Confession: though I always loved classic literature I could never make it through a single Jane Austen book – I tried at least four of her novels and gave them all up in the first fifty pages. Something about her writing style clearly rubs me wrong, but despite this, I enjoyed many of the Austen film and TV adaptations. While this onscreen version of her early, little-known novella is not my favourite it was amusing and diverting.
Tag: review
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante – Book Review
This is the first volume in the Italian writer’s Neapolitan Novels series, and if the next three books are as good as this one I should make it to the end of the quadrilogy in no time at all.
Excalibur – Film Review
Directed by John Boorman and telling the classic story of King Arthur, Excalibur is one of the finest fantasy films ever made and one of my favourite films, period.
Mustang – Film Review
Lovely movie by a first-time Turkish-French director that takes a look at adolescence, the suppression of female sexuality and the arranged marriage in modern Turkey, a bit like a darker Pride & Prejudice or a more optimistic Virgin Suicides.
Monkey’s Mask – Film Review
A strange little movie based on a poem novel by an Australian author Dorothy Porter – a fact I had no idea about before watching it, but you can guess its literary roots from the kind of dialogue that probably sounds fine on the page but comes off as mighty pretentious and unnatural onscreen.
The Shawshank Redemption – Film Review
I finally watched this 90s classic, partly to put an end to the horrified what you haven’t seen The Shawshank Redemption??? reactions I invariably got from friends and acquaintances. Yes, it absolutely deserves its reputation as a great movie.
Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James – Book Review
I finished this book in a couple of days while recovering from a nasty cold. This was in fact the first P.D. James novel I’ve read in my life – despite their enormous popularity they just never fell in my lap before, even though I quite like the crime genre.
The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell – Book Review
Another I-moved-to-another-country book, this one by a London woman who moved to Denmark after her husband got offered a job with Lego – and rather than exchanging one capital city for another, they move to the “real” Denmark, a tiny town of 6,100 in the rural Jutland (the European peninsula part of Denmark). Unlike many other books of the similar sort, which are rather rambling in nature and simply concern themselves with the author’s experiences in a foreign country, this one has an actual focus: uncovering the secrets of Danish happiness.
The Nice Guys – Film Review
This movie was a nice surprise, a detective buddy comedy that feels fresh mostly because of the stellar work by its two stars (Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling), who are not typically associated with the comedy but turn out to have a major, previously untapped talent for it. Throw in a sleazy, noirish 1970s Los Angeles setting, slapstick, sarcasm, raunchy dialogue, darkly humorous and surreal touches, and the results are highly entertaining.
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – Film Review
Finished the rewatch of the original Star Wars trilogy with the third and final movie, which, yes, is the weakest one of the lot.
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