Movies 2020/05: A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Starring Tom Hanks as the iconic (if you/re American) children's TV presenter Mr Rogers. Even as Brits, we got it, though. Those of us who were taken in by Jimmy Saville might have been expecting something else, but it appears that Mr Rogers truly is what he seems to be - a thoroughly nice chap. When Lloyd Vogel, an investigative journalist, receives an assignment to profile Fred Rogers we're kind of expecting that the tough newshound will do a fierce expose, but instead Mr Rogers does a number on Vogel - in the nicest possible way - chipping away at Vogel's daddy issues with unfailing kindness. If there are times when Mr. Rogers sounds like Forrest Gump, you can probably forgive this movie. There's good use of the models in Mr Rogers' 'neighbourhood,' and the movie's sideslips into surrealism lift this out of the ordinary.

 

 

 

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Booklog 9/2020: T. Kingfisher: Paladin's Grace

Set in the same world as Swordheart, The Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine, but unconnected, this is a fabulous read.

Stephen is a paladin, utterly broken by the death of the Saint of Steel, the god he served. Now, three years later, along with half a dozen other broken paladins (the only survivors of the god's death) he serves the Temple of the White Rat. His only ambition is to be useful without experiencing his dead god's uncontrollable berserker madness and killing innocent people. His hobby is knitting socks. A soldier always needs a good pair of socks. Grace Angelica is a perfumer running from her past, trying to make a living in a new city - Archon's Glory - with only her landlady, Marguerite, and a civet for friends.

 After Stephen inadvertently rescues Grace from the servants of the Hanged Mother, a particularly nasty god with acolytes to match, the pair of them dance around each other with engaging lack of social skills, but soon they are trying to outwit the Motherhood, track down an assassin and deal with a particularly nasty spate of beheadings. This is a love story, but so much more. There are some wonderful characters in this book: Bishop Beartongue, a formidable woman; Istvhan, a brother paladin, also broken, but with a sense of humour; Marguerite, not only a landlady, but a spy. The author handles all this with deft touch, light when necessary, even funny at times for such a serious premise. I loved Swordheart, and this falls into the same category for me, fantastic and romantic. Expect socks, severed heads, false accusations, scents (good and bad), foreign dignitaries, faithful friends, and an evil ex-husband. Highly recommended. I couldn't put it down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Movies 2020/06: Dolittle

I saw a few negative reviews about this, but to be honest I enjoyed it. Doctor Dolittle, having lost the love of his life to a shipwreck, has isolated himself in a manor house with only his animals for company. Polly the parrot (voiced by Emma Thompson) is his translator for ordinary humans. When Dolittle is summoned to the palace to attend the young Queen Victoria he tries to get out of it, but he gets drawn in, partly by his new self-appointed apprentice, Stubbins, and partly by his animals. They set out on a quest to find the cure-all for the young queen's malady. Expect a shady doctor, a duplicitous Lord, a battleship. a pirate king (an unrecognisable Antonio Banderas) and lots of CGI - naturally. You couldn't make a movie like this without on-screen magic. Robert Downey Jnr. is charming - if you can get over the cod Welsh accent that only scores slightly higher than Dick van Dyke's Cockney in the first Mary Poppins. That apart I thought this was fun.

 

 

 

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