Last year I published London Oddities (which you can read by clicking here) in which I explained some rather unusual facts about London. It was fun to research, fun to write and it received a positive feedback. Because it did so well I’d thought I’d write a part two. I hope you enjoy.
Apr 15
Spitfire Review: Tomb Raider
Today I’m reviewing Tomb Raider the 2018 film, looking at the history of Lara Croft and examining why most films based on video games fail at the box office.
I’m going to be honest, I did not have high hopes for Tomb Raider. It’s a film based of a video game and the previous actress who portrayed Lara Croft was Angelina Jolie who left big shoes (or perhaps, boots) to fill. So you can imagine my surprise when I not only enjoyed the film but thought it was among the best I’ve watched this year. Here are my thoughts.
Warning: This review contains minor spoilers.
Apr 01
April 1st: 100th post.
Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a good day.
This post is something of a landmark occasion for my website. It is the 100th post.
Mar 22
Spitfire Review: Starstuck by S E Anderson
Hello everyone, welcome to another Spitfire review. Today I’ll be talking about the novel Starstruck by S.E. Anderson.
As long time readers of my website will know I’m a fan of John Green, author of Turtles All The Way Down, The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska. With his brother Hank (whose novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing I’ll be featuring in another Spitfire Review) they formed a fan base called Nerdfighteria members of which are called Nerdfighters. I’m part of a Facebook group called Adult Nerdfighters where like minded people who are fans of John and Hank’s work can discuss the brothers, debate recent news items and talk about their lives. There are quite a few writers on this group which is how I met Sarah Anderson.
Mar 18
Five films based on real events that are mostly lies
If you place the phrase “based on a true story” at the start of a film people expect the film to be…. a true story or at the very least inspired by true events. Yes, writers can make a few changes in the form of creative licence (You can read that old website post here) but the key facts have to be correct. The writers of these films were more than flexible with the truth. Here are five films based on real events that are mostly lies.
Mar 04
Hamilton review
Feb 04
Feb 4: Five historical figures who turned out to be fictional characters
The line between truth and fiction can be blurred. People who we believed were real because they have such a large influence in our modern world, could be nothing more than a clever lie. Here is a list of five historical people who turned out to be fictional characters.
Jan 21
Top five spelling mistakes in published pieces of work.
My spelling is absolutely appalling. So appalling in fact that it took me three attempts to spell absolutely in the previous sentence. The reason is because I’m dyslexic (which is another tricky word to spell). My spelling is poor but my creativity and reading level compensates for it. Before I submit any piece of work I always print it out, read through it and edit any spelling mistakes in a red pen. As of time of writing I’ve not had a piece of work published with a spelling mistake. Other writers have not been so lucky, with the results being disastrous and sometimes amusing.
Here are my top five spelling mistakes in published pieces of work.
Jan 06
Spitfire Review: The Greatest Showman.
Hello everyone,
All the way back in June I published an article called Top Five Fictional Animals and their Real-Life Inspirations. You can read that article by clicking here but during the research for that article I come across P.T. Barnum, founder and original owner of the Barnum and Bailey circus. Although I implied in my article that Barnum may have killed Jumbo the elephant (the inspiration for Disney’s Dumbo the flying elephant) I didn’t mention the other terrible acts Barnum was accused of. At first glance it seemed that Barnum was a terrific businessman but a terrible human being. With that in mind you can imagine my reaction when I saw the trailer for The Greatest Showman.
