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ClareR (6106 KP) rated Memorial in Books

Jan 19, 2021  
Memorial
Memorial
Bryan Washington | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Memorial is the story of Mike and Benson’s relationship and about their separate lives. They have lived together and loved one another for a few years, but when Mike gets word that his estranged father is dying back in Japan, it seems to come at the right time for their relationship. They clearly need the space to think. Except “frying pan” and “fire” comes to mind. Benson is left to live with Mike’s mother who has come to visit her son, and Mike is propelled in to caring for a dying man, a stranger to him, and running his bar.
It was so interesting to read about their lives and motivations. What starts out to be a purely selfish move by Mike (I felt that he was running away at first), actually becomes a selfless act. Of course, there is the advantage that he gets to know his father before his death, but he is there for him until the end.
Even though Mike’s childhood was much harder, it’s Benson who, to me, seemed to have been more affected by his parents break up. His father’s alcoholism, his mother leaving them and starting a new family, and his HIV+ diagnosis, all added up to a difficult mental space for him. But I didn’t feel that any of this became sentimental. It’s a joint decision when Benson and Mike realise that their relationship is coming to an end.

I really enjoyed this book. Its gentle pace where small acts and occurrences form the bigger picture really appealed to me. It’s an original and engrossing story from an author that I’ll be looking out for in the future.

Many thanks to Atlantic books for providing me with a copy of this book through NetGalley.
  
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Star Trek - Nemesis (2002) in Movies

Sep 28, 2021  
Star Trek - Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek - Nemesis (2002)
2002 | Action, Sci-Fi
6
6.0 (21 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
This film should have worked. They had four years to work up the film: the biggest gap between movies in the series to date. The sets and special effects deployed are a notable improvement on “Insurrection” and are, at times, very impressive. It’s a movie that has personal angst for Picard; an epic space battle; and the death of a major character. And a young Tom Hardy turns in a memorable performance, belying what was to come: it’s interesting that this is only Hardy’s third feature (following his debut in “Black Hawk Down” just the year before!). It’s also a full NINE years before he won the BAFTA Rising Star award!

And yet it’s just not very engaging: I find myself fiddling with my phone while its on, which is never a good sign. Gone are any of the comic asides that have tended to lighten the mood of these films: this is dark and plot-heavy throughout. It’s even got a ‘mind-rape’ scene that is quite disturbing.

Naturally, the Enterprise insurance premium has taken another hammering by the end of the film. You can just imagine the discussion back in space dock… “no mate…” – sucking air in through his front teeth “…that whole front bumper’s gonna have to be replaced, and that’ll cost you a pretty packet”!

Combined with poor marketing and fierce competition (the film opening in the same month as “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”), this ended up with the worse financial performance of any of the Trek movies (in terms of budget to return ratio). And it killed the franchise. The only option was to be a full reboot: something that was to take another seven years to happen.