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Dave Eggers recommended Local Hero (1983) in Movies (curated)

 
Local Hero (1983)
Local Hero (1983)
1983 | Comedy, Drama
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"If I had to have one favorite movie that I’ve seen a hundred times, it’s probably that. I’m not really sure why I first liked it; I must have been fourteen or something like that when I first saw it. It’s always meant so much to me. Peter Riegert plays a maybe 40-year-old businessman who’s in the oil business and is called and sent up to the coast of Scotland to look into buying some land where they found some oil and he has to negotiate with the local village. [He] thinks it’s going to be a very tough thing to sort of uproot all these people, [and] the comedy is that they’re only too happy to sell out. They’re just trying to negotiate the price up as much as possible. It unfolds at its own pace, and he falls in love with this town and with the sea and cares less and less about the deal. He more and more wants to trade places with the local innkeeper and move to this town and stay there. A beautifully made film and I feel like there was a rash of movies right afterward that sort of tried to capture what he achieved. These people sort of coming to some little town and being transformed. It’s so touching and so funny and warm, and has so many moments of grief and elegance and delicacy. It’s got beautiful music by Mark Knopfler. That might have been the first movie that I felt that strongly about at that sort of formative time. But it’s very strange to feel like that’s the movie, you know? It doesn’t have some young protagonist. [But] from then on I was obsessed with Scotland and Ireland. Wanting desperately to go up there, and then when I did, it was very similar to that feeling. I went [on] a Bill Forsyth binge and watched all of his movies, like Gregory’s Two Girls, and Comfort and Joy, and Breaking In, even, with Burt Reynolds of all people. I wish he were still making movies."

Source
  
From the Shadows
From the Shadows
7
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
From The Shadows
I'm not an avid reader of crime thrillers as I often find them unbelievable, predictable or rediculous. This is neither. I was gripped from the beginning and found it hard to put down. Just one more chapter was my continuous mantra. Like Jane Harper's brilliant novels, as well as the character, the setting itself shines like the main character. Here the cold Highlands of Scotland paint the bleak setting for the dark crimes unfolding.
Bravely, Halliday doesn't feel the need to add romance or standard go to characters to make it work. He relies on his storytelling and strong individuals and how refreshing to see a book featuring a social worker that isn't female or a do gooder.
I'm gobsmacked this is a debut, it reads like a hardened crime writer who is a master at their trade. I can imagine this becoming an ITV drama in the future and look forward to the next installment. An absolutely cracking read for any crime or thriller fan.
  
HH
Highland Hearts
J.P. Bowie | 2016
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book takes place in Scotland which I am sure is a massive surprise considering the title! Callum has a flat in Edinburgh, but goes to the Highlands to see the house that he has inherited from the grandfather he has never met, and now never will. Upon his arrival, he meets his next door neighbour and the spark between them is instantaneous.

With a hint of the supernatural about it, just enough to give Callum a nudge, this story is well-paced and thought out. It moves smoothly, giving the characters enough time to get to know each other even if they do go to bed together the first night - because no one ever does that in real life, right?!

This book simply ticked all my boxes. With excellent characters, whether you like them or not, a back story that completes the picture, romance, steam, supernatural, sadness, hope - it's all here. I loved every word and didn't want it to finish. Absolutely recommended by me.

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!