Helen Pitt – Google

This recipe book is without question, the loveliest recipe book I have ever owned. The ingredients are easy to find and if you enjoy cooking like I do, you will already have most of them in your kitchen cupboard. Ottolenghi's writing style is really easy to engage with, in fact it's a bit like chatting with a friend in your kitchen as you prepare the food. There are tons of recipes and delicious suggestions for vegetables, meat, fish and desserts, flavoured with glorious spices and herbs. The photographs are absolutely gorgeous and honestly, I can't put it down! I am utterly smitten.

I had no idea what this film was going to be about but it quickly becomes evident that following a freak and prolonged, violent storm which floods much of the UK, society begins to break down and those who can escape, do so to higher ground. Jodie Comer's character flees with her partner and their baby but when they have no more food, the partner insists the mother and child take refuge in a people's shelter and the trio become separated. So it's a film about survival and I think, a comment on global warming, war and famine. I found it too lengthy and endlessly bleak so there is no let up from how awful the situation is for everyone. It is not an uplifting film at all. I also wondered how she kept her baby so clean with no nappies and how come some people had cars with petrol? It's a mystery! When she arrives at the island commune I wondered where all the food came from. I found the ending predictable and highly unlikely however, the filming of a flooded London was very good and must have cost a fortune. All in all I did not enjoy this film. Sorry Jodie.

I think the dialogue is littered with so many expletives, it quickly became tedious. The production is quite sumptuous, but did not detract from the appalling inaccuracy of this complete fantasy. I kept expecting King James to come out on set with a banjo saying, 'John sent me', aka Billy Connolly. Julianne Moor wastes her talent in her hideous role as George's mother. Best actress in my opinion and unsurprisngly, Nicola Walker as the beautifully ascerbic Lady Hamilton. All in all, it's a thumbs down and don't bother, from me.

I think this is one of the most dreary films I have ever sat through. It tells the tale of an elderly couple's marriage breakdown after 29 years of mostly misery. Annette Bening's appalling English accent made it difficult enough to listen to and the film is more like a stage play, resulting in awkward, wooden acting. Bill Nighy's contained performance irritated me to death, no wonder his wife became so abusive. Ultimately I didn't believe it and also, Josh O'Connor is too young to be their son. I breathed a sigh of relief when it finally ended.