bladder-testing experience for adults let alone younger children. (Itâs worth noting that this is still 9 minutes shorter than the original, but back in the 60âs we had FAR fewer options to be stimulated by entertainment and our attention spans were â I think â much longer as a result!)
What it does get right
But with this whinging aside, the film does get a number of things spit-spot on.
Emily Blunt is near perfection as Poppins. (In the interests of balance my wife found her bizarrely clipped accent very grating, but I suspect P.L. Travers would have approved!). Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda also does a good job as Jack, although you wonder whether the âsociety of cockney actorsâ must again be in a big grump about the casting! I found Emily Mortimer just delightful as the grown-up Jane, although Ben Whishawâs Michael didnât particularly connect with me.
Almost unrecognisable was David Warner as the now wheelchair-bound Admiral Boom. His first mate is none other than Jim Norton of âFather Tedâ Bishop Brennan fame (thanks to my daughter Jenn for pointing that one out)!
Also watch out (Iâd largely missed it before I realised!) for a nice pavement cameo by Karen Dotrice, the original Jane, asking directions to number 19 Cherry Tree Lane.
What the film also gets right is to implement the old-school animation of the âJolly Holidaysâ segment of the original. Thatâs a really smart move. Filmed at Shepperton Studios in London, this is once again a great advert for Britainâs film technicians. The London sets and the costumes (by the great Sandy Powell) are just superb.
Some cameo cherries on the cake
Finally, the aces in the hole are the two cameos near the end of the film. And they would have been lovely surprises as well since neither name appears in the opening credits. Itâs therefore a CRYING SHAME that they chose to let the cat out of the bag in the trailer (BLOODY MARKETING EXECS!). In case you havenât seen the trailer, I wonât spoil it for you here. But as a magical movie experience the first of those cameos moved me close to tears. He also delivers a hum-dinger of a plot twist that is a genuinely welcome crossover from the first film.
Final Thoughts
Rob Marshall directs, and with a pretty impossible task he delivers an end-product that, while it didnât completely thrill me, did well not to trash my delicate hopes and dreams either. Having just listened to Kermode and Mayoâs review (and it seems that Mark Kermode places Poppins on a similar pedestal to me) the songs (and therefore the âPlace Where Lost Things Goâ song) just didnât resonate with me in the same way, and so, unlike Kermode, I mentally never bridged the gap to safely enjoying it.
But what we all think is secondary. Because if some three or four year old out there gets a similarly lifelong love of the cinema by watching this, then thatâs all that matters.
As Iâve said before, Mary Poppins was the first film I saw when it came out (or soon afterwards) at a very impressionable ageâŚ. I was said to have bawled my eyes out with âTHE MAGIC NANNY IS GOING AWAY!!â as Julie Andrews floated off! So as my last cinema trip of 2018 I went to see this sequel, 54 years after the original, with a sense of dread. Iâm relieved to say that although the film has its flaws itâs by no means the disaster I envisaged.
The plot
Itâs a fairly lightweight story. Now all grown up, young Michael from the original film (Ben Whishaw) has his own family. His troubles though come not singly but in battalions since not only is he grieving a recent loss but he is also about to be evicted from 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Help is at hand in that his father, George Banks, had shares with the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. But despite their best efforts neither he, his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) nor their chirpy âstrike a lightâ lamplighter friend Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) can find the all-important share certificates. With the deadline from bank manager Wilkins (Colin Firth) approaching, itâs fortuitous that Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) drops in to look after the Banks children â John (Nathanael Saleh), Anabel (Pixie Davies) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) â in her own inimitable fashion.
Songs that are more Meh-ry Poppins
I know musical taste is very personal. My biggest problem with the film though was that the songs by Marc Shaiman were, to me, on the lacklustre side. Only one jumped out and struck me: the jaunty vaudeville number âA Cover is not the Bookâ. Elsewhere they were â to me â unmemorable and nowhere near as catchy as those of âThe Greatest Showmanâ. (What amplified this for me was having some of the classic Sherman-brothers themes woven into the soundtrack that just made me realise what I was missing!) Richard M Sherman â now 90 â was credited with âMusic Consultantâ but I wonder how much input he actually had?
The other flaws
Another issue I had with the film was that it just tried WAAYYY too hard to tick off the key attributes of the original:
âMary in the mirrorâ â check
âBottomless carpet bagâ â check
âInitial fun in the nurseryâ â check
âQuirky trip to a cartoon landâ â check
âDance on the ceiling with a quirky relativeâ â check
âChirpy chimney sweepsâ â check (âEr⌠Mr Marshall⌠we couldnât get chimney sweeps⌠will lamplighters do?â âYeah, good enoughâ)
Another thing that struck me about the film â particularly as a film aimed at kids â is just how long it is. At 2 hours and 10 minutes itâs a bladder-testing experience for adults let alone younger children. (Itâs worth noting that this is still 9 minutes shorter than the original, but back in the 60âs we had FAR fewer options to be stimulated by entertainment and our attention spans were â I think â much longer as a result!)
What it does get right
But with this whinging aside, the film does get a number of things spit-spot on.
Emily Blunt is near perfection as Poppins. (In the interests of balance my wife found her bizarrely clipped accent very grating, but I suspect P.L. Travers would have approved!). Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda also does a good job as Jack, although you wonder whether the âsociety of cockney actorsâ must again be in a big grump about the casting! I found Emily Mortimer just delightful as the grown-up Jane, although Ben Whishawâs Michael didnât particularly connect with me.
Almost unrecognisable was David Warner as the now wheelchair-bound Admiral Boom. His first mate is none other than Jim Norton of âFather Tedâ Bishop Brennan fame (thanks to my daughter Jenn for pointing that one out)!
Also watch out (Iâd largely missed it before I realised!) for a nice pavement cameo by Karen Dotrice, the original Jane, asking directions to number 19 Cherry Tree Lane.
What the film also gets right is to implement the old-school animation of the âJolly Holidaysâ segment of the original. Thatâs a really smart move. Filmed at Shepperton Studios in London, this is once again a great advert for Britainâs film technicians. The London sets and the costumes (by the great Sandy Powell) are just superb.
Some cameo cherries on the cake
Finally, the aces in the hole are the two cameos near the end of the film. And they would have been lovely surprises as well since neither name appears in the opening credits. Itâs therefore a CRYING SHAME that they chose to let the cat out of the bag in the trailer (BLOODY MARKETING EXECS!). In case you havenât seen the trailer, I wonât spoil it for you here. But as a magical movie experience the first of those cameos moved me close to tears. He also delivers a hum-dinger of a plot twist that is a genuinely welcome crossover from the first film.
Final Thoughts
Rob Marshall directs, and with a pretty impossible task he delivers an end-product that, while it didnât completely thrill me, did well not to trash my delicate hopes and dreams either. Having just listened to Kermode and Mayoâs review (and it seems that Mark Kermode places Poppins on a similar pedestal to me) the songs (and therefore the âPlace Where Lost Things Goâ song) just didnât resonate with me in the same way, and so, unlike Kermode, I mentally never bridged the gap to safely enjoying it.
But what we all think is secondary. Because if some three or four year old out there gets a similarly lifelong love of the cinema by watching this, then thatâs all that matters.
Kelly Rettie (748 KP) Feb 19, 2020
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) Feb 19, 2020