The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins is a young adult dystopian novel. This is not the type of book I normally read but after many recommendations I read it and it is now one of my most favourite books!

This book was an absolute delight to read with twists around every corner. It is a compelling tale about a girl fighting in an arena filled with people who want to kill her. Alliances and death, all she wants to do is accept her defeat. But she can't. She has to kill, steal and run to survive. Will they still love Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, after everything she does? 

This is a fast paced adventure with a dark twist and the characters came to life on the pages! It is the first of a trilogy, all of which I have read, and the books have now been adapted into major blockbuster movies. 

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

Review by Emilia Milne (S1)

Home Alone is a hilarious and heart-warming comedy that has become a holiday classic especially for Christmas.

The movie tells the story of Kevin McCallister, a young boy who is accidentally left home alone during Christmas holidays. With his parents and siblings out of town, Kevin must fend for himself against bumbling burglars.

The movie is full of laughs, from Kevin's clever traps to the burglar's slapstick antics. 

Cast

• Macaulay Culkin as kevin McCallister

• Joe pesci as Harry Lime

• Daniel stern as marv Merchants 

• Catherine O’Hara as Kate McCallister

• John Heard as peter McCallister

• Roberts Blossom as Old Man Marley 

• Devin Ratray as as Buzz McCallister

• Angela Goethals as linnie McCallister

• Kieran Culkin as FullerMcCallister

• Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank McCallister

• John Candy as Gus Polinski 

Ratings

Home alone has received a variety of ratings from different sources.

1. Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

2. IMDb 7.7/10

3. Metacritic: 64/100

It's important to note that these ratings are just numbers, and they don’t necessarily reflect the quality of the movie. Many people consider Home Alone to be a classic holiday film, while others may find it to be too violent or silly. 

In conclusion, Ultimately the best way to decide if you’ll enjoy Home Alone is to watch it for yourself and form your own opinion.

Overall, Home Alone is a great movie for the whole family to enjoy. It's a reminder of the importance of family and the true meaning of Christmas.

Review by Onyinyechi Uche (S2)

Wicked has only just been released on the 22nd of November 2024. With everybody anticipating this exciting and intriguing movie to hit our cinema screens, it has finally arrived, and was better than we ever could have imagined!

👠 Back Story 👠

It all started with The Wizard of Oz, back in 1939!!! However, last time we only briefly saw the 4 witches - North, South, East, West - and with the North and South already dead, we focused completely on the only evil witch left, the West! After Dorothy defeated the Wicked Witch of the West with the help of Glinda, the Munchkins, and of course The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it was all happily ever after. However…

💚🩷 Wicked! 🩷💚

Wicked was a whole different story, with us focusing purely on HOW and WHY the Wicked Witch of the West became a wicked witch in the first place. Truth being told - Glinda (being the popular and frankly spoilt girl at school), and Elphaba (better known to us as The Wicked Witch of the West) both went to school together. As Glinda was so caught up in her own little perfect world, she soon finds herself sharing a room with the GREEN one (which is what everyone referred to Elphaba as). They soon get to know each other and even become the best of friends, who knew, opposites attract?! This movie uncovers how sometimes we have to be there for each other, even if it means embarrassing ourselves, or losing a few followers online. 

Rating - 88% enjoyed this film according to Google!

You can see Wicked at the cinema right now, so what are you waiting for? Go see The Wonderful - ‘Wicked!’

Review by Caera Neeson (S2)

Directed and written by Scottish director Charlotte Wells, Aftersun is a coming-of-age film with strong themes of mental health and childhood. Starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, the film follows 11 year old Sophie and her father Callum on their holiday in Turkey twenty years ago. The devastating film perfectly encapsulates reminiscing childhood memories from an adult perspective. The character of Callum is a young loving father trying his best but is increasingly struggling with his mental health through the point of view of Sophie and her blurry DV-camera footage. Aftersun stood out to me due to how raw and realistic it conveyed mental health and grief, with the idea that adult Sophie searching for answers about her father’s death was especially haunting. I particularly liked how Wells left a lot up to the audience's interpretation as it greatly expresses the blindspots of our memories and the fact the film is from the perspective of Sophie. 

A scene that stuck with me was Callum buying a rug for Sophie knowing he couldn't afford it, we see it hung on her wall years later. The small details such as Callum buying the rug, subtly conveyed his battle with depression. While his fate is not confirmed it is heavily implied that Callum takes his own life shortly after the trip. Aftersun is emotionally crushing and I could not recommend it enough. 

“I think it's nice that we share the same sky.”- Sophie.

Review by Aleena Hameeda Parvez (S6)

With Paddington already stealing all of our hearts firstly in 2014 and 2018 (with 1 and 2), he is back more adventurous than ever with - Paddington in Peru! 

Recap.

Firstly, Paddington 1 explores Paddington’s home being destroyed due to an earthquake, and his Uncle Pastuso sadly passing away. Paddington’s aunt thinks it wise to send Paddington to London, where they have always wanted to visit. With Paddington making it to London (but losing his aunt along the way), he is left homeless. Everything seems bleak, when suddenly the ‘Browns’ seem interested in Paddington and take him in. Paddington is then trying to settle into his new life in London, along with soon realising that life comes with its ups and downs, but it is how you navigate them along the way.

Secondly, Paddington 2 then sees Paddington in trouble, with being put in prison under false- accusation of stealing a very good friend’s antique. He soon learns that prison life is very tough, and that he must make some friends to survive, even though that’s going to be a big challenge. With Paddington making friends through marmalade believe it or not, they manage to bust out. 

Sunshine all round, right? WRONG! Paddington is still on the run, with his friends abandoning him at the last second. Thankfully, his friends soon see sense and help Paddington, along with the Browns, to clear his name. Finally, with the best surprise of all, his Aunt comes to London for a super surprise visit!

Paddington in Peru.

Thirdly (and we hope not finally), Paddington goes home to visit his aunt after the ‘Home For Retired Bears’ apparently noticing something not right with her. After arrival, both the Browns and Paddington figure that there is something not quite right about the story of, aunt Lucy apparently running away to “look” for something. It doesn’t then take long for an adventure to break out, with them soon realising that Reverend Mother (head nun) was behind it ALL ALONG! They were all looking for gold, but soon got put in their places, after Paddington found his true home in the forest with his very own tribe. Finally, even though Paddington could stay with his aunt and tribe back in Peru, he decides to stay with his real family in his real home, “The Browns in London.”

“If You're Kind and Polite, The World Will Be Right.”

- Paddington Bear

Just remember… “I better have two marmalade sandwiches. Just to make sure.”

By Caera Neeson (S2) 🐻

Shipwrecked on a deserted island, a robot named Roz is trying to find his purpose while trying to adapt to his surroundings. Roz soon develops a parental bond with an orphaned gosling. Roz has to make sure the gosling gets food, learns how to swim and how to fly by the winter so the gosling can migrate. 

The Wild Robot was originally a book called The Wild Robot by Peter brown. 

The Wild Robot, (in my opinion) is a very emotional movie with lots of plot twists. It teaches us the true meaning of love and sacrifice. It also exemplifies that friendship is to give and take relationship. She shows that we truly are dependent on each other to survive. I would give the movie 10/10 and would diffidently go and watch it. 

By Arinade Adediran (S2)