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ClareR (6037 KP) rated We Begin at the End in Books
Apr 17, 2020
We Begin at the End is described as a crime thriller, but it’s so much more than that.
At 15 years of age, Vincent King is sent to an adult prison for the murder of Sissie Radley. He doesn’t dispute this - he was driving the car, he didn’t realise he’d hit her, but he had hit her all the same. He goes to prison for 30 years, leaving his best friend Walk, and his girl friend Star Radley, Sissie’s sister, behind. Thirty years later, he’s released and returns to his hometown and his parents house.
In the meantime, Star has had two children: Duchess and Robin. Star clearly has problems with alcohol, and Duchess often has to look after her when she’s incapable of looking after herself. She also takes care of her younger brother, Robin s a mother would.
I don’t actually want to go in to too much detail, because there’s a lot of detail to go in to! Suffice it to say, that when I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it. It’s a beautifully written, melancholy story, and I became so attached to the main characters: not just the children, but also Walk, the Sheriff, and Vincent King himself. There are so many twists and turns. Just when you think you know what’s happening, something else comes along and changes everything. And the ending broke my heart! I spent the last Pigeonhole instalment blinking away the tears so that I could read it. If this book doesn’t win awards, then something is very wrong with the world! Wonderful, wonderful writing.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and for Chris Whitaker for popping in now and again to answer questions. It has been one of my favourite Pigeonhole books.
At 15 years of age, Vincent King is sent to an adult prison for the murder of Sissie Radley. He doesn’t dispute this - he was driving the car, he didn’t realise he’d hit her, but he had hit her all the same. He goes to prison for 30 years, leaving his best friend Walk, and his girl friend Star Radley, Sissie’s sister, behind. Thirty years later, he’s released and returns to his hometown and his parents house.
In the meantime, Star has had two children: Duchess and Robin. Star clearly has problems with alcohol, and Duchess often has to look after her when she’s incapable of looking after herself. She also takes care of her younger brother, Robin s a mother would.
I don’t actually want to go in to too much detail, because there’s a lot of detail to go in to! Suffice it to say, that when I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it. It’s a beautifully written, melancholy story, and I became so attached to the main characters: not just the children, but also Walk, the Sheriff, and Vincent King himself. There are so many twists and turns. Just when you think you know what’s happening, something else comes along and changes everything. And the ending broke my heart! I spent the last Pigeonhole instalment blinking away the tears so that I could read it. If this book doesn’t win awards, then something is very wrong with the world! Wonderful, wonderful writing.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and for Chris Whitaker for popping in now and again to answer questions. It has been one of my favourite Pigeonhole books.
Hercules the Bear: A Gentle Giant in the Family: the Moving Biography of the 'Untameable' Grizzly Bear Who Became a National Hero
Book
When Scottish Ladies Show-Jumping Champion Maggie Nimmo married British Commonwealth Wrestling...
Citizen Radio
Podcast
Citizen Radio is hosted by Allison Kilkenny and Jamie Kilstein and is dedicated to covering the...
MisterMovieDude (2 KP) rated Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) in Movies
Dec 29, 2017
Jack Black (1 more)
Kevin Heart
Too long (2 more)
Bad CGI
Bad Villian
Welcome 2 Jumanji
I’ll keep this short. Jumanji 2 wasn’t needed. It was enjoyable, but not necessary. It had its moments, after they got into the game, and it was surprisingly funny, but it still wasn’t needed.
Look out for the Robin Williams tribute, it’s a blink and you’ll miss kinda thing. Just turn your brain off and enjoy it for what it is, which is more of a Nickelodeon movie than a Jumanji movie. Basically, it’s what I expected “Legends of The Hidden Temple” to be like.
All of that being said, I did enjoy it, so I’m rating it rather high. If you loved the old Jumanji, there’s enough nostalgia that you’ll love this one, but not so much that it shoves it down your throat either.
Look out for the Robin Williams tribute, it’s a blink and you’ll miss kinda thing. Just turn your brain off and enjoy it for what it is, which is more of a Nickelodeon movie than a Jumanji movie. Basically, it’s what I expected “Legends of The Hidden Temple” to be like.
All of that being said, I did enjoy it, so I’m rating it rather high. If you loved the old Jumanji, there’s enough nostalgia that you’ll love this one, but not so much that it shoves it down your throat either.
SummerLGrant (185 KP) rated Top of the Lake - Season 1 in TV
Aug 1, 2017
Build up of the story (3 more)
Setting
Elizabeth Moss
Brilliant support cast
A slow burner
A fantastic but disturbing story about a small town in New Zealand, following Robin Griffin as she returns home to visit her ill mother but is pulled onto a case when a 12-year-old girl is found (alive) in a lake. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout and there's an intensity that's slowly bubbling away.
At times it does get a bit slow and at the beginning it can be hard to get into, but the brilliant cast of actors - led by the absolutely fantastic Elizabeth Moss - keep it going and turn it into something brilliant. Some of the characters are disturbing but believable and it winds up to an eventful finale.
At times it does get a bit slow and at the beginning it can be hard to get into, but the brilliant cast of actors - led by the absolutely fantastic Elizabeth Moss - keep it going and turn it into something brilliant. Some of the characters are disturbing but believable and it winds up to an eventful finale.
Awix (3310 KP) rated X-Men (2000) in Movies
Feb 28, 2018
Landmark Marvel adaptation isn't quite the movie you might expect, but still competently assembled. Main plus is that it's extremely well-cast, with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen giving it some heft and Hugh Jackman and Anna Paquin a bit of glamour. Main minus is that the film was saddled with only a modest budget (Fox had recently taken a bath on Fight Club, amongst others).
Following the Batman and Robin debacle the received wisdom at the time was that comic book movies shouldn't be all that comic booky and this certainly follows that principle. Ultra-purists may also object to the way Cyclops is sidelined as hero in favour of Wolverine (but that's what the fans wanted). But, on the whole, very solidly written and performed, decent effects, takes the characters and the story seriously. From such acorns do mighty franchises sprout...
Following the Batman and Robin debacle the received wisdom at the time was that comic book movies shouldn't be all that comic booky and this certainly follows that principle. Ultra-purists may also object to the way Cyclops is sidelined as hero in favour of Wolverine (but that's what the fans wanted). But, on the whole, very solidly written and performed, decent effects, takes the characters and the story seriously. From such acorns do mighty franchises sprout...
Andrew Kennedy (199 KP) rated Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) in Movies
Jul 17, 2019
I love the Python team it's a throw up which is best this or Life of Brian.
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is given a quest from God to retrieve the Holy Grail. Hilarity and irrelevance abound follow.
Wether it's Palin's Sir Galahad and his trip to castle Anthrax, Idles Sir Robin bravely running away or Cleese as Sir Lancelot slaughtering half a wedding in a rescue attempt.
Scenes like The Black Knight, The knights who say NI, Tim the Enchanter and the amazing Scene 24 have all become ingrained into fans minds.
Even the opening credits are source of humour plus typical little Python-esque animations.
The ending is crazy but it only befits the film that has come before it. You never would have thought there was so much to learn about Swallows, African or European.
King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is given a quest from God to retrieve the Holy Grail. Hilarity and irrelevance abound follow.
Wether it's Palin's Sir Galahad and his trip to castle Anthrax, Idles Sir Robin bravely running away or Cleese as Sir Lancelot slaughtering half a wedding in a rescue attempt.
Scenes like The Black Knight, The knights who say NI, Tim the Enchanter and the amazing Scene 24 have all become ingrained into fans minds.
Even the opening credits are source of humour plus typical little Python-esque animations.
The ending is crazy but it only befits the film that has come before it. You never would have thought there was so much to learn about Swallows, African or European.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Mar 5, 2020)
Let’s be straight: Mrs Doubtfire has faults. It is sentimental, uneven and at times a bit dull, actually. That said, there is one thing that lifts it, and that is, of course, Robin Williams. He exudes personality, and it could be argued this was the peak of his comedy improv powers, as far as his film career was concerned. It is no Tootsie, which it naturally owes a huge deal to, but it does have immense charm all of it’s own, thanks to the key scenes of William’s empathy and caring, that you just can’t fake. So satisfying as both a comedy and a family film that forces us to think about the lighter side of a break-up, where the children are the most important thing. Lots of feels, tons of interesting comment on roles within gender.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Court Jester (1956) in Movies
Apr 20, 2020
Lavish musical-comedy spoof. Humble carnival entertainer Hubert Hawkins (Kaye) infiltrates the court of evil king Roderick as his new jester, in an attempt to get the rightful heir back on the throne, little suspecting that the man he's impersonating is the deadliest assassin in Europe.
Feels very dated now, and it's spoofing a genre of films which is even more old-fashioned (e.g. the 1938 Errol Flynn Robin Hood). How you feel about Danny Kaye's clowning, cross-talk routines and patter songs will also affect your response to this movie. Still, you have to admire Kaye's sheer dexterity as a performer, and there is still a touch of genius about routines like the chalice from the palace and the flagon with the dragon. He's well-supported too. Technicolour vaudeville in the end, but still very funny in places.
Feels very dated now, and it's spoofing a genre of films which is even more old-fashioned (e.g. the 1938 Errol Flynn Robin Hood). How you feel about Danny Kaye's clowning, cross-talk routines and patter songs will also affect your response to this movie. Still, you have to admire Kaye's sheer dexterity as a performer, and there is still a touch of genius about routines like the chalice from the palace and the flagon with the dragon. He's well-supported too. Technicolour vaudeville in the end, but still very funny in places.