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Have You Seen Her
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Bonfire Night. A missing girl. Anna only takes her eyes off Laurel for a second. She thought Laurel...
General Fiction Adult Mystery Thriller
Death Logs Out
8.8
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Book
Is Alex Nicholas really dead? Two years since the brutal shooting of Alex Nicholas, a gambling...
The Spaces In Between
7.0
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There is Truth and there are Lies; there is Fiction and there is Fact; there is Life and there is...
Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi
Book
For sixteen centuries the Order of Pythia has awaited the reappearance of the ancient oracle of...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Behind Closed Doors in Books
Sep 25, 2021
158 of 250
Kindle
Behind Closed Doors
By B A Paris
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.
You’d like to get to know Grace better.
But it’s difficult, because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart.
Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.
Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.
Absolutely chilling! The whole book I just couldn’t put it down! It’s 1:37am and I just had to finish it! This is not a book if normally pick up but so glad I did! I had this knot in my stomach that hurt so much till o knew he was dead!! And what a fitting death. Highly recommend!
Kindle
Behind Closed Doors
By B A Paris
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.
You’d like to get to know Grace better.
But it’s difficult, because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart.
Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.
Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.
Absolutely chilling! The whole book I just couldn’t put it down! It’s 1:37am and I just had to finish it! This is not a book if normally pick up but so glad I did! I had this knot in my stomach that hurt so much till o knew he was dead!! And what a fitting death. Highly recommend!
David McK (3673 KP) rated Sharpe's Assassin in Books
Oct 10, 2021
It's been 15 years or so since Bernard Cornwell last returned to perhaps his most famous creation Richard Sharpe, in Sharpe's Fury.
In chronological order, that was then, novel # 11 of 23 (including short stories in that count).
While Cornwell continued on with his 'Saxon Stories / Last Kingdom' series starring Uhtred of Bebbanburg (read those. Enjoyed those), I've always held a soft spot for the soldier-up-from-the-ranks of Richard Sharpe, so I was quite happy to hear that he would be returning to that character.
This is that return, chronologically novel # 23 of 24, taking place almost immediately after the Battle of Waterloo (worth reading Sharpe's Waterloo again - you don't need to, but it gives context). There's no historical battle (for the setting) this time around; instead we have Sharpe getting caught up in/foil an a plot to assassinate the Duke of Wellington - who, here, seems to have mellowed somewhat towards Sharpe - and the returning King Louis XVIII, with a large portion of the novel set in and around the environs of Paris (in particular The Louvre).
Good to have Sharpe and Harper back together!
In chronological order, that was then, novel # 11 of 23 (including short stories in that count).
While Cornwell continued on with his 'Saxon Stories / Last Kingdom' series starring Uhtred of Bebbanburg (read those. Enjoyed those), I've always held a soft spot for the soldier-up-from-the-ranks of Richard Sharpe, so I was quite happy to hear that he would be returning to that character.
This is that return, chronologically novel # 23 of 24, taking place almost immediately after the Battle of Waterloo (worth reading Sharpe's Waterloo again - you don't need to, but it gives context). There's no historical battle (for the setting) this time around; instead we have Sharpe getting caught up in/foil an a plot to assassinate the Duke of Wellington - who, here, seems to have mellowed somewhat towards Sharpe - and the returning King Louis XVIII, with a large portion of the novel set in and around the environs of Paris (in particular The Louvre).
Good to have Sharpe and Harper back together!
Her Dark Angel (Her Angel: Bound Warriors #1)
8.0
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Centuries in Hell have taken their toll on Apollyon. Tired of guarding the Devil, he longs to break...
Paranormal Romance
Dancing in the Ring
Book
Detroit in the 1920s proved to be the Paris of the West for many – including Catherine McIntosh...
Historical Fiction Biographical Fiction
David McK (3673 KP) rated John Wick. Chapter 4 (2023) in Movies
Jun 18, 2023
The longest John Wick movie to date, clocking in at just under 3 hours, with Keanu Reeves once again the focal point for some inventive action scenes.
Even if, by this point, all the assassins are operating at a level just below that of superheroes: bouncing off cars, falling out upper storey windows (and then getting up and dusting themselves off), shrugging off wounds that would incapacitate you or me ...
I also have to say, just where is the police when all this is going on?!
Anyway, that's all by the by: here, John is still out for revenge on the High Table that branded him 'excommunicado', with the bounty on his head growing ever and ever larger all the time. This film also moves that action - largely - away from New York, instead relocating to Japan (Osako) and France (Paris), with the last hour or so pretty much an extended action scene as John (fist)fights, shoots, brawls, stabs and crawls his way to a dawn appointment for a duel like something out of the 18th century that he hopes will finally close his ledger.
Even if, by this point, all the assassins are operating at a level just below that of superheroes: bouncing off cars, falling out upper storey windows (and then getting up and dusting themselves off), shrugging off wounds that would incapacitate you or me ...
I also have to say, just where is the police when all this is going on?!
Anyway, that's all by the by: here, John is still out for revenge on the High Table that branded him 'excommunicado', with the bounty on his head growing ever and ever larger all the time. This film also moves that action - largely - away from New York, instead relocating to Japan (Osako) and France (Paris), with the last hour or so pretty much an extended action scene as John (fist)fights, shoots, brawls, stabs and crawls his way to a dawn appointment for a duel like something out of the 18th century that he hopes will finally close his ledger.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Colette (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
“The hand that holds the pen writes history”.
Colette is yet another tale of female empowerment: a woman with real talent trying to break out of the gilded cage she finds herself trapped in.
The plot
This is a true story, set in Paris in the late 19th Century. Colette (Keira Knightley), a beautiful country girl living in Burgundy is seduced by and then married to the much older Parisian ‘literary entrepreneur’ Willy (Dominic West). Willy is a “brand” in Paris: a well-known critic turned author. The only problem being that he does virtually no writing of his own but ghosts work out to his team. Colette exhibits a gift for writing slightly lascivious tales of her life (under the pseudonym Claudine) at her girl’s school, where clearly nighttime swimming lessons taught more than back stroke! As a result, Willy fills a financial hole by publishing Colette’s work in his name. The books fly off the shelves faster than the publishers can print them. But Willy has expensive habits and Colette gets locked into writing an ever-popular series but without a voice of her own.
Bohemian Rhapsodies
If the swinging 60’s started anywhere, it was probably in Paris during this time period! While Victorian England was staid and conservative, Paris – home of the Moulin Rouge – was a hot-bed of liberation. As a result, Colette and Willy’s marital affairs are – erm – sexually ‘fluid’. While Colette has to learn to live with her philandering ‘Free Willy’, he positively encourages the bi-sexual Colette to explore the other camp, as it were.
The turns
Keira Knightley turns in a truly cracking performance in the titular lead. No-one does ‘brooding’ better than Knightley, and she gets ample chance here to exercise that look, most notably in a train scene near the end of the film: if looks could kill.
Dominic West delivers as reliably a solid performance as you would expect from him, but he is such a despicable and loathsome character that it is difficult to warm to him.
Driving me mad (not sexually you understand…. although…) was the girl playing the American double-dip love interest Georgie: I knew her so well but just couldn’t place her. It was the American accent that threw me: she is of course Eleanor Tomlinson, Demelza from TV’s “Poldark”, here showing a lot more flesh than she can get away with on a Sunday night on BBC1!
An interesting choice of language
The film is obviously in English about one of France’s literary greats (although curiously Colette writes in French). My guess is that the film will go down like a lead balloon in France as a result. A part of me would have liked this to be French language with subtitles, but maybe that’s just me.
When you look at it objectively, Colette’s story is quite remarkable: what a clever and determined woman.
Gorgeous to look at
Aside from Knightley, the other star turn in the film comes from cinematographer Giles Nuttgens (who also did “Hell or High Water“). The scenes, particularly the bucolic ones set in the French countryside, are simply gorgeously photographed. The framing of the shots is also exquisite with an impressive shot of the slog up a spiral staircase to the couple’s flat being repeatedly used.
Sex vs violence – still not on a par in 2019
It remains curious to me how prudish both the UK and the US are still about sex on screen. In the UK the film is a 15 certificate; in the US the film is R-rated! Yes, there are some breasts on show, and a few mixed- and same-sex couplings (particularly during a frenetic 5 minute period in the middle of the film!), but they are artfully done and you don’t get to see much more than the breasts. In comparison, the violence that would get meted out during a 15/R action thriller would typically makes my eyes water.
But is it any good?
This is one of those films that is worthy, beautifully done, well acted but for some reason it felt to me like a bit of a slog. At 111 minutes it certainly felt a lot longer than it was. The middle reel of the film in particular is rather pedestrian (and yes, I recognise the irony of the fact that I just said there was the frenetic 5 minutes of sex during that part!). Maybe on the night I was just not in the mood for this type of film.
The director is Englishman Wash Westmoreland, whose last film back in 2014 was the impressive “Still Alice”.
I’m glad I’ve seen it, and it is a lot better than many films I saw last year. But in terms of my “re-watchability” quotient, its not going to rate that highly.
The plot
This is a true story, set in Paris in the late 19th Century. Colette (Keira Knightley), a beautiful country girl living in Burgundy is seduced by and then married to the much older Parisian ‘literary entrepreneur’ Willy (Dominic West). Willy is a “brand” in Paris: a well-known critic turned author. The only problem being that he does virtually no writing of his own but ghosts work out to his team. Colette exhibits a gift for writing slightly lascivious tales of her life (under the pseudonym Claudine) at her girl’s school, where clearly nighttime swimming lessons taught more than back stroke! As a result, Willy fills a financial hole by publishing Colette’s work in his name. The books fly off the shelves faster than the publishers can print them. But Willy has expensive habits and Colette gets locked into writing an ever-popular series but without a voice of her own.
Bohemian Rhapsodies
If the swinging 60’s started anywhere, it was probably in Paris during this time period! While Victorian England was staid and conservative, Paris – home of the Moulin Rouge – was a hot-bed of liberation. As a result, Colette and Willy’s marital affairs are – erm – sexually ‘fluid’. While Colette has to learn to live with her philandering ‘Free Willy’, he positively encourages the bi-sexual Colette to explore the other camp, as it were.
The turns
Keira Knightley turns in a truly cracking performance in the titular lead. No-one does ‘brooding’ better than Knightley, and she gets ample chance here to exercise that look, most notably in a train scene near the end of the film: if looks could kill.
Dominic West delivers as reliably a solid performance as you would expect from him, but he is such a despicable and loathsome character that it is difficult to warm to him.
Driving me mad (not sexually you understand…. although…) was the girl playing the American double-dip love interest Georgie: I knew her so well but just couldn’t place her. It was the American accent that threw me: she is of course Eleanor Tomlinson, Demelza from TV’s “Poldark”, here showing a lot more flesh than she can get away with on a Sunday night on BBC1!
An interesting choice of language
The film is obviously in English about one of France’s literary greats (although curiously Colette writes in French). My guess is that the film will go down like a lead balloon in France as a result. A part of me would have liked this to be French language with subtitles, but maybe that’s just me.
When you look at it objectively, Colette’s story is quite remarkable: what a clever and determined woman.
Gorgeous to look at
Aside from Knightley, the other star turn in the film comes from cinematographer Giles Nuttgens (who also did “Hell or High Water“). The scenes, particularly the bucolic ones set in the French countryside, are simply gorgeously photographed. The framing of the shots is also exquisite with an impressive shot of the slog up a spiral staircase to the couple’s flat being repeatedly used.
Sex vs violence – still not on a par in 2019
It remains curious to me how prudish both the UK and the US are still about sex on screen. In the UK the film is a 15 certificate; in the US the film is R-rated! Yes, there are some breasts on show, and a few mixed- and same-sex couplings (particularly during a frenetic 5 minute period in the middle of the film!), but they are artfully done and you don’t get to see much more than the breasts. In comparison, the violence that would get meted out during a 15/R action thriller would typically makes my eyes water.
But is it any good?
This is one of those films that is worthy, beautifully done, well acted but for some reason it felt to me like a bit of a slog. At 111 minutes it certainly felt a lot longer than it was. The middle reel of the film in particular is rather pedestrian (and yes, I recognise the irony of the fact that I just said there was the frenetic 5 minutes of sex during that part!). Maybe on the night I was just not in the mood for this type of film.
The director is Englishman Wash Westmoreland, whose last film back in 2014 was the impressive “Still Alice”.
I’m glad I’ve seen it, and it is a lot better than many films I saw last year. But in terms of my “re-watchability” quotient, its not going to rate that highly.