Humanity, you have been judged and found wanting. By a 13,000-year-old extinct mammoth fossil no less. While that revelation may be sobering, the good news is that the judgement is delivered by the extraordinarily imaginative novel, Mammoth by Chris Flynn, a book which takes the traditional anthropocentric view of the Continue Reading
Weekday pop art: If good movies were old books
In the usual scheme of things, movies and books don’t seem to have a whole lot in common. Different storytelling mediums – which for the more passionate among us usually ends up as “versus” situation rather than an “or” one – differing levels of expository or interior detail and complete Continue Reading
At home COVID-19 French Film Festival: Fool Circle (Tristesse Club)
It’s interesting watching a film that is clearly meant to be one thing but despite the best efforts, you would presume, of everyone involved, ends up being quite another thing entirely. Case in point is the Vincent Mariette written (he co-wrote with Vincent Poymiro) and directed 2014 film, Tristesse Club Continue Reading
Book review: Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal by Anna Whateley
One of the reasons many of us read is to be taken to places and realities far beyond our own and to get to know people who otherwise might never be a part of our lives. It is enormous privilege to be given the chance to dive into a world Continue Reading
Creativity in a time of COVID-19 lockdown: Sam Neill and Helena Bonham Carter in Das Fone Hell
While there has been a great deal to hate about being stuck in the midst of a seemingly neverending pandemic, one cool thing to emerge is the way it has inspired some amazing creativity from a slew of authors, actors, musicians and others. These are all people who found their Continue Reading
COVID-19 retro movie festival: What If? (The F Word) #MovieReview
It’s the eternal struggle. (Well, one of the many at least; humanity does not make things easy for itself.) At what point does a friend become something more and is that even possible when the object of your unstated but clearly obvious affection is not even in the position to Continue Reading
The Mandalorian: The LEGO is now strong with its trailer
The Mandalorian is hands (or lightsabres) down one of the best TV series of the last 12 months. “… a big budget, cinematically resplendent piece of storytelling that fits neatly, and with Rogue One edginess, into the rapidly re-expanding official Star Wars universe”, The Mandalorian took us deep into the Continue Reading
Book review: The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley
Diving headlong into a sequel novel without first reading the book that preceded it can be fraught with all kinds of difficulties. This is especially the case, when like this reviewer, you are unaware that the novel you have next on your TBR pile follows on from a well-received predecessor Continue Reading
At Home #COVID19 French Film Festival: 5 delightful shorts incl. Oktapodi, Stuffed, The Pocketman, After the Rain and Sam’s Dream
Animated short films are a delight in so many ways. They demand of their creators an elegant economy of storytelling, a knack for near-instant fully-realised characterisation and a visual style which can set the scene quickly and keep building until a not-far-off finale. These five French animated shorts, accessed via Continue Reading
Six seasons and a … table read? Community cast re-enact episode “Cooperative Polygraphy” for a good cause
It turns out that there’s lots of things you can do from your own home that, pre-COVID-19, no one had actually thought to try because, well, frankly, we had the outside world and gatherings with other humans for that. But with social isolation still very much in place for many Continue Reading