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Nature's Great Migrations

Marianne Taylor

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Book

This beautifully illustrated book on the world s most impressive and spectacularmovements of...

ClareR (5885 KP) rated The Moscow Whisper in Books

Jun 12, 2020

The Moscow Whisper

Michael Jenkins | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

This is another non-stop action spy thriller from Michael Jenkins, and this time his hero, Sean Richardson, is on a mission to infiltrate a group of Russian mercenaries who are trying to take over a nation state in Africa.

What surprises me more than anything, is how much I enjoy these books. I don’t like spy books. I failed miserably to read and enjoy the only James Bond book I picked up. But when I saw this pop up on the options of books to read on The Pigeonhole app, I jumped at the opportunity to sign up. I’ve enjoyed all three of these books in the series. They’re really engaging, well explained for those of us who don’t understand the inner workings of British Intelligence or military, and the characters are highly likeable (or detestable, depending on who they are!).

It’s simply a great read, whether you like spy novels, or if you’ve never tried one. This whole series is so good, and I’m already looking forward to the next one!

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) in Movies

May 10, 2020

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

1999 | Action, Drama, Mystery

6.7

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Romantic thriller remake. A daring robbery from a New York museum leads the police and an insurance investigator to suspect insanely wealthy and clever tycoon Thomas Crown, but can the investigator keep her mind on the job when the sparks start a-fizzing between her and the suspect?

The world is made up of people who prefer the Steve McQueen version and those who like this one (and I suppose there are conceivably a few folk who've seen neither): I am in the Brosnan camp, although this film does kind of miss the point that Crown only steals for the fun of it in the original (Brosnan's character clearly appreciates art). Much more of a romantic drama than an actual thriller, but well played and engaging, and the set pieces, when they eventually come, are clever and well-staged. As a chance for Brosnan (then at the apogee of his Bond success) to show his range, it's a qualified success (Crown is another suave, high-living thrill seeker with possible commitment issues), but as a piece of entertainment it does the job.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated What Have I Done to Deserve This?! (¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?) (1984) in Movies

Apr 14, 2020 (Updated Apr 14, 2020)

Almodovar claims his fourth film is a homage to Italian neorealism, but as the wildly silly plot involves teenage drug dealers, the Madrid kendo club, a plot to forge Hitler's diaries, a blood-stained lizard and a telekinetic schoolgirl we'll have to take his word for that. Every bit as camp and provocative as it sounds, if not moreso; possibly trying a bit too hard to be shocking in places (some jokes about a character who's a paedophile orthodontist feel very misjudged these days), but for the most part engaging and very funny.

You'd expect this would all be much too ridiculous to take seriously, but even this early in his career Almodovar is able to find the reality in his characters and make you care about them. Carmen Maura is at the centre of the film and does a terrific job of giving it all some unexpected emotional heft. In the end it's still an absurd black comedy, but one with some warmth and compassion to it. A very entertaining movie.