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The Girl You Left Behind
The Girl You Left Behind
Jojo Moyes | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>.

I won this book through the first reads Goodreads program. It's not normally the type of book that would catch my attention attention based on the synopsis, but I'm always willing to read something out of my comfort zone. I'm more than glad that I read this book as I loved it!!

Sophie is a French woman in German occupied France during World War I. She and the Kommandent become close only because Sophie will do whatever it takes to see her husband who has been sent to a German work camp. Fast forward almost a century later...Liv is a woman that has a portrait that was painted by Sophie's husband years ago. The relatives of Sophie's husband want that painting back simply because they know how much it's worth. However, for Liv, the painting means so much more. This is the story of a painting and how two women from different centuries are so much alike.

I loved the character of Sophie. She was definitely a strong and brave character. I felt what she was feeling a majority of the time. She went through so much to get what she loved. I also loved Liv, who, like Sophie was willing to lose it all to get what she loved. Mo was another one of my favourite characters. She brought in the comic timing. Her humour was fantastic, and it wasn't over the top. It was just right for the mood of the story. I loved Paul. He was such a sweetheart! I wish my husband was as kind and romantic as Paul! It was lovely to see him grow as a character.

The title definitely suits the book as The Girl You Left Behind is what they painting is called, and much of the story centres around this painting. I don't think there could've been a better title for this book.

The cover is very beautiful, and while it does relate to the story somewhat, I just wish the cover could've been the painting of Sophie that was talked about so much throughout the book. I would've loved to see what the painting actually looked like.

The setting and world building were fab as well! I loved how a lot of this book was set in a little hotel in a French city. The author made the hotel sound so warm and welcoming. It was obvious that the author did a lot of research about World War I when it came to the Germans occupy French cities. The descriptions of every place mentioned in the book were well written.

The pacing was absolutely fantastic! Each page kept me enthralled. I did not want to put down this book for anything!

I also loved the ending of the book. It was well written and didn't feel rushed like a lot of books do when they end. I thought it was a fantastic ending to a well written book.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone 16 and over. It's a little gem of a book, and it really took me by surprise.
  
Parasite (2019)
Parasite (2019)
2019 | Drama
All I'd been hearing about Parasite was that it was a masterpiece and amazing, so many people were getting to see previews but of course they were all in London. Then Odeon came to the rescue with their Screen Unseen program so I defected from Cineworld for an evening.

The Kim family are desperately trying to make ends meet, their cramped home is uncomfortable and located in one of the shabbiest districts of Seoul. Things take a turn when the son's friend suggests that he takes over his tutoring job for the daughter of a well off family. Ki-woo doesn't have the qualifications but all he needs is to show confidence, he decides to take the job.

Once he gets to the upscale house opportunities start to present themselves and he sees a chance to set his family up with jobs too. Bringing their mother onboard sets in motion something that no one could have seen coming.

I seriously considered not writing a review for this, please excuse me if it seems a little disjointed but I'm still not entirely convinced that I have a proper conclusion.

Coming out of the film I was a little confused, mainly because apart from hearing about it being a masterpiece I had seen people saying it was a horror... IMDb lists it as "comedy, crime, drama", at least I agree with one of those.

The contrast between rich and poor is shown perfectly throughout, from their homes to the human senses expressed, the way it's all represented on screen solidifies the differences between the two families.

In each home environment we also see it, the sleek versus the chaotic, the clean versus the dirty. The Park's designer home is white, open and ordered, the Kim's is claustrophobic, cluttered and busy. The two are illustrated perfectly on each end of the spectrum and the two overlap briefly when the Kim's briefly take over the Park's home.

I thought the acting was good but I wasn't blown away by anything, potentially more of an issue with the script for me as I wasn't keen on some of the character traits that came out. The divide between the two families is obviously something that carries through to their members, but whereas we might expect the rich to be the villains in a story (and yes, they aren't necessarily the best people in the world) it is in fact the poor that are verging on the bad side of things. It does appear that in this instance money is the corrupting influence on the Kims and they get the taste for the high life. All the actors involved are very strong in helping this come across to the audience.

Beyond this set up I wasn't left with the gushing feeling that many, MANY others were. Maybe this just went over my head, I'm the first to admit that when I go to a movie I turn my brain down. Maybe it was more thinking than I'm willing to put into a film. When films touch a lot of different genres I feel like I have some trouble with then so this could also contribute to my underwhelmed feeling. My instinct coming out was that I wanted it to be a little darker and closer to a thriller than just drama.


After one viewing I would say I wouldn't have chosen to see it again but there's an Unlimited Screening coming I feel like it's worth giving it a second viewing in case I see something I didn't see before, but I'm not sure how much it will change things.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/parasite-movie-review.html
  
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Lee (2222 KP) Jan 23, 2020

I’m heading to the Cineworld screening tomorrow but you’re right, the hype surrounding this has been crazy. I’m worried that I’m going to end up feeling exactly the same as you though.

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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) Jan 23, 2020

Several times recently I've been for repeat viewings and come out with a different opinion/feeling so I'm hoping tomorrow might give me some clarity.

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Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017)
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017)
2017 | Comedy
2
5.8 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
20th Century Fox releases Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. Starring a new cast, as the previous cast ember kids aged out of their roles, it has Alecia Silverstone as Mom, Tom Everett Scott as Dad, Jason Drucker as Wimpy Kid Greg, and Charlie Wright as older brother Roderick.

 

Headed cross country to their MeeMaw’s 90th birthday, it’s a 4-day haul to Indiana, and Mom has banned all electronic devices.

 

At least from an adult perspective, I can understand the premise, seeing as the kids are always up to their ears in iPads and Minecraft these days, and having a “conversation” can be like pulling teeth. However, again from an adult perspective, this movie might have been better if the characters HAD been up to their ears in iPads and Minecraft for the trip.

 

There was lots of bathroom humor, which did seem to pull some laughs from my 8-year-old son, although maybe not as many as might have been expected (some of it, thankfully, was still over his head), but just had me shaking my head and wondering what has happened to good clean humor?

 

Greg’s main goal throughout the Long Haul is trying to erase or at least overcome his accidental internet sensationalism caught when he is filmed freaking out over a diaper he finds while playing in a ball-pit. He continues to try to re-route the family trip in order to get himself into a video with (what he sees as) a “famous” gamer who goes by Mac Digby, who will be at a convention in Indiana “only two inches away” from MeeMaw’s when looking at the map. His brother Roderick wants to become famous by drumming along in a video game and Greg manages to re-program the GPS in order to direct them closer to the gaming convention.

 

Along the way, they stop at a county fair and the youngest Heffley, Manny (played by twins Dylan and Wyatt Walters) manages to win an adorable baby piglet, who might honestly have the best role in the film. Who doesn’t like baby pigs?

 

There are more hijinks along the way in some sort of feud with another family, and in what might be the best part of the film, an homage to Hitchcock’s “Psycho”.

 

All in all, though, something is seriously lost in translation between the popular Jeff Kinney kids novel that the movie is based on, and this film. Previous installments of the Wimpy Kid movies have not been nearly as unpalatable to me. My son says that he likes this one, but even he says, “the book was better” and he’s only 8.

 

Between the poop, pee and puke “humor” and the never addressed or resolved lying of the kids and even dad, it’s not a movie I could really appreciate.
  
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