
Actress
Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2020* From the Booker-winning Irish author, a brilliant and...

Frostpunk: The Board Game
Tabletop Game
In Frostpunk: The Board Game, up to four players will take on the role of leaders of a small colony...

The Fall
Book
A philosophical novel described by fellow existentialist Sartre as 'perhaps the most beautiful and...

Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940 - 1944
Book
The real story of the Occupation uncovers a reality more complex, more human and ultimately more...

Martha Quest
Book
The opening book in the Nobel Prize for Literature winner’s ‘Children of Violence’ series...

Captivating Melody (Discord's Desire #1)
Book
Cross a satyr, a siren, and an incubus with rock and roll, and you get Discord’s Desire, a band of...
Paranormal Romance

David McK (3547 KP) rated Les Misérables (2012) in Movies
Jan 19, 2022
One of those musicals/films that, while I had head of it and did not the broad strokes of, I had never actually seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Set in post-(Napoleonic)war France, this spans about roughly 20 years or so (i think 17, to be precise) starting in 1815 when ex-con Jean Valjean (Jackman) is released from servitude, breaks parole and reinvents himself but is then endlessly hunted by his former jailor Javert (Crowe), taking it upon himself to raise the daughter of seamstress Fantine (an Oscar-winning Hathaway) - as he believes himself responsible for her demise (which he does play a large part in, as he fired her from her job) Cosette, with the final potion of the film set in the 1830s with Colette now all grown up and falling in love with revolutionary Marius (Redmayne) across the barricades.
So, yes, there's some big names in the cast, including also Helena Bonh-Carter and Dacha Baron-Cohen providing the comic relief (and, somehow, I wasn't in the least bit surprised to see her there).
I'm still waiting for that bloke Les to turn up, though.

The V Girl: A Coming Of Age Story
Book
Romance set in a dystopian future In post-apocalyptic North America two emerging nations are at...
Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Romance

The Vanishing Irish: Households, Migration, and the Rural Economy in Ireland, 1850-1914
Book
In the years between the Great Famine of the 1840s and the First World War, Ireland experienced a...

Sarah (7799 KP) rated Avengers: Endgame (2019) in Movies
Apr 25, 2019
I’m going to struggle to say too much about this film without giving away any spoilers, but what I will say is that it is a truly intense experience. It manages to seamlessly tie up some of the loose ends from previous Marvel films in a matter of a few scenes and minutes, and also move the surviving characters on effortlessly from where we last saw them in Infinity War. This film does not play out the way I expected it to (in a good way) especially during the first third, but this could’ve been because I’ve refused to read any theories beforehand. But this for me made it even more enjoyable and I think the way this played out was rather nostalgic and heartwarming in a way. I spent most of this film torn between a mixture of emotions: on the edge of my seat suspense, confusion and sheer wtf moments, and yes I even shed a tear or two. I’ve never felt so gripped and invested before in a film I’ve seen at the cinema, especially one that’s on for over three hours. My only criticism (which explains why it isn’t a 10) is that some of the characters are underused or go missing with not very satisfactory explanations, and while I appreciate that this is a big film with lots of characters, it doesn’t do as much justice to them as Infinity War did. Despite this though, it is an incredibly enjoyable film with a very emotional and satisfying ending.
And this isn’t a spoiler, but don’t bother waiting after the film. There aren’t any post credits scenes.