hscptcrash

Another Simple Favour (2025)

Rating: 18
Length: 02h01
Release: 01/05/2025
Director: Paul Feig
About: Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson reunite on the island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman, which is interrupted by murder and betrayal. Every friendship has its twists.
Moon: No Moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

The Good

Both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are killing it again. Not only do they individually bring their A game, their chemistry as social cat and mouse who love each other is the best kind of fucked-up.
This film is a farce, and it’s not hiding that fact. However, Feig has traded in his Saturday Night Live casting for a much more scripted and controlled affair. There’s few actresses that can balance that line of comedy and drama, and only one who can do well. Allison Janney not only adds her Oscar winning acting chops, she plays the role with perfect comic timing.
The costumes are as incredible as the first film. If for nothing else, you have to watch the film to feel the awe and envy of the clothes both Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick get to wear.

The Bad

It’s about 30 minutes too long. The opening sets everything up pretty quickly if not a little too exposition by dialogue.
The publicist was wasted character and just there to be picked up and dropped when Stephanie needs someone to talk to. I almost wish the set up to get her to the wedding instead included taking her son or anyone else.

The Ugly

Enough with the casual incest already. It is just such a weird non-plot point that the film just keeps coming back to. It feels like it would be right at home in a Feig/McCarthy led production and a improv line. However, it’s just odd that it was not only brought back up, but the film doubled down in the sequel.

Final Thoughts

Yet another surprising offering from Feig. It won’t stand up to multiple viewings but it certainly is worth the watch.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) Film Review

The ghost with the most is back

Rating 12a
Length 1h44
Release 06.09.2024
Director Tim Burton
About Three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River after an unexpected family tragedy. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life soon gets turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter discovers a mysterious portal to the afterlife. When someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times, the mischievous demon gleefully returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.
Moon: Full Moon spotted during Beetlejuice’s backstory about an hour in.
Where to Watch: Still at cinemas nationwide
Trailer:

Trick

I assumed it was the notoriety surrounding Jeffrey Jones that saw his character, Charles, meet his demise. It is sad, then, how much his likeness was used throughout the film. Often, a disgraced actor’s character is done away with sans pomp and ceremony. So I am surprised that his image is shown on his grave… stone?
It was one thing to show his death through stop motion. Hell, I quite liked it and thought it was a novel way to get past not casting him. However, that should have been it. No headless character popping up and certainly no photos of him at all. It then begs the question; is Jones still getting paid for this instalment?
Given that Jones is not imprisoned, it all feels very bad faith and bad taste to involve the character so heavily.
On a similar note, Santiago Cabera’s Richard is underused. Many of the scenes involving Charles, could have been replaced with Richard and reducing the audience ick from Charles and giving Richard the room to develop his character.
I could tell Beetlejuice was Michael Keaton this time around. It’s not like I didn’t know who Michael Keaton was when I watched the original Beetlejuice; I’d seen Batman. However, much like James Spader in Mannequin, I really struggled to see Keaton in the role, he was so involved and invested.
Now, that’s not to say he wasn’t invested this time. It’s just that it very much felt like Michael Keaton playing Beetlejuice.
I wanted to love Jenna Ortega as Astrid. On one level I did. She is the perfect daughter for Winona Ryder’s Lydia. My issue is passing on the conflict from Delia and Lydia to Lydia and Astrid.
Astrid being obsessed with death on the one hand, but also not believing Lydia and her past does not work for me. Something needs to change within the conflict, or they need to be on the same page from the start. Think Gilmore Girls and the Gilmore matriarch. Don’t get me wrong, the conflict works narratively. However, it fails because you’ve created a carbon copy of Lydia in Astrid.
The lip-sync overwhelm. Loved the synching to Brian Adams however the film was trying to recapture the magic of the original scenes and, in doing so, comes across a little too try-hard. The worst, for me, was the wedding ceremony dance/sync-along. It felt too forced and tired.
We get it Burton, you have a type. Please stop casting your current beau in your work. Yes Monica Belluchi is a goddess. Does she fit the role well? Eh! I personally would have preferred someone else, someone who was not so ethereal.

Treat

As a sequel with an extended length of time between, and upon first watch, I really enjoyed being back in this world. The colours and the contrast of the living and the dead. It all provides such a beautiful and quirky comfort. There’s a story that was legitimate and worth telling, the characters still feel the same and not like the actors have forgotten everything that made them great.
Catherine O’Hara is delightful and everything I remembered of Delia Deetz. From the moment we see her in the art installation, I remembered why I’ve always longed for a sequel.
What I loved most of all, was that she was still the quirky woman I remembered, but she’d embraced that part of herself and the medicated harshness was gone from her character.
It’s funny, it’s charming and it attempts to throw you off guard. How successful it is with that, I guess it how good you are at reading films.
Bob!
It is a self contained story. Yes, there may be a sequel down the line, however there doesn’t need to be one. It leaves you fulfilled, at least it did me.

Final Thoughts

It is never going to live up to the standard of the first outing, but it gives enough to satisfy anyone wanting to return to the world or those who enjoy Tim Burton’s work.

Pitch Perfect (2012) Film Review

Well… sometimes I have the feeling I can do crystal meth, but then I think, mmm… better not.

Rating 12a
Length 1h52
Release 21.12.2012
Director Jason Moore
About Beca, a college fresher, reluctantly joins an all-girls a cappella group and later infuses freshness into their repertoire. They then take on a male a cappella group in a competition.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

Anna Kendrick gives an opinion changing performance with this film and sees me going from avoiding anything with her in, thanks to Twilight, to her being someone I’d watch in everything.
Not only is she likeable and relatable as Freshman Beca, I was left with a want to see how Twilight would have played out had she secured the role of Bella Swan.
There is a really good plot thread in which Leader Aubrey, feeling challenged by natural leader Beca, doubles down on her management style and makes it clear that Beca is not liked, or wanted. Now this may appear to be a clique that has been seen in many films. Even music competition film Sister Act has a similar theme with Whoopi’s teacher nun and the class she has to look after.
However, Pitch Perfect makes it feel fresh and new.
The music is awesome. Every song collected for this soundtrack is upbeat and will have you humming along for days after you watched.
I like that the romance, while present, takes a back seat, favouring a slow burn and friendship.

The Bad

I do love both Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins. However for every line that hits a funny bone, there’s about three that will have you cringing. I guess that’s the nature of ad lib.
I wish they’d put subtitles on Lilly, because what she actually says is genius. They should have been there for every line even in the cinema. I absolutely cannot recommend strongly enough that the next time you watch, you put on the subtitles.

The Ugly

Some of the jokes, particularly those that are aimed at Cynthia Rose’s sexuality, feel very dated and boarding on being phobic.
In the same sense, the whole concept of “Fat Amy”. While not so much that it hasn’t aged well, but more that it was never funny. Yes, I’m saying that as a larger lady. However, the point is that even if you have the “fat” character poking fun at themselves it’s rarely going to work if she’s written by someone who has never had weight issues.

Final Thoughts

This is such a comfort movie for me, despite the flaws. I think I watch it at least once a year and this is quite significant considering I watched it on one of the worst days of my life.

Vertigo (1958) Film Review

Somewhere…Somehow – He’d Loved and Killed That Self-Same Girl Before!

Rating 12
Length 2h08
Release 22.05.1958
Director Alfred Hitchcock
About John, a retired detective from San Francisco, suffers from acrophobia. He is approached by an old friend, a rich shipbuilder, who wants John to investigate the weird activities of his wife, Madeleine.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: ITV X
Trailer:

The Good

James Stewart is as awesome always. Okay, so Scottie is no George Bailey but he is still a likeable character thrown into a complex mystery. I’m not used to seeing America’s Everyman in colour, but bloody hell those eyes take on the lion’s share of the role.
The music has that Hichcockian chill to it, adding to the elements that make the director a high profile auteur.
The entire filming and cinematography. The flair and experimental shots that jerk you into the scene.
All the scenes including Midge are wonderful and I really do wish she was used a little more and not discarded come the final act.

The Bad

“I love you Madeline.”
Really?! She’s your mate’s wife and you’ve been essentially stalking her for 3 days at the point of you uttering those words?! Yeah, I’m cynical, but a bloke who is still hanging about in his ex-fiancee’s place and tasked with following a woman who may or may not be on the edge of a mental breakdown is not the fast-track for love.

The Ugly

I wish it was in black and white. I don’t quite know what it is, but outside of Stewart’s dashing blues, everything seemed off. Almost as if it was coloured in after the film was made.

Final Thoughts

Great film with a few surprising turns that justify its run time.

ADHD and Isolation

So this one is a little weird and rather hard to cover. Certainly for me, isolation is a symptom of ADHD, but it is also a solution, coping mechanism and self-care to the emotional deregulation, pain and burnout that comes from trying to socialise and fit in.

Social isolation is a real problem for women with ADHD. We feel disconnected from family members and colleagues who don’t understand our ADD challenges. And we feel too ashamed to ask for help.
ADDitude

I’ve never been the life of the party and I never suffer from FOMO. I only probably make around 50% of my prearranged engagements and if it’s a party of some description, I am planning my escape from the moment I arrive.

However, I am really struggling to be ‘normal’ of late, and I think it is largely to do with how the last five or so years have unfolded and the various types of isolation I’ve experienced.

Social skills are all the things we should say and do (or not say and do) when we interact with other people. They aren’t officially taught in school, but it’s expected that we all know the mysterious social rules that govern our relationships.

If you don’t, you often end up dismissed, rejected, and lonely without knowing exactly what it is that you did wrong, and no one usually tells you. Without feedback you rarely have a chance to improve your social behavior. What a vicious cycle!
Additude

Year	Type of Isolation
2019	Moved back to Liverpool and began looking after my father who was rendered bed bound by March 2019. He was suffering from end-stage Emphysema and heart failure. Even in October 2018, he was driving around, but I honestly don’t know how. So I came home and took over the cooking and spent some quality time with him. Due to his condition, I limited how much I spent out, not wanting to pass any bug onto him. My ex best friend, J. Well I saw her once a week, but that was only because I was used to pick up her kids and sold to me as a ‘break’ away from my dad. The most hurtful being that the one time she asked if I was doing anything on a Friday Night?! It was to babysit so she could go out. Massive RSD. Dad died in November 2019. (I still went and stewarded a Liverpool game a few days after he passed because I was needing to be around people) My brother didn’t come to the funeral (his second son was born the next day), didn’t come to see me between his death and the funeral. All calls came with a RSD tag of “My family here is all I need; my wife and children. That’s it.” EVERY. SINGLE. CALL. He never asked if there was anything he could do. I went to see him and he was snappy from the moment I saw him on the Thursday evening. By Saturday I was told to “Get the fuck out my house.” and he left me to spend my first Christmas without Dad alone.
2020	I waited until after Christmas to properly look for a job. Having no money made it incredibly hard to socialise. I was so close to getting a job at Knowsley Safari Park and it wasn’t fun when I was not picked. However, it didn’t really matter because by March, the whole country was in lockdown. I went all Yellow Wallpaper on the house and stripped the walls after the smoke infused off-white reminded me of why I was alone. This would have been the perfect time to be clearing the house, but I couldn’t even afford a skip so that was out. My brother was briefly back in my life when our old teacher got in touch to tell me he wasn’t doing well. However we parted ways again when I asked for money to cover the bills and instead of saying ‘no’, he ignored me for 2 days and then sent me £10 shy of what the bill was, completely triggering my RSD. Even though I didn’t have a name for it, he knew exactly what I’d be like. In September I started work as a supply teacher, but I wasn’t making any connections. I was in a different place from day to day. Due to the nature of 2020, I ended up spending Christmas and my birthday alone due to my ‘bubble’ having Covid and me needing to isolate.
2021	January – March I had work once a week because schools closed again and schools didn’t need supply workers. All the money I had was going on bills and food, and there was no socialising due to the government fucking up. 18 months, to the day that dad died, I got a letter to tell me I had to get the fuck out of the house. No my brother wasn’t going to help clear the place, no it didn’t matter that I was jobless because of Covid (Although I was at this point working as a supply teacher), he wanted his money and was concerned I was destroying the house, specifically mentioning the garden and the front door as his biggest concerns. So regardless of my situation, the house needed to go on the market and I needed to get out. The half-sister who said for all to hear at the funeral that she didn’t want part of the house not only didn’t want to help clear, wasn’t happy that I was using a probate company to complete the sale and distribution of wealth because she would lose some of the money. So any spare time that wasn’t being used working was used emptying the house. Started HMRC in October. Trained from home, did two weeks in the office and they closed again due to Covid.
2022	Offices opened up again around April time, but closed due to flooding in June/July
2023	Offices opened back up around June time.
2024

Beyond Work – Hobbies and Talking Points

All Time Hobbies

So these are the hobbies that have been around long enough that I don’t think I’m at any risk of them going anywhere.

Writing – I want to be published. I have amazing ideas. When travelling I can come up with so many details and occasionally, I can exist in that mid-point between the watching the story unfold in my head and actually being able to jot down the happenings. However, making time, sitting down and writing it?! Not happening. (Weird thing I’ve found?! I can’t think standing up. Like, I’ve tried a standing desk )
I hope that once I’m medicated, I’ll be able to sit down and get them written.

Films – They’re my comfort. The cinema was my special place and I still enjoy going, it’s just that there’s always someone not there to actually watch the movie.
From a yearly birthday treat with my mum, my introduction to Jurassic Park with my brother and the odd journey to space, the final frontier with my Dad, cinema became the anchor to my fondest memories.
Even in more recent years I’ve been to a premier, I’ve experienced life as Rebel Scum inside an abandoned Newspaper factory, and been to preview screenings with the director (M Night Shyamalan and Terry Gilliam) and got to ask them questions.

I guess I love films so much because they’re worlds that I can be part of and engage with, without feeling left out. The cinema also adds the extra buffer of it being dark, loud and the screen fills the wall. It shuts down all the thoughts (Except for when I went to see The Day After Tomorrow and I could not place the face… I even dared to press the internet button on my Nokia 3330 because I could not focus on the film. Alas, it wasn’t until my key was in my door that my brain blurted BENVOLIO to me).
Films at home, don’t have that same impact and I do sometimes end up on my phone. On IMDB and reading the trivia and making cast connections.

Hell…. can’t quite believe that I’m revealing this, but at the age of 17, when everyone my age was out clubbing and being normal, I spent nearly 2 years watching Die Hard every Friday night after The Jonathan Ross Show.
While we’re at the over sharing portion, I should also point out that every Thursday night I got the tv to myself for 30minutes. I would watch the first 30 minutes of either Jurassic Park or Beauty and the Beast. I would even use some of the time to REWIND.
If someone could tell me why I did this, I am very interested because even for me, that’s fucking weird.

Reading – I do love reading. Between 2016 and 2019 I was averaging around 100 books a year. Mostly preview books and reviewed right here. However, since Covid I’ve probably only read four or five and I’ve lost my connections to publishers that would occasionally see beautiful books and additional goodies arrive at my doorstep.
It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that there’s nothing else I can do while reading and my mind wanders.

Hobbies and ADHD

Hobbies are activities that people engage in for enjoyment, sometimes as means of decompressing, unwinding, and relieving stress. Hobbies are generally synonymous with pleasure, and this can take place by the release of dopamine “happy hormone”.
ADHD Specialist

The Abandoned Hobbies

Knitting (more because I cannot do it… I was gifted this ‘save the princess kit’ and all I had to do was knit a creature. She’s still there because I couldn’t follow the instructions)
Nail polish and painting my nails.
Greeting Card making. (To be fair, back in 2001/2 and all the way up to 2008, this wasn’t just me)
Collecting books (I became obsessed with collecting the World Book Night books from Charity shops. Didn’t want to read any of them, but the dopamine of finding a new one I didn’t own was pretty awesome)
Collecting geeky tees (It started with a silhouette of Benedict Cumberbatch and the most recent spurt of Qwertee purchases has its own locker-style wardrobe. Yup, right after Season 4 of Stranger Things dropped, there was a flood of designs and I was compelled to get each one. I’m still a little too fat to wear them comfortably.)
Turning geeky tees into a blanket (When it was clear I owned way too many tees. I sewed it by hand, which anyone knows is a bad idea. I had thought about completing the other side with my dad’s collection after he died, only upon cutting the first to size I was dusted with his flaky skin that was engrained in the threads. They had been washed many times, but I guess due to his condition …. in the bin they went.’)
Collecting dvds of actors (Michael Fassbender, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland were just some of the actors that were the focus of this collect. I knew when I bought two copies of Avengers Assemble – one for Tom and the other for Mark – that I had a problem)
Collecting hippos (They’re just in a box now. They were in my classroom and actually meant that a kid would get me something hippo related instead of chocolate at the end of the year.)
Dechopatch (I made Christmas Dinosaur ornaments with dechopache in 2019. I bought more to make ones for Valentine’s, Easter and Halloween… but they remain un-patch’d)
Jurassic park card pack (God damn it! Such a problem. I spent so much on them to get a full set that I have a second almost-full set and a massive pile of spares!)

TIPS

I will refer to films. A lot. It’s all I know.
I equally want, and not want, you to read my stuff. I feel like its the ultimate gesture, but on the other hand I’m so hyperaware that by offering you something to read is an obligation… and what if you don’t like it?!
Never get me to do origami. I hate it. I cannot do it and I will cry. (That said, I once spent three months mastering the art to make a lily for a Prometheus birthday gift. I messed up so many times that even though the lily was meant to be white, I used all that paper and it ended up being a weird brown colour with an apology note. So, yeah…. if I badly master origami for you, that means you’re special.)

Back to the Manual

ADHD and Relationships

The short story of it all is, I fucking suck at them.
My family circle?! It is a dot.
Boyfriends? All toxic relationships and I’m certain I was just a sex gap until someone else came along. Dates? If they manage to get me out for the first date, most have been disasters. Funny, oh painfully funny, but disasters non the less.
Best Friends? You’d have better luck playing Where’s Wally
Friends? I have some beautiful and patient friends who are very understanding, and I mean no offence to them nor am I attempting to suggest they’re not enough. However, the issue of quality over quantity is more that it’s not a choice and losing friends seems to be a vicious circle.

In relationships, the hyperactivity symptoms of ADHD can be disruptive and difficult to live with. They can lead to unresolved important family conversations and can prevent partners and family members from feeling truly relaxed and secure in their relationship.
ADHD CLININC

Although every partner brings their own sets of baggage into a relationship, a partner with ADHD may often have the following issues:

negative self image

lack of self confidence

feelings of shame

These issues may at first be masked by their ability to shower their beloved with romance and attentiveness, a benefit of the ADHD symptom hyperfocus. This is the ability to intensely concentrate and become fully engrossed in an activity.
But that hyperfocus inevitably shifts. When it does, a person with ADHD may seem to barely notice their partner at all. This may make the ignored partner wonder if they’re really loved. This dynamic can strain a relationship.
The partner with ADHD might constantly question their partner’s love or commitment, which may be perceived as a lack of trust. This can drive the couple even further apart.
Healthline

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Well, depression. In a nutshell.
What I desire is in direct conflict to what I have or think I can ever achieve.

I want to be loved

… but I cannot even do that for myself. What is it Ru Paul says “If you don’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”
Not to go against Mamma Ru’s wisdom, but the challenge for me is not loving other people; I can give it away in the boatload.
I loath me. I annoy me. I hate spending time with just me. On top of that I’m not the one who is ever going to have someone call me beautiful and I only have to think about a slice of cheesecake to gain half a stone.
How the hell can I get a bloke to even tolerate me, let alone love me?

I want sex

Okay, so I want sex on my terms and not ‘just’ sex. I feel the need to clarify because whenever I have ever mentioned this to entrusted people I’m told sex is easy to get. Firstly, experience has told me this very much isn’t the case. Going out with my Liverpool based ex-best friend I have two very distinct memories. The first, while she was married, was her telling any bloke that approached us that we weren’t interested. Yup, clam whammed by my own best friend who would then go on to shame me for being single.
Fast forward to 2021 and we’re both single. But because she’s recently divorced, I’m meant to be the wing-woman, distracting the friend and not going anywhere so she can get his number.
Even with dating sites, I know being a part of someone’s spank bank is easy to achieve and I have had the 2am “come to mine right now” as a first message on Tinder from men wanting the ‘fattie’. This isn’t what I want (I don’t want someone who will encourage me to stay fat) and I do not want to settle.

All the easy to get is that people assume sex is about the orgasm and it really isn’t. I want the connection, the communication, and the fun. Going for the aim of ‘just sex’, you get none of that and, as a woman, there’s little chance of a happy ending either.

As it stands, I’m too old to be out in a club to be taken home as leftovers. Equally, the whole being able to talk to men making in near impossible to flirt let alone anything that remotely resembles a conversation. I’m fucked. In the most opposite meaning of the word.

I want a relationship

It’s been 7 years since I last went on a date. That same date became my last ‘boyfriend’. I do not have the energy for the first date routine, anxiety and the exhaustion of it not amounting to much.

I want a someone who makes me laugh, and more importantly has a laugh that I could listen to forever. The routine, the partnership, the security and openness.

Given that anytime I have anything resembling feelings for a bloke, I know he will see me fancying them as something offensive, as they should. What follows is a shame cycle for cursing the man with me wanting them yet wanting nothing more than for them to at the very least, want to be the Esmeralda to my Quasimodo. That, dear reader, has only happened once. Seriously, in my history of admitting my feelings I’ve been laughed at, told they’re not wanting a girlfriend (only to say yes to someone else less than an hour later), told to go and die, told they were having a laugh by flirting with me and informed me that telling them was a firm of sexual harassment.
The last one said, upon being told I thought he was beautiful, funny and wonderful but knowing I wasn’t good enough just wanted us to be friends. (Yes, I asked a man to be my friend and it keeps me awake often) His response was to say he was flattered but that we should only talk about work… to which he promptly ignored every single work query I had and voted the man who shouted ‘no one likes you’ to me , and caused me to request a move, as a ‘leader of the future’.

I’m dreading the next time my heart is captured by a bloke that will be just as repulsed as all of the above. It’s painful because I don’t have the rebound capacity of a Hollyoaks character, my RSD makes it really hard to bounce back at all and I’ve pretty much written off ever telling someone I like them again.

So, over the last 7 years and partly due to living alone through Covid, I’ve learned to tolerate myself and my own company. Is it lonely?! Oh fuck, it’s painfully lonely. However it is far less painful than the alternative.

I Wanted a Family

That can’t seem so shocking?! I’m a woman and I bleed once a month as a reminder that I’ve once again failed to achieve what my body was built for. It also stands as yet another social check point, I’ve failed to reach in this game of life.

Once again, other people have reminded me that there are ways and I don’t have to make it so hard on myself if it’s what I want. Well, it’s not just having a baby. I’m not that person who is biologically driven. I want a family, not an isolated womb goblin to fuck up in completely different ways to how my parents did.

What I wanted was the social norm; the man, the kids, the happiness. The ‘insert holiday here’ table and photos to look back at with fondness. I just wanted some love to call my own.

Friends

Who didn’t grow up watching Friends and hoping for a life like that?
It’s not that I haven’t had friends, or still have friends. It’s just that I’m not very good at keeping them.

Part of ADHD means I’m someone who overcompensates. I’m a giver and unable to say no. Until I’m exhausted, and I reign in. On top of that, there’s the standard miscommunication and emotional deregulation that massively pisses people off and just as quickly as they’ve appeared in my life, they’re gone.

TIPS

If you are new to my life, I will always be petrified you’re going to leave me.
I cannot get rid of the thought that I am a monster and that’s why I’m unlovable.
If I fancy you, please understand I don’t want to repulse you. If I ever tell you or you find out, know that I’m not expecting a positive response, but please don’t tell me to die, laugh at me or remind me of how ugly I am.
If you’re a friend, I adore you. If I bail on plans, it’s because me not being there will improve the event and I know you’ll still get to go.

Back to the Manual

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

They’re back to thaw things out

Rating 12
Length 1h56
Release 22.03.2024
Director Doug Lyman
About The Spengler family returns to the iconic New York City firehouse where the original Ghostbusters have taken ghost-busting to the next level. When the discovery of an ancient artefact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must unite to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Cinemas Nationwide
Trailer:

The Good

Love the Trevor ‘tude. Finn Wolfhard really has that ‘I’m 18 so I want to be treated like an adult’ done to a comedic fine art and his story arc with Slimer is quite cool and there is a great pay off to it.

As much as I was worried about it, I’m actually quite happy we returned to New York and, even though we are back, this film offers us something different.

Paul Rudd truly is the gift that keeps on giving with this franchise. His paternal role and the conflict of not quite being part of the family is so beautifully handled from the moment he introduces himself as Phoebe’s ‘step-teacher’.

Lars and the new digs! Oh I love them both. Lars gives us a new Egon and the newly developed site blows the franchise wide open in terms of concepts. I also must admit that the final act also resets a lot. Almost akin to Arkham being destroyed.

The Bad

Getting Podcast and Lucky to New York was a tad heavy handed and while the film has a place for Podcast, I’m not sure it knows what to do with Lucky. The other aspect is that both characters are ‘discovered’ to be in New York for the summer, rather than the Spengler family knowing they were there.
In addition to this, the connection between Lucky and Trevor is non existent. In fact, I think they spend one scene together?!

I want more Lars Pinfield. James Acaster, being of a similar age and dry humour, is living my dream of being a Ghostbuster. Plus he’s hot, in that British way that was made prominent by Anthony Stewart Head in Buffy.
So, to say that we needed more, I mean it. He’s introduced and utilises impeccably well, for the most part. However, when it came to the final act, it was almost as if there were too many characters to handle and he just disappears, only to return in the closing moments.
It’s a shame, because he really is a great addition to cast. I truly do hope they take the franchise in the direction rumoured and he gets to head up a UK branch.

The Ugly

Melody, or rather the actress, being 16 is completely unbelievable. I know it is about her connection with Phoebe however, it would have been better to have gotten a younger actress or made the character a little older.
As it stands, it’s a little reminiscent of Shirley Henderson playing Potter first year Moaning Myrtle.

Final Thoughts

I loved it. I don’t understand the hate and I will most definitely be rewatching this.

ADHD and Coordination

While clumsiness and frequent injuries could result from many things—coordination difficulties, absentmindedness, etc.—one cause that’s often overlooked? ADHD.

ADHDers typically have difficulty sustaining focus, and accidents are bound to happen when people aren’t paying attention. So, for example, we’re more likely to miss or forget small details—like that box we set down in the hallway ‘temporarily’—and then end up tripping over it.

But there’s more to ADHD and clumsiness than you might think.
https://www.getinflow.io/post/accident-prone-clumsy-adhd-cause

I’m writing this with a very achy hand, a dizzy head and a heavy feeling that my day was going to be ruined before it’s even started.
Not for the first time I found myself, not 10 minutes ago, face planting the floor. Tripping on what can only be my own feet, my balance is gone and my rather mundane life is flashing before my eyes. Luckily, with some ungraceful reaching, I managed to grab the lamppost as if I were a Z rate Gene Kelly, twisting my hand and pulling some muscles along the way. I still didn’t manage to avoid a concussion of sorts; my brain feels sliced, diced and muddled up in a cocktail shaker.

Last time I remember a stumble as bad as this, it was peak time traffic just after Christmas 2023 and I fell while at the crossing the main road. Embarrassed by falling over nothing once again, I rushed to the station and away from the lovely boys who helped me off the floor and informed me my mince pie was dead.
By the time I’d gotten down onto the platform I was feeling a little sick. Put it down to the fall and potentially hitting my head on the floor. I have this stupid habit of not putting out my hands out to break my floor.
That’s when I noticed blood pouring down my hand. Three months later I still have a scar, which gives you an idea of how deep it went.

It’s not a trip around the sun without me breaking one, or both, small toes. Only yesterday I managed to stab myself in the back with a knife and, no not in the metaphorical sense; I’d put my cutlery in my bag after lunch, returned to my desk and, forgetting they were in my bag, sat down without removing the bag from my body.

These photos are from July 2019 when I was partway down my childhood stairs and I took the trip and fall way down.

WHAT THIS MEANS?

I’m clumsy as fuck and the very fact that I’m still alive without any major accident is quite frankly, a miracle.
I spill food, I cannot fold for shit and I basically walk like I’m Bambi learning to stand for the first time. At best I’m going to look like a mad scientist on the verge of a breakthrough, but mostly I’ll look like a Muppet dressed me in the dark. Would I want to look pretty and attractive? My inactive and unloved loins say yes! But any time I do try, I end up looking more like a drag queen from PoundLand. Plus… I’ll go into this in more detail in another post, but I want someone to love (I’ll settle for tolerate at this point) me for who I am, not entrap with catfishing and filters.

TIPS

Please laugh. If I fall, I’m begging you please find it funny.
If I lose my glasses, make them your priority… I cannot see without them.
If it’s safe to do so, please don’t rush to get me up. Treat me like a laptop you’ve turned off and on again. I WILL be out of focus.
If I black out and that’s the cause of my tumble, remind me to trigger my heart monitor. The remote is on my keys.
Please point out food that lands on my clothes. Yes, that mostly means the shelf that is my boobs. You don’t have to point at it/them. Just tell me to check for foooooo…. omg THAT is why I wear so many patterns!

Back to the Manual

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

A Mighty Motion Picture Of Action And Adventure!

Rating 12
Length 3h47!!!
Release 10.12.1962
Director David Lean
About Lawrence, a lieutenant in the British Army, is asked by Colonel Brighton to moderately assess Faisal, their ally. Lawrence is impressed with Faisal and seeks his help to plan an attack on the enemy.Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

Peter O’Toole is, certainly to me, the mid-century equivalent to David Tennent. The voice that commands attention, with a clear Shakespearean training and way of standing out among a cast of heavy hitters.
There’s something about him, on his own that is enchanting. You then have these beautiful, almost battle of wits, moments between his character and some of the finest actors of their time. My favourite is Lawrence meeting Omar Sharif’s Sherif Ali for the first time. It’s as if it was straight out of a Shakespeare play. He of course also goes toe to toe with Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins and Alec Guinness. It these interactions alone that make the film worth watching.

It’s a beautiful film with incredible shots and pans of enchanting landscapes. There’s no denying that director David Lean has an incredible eye. I’m not a hot weather girl, but even I’m tempted by what I see.

The music is out of this world. I don’t know if its true, but I feel as if there’s an element within Maurice Jarre’s epic and romantic score that was an inspiration or influence to the great John Williams.
The score here is so iconic that I’ve probably heard hundreds of times without realising it’s origins.

The Bad

The film is too long for the bookend filming device to truly work here. You forget about it by the time you reach the end. The film could have quite easily skipped ahead and started with the introduction of O’Toole’s Lawrence.

The Ugly

There is no need for the film to be as long as it is. The restored version on Netflix runs for 3 hours and 47 minutes and its very, Lord of the Rings with all the walking. I perhaps would have preferred to have seen the original parred down 3 hour and 7 minutes, but even that to me feels excessive.

Another David Lean and Alec Guinness bumble. This time, no prothetic for cultural implication. No, this time it’s straight up brown-face while Anthony Quinn is given the prosthetic nose and brown face. Quite a hard thing to watch knowing we have Omar Sharif, of Arab decent, in the cast.
This is the exact problem that actors are challenging today. A historic president was set that these films would not be marketable without this casting of white prominent actors and fitting them to the role. Equally, Sharif was made up to appear white in many of his roles.
This whole thing, and knowing those who are up in arms over The Little Mermaid and Perry White casting changes will not acknowledge these poor representations, too focused on their perceived injustice makes this film, and others like it, a hard watch.

Final Thoughts

A beautiful and epic film with a charismatic lead. Just really could do with an hour cut out to making it a much more manageable affair.

The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000)

The shortest distance between friends isn’t always a straight line.

Rating 15
Length 1h36
Release 11.05.2001
Director Greg Berlanti
About A group of gay men struggle to navigate relationships and life in West Hollywood. However, a new member joins the gang, putting a strain on their relationship with each other.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: ITV X
Trailer:

The Good

What a cast.

This is not your typical LGBTQ movie. At a time when any mention of being gay would often go hand in hand with a parable about the AIDS crisis, coming out, or the connection to drug cultures, this film gives what I would say is still ahead of its time today; a film about gay relationships, friendships and community.
Its daringly mundane in its story, giving us the ‘turning 30’ theme and how the romantic proverbial clocks are ticking on a group of friends.
It’s heartwarming, it’s refreshing and I want these men in my life.

Timothy Olyphant leads this film in such a beautiful way. I’ve seen him in very few films and always playing a main antagonist or a background character so I am quite happy to see how well he holds his own as a Chris Pine-eque lead, questioning what he wants out of life, love and a relationship.

The Bad

I’m not a fan of Dean Cain of late and find his face smarmy and punchable. I honestly was expecting him to be a homophobic antagonist when I saw his name, so mildly surprised at hearing he took this role against his agent’s wishes.

“told you we should have drugged him and jerked him off.” Don’t know about anyone else, but not a fan of causal rape threats in a conversation over lunch.

They made my man a bad guy. Not even a run of the mill bad guy, he corrupts one of the youngest and most positive men of the group. We don’t get a resolution to it either, so the audience never know if he genuinely cared.

The Ugly

Niagara Falls.
The last act is emotional and with bring forth all the tears; from the heartbreaking to the joyful. It will have you reduced in one swift moment and those tears will fall right up until the credits.

Final Thoughts

This is what Singles (1992) wanted to be. It’s an uplifting, ahead-of-its-time film about friends looking for love, who just so happen to be gay.

ADHD: Overstimulation and Stress

Overstimulation is a state of feeling overwhelmed by the situation you are in. This might take the form of physical or emotional discomfort and feeling like your brain is frozen or you’re unable to think or process anything that’s happening.
VeryWellMind.com

It can also make a person irritable, panicked, or stressed, causing them to lash out at your friends or loved ones all while feeling a strong urge to escape the situation.
When an ADHDer is greatly affected by a certain stimulus, such as a sound or smell, this can lead to the following signs and symptoms:

Headaches, dizziness, or light-headedness
Feeling ill, faint, or nauseous
Increased anxiety and stress
Irritability and agitation
Issues with sleeping
Emotional outbursts
Difficulty focusing

WHAT THIS MEANS

If I am overstimulated, I will either shut down, hyperfocus or I will leave for a while. When in work this used to happen after a particularly bad call, and I would walk a lap, or three, of the floor.

Yup, I’m pretty certain when I’m overstimulated I resemble a Fizzgig. Certainly on the inside, but there’s a good chance on the outside too.

WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW

If I’m irritable or emotional. It’s not about you. I’m fizzy. One thing I always worry about is hurting people when I’m angry. One thing I’ve always been told is that I wear my heart on my sleeve. Basically, I’m not good at hiding how I’m feeling.
Oh and I may swear. A lot. Like, running four swears together. You will find it funny and you are encouraged to laugh.

Often if I retell what’s happened, unless I’m in tears, I’m usually going for ‘making you laugh’. Mainly because, in the words of John McClane in Die Hard 2 ‘How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?’… Only, Groundhog Day style.
There are many female grumps out there as examples, but in my retellings I am going for Perry Cox, James Acaster and Roy Kent type of humour. Also, I love nothing more than making people laugh, so there’s a good chance you laughing at my misfortune will break the bubble of anger too.

TIPS

Just that if I’ve started tapping on my collar and my skin starts to look red, draw my attention to it. There’s a good chance I don’t even know I’m doing it.

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