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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Blithe Spirit (2020) in Movies

Mar 31, 2021 (Updated Mar 31, 2021)  
Blithe Spirit (2020)
Blithe Spirit (2020)
2020 | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Dan Stevens is charming. (0 more)
The women act like shrews. (6 more)
Cheap jokes.
Lack of class and style.
Poor character development.
No depth to the characters at all.
Unsophisticated.
Would have been funnier without the sex jokes.
No! No! No! This is not the way Noel Coward is meant to be seen. Avoid this!
Contains spoilers, click to show
I am a HUGE fan of Noel Coward and absolutely adore the original Blithe Spirit. I had high hopes for this version as I like all of the actors involved in the movie. Unfortunately, it was a complete disappointment. Judi Dench's Madame Arcati paled in the memory of Margaret Rutherford, though much of the dialogue and actions during the seance scene were the same. She tried her best but the script just wasn't any good. I did appreciate the backstory of her losing her husband in the Boer War and that being the reason she was interested in the occult. The significance of the song Always was not mentioned, though it was very important to the plot in the original and made the movie relatable. Gone was the ethereal, sweet, mischievous little minx Elvira, played by Kay Hammond in the original. Enter the selfish, unlovable shrew of a first wife, played by the usually lovable Leslie Mann in the remake. The relationship between Charles and Elvira does not make any sense to the viewer and there was no point for them to have been together or for her to have thought of her and to bring her forth in the present. This is a missed plot point. In the original, it is actually the maid who was thinking of Elvira, not Charles, but the maid is merely a go-between for props in this movie and has no reason for being there, nor the chef. The relationship between Ruth and Charles is also not a good one and they have no reason to be together in this remake, though in the original, they at least have a few things in common. They seem to have nothing but derision toward each other. Again, I don't see the point of them being together. All of them are miserable together. Even when Elvira and Charles are intimate, it is not for romance and love but for mere hatred, jealousy, and spite. There is even a cheap crotch shot joke that I was appalled to see in this work. And the ending of the movie makes little sense. It's hardly the charming farce Noel Coward intended. Oh, the horrors. Skip this version. Watch the original. Trust me on this. This movie is not the way Noel Coward is meant to be seen.
  
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated Tubing in Books

Sep 24, 2020  
Tubing
Tubing
K A McKeagney | 2018 | Erotica, Thriller
8
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well this book definitely brought more than I was expecting. It crept under my skin pretty bad, I will be looking around the carriage every time I’m on the tube.

The main character in this novel was Polly. She has a great job and perfect boyfriend, but she gets obsessed with the stranger, who had sex with her on the tube in front of everyone. She liked it so much that she is ready to risk everything for Tubing. And what really got me, why would you lose everything because of a shag? I really did not like Polly’s character. I did not like the way she thought about everything: her career, her boyfriend, her friends. I was sad and angry of how she was slowly destroying her life and didn’t care a bit about it. 😦 If I would’ve been Oliver, she would’ve been on the street a long time ago.

The narrative was told from single, Polly’s perspective and I think the idea is incredibly original. I really loved the topics which author was discussing in this book, such as family relationships and postnatal depression, as well as eating disorders. I found them really interesting to read about. I picked this book because of the title. I wanted to see, how much information there is going to be about the tube, and how well the research has been done. I do have to agree that I did learn some new things from this novel, however, there was quite a bit of the information about the tube which was not very accurate. (Just trust me on this 😉 ) I think author’s life and work experience was utilized very well, she lived in London and has a great knowledge of how the newspaper publishing works, and I really enjoyed reading about it.

The writing style was really pleasant to read with decent length chapters, which didn’t drag for me at all. I found this book quite easy to read, and the chapters just flew by, I really got engrossed in the story. I would like to throw in a disclaimer that there is plenty of sex scenes in this novel so, I wouldn’t recommend it for very young readers. The ending of this book was well deserved but didn’t leave me fully satisfied. It left my questions unanswered and I wanted to know more about what happened to Polly after everything. So, to conclude, even though I was very angry on Polly and other characters most of the time, I really enjoyed the plot and all the events which Polly had to endure. I think it is really amusing to read and would recommend to give it a go and indulge yourself into the disturbing world of Tubing, just PLEASE DO NOT TRY IT IN REAL LIFE! 😀
  
Dinner At The Happy Skeleton
Dinner At The Happy Skeleton
Chris Chalmers | 2017 | LGBTQ+
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
For more reviews please visit https://bbookinspector.wordpress.com

When I was approached by the author, I was a little bit unsure, how I am going to react to this book. Before this book, I haven’t read other books about gay guys, but because I like to read different types of books (you will not know whether you like it until you try it), I decided to give this book a go, and I had very educational experience with this novel.

The blurb above described this novel very very accurately. The main character in this novel is Dan, and the whole book was told from Dan’s perspective. I really liked Dan’s personality in this book, I think he is very believable, funny, nice person, and I would like to have a friend like Dan.

The whole narrative of this book felt a lot like a diary. I really enjoyed reading not only Dan’s present life events but also, his memories about his ex-boyfriend, who brought Dan a lot of trust issues. As a person, who knows very little about gay people’s lives, I found this book very educational. I learned about gay guys lifestyle, and it was very interesting to have an insight into how they feel. This book for me felt a lot like reading a Chick lit book, but instead of a girl telling a story, it was a guy. (I hope you get what I mean…) The whole story is flowing very evenly, and I was missing the depth in this book, some deep conflict, which Dan could battle. The whole plot of this book has very close resemblance with author’s bio down below, so I strongly believe, that there are some true facts and stories which author shared in this novel, and it just increased my curiosity, of which parts are true, and which ones are fictional.

The writing style of this book is really pleasant and I really enjoyed how Chris Chalmers portrayed all the little details about London, Dan’s personal feelings and interesting experiences. The chapters used in this novel are pretty short, so it was easy to read and it didn’t leave me bored. I would like to throw in a DISCLAIMER, that there is quite a lot of sex scenes/ talks in this book. The ending of this novel left me satisfied, as it is well deserved and rounds up this book really nicely. So, to conclude, it was a very interesting experience for me, where I got to feed my curiosity, and read some pretty interesting stories, which could’ve been based on true facts, and I do recommend to give it a try, you never know, you might enjoy it. 🙂
Was given this book by the author for an honest review.
  
Blood Father (2016)
Blood Father (2016)
2016 | Action, Mystery
7
7.3 (11 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Blood Father starts as John Link (Gibson) who has recovered from his own substance abuse problems to be a tattooist while being parole. He has been searching for his daughter for years but when Lydia (Moriarty) calls him in need of help he races to her aid.

Link finds out that Lydia is in over her head which leads him into going on the run breaking his parole to protect her and locate the people who are trying to kill his daughter, using old connections along the way.

 

Thoughts on Blood Father

 

Characters – John Link is a former alcoholic convict, he has cleaned himself up but when his daughter finds herself in trouble he must go back into the routes that left him in prison, he must go after the men trying to kill his daughter, while stopping himself going off the bandwagon. Lydia is the teenager daughter runaway, she finds herself in too deep with the drug cartels but now she needs to trust her father to keep her safe. Jonah is the boyfriend of Lydia that she believes she killed cause the effects of the film. Preacher is one of the people Link turns to for help while Kirby is his support while trying to stay off the drinks.

Performances – Mel Gibson might have had troubled times recently but he shows us here the talent he holds to lead a movie in the action genre. Erin Moriarty is good in this film too because she shows us a street wise character beyond her years. Diego Luna is solid as the villain but we just don’t get enough from his character. This is a problem through the film, we don’t give the support characters enough time.

Story – The story is good, as it follows a distant father daughter relationship needing to rebuild after she finds herself in trouble with the law. This works for the story because we know how the aging hero is the new thing now, as an actor that can easily be the new one that saves his child and this gives us everything we want, we have moments of comedy as the two come from difference backgrounds but overall this is everything you would expect it to be

Action/Crime – The action is fire fights between Link and anyone that gets in his way, this does work well as the crime side of the story takes us into.

Settings – The settings show us the underworld that works for the hiding from potential trouble using no iconic landmarks which makes this fully believable.


Scene of the Movie – Showdown

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t learn enough about the villains.

Final Thoughts – This is a good action film that is enjoyable, short sweet and gives you everything you want.

 

Overall: Action film 101.
  
VOLUME 1 by Tash
VOLUME 1 by Tash
2019 | Soul
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
Tash is a talented singer-songwriter and gifted musician from Australia. Not too long ago, she released a music video for her lovely single, entitled, “The Signs”.

“I wrote ‘The Signs’ in a similar headspace to the way I wrote ‘DREAMING’. It’s about feeling suspicious that omens exist and that maybe I’d done something to deserve my own misfortune. I don’t actually believe in any of that stuff, but at the time I’d probably had a weird week and started wondering if opening umbrellas indoors is the cause of it.” – Tash

The audiovisual, equipped with a classic ‘80s flare, opt for sprinkles of VHS frames and subtle animation.

Also, the music video follows a relaxed Tash as she travels sonically through the bustling city at nighttime.

‘The Signs’ is featured on Tash’s latest EP, entitled, “VOLUME 1”. The likable 5-track project contains her previously released tune, entitled, “What a Lovely Mess”.

“Tash is such a prolific songwriter and we feel that anyone who listens to the EP is going to have a very special listening experience” – producer of the EP, Mark J Feist (Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Little Mix)

Tash was discovered by multi-platinum record producer and songwriter Mark J. Feist on Instagram.
She started by posting acoustic covers of popular songs and has since reached over 800K impressions a week.

Tash has quickly established herself as one of this year’s most exciting artists to watch.

She was born into a musical family to a guitar-teaching mother and bass-playing father.

At such a young age, she has sold out numerous shows including performances at Soho House NYC, Sayers Club Los Angeles, Peppermint Club, and Hotel Cafe.

So far, her music has amassed over 80M streams and garnered over 12M views online across various social media platforms.

“I’m questioning the way it works what did I do to deserve this change of rhythm so bitter, I’m getting butthurt about almost everything, it’s unsettling. Focus on better things. Stop, stop hiding in your euphemisms, believing your superstition, following your intuition ain’t always so good for you. I know if you bring bad, the bad will come to you. That doesn’t mean that all the black cat bullsh*t is actually true, nah. Don’t need my fortune told to tell me I’ve got unrequited love. I’ve got issues with my trust. I’ve got a conscience. That’s enough for me to think that’s enough for me.” – lyrics, “The Signs”

Tash is the first artist to ever perform on the roof at the Facebook Campus.

Her songs have been added to over 20+ Spotify, Amazon, and Apple playlists.

Also, she was placed on the Apple Music homepage in the USA as well as featured in their Swipe Up viral campaign.