Candice Reviews…

Tomorrow When the War Began - by John Marsden

I first read this book in high school as part of an English assignment and thought ‘how lame’. It was odd, as I remembered the basic storyline but forgot a lot of the story itself and little details, so reading it for a second time was like reading it for the first time all over again. I love John Marsden’s books especially this one, as he has a way of writing which is engaging and gripping to the readers. Unlike a lot of survival books, I love how the characters go through realistic emotions within a realistic time frame.

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Kevin Pryor Goes Down on Books

The Collapse of Globalism

By John Ralston Saul

There's an election occurring after the World Cup, so I thought I'd better review something political. 'The Collapse of Globalism,' by John Ralston Saul is what came to hand. You might wonder, as a FASS student, do I need to read another book about globalisation? Is this not a topic done to death already? Well yes and no. Yes, you've probably covered globalisation if you've studied politics or history or sociology. But no, in that John Ralston Saul is a particularly perceptive writer. Saul manages to make a potentially dry subject interesting.

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Morning Glories

STORY BY Nick Spencer

ART BY Joe Eisma

Reviewed by Squiddy

I was never a big fan of independent comics. Mainly because they were read by people who thought Batman was ironic and Superman was a post-modernist reflective discourse about culture and a yearning to be back in the 1950s.

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The Guard

Reviewed by Richard Swainson

Directed by John Michael McDonagh

It's not often that you get to the end of the International Film Festival and still have fond memories of its opening night.  A regretful irony of the event is usually that the movie selected to kick things off is mainstream to the point of being no good at all.  In an effort to appeal to the widest possible audience the festival often betrays itself.

In 2011 this did not happen.  "The Guard", an idiosyncratic offering from Ireland, was laugh out loud funny.  It's now returned for a run at the Lido, offering the discerning viewer another chance to savour a buddy cop film with a difference.

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Jane Eyre

Directed by Cary Fukunaga

According to IMDB there have been 19 versions of "Jane Eyre" made before the one that I saw last week.  Auteur House stocks three of them, including the 1943 film that made Orson Welles suddenly popular as a leading man two years after "Citizen Kane".  Why make another?

An answer to this question is found in the new film's very first frame.  An intriguing shot of a distressed, modestly attired 19th century woman fleeing a large estate gives way to a wordless montage in which she gets lost on the moors.  The decision to replace the novel's linear narrative with a structure that cuts to the story's chase immediately pays dividends.  Mia Wasikowska - an actress hitherto best known for playing Alice in Tim Burton's overly busy "Alice in Wonderland" - is stunning in the title role, drawing us into the drama.

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Joss Whedon: A Fanboy’s Fanboy

Profile by Daggard

There’s a moment in Bryan Singer’s film X-Men , where Wolverine has just battled ‘himself’ in the form of Mystique. He steps out in front of the other X-Men and Cyclops is about to blast him when Wolvie says: “Wait wait wait…It’s me.” “Prove it!” Scott demands. “…You’re a dick.” is Logan’s reply. A pause from Scott who then casually says: “Ok”. It was the only line that remained from Joss Whedon’s draft and is still probably the best one. But we’ll come back to the X-Men.

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TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED 2

Developed by Eden Games for PS3, XB360 and PC
Review by Daggard

WE’RE ON A ROAD TO NOWHERE

Test Drive Unlimited (2006) was a bold and welcome experiment for its time. It was the first attempt at a Driving MMO game. The idea being the player collects and races exotic cars around a real island in Hawaii, geographically mapped in almost every detail. Despite the ambition, the experiment largely failed. There were just too many bugs that prevented players from being able to enjoy it as an online experience.

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Judy Reads

The Door to December  

Dean Koontz

So I guess this is the part where I admit that I will read anything by Dean Koontz.

I think he writes some great, if not necessarily intellectual, stories. But I get a pass on this one, because it was originally released under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols, right? The Door to December is one of his supernatural thriller/horror stories, which are the ones that I like the best. This one has a very strong science theme and a moral that goes along with it. Science can be good, it can be helpful and make our lives easier, but you NEED to have respect for human life and what it means to be human no matter what you’re doing. A child can’t be a lab rat for your experiments.

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Kevin Pryor Goes Down on Books

The World of the Book 

Des Cowley and Clare Williamson

The 'World of the Book' is a pretty boring title as far as titles go. It's not exactly going to make you gravitate towards it on the shelf. It also makes you wonder what other titles the author was considering using. 'Books - about them?' Or maybe 'Books - they're really interesting?'

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Get Low

Directed by Aaron Schneider

Some movies sound great on paper.  "Get Low" promises so much by virtue of casting alone.  Having Bill Murray play opposite Robert Duvall is a mouth watering prospect.  The prince of dead pan comedy together with the most subtle and restrained American actor of the post-Brando generation.  Throwing Sissy Spacek, another 40 year veteran, into the mix makes the combination even more interesting.

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