00s Movie Review - Michael Clayton

Director: Tony Gilroy
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Skipp Sudduth

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 48: A FILM FROM AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING/ NOMINATED DIRECTOR
 
Description: A law firm brings in its "fixer" (George Clooney) to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.

Review: “Michael Clayton” is the directorial debut of Tony Gilroy. It’s a prestige film that is praised by the American critics.

In “Michael Clayton”,  immoral selfishness of big companies is being dealt with. Michael Clayton is a fixer and the right man to stop those people, who do whatever it takes to keep their power and status.

“Michael Clayton” is good especially because of the acting. Clooney is fantastic in the title role, as well as Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack. They paid a lot of attention to the development of the characters and that is pleasant. The story is somewhat conventional, it’s nothing like we haven’t seen before. In the end, the film doesn’t leave he impression you would have hoped for. But “Michael Clayton” is definitely a good film, mostly because of George Clooney.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Director: Wes Ball
Genre: Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 145 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Owen Teague, Kevin Durand, Freye Allan, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Lydia Peckmann, Travis Jeffery, Eka Darville
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 47: AN ACTION OR ADVENTURE FILM
 
Description: Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape (Owen Teague) goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Review: I did not even know that this film was in the works before I saw the first trailer. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted this film. But I’m glad I eventually watched it, because it’s a great film. Not as good as the others in the series, but still amazing.

We are missing Caesar in this film, time for a new hero. We meet Noa. The first half of the film is the setup of a young hero forced to accept a mission. And when you’re only a few minutes into the film, you are overwhelmed by the beautiful looks of it. Not only the surroundings, but also the emotions of all the apes.

Apes are the rulers now, and they are attacking their own kind. There’s more to this than just the film’s plot. Like humans, there are apes who show respect for each other and nature, and apes who crave power and like to place themselves above others.

Still, after many sequels, the “Planet of the Apes” franchise is standing strong. It’s one of the most solid franchises made to be honest. Go see it on Disney+ now.

Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Title: Bright Young Women
Author: Jessica Knoll
Genre: Thriller/ Historical Fiction
Published: 2013
 
Description: January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be firther from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s camps in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home – a decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence – two of sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that’s captivated public interest for more than four decades.
 
On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year old Rith Wachowsky into her life, a young woman with painful secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her. When she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it’s the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela – and one last impending tragedy.
 
Review: We all know Ted Bundy, we’ve read the stories, we saw the documentaries, series and movies that were made about him. He was in the spotlight so many times throughout history. And he still is. But what about the women? The victims? The women left behind? That what author Jessica Knoll focuses on in “Bright Young Women”, without ever mentioning Bundy’s name.
 
True-crime is popular. People love hearing about horrendous crimes that happened to people. But have you ever thought about what impact this has on the people who endured these crimes or the people that were left behind? Every single time the wound is being ripped open again, just for the entertainment of others. And I’m guilty of it too. I watch true-crime shows and documentaries. Knoll criticizes this in the book, without pointing fingers or sounding pedantic.
 
How the women in the book are threated by law enforcement, judges, lawyers, men, after having to deal with a great loss due to a horrible crime. It’s frustrating and infuriating. But unfortunately very true. Knoll does such a great job in telling the story through these two women, who eventually find each other.
 
It’s nothing like any other book I have read, I love where Knoll puts the focus and how well she describes everything Pamela and Tina are going through. I feel like this is a very important book and I would recommend it to everyone who is interested in the other side of those crime stories.
 
Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Review - Longlegs

Director: Osgood Perkins
Genre: Horror/ Crime
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage,
 
Description: In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent (Maika Monroe) uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.

Review: There is one every year. A movie that makes you go “WTF”. And the honor goes to “Longlegs” this year.

In the 1990s, Lee is an unremarkable FBI agent until, during a mission, she can intuitively pinpoint which house their target is in. her gift gains recognition and she is assigned to the search for a serial killer who has struck sporadically for decades. This turns out to be a wise choice, as Lee deciphers riddles that others have been pondering for longer without success. That is no accident, however, and Lee will discover why.

“Longlegs” is not for everyone. It’s an unusual film with a slow pace and much focus on atmosphere. The hunt for a serial killer will appeal to more people though. And horror fans will definitely not be disappointed. Director Osgood Perkins has an unusual approach and it promotes unpredictability. There is no way anyone can predict where the story is heading.

Maika Monroe, who we know from “The Guest” and “It Follows”, is fantastic in this film. She plays a completely different role in this, almost apathic. And then there is Nicolas Cage. A man that eithers brings it home or absolutely fails. Luckily for us his overacting works here. Super creepy looking, Cage’s performance is thrilling and entertaining.

Comparisons to “The Silence of the Lambs” are easily made. A rookie FBI agent is assigned to an ongoing case involving a lurid serial killer who leaves a puzzling trail. But in time, that feeling disappears and “Longlegs” becomes a totally different film. One that you really can’t compare to anything you’ve ever seen.

In the end, you’re left speechless and thinking “what did I just watch”. Not for everyone, but a must for horror fans.

Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - Heartstopper: Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

Title: Heartstopper: Volume 2 (Heartstopper # 2)
Author: Alice Oseman
Genre: Romance/ Graphic Novel/ Young Adult
Published: 2019
 
Description: Nick and Charlie are best friends. Nick knows Charlie is gay, and Charlie is sure that Nick isn’t.
 
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family… and himself.
 
Review: If you are open to trying graphic novels, but are not sure if it’s for you, the Heartstopper series is the perfect choice. Also if you want to read more books with LGBTQ+ representation. And if you want to meet your reading goal quicker, these novels are also a good pick, because you fly through them.
 
In “Heartstopper: Volume 2”, Nick and Charlie are still best friends. Charlie already had feelings for Nick, but he’s also sure Nick is not into guys. Meanwhile, Nick is struggling with his feelings and believes he might like girls ánd boys.
 
Nick is struggling to come out as bisexual and Charlie knows exactly how he’s feeling. Nick is not ready yet, but knows that he will eventually tell other people. It’s so lovely to see how much support Nick and Charlie get from the people that matter.
 
I already really enjoyed “Heartstopper: Volume 1”, but I absolutely loved the second book. Q very quick read, to make you feel happier within the first few pages.
 
Rating: 5/ 5

Book Review - The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Title: The Villa
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Mystery
Published: 2023
 
Description: As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bons has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girl trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
 
Villa Aestes in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1947, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album – and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.
 
As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred. And that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
 
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge. And it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
 
Review: Emily and Chess, two best friends since childhood, decide to take a trip to Italy, staying in Villa Aestes in Orvieto. Both want to take time to write their books, but especially Emily doesn’t feel inspired. Until she hears about a murder that occurred in the 70s, at the villa the two women are staying at.
 
The story follows two timelines, the current one with Emily and Chess, and the one in 1974, about writer Mari, her rock star friends and step sister Lara. The story sounds interesting and I always enjoy reading dual timelines. But this book feels more like a historical fiction with a mystery element, than a mystery thriller.
 
I expected more twists, reveals and suspense, but there was one of that. I was still invested in the story, especially the mystery in 1974, but it was all very predictable. And I really did not like the conclusion of both the timelines.
 
It was just okay, I will probably forget most of this book withing a few days.
 
Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Review - Twisters

Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Genre: Action/ Adventure
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Maura Tierney
 
Description: Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a retired tornado-chaser and meteorologist, is persuaded to return to Oklahoma two work with a new team and new technologies.

Review: “Twister” came out in 1996, directed by my fellow Dutchie Jan de Bont. Even though it was never a masterpiece, the visual effects of the disaster film about a bunch of tornado chasers was groundbreaking at the time. I don’t know the details of how they decided to make a sequel so long after “Twister”. I don’t believe anyone was asking for it, nor did we need it. And it is not linked to the 1996 film either. But, surprisingly, I absolutely loved this film. “Twisters”: the sequel no one knew they needed.

After tornado-chaser Kate Carter lost her friends to a powerful tornado, she leaves Oklahoma for New York to work as a meteorologist in an office. Save, far away from the actual tornados. Five years later, fellow survivor Javi convinces her to get back on the road in Oklahoma anyway. In fact, he helped develop equipment in the military that can capture powerful tornadoes in 3D. Placing these instruments is quite an undertaking, though. Moreover, Kate still has plans for an experiment to pull the moisture out of the whirlwinds to kill the weather phenomenon.

In the original, the tornado-chasers were thwarted by commercially challenged cowboys. This time it’s YouTuber Tyler Owens. His crew seems to want to make money from the tornados that draw many tourists to the areas. But, there is more then meets the eye.

Scientifically this sequel is very good and so is the technical aspect. The actions scenes are and look spectacular, even in repeat sequence. Although this time there are now flying cows, the aerial parts look even more threatening and realistic.

The screenwriters efforts to add body to the story and characters also worked. It impresses when he is shown the unimaginable misery of tornado victims. The fact that Kate and her fellow chasers are not blind to this is significant, and furthermore, it also exposes the fact that not everyone is so humanitarian. As a viewer, you get to look at certain characters and their motives differently. And you would be surprised by some of them.

But, it’s still, for the most of it, a disaster film with a high entertainment level. A movie which I can see myself rewatching, probably more then once. Absolutely loved this movie, and I’m so surprised I did.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

90s Movie Review - Random Hearts

Director: Sydney Pollack
Genre: Drama/ Romance/ Mystery
Runtime: 132 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles S. Dutton, Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Haysbert, Sydney Pollack, Richard Jenkins, Paul Guilfoyle, Peter Coyote, Dylan Baker, Bill Cobbs, Kate Mara

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 46: A FILM FROM YOUR TEEN YEARS
 
Description: Police Seargeant Dutch Van den Broeck (Harrison Ford) and U.S. Representative Kay Chandler (Kristin Scott Thomas) lose their spouses in a plane crash, and they soon discover that their partners were having an affair with each other.

Review: The wife of tough Internal Affairs Sergeant Dutch was killed in a plane crash, as was the husband of politician Kay. Kay and Dutch find out that their spouses were sitting next to each other on the plane, but were also having an affair. Dutch wants to find out why.

On paper, this film sounds interesting. But in practice, it doesn’t work. Mainly because it does not really know in which direction it wants to go. At first, it’s a drama. Two people losing their other half in a tragic accident. Then it turns into a mystery, when they are trying to discover why they were on that plane and why Dutch’s wife didn’t use her real name. And eventually some romance is sprinkled in as well. And it has some strange side-plot of this case that Dutch is working on, that has nothing to do with the actual plot. It just feels very messy. And it’s also very boring, especially given that this film is over two hours long.

Great cast, making the best of it. But really a dull film with little to interest me.

Rating: 2/ 5

TV Show Review - Agatha All Along (Season 1)

Season: 1
Genre: Fantasy/ Adventure/ Action
Number of episodes: 9
Year: 2024
Starring: Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp, Aubrey Plaza

Description: A spell-bound Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) regains freedom thanks to a teen’s (Joe Locke) help. Intrigues by his plea, she embarks on the Withes’ Road trials to reclaim her powers and discover the teen’s motivations.

Review: Agatha Harkness pretended to be the meddling neighbor Agnes in the successful “WadnaVision” (2021), but actually turned out to be the be a very powerful with who was after Wanda’s powers. At the end of the series, however, she is dicovered and Wanda traps her in Westview, New Jersey, without her memory and magical powers. In the spin-off series “Agatha All Along”, after she is released, still without powers, she decides to found her own coven of witches. After all, she needs them to walk The Witches’ Road and regain her powers.

A series about Agatha was not actually in the Marvel master plan. It was due to Agatha’s popularity in “WandaVision” that the series was made at all. In the comics, the witch is only an obscure character, but Marvel wanted her to be featured in “WandaVision” because she plays an important role in the story of Scarlet Witch. And I’m glad Marvel decided to give Agatha her own she, because this is amazing.

Kathryn Hahn, who portrays Agatha, loved getting to the bottom of what lay beneath Agatha's sarcasm and big mouth. And that combination is exactly what you get in “Agatha All Along”: a delightful witch who says what she thinks, but as the season progesses she peels off some layers.

Hahn’s movements and facial expressions are a joy to watch. But once she is no longer alone its delightful to see the actress carry the dramatic edge as well.

The pace is slow. Once The Road has emerged (not me constantly singing that song in my head ever since), it also becomes clear that the coven have several so-called trials to overcome and thus, as a viewer, you have a long journey ahead of you. The acting is fantastic. At first, the women cannot stand each other, but still have to work together. In the process they help each other see where their personal strengths lie.

You get sucked into the coven as if you were part of it yourself and I’m so happy this series focuses on female empowerment.

“Agatha All Along” was very well-received and each episode gets high ratings, Not below a 7.3. But my favorite episode, and I’m in the majority here, was episode 7: Death’s Hand in Mine. That episode was perfection.

The end of the series hints to a second season, which I wouldn’t be mad about. But “Agatha All Along” is a fantastic series I’m glad Marvel decided to make.

Book Review - What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

Title: What Lies in the Woods
Author: Kate Alice Marshall
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller
Published: 2023
 
Description: Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Casiddy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.
 
For decades afterwards, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods – no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
 
Review: “What Lies in the Woods” is  slow-burn mystery that is hard to put down. Before this, I only read one other book by Kate Alice Marshall, which was “Rules for Vanishing”, a young adult. “What Lies in the Woods” is an adult thriller.
 
Naomi survived a brutal attack when she was only eleven years old. She and her two best friends Olivia and Cassidy where exploring the woods when it happened. Cassidy and Olivia manages to identify the attacker as Alan Michael Stahl and he went to prison for it. Now, over twenty years later, Stahl has died in prison and it bring the three friends back together. But back in the woods, so many years ago, the girls discovered something that they have kept a secret. And now Naomi is doubting her memories from the attack.
 
Marshall shows us that, as time goes by, you can convince yourself that certain memories are true, even when they aren’t. Naomi starts doubting her own memory and doesn’t know whether Stahl was the man that Olivia and saw that night.
 
The characters in the book are interesting and have depth, although you never really get to like or love any of them. They are all very flawed, but also damaged and dealing with their trauma each in a different way.
 
The story had some predictable moments, and some obvious red herrings, but the twist in the end was really good.
 
Rating: 4/ 5

20s Movie Review - Call Jane

Director: Phyllis Nagy
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara

Description: Joy (Elizabeth Banks) is a married woman with a pregnancy endangering her life, in a time in America when she can’t get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help.

Review: 1968. Joy is an exemplary housewife. She married her college sweetheart, a lawyer, a lives in the suburbs of Chicago, together with their 15-year-old daughter. She is pregnant, but the pregnancy endangers her life due to a heart condition. Being pregnant might cost Joy her life. Terminating her pregnancy is the only way to make Joy better, but in 1968 this was still illegal. Only if it was a life-threatening situation, she is allowed to have an abortion. The hospital board, all men, are the ones to decide if Joy’s pregnancy can be terminated. But the 50/ 50 chance of her surviving this pregnancy, is not urgent enough. She is denied the abortion. Joy takes matters in own hands.

Jane rolls into a network of activist women, who arrange women with unwanted pregnancies to have an abortion.

The message of the film is very clear. I loved that about “Call Jane”. Especially since the current elections, it’s still a very topical film. Many Americans are still strongly against abortion and in several states it’s still illegal. By creating a fictional main character, a model housewife, the creators try to reach a broader audience. I don’t think this message will sit well with the more conservative Americans. The story is based on the real “The Jane Collective”, but the characters are fictional and not based on specific people.

The ending of the film feels a bit rushed, but the overall message and the story is very gripping, powerful and strong. I really loved this film that sadly still is very topical.

Rating: 4/ 5

90s Movie Review - The Virgin Suicides

Director: Sofia Coppola
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Josh Hartnett, Danny DeVito, A.J. Cook, Hanna Hall, Leslie Hayman, Chelse Swain

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 45: A FILM FROM A DIRECTOR KNOW FOR THEIR CHARACTER-DRIVEN NARRATIVE
 
Description: A group a male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents (James Woods, Kathleen Turner) in suburban Detroit in the mid-1970s.

Review: Cecilia Lisbon is only 13-years-old when she attempts suicide for the first time. She and her four sisters live a very protected life with their strict and religious parents.

Director Sofia Coppola manages to show the audience what this strict life can do to teenage girls. The five sister all deal with it in a different way, eventually ending in the same fate.

It’s beautifully filmed and it focused on the sisters. The story told from the perspective of the boy next door, twenty five years later.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Book Review - Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Title: Happiness Fall
Author: Angie Kim
Genre: Mystery/ Fiction
Published: 2023
 
Description: When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another.
 
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything – which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’d brother runs through the frond door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in the tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
 
What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance.

Review: When Mia’s younger brother Eugene comes back home alone from a walk with their dad, she doesn’t think much of it. He is probably behind. But when her mom and her twin brother John return home, questions start arising. Their dad is clearly missing. And nothing is at it seem. The only person who knows what happened is Eugene, but he has a rare condition called Angelman syndrome, he cannot speak.
 
“Happiness Falls” is not your standard mystery. The book focuses on the characters, the family we follow in this book.
 
The story is told through the perspective of twenty-year-old Mia, the daughter of the Korean-American Park family. Mia is not a typical narrator, nor is this a typical family. The building and exploring of these characters is the heart of the book. If you’re not a character driven reader, this book may not be for you. I’m not either, most of the time, but the way this story was told did captivate me. And the mystery is one I wanted to see solved. But still, I would have loved it more when I did enjoy character driven books more.
 
The novel goes in several different directions, because Mia and her family also do some investigating of their own. And the way Angie Kim treated the character of Eugene was so beautiful. I never heard about Angelman syndrome before. I read, from people who are more familiar with this condition, that Kim was very respectful about it.
 
I really liked this book, but never got to the point of loving it.
 
Rating: 3,5/ 5

20s Movie Review - Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food

Director: Stephanie Soechting
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 83 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: -

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 44: A FILM WITH A STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGE
 
Description: A call to action for the officials who have the power to mitigate the danger caused by foodborne pathogens that kill thousands of people in the U.S. every year.

Review: Stephanie Soechting’s documentary is focused entirely on the food industry of the United States, where there seems to be separate inspectorate for each food group, and they work nicely alongside each other. For however safe and controlled our food chain may seem: the danger lurks in every supermarket.

In 1992, customers of the fast-food chain Jack in the Box  could be hospitalized after taking a bite out of their burgers. For some, it even turned into a tragic death. The E. coli bacteria found in the meat sickened hundreds of people as the bacteria poisoned their own bodies. Four children died.

The cause lay in the restaurant chain’s policy of not heating their burgers properly, something the CEO vehemently denied. Unfortunately, it did not stop there, because after eating contaminated meat, children in particular were found to be able to take the bacteria from each other as well. In fact, the E. coli contamination was only the beginning, because after burgers, lettuce turned out to be a pathogen because it was heated. This was followed by salmonella poisoning at a peanut butter manufacturer.

Scientist, victims, relatives, doctors, lawyers and journalists speak up about all this. There is too little awareness among food producers that their products are actually consumed and can therefore pose public health hazards.

Its clear that Soechting is on the side of the scientists and the food industry is the ‘bad guy’. The documentary lacks nuance and the prospect of improvement is also largely abandoned. It does have an important message to proclaim and it is powerful, due to the people who experienced it and who did the research are the focus.   

Rating: 3/ 5

Book Review - We Spread by Iain Reid

Title: We Spread
Author: Iain Redi
Genre: Horror/ Fiction
Published: 2022
 
Description: Penny, an artist, has lived in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She is resigned to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made, unbeknownst to her, for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many “incidents”
 
Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny – with a growing sense of unrest and distrust – starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging, or is she an unknowing participant in something more unsettling?
 
Review: I already couldn’t fault Iain Reid’s “Foe”, which I believe to be a masterful piece of literature. I kept reading that “We Spread” was his best book or at least it was the favorite of Reid’s book for many readers. And I now know why. What an amazing book! And it’s a possibility it will be my favorite of the year.
 
Penny lives alone after her long-term partner has passed. She is content with her life as is, but after a fall she is being placed in a care facility her partner had arranged for, right before his passing. Soon after settling in, Penny starts to lose her grip on time and reality.
 
“We Spread” is an incredibly tense story. It’s horror how I like it: psychological, fear of everyday things, not knowing whether you can trust your own observations. Penny has difficulties with aging, loneliness and forgetfulness, but she still feels sane enough to trust her own instincts. But when moving to Six Cedars, even that becomes un uncertainty. You feel her fear and because we follow the story through her perspective we never know what is real and what’s not.
 
Iain Reid keeps ups guessing until the end. I could not put this book down. I loved everything about this and, like “Foe”, I can’t fault this book. It’s perfection.
 
Rating: 5/ 5