Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Year: 2011

Writer: John Le Carre (novel.), Peter Straughan and Bridget O'Connor (screenplay.)

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Starring; Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciaran Hinds, Kathy Burke

Plot: In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.



Ever since I saw the trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy at the end of August before One Day, I have been super excited about this movie. Not just because I am a huge fan of the good old fashioned Cold War spy caper. But also because I have always been a massive advocate for the body of work of Gary Oldman. A supremely talented actor who has been considerably underused since the early noughties. Harry Potter and the Batman Franchise have revived his career and I am absolutely convinced that this movie is going to send him up to the top of every Hollywood casting agents wishlist once again.

I actually saw this movie about a week ago, but have been exceptionally lazy in getting this review up and I have to say that despite suffering from a corneal ulcer and sitting next to a fat bastard who spent the entire movie throwing popcorn into his face and slurping on his coca cola, I absolutely adored this movie. It was FANTASTIC!!!  This movie is a real slow burner with occasional bouts of action and brutal violence. There is nothing glamorous about the world of espionage according to John Le Carre. This is not Bourne or Bond.  Tomas Alfredson manages to capture the grim, lonely world of a spy during the Cold War where no one can be trusted and personal lives are destroyed by one's commitment to the Circus. The cinematography is dark and grainy and the tension slowly rises as you find yourself drawn deeper and deeper into the complex world of Smiley and his colleagues. Despite the source material being rather bulky and complex, the screenwriters have done an excellent job of condensing what was originally a 7 hour mini series in it's first screen adaptation into a 2 hour movie.

The ensemble cast is astounding. With so many talented individuals it is difficult to pick out the standout performances. But if I had to narrow it down to three I would say Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong. Gary Oldman gives an extremely subtle performance as a weary, deep thinking Smiley. Despite not being overly showy he manages to command every scene he is in and allows the viewer to slowly peel away the layers of his character scene by scene. One of his best scenes is when he is describing his one and only face to face meeting with Soviet counterpart Karla to Benedict Cumberbatch's character. Instead of seeing the action in flashback we are treated to him reenacting his dialogue and see his admiration as well as repulsion for the Russian.

Mark Strong is as always excellent at playing the dark mysterious character who has been screwed over by those he once trusted and dumped into the civilian world as a teacher, living alone in a caravan on the school playing fields. Tom Hardy also excels as the handsome but naive foot soldier whose information from his Russian girlfriend assists Smiley in tracking down the mole but is eventually betrayed by those he felt he could trust.

I could talk about this movie for hours, but to summarise, this is an intelligent and thrilling old fashioned movie which demonstrates exactly why Britain has some of the most talented actors working in the film industry today. Please please go and see it!!

Laura's Handmade Life by Amanda Addison.

I actually finished this book back on 11th September but I have been a bit behind on the reviews recently so have only just got around to talk about it now.

Plot: Laura Lovegrove is leaving behind her seamless life in London. Architect husband Adi has been relocated to rural Norfolk, a far cry from ultra-urban Ealing. Though Laura knew village life would be different she didn't foresee a pokey cottage, nosey neighbours and even an ex turning up. Chris had been her big love at art college and seeing him again is utterly confusing. Is she really so different from the impulsive student who once trawled charity shops for vintage treasures. When a fire all but destroys Laura's collection of vintage clothes, she's heartbroken. But salvaging what she can, Laura make dos and mends- sewing purses, handbags, even dog leads. Soon she is inundated with orders. But Adi is becoming more distant. Is there something he is not telling her? Can Laura make a stitch in time and pull her family back together again?



This book was an impulse buy when I was purchasing The Help as it was buy one, get one half price in WH Smith. Always a dangerous temptation! This book initially got my attention because of my interest in all things crafty and the fact that I fancied a light hearted chick lit read after some of the more heavier tomes I had been tackling recently. There is a part of me that feels that this book is just an attempt to cash in on the craft, vintage, cake baking craze everyone seems to be going through currently. However the story is substantial enough that it keeps you interested and may even appeal to those not so into the crafty side of things.

I have to admit, I loved this book, despite the fact that the main character Laura might come across as a middle class whinger! On the face of it she seems to have everything but there are times when you do feel like you want to tell her to get over herself! The book however is saved by its humour, the quaint setting of the village, the wide variety of interesting personalities she comes across and the passion with which the writer talks about Laura's creativity.

Despite being a bit moody sometimes Laura does come across as a huge inspiration in the way she takes control of her life once the fire destroys her clothes collection and a big part of the cottage. She throws her self into her greatest passion, crafts, goes out of her way to attend workshops to learn new skills and meet new people and begins to slowly find her feet within the community and start a business.  While reading this book I was bursting with creativity and I kept wanting to run to the craft store, buy fabric and start manically sewing. Unfortunately my laziness kind of got in the way of that plan!

The only thing I found slightly annoying about the book at the beginning was the author's writing style, in that the action does have a tendency to jump all over the place. For example you will be in the middle of one scene where a conversation is taking place and then suddenly within the same paragraph, you are now reading about an event happening hours later in the day. There is no explanation for what happened in between and most of the time I ended up re-reading the paragraph just to make sure that I had not blacked out for a few seconds and missed the key plot points!

Apart from this I would really recommend this book and will definitely be re-reading this one again.

The Other Guys

Year: 2010

Writer: Adam Mckay, Chris Henchy

Director: Adam Mckay

Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Samuel L Jackson, Steve Coogan and Dwayne Johnson.

Plot: Misfit detectives Gamble and Hoitz are sentenced to life behind a desk. They hate each other and the monotony of their meaningless jobs, as they are forced to live in the shadow of the two most badass cops on the force (Jackson and Johnson). But when those guys kick the bucket, opportunity knocks for Gamble and Hoitz. Stumbling onto what could be one of the biggest crimes in years, can The Other Guys step up their game to solve the case without killing each other and destroying NYC in the process.

This movie is just plain stupid with a couple of witty scenes thrown in there occasionally. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Will Ferrell and I cannot stand Steve Coogan, but despite this I added this movie to my Lovefilm list because it looked funny in the trailer (rookie mistake!) and I was fascinated by the idea of Mark Wahlberg taking on a more comedic role after the serious award baiting fare of The Fighter and The Departed.  The fact is if it wasn't for Mark Wahlberg, I would have turned this movie off after the first 30 mins. He is brilliant in it!

The film starts off promising with two very entertaining cameos from Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson, as they rampage through NYC chasing criminals and destroying the city in the process. This starts off looking like it could be a great parody on the Lethal Weapon movies, but once Will Ferrell comes into the picture, all originiallity goes out the window. You can tell that Ferrell has been given free reign to improvise and most of the time it just doesn't work.

As previously mentioned the real stand out here is Mark Wahlberg. His comedic timing is impeccable and the scene where he is first introduced to Eva Mendes as Will Ferrell's smoking hot wife is one of the best scenes in it. Wahlberg struggles to comprehend quite how Ferrell married this woman and then very obviously hits  on her for the rest of the evening. The movie is also worth a watch just to see Michael Keaton back in a main role and he is great.

I have to say I was really disapointed with this film. I expected a lot from the trailer and obviously that is where all the best jokes are. They could have made this a very witty parody on Lethal Weapon and you can tell that they are aiming for this in parts, particularly with the way saxophone music plays over every male bonding moment. But this little in joke is about as far as they get with it.

If you love Will Ferrell you will probably find this hilarious, but if not, this is probably one to watch on a Friday night when you have had a few drinks and are not looking for anything too taxing. I give it 3.5 out of 5!

Going the Distance

Year: 2010

Writer: Geoff LaTulippe

Director: Nanette Burstein

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis and Christina Applegate

Plot: Erin and Garrett strike sparks for a summer fling in New York City but neither expects it to last once Erin heads home to San Francisco. But after six increasingly romantic weeks, neither is sure they want it to end. So despite the opposing coasts, nay saying friends and family and a few unexpected temptations, the couple might just have found something like love. And helped by a lot of texting, sexting and late night phone calls, they might actually go the distance.

Going the Distance was one of those movies that despite looking like your typical rom-com, I actually expected a lot more from because it had got rave reviews. However, I was actually slightly disappointed with it. The main issue I had was with the casting. Drew Barrymore seems just way too old for this kind of movie now. Despite only being 36 years old, the hard partying years have taken their toll and the fact that she has been around in the movie world since the age of 7, means that she seems a hell of a lot older. She is also an extremely talented actress and director and I felt that her talents were let down by the poor writing. Justin Long on the other hand seems a lot younger than his 31 years and despite being really likable characters on screen, the match just doesn't work. There is no chemistry there which is often the case with real life couples. Remember Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut! ugh!

Justin Long's friends were played by Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis (of Saturday Night Live fame.) Jason Sudeikis was great as the older wiser friend with all the best advice, but Charlie Day played the bumbling stoner type which I feel is kinda outdated. He only had a couple of good lines revolving around the fact that he tended to listen in to Drew and Justin while in Justin's bedroom and then play appropriate movie sex scene music accordingly. Apart from that he mainly annoyed the hell out of me.

The real star of this movie has to be Christina Applegate, as Drew's older slightly OCD sister, she consistently had all the best lines and proved herself yet again to be a master of physical and verbal comedy. Any scene that she was in was laugh out loud hilarious. It was mainly for her that I kept watching and the fact that having been in a long distance relationship myself in the past, a lot of the scenarios were very familiar and often quite touching.

If you look at other reviews for this movie on Imdb, it seems that most people seemed to love it and I am in the minority. Maybe I expected too much of it and the fact that I don't really get the appeal of Justin Long probably did not help. But I would say that if you are looking for a amusing and touching romantic comedy that does exactly what it says on the tin and you are not expecting to be falling off your chair with laughter, or blown away by the dialogue and plot, then you could do worse than this.

If you have seen it let me know what you think. Am I the only one unimpressed by this movie?

Charlie Wilson's War

Year: 2007

Writer: Aaron Sorkin

Director: Mike Nichols

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams.

Plot: Charlie Wilson's War is the true story of how a playboy congressman, a renegade CIA agent and a beautiful Houston socialite joined forces to lead the largest and most successful covert operation in history.Their efforts contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, with consequences that reverberate throughout the world today.






Charlie Wilson's War  was  one of the movies that I originally saw at the cinema when it first came out, loved it and then promptly forgot about it. I rediscovered it a few months ago in the glory that is the HMV sale, where some real gems are often to be found. I watched it on Saturday night and remembered just how well written and acted this movie was. 


Written by Aaron Sorkin (the guy behind The Social Network) and directed by Mike Nichols (of Closer fame),This film tells the now well known story of how the US trained and armed resistance fighters in Afghanistan and aided them in defeating the Russians and bringing about the fall of communism in the East. But it focuses on the less well known story of who was actually behind this, an alcoholic congressman called Charlie Wilson. 


This film is a not only a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of US interference but it is also incredibly funny. Tom Hanks is as always brilliant and as he started in comedy in the 80s, it is nice to see him going back to his roots. Julie Roberts is enchanting, but it is Philip Seymour Hoffman who steals the movie by a mile. His turn as CIA renegade Gus Avrakotos who has no respect for anyone and has serious anger issues is genius! At points with him and Tom Hanks the movie almost veers in to screwball territory.  Check out one of his best scenes below.

Watching the events of this movie now and knowing what we do about September 11th and the war on terror, this movie seems strangely poignant. In particularly when Charlie Wilson tries to convince the US government that following the fall of the Soviet Union it is important that they invest in the education of the young Afghans to avoid ignorance and resentment and the government refuse. It is a timely reminder of what happens when a country interferes in the affairs of another, but then does not clean up their mess before they leave.


I give this movie 4 stars, so worth checking it out!!


"These things happened, they were glorious and they changed the world and then we fucked up the endgame." - Charlie Wilson

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Crikey it has been a busy two weeks of reading and film watching and I have three reviews to tell you all about so I better crack on!!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Enter a vanished world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver.

There's Aibileen raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from college, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.

No one would believe they would be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell.



This book was read as part of my monthly book group. There are four of us and each month one person takes a turn to select five books, sometimes with an underlying theme, sometimes books just on the shelf and then the rest of the group select their top 3. The one with the most votes wins and it is as simple as that. We then meet up about 4 weeks later to talk about the book.

I have to admit that this was not my first choice for this month's book group. I had heard rave reviews about it  but was not sure it was really something I would be interested in and too much hype often tends to put me off books. However, once I got into this book I was entranced! One Sunday afternoon I spent 3 hours straight absorbed in the unfamiliar but utterly engrossing portrayal of life in a Southern town in 60's America.

The story is told by the three main characters Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter and the book takes you through the turn of events in Jackson, Mississippi through each of their eyes. As the story develops you feel as if you know these people intimately, like they were your closest friends. I could see myself sat at Aibileen's kitchen table while she wrote her prayers, hiding in the larder closet with Miss Skeeter as she conducted telephone conversations in secret away from the nosy attentions of her ever critical mother and cringing as Minny humiliates her former bosses daughter in the most disgusting but hilarious way!

This book taught me so much that I didn't know about the ways in which white owners treated their black maids and the utter ignorance they had about black people. The fact they thought they could catch diseases from them just by using the same toliets or eating at the same table was astounding. And despite the book focusing mainly on the main characters there are references to the important historical events of the civil rights struggle, although suprisling despite being set around 1963 there is only a very brief mention of the death of JFK. More is devoted to the murder of black civil rights activist Medgar Evans, emphasising that this book is more about the often forgotten voices of the everyday black people fighting an ongoing struggle.

I thought Kathryn Stockett had done an excellent job in portraying the friendships between people in times of segregation and I found her brief article at the back of the book about her own maid Demetrie rather affecting. One must note that a lawsuit was brought against Kathryn by Aibilene Cooper, a housekeeper for the household of Kathryn's brother, who claimed that Kathryn had used her image, likeness and background without permission. This case was thrown out by a judge on 16th August. Make of it what you will.

Have you read this book or are you reading it? What did you think of it? I would love to hear your thoughts, don't be shy!