Eloise's Thoughts and Fancies

Barbie is a film where the 2001 -spoof trailer made me say “yes, I want to see that” and, as well as being the opening scene, pretty much sets the tone for the film. Margot Robbie as Stereotypical Barbie is a brilliant piece of casting but, to my surprise, Ryan “stone face” Gosling is equally amazing as Stereotypical Ken. There has to be a level of irony in the fact that in this film he’s playing a plastic character, literally, whose face cannot move but he emotes more than I’ve seen in any other film I’ve seen him in. Helen Mirren is the narrator and that British sarcasm adds a whole extra layer to the film. But that’s just part of the whole script, which is amazing. It’s funny, moving and clever. There’s a wide range of humour, from pithy one-liners to longer form observational satirical sketches and pretty much everything in between. I’ll be honest, not all the humour lands as hilarious for me, I don’t have all the experiences (it’s hard to say which ones without major spoilers), ...

I bet you thought I’d forgotten you! I have been reading a lot and half paying attention to random videos on YouTube, or rewatching all of Sense8 which I’m not going to review beyond “it still makes me smile and is a balm to my psyche.” On to the real review. In season one, Stupid Wife pushed my limits with its amnesia trope that certainly up there in my list of story lines I hate that still this side of the nope-line stories. On the other side of the line you have all the yucky things like incest and so on. I can imagine shows around most of the yucky topics I might watch, but they’re not going to be pitched as sexy, fun shows. To be honest, if not for lesbian YouTube raving about it, I’d have probably bounced, which would have been a shame but I liked season one despite the central premise. Season two picks up a bit after the end of season one. Luiza is a bit battered, but ok, and things between her and Valentina are not perfect but are in a much better, and generally improving,...