Category Archives: Review

Film Review ~ All the money in the world (Michelle Williams and Christopher Plummer)

Posted on February 6, 2018 by odeboyz

As a signal to all #MeToo Hollywood doubters Christopher Plummer is nominated in the Oscars best supporting actor section. Presumably his nomination comes in the ‘Not Kevin Spacey’ category. The spectre of Kevin Spacey lurks in the background of this … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Ayelet Gundar-Goshen ~ Waking Lions (Translated by Sondra Silverston)

Posted on January 30, 2018 by odeboyz

Waking Lions is an Israeli novel which is very hard hitting. Israeli society isn’t normally thought of as racist but they too have an illegal immigrant ‘problem’. In this case it’s Africans and especially Eritreans who walk to Israel. Neurosurgeon … Continue reading →

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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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