My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)
HAPPY THINGS:
1. Warm winter scarves to help get through the brrrrr days
2. Starbucks Tall Blonde Flat White - sounds like I am ordering a person when I ask for it
3. Mostly British Films from the festival (see below) - binge watching at the Vogue theatre :-)
Bought:
by Mieko Kawakami
translated by Louise Heal Kawai
-Literary, Coming of Age, Novella, Japan
Amazon | Goodreads
WHILE browsing at the bookstore, this whimsical cover, oh yes.
by Francisco Cantú
-Memoir, Politics
Amazon | Goodreads
GOT this from an author event which got switched from a reading to just a signing due to lots of controversy and threat of protest activity. Made me want to read this even more.
Library:
by Pola Oloixarac
-Humor, Spain
Amazon | Goodreads
FOR Tournament of Books self challenge (here).
by Jill Santopolo
-Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads
FOR Reese's book club February pick (here).
Unbagging:
Plan it, List it, Customize it
includes:
Guidebook for setting up journal
4 Staedtler pens
Washi tape
Planner Stickers
AND watched: on Netflix
Director/Writer: Bryan Fogel
Writers: Jon Bertain, Mark Monroe, Timothy Rode
Stars: Bryan Fogel, Nikita Kamaev, Grigory Rodchenkov
-Documentary, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5
Oscar 2018 nominee
When Bryan Fogel sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller involving dirty urine, unexplained death and Olympic Gold-exposing the biggest scandal in sports history.
FITTING to watch this Olympic season for some background history regarding the current dope watch and charges going on, especially with the Russian athletes.
AND watched: in theatre
(details)
Director: Ken Loach
Screenplay: Paul Laverty
Stars: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires
-Drama, UK | imdb | my rating: 5
After having suffered a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight the bureaucratic forces of the system in order to receive Employment and Support Allowance.
INTERESTING to see how the system works in other countries other than the U.S. - in this case not much better.
Director: John McKay
Writer: David Solomons
Stars: Karen Gillan, Stanley Weber
-Comedy, Drama, Romance, UK | imdb | my rating: 3
When a struggling publisher discovers his only successful author is blocked he knows he has to unblock her or he's finished. With her newfound success, she's become too damn happy and she can't write when she's happy. The only trouble is, the worse he makes her feel, the more he realizes he's in love with her.
CUTE visual eye candy in the chick flick fashion. The soundtrack was a bit off-putting though.
Director: Rufus Norris
Writer: Alecky Blythe
Based on musical by: Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork
Stars: Olivia Colman, Clare Burt, Rosalie Craig
-Musical, Mystery, Thriller, UK | imdb | my rating: 5
When five prostitutes are found dead in their community, residents of London Road in Ipswich, Suffolk come together to process the events and revitalize the community.
BASED on actual events in musical form plays out just right with its focus on the neighborhood residents and community.
Director: John Jencks
Writers: Blanche McIntyre, Tom Hodgson, John Finnemore, Robin Hill
Based on book by: Stephen Fry
Stars: Roger Allam, Tim Charles, Rod Glenn
-Comedy, UK | imdb | my rating: 5
Disgraced poet Ted Wallace is summoned to his friend's country manor to investigate a series of unexplained miracles.
ALONG with the comedy (and much whiskey) the mystery reveals itself in an amusing way.
Directors/Writers: Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez
Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Julia Sarah Stone, Denis O'Hare
-Drama, Romance, Thriller, Canada | imdb | my rating: 4
A house cleaner meets a teenaged girl and convinces her to run away and live with her in secret.
THE gal is messed up. This film makes your stomach turn as it plods along. But, you can't help but watch to see how it ends.
Director/Writer: János Edelényi
Writers: Gilbert Adair, Tom Kinninmont
Stars: Brian Cox, Coco König
-Comedy, Drama, UK | imdb | my rating: 4
When the question is to be or not to be, there is only one answer.
CAREGIVING in the countryside with theatre acting and Hungarian fun facts sprinkled in.
Director/Writer: Peter Foott
Stars: Alex Murphy, Chris Walley
-Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Ireland | imdb | my rating: 5
Two teenage boys cycle 160km on stolen bikes pursued by police to find a missing bale of cocaine worth 7 million euro. Set around the real event of Ireland's biggest cocaine seizure in 2007 of 440 million euro.
LOVED how the hilarity builds with laughter increasing each minute.
Director: Warwick Thornton
Writers: Steven McGregor, David Tranter
Stars: Hamilton Morris, Bryan Brown, Tremayne Doolan
-Adventure, Crime, Drama, Australia | imdb | my rating: 5
Australian western set on the Northern Territory frontier in the 1920s, where justice itself is put on trial when an aged Aboriginal farmhand shoots a white man in self defense and goes on the run as posse gathers to hunt him down.
ABORIGINAL history with its form of justice with a wild west vibe.
Director/Writer: Ivan Sen
Stars: Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver
-Crime, Thriller, Australia | imdb | my rating: 5
Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on a missing persons inquiry. What seems like a simple light duty investigation opens a web of crime and corruption. Jay must pull his life together and bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone.
GETS into some of the chinese experience in a modern day Australia.
Director/Writer: David Farr
Stars: Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore, Laura Birn
-Drama, Thriller, UK | imdb | my rating: 4
A couple expecting their first child discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below them who are also having a baby.
CREEPY couple with doings that border a horror story.
Director:
Writer: David Harrower
Based on play by: Blackbird by David Harrower
Stars: Ruby Stokes, Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn
-Drama, Romance, UK | imdb | my rating: 5
A woman confronts an older man, her former neighbour, to find out why he abandoned her after they had a sexual relationship.
TIMELY film that is in line with #TimesUp movement. Both characters pulled me in different directions.
Director/Writer: Jackie van Beek
Stars: Gloria Popata, David Elliot, Chelsie Preston Crayford
-Drama, New Zealand | imdb | my rating: 5
After surviving a fatal car crash, teenage runaway Tia moves in with the strangers involved in the accident, threatening the family's delicate balance.
GREAT landscapes and farm lifestyle shots. I was taken with the Lily character. Such a cutie!
Director/Writer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Dialogue: Asad Hussain
Stars: Adil Hussain, Lalit Behl
-India | imdb | my rating: 4
Faced with his father's untimely and bizarre demand to go and die in the holy city of Varanasi and attain Salvation, a son is left with no choice but to embark on this journey.
THOUGHTS on death and the process of dying ways heavy.
Director: Saul Dibb
Screenplay: Simon Reade
Based on play by: R.C. Sherriff
Based on novel by: R.C. Sherriff, Vernon Bartlett
Stars: Paul Bettany, Sam Claflin, Asa Butterfield
-Drama, War, UK | imdb | my rating: 4
Set in a dugout in Aisne in 1918, it is the story of a group of British officers, led by the mentally disintegrating young officer Stanhope, as they await their fate.
WWI history from the trenches with three different perspectives.
AND watched: on DVD
Director/Writer: Dan Gilroy
Stars: Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo
-Crime, Drama | imdb | my rating: 4
Oscar 2018 nominee
Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.
IDEALS and personal limits.
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently
Thanks for stopping by :-)
