Category Archives: Review

Film Review ~ Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell)

Posted on January 23, 2018 by odeboyz

Will Gompetz wrote an enthusiastic review for the BBC (referenced below) saying that Frances McDormand (Mildred Hayes) was a certainty for an Oscar. He also described Three Billboards…. as a ‘black comedy’. The first is a decent prediction but ‘black … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Iris Origo ~ War in Val d’Orcia: an Italian War Diary 1943-4

Posted on January 16, 2018 by odeboyz

Iris Origo was a wealthy American who married an Italian aristocrat in 1923. They bought nearly 9000 acres in the Val d’Orcia and began a 20th century version of a feudal relationship with their 57 farms. When war came she … Continue reading →

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Film review ~ Molly’s Game (Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba)

Posted on January 9, 2018 by odeboyz

Molly’s Game is a biopic of Molly Bloom, the ‘queen’ of gambling. Her life is tedious, which is a fatal flaw for a biopic. Aaron Sorkin the scriptwriter and director should have noticed this and added drama. His film could … Continue reading →

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Book review: Lee Child ~ The Affair

Posted on January 2, 2018 by odeboyz

I don’t much like Lee Child’s Reacher series, which epitomise treadmill routine writing. This is the 16th Reacher novel and is a prequel. The story has Reacher becoming a loner solving problems using extreme violence. Child appears to have taken … Continue reading →

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Film Review ~ Baby Driver (NetFlix) (2017) (Ansel Elgort and Kevin Spacey)

Posted on December 19, 2017 by odeboyz

Baby Driver was double Oscar winner Kevin Spacey’s last film before he became persona non grata. Playing Doc Spacey sleepwalks his way through the role using his characteristic menace, intimidation and sinister quips. He looks bored and, we now know, … Continue reading →

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Book review: David Eggers ~ The Circle

Posted on December 12, 2017 by odeboyz

“Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, has warned that Britain could be sleepwalking into an East German-style surveillance society, holding extensive but secret files on all citizens.”* The capabilities of technological surveillance in 2004 were negligible in relation to 2017. The … Continue reading →

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Film Review ~ Paddington 2 (Hugh Grant and All Star cast)

Posted on December 5, 2017 by odeboyz

This is a wonderful family film. When I went there were a few children but a significant number of adults who were thoroughly enjoying the experience. Insofar as there is a storyline it’s puerile and it doesn’t matter one little … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Mark Billingham ~ Love Like Blood

Posted on November 28, 2017 by odeboyz

Detective Inspector (DI) thriller novels follow a predictable path. Firstly there is a hideous murder, then a maverick brilliant dysfunctional DI wades in, followed by a denouement. So far so predictable. So why are they so popular? Apart from the … Continue reading →

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Film Review ~ Call me by your name (Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet)

Posted on November 21, 2017 by odeboyz

Call me by your name is an outstanding coming-of-age film of a gay adolescent. Elio (Timothee Chalamet) is a teenage high-flyer. Multi-lingual and with outstanding skills in music he has a hot-house life with exceptionally talented people. His American father … Continue reading →

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Book review: Timur Vermes ~ Look Who’s Back (Translated by Jamie Bulloch)

Posted on November 14, 2017 by odeboyz

A satire about Adolf Hitler, by a German, breaks new ground. Vermes brings Hitler back to 21st century Germany, as though the previous 70 years had never happened. Hitler retains his oratorical abilities. His rhetoric makes him an attractive showbiz … Continue reading →

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