Bedtime Fears as a Deaf Mother by Imogene

Hello everyone,
Once again I'll apologise for the lack of posting, been awfully busy with my little family that I haven't managed to get round to sharing a couple of stories that I have been wanting to!

My husband is a Chef at a local hotel and he very often works the worst hours for a family, and whilst it's like that we're lucky he gets 2 days off a week (sometimes only 1 during busy weeks) but,  he actually has a job! 
One day he comes home and announces he's going to have to stay at work the following night as he can't get into work as it's an early start, so he's going to have to stay in one of the hotel rooms. As he's unable to get a lift in as he's covering for someone who's on holiday, and we have no transport (something we're working on) there was little choice in anything else. When he mentioned it I was fine with the idea, I mean he's had nights alone with our son whilst I've been away with the girls, so really it probably was about time I had a night alone in the bed (plus I could spread out, what more could I really ask for?). I did what I do every night of the week, put my son to bed, do the last few house chores and then relax in front of the soaps for the evening. 
It was only when it reached 11pm that I started feeling sad, because I always know he'll be home about now, no matter how many hours he's done in the day. I wanted him to come in the house, talk too loud, (as they have to talk loud in the kitchen over the fans - so he says!) get a drink and then moan about what time he's starting the next day and then we'd go upstairs, check on Freddie and then go to bed, turning the lights off as we go through. But that night, I was alone, going through the routine. The bed was cold (Men have a way of warming the bed for you even if they're in their half and only in the bed 30 seconds before you climb in) and the bedroom seemed too dark. I moved our son's baby monitor to my bedside, in case he woke up it'll wake me more than the usual place of across the room - I never have a problem with the night calls as Freddie rarely wakes and as Chris is such a light sleeper he normally gets up. But tonight it was all me, I take my hearing aids out and it feels weird being in the bed, because everything was odd. Nothing felt right. I felt really nervous to be left in the house on my own overnight.
It seems silly really because we come from a good area and we know one of the neighbours really well, but I felt so unsettled. I know part of it was because Chris wasn't there, but also because I was in complete silence. I was alone, I felt alone in the house, even though Freddie was next door, I was worried and my fears began to ran through my mind. I worried that Freddie would wake up, cry and cry, but I didn't wake up. I worried that if there happens to be a burglar, I would be completely useless as I wouldn't hear them break in. What if they were kidnappers and took Freddie when he was asleep and I never heard them get in the house, nor past our room into ours? What if. That's what kept me up thinking of all the things, that I couldn't hear or do if anything was to happen. I've never realised how vulnerable I am when I have no hearing aids in - anything could literally happen, if I didn't see, feel or hear it, I'm actually no good. I wouldn't be able to be the mother that my son needed in them few minutes, because I couldn't hear him..
So I ended up putting my hearing aids in and laying there all night awake, twitching at every noise. (As weird as it is to have them out, I do enjoy the silence during the night, but having the hearing aids in was strange as I could hear the boiler, the dog bark outside, the few cars that actually go past at 3am, everything.) I actually couldn't sleep - I'm sure I fell asleep eventually but it didn't feel like it. The night seemed to go on forever, I kept looking at the clock. I felt exhausted, but I just couldn't relax. What if. 

My son never woke up at all, and we never got burgled, nor had any kidnappers in the house. Everything was a perfectly normal night apart from the lack of my Zzz's and Husband in the house.
One thing that did make me smile was that Chris text me the next morning saying 'Crap nights sleep :( It's not the same without you. X' Seems we both had a rubbish night, so I've told him he's not allowed to work that shift unless he can get a lift in! I guess we get used to the way in which we live!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Film Review by Imogene

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Directed: Stephan Chbosky

Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma, Watson, Paul Rudd, Johnny Simmons, Ezra Miller, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Nina Dobrev

Genre: Drama, Romance

Stars: 5/5

(Contains Spoilers)

I have to say for this actual film, I was never particularly bothered about seeing it upon its release, but after hearing it’s “film of the year” for 2012 and was highly rated by many sites and reviews – I decided to add it to my LoveFilm list. When it came through the post I was eager to watch it, to simply understand the hype for it. I have to say I was not at all disappointed. From the moment it started, till it finished, I was hooked!

The film starts with showing us Charlie (Logan Lerman) at a desk in his room on the eve of attending high school. He’s writing a letter to an unknown pen pal sharing his worries for the days and term ahead. Feeling like he’s not going to make friends, he just attends lessons and keeps his head down for the best part. He befriends his teacher Mr. Anderson (Paul Rudd) who picks up on his great abilities on English Language and starts giving him added assignments.

Charlie attends a school football game alone one evening and sits near the flamboyant Patrick (Ezra Miller). As they start to enjoy the game Sam (Emma Watson) joins with them and at that moment Charlie is hit by Sam’s beauty. He becomes acquainted to the pair and heads home in high spirits, only to arrive home to witness his sister Candance being attacked by her boyfriend. Charlie is nerved by this as his Aunt got abused by her partners before she died so he goes to help her only for her to swear him to secrecy from their parents.

At a homecoming party Charlie is stood alone around the edge of the hall, seeing his sister with her boyfriend he goes joins Patrick and Sam. After the homecoming he goes with them to a house party, there he meets Mary Elizabeth, Alice and Bob. He also gets to meet Sam’s boyfriend Craig and is instantly jealous. Bob encourages Charlie to eat a pot brownie (which he had no idea was one) and as he gets high all the party members are amused by the stuff he says. Sam saves his from total embarrassment as he says he want a strawberry milkshake and takes him to the kitchen where he compliments her on her eyes and then tells her about the death of his best friend. He then leaves the kitchen to go upstairs to the toilet and accidentally walks in on Patrick with Brad (Johnny Simmons) kissing. Patrick is panicked as Brad doesn’t want their relationship to get out (as his father doesn’t approve) and makes him promise he’ll never repeat what he saw. He agrees not to say anything. Sam meanwhile is left shocked and goes speaks to Patrick saying she doesn’t think he has any friends – they both welcome him with open arms into the group.

 

(Sam through the Tunnel)

Whilst they both drive Charlie home, an unknown song comes up on the radio and tells Patrick to drive through the tunnel, where she gets in the back of the pick up truck and waves her arms around. Charlie again is completely stunned by her natural beauty.

Sam doesn’t do too well in tests so in the coming months up to Christmas, Charlie says he would help her revise. At Christmas all the friends participate in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange. On the last night of the exchange Sam takes Charlie up to her room to show him, her gift – A typewriter. Charlie is wowed by this present. They start talking about first kisses and she shared that her first kiss was by her father’s boss who molested her in her younger years. He tells Sam that he’s never kissed anyone before and she says she want his first kiss to be by someone who loves him and the pair end up kissing.

On Charlie’s birthday he has flashbacks of his Aunt Helen who died in a car accident that same night after getting him a present. At a new years party he takes a LSD and has many flashbacks of the things that happened surrounding Aunt Helen's death and their relationship together, he gets found passed out by the police.

After being dismissed he attended a party with the gang and had Mary Elizabeth as a partner to the dance, they end up going back to her house and making out – she then announces he’s her boyfriend now. Charlie doesn’t really like her like that and ends up going along with it because he doesn’t know how to break up with M-E without hurting her feelings, but has no interest in her neediness. Whilst at a party with the gang they play truth or dare, Patrick on Charlies turn dares him to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, and everyone assumes he’d go for Mary Elizabeth but he jumps out at Sam. The pair is angry with what he did and Patrick tells him to give it time before approaching the group again.

 

(Charlie kisses Sam in the Dare)

Being back to being alone again, Charlie starts to isolate himself and the memories of Aunt Helen worsen. After meeting with Bob, Charlie finds out that Brads father found out about Brad and Patrick's relationship. He tries to talk to Patrick only for him to tell him to leave him alone for the moment. Brad is seen with a massive bruise on his face and tells people a wrong tale as to why he got the mark. Patrick walks by Brads table at lunch and he calls him a faggot – then the pair end up fighting on the cafeteria floor. Charlie intervenes and tells them to back off his friends.

Patrick is heartbroken that he and Brad had to end their relationship and ends up getting closer to Charlie. After they've been spending a lot of time together Patrick one night tries to kiss Charlie. With no reaction Patrick bursts into tears and apologises. Sam ends her relationship with Craig as she finds out he cheated on her 3 times.

Sam gets through to Graduation and is off to Penn State. After her leaving party, Charlie helps Sam pack her items up. Wondering why he never asked her out as she’s liked him, and talked of Craig and the relationship there she asked why does she always fall for people that aren’t good for her and Charlie replies “We accept the love we think we deserve”, after some more confessions the pair end up kissing and is stopped when she rubs the inner thigh, but resumes after he mentioned that it wasn’t anything that made him stop.

The next day he watches Sam leave for college and is feeling upset. Going home he receives more flashbacks of his repressed memories of Aunt Helen who used to abuse him as a young boy and ends up calling Cadence saying it was his fault she’s dead. Getting the police to the house so that Charlie couldn’t harm himself, before he could they got to him and he blacked out.

We then see him in a hospital confused as to why he’s there. The Doctor tells his parents of the damage that his Aunt did and that the reasons for his breakdowns were because of repressed memories. On being discharged Sam and Patrick meet with Charlie and go to a restaurant. On leaving Sam says she found out the name of the song that was playing when they first went through the tunnel together. Charlie gets in the back of the truck this time and screams on his way out of the tunnel.

I adored this film and like I said at the start I was hooked from the moment I turned it on to the moment the credits rolled. I’m glad it was a long film as I don’t think I would’ve been satisfied with it only being an hour long. The plot had plenty of room to develop and it did develop in an even pace which was perfect for this genre. There were no moments that I felt it was rushed – I got everything I wanted from the storyline.

I really liked Charlie’s character and loved the way he was portrayed as shy and nervous, it brought real depth to the film and the character. It also was lovely to see him grow more confident throughout the film. It was his story and it was well documented – I want to read the book now.

The whole crew was fantastic, it was especially nice to see not all well recognised cast members as it allowed there to be interest in how the character shall be played. I have to say it’s now one of my favourite films and shall enjoy watching once again someday!

I have given it a 5/5 because I felt it was very mysterious and gripping film, it was very interesting all round, there was never a moment where I felt like I was loosing interest or wondering what was going on – fabulous film!

Hope Springs: A Film Review by Imogene

Hope Springs

Directed: David Frankel

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carrell, Jean Smart, Mimi Rogers

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Stars: 4.7/5

I really wanted to see this film as soon as it appeared in cinema but I never ended up going –  this happens too much! But I was awfully excited when it came through my letterbox. I couldn’t wait to see it, especially as Meryl Streep is in the cast, and after reading that it’s very good, I wanted to form my own opinion.

The film starts by showing us the lives of a middle age couple. They love and care for one another, but have forgotten how to show these feelings to each other. Sleeping in separate beds and living virtually individual lives, it shows that they barely speak, let alone show any affection, or share any intimacy together.

Kay (Meryl Streep) decides one day that she’s had enough of living in that way and goes to find some help to bring back the spark. She arrives at a bookstore and finds a book that she finds  has some helpful tips, it’s written by Dr. Feld (Steve Carrell). Kay tells Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) that she’s done with the past and wants them both to attend marriage counselling to get their marriage back to where it should be.

At first Arnold is reluctant to go as he doesn’t see why they need to go; as far as he sees it they’ve been perfectly fine for the last 31 years. Kay books a week intensive course for them to attend with Dr. Feld in a remote town in Maine, Great Hope Springs. Arnold isn’t best pleased as he has no mobile reception, and simply finds faults in everything that’s surrounding them. Kay tries to stay upbeat and positive, trying to encourage him to see things for what they really are.

They attend daily sessions at the centre with Dr. Feld, where he would try and get them to talk about how they felt, their sexual experiences and ultimately show them why they fell in love with each other. The sessions are extremely intense as Arnold finds it hard to talk to Kay and Dr. Feld about their intimate details. He is very defensive about his life and their relationship together.

(The Counselling Sessions)

Dr. Feld asked and put up very blunt questions so that they couldn’t deny or talk their way out of answering them and this angered Arnold as he didn’t understand why she felt the need to bring him to such sessions. Kay feels very upset and heartbroken at the lack of Arnolds willingness to change anything and goes running off, feeling as if everything is over for good. She goes to a pub and starts talking to the barmaid, who shows her that she’s not the only person not to be having sex with their partner. Arnold goes to a museum alone, instead.

Getting back together in their motel room they both try and be closer together as Dr Feld gave them a task of holding one another. They spend the night in the same bed, the first time in years and as Kay wakes from her sleep she finds Arnold has his arm around her. They tell Dr Feld of this amazing breakthrough and both feeling more encouraged that things are getting better; Dr Feld urges that they try bigger gestures.

Feeling confident that things are only going to get better both Arnold and Kay try and do more spontaneous things together to make attempts of being able to get intimate. Many of them fail and they don’t get very far on their mission. Dr. Feld tries telling Arnold of how hurt Kay is and that if he doesn’t wish to loose her forever he best take some initiative and arrange something pretty special to get things on the right track. He books a meal at a grand hotel and Kay is very impressed, they talk and laugh together throughout the meal, something that they’ve been wishing on for a long time! Attempting again to try and make love, it ends horribly and are both left leaving upset and confused.

(The meal at the Hotel)

After ending their sessions with Dr. Feld he says that they should continue their counselling back at home. Getting back home, their usual habits of living separately start again. Kay realises that there’s no change and gets ready to pack her bag so that she can cat-sit her friends’ cat, whilst she gets ready to move on permanently.

Both Arnold and Kay lay awake and are restless on that night. Arnold makes the move as he gets out of bed, gets his dressing gown on and sits with Kay on her bed. They both fall into each others arms and make sweet, passionate love to one another. The next morning its clear that everything is much different and that they’re naturally happy to be in one another’s company.

As the credits roll we see a homemade video of Kay and Arnold having an intimate ceremony with their children and grandchild and Dr. Feld is present. They exchange all the things that they promise they will do from now on.

(Back home after things are better) 

I really enjoyed this film so much. I was also pleased that it was as good as the trailer looked. I had perhaps expected there to be more humorous parts, (probably because Steve Carrell was in it?) but despite that it was rather well done. Watching this film there were many cringe parts where you sighed in desperation, because it was so obvious they wanted one another badly. The one thing that stood out for me was that it wasn’t the typical plot of a film of this genre. There was so much hope and disaster that at times you didn’t know what would be best for the characters. Many people who watched this film will see some part of their relationship in Arnolds and Kays. It was a film that we all learnt a couple of tips to bring to our own and it showed that it’s hard work to stay together in a marriage. But it showed that as long as it’s what the couple wants, it’s workable and that things can work, there’s a sign of hope no matter what stage of the relationship.

I’ve never seen Tommy Lee Jones play a part like this before, to be honest I’ve only really known him in the Men and Black films but I loved how stubborn his character Arnold was. I loved how he was so blind to the faults of what’s happened, but it’s only because he hid behind his wall of not wanting to accept things weren’t the same. But he pulled through and went a step further in trying to make things right. The whole film as a whole was thoughtful, and provided some smiles and ‘aww’s throughout. A mature look at an everyday issue.

I gave this film a 4.7 because I really loved watching the film and the way it was filmed showed that there is many up and downs – but it gave hope and was very well done in all ways. There wasn’t many faults apart from I had hoped there would be more funny sections.

Frustration of the Day: Lack of Subtitles

Its been a long time since I've posted anything, so I wanted to share my latest deaf frustration! No subtitles working! When you've turned the telly on and get settled, desperate to hear what's happening and then this appeared...

I always feel like it ruins the moment, especially as at this particular moment something sad and genuine was happening - I needed them more than ever. Sometimes its like having a relationship with your subtitles.. and well subs, you let me down this time!

Contagion: A Film Review by Imogene

Contagion

Directed: Steven Soderberg

Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle, Elliot Gould

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Stars: 4.8/5

(Spoilers!)

I remember when this film was first released, I was desperate to see it in the cinema, and however I never did. It somehow got lost in my mind over the years between all the new releases probably.
I noticed how many big names that were in the film from first reading about it – and from most of my experience of films, that’s usually when it’s a pretty decent film to watch!

I couldn’t wait to start this film as I knew I’d enjoy it, and I knew that I would end up doing a review on it. It’s completely my type of movie, I like suspense and the wondering of what happens and I find that I can easily put myself in others shoes so with this film, I felt comfortable. It captured my attention from the first words spoken, not because I’ve been desperate to see it, but because it was so interesting! There was always something happening and so much information gathering to be done! There simply wasn’t time to be bored, well, for me that is.

The film starts with a woman named Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) who has been away on a business trip (also had sex with her Ex) comes home feeling ill with a mysterious illness which she thinks is the flu. She passed the illness onto her son when she hugged him, after returning home and he then catches the illness too. Beth dies after a seizure in front of her husband and son. Whilst her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) is at the hospital with her, trying to come to terms with her sudden death, their son dies that same afternoon. The doctors are baffled with this mysterious illness.

We then see a variety of people fall down with the same symptoms and also die. Beth’s Ex also falls down with the same illness, which also results in his death. The doctors offer Mitch the chance to have his wife examined through an autopsy to see if they could explain the sudden death – We see the doctors being shocked through the examination whilst looking at her brain, ordering a team member to contact “everyone”.

They take Mitch into quarantine due to worry that he may have the disease and could possibly pass it onto others. We find out that he is somehow immune to the virus.

The film is very good at this point as I got drawn into the symptoms of the illness and I wanted to know more. The film does have a touch of the “Fringe” and “CSI” feel to it, and personally is a massive fan of both tv shows. I also wanted to know the seriousness of the illness, how many people would be affected and if they’d be able to stop it.

Through the most part of the film we saw many doctors try and determined what the disease was. The biggest part was trying to determine the source of the outbreak, and how to defeat it by finding a cure.

It all felt very realistic and how you’d imagine the Health services would deal with this type of situation. It was consistent all through the film which was great for keeping you interested, it was the perfect pace.

Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) was brought in to determine how deadly the disease is going to be on the population and by every means find an antidote, by Dr. Ellis Cheever. (Laurence Fishburne) She gives a briefing of her knowledge; that the disease was contagious through touch and that they need to work out the rate of people that are carriers and the numbers of who can potentially get infected. The numbers keep rising through the film.

Allan (Jude Law) a blogger journalist comes in contact with the story and has his own conspiracies about the disease and lets everyone knows about them. He believes the government is keeping hold of the cure to make a profit out of the tragedy.

In the background there is doctors working on the cure and testing on live cultures to see if they can make a vaccine. Dr. Sussman (Elliot Gould) makes a stable version of the cultures, which means they can start doing trials for the vaccine. The government says that it could be months before the vaccine could be ready. They call the disease MEV-1.

Meanwhile there are doctors working on the source of the outbreak and find footing of the whereabouts of Beth. We see her in a casino with various people playing at a table. She blows on someone’s chip for luck. We start to understand how the disease spread from Beth throughout the casino and they link to the handful of people that died in the beginning of the film. We see Allan infected with the disease, as he blogs live from his computer and see that he is taking medication called “Forsyitha” and tells the audience that if he is still alive in the morning then, the medication works.

Dr. Erin falls ill with the disease and contacts Dr. Cheever that she has it. He feels responsible for Erin falling ill as he sent her to find out about it, he then proceeds to call his wife and tell her to come to where he is. Aubrey (Cheevers’ Wife) leaves the county and goes shopping for supplies, to be contacted by a friend asking why she’s late for dinner – only to tell the true reason behind her sudden departure.

Allens’ blog becomes a sensation and everyone is desperate to get hold of the medication. We see the world turn into a frenzy and start looting and rioting, the streets become empty. Everyday lives have stopped as people are scared and stay inside, hiding from the disease.

The animal trials are under going but nothing has succeeded, until monkey #57 is successful. There is finally a cure and is currently being produced and is announced that it shall be ready in roughly 90 days. The death toll is currently at a 26 million figure.

It was a relief when they found a cure as we see that the world is in a panic, and just knowing that it could happen to us at any point. The film was done really well and made you think about the important things in life, knowing that people get ill and die every day, obviously the scale was much bigger, but that’s what makes it such a gripping film. It had the "end of the world" feeling.

Allen tells his viewers not to take the medication and someone tells him out to the police and gets arrested. It gets found out that he never had the virus and made it up to get noticed. He has persuaded all his followers against taking the vaccine which could save their lives. He was going to be charged with fraud only to get released on bail, due to the response of his viewers.

Dr. Cheevers get told there's going to be a investigation into the leaking of a message from inside the offices. He told his wife what really happened, and her friend leaked it out, which started the panic.
Meanwhile, as there isn’t enough of the cure made up to heal everyone, there is a lottery of dates where the people in which the birthdays have fallen on the ball, can have the vaccination.
From that moment on, we see everything slowly go back to normal. The death rates have slowed down (obviously people died of other things than the disease) and the world gets back to the state where it once was. Allen continues blogging about his conspiracies on the government, which we know have no ground after his lie on the medication and having the illness in the first place.

We then find out the source of the disease which happens to be Beths' company does a construction where some trees are getting cut down, which makes bats fly from their home, the infected bat bites a banana, flies over to a farmers hut where he drops a piece of the banana skin, which a pig eats, the pig gets killed and taken to the restaurant at the casino where the chef touches the pig with bare hands. He then has the disease on his hands and poses in a picture with Beth, then transferring the disease onto her.

I really enjoyed the loop up at the end, it made it clear where it started and it made sense for us. It did make me wonder where the bat got the disease from though. There’s always a place. I loved everything about this film, the pace, storyline and characters, but mainly the tension that was felt during the film. It was very well played by all the actors and actresses, they made us think and connect to them.

It’s a film I’d definitely watch again, and I think also with the ending, you’d see more about it and understand maybe the language in which they spoke “professionally” as doctors to one another. It was a fantastic film and has become one of my favourites! I highly recommend it!

Paper Aeroplanes Review by Imogene

Paper Aeroplanes

Book Author: Dawn O’ Porter

Publisher: Hot Key Books

So, there’s something new on this blog – a book review. And I have to be perfectly honest, it’s my first, but I hope it levels with my film ones. Dawn O’ Porter is one of my favourite bloggers EVER. I adore her documentaries and work as a journalist – but most of all, her style of writing! This is one of the few things that made me fall in love with her first book “Paper Aeroplanes”.

The story is written in the eyes and language of two teenage girls, Renee and Flo. They are both fifteen and have dysfunctional lives that they both struggle to live with. They both have many things that lie very much in common with one another; however it was a friendship that wasn’t meant to happen.

Renee lives with her grandparents and sister, following the horrifying death of her mother when she was only six years old.  Flo lives with her mother, little sister and big brother.  Her mother and father are separated but she has to take on the role of “mum” to her little sister therefore putting the experiences of a “normal” teenager, far out of sight.

Due to the heartache and burdens in their lives, it was a friendship that ran deep and kept them bonded together. Their meeting changed everything they have ever known about friendship and themselves. Together and separately they experience what teenage life is really like for a fifteen year old in 1994.  

I was very interested in reading this book as soon as I saw that it was available to pre-order. Also, that it was written by Dawn O’ Porter! It looked very cheeky, so all the more reason to read it, yes?
As soon as I turned the first page I couldn’t stop reading. The words flow so easily and made it such a gripping book to keep hold of. I’m all for an emotional book and this had every emotion written in at all times. There were points where you giggled to yourself thinking “I can’t believe it!” and times where you quietly let a few tears slide out as you felt such an attachment to the characters. It’s quite an emotional rollercoaster.

It’s written almost diary-like which makes it all so intense! I liked this as it is narrated at different times by both Renee and Flo – we got to see their personal thoughts about one another and other people in their own way.

I loved reading about Renee and Flo together, the conversations they have and things that they do and it instantly makes you think of your own best friend. I’m glad it was written in this way as it gave depth to the characters and made it so the book had two personalities bouncing off one another!
It was very heartbreaking at times and due to the writing style it made me feel for the characters and sympathise with them (this is always good when you fall in deep with a book!). Also it has a realistic plotline which makes it easy and enjoyable to read, you never feel out of your depth nor struggled to understand. It’s really a story of two ordinary girls with a lot of loneliness and upset in their world, but finds someone to relate – this is what made their friendship special. This is why you pine for them to make up when they fall out and why you want them to succeed in their GCSE’s and make something of their life! Honestly, when stopping the book it was hard to think that they weren’t real people, because the wave of feeling that you had for them wouldn’t let you believe that! There isn’t a page where nothing is happening – so if you’re planning on reading this, have a couple of lazy days set aside!

It’s also important too that it covers lots of important teenage issues such as, Periods, Sex, Friendship, Bullying, Exams, Anorexia and Home-life struggles. It’s simply a book that’ll never be outdated, however so many of this next generation won’t get to experience the importance of note sharing in classes! (I loved the notes in the book – so many great memories!).

It was genuinely a pleasure to read and will forever be highly rated as one of my favourite books. I highly recommend it!

****

I’m pleased to say that it has been announced that Dawn is doing a second book to this tale (YAY!) – From where, I am clueless!

I tried to stay away from reviews on this book as much as I could as I wanted to completely submerge into the story and have my own images and thoughts. However when I was reading through my twitter feed someone mentioned that Dawn used her diary to help her write this story – so one of the characters was her, now which one did you think it was?

Immy's Review - The Descendants

The Descendants

Directed: Alexander Payne

Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Stars: 4/5

This was a film that was recommended to me by LoveFilm, so I added it to my list. I remember that everyone was desperate to go and see this film in the cinema - but after watching it, I don't really know why! Unless you have a massive crush on George Clooney - well then, it's the perfect film for you.

I sound very negative for the start of this review, but honestly it wasn't what I expected. For me, I like to get to the deep issues within a relationship in a film, I like to feel that I'm able to step into the shoes of the characters, but this filmed lacked all of that for me. Personally I feel the emotional distraught could have come out a lot more in the story - but it just didn't feel enough, maybe it was because I was expecting too much? Or maybe it was that it wasn't my type of film.

The film start with Matt (George Clooney) doing a voice over, where we understood that his wife Elizabeth was in a accident which has left her in a coma, for 23 days.. and counting. They both have two daughters together, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller).

We see the difficulty in Matts' life as he tries to control all aspects, including the children. We hear that he hasn't looked after Scottie since she was 3, and now she was 10. So finding out how she has troubles at school with showing pictures of her mother in coma, the teachers look towards Matt for him to sort it out, but we notice he doesn't really know what to do. We get the image that he was away from the house more than he was in. So having to look after their daughter, with the added pressures of work and the family land that needs selling, we see how hard it is for him. He promises that everything will get better, but he knows deep down it's all left to him to deal with, and that it won't get better.

I liked how we see the reality of aftermath, but I think it would've been a lot better if we had seen a few snippets of Elizabeth and Matts' life together. Because we didn't get to see much of that, only what little information we got from Matt who was in denial about their life. It was only when Alexandra talked to her Dad that he understood it all fully.

Matt has a impossible conversation with his wife's Doctor, as the news on her brain scan wasn't good. She wouldn't be getting better and their life as they know it wasn't ever going to be the same. She was deteriorating and they were going to switch the machines off, then it was left for Elizabeth to go on her own. After hearing this bad news, he goes to the main land with Scottie to tell their daughter, Scottie's sister Alexandra about the Mother. When they got to Alexandra they found that she was drinking and behaving appallingly, so that was another issue he had to sort out - he honestly didn't realise how bad this has all become.

It was clear that the Mother and Alex had a bad relationship as the last time they saw each other they fought, and Matt never understood why they did and urged her to let go and make peace with her Mum before it's too late. She refused to at first due to her loyalty to her father, and told him the truth explaining that she was cheating on him with another man. After the bombshell, Matt fled to his friends house and demanded if they knew anything about the affair, they did. They knew that she had enough and was going to ask for a Divorce as she was in love with this other man.

I guess we can all imagine how finding out a partner has cheated, would feel so, to find that his friends also knew was heartbreaking. He lashed out and told them the truth about her not surviving.

Matt vows with his Daughter Alex to find the man she cheated on him with, with only the name 'Brain Speeder'. He didn't know what he was going to do when he met up with him or saw him, but he had to know what he was like. 

They set out to find Brain with Alex's friend Sid (Nick Krause) who at first appeared to be cocky and arrogant (but we find out that's just an act!). It takes a long time for them to finally set eyes on them, I think it was constant turmoil about what they were going to do, how they'd handle it.. how much it's affecting their memories of their mother and wife. 

I like how well handled the scenes were with the finally meeting Brian, as Matt wasn't reacting to it violently, or even that emotionally - It did seem he was just so tired of the who business but he loved his wife enough to give her lover the chance to say goodbye. I don't know if it was the whole 'men don't cry' type thing going on with Matt throughout this film? Or if it was just me expecting everyone to fall apart. But it does make you see how differently you'd maybe react in his position. We also realised that Brains wife was lovely, and had no idea just like him, and I think him knowing what his wife did, he didn't want to inflict the same pain onto Brains wife. Which was incredibly selfless and we do see how he emotionally change throughout the film with the daughters, from being a workaholic to a family man. This was the nicest part of the film for me.

I gave this film a 4 stars as I think the story line could have been deeper at the beginning, knowing what the relationships are like in the family.. the reasons behind all the distance and anger. But I think as the film progressed we did see these areas get filled with reasons, to a degree. 

But it was a decent film and I'm glad I've caught up with the talk about it! I would watch it again, it seems like a film you'd probably get more out of each time you watched it..

Immy's Review: The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady

Directed: Phyillida Lloyd

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Iain Glen, Olivia Colman, Harry Lloyd

Genre: Biography, Drama, History

Stars: 5/5

(Please be warned that there are Spoilers in this post)

I started this review like I have done any other review, reading the reviews. I have to say there is very little criticism on the film as a whole. I was surprised by this as there is always something negative, but honestly the only slight negative point was that it kept flicking between time lines – which left some confusion. Although, personally I think that’s the way the film was intended, to make us imagine the state of mind of Dementia.

I also watched the trailer before the film also, and I have to say, it seemed very eye-catching, but it wasn’t how I imagined it to be. I expected it to be more ‘real footage’.

The first scene was really dramatic. It showed the old Mrs Thatcher in a shop buying a pint of milk, in a frail manner walking to the counter and then walking back to her home. The music was very moving – it went very well with the scene. It then moved onto her sitting at the dining table eating her breakfast, talking to her husband. Here she seemed confident, (unlike the first scene) and sure of herself. After the scene her husband had disappeared and she was sitting at the table alone. Her husband was in fact dead. It appeared that she had two faces of her persona; she had her sure self, talking assertively and then the side of being scared and lonely, the reality.

The film in general was very touching as we can all only imagine how dementia affects a person, some of us have experienced this with a loved one and exactly, how horrible and disturbing it can be for them and for relatives. So, in all it gave a better understanding behind the illness, especially seeing that something so simple as a word or phrase can trigger back to the past – as for example in the film she’s getting ready for dinner with the company of friends and family, when she says “I prefer the company of men”. She hears laughter and it took her back to a time where she was ridiculed for being the only lady in her position.

In this film it showed us how she was teased most of her working life. She seemed as if she had a really good way with words and trying to speak her point – she wanted to make the world a better place, and she thought she knew best as she understood the difficulty of hard living in a middle-classed world. She had to work hard for everything she got, so her judgement became clouded as she became obsessed with everyone doing the same to achieve. She became very career driven and stubborn for people to hear her opinion and I think she lost sight of her colleagues and family – simply because she wanted to do right, in her mind, above everything else. She was a controller, she wanted to be in charge and questioned everything anyone spoke to her about – personally I think she was just head strong and became a mother, who wanted to do better for everyone, but eventually it seemed it got the better of her original quest, which was to make a better Britain. The power seemed to take over as she was in denial over the elections when another party challenged her for the position by saying “I am the Prime Minister” – when she was in her old state.

There were lots of emotional scenes in the film which got to me. It was just interesting to see the two sides of the one person, it was a film that showed that no matter what she seemed to have done wrong, she is still a person who got hurt, old and lived with the decisions she made. I think this came out more when she was watching her old home-tapes of the children and kept playing them over and over. Then to twist it again, she throws herself into denial over her husband talking to her – she doesn’t want to look like she’s loosing her mind. (With her career it wasn’t something she was able to do) She wanted to remain in charge of her life.

Through the film we also see how she lost so much when Britain hated on her for the Poll Tax and the problems over in the Falkland Islands and, well, so many other things. But, you have to admire how in the film she stood her ground for so long, that she ended up coming out on top – which it showed precisely how well she did her job. She was harsh, but honest to everyone for exactly what she stood for and no-one can knock her for that in the end.

For the final part of the film, we saw once again her attempting to get rid of her husbands’ clothes and finding an old memory box that belonged to him; inside there were cards from their children, leaflets from the elections and a photo of the family where she breaks down to tears and asks her husband if he was happy – I think this is where we see exactly how alone she felt at this time. It was her time to then say goodbye to the husband she’s been keeping alive for so long in her head and to finally let go of everything negative about her career. It was very sad and I spent most of the last scene sobbing – I could only imagine how it would feel to have to say goodbye to someone you have been with most of your life and loved. To the one person who has always stood by your side no matter what.

I really enjoyed this film; I gave it 5/5 simply as it was a moving story, and I have to say, one of the most heart breaking films I’ve seen. Mrs Thatcher was played by the exceptional Meryl Streep – an actress who has done her finest work doing this film. She’s always been one of my favourite actresses, especially since doing the hit Mammia Mia! She did nothing but shine in this tale – also, was shocking how much she actually looked like the real Mrs.T!

 All in all it was a very touching and made me sad – but also it inspired the fact, that no matter what your social standing, you can always come on top and achieve. From a daughter of a green-grocer to Prime Minister - no matter what your thoughts on her political standing, that’s admirable.