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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Tomorrow (2019) in Movies
Nov 7, 2019
The film had me at "brief strong sex" on the title card.
Tesla, a war veteran, struggles day to day being in the real world again. His loses weigh heavily on him and he hits rock bottom. A chance encounter with the over-friendly Sky leads him to new friends and new opportunities. Will he be able to see past his inner demons long enough to make a go of everything?
Firstly, someone at BBFC is leading a very sheltered life... moving on.
I had concerns going into this, Tomorrow was written by Stuart Brennan and Sebastian Street, if you're wondering why one of those sounds familiar it's because Stuart Brennan wrote Wolf (and directed, and produced and starred), I gave that 1.5 stars and I was one of the more generous viewers. You'll also spot the name Sebastian Street as he's playing the lead role of Tesla to Brennan's Sky.
I actually thought that Brennan did a great job as Sky. His storyline progressed at a much tougher rate than any of the other characters and his handling of it was surprisingly good.
Sebastian Street was in no way convincing. Tesla had an important point to make about disability and veterans but it felt more like he was acting in a bad soap opera than a film.
Unfortunately the downsides don't stop there, neither Stephanie Leonidas nor Sophie Kennedy Clark gave convincing portrayals, though I'm inclined to think that is more to do with the script. Tesla's love interest Katie, played by Leonidas, was a particularly hateful woman at times. I'm sure they were attempting to bring her on a learning curve about Tesla and his PTSD but there are moments that are entirely unbelievable. No one would be as oblivious as she was and I was genuinely annoyed by the fact he didn't tell her to take a hike then and there.
You'll also see on the cast list we have Stephen Fry, James Cosmo and Paul Kaye... I know! Cosmo gives a good performance but both Fry as Chris and Kaye as Milo felt like a let down. Neither character was well written and the tone really didn't fit the scenarios they were in. I have no idea why they went for the parts, I'm assuming bills.
While I felt there were a lot of issues with the film, many more than I listed, I was able to identify with part of the film and actually felt like they treated the subject with more respect than everything else was afforded. Because of that fact I'm giving Tomorrow a 2 star score, it deserves more than Wolf but I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. It's currently sitting at a 7 on IMDb which seems rather suspicious to me, the 29% on RT seems like a more accurate rating for this film.
What you should do
While I found something in this to latch onto there's not a lot to gain from seeing this.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I've always wanted my own restaurant, so I'd have to go with that or Sky's adorable dog.
Tesla, a war veteran, struggles day to day being in the real world again. His loses weigh heavily on him and he hits rock bottom. A chance encounter with the over-friendly Sky leads him to new friends and new opportunities. Will he be able to see past his inner demons long enough to make a go of everything?
Firstly, someone at BBFC is leading a very sheltered life... moving on.
I had concerns going into this, Tomorrow was written by Stuart Brennan and Sebastian Street, if you're wondering why one of those sounds familiar it's because Stuart Brennan wrote Wolf (and directed, and produced and starred), I gave that 1.5 stars and I was one of the more generous viewers. You'll also spot the name Sebastian Street as he's playing the lead role of Tesla to Brennan's Sky.
I actually thought that Brennan did a great job as Sky. His storyline progressed at a much tougher rate than any of the other characters and his handling of it was surprisingly good.
Sebastian Street was in no way convincing. Tesla had an important point to make about disability and veterans but it felt more like he was acting in a bad soap opera than a film.
Unfortunately the downsides don't stop there, neither Stephanie Leonidas nor Sophie Kennedy Clark gave convincing portrayals, though I'm inclined to think that is more to do with the script. Tesla's love interest Katie, played by Leonidas, was a particularly hateful woman at times. I'm sure they were attempting to bring her on a learning curve about Tesla and his PTSD but there are moments that are entirely unbelievable. No one would be as oblivious as she was and I was genuinely annoyed by the fact he didn't tell her to take a hike then and there.
You'll also see on the cast list we have Stephen Fry, James Cosmo and Paul Kaye... I know! Cosmo gives a good performance but both Fry as Chris and Kaye as Milo felt like a let down. Neither character was well written and the tone really didn't fit the scenarios they were in. I have no idea why they went for the parts, I'm assuming bills.
While I felt there were a lot of issues with the film, many more than I listed, I was able to identify with part of the film and actually felt like they treated the subject with more respect than everything else was afforded. Because of that fact I'm giving Tomorrow a 2 star score, it deserves more than Wolf but I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. It's currently sitting at a 7 on IMDb which seems rather suspicious to me, the 29% on RT seems like a more accurate rating for this film.
What you should do
While I found something in this to latch onto there's not a lot to gain from seeing this.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I've always wanted my own restaurant, so I'd have to go with that or Sky's adorable dog.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Everything to Nothing in Books
Nov 13, 2019
Everything to Nothing follows the story of three young women and the paths their lives take after one fateful night when they each end up with a man. The repercussions of the events lead by turns to each of them losing everything they had, even if they had nothing or everything to start with.
Sarah is at college and struggling to cope with an absent father and an alcoholic mother. She escapes from this life by clubbing and sex until the night in question when she is introduced to the highs available from hard drugs.
Michelle is at college with Sarah and they sometimes meet out clubbing. Michelle is looking for a man who likes her for who she is rather than what she looks like. Could Simon be that man?
Sally is Michelle's best friend. She is also the daughter of a billionaire businessman and lives a life full of servants, fast cars and designer clothes. She has it all except a man who is not interested in her because of her money.
This story is a real rollercoaster of a book. It did take a while to get going and introduce the characters, taking it time to fill in their personalities and circumstances but this is time well spent for later. Of the three Michelle is necessarily less well developed since there is no specific hook to her storyline beyond her association with both of the others. All the characters are well drawn with a sense of realism, even for Sally who lives a lifestyle entirely outside of the experience of 99.99% of the population. They have their flaws but this a real strength and the various dalliances and romances are painted very well and are not in any way forced.
The emotions the story evokes run the whole gamut. Laugh out loud humour at the antics of David's gran; wanting to shake Sarah out of her clearly stupid and self destructive decisions, down to the very harrowing end of the book.
And that ending is the most powerful part of the book and will stay with you for a long time. This is not a morality tale where bad things only happen to bad people and the good guys ride off into the sunset. Bad things can happen to good people and often for little or no reason and the complete deconstruction of the worlds around the three women in final act, although requiring some suspension of belief at some of the coincidences and circumstances, is shocking. And then becomes even more shocking with every page. You have been warned!
The book is not perfect; it is a little slow at times and the 'flashback' sections when the characters are introduced I felt could have been covered with a couple of paragraphs rather than pages of close description of the events as they happened. And occasionally the prose is a little clumsy when trying to express some fine or complex point about a character. But overall this is definitely worth a read. But only if you don't like happy endings.
Note: This book is rated Adult due to frequent and detailed descriptions of sexual acts and drug use
Sarah is at college and struggling to cope with an absent father and an alcoholic mother. She escapes from this life by clubbing and sex until the night in question when she is introduced to the highs available from hard drugs.
Michelle is at college with Sarah and they sometimes meet out clubbing. Michelle is looking for a man who likes her for who she is rather than what she looks like. Could Simon be that man?
Sally is Michelle's best friend. She is also the daughter of a billionaire businessman and lives a life full of servants, fast cars and designer clothes. She has it all except a man who is not interested in her because of her money.
This story is a real rollercoaster of a book. It did take a while to get going and introduce the characters, taking it time to fill in their personalities and circumstances but this is time well spent for later. Of the three Michelle is necessarily less well developed since there is no specific hook to her storyline beyond her association with both of the others. All the characters are well drawn with a sense of realism, even for Sally who lives a lifestyle entirely outside of the experience of 99.99% of the population. They have their flaws but this a real strength and the various dalliances and romances are painted very well and are not in any way forced.
The emotions the story evokes run the whole gamut. Laugh out loud humour at the antics of David's gran; wanting to shake Sarah out of her clearly stupid and self destructive decisions, down to the very harrowing end of the book.
And that ending is the most powerful part of the book and will stay with you for a long time. This is not a morality tale where bad things only happen to bad people and the good guys ride off into the sunset. Bad things can happen to good people and often for little or no reason and the complete deconstruction of the worlds around the three women in final act, although requiring some suspension of belief at some of the coincidences and circumstances, is shocking. And then becomes even more shocking with every page. You have been warned!
The book is not perfect; it is a little slow at times and the 'flashback' sections when the characters are introduced I felt could have been covered with a couple of paragraphs rather than pages of close description of the events as they happened. And occasionally the prose is a little clumsy when trying to express some fine or complex point about a character. But overall this is definitely worth a read. But only if you don't like happy endings.
Note: This book is rated Adult due to frequent and detailed descriptions of sexual acts and drug use
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) in Books
Nov 14, 2019
It seems to have been a long wait since Red Country for another book from Lord Grimdark himself, Joe Abercrombie. Not only is this the first book in a new sequence, but it is also labelled as Young Adult. I have to say I had my reservations about that since I wondered how the author of the very grim and very dark First Law books would be able to make a book suitable for young adults... it would be like Quentin Tarantino making a Disney film...
I needn't have worried. It seems all Abercrombie has done is create his usual cast of dark, mysterious, vengeful and misfit characters, set them on a bloody quest during which they can philosophise, complain and make pithy remarks to each other while hacking their enemies into pieces. It seems the only nods to being a 'Young Adult' book is that there is no sex and maybe some of the gore has been turned down a notch. The writing, the plot or the characters don't suffer from this at all.
The plot concerns Yarvi, youngest son of the king in a land where strength and ability in battle is everything. However Yarvi was born with a deformed hand and he is an embarrassment to his father and fated to join the ministry - which normally only women do - to become and adviser to a king rather than a king himself.
However destiny strikes a cruel blow when his father and older brother are both killed. Yarvi is now the king - unprepared as he is and as unpopular as he is with his subjects. He is soon betrayed and sets out on a quest for revenge.
This is pure Abercrombie from start to finish. Yarvi's journey takes him from being a king to being the lowest of the low - if not lower. He might lack the strength or ability to fight but he has wisdom, knowledge, cunning and a thirst for revenge to make up for that. From a lonely and unhappy child he becomes a leader of men - and women - and has to fight for survival across a continent to get home to take his rightful place at the throne.
The book is perhaps a little slow to start - until Yarvi is betrayed - but it is essential that this time is taken to lay the groundwork for what follows. Once it gets going the book races along with barely a stop for breath as events carry the young hero along, sometimes with some control of the situation but often just as much a bystander as the reader. There are characters aplenty - some plain mean and nasty, some friendly and amusing, some mean and nasty and amusing. As would be expected from Abercrombie nobody falls into a neat pigeonhole or trope. When deaths among Yarvi's comrades occur they are touchingly written - but with the senseless random nature of war and death writ large across their last words.
Definitely a great read, hope it will not be so long before the next in the series.
I needn't have worried. It seems all Abercrombie has done is create his usual cast of dark, mysterious, vengeful and misfit characters, set them on a bloody quest during which they can philosophise, complain and make pithy remarks to each other while hacking their enemies into pieces. It seems the only nods to being a 'Young Adult' book is that there is no sex and maybe some of the gore has been turned down a notch. The writing, the plot or the characters don't suffer from this at all.
The plot concerns Yarvi, youngest son of the king in a land where strength and ability in battle is everything. However Yarvi was born with a deformed hand and he is an embarrassment to his father and fated to join the ministry - which normally only women do - to become and adviser to a king rather than a king himself.
However destiny strikes a cruel blow when his father and older brother are both killed. Yarvi is now the king - unprepared as he is and as unpopular as he is with his subjects. He is soon betrayed and sets out on a quest for revenge.
This is pure Abercrombie from start to finish. Yarvi's journey takes him from being a king to being the lowest of the low - if not lower. He might lack the strength or ability to fight but he has wisdom, knowledge, cunning and a thirst for revenge to make up for that. From a lonely and unhappy child he becomes a leader of men - and women - and has to fight for survival across a continent to get home to take his rightful place at the throne.
The book is perhaps a little slow to start - until Yarvi is betrayed - but it is essential that this time is taken to lay the groundwork for what follows. Once it gets going the book races along with barely a stop for breath as events carry the young hero along, sometimes with some control of the situation but often just as much a bystander as the reader. There are characters aplenty - some plain mean and nasty, some friendly and amusing, some mean and nasty and amusing. As would be expected from Abercrombie nobody falls into a neat pigeonhole or trope. When deaths among Yarvi's comrades occur they are touchingly written - but with the senseless random nature of war and death writ large across their last words.
Definitely a great read, hope it will not be so long before the next in the series.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Go Back for Love in Books
Mar 18, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Go Back for Love by Anne-Marie Sassoli is an extremely brief romance. This book can easily be read in a day, in not just a couple of hours. It also relies heavily on time travel in very short bursts.
Laura is a bit of a nobody and always has been, at least in her own opinion. Then one seemingly random day she gets a letter from a solicitor. This letter sets her off on a whole new life as it is her inheritance from an aunt she barely knew. Along with a large sum of money Laura is given a mysterious coin collection that is connected to her aunt in a most unusual way. Through these coins, Laura learns about her aunt's past. She is introduced to her aunt’s fall from riches to being a servant. Her aunt’s journey doesn't end there but in an unexpected interaction with a man who sees her potential as a person despite the differences in their social classes.
During Laura’s discovery of her aunt's past, she also starts forming a cautious relationship with her neighbor, Blaire, who also happens to own the building she lives in. What is most startling is how Blaire is already interwoven into Laura’s life by a surprising connection to her Aunt. Was their meeting predetermined by fate (or the Aunt) or is it just something that happened by chance?
Like many of the books that I do not care for, I do like the concept, it just wasn’t presented very well. So much could be done with how the Aunt's coins allowed Laura to travel back in time. What Laura saw when she traveled was also interesting but lacked relevance, it contained no lesson and did nothing to directly encourage Blaire and Laura to get together. The book is extremely vague. It is almost as if it is an unfinished draft of what could be a much larger story. Unfortunately, everything felt glossed over, like the author had a good idea but didn’t want to take the time to write a larger novel.
If I were to recommend this book to anyone it would be adults who like romance (there is one semi-vivid sex scene). It is good for those that want a basic and quick read, but those wanting something with more depth will be disappointed. I rate this book 1 out of 4. I was rather disappointed in it. While so short stories have the amazing ability to quickly draw readers in, provoke emotion, or make them think, this one missed the mark. In fact upon thinking about the story, time travel wasn’t even needed as the money that Laura also got put the couple in contact and not the coins.
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Laura is a bit of a nobody and always has been, at least in her own opinion. Then one seemingly random day she gets a letter from a solicitor. This letter sets her off on a whole new life as it is her inheritance from an aunt she barely knew. Along with a large sum of money Laura is given a mysterious coin collection that is connected to her aunt in a most unusual way. Through these coins, Laura learns about her aunt's past. She is introduced to her aunt’s fall from riches to being a servant. Her aunt’s journey doesn't end there but in an unexpected interaction with a man who sees her potential as a person despite the differences in their social classes.
During Laura’s discovery of her aunt's past, she also starts forming a cautious relationship with her neighbor, Blaire, who also happens to own the building she lives in. What is most startling is how Blaire is already interwoven into Laura’s life by a surprising connection to her Aunt. Was their meeting predetermined by fate (or the Aunt) or is it just something that happened by chance?
Like many of the books that I do not care for, I do like the concept, it just wasn’t presented very well. So much could be done with how the Aunt's coins allowed Laura to travel back in time. What Laura saw when she traveled was also interesting but lacked relevance, it contained no lesson and did nothing to directly encourage Blaire and Laura to get together. The book is extremely vague. It is almost as if it is an unfinished draft of what could be a much larger story. Unfortunately, everything felt glossed over, like the author had a good idea but didn’t want to take the time to write a larger novel.
If I were to recommend this book to anyone it would be adults who like romance (there is one semi-vivid sex scene). It is good for those that want a basic and quick read, but those wanting something with more depth will be disappointed. I rate this book 1 out of 4. I was rather disappointed in it. While so short stories have the amazing ability to quickly draw readers in, provoke emotion, or make them think, this one missed the mark. In fact upon thinking about the story, time travel wasn’t even needed as the money that Laura also got put the couple in contact and not the coins.
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156Reviews (7 KP) rated True History of the Kelly Gang (2019) in Movies
May 1, 2020
One of the main things that divides opinion on Ned Kelly is was he on the side of good or bad? Some see him as a kind of freedom fighter, standing up to the British, who at the time that looked to suppress and demean the Australian people. Some see him as a criminal, who murdered innocent people for reasons known only to him. Both of these opinions may be true, neither of them might be, but it's one hell of a gamble to base a film on someone that divides opinion that much.
It's a gamble that doesn't pay off, the team behind the film try to sell it as a punk-esque, spit in the face of authority tale of a guy standing up against the establishment. The soundtrack is on-point, but that's about it. George Mackay (as Ned Kelly) does his best to sell it, but the film-makers never truly drive home the idea that this was a man of the people, someone speaking up for the downtrodden, instead Ned spends most of the films run-time with his family in their home, seemingly away from civilisation entirely, taking away from the Robin Hood-like mythology of the man. Without any other characters, Robin Hood is just a man who steals from people. A story about a thief, who becomes a murderer, who becomes a gang leader who incites others to kill, doesn't exactly evoke much sympathy, especially as these are based on real life events. Even if the film denies this by stating “Nothing you are about to see is true” at the start, despite “True History” being in the title of the film.
Some of the cast do their best to with what they are given, but some fall short, and some are just wilfully underused, Thomasin McKenzie, who has been great in recent films such as JoJo Rabbit and Leave No Trace is barely given anything to do other than play “The Woman” despite many important events revolving around her, opposite to this is Charlie Hunnam, who is given ample things to do, but seems to still be playing the same character from his recent The Gentleman performance. George Mackay is a force to be reckoned with, but its a performance that would be better placed in a sex pistols biopic than in 1800's Australia. The shining performance in this is Nicolas Hoult, shaking off his nice guy image to play the corrupt Constable Fitzpatrick, who seems to delight in the power he has and when events stop going Fitzpatrick's way, Hoult commits to playing a man on the edge of completely losing control with surprising conviction and menace, his interrogation scenes being and uncomfortable highlight in an otherwise unconvincing film.
With no mention of the two years Kelly spent on the run, being hidden from the police by a network of sympathisers, and by showing his plight as a very personal experience instead of showing it as an example of the culture at the time, the film misses an opportunity to make a legend of the man, and instead falls short of greatness.
It's a gamble that doesn't pay off, the team behind the film try to sell it as a punk-esque, spit in the face of authority tale of a guy standing up against the establishment. The soundtrack is on-point, but that's about it. George Mackay (as Ned Kelly) does his best to sell it, but the film-makers never truly drive home the idea that this was a man of the people, someone speaking up for the downtrodden, instead Ned spends most of the films run-time with his family in their home, seemingly away from civilisation entirely, taking away from the Robin Hood-like mythology of the man. Without any other characters, Robin Hood is just a man who steals from people. A story about a thief, who becomes a murderer, who becomes a gang leader who incites others to kill, doesn't exactly evoke much sympathy, especially as these are based on real life events. Even if the film denies this by stating “Nothing you are about to see is true” at the start, despite “True History” being in the title of the film.
Some of the cast do their best to with what they are given, but some fall short, and some are just wilfully underused, Thomasin McKenzie, who has been great in recent films such as JoJo Rabbit and Leave No Trace is barely given anything to do other than play “The Woman” despite many important events revolving around her, opposite to this is Charlie Hunnam, who is given ample things to do, but seems to still be playing the same character from his recent The Gentleman performance. George Mackay is a force to be reckoned with, but its a performance that would be better placed in a sex pistols biopic than in 1800's Australia. The shining performance in this is Nicolas Hoult, shaking off his nice guy image to play the corrupt Constable Fitzpatrick, who seems to delight in the power he has and when events stop going Fitzpatrick's way, Hoult commits to playing a man on the edge of completely losing control with surprising conviction and menace, his interrogation scenes being and uncomfortable highlight in an otherwise unconvincing film.
With no mention of the two years Kelly spent on the run, being hidden from the police by a network of sympathisers, and by showing his plight as a very personal experience instead of showing it as an example of the culture at the time, the film misses an opportunity to make a legend of the man, and instead falls short of greatness.
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