Let’s be honest here – if you drink coffee, you want what’s in the cup and usually don’t much care what’s on the outside. All of “Ulysses” in teeny-weeny text? Sure. Medieval paintings of peasants plating squash? Whatevs. Truth is, if it’s not the thing with the caffeine itself, Continue Reading
Welcome to Hawkins huh? New Stranger Things S2 poster presages ominous things to come
SNAPSHOT It’s 1984 and the citizens of Hawkins, Indiana are still reeling from the horrors of the demagorgon and the secrets of Hawkins Lab. Will Byers has been rescued from the Upside Down but a bigger, sinister entity still threatens those who survived. (Official Netflix synopsis) The arrival of Continue Reading
Retro French movie review: Amélie #BastilleDay
There is an exquisitely-sweet, existential joy to every last frame of Jean-Pierre Jeneut’s Amélie. Suffused with a whimsy that might seem overly self-conscious at first (but ultimately isn’t), it is an effortless celebration of what it means to be human, and the myriad flaws, foibles and blips of the psyche Continue Reading
Rip’d from the pages of my childhood: The Adventures of Asterix #BastilleDay
When you’re growing up, you don’t really have the insight or emotional maturity to fully understand why something matters to you or why you like it so much. But when you reacquaint yourself with a much-loved childhood book series like Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix, originally written by René Continue Reading
Movie review: Spider-Man Homecoming
Superheroes are, by and large, a fairly serious bunch. Hailing from backgrounds character-formingly full of death and trauma (hello Batman, Superman), given powers which unexpectedly and absolutely alter the trajectory of their life (Deadpool, the titular here of this film) or simply born into greatness and a nobility of Continue Reading
A grand and glorious epic: All the Game of Thrones S7 trailers in one dragon-sized video
Game of Thrones has always had a lushly cinematic quality, one that is likely to be come even more pronounced given report of movie-length episodes in season 7, which starts 16 July, and season 8, which lands in 2018. To underscore just how big, vast and visual the landmark Continue Reading
Fear the Walking Dead: “The Unveiling / Children of Wrath” (S3, E7 & E8 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … NOT TO MENTION POOR DECISION-MAKING, A NAKED GRAB FOR POWER AND A SHIPWRECKED YACHT As showcases for humanity go, I think we can all agree that the zombie apocalypse is not exactly anyone’s finest hour. In the double mid-season finale episodes, “The Unveiling” and “Children of Continue Reading
Book review: Feed by Mira Grant
It is generally agreed that being in the middle of a zombie apocalypse is something you should avoid at all costs, what with the end of civilisation, degradation of humanity and threat of imminent death. But what if the apocalypse came and went, and left society mostly functioning, compromised, Continue Reading
Love for the long haul: One woman’s cartoon love letters to her partner
There’s a popular perception out there that longterm relationships are the height (or depth) of drudgery and boredom. And while to some extent, yes, the novelty does wear off, with that loss of gloss and initial excitement excellent grist to the storytelling mill, the reality is that for many Continue Reading
Hope so high and … not? The 5 Stages of Watching a Spider-Man Reboot
Step right back! Step right up everyone! There’s a new Spider-Man movie in cinemas! With a new actor – Tom Holland! – and a whole new approach! What what? Really?! Yes, really. By all accounts it’s pretty damn good, but the fact remains that it is yet another reimagining/reboot/re-whatever Continue Reading