Controlling Pharmaceutical Risks: Science, Cancer, and the Geneticization of Drug Testing
Rachel Ballinger and John Patrick Abraham
Book
Controlling Pharmaceutical Risks is a case study of changes in drug testing since the late 1990s,...
The Women of The Bible Speak
Book
The women of the Bible lived timeless stories—by examining them, we can understand what it means...
Five on Brexit Island
Book
Enid Blyton's books are beloved the world over and The Famous Five have been the perennial favourite...
Unretirement: How Baby Boomers are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life
Book
The budget battles of recent years have amplified the warnings of demographic doomsayers who...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Last Flag Flying (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
In Last Flag Flying Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin), Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) play veterans who reunite thirty years after serving together in Vietnam to bury one of their sons who has been killed in Iraq. Doc (Steve Carell) tracks down his friends in order to find some closure as to events they faced in their past and to find some sanity and clarity in the death of his son.
The film brings home the horror of war and demonstrates how men and women, out of a sense of duty, find themselves in the same situation as previous generations as they left home to serve their nation. The film is uncomfortable, with good reason, as it makes audiences reflect on the meaning of sacrifice, duty, and honor. The three characters offer the film the opportunity to demonstrate the contrast between youth and experience. It demonstrates how people can have the same experiences but are changed by it to varying degrees. Nothing is uniform about how they adapt to their experiences or in how they cope with the horrors they witnessed.
Last Flag Flying offers a much-needed, sobering perspective about war and how the experiences of war never quite leave those who survived. Carell, Cranston, and Fishburne offer up performances that demonstrate the power of friendship and brotherhood that forms for those who serve together. For those who served and those who haven’t, the film offers audiences the ability to gain a greater understanding of what life is like for those men and women once they take off the uniform.
The Crocodile by the Door: The Story of a House, a Farm and a Family
Book
The Crocodile by the Door by Selina Guinness - shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award - is a...
Eve Oxspring (14 KP) rated Phantom Thread (2017) in Movies
Feb 15, 2018
It should have been forgettable, but, in fact was the complete opposite.
The lack of context really makes this film. There are clues throughout, the odd word or image littered here and there, but it is left almost entirely to the audience to piece together the meaning of everything. Woodcock clearly has issues when it comes to his mother, who taught him everything he knew and who died years before the film takes place. He projects these issues onto those around him, involving them in the "game" that is his life. As we, the audience, begin to realise this, so, too, does Alma (Krieps), his current lover. She repeatedly poisons him, knowing the only time she will be truly alone and at his full attention is when he is incapable of being anywhere else. She takes care of him almost as a mother would a small child, further adding to (or relieving?) already prevalent issues in him.
The more I think about this film, the more I love it. I admit, I didn't care for it at all when I first walked out of the cinema, but as time has passed - as I've had a chance to digest and unpack all the gifts this film gives - I find myself liking it more and more. A second viewing is definitely on the cards.
One Night on the Island
7.0
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Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December . . . When a double-booking at...
The Weight of an Infinite Sky
6.0
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Book
The critically acclaimed author of The Home Place explores the heart and mystery of Big Sky Country...
fiction
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons, #3) in Books
Jan 5, 2022
Benedict’s story is a retelling of the classic Cinderella story, with Sophie being the daughter of an Earl who dies suddenly and her stepmother moves her into a life of servitude. In fact, the whole book gave reminded me of the film Ever After with some of the actions and situations that Sophie found herself in.
When I first started reading and realised that it was going to be a retelling of Cinderella, I thought that I would get bored very quickly and was doubtful that I would enjoy the book at all. But I was most definitely wrong. Although Benedict definitely didn’t act like a gentleman for a lot of the book, I was glad when he realised that he had been wrong and apologised to Sophie. I also realise that by todays standards he may not have been acting like a gentleman, but back in 1817 when the majority of the book is set, that is exactly how they acted and they were very much focused on not marrying out of their class.
I flew through this, mainly because of the ease of reading Julia Quinn’s writing and also her ability to make you want to know what happens to her characters. I’m looking forward to moving onto the 4th instalment!