Don't Give Up Your Day Job Penny!

Advantages: whittled away my quiet weekend in I suppose.
Disadvantages: poor story, unbelievable characters, poor gags

.... The characters have no development whatsoever, the story is very weak and could have been developed so much more, some stories were tied up too neatly at the end whilst the story of Keera was just left dangling. Obvious and unoriginal jokes throughout which became too much. The focus of the main story was on Katie but there were short little inserts from the characters of Mike and Keera throughout. I couldn't care less about Mike, but really wanted Keera to get her comeuppance and was very disappointed that the book seemed to just tail off into nothing. (I checked the back page to see if I'd missed anything!) Chick Lit wise, this is probably on par with most and I've certainly read much better. Penny's subject matter should have put her in good stead to write a really interesting book - I felt like she tried for a bit of Ben Elton type...

burtybookworm 14.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Coming Up Next - Penny Smith

Stick to presenting ------ PLEASE!!!!!

Advantages: It comes to an end
Disadvantages: A very poor book, weak storyline and awful characters

...The park on which I live has a reception area that has a book swapping service, looking for something different to read I picked up a paperback written by TV presenter Penny Smith called 'Coming Up Next' - with the subtitle, Breakfast just got bitchier, I thought that this might make a good read so picked it up leaving two Jenny Colgan books in return and took it home to read sitting out in the sun. Well I got the sun, but I didn't get a good read!! How disappointing this book was. The story line is based around a breakfast TV presenter (wonder where she got that idea from !!) - Katie Fisher, who is booted off the show when her audience tire of her sense of humour and frequent puns. To make matters worse Katie is replaced by a much younger and more attractive model who has no qualms about what she does to rise to the top...

oldchem 13.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Coming Up Next - Penny Smith

Britpop Heaven

Advantages: An album full of great pop songs
Disadvantages: Brett Anderson's vocals are not to everyone's tastes

...on 17 year-old schoolboy Richard Oakes. The music press chuckled at the mere thought of Oakes stepping into Butler's shoes. To make matters worse, Suede had to tour Dog Man Star with Oakes playing an entire set of Butler songs. It was as if Suede had become some bizarre tribute band to themselves. They were more or less written off, especially now that a new wave of bands led by Oasis, Blur and Pulp were stealing the limelight. What Suede had to do was put out a great third Album and go on tour again with a setlist of new songs that had nothing to do with Butler. 1996's Coming Up Album was the acid test. The first band I ever saw live was Suede on the Coming Up tour so I've always had a soft-spot for them. I thought I'd dig out my copy of Coming Up and see if it still holds up. Coming Up by Suede The first thing that strikes you...

arthurpringle 17.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Coming Up - Suede

Here They Come The Beautiful Ones

Advantages: Excellent guitar rock, Brett Anderson
Disadvantages: Some lyrics disappoint

......

polydeuces 02.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Coming Up - Suede

I won't look forward to her next one...

Advantages: Slightly amusing at the start
Disadvantages: Everything else

...I'm always on the prowl for the newest chick-lit offerings whenever I go into Waterstones or WH Smith, so when I saw that GMTV's newsreader Penny Smith had written her own novel I thought it was definitely going to be worth a read. The cover looked appealing, and soon enough my library had a new copy in so I took it home and started reading it straight away. Katie Fisher is the anchorwoman for the breakfast show Wake Up Britain! and thinks she is rather good at her job. So it comes as a bit of a shock to Katie when she's suddenly sacked in favour of the younger and more attractive Keera. Katie flees to her parents to escape the paparazzi but realises she hasn't got a clue what she's going to do next. Can she rebuild her career, and is Katie ever going to find out what's Coming Up Next? When I first read the plot synopsis, I was...

mummy2harry 20.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Coming Up Next - Penny Smith

Upping the Ante

Advantages: Strong script and characterisations, outstanding animation
Disadvantages: None

...Introduction Computer generated animation is a term synonymous with Pixar, despite the fact many other studios use the technique to great effect. Pixar are of course responsible for films which have quickly become modern classics, such as ?Toy Story?, ?Cars? and ?Ratatouille? and there is a reason for this ? quite simply they are in a league of their own when it comes to the quality of films they are producing. The level of animation is a cut above Sony or Dreamworks? attempts within the genre, and the scripts are never less than excellent either. ?Up? is the latest release from Pixar, and having skipped ?Wall-E? due to complete disinterest from my daughter, I was curious to see this one. I had also participated in an online survey about the film with her several months ago, so I had a rough idea what to expect, but the finished...

rosebud2001 10.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Up (DVD)

Up, up and away!

Advantages: Some funny moments
Disadvantages: Too long, unpleasant animation

... Film Only Cinema Review This is the latest Disney Pixar offering, I tried my best to avoid watching it, but the kids really wanted to see it and they doubled up on their chores to earn the money, so I couldn?t say no. Synopsis Carl Fredricksen is an elderly man who has dreamt of going to Paradise Falls since he was a young boy. As a youngster Carl watched his hero Charles Muntz go off on his adventures in a blimp and return to hero status. Until one day scientists doubted Charles and the skeleton he brought back from Paradise Falls and mocked him, Charles vowed to bring back a live specimen. And so with his trusty pack of hounds he set off to Paradise Falls. On his way home from the cinema after seeing Charles set off, Carl heard adverturing chatter coming from a rundown old house. Inside was Ellie, a fellow...

Fiver29 21.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Up (DVD)

Up Up and Away!

Advantages: Amazing characters, fabulous storyline, hillarious & Emotional at the same time!
Disadvantages: It's not out on DVD yet so I have to wait a few months before I can watch it again!

...Up! About Pixar Pixar is a branch of Disney which has been around since its first ?big? film, Toy Story in 1996, almost 14 years ago (certainly doesn?t feel that long ago!!!!!). Pixar since then has continued to make world class films which are now a common name in every child?s mind, and in most people?s homes. In fact Disney Pixar first came around in 1984 when John Lasseter left Disney to work with George Lucas? (Star Wars) animation group which was to later become Pixar. The very very first film by the Pixar group (even if they weren?t yet to be called that!) was a short, which Pixar are now famous for, called Andre and Wally B. It wasn?t until two years later in 1986, when Pixar got its famous name, although at this time there were only around 44 employees, a tiny percentage of the amount of people working for Pixar today...

stephbond89 16.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Up (DVD)

The Film Was 'Up'? But Made Me Feel Soooo Down

Advantages: Thought-provoking, fantastic animation, lovely story.
Disadvantages: A bit too sad at times.

...Director: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson Screenplay: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson Genre: Animation ? Family ? Adventure ? Comedy Country: USA Certification: PG Language: English MAIN CAST - VOICES: Carl Fredricksen [Edward Asner] Young Carl [Jeremy Leary] Young Ellie [Elie Docter] Russell [Jordan Nagai] Charles Muntz [Christopher Plummer] It all happened on a lazy summer day? Carl, just a child, meets Ellie, a boisterous little girl with shocking orange hair that sticks up like a porcupine. Ellie is everything that Carl is not, and he?s thoroughly fascinated? in fact, he?s so spellbound by the loud and excitable orange-haired girl, that he can?t seem to find his voice when she?s near him ? but that doesn?t matter because she speaks enough for the two of them! Although totally different, the two children share...

GoFigure 05.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Up

Going Up!

Advantages: Orignal tracks
Disadvantages: A couple of less inspired moments

... Who is Shania Twain? Shania Twain, who was born Eileen Regina Edwards, is a five-time Grammy award winning Canadian singer-songwriter. Her music fits in the country pop category and has won her fame and success around the world. Throughout her career Shania has received 27 BMI songwriter awards and her third album, Come On Over, is the best-selling album by a female musician of all time. Her Albums Up to date Shania has released five studio albums: Shania Twain (1993), The Woman in Me (1995), Come on Over (1997), The Complete Limelight Sessions (2001), Up! (2002) and Greatest Hits (2004). Up Up was Shania?s fourth studio album and was released in November 2002. It is said that the material for the album was written and recorded across the world from Berlin and Vienna to the Bahamas and Mumbai. The album...

MI9to5 16.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Up - Shania Twain