Films Six to Eight, Books Six to Eight!
Jan. 11th, 2011 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spooky_missFilm Six – The Kings Speech
This film is brilliant! It tells the story of George VI (Bertie) and how he overcame his stammer through the help of his speech therapist Lionel Logue. It is set in the time from 1934ish to 1939, from when his father George V was still alive, through his death and the abdication crisis, to when George VI became king and when war started in 1939. It first shows Bertie (a fantastic Colin Firth) making a speech to a large crowd at Wembley – he is obviously very nervous, and you feel nervous for him too, watching him try to make the speech. It then goes to George V (Michael Gambon) successfully broadcasting to the nation over the radio, and when that’s finished he asks Bertie to try to read the speech – of course he finds it very difficult, and George V ends up shouting at him. Then the Queen Mother (played brilliantly by Helena Bonham-Carter!) visits a speech therapist, as a kind of “last resort” to try to help Bertie. This is Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush. Logue uses a variety of rather unconventional methods, which Bertie is initially resistant to, for example Logue makes Bertie recite a speech while listening to music on headphones in their first session. Bertie gives up as he thinks he hasn’t been able to do it well, but when he goes home and listens to the recording which Logue made of his voice, he finds he has recited the speech perfectly. This makes him change his mind and he visits Logue again for some more help. There are some great scenes, including the one which everyone has heard about where Bertie swears – the film was originally given a 15 rating for this scene, but I think the 12a that it has is ok, as its not him swearing in anger at anyone, its just him saying the words. Eventually George V dies, and Edward VIII comes to the throne – but being the horrible man he is (and he had already been portrayed as a horrible man in this film) he abdicates, leaving Bertie to become king. It shows all the stresses that Bertie goes through, and how Logue helps him with all the speeches he makes, including the important one at the beginning of the Second World War.
This film is brilliant as it portrays the different characters of George V, Edward and Bertie, and how all their characters clashed, and how this contributed to Bertie’s problems. It was clear how the lack of affection shown by George V and Queen Mary possibly caused and definitely contributed to Bertie having problems, and it was the love and support given by the Queen Mother which really helped him to get away from his childhood. Edward and Wallis were just horrible selfish people who just wanted whatever they wanted, they didn’t at all think of their family, or Edward his country and his role in it. All the characters were just portrayed so well, and you really felt emotion for Bertie as he had to become king. The actors were just brilliant in their roles, including the girl from Outnumbered as a young Princess Margaret! Colin Firth definitely deserves the Oscar for best Actor. Also I noticed that the score was really good too – and I don’t usually notice this in films unless it’s actual songs – but was just a musical score which fitted in really well with the whole theme and style of the film.
I definitely recommend this, even if you don’t know much about the history of the Royal Family. I wonder if the Queen has seen it, after all it is about her and her family really. I hope she likes it! 10 / 10!
Film 7 – Dogville – 1/3 only!
This film was one of the most boring films that I’ve ever seen! It has an unusual style, which I didn’t like at first, but I got used to the style, then the story is very boring! It is filmed on a plain stage, with chalk outlines of the houses and features, with, for example “Mr Smith’s House” or “The Gooseberry Bushes” written inside the outline. It has some props, for example tables, chairs, a couple of doors, but apart from that its like a play on stage. The story concerns a woman, played by Nicole Kidman, who comes to the town after being chased by some people who I think were gangsters. The people in the town take her in, after not accepting her at first, and then they have to decide whether they want her to stay in the town, even though she might be a criminal. They’d just decided that she could stay, but I turned it off at that point, as I just didn’t care about any of the people, the characters, the plot! And it went on for 2 hours 50 minutes in total – I watched about an hour. I was planning to go back to it, but thinking about it I don’t think I will – I have better things to do with my time than watch boring films!! 3 / 10
Film 8 – Where Angels Fear to Tread
This was one of the films they gave free with the paper a few years ago, based on a book by EM Forster. It told the story of a woman (played by Helen Mirran) who went to Italy and got married to an Italian man. Her family didn’t like that at all, they didn’t even like her going to Italy in the first place, and had sent a chaperone (Helena Bonham-Carter) with her to stop her getting into trouble. Unfortunately that didn’t work, as she was not only married but soon pregnant! She then unfortunately died in childbirth (well, just after, it was a bit of a rubbish death, haha) and then her family came from England to get the baby. Unfortunately then the father of the baby really wanted to keep his baby, and made it more difficult for the family, who expected to just be able to take the baby straight away. There then followed a few arguments, and ended with the sister stealing the baby away in the middle of the night. Then…the problem of the baby was suddenly solved (and in a rather silly way!) by them having a crash in their coach and the baby dying! It was an ok film, and had some good scenes, but it was a bit silly overall, and a lot of luckily coincidental circumstances! 5 / 10
Book Six – Dining on Stones by Iain Sinclair
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001, Author Surname (S)
Decade published: 2000s
Rating: 3 / 10
This was a very boring book! It was in the “all over the place” style of Naked Lunch (but luckily not about sex and drugs like that book is), and I couldn’t really work out what the story was about. I first thought it was about a photographer who took pictures of lots of different aspects on a certain road in London, and about his wives, friends and relationships with others and with certain places, but as I read it more it seemed to be about a fiction writer who *wrote* about doing all those things, and then at the end it seemed to be about a person who just was *planning* to write about all those things. It was very confusing, and it wasn’t until almost the end that it seemed to have a more coherent narrative. It was just boring though, and it didn’t really seem to have a point to it! Not recommended.
oh and in looking up the publication date, I've found this description of the book: An unreliable narrator, exiled on the coast, looks back on a book he may never have written. On a walk down the A13 from Aldgate Pump to Southend he acquires a package left by a missing woman - a package of stories that anticipate his quest. ...I think I must have missed that bit. haha!
Book Seven – The Light of Day by Graham Swift
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published: 2000s
Rating: 8 / 10
This book is about a private investigator, George, asked by a woman, Sarah, to follow her husband to check that the young woman who he’d been having an affair with has left the country and gone back to where she came from, somewhere in Yugoslavia. I found the book a bit confusing at first, as it seemed to go back and forward in time without any kind of sign to tell you what time you were in, but I got used to that and it was a good book. It talked about George’s feelings about being an investigator, his feelings towards his family, and his feelings towards Sarah who, it turns out, killed her husband just after he returned home after seeing the woman off at the airport, and is now in prison. George obviously has an attraction to Sarah, and they are planning to be together when she leaves prison (well he is planning it, as the book is written from his point of view – it doesn’t say what her opinion is in regards to this), and he visits her every other week. Some of the chapters are set before Sarah kills her husband, George explains how he took on the case and did the job, and some are set after, where George is trying to work out why she committed the crime. It was a quite easy read, and worked really well in describing their emotions and George was trying to deal with the situation. I hadn’t read anything by this author before this book, but I think I’d read more.
Book Eight – The Stray by Dick King-Smith / Stig of the Dump by Clive King
Source: My Bookshelf
Challenges? Children’s books
Decade published: The Stray – 1990s, Stig of the Dump – 1960s
Rating: 7 / 10
“The Stray” tells the story of a little old lady who decides to leave the old people’s home she lives in and run away to the seaside. When she gets to the seaside she is taken in by a family who have five children, and they look after her and give her a home. She helps them out by acting like a kind of “home-help” for the family. She then becomes part of their family, and they don’t mind when she takes in a stray dog as well. It’s a bit of an unbelievable story, even though it’s a children’s book, as everything seems to just fall into place a bit easily, and then they coincidentally win the lottery as well! So it’s a bit silly, but it’s a sweet read.
Stig of the Dump tells the story of a boy, Barney, who falls into a deep chalk pit which is used as a dump, and finds Stig, who lives there. He sees how Stig has made his home using rubbish from the dump, and goes back to his own home to see if he has any things which would help Stig. His family think that Stig is just an imaginary friend, but Barney is determined that he’s real. He has several adventures, including taking part in a hunt - a very old fashioned chapter which ages the book! Then on the shortest night of the year Barney and his sister Lou have a magical adventure which involves them some how going back in time to see Stig and his tribe, and to see them moving huge stones into place. It was a nice little story, but not the best children's book I've ever read.
8 / 120 books. 7% done!
This film is brilliant! It tells the story of George VI (Bertie) and how he overcame his stammer through the help of his speech therapist Lionel Logue. It is set in the time from 1934ish to 1939, from when his father George V was still alive, through his death and the abdication crisis, to when George VI became king and when war started in 1939. It first shows Bertie (a fantastic Colin Firth) making a speech to a large crowd at Wembley – he is obviously very nervous, and you feel nervous for him too, watching him try to make the speech. It then goes to George V (Michael Gambon) successfully broadcasting to the nation over the radio, and when that’s finished he asks Bertie to try to read the speech – of course he finds it very difficult, and George V ends up shouting at him. Then the Queen Mother (played brilliantly by Helena Bonham-Carter!) visits a speech therapist, as a kind of “last resort” to try to help Bertie. This is Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush. Logue uses a variety of rather unconventional methods, which Bertie is initially resistant to, for example Logue makes Bertie recite a speech while listening to music on headphones in their first session. Bertie gives up as he thinks he hasn’t been able to do it well, but when he goes home and listens to the recording which Logue made of his voice, he finds he has recited the speech perfectly. This makes him change his mind and he visits Logue again for some more help. There are some great scenes, including the one which everyone has heard about where Bertie swears – the film was originally given a 15 rating for this scene, but I think the 12a that it has is ok, as its not him swearing in anger at anyone, its just him saying the words. Eventually George V dies, and Edward VIII comes to the throne – but being the horrible man he is (and he had already been portrayed as a horrible man in this film) he abdicates, leaving Bertie to become king. It shows all the stresses that Bertie goes through, and how Logue helps him with all the speeches he makes, including the important one at the beginning of the Second World War.
This film is brilliant as it portrays the different characters of George V, Edward and Bertie, and how all their characters clashed, and how this contributed to Bertie’s problems. It was clear how the lack of affection shown by George V and Queen Mary possibly caused and definitely contributed to Bertie having problems, and it was the love and support given by the Queen Mother which really helped him to get away from his childhood. Edward and Wallis were just horrible selfish people who just wanted whatever they wanted, they didn’t at all think of their family, or Edward his country and his role in it. All the characters were just portrayed so well, and you really felt emotion for Bertie as he had to become king. The actors were just brilliant in their roles, including the girl from Outnumbered as a young Princess Margaret! Colin Firth definitely deserves the Oscar for best Actor. Also I noticed that the score was really good too – and I don’t usually notice this in films unless it’s actual songs – but was just a musical score which fitted in really well with the whole theme and style of the film.
I definitely recommend this, even if you don’t know much about the history of the Royal Family. I wonder if the Queen has seen it, after all it is about her and her family really. I hope she likes it! 10 / 10!
Film 7 – Dogville – 1/3 only!
This film was one of the most boring films that I’ve ever seen! It has an unusual style, which I didn’t like at first, but I got used to the style, then the story is very boring! It is filmed on a plain stage, with chalk outlines of the houses and features, with, for example “Mr Smith’s House” or “The Gooseberry Bushes” written inside the outline. It has some props, for example tables, chairs, a couple of doors, but apart from that its like a play on stage. The story concerns a woman, played by Nicole Kidman, who comes to the town after being chased by some people who I think were gangsters. The people in the town take her in, after not accepting her at first, and then they have to decide whether they want her to stay in the town, even though she might be a criminal. They’d just decided that she could stay, but I turned it off at that point, as I just didn’t care about any of the people, the characters, the plot! And it went on for 2 hours 50 minutes in total – I watched about an hour. I was planning to go back to it, but thinking about it I don’t think I will – I have better things to do with my time than watch boring films!! 3 / 10
Film 8 – Where Angels Fear to Tread
This was one of the films they gave free with the paper a few years ago, based on a book by EM Forster. It told the story of a woman (played by Helen Mirran) who went to Italy and got married to an Italian man. Her family didn’t like that at all, they didn’t even like her going to Italy in the first place, and had sent a chaperone (Helena Bonham-Carter) with her to stop her getting into trouble. Unfortunately that didn’t work, as she was not only married but soon pregnant! She then unfortunately died in childbirth (well, just after, it was a bit of a rubbish death, haha) and then her family came from England to get the baby. Unfortunately then the father of the baby really wanted to keep his baby, and made it more difficult for the family, who expected to just be able to take the baby straight away. There then followed a few arguments, and ended with the sister stealing the baby away in the middle of the night. Then…the problem of the baby was suddenly solved (and in a rather silly way!) by them having a crash in their coach and the baby dying! It was an ok film, and had some good scenes, but it was a bit silly overall, and a lot of luckily coincidental circumstances! 5 / 10
Book Six – Dining on Stones by Iain Sinclair
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001, Author Surname (S)
Decade published: 2000s
Rating: 3 / 10
This was a very boring book! It was in the “all over the place” style of Naked Lunch (but luckily not about sex and drugs like that book is), and I couldn’t really work out what the story was about. I first thought it was about a photographer who took pictures of lots of different aspects on a certain road in London, and about his wives, friends and relationships with others and with certain places, but as I read it more it seemed to be about a fiction writer who *wrote* about doing all those things, and then at the end it seemed to be about a person who just was *planning* to write about all those things. It was very confusing, and it wasn’t until almost the end that it seemed to have a more coherent narrative. It was just boring though, and it didn’t really seem to have a point to it! Not recommended.
oh and in looking up the publication date, I've found this description of the book: An unreliable narrator, exiled on the coast, looks back on a book he may never have written. On a walk down the A13 from Aldgate Pump to Southend he acquires a package left by a missing woman - a package of stories that anticipate his quest. ...I think I must have missed that bit. haha!
Book Seven – The Light of Day by Graham Swift
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published: 2000s
Rating: 8 / 10
This book is about a private investigator, George, asked by a woman, Sarah, to follow her husband to check that the young woman who he’d been having an affair with has left the country and gone back to where she came from, somewhere in Yugoslavia. I found the book a bit confusing at first, as it seemed to go back and forward in time without any kind of sign to tell you what time you were in, but I got used to that and it was a good book. It talked about George’s feelings about being an investigator, his feelings towards his family, and his feelings towards Sarah who, it turns out, killed her husband just after he returned home after seeing the woman off at the airport, and is now in prison. George obviously has an attraction to Sarah, and they are planning to be together when she leaves prison (well he is planning it, as the book is written from his point of view – it doesn’t say what her opinion is in regards to this), and he visits her every other week. Some of the chapters are set before Sarah kills her husband, George explains how he took on the case and did the job, and some are set after, where George is trying to work out why she committed the crime. It was a quite easy read, and worked really well in describing their emotions and George was trying to deal with the situation. I hadn’t read anything by this author before this book, but I think I’d read more.
Book Eight – The Stray by Dick King-Smith / Stig of the Dump by Clive King
Source: My Bookshelf
Challenges? Children’s books
Decade published: The Stray – 1990s, Stig of the Dump – 1960s
Rating: 7 / 10
“The Stray” tells the story of a little old lady who decides to leave the old people’s home she lives in and run away to the seaside. When she gets to the seaside she is taken in by a family who have five children, and they look after her and give her a home. She helps them out by acting like a kind of “home-help” for the family. She then becomes part of their family, and they don’t mind when she takes in a stray dog as well. It’s a bit of an unbelievable story, even though it’s a children’s book, as everything seems to just fall into place a bit easily, and then they coincidentally win the lottery as well! So it’s a bit silly, but it’s a sweet read.
Stig of the Dump tells the story of a boy, Barney, who falls into a deep chalk pit which is used as a dump, and finds Stig, who lives there. He sees how Stig has made his home using rubbish from the dump, and goes back to his own home to see if he has any things which would help Stig. His family think that Stig is just an imaginary friend, but Barney is determined that he’s real. He has several adventures, including taking part in a hunt - a very old fashioned chapter which ages the book! Then on the shortest night of the year Barney and his sister Lou have a magical adventure which involves them some how going back in time to see Stig and his tribe, and to see them moving huge stones into place. It was a nice little story, but not the best children's book I've ever read.
