Articles written by marandina - Page 2

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About me - marandina

I'm a 40-something English man with a passion for writing. I love movies, watching sport and have a house full of pets. Aye Carumba!

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Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Little Miss Sunshine: 18 of 32
Shows like "The Simpsons" and "Malcolm in the Middle" have been huge hits over the last few years. What with their dysfunctional family groups who nearly always get it wrong but stick together through thick and thin, programmes like this have been a showcase for nuclear families all across middle America on how to be yoursel... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Heaven, Hell & Afterlife Exploring the possibility of life after death: 29 of 50
*Watching the skies at 3am* For time immemorial, man will ponder why we are here. How many times have you looked up at the stars in the night sky and tried to take in the enormity of everything? They say that there are as many stars as there are grains of sand on every beach on Earth. If it takes thousands of lifetimes to re... More..
Entertainment > Movie Genres The worst movies ever: 35 of 58
I love movies, I really do but when they go wrong there's really nothing more frustrating. I can probably think of lots of movies that I would consider catastrophically bad. "Memento" was one that springs to mind although it wouldn't feature in my pantheon of all time howlers. Come to think of it, most sequels invariably suc... More..
Entertainment > TV Show Reviews Television reviews: Doctor Who: 11 of 17
Have you noticed how the centrepiece of Christmas Day has shifted over the last few years? Debatably, there used to be a viewing window around 3pm where folks would gather around their televisions and watch the Queen's Speech although I say this tentatively as I can't recall ever watching one all the way through myself. Then... More..
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: 2 of 3
It can be funny sometimes how a movie can become a defining moment during a particular time. Just a few years ago in 2004, I was on holiday in Crete and had got into the habit of eating at tavernas that offered showings of the latest movie releases while you ate. The legality of this was somewhat unclear as these were films ... More..
Arts & Humanities > Horror, Mystery & Suspense Book reviews: The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert: 2 of 3
It had been a while since I'd read any of James Herbert's stuff. Having read every single book he's ever written, it had been too long in between volumes. So when "The Secret of Crickley Hall" was published last year, I was excited about getting my mitts on the book. As it turned out, I was given the hardback version as a Ch... More..
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Killer Klowns From Outer Space: 2 of 3
Christmas and New Year can be a frustrating time for movie buffs. Most of the films on TV I've seen already and the constant Yuletide theme that runs through the majority of scheduling adds a contrived slant to most of the material on offer. The best way to deal with this, I've found, is to seek out those films that have not... More..
Entertainment > Album Reviews Album reviews: Myths of the Near Future, by Klaxons: 2 of 3
Of all the music genres out there, I would never have picked myself as a fan of "indie rave", a term coined by Angular Records founder Joe Daniel, who released the first single by the loud-hailered sounding Klaxons. Variously described as "acid-rave sci-fi punk-funk" to psychedelic pop, Klaxons look to update the rave sound ... More..
Arts & Humanities > British Literature Book reviews: 1984, by George Orwell: 17 of 25
-Introduction- Throughout the aeons come ideas. In the greatest examinations it's been proven over and over again that material things can be destroyed, peoples crushed under the weight of superior forces but the enduring tenet that out lives all else is that ideas are immutable. The last couple of centuries have seen signif... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: Life of Pi, by Yann Martel: 8 of 10
*Introduction* If there's one thing that retains an enduring popularity it's an allegory. There have been many stories over the years that have called on the notion of a fable to weave a way into a reader's heart and "Life of Pi" is a book that belongs in this very genre. I guess I was drawn to the story by the careful posit... More..