Culture

The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)

This prequel/sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman smacks of cynical profiteering; visually stunning design it’s poorly served by a script that is Snow White’s not-so-Greatest hits with leftover bits of Narnia and assorted Hobbitses. Clichéd, formulaic and derivative, this bargain-bin script is left without a Snow White and can only afford four fairly redundant … Continue reading →

Review: Person of Interest Season 4

Jonathn Nolan and J.J Abrams’ Post-911, high-concept, high-tech, high violence, vigilante, conspiracy-Western, cop-show powers on thanks to the charm of its cast and the lightness of tone, which levens otherwise dark material. The Machine now has its artificial intelligence nemesis in The Samaritan; the PoI gang of Reece, Finch, Fusco, Shaw, Root (and Bear the … Continue reading →

Review: Mission Impossible Rogue Nation

Another Mission Improbable rolls around with the Tom Cruise’s po-faced IMF taking on a shadowy organisation, The Consortium, no, The Confederacy, no, The Co-op; hang on, The Syndicate. Blah. There is no rogue nation, just Spectre-lite in a John Woo style. A buffed but elderly-looking, asexual Cruise leaps energetically from one set-piece to another, while … Continue reading →

Review: Momentum (2015)

“Let’s do a heist-chase-spy thriller like Salt – that made money. We need a strong female lead to carry it like Angelina – Kurylenko’s a babe, she can do it. Get Morgan Freeman to do his corrupt elder-stateman thing. And we need a British villain – Purefoy, he’s available, and cheap. Couple of car chases, … Continue reading →

Review: Kill Me Three Times (2015)

If you want to skip on, you just need to know this is the Aussie version of the Cohens’ Blood Simple. With sunshine. Alice wants to leave town with mechanic boyfriend Dylan, but bar-owner husband Jack hires hitman Mr Wolf to kill her. Jack’s sister Lucy needs a substitute body to pull off an insurance … Continue reading →

Review: Slow West (2015)

A Scotsman and an Irishman go to the Wild Frontier – it’s not the start of a joke, it’s Slow West, a low-budget meander through the bleak Wild West. Fassbender’s lone gun-slinger Silas befriends Kodi Smit-McPhee’s lovelorn Scottish laird, Jay. But the girl he’s pursuing has a price on her head and there’s a gang … Continue reading →

Review: Dad’s Army

This won’t mean much to the rest of the world, but to Brits bought up on the 70’s sit-com of the Home Guard defending Britain against the Nazis, this is a surprising gold reboot; mischevous, whimisical and true to its source, Jones, Nighy and Gambon pull off an unlikely comedy hit. So who do you … Continue reading →

How-to: The Professional Voice

Article originally appeared on the Speaking Well in Public Facebook page, February 2015 Five key tips for success. How you sound affects how your message is received. Taking control of the way you speak will help you to capture and keep attention and deliver that message with ease.

How-to: Where’s Your Voice?

Article originally appeared on the Speaking Well in Public Facebook page, March 2015 Your natural voice quality plus the way you use your voice can affect your audience’s response to your message – and to you. Imagine a cross section through the world, from the clouds right down to the sea bed. Where does your … Continue reading →

Humour: There is no Cloud…

How-to: Stress ABC – breaking the cycle

Article originally appeared on the Speaking Well in Public Facebook page, April 2015 Our reactions to stressful situations tend to happen in a repeating cycle of habits: A – An Activating event happens B – This triggers your Beliefs about it C – The Consequence is your physical response; how you feel about what you’re … Continue reading →