(Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash) Big bold intelligent blockbusters. They are the perfect mix – epic in a way that makes going to the cinema to see them eminently worth it but full of clever ideas and compelling characters which means we’re not met with empty spectacle but thrills Continue Reading
Comics review: Wallace the Brave 5: The Great Pencil Quest by Will Henry
(courtesy Simon & Schuster) Now five collections into the wonderful world of Wallace the Brave, it struck me as the latest volume, The Great Pencil Quest, thumped onto my doorstep (figuratively at least; apartments aren’t known for their door steps) it struck me once again how much we need cartoonists Continue Reading
Book review: Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum (translated by Shanna Tam)
(courtesy Bloomsbury Publishing) Bookshops are, for book buyers at least, innately warm and comforting places. Quite apart from the fact that they offer a wealth of possible storytelling possibilities, they also feel like a step away from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life which to greater or lesser extents Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #97: Jantoje, Ukiyo + Maver, AJR, Grace & Moji and The Chainsmokers
(via Shutterstock) Creativity is often portrayed as a solo pursuit, something a lone soul in a cloistered ivory tower just for the love of creation alone. But the truth is that while letting yourself loose in your own passion and imagination can lead to all kinds of wondrously good things Continue Reading
Big changes. New emotions. Teaser trailer releases for Inside Out 2
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTThe little voices inside Riley’s head know her inside and out—but next summer, everything changes. Pixar’s Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Continue Reading
Movie review: Northern Comfort #BFF23
(courtesy IMDb) Being afraid of something comes with the territory of being alive. Whether it’s an evolutionary response or simply an existential stress reaction to being human where, despite all the trappings of civilisation, there’s a lot to be afraid of, human beings tend to get anxious and afraid a Continue Reading
Oh my heart: Embrace the adorably meaningful with Teddy’s Christmas and The Velveteen Rabbit
(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTWhile visiting a Christmas market in her Norwegian town, 8-year-old Mariann (starring Marte Klerck-Nilssen) suddenly sees an unbelievable sight: on the top shelf of a carnival game booth, the most adorable stuffed teddy bear has just moved his head and sneezed. Feeling an instant connection with the Continue Reading
Wrapping things up: Still Up (S1, E5-8) and Star Trek: Lower Decks (S1, E8-10)
(courtesy YouTube (c) AppleTV+) Still Up (S1, E5-8) The will-they, wont-they dance of the first half of the debut season of Still Up, naturally ramps up considerably in the back half but this being a British series, things don’t quite play out as rom-com obvious as you might assume. In Continue Reading
#Christmas preview book review: Weirdo by Sara Pascoe
(courtesy Allen & Unwin) This will hardly come as a news flash to anyone but life rarely lives up hype and expectation. When we’re younger, we expect bounteous riches, if not material then at the very least existential, to flow down upon us like confetti at an environmentally unsound wedding, Continue Reading
Be careful what you wish for: Wish unveils all kinds of promotional goodies
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTIn Disney Animation’s Wish, Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove Continue Reading