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Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Drama, War
Rather funny yet heartwarming
Being a huge Taika Waititi fan I had high expectations for this film and whilst I did enjoy it, it wasn't quite as amazing as I'd expected.

First of all, I expected this film to be a full on oddball comedy - I mean Hilter as his imaginary friend? However this film is a lot less oddball comedy and a lot more like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a heartwarming drama with a few comic moments thrown in. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely laughs in this. Mostly coming from Waititi's hilarious Hilter or from Sam Rockwell's Captain who were by far my favourite characters. And Jojo himself is a lovable protagonist and well acted by Roman Griffin Davis. The problem is that the second half of the film was way too serious and while this was heartwarming and sweet at times, it became a little heavy. When Waititi and Rockwell popped up they were a very welcome comic relief.

Despite the rather heavy serious side, this is still a very lovable and entertaining film and definitely one to watch. It's rare to find a film that would have you laughing and crying in equal parts, although I do still wish it was weighted slightly more on the comic side - it definitely needed more Waititi as Hitler!
  
    Praga Caput Regni

    Praga Caput Regni

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    Tabletop Game

    Charles IV has been crowned King of Bohemia and ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. From his castle in...

Hearts of Stone
Hearts of Stone
Simon Scarrow | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not quite what the blurb makes out
Whilst I do associate Simon Scarrow with the genre of historical fiction, these tend to be set further back in history: mainly around the time of the Roman Empire; there or thereabouts.

Until recently, I've tended to avoid his few works that are more contemporary in nature, only recently (towards the end of last year) reading Blackout as I felt they were 'too close' (if that makes sense) for comfort for me in that there are still people alive who lived through the setting.

I must admit, I did quite enjoy Blackout so thought I would also give this a go, due to the roughly the same (WW2) setting.

This novel flits back and forth between then and 'now' (of 2013), as the descendants of the main 1940s settings character start to discover more about their ancestors - in particular, as history teacher Anna uncovers the story of her maternal grandmother Eleni, who participated in the Greek resistance on the island of Lefkas during 1943.

The whole had-a-German-friend in 1939 thing almost seems incidental to the story (he's not), until roughly about the final third.

And yes, I did pick up on the arguments in favour of teaching history (a subject I did, mostly, enjoy in school) passages.