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Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
1994 | Comedy, Drama, Romance
It's easy to forget what an unstoppable cultural juggernaut Four Weddings was for most of the summer of 1994: cinemas sold out for weeks on end (it was still playing in a few screens when it came out on VHS), careers were launched by it, sales of Auden soared, and the theme tune was number one for about three months. And watching it again it can be difficult to see just why it was such a smash: bits of it feel very dated, it sort of offers a tourist's eye view of England as inhabited largely by rich posh people, and Andie McDowell is a bit teaky in a crucial role.

However, this is to overlook how dire most British comedy films of the early 90s were and how fresh and funny this felt. The jokes here are frequent and good, but the characters are not cartoons and when the film skirts darker moments it does so with sincerity. It is neatly written and very well performed; the people who became stars off the back of this movie generally deserved it. Very watchable and entertaining even a quarter-century on.
  
Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders
Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders
Tessa Arlen | 2019 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strangler in the Village
Poppy Redfern is the new air-raid warden for her village in England in 1942. This has become an important job since an American Air Force base as recently moved into the area. Some of the young women have started dating Americans, but when two of them turn up dead, it sets up a divide in the village. Even though an American has been arrested for the murders, Poppy doesn’t think he is guilty. She sets out with one of the American pilots to figure out what really happened. But has she just made herself a target?

I’ve been trying to read more historical mysteries this year, and this one was already sitting on my shelf. The author clearly did her research as the details of life at the time came to life. Unfortunately, they tended to overshadow the plot, so the pacing was uneven. Poppy was an interesting main character, and I can easily see her growing as the series continues, but much of the rest of the cast never really came alive for me. While the book wasn’t bad, it wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be.