T. Stolinski
Bio
Simple as ABC: Arthouse movies / Books / Cats
Stories (24/0)
Cycling on the Isle of Man
Logistics First off, let me supply some details about the Isle of Man. It is located in the Irish Sea, roughly equidistant from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Not surprisingly then, you will hear a riot of accents there. The island is neither part of the UK nor the European Union; be warned therefore that Schengen visas are not valid and your mobile phone coverage may well be outside your deal. The island has its own currency and perhaps best of all if you from the area you are known as Manx!!
By T. Stolinski5 months ago in Wander
Who has the power?
I loved reading The Power by Naomi Alderman. I devoured it! She writes very well, with the enviable ability to sketch out an idea, pull it apart and then observe it from different angles. Although there are spoilers ahead, it's not very spoilery to say that the central plot device of the book (and film) is that suddenly young women all over the world develop the ability - the power - to send out electric shocks through the hands.
By T. Stolinski5 months ago in Geeks
What to watch after 'Top Boy'?
Top Boy is simply the best thing I have watched recently. It stays with me bruv. I already reviewed it here and now I'd like to make some suggestions as to what to watch next, if you are struggling (like I was) to move on to another show.
By T. Stolinski2 years ago in Geeks
A new production of Pinter's 'The Homecoming' fails to sizzle
A new production of The Homecoming, the 1965 play by Harold Pinter, is currently touring to good reviews (for example see The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph). Having watched it, I was left wondering where the motivation to make a new production for this specific play came from. Surely the director Julian Glover had a reason for getting the show back on the road again, but it is not drawn out. Several reviews have suggested that the play is increasingly relevant in the time of #metoo, but I must confess I thought the opposite.
By T. Stolinski2 years ago in Geeks
Dunnydeer Hill and Recumbent Stone Circle (Aberdeenshire)
Driving south from Huntly (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) with the late afternoon beating down, my attention is repeatedly grabbed by a picturesque ruin standing on a little hill. It pops up first to the left then to the right; as the road winds, the ruin disappears and reappears. We of course have to stop when we turn a corner and an empty parking place appears in front of us. To my joy, there is a footpath sign which announces that it is 1km to the ruin and 0.5km to the standing stones - oh what sorcery is this? We will get to see some megaliths as well! These ancient stones pop up when they want to be seen.
By T. Stolinski2 years ago in Wander
Who to bank with in the UK?
Who to bank with? This is a difficult question nowadays in the UK for the ethical consumer. The Co-operative Bank (henceforth the Co-op) claims to be the only ethical high-street bank in the UK and as we shall see, that is not really true; whilst it is better than other mainstream choices, criticisms can be made and Triodos Bank is the better option.
By T. Stolinski2 years ago in Trader
Review of 'Mandibles'
Quentin Dupieux will never fully escape from the legacy of his 1999 smash hit video and track "Flat Beat", which he apparently recorded in just two hours. Yet now as a bona fide film-maker he goes from strength to strength; his 2020 film Mandibles (in French Mandibules) is a quirky comedy with its own deranged logic, a "Bill and Ted go South France" if you will. A comparison which is only encouraged by the long Keanu hair of Manu (Grégoire Ludig) and the curly Alex Winter hair of Jean-Gab (David Marsais). These two reprobates are well-known in French comedy circles but new to me, since the early 2000s they have been making internet and television shows, the most famous one being Palmashow. So they work together well after years of practice and they are a perfect foil here for the Dupieux's rather unique absurdist sense of humour.
By T. Stolinski2 years ago in Geeks
Focusing on the truth? A review of 'The Challenge'
Did Spanish fascism die with Franco in 1975? No, unfortunately it did not, the authoritarian ideology lived on long after the dictator wa gone. And recent events such as the squabble over Franco's remains caused by the Francisco Franco National Foundation and the imprisonment of Catalan separatists show that Spain is still finding it hard to shake off its murky past. During the Transition to Democracy, former Falangists miraculously transformed into democrats, in a process very reminiscent of how the bureaucrats of Vichy France and Nazi Germany morphed into the leaders of their newly democratic states following World War II.
By T. Stolinski2 years ago in The Swamp
Giving 'Dark Matter' a rewatch
Recently I began a rewatch of Dark Matter, an understated Canadian science fiction series which ran between 2015 and 2017. It is holding up surprisingly well for me second time round! I am enjoying it MUCH more than Expanse season five, which I have now given up on completely since the last episode I watched didn't even feature Amos or Drummer.
By T. Stolinski3 years ago in Futurism
The Expanse Season Four Reviewed
I am I was looking forward very much to the new season and I have to say visually, the show did not disappoint at all. The Expanse was famously dropped by SyFy after the end of series 3 and then picked up again by Amazon. The increased budget is immediately noticeable, I’d love to watch this on a big screen. However, that won’t be happening soon because I’ll need time first to forget the plot deficiencies, which actually made this the least enjoyable series for me (I’d rate them 3-2-1-4).
By T. Stolinski4 years ago in Geeks
