A walk through the clouds

Anatomy of a Fall I heard a lot of good things about this when it was released and finally got around to watching it. None of its characters are truly sympathetic, so it takes a while for any emotional involvement to start, but everyone and their circumstances are realistic. An interesting study in the complexities of relationships and how easily circumstantial evidence can start to look like guilt, and the difficulty of actually achieving justice. Great acting, when there's not always an easy balance to find, and no characters are inherently right or wrong.


Frankenstein Typical Guillermo del Toro, absolutely beautifully filmed with glorious direction and cinematography and artwork/effects (okay, the wolves are dodgy, but there are limits...) It's been decades since I read the book - I remember the broad outlines, but not the specific details, so I know some of it is book faithful and some of it is added, but I can't track the exact percentages. The overall tone and message is the same, though, and the sadness and frustrations of the story carry through. The creature is doomed by the narrative, no matter how hard he tries, and so in some ways is Frankenstein. Really well done.


My Father's Dragon From the same animation studio that did The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, this film very clearly has the same animation style and mood while not being quite as good as either of those. A young boy and his mother are forced to move from a small town to a grey, industrial city in search of work, their dreams crushed by successive failures. Until the boy meets a talking cat, whose story leads him out to sea and a magical but doomed island and the struggling animals that live there. A story of tragedy and fear and courage, it's entertaining enough for the duration, but not something I'd go back to.


Kneecap Loved it! Brilliant and bitter and funny, it has vibes of Trainspotting with added music and Irish politics. The cast are fantastic, despite being band members first and fictionalised versions of themselves secondarily. The direction with the added emphatic touches of animation is a delight, with some hilarious scenes that had me cracking up. 100% recommend to anyone with a twisted sense of humour or any interest in Ireland.

Yesterday evening I came home from work to find that someone had spent the day reading my circa 20 year old 230k word series for a very niche fandom, and had left detailed comments on every story in the series. After a tedious and sometimes frustrating day at work, that was just awesome ❤️ Today I am replying to their comments, and getting distracted by going back and reading parts of the stories myself - also awesome!