I was recently invited to take part in the album challenge currently making the rounds on FaceBook. This is where you are invited, by a friend, to choose 10 albums which greatly influenced your taste in music, simply sharing the covers without explanation or review. I duly chose my 10 albums, but as I fancy … Continue reading The Album Challenge
As we mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day I just wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am to the generation who fought to free Europe from tyranny and provided those of us who came after with the opportunities to make our own choices (and mistakes) in life. I’m grateful to … Continue reading Marking VE Day 75
Every reader will tell you that there are books they liked, books they loved and books they couldn't escape... stories which got under their skin and stayed with them long after they turned the final page.
Diane Setterfield's Once Upon a River is one of those books.
Acting as inspiration for the highly acclaimed 1953 film of the same name, The Cruel Sea doesn’t hold it’s punches, drawing on author Nicholas Monsarrat’s own wartime experiences in the R.N.V.R (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve) to depict one the most intense and ferocious battles of the Second World War; the Battle of the Atlantic. This … Continue reading The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
I admit that I didn’t know what to expect from Stan & Ollie, although familiar with the name Laurel and Hardy, I am ashamed to say I had never previously encountered their work… and being more familiar with the work of stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, I knew that the film could go … Continue reading Stan & Ollie review
As it nears its 60th Anniversary, The Cheltenham Literature Festival is an event to be celebrated as it continues to attract a diverse range of authors to speak on a variety of topics ranging from the political to the Gothic, providing emerging authors with the opportunity to reach a new audience. Despite being an avid … Continue reading Adventures – Cheltenham Literature Festival
I walked away from the cinema in love with the BlacKkKlansman because it’s a film that managed to be emotionally charged, funny and make a point all at the same time.
Earlier this year, my family and I took a trip back in time to a defining period of the 20th Century…then known as the War to End All Wars… now referred to as the First World War… as we headed to Ypres in Belgium to visit the battlefield and trace the relatives who never returned from … Continue reading Adventures – Ypres 2018
Despite starting life as a small-time street racing movie, the Fast and Furious Franchise has grown into a blockbuster juggernaut, with eight films under its belt and another two in the works. So, how do the films stack up when ranked against one another. Who comes home with the chequered flag and who's trailing in … Continue reading The Fast & Furious Franchise Ranked
Over the last decade the trend for Hollywood musicals has been to shoe-horn romantic plots around the songs of famous bands…think Mamma Mia, Sunshine on Leith and Walking on Sunshine. Refreshingly La La Land is something different, a film where the music and the story blend together to create a cinematic masterpiece. After his loud, … Continue reading La La Land review
Elle's Scribbles 