You Should Be Reading: The Woman In The Window

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my time working with children, if I could whittle those years down to a single revelation, it’s this: They are extraordinarily resilient. They can withstand neglect; they can survive abuse; they can endure, even thrive, where adults would collapse like umbrellas.”

Written by A.J. Finn and published in 2018, The Woman In The Window follows Anna Fox who lives alone in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine, watching old movies, recalling happier times, and spying on her neighbours. When the Russells move into the house across the street, Anna thinks they look like the perfect family: a father, a mother, and their teenage son. But when Anna sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? Nothing is what it seems.

Film Review: Justice League

The fifth instalment in the DC Extended Universe, following on from 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League sees Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) recruit The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) after the selfless death of Superman (Henry Cavill) to restore faith in a now very down-beaten humanity. Directed by Zack Snyder, the team must face an even great enemy as they must save the world from the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds) and his army of Parademons.

Book v Film: Arrival (Story Of Your Life)

“I’d love to tell you the story of this evening, the night you’re conceived, but the right time to do that would be when you’re ready to have children of your own, and we’ll never get that chance.”

Based on the short story, Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, which is a part of his Stories of Your Life and Others collection, Arrival is directed by Denis Villeneuve and is premised during an alien invasion after multiple mysterious spacecrafts touch down across the globe. Recruited by the military alongside mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), linguist Dr Louise Banks (Amy Adams) must assist in translating communications with an alien race known as Heptapods. As mankind scrambles for answers as to why these aliens are here, Banks tries to distinguish between their two distinct forms of language – the Heptapods’ spoken language, which has a free word order, and their written language, which has a complex structure that a single semantic symbol cannot be excluded without changing the entire meaning of a sentence – a vital study to maintain peace with this mysterious race.

Film Review: Arrival

Based on the short story, Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, which is a part of his Stories of Your Life and Others collection, Arrival is directed by Denis Villeneuve and is premised during an alien invasion after multiple mysterious spacecrafts touch down across the globe. Recruited by the military alongside mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), linguist Dr Louise Banks (Amy Adams) must assist in translating communications with an alien race known as Heptapods. As mankind scrambles for answers as to why these aliens are here, Banks tries to distinguish between their two distinct forms of language – the Heptapods’ spoken language, which has a free word order, and their written language, which has a complex structure that a single semantic symbol cannot be excluded without changing the entire meaning of a sentence – a vital study to maintain peace with this mysterious race.

You Should Be Reading: Story Of Your Life (Arrival)

“I’d love to tell you the story of this evening, the night you’re conceived, but the right time to do that would be when you’re ready to have children of your own, and we’ll never get that chance.”

Story of Your Life is a science fiction short story written by author Ted Chiang, which is a part of his Stories of Your Life and Others collection, originally published in 2002.

Premised during an alien invasion after multiple spacecrafts touch down across the globe, linguist Dr Louise Banks is recruited alongside mathematician Ian Donnelly and US Army Colonel Weber by the military to assist in translating communications with an alien race known as Heptapods. As mankind scrambles for answers as to why these aliens are here, Banks tries to distinguish between their two distinct forms of language – the Heptapods’ spoken language, which has a free word order, and their written language, which has a complex structure that a single semantic symbol cannot be excluded without changing the entire meaning of a sentence – a vital study to maintain peace with this mysterious race.

Titled Arrival and set to be released on 10th November, the film adaptation is directed by Denis Villeneuve and stars Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks, Jeremy Renner as Ian Donnelly, and Forest Whitaker as Colonel Weber.

Film Review: American Hustle

Directed and co-written by David O. Russell, American Hustle follows brilliant con-man Irvine Rosenfield (Christians Bale) who, along with his cunning and seductive partner Sydney (Amy Adams), is forced to cooperate with wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). Pushing them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the mafia, Irvine’s unpredictable wife (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings their entire world crashing down.

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Film Review: Man Of Steel

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Directed by Zack Snyder, Man Of Steel is the latest superhero blockbuster that follows DC‘s comic book character Superman. His return to screen tells the origins of his story, as a young boy, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. Journeying to discover where he came from, the soon-to-be hero must figure out what he was sent here to do if he is to save the world from annihilation when it is invaded by a member of his own race, General Zod (Michael Shannon), and to become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

Film Review: On The Road

Directed by Walter Salles and based on Jack Kerouac’s highly acclaimed 1957 novel of the same name, On The Road tells the largely autobiographical tale of author Kerouac’s spontaneous road trips with his friends across mid-century America in the 1940’s. Not using any real names in the film, Kerouac is named Sal Paradise and is played by Sam Riley, whilst his travelling companions Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg are named Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) and Carlo Marx (Tom Sturridge) respectively. The trio encounter a mix of people on their journey, including both of Cassady’s wives, Lu Anne Henderson who is named Marylou (Kristen Stewart) and Carolyn who is named Camille (Kirsten Dunst), as well as Kerouac’s friend William S. Burroughs who is named Old Bull Lee (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Joan Vollmer who is named Jane (Amy Adams). With Kerouac’s novel considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation, the trio’s journeys are full of jazz, sex, drugs, and plenty more sex, as their lives are impacted in very different ways.

The Final Master-ful Trailer

(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)

The final trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, has been released this week, which is appropriately titled “Last One/Thank You.”

The new trailer features nearly five minutes of unseen footage and extended scenes that are not in the finished film, but the new clip is sure to get you eagerly awaiting the film’s release nonetheless.

New UK Trailer for ‘On The Road’

(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)

After the release of plenty of posters and clips for Walter Salles’ On The Road before it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, we now have a brand new trailer for the film.

An adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s highly acclaimed novel of the same name that was published in 1957, the story is largely autobiographical and is based on the spontaneous road trips Kerouac took with his friends, including that of Neal Cassady, William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, across mid-century America in the 1940s.

New Character Poster Featuring Tom Sturridge For ‘On The Road’

(Written for HeyUGuys)

With the release of the first character poster for Walter Salles‘ English-language French adventure, On The Road, earlier this month, this week sees the release of a new poster, this time featuring the handsome face of Tom Sturridge.

Directed by Salles, the film is based on American author Jack Kerouac‘s highly acclaimed novel of the same name that was published in 1957.

Largely autobiographical, the novel is based on the spontaneous road trips Kerouac took with his friends, including that of Neal Cassady, William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, across mid-century America in the 1940s.

Film Review: The Muppets

(Published in Issue 7 of my publication In Retrospect)

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The Muppets, directed by James Bobin, follows Walter (performed by Peter Linz), the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) who must raise $10 million to save the Muppet Theater from Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), a businessman with plans to demolish the building to dig for oil. To raise the money, the trio must first attempt to reunite The Muppets cast, who have each gone off in new directions with Fozzie Bear performing with a group of Muppet impersonators, the Moopets, Gonzo working as a plumbing magnate, Animal has ended up in a celebrity anger-management clinic sponsored by Jack Black and Miss Piggy working as Vogue Paris’s editor for plus-sized fashion. So will the trio be able to get the cast back together for one big show to save their heritage? Of course they will, it’s the Muppets!

Watch Part of ‘The Muppets’ Opening Dance Sequence

(Written for HeyUGuys)

Disney has released a sneak peek at the opening dance sequence from the highly anticipated The Muppets this week.

The clip is short but it certainly lets us know what we are in for. And that’s a whole load of fun, familiar faces and goofiness. Now, all we need is for February to hurry up.

Steal A Look At These ‘Man Of Steel’ Images

(Written for Lost In The Multiplex)

This month sees a number of images for Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, first with an image of Amy Adams as love interest Lois Lane whilst filming on set on Vancouver Island, and more recently with a shirtless Henry Cavill for his role as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman.

Even more images of the cast on set can be seen here. There’s undoubtedly enough to get us excited in this mass gallery of pictures, it’s just a shame we still have to wait so long.