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Geek Dad
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
‘The Last Pebble' by Alex Horne: A Book Review
As GeekDad's resident Brit, I often find myself wondering how to explain UK cultural lodestones to a US-skewed audience. I also often find myself reviewing excellent books that are available here in Britain but haven't made it to the US. Both things are true for Alex Horne's The Last Pebble. Alex Horne is the British comedian (I'm sure I could fill several posts' worth of thoughts about comedians writing books) behind the smash TV sensation Taskmaster . Well, smash on this side of the pond. Here, there have been 19 seasons, and each new season is eagerly anticipated by a host of fans. In the US, it had one season before sinking without a trace. Over here, a book by Alex Horne is likely to garner lots of attention and column inches. Over where many of you are, you're probably asking, 'Alex Who?' If we forget for a moment that the author is relatively famous (though Horne wears his celebrity lightly), what do we have with The Last Pebble? It's a generational coming of age(ish) story set in a quiet British seaside town, on the South Coast of England. It follows misfit Trader (arguably a first name more likely to be found in the US than the UK) as he struggles to build friendships in his school. He finds social interactions difficult, but the natural world, in particular, rocks, fascinating. He is aided and abetted in this fascination by his grandfather, a man who is enlivened by the world around him. He's an inventor and an avid collector of bric-a-brac and ephemera, often disappearing to collect random artefacts found on eBay or in the classifieds. While out beachcombing one day, Trader finds a special stone. One, his grandad says, they will polish up to release its true majesty. Alongside this, Trader, with a tentative friend, Charlotte, discovers that somebody is leaving messages in bottles on the beach. Is this part of a conspiracy? Can they really be after Trader's mysterious stone? Despite this being a book about a beloved grandparent and being titled The Last Pebble, nobody dies. I give this up, not as a spoiler, but because I was pretty convinced someone was going to (looking at you, grandad), and I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't. The story is more artful than that. Trader, Charlotte, and the other children in the story are on the cusp of transition to a new school (which happens in the summer of your 11th birthday in the UK). Their world is filled with possibilities. A time of reinvention as well as anxiety. Horne captures this perfectly. There is nothing here that will particularly blow you away. It's simply a lovely story about children growing up in a small, non-descript town (non-descript but also at the British seaside, another cultural focal point, especially for childhood memories). The book captures the innocent joy of fossicking amongst the sand and rocks by the sea. The possibility of finding something fascinating or reveling in the beauty of a discovered piece of smoothed glass. Children's books tend to be either comedic or dramatic these days. The Last Pebble is neither. Or rather, it is both, but very gently. There is a mystery, there are amusing events, but first and foremost, this is a story about the strength of family and the importance of good friends. This is a gentle, thoughtful read, that will appeal to most children and may help them stop to think about the world and people around them. If you would like to pick up a copy of The Last Pebble , in the UK, you can do so, here (Affiliate Link). I was unable to find a US option for purchasing the book. If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here. I received a copy of this book in order to write this review. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
My favourite 80s coming-of-age classic hits 4K Blu-ray for the first time ever – and with all the Dolby Atmos and Vision bells and whistles
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. We all know the No.1 hit theme song by John Parr, we all know Emilio Estevez and his fellow Brat Pack gang… and hopefully we all know the movie that followed hot on the heels of fellow Brat Pack coming-of-age classics Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. 40 years to this very month after hitting theaters, St. Elmo's Fire has today been released on 4K Blu-ray for the first time, and has been given the Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound treatment. Directed by Joe Schumacher, who went on to direct The Lost Boys and Batman Forever, and starring many of that gang – Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Andie MacDowell – the teen flick follows a clique of recent college graduates as they adjust to the growing pains and responsibilities of adulthood, trying desperately to keep their friendship and youth intact by hanging out at their favourite watering hole, St. Elmo's Bar, while trying to launch their careers and establish themselves and their relationships. It's a quintessential, all-in coming-of-age drama of its era and a very 'real' movie about self-absorbed college kids grappling with the post-university transition. Critics panned St Elmo's Fire for its unlikeable characters and petty melodrama – but that's bratty college kids for you, right? What Schumacher did was play out a friends drama that, in my opinion, managed to incorporate all the new and relatable emotions of that uncertain and place-finding time in your life – the innocence, the love and the jealousy, the simultaneous feelings of freedom and restraint – through interesting (but sure, not largely likeable) characters, via the most magnetic and compatible bunch of young actors and actresses of that moment. The cold-stone classic of the Brat Pack genre was well made and produced back then, shooting for mainstream appeal, but it was high time for it to get the 4K treatment. The 4K Blu-ray, which has been released today in special 40th-anniversary format, features a 4K scan of the original 35mm film negative, and is bolstered with Dolby Vision (and HDR10) HDR, while the stereo audio has been Dolby Atmos-fied for those with Atmos soundbars or compatible speaker packages – because who wouldn't want to hear Rob Lowe's iconic saxophone scene in surround sound? The disc also features commentary with Schumacher and a separate special featurette with him, the original 'making of', the theme song (Man in Motion) music video, and 12 deleted scenes. Consider me sold.
Digital Trends
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
3 underrated Amazon Prime Video movies you should watch this weekend (June 27-29)
If you've ever found yourself browsing through Amazon for something to watch before realizing that you've been doing that for a full hour, you're not alone. Actually picking something to watch can feel almost impossible when you're overwhelmed by the sheer volume of choices. We've done the hard work of picking something for you. This is a list of three very different underrated movies that are all worth checking out as June comes to a close. Recommended Videos We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+. Gattaca (1997) One of the most interesting sci-fi movies of the 1990s, Gattaca is set in a future where people are sorted into two genetic classes. When an aspiring pilot decides to buy the genetic sequence of someone with supposedly superior genes, he's able to sneak his way into a different life. As an investigation into the death of a Gattaca officer threatens to unravel it all, he'll have to fight to retain everything he's gained. Gattaca is a sharp look at how stratification happens and the ways it pits people against one another. The film also stars Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke at the peak of their movie star careers. You can watch Gattaca on Amazon Prime Video. Didi (2024) The coming-of-age genre has been around for decades, but Didi offers a fairly unique spin on some of the stale elements. The movie follows a Taiwanese American boy who is living in 2008 at the age of 13 as he has a particularly revelatory summer, learning how to skate, flirt, and appreciate everything his mother has sacrificed for him. The best coming-of-age movies are often actually about what it means to realize that your parents are people too, and Didi is a brilliant examination of how one boy comes to understand the world he's been born into. You can watch Didi on Amazon Prime Video. Traffic (2000) Anchored by a remarkably deep cast, Traffic tells a myriad of interconnected stories about the drug trade in the United States and Mexico. While some elements of the film have aged strangely (including the color grading that denotes which story you're watching at any given moment), the film as a whole offers a remarkably nuanced look at all the ways the drug trade can impact your life, even if you're sitting in a powerful seat in the U.S. government. It's a movie about an intractable problem, an admirably nuanced look at how unsolvable it is. You can watch Traffic on Amazon Prime Video.
Geek Tyrant
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Review: Danny Boyle's 28 YEARS LATER is Wickedly Unhinged with Punk Rock Energy — GeekTyrant
Danny Boyle isn't interested in giving you a comfortable horror experience, and that's exactly why 28 Years Later hits so hard. The third entry in the rage virus saga is raw, relentless, and absolutely unhinged in the best ways. From its opening moments, this film announces itself with punk-rock energy and doesn't let up. It's not here to deliver a safe, by-the-numbers sequel. It's here to shove your face in the mud, rip your heart out, and somehow, make you feel something in the middle of the chaos. I loved this movie! Boyle, working again with writer Alex Garland, doesn't just return to the world of 28 Days Later , he reimagines it and gives audiences something unexpected and insane. The film centers on a remote island community still under quarantine almost three decades after the virus first broke out. A father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes his 12-year-old son, Spike, on a dangerous rite of passage into the mainland, a place where rage-infected monsters roam, and survival is a brutal art form. Right away, you're immersed in a world where violence is routine, and childhood has no place. Spike's father pushes him into danger, and it proud when Spike makes his first kill. Their dynamic never feels manipulative; instead, it's a rugged portrait of a parent forging a warrior out of a child, no matter the cost. It's a wild coming-of-age film! It's seriously a coming-of-age story soaked in blood. Spike's first mission is as intense and traumatic as anything the franchise has shown us, but what's striking is how normalized it all is. Boyle doesn't flinch. The horror here isn't just the infected, it's watching a kid be molded into a survivor in a world that no longer allows innocence. Alfie Williams, who plays Spike, gives a performance that's honest and gripping. It's a quiet kind of emotional power that cuts through the carnage. Things shift gears when Spike returns from his first venture into the mainland. His mother is sick and he's terrified and desperate, so the boy sneaks her out of their community to find a rumored doctor deep in the mainland. What follows is a harsh but strangely beautiful survival journey. We're treated to stunning Northern English landscapes, quiet forests, rolling hills, decayed towns, all crawling with the danger of the infected, and they are just as terrifying as ever as they have evolved in different ways. One thing that makes 28 Years Later so fascinating is that it's more reflective than the previous entries, interested not just in jump scares or chase sequences, though it has pl;enty of those moments, but in the emotional scars left behind. Ralph Fiennes plays the mysterious doctor, a figure we assume will be deranged but turns out to be one of the film's most humane characters. His scenes with Spike offer something rare in this franchise… tenderness. But in a dark, twisted, and WTF way. Visually, the film is awesome. I love Boyle's energetic and unique film style that blends handheld chaos with painterly wide shots, giving the movie both immediacy and eerie beauty. The editing occasionally cuts in archival-like footage and surreal imagery, turning parts of the movie into something that feels like a fragmented memory of a civilization that's long gone. Add the gritty sound design and a moody score, and you've got a cinematic experience that feels alive and constantly on edge. Not everyone will be on board with where this movie goes. Some narrative choices are flat-out bizarre. The third act especially takes some wild swings that are sure to divide viewers. The ending of the film especially was so unexpected and insane, but I loved the film for that! I loved the ending! 28 Years Later doesn't care about playing it safe. It's a bold evolution of the franchise that asks more from its audience emotionally, intellectually, and viscerally. And if you're willing to go along for the ride, it rewards you with an amazing cinematic experience. Ultimately, this isn't just a great horror sequel, it's a standout in the genre. Boyle and Garland have crafted a film that's ferocious, unpredictable, and unexpectedly moving. It's a blood-soaked elegy for a world that's fallen apart, and a powerful reminder that even in the darkest times, a sliver of humanity can still shine through.
Geek Tyrant
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
The Animated Studio Behind ARCANE Developing MISS SATURNE Series Inspired by 1980s New Wave Music — GeekTyrant
French animation studio Fortiche, which helped redefine animated storytelling with Arcane , is diving into a fresh, original story. Teaming up with French-German broadcaster Arte, Fortiche has announced Miss Saturne , a coming-of-age miniseries set in the 1980s, rooted in the emotional rhythms of adolescence and the sonic pulse of New Wave music. Based on Barbara Israël's novel of the same name, Miss Saturne follows 16-year-olds Mercy and Tom as they flee the French Riviera on a night train. Along the way, a mixtape of New Wave tracks becomes their emotional roadmap through memory and trauma, guiding them back through the highs and heartbreaks of youth. This marks Fortiche's second new project since wrapping Arcane Season 2, and it's a different, more grounded project for the studio. Still stylish, still emotionally charged, but more intimate in scope. Fortiche founder Jérôme Combe said in a statement: 'With Miss Saturne , we've found a team with the perfect artistic sensibility. Louise Silverio brings her already known flair for coming-of-age stories, having worked on the award-winning series Happiness and Ceux qui rougissent. 'Anne Raffin, who worked on Arcane and music videos, fully shares our desire to explore a strong aesthetic for today's youth. This project is an opportunity for us to explore indie animation designed for the new generation.' The 2D-animated series is being developed with ARTE France and Les Storygraphes, with Silverio writing and Raffin directing. It's being shaped into ten short episodes, each 10 minutes long. According to co-producer Annelyse Vieilledent of Les Storygraphes: 'At a time when young people are rediscovering the retro musical repertoire of that decade, I'm convinced that this free, visceral and resolutely pop tale will resonate strongly with them.' That generational thread is exactly what Fortiche hopes to tap into. The studio says the series aligns with their deep connection to music as a narrative tool. Production is aiming for 2026 with a release in 2027. Fortiche is currently in talks with international platforms and partners to broaden the show's global reach. Meanwhile, the team is at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week for a special Arcane exhibition. Curated with Riot Games and the festival itself, the exhibit offers fans a peek behind the curtain with concept art, props, and exclusive production materials.
