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ClareR (5686 KP) rated Your House Will Pay in Books

Oct 29, 2019

Your House Will Pay

Steph Cha | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Your House Will Pay is about racial tensions in LA, and it follows two families - one Korean-American, the other African-American - and the shooting of a black girl in the 1990’s. Shaun Matthews sister, Ava, was that teenaged girl, and the killing of another black teenager and the subsequent rallies and demonstrations bring back bad memories of that time. His family is trying hard to keep on the straight and narrow, especially after his cousin Ray is released from prison.

Grace Parks is a pharmacist in a Korean pharmacy and lives with her parents. She has a strained relationship with her sister who left home and refused to speak to her mother thereafter. She won’t, however, tell Grace why she won’t talk to their mother.

When a terrible crime happens, Grace is confronted with another crime that happened 30 years before, and the Parks family are forced to face the Matthews family.

I really loved this book - the build up and the slow reveal was really well done, I thought. It looked at a part of American life that I, as a white British female, would have little personal knowledge of - other than what I’ve read. It was so thought provoking. This isn’t an escapist read, and I could feel the tension coming off the page, but it was a page turner that I didn’t want to put down. I read this on The Pigeonhole, so due to the fact that they released a stave a day for 10 days, I HAD to wait 24 hours for each instalment!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for choosing such a great book for us to read!

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated Paddington 2 (2017) in Movies

Jul 8, 2019

Paddington 2 (2017)

2017 | Animation, Comedy, Family

8.2

(39 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The loveable marmalade sandwich loving bear is back. This time, Paddington
has found a home with the Brown family, and spends his days with new found
friends throughout London. Eager to find the “perfect gift” for his Aunt
Lucy’s 100th birthday, Paddington takes on several odd jobs in hopes of
purchasing a pop-up book of London that is for sale at an antique shop.
Little does Paddington know, this pop-up book carries the clues to a
treasure chest.

Narcissistic, has been actor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant)
learns that said pop-up in fact does exist, he puts his acting skills to
use and transforms himself into various characters to steal it. Witness to
the burglary, Paddington pursues the thief, but ends up being blamed for
the crime and gets put in prison. The Brown family, along with all of
Paddington’s closest friends try to clear Paddington’s name by uncovering
all the clues to get the book back before Buchanan locates the treasure.

It’s safe to say a sequel was expected after a successful first run. This
film definitely follows the template of the first, with the same amount of
exuberance, curiosity, and laughter.

You can’t help but fall in love with
Paddington. I must admit, Hugh Grant stole the show. His villainous
attempt at portraying 12 different characters was phenomenal. You can tell
he was having a fun time with his characters. A delightful, sweet movie
the whole family will enjoy that mainly focuses on the importance of being
kind and with kindness friends and help are always there. Nice guys always
finish first!

Kudos

JT (287 KP) rated Ca$h (2010) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Ca$h (2010)

2010 | Mystery

2.0

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

A contender for one of the worst thrillers ever, this is nothing more than a total disaster. And that is being generous!

Director Stephen Milburn Anderson’s last outing was with Dead Men Can’t Dance back in 1997, and after such a long break you wonder why he stepped back behind the camera. The film’s central plot has been graced in Hollywood one way or another, at least in a different guise.

A bag of money from a robbery falls in the lap of Sam (Chris Hemsworth) and Leslie Phelan (Victoria Profeta) and so beings the moral dilemma. It doesn’t take long for the couple to blow and hide most of the money.

Sean Bean complete with trademark Sheffield accent steps in as Pyke Kubic tasked with recovering the half million dollar loot to split between himself and his brother who is in prison (also played by Bean).

For most you’d expect a game of cat and mouse, gripping edge of seat stuff. Forget that, what you are handed is a rather boring plot of Bean meticulously accounting for all the missing cash and spending time with the couple inside their home as some sort of unwanted house guest.

There is no need for violence here, he’s polite and calm but at the same time attempts to be chilling even insulting the couple for their lack of meat in home cooking. Christ, he even goes out to buy them food for their fridge!

It really is embarrassing to watch and sad, as put in the right hands this could have been a real sleeper hit. Two simple words, “don’t bother”!