Helen Tope

Mr. Blake At Your Service! - The Reviews Hub Writers: Christel Henon and Gilles Legardinier Director: Gilles Legardinier If there’s an actor who likes to keep us on our toes, it’s John Malkovich. We’re used to seeing him immersed in aspects of t...

www.thereviewshub.com/mr-blake-at-...

"The film is not without its issues...but Malkovich, in comedy mode, is genuinely charming"

My review of #MrBlakeAtYourService #JohnMalkovich #filmreview

“A uniquely frustrating experience” – The Cultural Tutor by Sheehan Quirke “When it comes to books published on the back of Instagram success, it’s quite reasonable to have low expectations. The publishing path to lucrative cash grabs is strewn with biographies ‘wri…

"In trying to impress and pander to the Instagram crowd, Sheehan Quirke has created a book that is structurally incoherent and stylistically uneven...there are interesting morsels to be discovered, but the reader simply needs more"
#TheCulturalTutor #books
bookmunch.wordpress.com/2025/09/28/a...

Ackroyd & Harvey: The Art of Activism - The Reviews Hub Director: Fiona Cunningham-Reid Sharply merging the personal with the political, Fiona Cunningham-Reid’s documentary, Ackroyd & Harvey: The Art of Activism, doesn’t just look at what it’s like to be a...

www.thereviewshub.com/ackroyd-harv...

Read my review of #TheArtOfActivism #documentary #climatecrisis #AckroydHarvey

“Romantic, Pragmatic, Feminist”: Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility | Plymouth Arts Cinema | Independent Cinema for Everyone | located at Arts University Plymouth. Although it doesn’t get the same attention as Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion or even Emma, Sense and Sensibility can lay claim to being Jane Austen’s literary debut. Published in 1811, it did well. Its original critics described the novel’s plot as “probable, highly pleasing and interesting”. While she didn’t get the literary hoopla of a...

Thirty years on, #SenseandSensibility can still be watched and understood by a complete newcomer to Jane Austen. But Thompson doesn’t simplify: she clarifies; making us look past the costumes and into the heart of the drama."

#EmmaThompson #JaneAusten

plymouthartscinema.org/romantic-pra...

Start (and keep) reading | Short Book September - the PRSD Get those pages turning and dive into Shorty September with a month of reading books under 200 pages. Say hello to Short Book September

Want to get back into the reading habit? Here's my guide to the best classics, new and old. And they're all under 200 pages. #shortyseptember #reading #bookrecommendations

www.theprsd.co.uk/2025/09/05/s...

“A searing portrayal of inequality” – Greyhound by Joanna Pocock “Pocock’s journey may have started as an intensely personal exploration of grief and loss, but what unfolds in Greyhound is a searing portrayal of gaping inequalities. However, Pocock’s sense…

"Joanna Pocock’s #Greyhound is a searing portrayal of gaping inequalities. Her calculation of what we are losing – to corporate greed, to economic elitism – is vast"

#JoannaPocock #Greyhound #memoir #travel #economics @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social

bookmunch.wordpress.com/2025/09/07/a...

Start (and keep) reading | Short Book September - the PRSD Get those pages turning and dive into Shorty September with a month of reading books under 200 pages. Say hello to Short Book September

Want to get back into the reading habit? Here's my guide to the best classics, new and old. And they're all under 200 pages. #shortyseptember #reading #bookrecommendations

www.theprsd.co.uk/2025/09/05/s...

“A quick fix is never the answer” – Drystone: A Life Rebuilt by Kristie De Garis “While De Garis’ memoir has its share of bleakness, Drystone is filled with moments of humour. Her writing style makes for a readable, and emotionally balanced, experience. De Garis’ portrait…

"While the metaphor of drystone walling – you must take apart a wall before you can build it back stronger – could weigh heavily, De Garis uses it sparingly and effectively."

My review of #DrystoneALifeRebuilt by @kristiedegaris.bsky.social #nonfiction #book

bookmunch.wordpress.com/2025/09/01/a...

“A quick fix is never the answer” – Drystone: A Life Rebuilt by Kristie De Garis “While De Garis’ memoir has its share of bleakness, Drystone is filled with moments of humour. Her writing style makes for a readable, and emotionally balanced, experience. De Garis’ portrait…

Really in-depth review of my book 'Drystone' from Bookmunch. Grateful that they picked up not just on the story, but on the craft - the restraint, the humour, and the wider social critique I hoped would come through.

You can read it here:

bookmunch.wordpress.com/2025/09/01/a...

#Books #Scotland

Book Review: You’ll Like It When You Get There: A Life Lived Reluctantly by Rhys James - The Reviews Hub While they’re the lifeblood of the publishing industry, not all celebrity memoirs are created equal. For every David Niven, sparkling and poignant, there is Alan Shearer’s famous confession that he celebrated a championship win by creosoting his fence. Sadly, not a euphemism. Throwing his hat into the ring is comedian Rhys James. Not even close

"James’s ability to laugh at himself, at his own discomfort, is a refreshing antidote to every self-aggrandising memoir you may have had the misfortune to read. As any good publisher knows, if sex sells, humiliation is a close second."

#RhysJames #memoir #book

www.thereviewshub.com/book-review-...

Sofonisba’s Chess Game - The Reviews Hub Writer and Director: Howard Burton When we think of artists working in Renaissance Italy, there aren’t many women’s names that spring to mind. With Michelangelo, Raphael and Da Vinci as your cultural ...

"#TheChessGame is a riposte to the Renaissance feminine ideal: no Botticelli babes here...it is what makes Sofonisba's art feel so startlingly modern"

Read my review of #SofonisbasChessGame @ideasroadshow.bsky.social #SofonisbaAnguissola #RenaissanceArt

www.thereviewshub.com/sofonisbas-c...

The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire - The Reviews Hub Writers: Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and Marina Magloire Director: Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich Looking at the life of writer and activist Suzanne Césaire even in the briefest details, it seems incredible that s...

"While the camera soaks up the gentle colours and rhythms of Martinique, Césaire’s writing leans out of the screen, insisting we hear it. Cesaire's extraordinary voice is centered. It is hard to imagine a better tribute"

My review #TheBalladofSuzanneCesaire

www.thereviewshub.com/the-ballad-o...

"Turning away from spoon-fed translation, #HeartLamp does ask a lot of its reader, but both Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi, believe we are up to the job."

My review of #InternationalBooker winner @andotherstories.bsky.social

bookmunch.wordpress.com/2025/07/13/a...

Film Review - Pride and Prejudice (2005) | Plymouth Arts Cinema | Independent Cinema for Everyone | located at Arts University Plymouth. When it comes to making the transition from page to screen, there are few novels that can rival the track record of Jane Austen’s 1813 classic, Pride and Prejudice. The book’s blend of romance and com...

"What jumps out in Joe Wright’s adaptation of #PrideandPrejudice is the mud. There's loads of it. Austen’s world is portrayed as a quagmire of dirt and debt...a good deal closer to what the author experienced than the cleaned-up edit we see elsewhere."

#JaneAusten250 #JaneAusten #filmreview

Thank you!!

Raphael’s School of Athens - The Reviews Hub Writer and Director: Howard Burton When it comes to precocious talent, the Italian Renaissance can boast some stellar examples. Securing a once-in-a-lifetime commission in his mid-twenties, Raphael’s ...

"Allegory plays a huge part here...Raphael’s interest in architecture translates into metaphor. The implication is that we can see human achievement clearly, but when it comes to faith, we cannot even comprehend its true scale."

@ideasroadshow.bsky.social

www.thereviewshub.com/raphaels-sch...

It's a book review website (not run by me)!

“A poet with garlands to spare” – Modern Poetry / Frank: Sonnets by Diane Seuss “What stands out across Seuss’ collections is her accessibility. Determined not to join the ranks of the deliberately-obscure, Seuss’ poems clearly state their case. We know exactly what is b…

"Diane Seuss details how the sonnet stretches to fit the cacophony of her early life. Poverty, illness, death, hunger: she regards these subjects with an unflinching eye."

My review of #FrankSonnets #ModernPoetry by #DianeSeuss @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social

bookmunch.wordpress.com/2025/03/26/a...

Read the Barbara Comyns last year: loved it

#FitzcarraldoEditions fans will understand when I say we had close shave this morning when I accidentally dropped The Books of Jacob on the cat*

*he's fine but I will be paying for this. In roast chicken

#TheBooksofJacob #OlgaTokarczuk

Dawn of Impressionism: Paris 1874 - Exhibition On Screen - The Reviews Hub Writers: Phil Grabsky and Ali Ray Director: Ali Ray When we think of Impressionism today, it’s hard to imagine a time when it wasn’t popular. But this is the challenge accepted by Musee d’Orsay and th...

"The new angle on the Impressionists makes this #ExhibitionOnScreen film not only highly watchable but it succeeds in making us look again at what we know about Impressionism."
Read my review of #DawnOfImpressionism #arthistory #documentary

www.thereviewshub.com/dawn-of-impr...

Oscar Profile: Ralph Fiennes' sheer diversity of characters | Plymouth Arts Cinema | Independent Cinema for Everyone | located at Arts University Plymouth. With a career spanning three decades, actor Ralph Fiennes has just received his third Oscar nomination. His role in Edward Berger’s ecclesiastical hit Conclave has impressed critics and audiences, and...

A fun profile piece on #RalphFiennes ahead of the #Oscars on Sunday. We may know Fiennes for his large, dramatic roles, but on a closer look, the sheer diversity of characters he has played reveal not only a versatile actor, but one who is not afraid to fail.
plymouthartscinema.org/oscar-profil...

An adventure in creative uncertainty | John Lyons: Carnivalesque at The Box, Plymouth - the PRSD John Lyons: Carnivalesque at The Box, Plymouth, is a grand celebration of an extraordinary career. Helen Tope joins in the adventure

" #Carnivalesque marks John Lyons’ heritage with colour and movement, but it also takes in the layers of history and the Trinidadian folklore at the centre of his art."

Read my review of John Lyons' exhibition showing at #TheBoxPlymouth @theprsd.bsky.social
www.theprsd.co.uk/2025/02/12/a...

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The @backlisted.bsky.social Biography / Memoir special is totally NOT rekindling my literary crush on Elizabeth Jane Howard...

Very cool vintage copy!

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Following the excellent David Niven / Rupert Everett @backlisted.bsky.social episode, I have been on the lookout for The Moon's a Balloon. Today, the charity shop gods were smiling on me. A suitably pristine copy. For £1. I will be smug for DAYS...

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Just watched #Nosferatu - I have never been so happy to see Willem Dafoe in my LIFE

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I'm reading #Kindred as my last #book of 2024. Christ lads - prescient much?

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A family that listens to the @backlisted.bsky.social Xmas / Moby Dick special together, stays together

Words To Live by Number 169