S Reignite

                                                                'What a fine thing capital punishment is' – Fagin Before Rita Ora was flouting lockdown rules by having a birthday party and flying to Egypt, she was out filming Twist , with permission I assume.  The modern day adaption of novel Oliver Twist overuses camera tricks and roof jumping and brings nothing of value to Dickens’ classic. Oliver, called Twist by friends, has lived on the streets for a large part of his life. When trying to escape from his latest run in with the police, he meets fellow rascals Batesey and Dodge who invite him to join their criminal family. The age of Twist and his newfound friends is ambiguous. They look like twenty-year-olds and behave like teenagers. Along with “The Charmer”, Red, Batesey and Dodge are the oldest children in Fagin’...

‘not every situation calls for your patented approach of "shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more and then when everybody's dead try to ask a question or two." – President Grant In the run up to release of the live action remake of Aladdin in which Will Smith played Genie, the rapper turned actor constantly slated Wild Wild West , stating that despite the potential the film had and how much he promoted it he regards it as one of his worst films. Having only watched the film once before when I was probably too young to do so, I knew little about the Western yet hearing Smith constantly talk negatively of it intrigued me. So, when Comedy Central showed the film I thought I’d take the opportunity to watch it and see if it’s as bad Smith portrays it.   He’s not entirely wrong. The film chooses to use smoke and explosions as a way to move from one scene to the next instead of finding a logical way for the reluctant pair of U.S Marshals Jim West and Artemus G...

‘He had come to believe that life was a series of ironic ambushes’ – Narrator The second instalment of the Shining written by King lacks horror as much as the first but is a much more pleasant read.   In Doctor Sleep Dan Torrance struggles to find his place in life and is caught off guard when he becomes connected to Abra Stone, a young girl with the shining. The book spends a lot of time following Dan as he uses the wrong methods to cope with what his father has done even decades later and consequently is unable to settle down. This novel gives Dan the voice that he didn’t have in The Shining due to his age, so it is interesting to see how he has developed. King writes about both Dan and Abra at points in their lives when they are finding themselves which makes the book a page turner as you become invested in each character’s journey. Suspense is then added to this by the threat of the True Knot. As the element of the True Knot becomes more prevalent in ...

Stephen King has written roughly 91 novels since the sixties and almost 80 of them have become films. So many of his books have become movies that even if you weren’t aware of him as an author you’ve definitely seen a film inspired by his writing. I was unaware that so many films that I had watched and enjoyed were inspired by King novels, including Misery (1990) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). I enjoyed both films and so did most viewers as both films hold 89% and 91% Rotten Tomatoes ratings respectively. Stephen King's opinion on the Shining film according to Cinema Blend However, the same can’t be said for The Shining(1980) which is the only one which I have both read the book for and seen the film adaption of. Stephen King himself has expressed his dislike for the portrayal of Jack and Wendy Torrance in the film. But nevertheless, the film still has a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes. There is often large discontent from readers when their favourite ...

‘I just feel humiliation’ - Martin The Pascal Chaumeil directed adaption of Nick Hornby’s bestselling novel cuts out many details from the novel and causes the film to appear as an uncohesive work. When watching the 2014 adaption I was convinced that i was watching a badly edited version as the film skipped around so much and left out vital details like Jess’ relationship with her family or JJ’s reasons for wanting to kill himself. But at 1 hour and 30 minutes it was all there or I guess wasn’t. It appears that the writer, Jack Throne relied heavily on the fact that people would know the novel and just fill in the gaps, but despite knowing the story well myself I still felt that wasn’t clear. The film takes way the ability to emote with each character. Admittedly this is to be expected from films that traditionally aren’t told from more than perspective. The back-story of each character is briefly put on their car journey after coming down from the roof but it is develop...

‘How much will you indulge in your flaws?’-Dr Wick Girl, Interrupted (1999) inspired loosely by the memoirs of Susanna Kaysen is a psychological thriller that follows Susanna (Winona Ryder) throughout her stay at a Claymore psychiatric hospital, after an attempt at suicide, although she strongly denies that is what it was. Upon initial arrival to Claymore Susanna maintains that she is not crazy and will be leaving soon but Dr Melvin Potts (Jeffrey Tambor) who works in the hospital suggests that she has borderline personality disorder. While trying to navigate this she begins to become friends with patients in the hospital, most notably Lisa (Angelina Jolie), the longest resident of the clinic who is considered a sociopath. Susanna becomes attached to Lisa and begins to follow what Lisa does such as not taking her medication, sneaking out of her room at night and at one point even running away with , to the new Disneyland Florida. On their way to Florida they stop by the ne...