Book Review: Invite Me In by Emma Curtis

Set to be published on 2nd September, Invite Me In by Emma Curtis follows mother and wife Eliza Curran who appears to have it all with her stunning family home and wealthy, adoring husband. No one would guess the reality of her life: trapped in an unhappy marriage to a controlling man.

When she takes on a new tenant, her life changes unexpectedly. Dan Jones is charming and perceptive and quickly becomes a close friend to the whole family. But Dan’s arrival threatens to tip Eliza’s fragile world out of balance. And when someone has as many secrets as Eliza does, the smallest slip could destroy everything . . .

My Top 10 Films of 2011

There were many great films released on the big screen this year, from the origins of the X-Men to nameless drivers. Of course, there were many films that I didn’t get to see, but as I’ve started to write about film more over this past year, I have slowly been catching up. For the UK, as well, we’re still waiting for some highly acclaimed films, such as Shame, to be released over on these shores, but these will have to be included in next year’s list as I am going by UK dates.

This list is constantly changing with the more films I watch so you can visit my Letterboxd account for a constantly updated list.

For now, here are my top 10 films of 2011:

Film Review: Friends With Benefits

(Published on Lost In The Multiplex, and read in my publication In Retrospect – Issue 2)

Directed by Will Gluck, Friends With Benefits follows two friends, art director Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and head-hunter Jamie (Mila Kunis), who, unable to maintain relationships and deal with the emotional stress that they entail, decide to add sex to their friendship, promising that they won’t let it become more than just a sexual release.

Of course, nothing is that easy and the obvious complications arise, concluding in the two realising their true feelings for each other. That much we can guess, but fortunately the film avoids being a cliché in many ways and is a unique rom-com that even your boyfriend will like.

Film Review: Black Swan

Rating:

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan was one of the most highly anticipated films of 2010. Although the film was released quite late in the UK, in January 2011, the date of its release was still brought forward to deal with its anticipation, and it became Fox Searchlight Pictures highest per-theatre average gross ever.

The film follows Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a ballet dancer who lives with her controlling mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey), in New York City whose life is dedicated to ballet. When art director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) wants to replace the lead for his opening production of Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition with new arrival Lily (Mila Kunis); Leroy only sees Nina as the innocent White Swan, whilst Lily is the personification of its evil twin. Pushed to her limit, Nina becomes engulfed by the competition and begins to lose her mind as she finds herself becoming more like the Black Swan outside of rehearsal.