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North Wales Live
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- North Wales Live
Dads can get 'best' gardening book for free with 1,000s of others in Father's Day deal
It's time to start pondering over what to gift dad for Father's Day, but fathers are notoriously difficult to shop for. They likely have all the gardening tools, cycling gear, gaming accessories and golf kit they could ever want, and finding a small yet significant gift for Father's Day is always a tough task. But here's something dad might not have considered: enjoying an audiobook. Audiobooks are a brilliant way to increase reading time, as it's simple to plug in headphones and go for a stroll, do chores around the house or even listen while driving the car. If shoppers are on the hunt for a perfect Father's Day gift, online audiobook and podcast service Audible has a one month free premium plus trial on offer. After the first month is over, it then drops to £8.99 a month with a plethora of books to listen to. As the deal coincides perfectly with Father's Day, it's worth highlighting some of the fan favourites for Dads on the platform. Firstly, there's Monty Don's Down to Earth Gardening book which features gardening wisdom from Don himself - who is best known as the main presenter of the BBC TV series Gardeners' World - including essential tips, knowledge and musings from his 50 years of gardening experience. Not only do listeners get to hear Monty's thoughts and garden ideas about nature, seasons, colour, design, pests and much more, they also hear his actual voice as he narrates the entire book, reports the Mirror. For those who aren't particularly fond of gardening, Don has another book available on Audible titled Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs. In this book, he delves into the deep connections we form with animals, sharing stories about his own dog, Nigel, and other special dogs that have been a part of his life. If your father is more inclined towards fiction, there's a wide selection of James Patterson books available on Audible. His works often revolve around themes of mystery, thriller, and suspense, such as The Commuter. This gripping tale follows a woman who overhears a murder plot during her morning commute and finds herself entangled in the situation as she attempts to prevent it. Alternatively, Richard Osman's classic, The Thursday Murder Club, could be an excellent choice. This story revolves around four unlikely friends in a retirement village who meet weekly to investigate unsolved murders. However, things take a turn when a brutal killing occurs right on their doorstep. With a film adaptation directed by Chris Columbus set to hit Netflix soon, it might be a good idea for dads to familiarise themselves with the mysteries before the film's release in August. Audible isn't the only audiobook game in town; Spotify, for instance, boasts a library of over 250,000 titles for Premium users to stream every month, covering everything from science fiction to romance. For just £11.99 a month, members can indulge in up to 15 hours of literary listening pleasure on the platform. Likewise, Apple offers an audiobook experience through Apple Books, where consumers can purchase and enjoy a diverse range of audible reads. Yet, it's worth noting that Audible's offerings receive high praise, with titles like Don's "Down to Earth" securing an impressive 4.9 out of 5-star rating across 512 reviews. One satisfied audiophile expressed: "One of the best books I have listened to. It's like he is sitting there in the room with you and soooooo interesting! ! ! He has an approach like no other gardener when explaining everything in such a poetic and feeling way... Highly recommended." Another listener enthused about the practicality: "Excellent. Instructions are great... Follow the book to a wonderful looking garden." Another listener enthused about the practicality: "Excellent. Instructions are great... Follow the book to a wonderful looking garden." The enjoyment was echoed by another customer who shared: "Loved every minute of this book. I think I'm going to listen again right now." However, not all feedback was glowing, with one novice gardener admitting: "As a not-even-beginner-yet gardener this book was an information overload. This is a book for the intermediate to experienced gardener to get new insights and inspiration." Listeners have praised the audiobook, with one saying: "Wonderful book read in his own charming and inimitable style. The only negative is the occasional speeding up (editor not narrator I suspect) which is very hard to take in at times." For a limited time, new customers can enjoy a free one-month trial of Audible, making it an ideal gift for dads this Father's Day.
Daily Mirror
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'One of the best' gardening books is now free for Father's Day
It can be hard to know what to get Dad for Father's Day, but there's bound to be loads for him to enjoy on Audible It's time to start thinking about what to get Dad for Father's Day, but dads are, notoriously, tricky to buy for. They probably have all the gardening tools, cycling equipment, gaming accessories and golf kit they could ask for, and finding a small but meaningful gift for Father's Day is always a challenge. But here's something Dad might not have thought of: enjoying an audiobook. Audiobooks are a great way to up reading time, as it's easy to plug in headphones and go off for a walk, do work around the house or even listen while driving the car. If shoppers are looking for a perfect gift for Father's Day, online audiobook and podcast service Audible has a one month free premium plus trial on offer. After the first month is done, it is then down to £8.99 a month with an array of books to listen to. As the deal aligns perfectly with Father's Day, it is worth noting some of the fan favourites for Dads on the platform. Firstly, there is Monty Don's Down to Earth Gardening book which features gardening wisdom from Don himself - who is best known as the lead presenter of the BBC TV series Gardeners' World - including essential tips, knowledge and musings from his 50 years of gardening experience. Not only do listeners get to hear Monty's thoughts and garden ideas around nature, seasons, colour, design, pests and much more, they also hear his actual voice as he narrates the whole book. If gardening isn't everyone's favourite hobby, Don also has another book available on Audible called Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs where he explores what makes us connect with animals so deeply. Speaking about his own dog Nigel, Don tells his story and relates his relationship with other special dogs in his life in a memoir of his dogs past and present. Perhaps it's fiction that Dad most enjoys. If so, there are an array of James Patterson books available on Audible. His books very much encapsulate the themes of mystery, thriller and suspense such as The Commuter. This book is about when a woman overhears a murder plot on her morning commute and as she tries to stop it - she ends up getting pulled in deeper than she could have ever imagined. Another option is Richard Osman's classic, The Thursday Murder Club, which follows four unlikely friends in a retirement village who meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders - that is until a brutal killing takes place on their own doorstep. It's also about to come to Netflix as a film directed by Chris Columbus, so dads may want to get clued up on the mysteries before the film releases in August. Audible isn't the only platform with audiobooks, however. For example, Spotify offers over 250,000 audiobook titles for Premium subscribers to stream every month. Shoppers can enjoy 15 hours of audiobook listening time every month on the platform from sci-fi to romance and everything in between for £11.99 per month. Apple also has audiobooks available through Apple Books which allows shoppers to buy, find, listen to and read or listen to books. However, the books on Audible have been rated highly, for example Don's Down to Earth has a 4.9 out of 5 star rating on the platform from a total of 512 reviews. One listener wrote: 'One of the best books I have listened to. It's like he is sitting there in the room with you and soooooo interesting!!! He has an approach like no other gardener when explaining everything in such a poetic and feeling way…Highly recommended.' Another said: 'Excellent. Instructions are great… Follow the book to a wonderful looking garden.' Another listener wrote: 'Loved every minute of this book. I think I'm going to listen again right now.' Despite the majority of excellent reviews, not everyone felt the same way. One person said: 'As a not-even-beginner-yet gardener this book was an information overload. This is a book for the intermediate to experienced gardener to get new insights and inspiration.' Another said: 'Wonderful book read in his own charming and inimitable style. The only negative is the occasional speeding up (editor not narrator I suspect) which is very hard to take in at times.'
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
BRIAN VINER reviews The Accountant 2: More bad news for Ben Affleck as his first film since J.Lo divorce is branded 'wildly convoluted' with 'no credibility'
The Accountant 2 (15, 132 mins) Verdict: Less boring than it sounds As if to make up for arguably the most boring title of any film in the history of cinema, pipping even Ordinary People (1980) and The Commuter (2018), The Accountant 2 begins with a blaze of action, incongruously enough in a bingo hall. If you made it through the 2016 original, you'll recall that Ray King (JK Simmons) of the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement department was about to retire. Now he evidently has retired, which is exactly the kind of dull storyline you might expect from a movie called The Accountant 2. However, something doesn't add up. There are baddies converging on the bingo hall where Ray is sitting inoffensively at the back, doing some calculations on a paper napkin, and soon they're trying to bump him off. Ray is getting on a bit (Simmons is 70) but still manages to out-muscle a few super-fit young assassins before they get the better of him, neatly presaging the many absurdities yet to come. Most of these feature Ben Affleck, returning as autistic number-cruncher Christian Wolff, whose remarkable skills as a mathematical savant are usefully complemented by an awesome talent for punching and shooting his way out of any perilous situation. Ray is getting on a bit (Simmons is 70) but still manages to out-muscle a few super-fit young assassins before they get the better of him, neatly presaging the many absurdities yet to come (Daniella Pineda and JK Simmons pictured) Unfortunately, he's not so hot at relating to other people. We see him at a speed-dating event, where he has cooked the algorithms to attract more single women than anyone else, only to muck up his chances by trying to chat up each of them with a line about tax returns. This is quite funny, but it's a one-note joke that soon runs out of steam. Christian used to deploy his talents for criminal purposes, laundering money for mobsters, but now Ray's former underling Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) needs his help smashing a callous people-trafficking operation. The key to toppling the bad guys lies in the disappearance of a family from El Salvador, whose fate seems to have something to do with a stony-faced hitwoman (Daniella Pineda). That makes the plot sound just about accessible. The truth is that you'll need more than a ready reckoner to work out the wild convolutions of The Accountant 2. Only neurodivergent Christian can get to the bottom of them, and even he needs the help of his younger brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal), who similarly is as hard as nails and can shoot a glowering Central American thug between the eyes from 150 yards. Director Gavin O'Connor and writer Bill Dubuque, the same team as last time, extract some fun from the uneasy relationship between the two siblings, and at least Affleck and Bernthal look vaguely as if they might share the same square-jawed parentage. But if you prefer your action thrillers with a modicum of credibility, you'll need to look elsewhere. The Accountant 2 is in cinemas now. Havoc (18, 105 mins) Verdict: Spectacularly violent Rating: Don't expect it from the Netflix thriller Havoc, though — or not unless you can believe in scenes of violence so relentless and extreme that it's a wonder anyone makes it alive to the end of the film. Havoc stars Tom Hardy as that most hackneyed of characters: the maverick American detective with a messy personal life. It's one of the great film and TV paradoxes that these cops, meant to be fiercely idiosyncratic, in fact submit to every single screen-writing convention. How often have we seen the likes of Walker (Hardy)? He's usually saddled with a junior partner for whom he acquires a grudging respect (tick). And there is quite often an only child for whom he hurriedly buys a cheap Christmas present, just to make up for being a rubbish dad (tick). In a way it's a shame that Hardy must abide by these humdrum cliches of the genre, because he's actually pretty terrific in Havoc — as good at being Walker as Clint Eastwood was at being Harry Callahan and Al Pacino was at being Frank Serpico, just to name two other non-conformist cops from the zillions we've seen. As for the story, it involves police-department corruption, a nasty mayor (hammed up outrageously by Forest Whittaker), a drugs deal gone wrong, and ruthless mobsters from the Far East. The director is Gareth Evans, the Welshman whose Indonesian gangland films, The Raid (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014), didn't just choreograph violent carnage but practically fetishised it. He does the same here, most memorably in a nightclub dust-up that turns an ice-bucket into an instrument of death, along with more obvious weapons (though less obvious nightclub accessories) such as a meat cleaver and a machine gun. If you like that sort of thing, it's a heck of a scene. But you've been warned.
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Streaming: We Live in Time and the best Florence Pugh films
Industry pundits are fond of telling us that the movie star is a dying concept: that blockbusters are now sold on characters and intellectual property rather than actors, to the point that even a colossus such as Tom Cruise has lately limited himself only to franchise work. That may be true, though my own definition of a movie star is looser, less money-minded and very much alive: someone, put simply, who holds your attention in pretty much anything. Florence Pugh is one. Her most recent film, We Live in Time – currently on VOD and hitting DVD shelves on 24 March – is more or less a monument to her star quality, and that of her leading man, Andrew Garfield. Without their combined charisma and unforced chemistry, this time-hopping romantic drama wouldn't amount to an awful lot. Playwright Nick Payne's script essentially uses the same building blocks that made Love Story a smash 55 years ago: two young, beautiful people meet, fall in love and plan the rest of their lives together – only for cancer to suddenly decree that they haven't long left. Payne and director John Crowley twist their reliable tearjerker formula by scrambling its chronology, showing us the couple's first fight before their first kiss, and their meet-cute some time after the end is signalled. It's a cosmetic rejig, since we're never in doubt as to the overall shape of the story, and it sometimes stalls the emotional momentum of proceedings – but Pugh is so compellingly radiant as the dying woman, spiny and resistant and actively angry in the face of her fate that we feel along with her. It's a little over a decade since I interviewed Pugh, then just 18, for the Observer's 'Rising stars of 2015' feature, which remains one of the better professional calls I've made. Back then, it was based on a single screen appearance: her eye-catching debut as an ill-fated schoolgirl in Carol Morley's slippery psychological mystery The Falling. An object of obsessive desire for Maisie Williams's protagonist, she exits proceedings early, but her bright, beguiling presence haunts the remainder of the film. That brief promise was more expansively confirmed two years later in Lady Macbeth, William Oldroyd's rigorous, ruthless study of a headstrong 19th-century child bride taking violent revenge on the patriarchy, which rested heavily on its young star's capacity for simultaneous vulnerability and sangfroid, all while brazenly rejecting easy sympathy. It was the role that really turned Hollywood on to her talents: few star-is-born vehicles have been quite so uncompromising. What followed were some standard stepping stones for an ingenue on the rise – lively but disposable supporting part in the Liam Neeson action film The Commuter and David Mackenzie's epic Outlaw King (Netflix); creditably headlining the entertaining-enough horror flick Malevolent (Netflix) – along with the less expected prestige assignment of the BBC's chic, Park Chan-wook-directed Le Carré miniseries The Little Drummer Girl (BBC iPlayer), to which Pugh brought a certain intriguing modernity. Also on the Beeb that year, she was a fine Cordelia to Anthony Hopkins's King Lear (BBC iPlayer). It was 2019 that showed the full breadth of Pugh's gifts. She was warmly rowdy and physically committed as an aspiring wrestler in Stephen Merchant's underrated sports biopic Fighting With My Family, before returning to the intensity with which she made her name in Ari Aster's brilliant folk horror Midsommar. Here, she played an unwilling, trauma-ridden cult recruit with an air of abandoned desperation, gradually lapped by numb resilience. And she got a much-deserved Oscar nomination for the best Amy March yet put on the screen in Greta Gerwig's Little Women, imbuing the youngest sister of Louisa May Alcott's oft-adapted chestnut with an unashamed brattiness, giving way to a more mature, cunning pragmatism. The Marvel machine came for Pugh next. As Yelena, the arse-kicking adopted sister of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, she was game in both the film Black Widow and the spin-off series Hawkeye (Disney+), though neither repaid her with much in the way of inspiration. (Perhaps the forthcoming 2 May release Thunderbolts*, elevating Pugh/Yelena to first billing, will serve her better.) Pugh hasn't let the Marvel Cinematic Universe consume her career, however. Sebastián Lelio's lithe period psychodrama The Wonder (Netflix), in which she plays a doughty nurse investigating a supposed miracle child, is certainly a more generous fit for the flinty curiosity she projects on screen. The same was even true of Olivia Wilde's slick but narratively shambolic thriller Don't Worry Darling, a sort of Stepford Wives update that accidentally amplified Pugh's talents by casting her opposite a floundering Harry Styles. And her unvarnished performance as a guilt-plagued recovering addict in her ex Zach Braff's earnest grief drama A Good Person deepened and sharpened a soft script. Christopher Nolan's Oscar-guzzling Oppenheimer and Denis Villeneuve's ravishing Dune: Part Two are better films, of course, though ask less of her; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and the English-language dub of Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron (Netflix) require only Pugh's distinctively throaty voice. I eagerly await her turn in a forthcoming new TV adaptation of Steinbeck's East of Eden – though I'm confident her movie star status isn't going anywhere. All titles in bold are widely available to stream unless otherwise specified. All We Imagine As Light (Amazon Prime) Payal Kapadia's wistful, sapphire-toned character study of two Mumbai nurses and flatmates, each bearing their own personal frustrations and romantic yearnings, was a high point in cinemas last year. Rita (Signature) Spanish actress Paz Vega makes her directorial debut with this tender but unsentimental child's-eye study of a broken home. It's largely seen from the perspective of its eponymous seven-year-old girl (affectingly played by Sofía Allepuz), looking on as her mother, Mari (Vega), attempts to escape a cycle of abuse. Kinoteka Polish film festival online (Klassiki) As the annual Polish film showcase plays in various UK cinemas until 25 April, a handful of titles are also available on Klassiki, a streaming platform specifically for eastern European cinema. They include two classics by the late Wojciech Jerzy Has – The Hourglass Sanatorium, a head-spinning 1973 adaptation of Bruno Schulz's surrealist short stories, and Farewells, a melancholy study of a love affair severed by the second world war – and something new in Maria Zbąska's It's Not My Film, a wry relationship road movie.
New York Times
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Stream These Movies and TV Shows Before They Leave Netflix in February
The highlights of this month's Netflix departures are a star-studded bunch, with memorable turns by Chadwick Boseman, Russell Crowe, Vin Diesel, Kirsten Dunst, Mia Goth, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Chris Hemsworth and others. And catch two great 'Office'-adjacent comedy series of recent years before they leave. (Dates reflect the final day titles are available and are subject to change.) 'Run All Night' (Feb. 1) Stream it here. Between their collaborations on the airplane thriller 'Non-Stop' and the train thriller 'The Commuter,' Liam Neeson and the director Jaume Collet-Serra teamed up for this taut action flick, which basically amounts to 'Taken' but set in New York with gangsters. Neeson plays an ex-hit man for the Irish Mob who puts his life and that of his estranged son (Joel Kinnaman) in danger when he kills his boss's trigger-happy offspring. Ed Harris is electrifying as the boss, instilling genuine fear with even his offhand gestures; Vincent D'Onofrio shines as a police detective; and Common is ferocious as a fellow hired gun. Neeson, meanwhile, sneaks in some real acting between the punches. 'The Fast and the Furious' Collection (Feb. 11) Stream it here. These early entries in one of the most lucrative and durable of all modern action franchises offer up a fascinating lesson in cinematic evolution and adaptation. The initial outing, 'The Fast and the Furious' (2001), was a fairly straightforward 'Point Break' riff with Paul Walker as a cop who goes undercover in the Los Angeles street racing subculture to bust a petty thief (Vin Diesel) and gets too close for comfort with him and his crew (which also included Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster). Two years later, Walker returned in '2 Fast 2 Furious,' but his chemistry with Diesel was sorely missing, and the 2006 spinoff 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' took the series further afield. But the four principles returned for 'Fast & Furious' (2009; not on Netflix) and solidified the series's new friskier style in the bone-crunching, physics-defying heist spectacles 'Fast Five' and 'Fast & Furious 6.' 'Blackhat' (Feb. 15) Stream it here. The director Michael Mann, always on the cutting edge, wrote and directed this 2015 cyber-thriller about a convicted hacker (Chris Hemsworth) who is offered his freedom if he can help an F.B.I. team track down a dangerous cybercriminal. The plot doesn't entirely hold together, and Hemsworth's casting is a touch hard to swallow. But Mann's distinctive and unmatched style more than holds 'Blackhat' together. And the considerable chemistry of Hemsworth and his character's romantic interest, played by Tang Wei, keeps the sparks flying. 'Pearl' (Feb. 15) Stream it here. The second, and finest, of the three collaborations between the writer-director Ti West and the actress Mia Goth (preceded by 'X' and followed by 'Maxxxine') is this 2022 period thriller, telling the origin story of the psychotic old woman played by Goth in 'X.' We meet the title character in 1918, isolating on her family's Texas farm during the Spanish flu pandemic, awaiting the return of her husband from World War I. But Pearl needs attention and affirmation, and she decides she wants to be a movie star — no matter what it takes. West's supersaturated photography and classical style recall the Golden Age of Hollywood melodrama, while his sly script both deploys and subverts the conventions of contemporary horror. 'Southpaw' (Feb. 20) Stream it here. Jake Gyllenhaal is startlingly convincing as a professional boxer whose life and career are turned upside-down in this sports drama from the director Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day'). Gyllenhaal, whose months of transformative training for the role pay off big onscreen, plays the character's cockiness and fall from grace with equal authenticity, while Rachel McAdams makes the most of her few scenes, and Forest Whitaker transcends the clichés of the crusty, seen-it-all corner man. Most of the narrative will be plenty familiar to sports film fans, but Gyllenhaal's towering performance and Fuqua's attentiveness to detail keep 'Southpaw' from feeling too shopworn. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
