Reviews:
Does Death Note live up to the hype?
Manga reviews: A battle between genius detective L and a man called Light who can kill anyone once he knows their name and face, Death Note is a classic manga / anime franchise that's spreading thin...
Read: Does Death Note live up to the hype?
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NaNoWriMo!
Creative writing: NaNoWriMo is here! For many, 1 November is just a dreary day, but for crazy pen-grabbers around the world it is THE day to start writing a novel. It's the day when 'one day' becomes... today!
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Marvel 1985
Graphic novel reviews: Imagine being a kid in the eighties. Imagine supervillians laying waste to your world. Marvel 1985 is a liberating comic by Mark Millar that plays with expectations...
Read: Marvel 1985
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The Last Day of Innocence gothic fashion DVD
Film reviews: We checked out underground gothic fashion video 'The Last Day of Innocence'. See Wave Gothic, Cyber Goth, Gothic Lolita, Wave Punk, Victoriandustrial, Fetish fashion and cool goth guys with metal legs come alive before your very eyes!
Women's Murder Mystery Club
Game reviews: 'Games of Passion' is a Nintendo DS murder mystery featuring 4 women who solve murders. As seasoned gamers, we gave this suspenseful adventure game a try.
Read: Women's Murder Mystery Club
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Utena anime
Anime reviews: 12 years after the Utena anime series was created, intelligent people are still trying to analyse it. Riddled with greed, enlightenment, love and a new way to look at the world, Utena is anime you should be watching if you're not, and you're glad you watched if you did.
Read: Utena anime
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus
Movie reviews: Terry Gilliam has always had a vividly imaginative approach to making films. When Heath Ledger died in the making of Dr Parnassus, the obvious solution was to split his character with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell...
Vampire horror romance - Dunraven Road
Vampire horror: Dunraven Road is a refreshing change of pace from the bloated, sugary-sweet Twilights of this world. A novel about the often bittersweet pain of passionate love set against a backdrop of sadism, vampires, drug abuse and violent inhumanity.
Elephants on acid
Book reviews: 'Elephants on Acid and other Bizarre Experiments' is an absorbing book dedicated to fringe science experiments - to zombie kittens, the Mozart effect on babies and the real difference between Pepsi and Coke. A worthy edition to anyone's bookshelf!
Read: Elephants on acid
Repo! The genetic opera
Horror movies: Horror film fans take note! If you can imagine Sweeny Todd, Brazil, Rocky Horror and Blade Runner mixed with daily plastic surgery and drug addiction then Bam! You have Repo! The Genetic Opera...
Read: Repo! The genetic opera
Wetlands
Book reviews: Helen, the feminist heroine of Wetlands by Charlotte Roche, is a walking, talking, bleeding, masturbating, avocado-fancying, haemorrhoid-hampered apologist for A levels (the rude kind) and DIY tampons...
Read: Wetlands
Princes et Princesses
Anime reviews: 'Princes et Princesses' is an animated movie released in Japan under Studio Ghibli comprised of 6 fairytales, though the settings range from a French Rococo garden to ancient Egypt to even the year 3000...
Read: Princes et Princesses
Wii jOG review - gaming that won't stand still
Game reviews: Wii jOG is a device that makes your character in Wii games only move when you jog on the spot. Perfect for getting fit while engaged in immersive, adrenalin rush gaming like Twilight Princess and Resident Evil.
Kayla Steele: Vampires with a bit of bite
Book reviews: Real vampires don't sparkle. Real werewolves aren't big fluffy radiators. Real heroines don't pine and waste away just because some dead guy has left them. A real book has more attitude, more fight, more bite. The Kayla Steele Series by Natasha Rhodes is a horror series that delivers.
Lucky Star Anime
Anime reviews: If you love randomness, live for being eccentric, and don't mind pointless plots in the slightest then Lucky Star is the anime for you.
Read: Lucky Star Anime
Killer Tease - Pulp fiction for the modern girl
Book Reviews: 'Killer Tease' is a modern take on the classic pulp fiction thriller. Set in Brighton's sleazy underbelly, it tells the tale of Eloise Murphy, a burlesque dancer with a murderously bad temper...
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Book Reviews: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains". Thus begins Quirk Classic 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'. The clue is rather in the name, for this is a retelling of Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. With zombies.
The Zombie Survival Guide
Book Reviews: Could you survive a zombie apocalypse? Could you turn your home into a fortress against zombie infestation? Could you reach the safety of your friends in time? Find out with the Zombie Survival Guide - a tongue-in-cheek manual explaining exactly how to survive a zombie attack.
Minor Characters - the dark side of the beat generation
Book reviews: 'This is the muses's side of the story. It turns out that the muse could write as well as anybody' - Angela Carter. Jack Kerouac's mostly-ignored girlfriend wrote a memoir of the beat scene that flipped the lid on the dark side of the Beat Generation...
Read this review: Minor Characters - the dark side of the beat generation
It's different for girls
Book reviews: Jo Brand (one of the UK's top 50 comedians and national treasures) was a teenage punk - and she's written a punk coming of age teenage novel about two girls trying to cope with growing up in a small seaside town in the 1970s when the punk scene was on the verge of exploding. Teenage kicks, seaside sex and soggy chips...
Read this review: It's different for girls
Lovecraft's life and legacy
Horror literature: H.P.Lovecraft is one of the world's most beloved horror writers, with eerie tales of indescribable beings and maddening alien geometries. M delves into Lovecraft's upbringing (racism, fear of change - the horror! The horror!) and his fearful legacy (Cthulhu plushies...)
Runaways - American comics of the future
Comic reviews: Move over, manga - Runaways is a manga-fusion American comic (Joss Whedon is a die-hard fan) featuring a group of children who hate each other but are forced to live on the streets as runaways when they discover their parents are supervillains. From Gert the anti-capitalist to Alex the funky computer nerd and Nico Minoru the loli goth, discover Runaways and open your eyes to a bright new future of American graphic novels.
Top Five Bad-Ass Females in Movies
Film reviews: Though women are still fighting for their right for equal pay, when it comes to being bad-ass, they're equal all the way. To celebrate the release of Dragonball Evolution (2 feisty females show boys a thing or two about feminism via kicking ass), the DE people have put together a list of 5 of the toughest women ever to fight their way across the screen. Okay, we've never seen Dragonball Z, but the list still made us giggle.
The Age of Stupid
Comic reviews: The Age of Stupid is a film that will either change you or remind you why you bothered in the first place. Sometimes we need a kickstart to climb out of the doldrums and back into a state of empowered action. And with the Copenhagen climate change talks coming up, there's never been a better time to get involved...
Read: The Age of Stupid
The Watchmen - A reader's plot guide
Comic reviews: Watchmen is often described as a multi-layered story and has been described in places as hard to read. Some of this is true, but the Watchmen is in many ways a very straight, enjoyable read where all the action happens at the edges. We tell you how to read between the lines, and get as much out of the Watchmen plot as you can...
Big, blue and badass: Watchmen, we love you all...
Film reviews: In September of 1986, DC Comics released a series that would forever change the face of the comic book industry: Watchmen, one of the most well-known and well-loved comic books ever. Like LOTR, Watchmen is a book they said could NEVER be turned into a film...
Innocent - vegan-friendly smoothie recipes
Recipe book reviews: Everyone from vegans to omnivores can delight in the Innocent Smoothie Recipe Book, which has bog-standard and unusual smoothie recipes using ingredients that are readily and cheaply available anywhere. God bless smoothie recipes and brutalising fruit!
Girls Rock Camp - the movie
DVD reviews: Girls Rock! The Movie is a music documentary follows the journey of four 8-18-year-olds as they are transformed by the liberating powers of music at the Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls. Given the opportunity to bash the drums, wail like a banshee and take up space, the girls jettison gender stereotypes like old hats on their way to a joyous final concert that will change their lives forever.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Book reviews: ... In which, dear Reader, we explore an award-winning book by Neil Gaiman which explains everything that happens to you after death, sort of, in a wise yet humorous way, very much so, and which straddles the worlds of adult and child in a way that Pratchett is famous for, and the worlds of living and dead in a way that Gaiman is famous for. The Graveyard Book. The creaking cemetary gate is ajar. Wipe your feet, then come in.
War of the Witches
Book reviews: War of the Witches is probably best suited to girls under eighteen who will be most drawn into the intricacies of its magical plot - it's a total witch-fest. If you're already a Twilight fan, War of the Witches has some real meat to it - no vampires, but more witches and witchcraft in one book than you've ever seen in your life.
Vegan cupcakes take over the world
Book reviews: Vegan cupcake recipes are hard to find - most vegan cookery books don't have much happening on the cake front. However, there is a solution! Vegan cupcakes will take over the world!
A girl's guide to J-Horror
Film reviews: We in the West have this peculiar habit of taking simple things and turning them into contrived, distinctly unsubtle and generally messy concepts. The horror film is no exception. Back in the 1950's, before we had the idea, the Japanese horror film ('J-horror') was already taking shape...
What makes a perfect slasher movie - and how to survive one
Film reviews: Some people just don't get slashers. Some people are looking for an intellectual, thought-provoking, abstract piece of cinematic entertainment that supplies more than a predictable bloodbath. These people are missing the point entirely...
Down the rabbit hole - Philosophy and social comment in 'Alice in Wonderland'
Book reviews: You may think that Alice in Wonderland is just a children's tale you happen to take too seriously. Good news - there are more than a couple of reasons to completely justify your obsession with it! And people will be delighted to join you in discussing social issues in Wonderland over tea and treacle...
Down the rabbit hole - Philosophy and social comment in 'Alice in Wonderland'
Invisible Monsters
Book reviews: Transsexualism. Models. Riches. Shotguns. Makeup. Drugs. Disfigurement. Fire. Sexually transmitted disease. Estrogen. Real Estate. Weddings. Homosexuality. High Fashion. There's only one book that has it all from practically the first page - and that's Chuck Palahniuk's 'Invisible Monsters'.
Twilight - Nice film, shame it's not the dawn of cinema
Film reviews: "When you can live forever, what do you live for?" With fans going to see Twilight in droves, non-fans wondering what all the fuss is about, and the media delighted to spend column inches worrying about the perceived abstinence-pushing in the book, our intrepid reporter watches 'Twilight' on the big screen. Yes, but is it art?
Fan fiction - by the fans, for the fans
Book reviews: Whether you love it or hate it, fan fiction is a cult phenomenon. Harry Potter dating Draco? Romping hobbits? Spock and Kirk behaving illogically? Despite the controversy of copyright laws, fan fiction is now so deeply entrenched in internet culture that - for better or for worse - it's truly beyond our control...
The Punk Directory
Book reviews: Some time in the early months of 2007, a group of people got together to try to redefine the youth with the Mohawk and covered in leather. The kid on the street corner smoking and spitting, waving a middle finger in the air. Yeah, that wonderful image of a 'punk'. And let me tell you, says Emma Wright, they weren't all too successful.
UK horror: Outpost review
DVD reviews: Recent years have put Britain back on the horror map, right bang where it belongs. So, what's Outpost all about? Apart from being a well-made low budget UK horror film about undead Nazis? And what is its position in UK horror history?
And now for something completely different... Monty Python
Book reviews: It's possibly difficult now, forty years on and three or four comedy generations down the line, to appreciate just how groundbreaking Monty Python's Flying Circus was and still is. Before Michael Palin travelled the globe and Terry Jones became a historian. Before Terry Gilliam directed some of the best films ever made and Eric Idle produced Broadway musicals. Before John Cleese stopped being funny and Graham Chapman died. Before any of that, there was Monty Python's Flying Circus. And after all of that, there's a new DVD box set of the original TV Series.
This town ain't nothing but a Ghost Town
Movie reviews featuring sturdy deadpan funnymen:You may think that 'Ghost Town', a very mainstream film about a rude short stocky bloke, is an odd choice for a Mookychick review. Well, you'd be right. But it has Ricky Gervais in it. And that makes everything better.
Clever cooking for one or two
Book reviews: There comes a point in your life where you find out you actually enjoy cooking. And not just the little cupcakes you baked under a lightbulb when you were six in your Easy Bake Oven for Girls. With handy tips and basic creative recipes that show you how to re-use ingredients a few days in a row, 'Clever Cooking for One or Two' is a fine recipe book for students or people living with flatmates/partners/parents who like to be cooked for. Hurrah.
The sexy side of circus - Tabu
Events: Where in the world can find middle-aged theatre snobs fraternising (getting drunk) with a bunch of artsy lefty young things whilst being harassed by a wild-haired woman creating phallic symbols out of children's toys? In an inflatable spaceship in Newport, that's where. Welcome to the circus nouveau of 'Tabu'...
Digital radio - wave hello to a PURE future
Music Hardware reviews: There's something in between vintage radio and MP3s - and that's PURE digital radio. A crystal clear sound, with radio stations bringing you sounds you love but have not yet heard before. Oh, and it's enivronmentally friendly, and you can plug your MP3 player into it, too. Welcome to PURE radio.
Ergo Proxy: The Major's Rave
Anime reviews: Made by quality newish anime studio Manglobe, "Ergo Proxy" is a thinking person's anime series with twists, turns, beautiful anime stylings and robots so cute they contravene all laws of physics. If anime fans haven't got their teeth around Ergo Proxy, now's the time to take a bite.
Ben-X
Film Reviews: Ben-X is a film about an autistic emo teenager who's bullied at school and retreats to a world to online roleplaying games, aided only by Scarlite, a beautiful princess. But what happens when he meets her in real life? If you like Sigur Ros, Requiem for a Dream, geek references and gut-wrenching lip-chewing tension, it's time to find out more about the darkly intriguing world of Ben-X.
Street cred - Banksy's latest UK exhibition
Art Reviews: A hoodie/grim reaper self-harming and the council worker cleaning off cave paintings. It's got to be the artwork of Banksy! Holly Kirkwood takes a look at how graffiti artist Banksy came to be the latest darling of the art world, and wonders if graffiti can make the transition from pavement to art gallery.
Freaks - the movie
Film Reviews: Freaks is one of the all-time horror movie greats. It has hugely overblown acting and it's made in the 1930s, but the plot is fantastic and its B-movie royal status lies in all the freaks in the cast being genuine. From the 'human worm' to the 'pinhead' family to the question of what a freak really is, this film is a novelty must-see.
Tank Girl: Armadillo!
Graphic Novel Reviews: She's back! Join everybody's favourite beer-swilling, chain-smoking, kangaroo-luvvin' lunatic as she embarks on her first 'proper' literary excursion. Violence! Time travel! Midgets! Yes, tremble in fear at Tank Girl: The Novel!
'Canon' by Ani diFranco
Music Reviews: On September 11th Ani DiFranco (singer, songwriter and activist folk-hero) released a career retrospective entitled 'Canon'. It spans all 19 of her albums, including those on her own label 'Righteous Babe Records'. As one of the few DIY-ethic anti-establisment people to have made it, Ani DiFranco has reworked the face of modern folk and deserves a place in musical history. At the very least, she deserves to have you listen to her 'Best Of'.
Frightfest!
Film Reviews: If you love your horror, Frightfest 2007 brings the most exiting in gore, shock and schlock to Leicester Square this bank holiday weekend...
Top 10 alternative summer reads
Book Reviwes: Our lovely Wendy says: 'I am the most voracious reader I know. While many of my friends are absorbed in manga and Wikipedia, I still prefer literature. Over the summer, I've managed to read quite a bit. So, I have decided to release the top 10 books that have graced my shelves over the past few months...'
PostSecret.com - We all have secrets...
Website Reviews: We all want to know what is going on in someone's head. Roswell Ivory uncovers the nosy girl's Holy Grail, a delicious website that lets you see other people's secrets... and maybe confess your own.
Alegria: The greatest show on earth
Culture Reviews: When one particular circus came to town it was seen as the future of all things circusy, giving us all of the breathless wonder and none of the animal cruelty. The Cirque du Soleil is 100% human, and the talent of its performers and costume designers shines through in this photographic report by the intrepid Miss E_Diva.
Casino Royale
Film Reviews: Daniel Craig has brought the sexy back! Made furious by a recent scandal surrounding journalists reviewing Casino Royale without seeing it, Holly Kirkwood puts her money where her mouth is - and says that, yes, Casino Royale is a safe bet.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Film Reviews: There are comparisons to be made to the Star Wars trilogy and Pirates of the Caribbean is definitely borrowing heavily from The Empire Strikes Back. But any film which has the amazing Captain Jack Sparrow cannot be faulted...
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood
Book Reviews: The 'Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood' is a collection of cuttings, photos and momentoes kept in a scrapbook kept over the years by a small but perfectly-formed band of girls and brings to life the fabulous adventures and friendships of the mad, bad, dangerous and downright hysterical Ya Yas.
Bite Me: Vampire magazine
Magazine Reviews: People interested in vampires will adore getting their elegant, crimson-nailed hands on 'Bite Me' magazine as it celebrates all things vampire with a fresh new voice and masses of style...
Fables: Legends in Exile (graphic novel)
Graphic Novel Reviews: In 'Fables' the DC Vertigo stable has brought out a fantasy world where famous characters from fairy tales have to run away from their homeworlds and build a secret city in crime-filled stinking New York...
Nell
Film Reviews: Jodie Foster shines as Nell, the girl raised as a wild animal who speaks her own eerie, unearthly-sounding private language and runs by moonlight. Although it's not a horror film, you'll find yourself thinking about the spooky spine-tingling atmosphere of the film for days, says Amanda Prouten.
Easy guide to online comics
Comics: They say comics are the new rock'n'roll. Okay they said that in the eighties, but they're saying it again. So it's okay to look at comics online and not feel nerdys. If you haven't checked out comics online already, Amber Rules gives you a map to a whole new (free) online world.
Bad Girls: Tough Girl Cinema
Film Reviews: There's an exploding genre of action films with uber-tough sassy girls. They kick righteous ass but never smudge their lipstick... and only bat their eyelashes at a guy for smooches, not for assistance. Tough girls of cinema, we salute you!
Facercise: The natural facelift
Book Reviews: We all want to look as sexy as we can (in our own way, sure) so that boys will, well, know we're sexy. This book will show you how to facercise your way to the top of the heap!
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Book Reviews: If you haven't heard David Sedaris yet, don't waste another second. His anecdotes of growing up in a family even more eccentric than yours have created an army of fans you'll be proud to join...
Brief Encounter
Film Reviews: It's too easy to get turned off by black-and-white films but you really should see 'Brief Encounter'. It's kitsch, it's slow-moving, it's old-fashioned, it's black and white, there are no sudden plot twists and it's so, so British...
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
Book Reviews: In winter you need a magic spell to transport you into a world of freedom, light-heartedness and sunshine, and this book has no plot, no philosophy, no agenda - it is that spell.
MR STARLIGHT
Book Reviews: Sel Boff makes his way from downtown clubs to the lights of Vegas, wooing the ladies with his smarmy showmanship and hiding his liasons with young sailors on the way...
HOW TO CATCH HIM AND KEEP HIM
Book Reviews: Have you ever known halfway through a fumble that romping with the guy you just met really wasn't a good plan after all? Sue Nedwell reports on an E-book that promises to cut down on life's romantic blunders.
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
Book Reviews: How would you feel if your father made you believe you murdered your mother? Amanda Prouten reviews 'The Secret Life of Bees', a tale of civil rights and sixties America wrapped up in a magical story of two child fugitives.
AS MEAT LOVES SALT
Book Reviews: Literature about gay boys is still fun to read for girls! Stephanie Minns coos over a gay love story between two men, set in the English Civil War. Not a good time to be gay, we suspect.
Book, comics, game and anime reviews
Book reviews, comics reviews, movie reviews, anime reviews, manga reviews and video game reviews from around the globe - Mookychick
