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Awix (3310 KP) rated Personal Services (1987) in Movies

Jan 19, 2020

Personal Services (1987)

1987 | Comedy, Drama

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Not many people get a film based on their life while they're still around: prostitute and brothel madam Cynthia Payne had not one but two released in the same year (this and 'Wish You Were Here') - makes one proud to be British. A typical story of rags to riches, embellished with a vast amount of kinky sex and tawdry etablishment hypocrisy - not entirely surprisingly, the women here are the tough and clever ones, the men who come to them are awkward, fragile creatures.

One of those off-beat comedy-drama films, with a strong sense of the seedier side of life, that the UK film industry went in for quite a lot in the 1980s. This one has a strong performance from Julie Walters, but the comedy often feels strained and it can't seem to quite decide how it's going to handle the more graphic material inevitably involved - straightforwardly, or in nudge-nudge style? Tends towards the latter. Passes the time reasonably well as a slightly odd piece of entertainment; may well also be of interest as an insight into the English psyche (God help us).

Kudos

Vegas (725 KP) rated Stan & Ollie (2018) in Movies

Mar 21, 2020

Stan & Ollie (2018)

2018 | Biography, Comedy, Drama

8.0

(30 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

The portrayal of Stan and Ollie (0 more)

Not a real feel good film considering the subject. (0 more)

Great portrayal of two greats

Coogan and Reilly star as the legendary double act, both actors must has spent hours perfecting Laurel and Hardys mannerisms, speech and comic timing as their portrayal of their respective characters are spot on...

This is the story of the latter part of their career, on a tour of the UK with the possibility of a new film as a dangling carrot to perform...

The comic routines during the stage parts of the film are almost as well performed as the real thing, yet coupled with the humour, is an underlying sadness of two stars trying to regain what they once had, and it's this that stops it being a feel good film as it is quite moving and sad if you are a fan of the duo...

It is interesting to see how their relationship is strained at times yet in spite of that how much they obviously cared for each other...

I don't know if the stars won any awards for their playing of Stan & Ollie, but if they didn't, they should have...

Kudos

Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Eight Perfect Murders (Rules for Perfect Murders - UK) in Books

Feb 18, 2020

Mystery Homage

This book had such a great premise and was a lot of fun to read. Part thriller and part homage to mystery books classic through to the more obscure. It was handy to have the GoodReads page to hand to check out any books mentioned that I wasn't familiar with.

The owner, Malcolm Kershaw, of the mystery book shop "Old Devils" writes blogs for the shop's blog. The blog entry that this book relates to is the list of "Perfect Murders" where he gives examples of books with what he considers to be perfect murders in them. When an FBI agent turns up on the doorstep theorising someone is using his list as a guide, Malcolm can't help but get himself involved in the investigation.

I read this under what I presume is the UK title: "Rules for Perfect Murders" and loved all the book name drops; for an avid mystery/thriller reader it was a great kick. The ending was slightly anticlimactic for me but the story itself is a quick exciting read with plenty of nice little twists.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.