Tag: reviews

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: A Review

Posted on by cococatani

Here’s a pitch for you. How about we go and see a stop-motion animation film about a shell called Marcel who lives in an AirBnB with his grandma and enlists a struggling documentary film maker called Dean to help him find his family. You’d think I was demented, right? I admit, the synopsis of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On doesn’t sound like much. But the reality of this little film is so, so different. I’m glad I managed to catch it in my local cinema this week and have been thinking about it ever since.

Reading Pride: A Book Review

Posted on by cococatani

One great way to celebrate Pride month if you’re an introvert is by reading a book. I initially picked The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore for purely aesthetic reasons. Its racy pink cover seemed appropriate for the time of year. I don’t normally like historical fiction very much – I don’t know why, it’s just one of my blind spots – but this seemed like a good time to leave my usual comfort zone.

Not quite like Gladiator: A Review of The Northman

Posted on by cococatani

Not everyone will like this film. Dialogues are often slow and almost Shakespearean, there’s a sense of mystery and unease that prevents comfortable enjoyment. But then these aspects was also present in The Lighthouse, so it’s probably characteristic of Eggers’s style of film making, and it suits the film’s grave narrative universe.

The French Dispatch: For All Your Escapism Needs

Posted on by cococatani

he French Dispatch has plenty of interesting things to look at. Anderson is known and often parodied for this and to some it may seem tired and tedious by now. What can I say? He is who he is. I like it when a creator has their own unique vision and will go the extra mile to share it with humble viewers like me.

Until We Fall by Nicole Zelniker – A Review

Posted on by cococatani

Fiction about frightening and undesirable societies offers great opportunities for women, people of colour, and LGBTQA+ people to unpack the dangers of the present and envision their potential consequences for the future. Although dystopias make good stories, they can be so much more than just a narrative device, and function as a powerful socio-political tool. In her new novel Until We Fall, published by Jaded Ibis Press, Nicole Zelniker demonstrates just that.

The Great American Novel?: A Brief Look at the Work of T.C. Boyle

Posted on by cococatani

‘ve liked T.C. Boyle’s books ever since I first saw him perform at the UEA Literature Festival in 2012. I had just moved to the UK and had just started my PhD. I was excited, not just because of all the changes that had recently happened in my own life, but also because I felt as if I was now in the middle of it all. Whatever “it” was. A place where world-famous others magically appeared in packed lecture theatres to talk shop.

Brian Lumley’s Necroscope – A Vampire Novel, but Different

Posted on by cococatani

become a cliché to the point that they seem to have lost much of their ability to scare, I still can’t resist a good vampire story. For every boring, unimaginative Twilight rip-off, there’s a lesser-known gem lurking in the darkness somewhere, waiting to be devoured. Or, perhaps, to devour unsuspecting readers first. One such story is Necroscope by Brian Lumley.