Smashbomb

"Christy Moore is one of my mum’s favourite artists and I listened to this so much growing up. He had a record, Live at the Point, which we would always listen to on journeys around Ireland and Irish music was the first music I experienced live. My mum was born in Dublin, we would go to Galway and go in taverns all the time and it soundtracked my childhood. “I just recently fell in love and ‘Black is the Colour’ was the song that I really liked and listening to it recently I felt like I was like inside romance. I was like, ‘Ah, I’m so in love right now’ [laughs]. I’ve been quite starved of romance for a really long time and I felt I was in it. I was ‘God, this is so romantic and this is just kind of fucking insane’. I’d forgotten the importance of it and how much I wanted it, so that’s why I put the song in here. “If you get the Live at the Point version, at the beginning he says that he’d heard this beautiful song by this guy and at the end he’s ‘gimme that song!’ He wants it and I love that, that’s so cute - that’s what this is about, it’s sharing stories. Christy Moore heard this guy sing this beautiful song and he’s ‘Come on, give it to me, I want to play that tune, I want people to feel that way’ and how beautiful is that? “I’m Irish, so folk is my origin, sharing songs, telling stories and someone else passing on that story. I’ve been really looking into folklore in the past year, that’s one of the reasons that I really wanted to go to Ireland because I was ‘I need to find a record that’s related to this, this is my culture and this is where I grew up.’ As a kid I played the tin whistle and the Bodhrán. I was winning trophies for Irish dancing, I spent my holidays there and I went around playing in fucking fields with cows. And yeah, I’ve been researching fairies and mythology, I love it so much. “There’s so much ancient, beautiful, really respected and protected traditional stuff in Ireland. The traditional aspect can be so cool, there’s so many amazing musicians that just go down to the pub and play and it’s like breathing to them. I stayed in this little hotel with eight rooms in a town called Kilkee, it was in a bay, it was so cute and there was a family playing music in the pub. There was an eight year old boy just staring off, he was playing the accordion and it was so natural - just a bored eight year old that is a fucking genius and has no idea. And then if someone sang an old traditional song a cappella, everyone in the pub would go silent. It was like a movie or something."

Source

Kudos

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Herself (2020) in Movies

Oct 6, 2020

Herself (2020)

2020 | Drama

8.7

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Clare Dunne's performance (0 more)

I was keen to see this from recommendations I'd spotted online, but I wasn't overly enthused by the description... boy am I glad that the internet has great taste in movies.

Sandra is trying to keep her life together for her two daughters after she escapes from her abusive husband. Feeling isolated, overworked and living in a terrible situation Sandra has an off the wall idea that seems like a pipe dream. With the help of those around her she makes a true home for her girls and regains pieces of herself she'd lost.

Herself has some very serious topics in it, domestic violence and childhood trauma being at the top of the list, so that's definitely something to keep in mind if you're thinking of watching it. These topics are very effectively done and those feelings jumped out and affected me in a way I really didn't expect... I cried through a significant amount of the film, so probably just as well I was sitting in my living room and not a crowded cinema.

An interesting discovery on this was that one of the writers was Clare Dunne who plays the lead role of Sandra. I don't know what the process was between her and Malcolm Campbell but that involvement undoubtedly helps Dunne relay the true intent of the script, which I felt was incredibly well written.

Dunne's performance blew me away, barely minutes into the film you realise just what you're in for, it was such a brutal switch that my jaw nearly hit the floor. At every tense moment Dunne's acting is flawless and she conveys the emotions to a T. She does it so well that you get caught up in her anxiety, I found myself waiting for the bad things she was living in fear of and it was agonising... in a good way.

Along with her performance they use footage so well to help convey the story. When Sandra has an anxiety attack they cut clips into the scene, the quick changing back and forth between memory and present day brings the unsettling familiarity of panic and brings about a deeply emotional moment in the film. It might not conjure the exact same feeling as your own personal anxiety attack but it was closer than any other films I've seen it in.

Herself is a strong reminder that the vulnerable have the power within them to overcome anything through the right support and people who care. And sadly, it also reminds us that the system is a little messed up. I'm so pleased that I got the opportunity to see this, it's a well crafted film and I can say without a doubt it's already one of the highlights of this year's LFF.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/10/herself-movie-review.html

Kudos

Lee (2222 KP) rated Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) in Movies

Aug 28, 2019 (Updated Aug 28, 2019)

Well, that was a fun surprise!

While my youngest daughter was growing up, I watched a lot of Dora the Explorer on TV. She absolutely loved the show and its characters, its catchphrases and the music all ended up becoming a permanent fixture in my brain for a few years. When news broke of a live action movie, Dora and The Lost City of Gold, accompanied by a trailer and poster, I wasn't really sure what to make of it all. My daughter on the other hand, now aged 14, basically couldn't care less. But, when a succession of fairly positive reviews started coming through, including comparisons to Spy Kids and the classic Indiana Jones movies, I managed to convince her to come with me. And it's pretty fair to say, we both had a great time!

Kicking off with a seriously fun nostalgia trip for anyone who has seen more than their fair share of Dora episodes, the movie pretty much recreates the opening credits from the TV show. The song! Dora's talking backpack and map! And cousin Diego is there too!! But, it turns out Dora and Diego aren't actually just a couple of kids driving recklessly around the jungle in a jeep - they are in fact just using their imagination, driving a homemade cardboard vehicle at the jungle home where Dora lives with her parents.

10 years later and Dora hasn't really changed that much, enthusiastically exploring the jungle and communicating with all of the animals. When her parents (played by Michael Peña and Eva Longoria) decide to venture off in search of a lost city of gold, they pack Dora off to the big city where she joins Diego at high school. But Dora and her over friendly, extrovert ways prove to be a big embarrassment for cousin Diego, who has grown up to be a fairly normal, moody teenager, leaving behind his imaginative jungle childhood.

When her parents suddenly go missing one day, Dora enlists the help of Diego and a couple of unwitting fellow students to venture with her into the jungle in order to try and find them and the lost city of gold. What follows is an extremely enjoyable jungle adventure, complete with mysteries, puzzles to solve, and even bad guys too. Isabela Moner, who featured earlier this year as a troubled teenager in the brilliant Instant Family, is perfect as Dora as she brings the older version of the character to life. Her teen co stars all bring something different to the story too, and prove to be a real fun, mixed cast.

Throw in a poo song, an animated Dora scene brought on by breathing in hallucinogenic pollen and a catchy final song and dance number and Dora and the Lost City of Gold is the summer family movie you never knew you needed in your life!

Kudos

Ludo King

Games and Entertainment

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

App

Ludo King™ is board game played between friends, family & kids. Recall your childhood! Ludo game...

Alice in the Mirrors of Albion

Games

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Meet Alice in the Mirrors of Albion, a captivating new Lewis Carroll–inspired game! Mirrors of...

Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The Last Wish in Books

Aug 3, 2020

The Last Wish

Andrzej Sapkowski | 2008 | Fiction & Poetry

8.5

(14 Ratings)

Book Rating

<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;

#0.5 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3150137897">The Last Wish</a> - ★★★★

<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Book-Review-Banner-59.png"/>;

For me, The Last Wish is the perfect introduction to start the Witcher series and meet Geralt of Rivia.

<b>Synopsis</b>

The Last Wish is the prequel to the Witcher series. In this book we are introduced to Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher - a man whose magic powers and strength training made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin.

However, Geralt is not an ordinary killer. He hunts the monsters that bring fear to people and creatures that attack the innocent.

But not everything is as seems, as some monsters are not evil, and not everything fair is good. In every fairy tale, there is a pinch of truth.

<b>My Thoughts:</b>

I loved the introduction of Geralt in this book. I have known Geralt from the video games, and then I watched the TV Show. Usually I am more attracted to the book characters rather than a movies/TV Show character, and this was no different. Even though, I have to admit that the video games and the TV Show are also extraordinary, when it comes to their characters. Geralt in this book is vivid and brave, and I was happy to follow him on the various adventures he went on.

The book is written in multiple chapters, each containing a call for a quest, and the following chapter containing the quest itself. Each quest is a completely different topic, all featuring Geralt, and many side characters joining him as we move along in the story.

Each chapter was magical on its own, and we get to meet various stories. We meet a girl that turned to a striga because of a curse. We encounter a beast hidden in a castle, a story that resembles the Beauty and the Beast. There are also stories that resemble the Snow White and Cinderella, all significantly darker and much more graphic in their retellings. I love how the author took those storylines and managed to create something much more sinister and cruel. Some of the stories also reminded me of the traditional Slavic folk tales, which brought back some nice feelings from my childhood too.

The last few chapters were the ones I enjoyed the most. Especially the moment when we get to meet Yennefer for the very first time. I cannot wait to read more about her in the books.

A truly beautiful and adventurous fantasy novel by Andrzej Sapkowski and published by Gollancz. I definitely recommend The Last Wish.