Anyone who can contrive a title as interesting as The Ballad of the Sad Cafe deserves a special prize. We put it in our list of best titles, someplace between For Whom the Bell Tolls and Joe, The Wounded Tennis Player. Curiosity was rewarded for The Ballad of the Sad Café is a fine and sensitive piece of writing. Director Karen Maine’s new comedy, Rosaline, works overtime to find a new perspective in one of the most well-known stories of all time. The tale in question? None other than William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, which remains so iconic that its influence continues to be felt today. As its title suggests, Maine's film does not place its focus on either of that play’s eponymous, star-crossed lovers, though, but rather on the woman who had originally captured young Romeo’s heart before he set his eyes for the first time on her cousin, Juliet. In April 2022, it was confirmed that the film would begin streaming on Shudder on May 12, 2022. [ citation needed] Reception [ edit ] Critical response [ edit ]

He mentions his second son, Eddie, who died of meningitis aged 18 and how it has left a void never to be filled again. As I was reading this book, I was awaiting the news of my father's passing, which came two days later. The anxiety and the heartbreak that is illustrated in this book is something I found very relatable. The Sadness ( Chinese: 哭悲; pinyin: Kū Bēi) is a 2021 Taiwanese body horror film written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Rob Jabbaz in his feature film directorial debut. [1] It stars Berant Zhu and Regina as a Taiwanese couple who attempt to reunite amidst a viral pandemic that turns people into homicidal maniacs. [2] Many of us read books more than once. We read at different times in our lives. We read books in different ways. I've always found defining sadness difficult, as have most of us. It is very distressing to put it into words. What IS sad?

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And those gray eyes–slowly day by day they were more crossed, and it was as though they sought each other out to exchange a little glance of grief and lonely recognition.” In Getting Better, Rosen implies that coping is an everyday practice – we are coping even when we are unaware we are coping, and perhaps especially in those moments. Partway through our conversation I ask Rosen, “How have you coped?” hoping he might share some strategies, though he misunderstands the question. I have always had a high tolerance for violence and gore and wanting to push the boundaries of horror as a genre, but I feel that as I've aged I've mellowed out more and my tolerance has plummeted to the point that I can't stand to stomach horror films that are so mean-spirited and vile. Perhaps this is due to life experiences I have had involving the deaths of loved ones and close friends or perhaps as I've grown, I've realised that I no longer enjoy watching being be brutally butchered and raped for no reason at all. In Rosen’s thinking, talking about it, writing about it – it all helps. (Expel the ping-pong ball and regain agency!) Though in some ways his mother’s approach lingers in him. Eddie is buried in Highgate Cemetery, but Rosen doesn’t visit the grave. And he finds it troubling to watch videos of his son. “He did drama in the sixth form,” Rosen says near the end of our conversation, “and he’s in a video of one of the plays he wrote. I’ve never looked at it. I don’t think I can. He was wearing a helmet. It’s in that box.”

Night of the Missing is gory, frightening, and able to meld these differing stories into a wonderfully disturbing narrative. Within moments, as I remember it now, the chatter around the table, the warming laughter and chinking glasses, disappeared. Sad Book is instantly overwhelming. The Sadness features cinematography by Jie-Li Bai, and was shot on Red Digital Cinema "Monstro" cameras with Arri "Signature Prime" lenses. Principal photography lasted 28 days. Jim and Kat wake up in their apartment and get ready on a day like any other. After having a small disagreement about any upcoming trip, a podcast interview catches the eye of Jim. A medical expert claims that a dangerous virus known as “Alvin” has potential to mutate into something far more serious. He urges the government to enact a nationwide quarantine. However, the host of the podcast dismisses this as a way of inciting panic in the lead up to an election. Jim’s neighbour explains that he believes that the virus is nothing more than a hoax. Some experience or understanding of a loss or sadness would be required, however the emotions are raw enough in the book for an unfamiliar audience to empathise. It could therefore be linked to more whole-class books like Goodnight Mr Tom.

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We all have sad stuff - maybe you have some right now, as you read this. What makes Michael Rosen most sad is thinking about his son Eddie, who died. In this book, he writes about his sadness, how it affects him and some of the things he does to try to cope with it. This is a very personal story that speaks to everyone; whether or not you have known what it's like to feel really, deeply sad, it's truth will surely touch you." When the film’s over-the-top violence works, it manages to inject The Sadness with a kind of manic energy and visual madness that’s hard to shake. Lei’s tortured performance as Kat also helps imbue many of The Sadness’ best set pieces and scenes with a level of emotional reality that keeps the film from veering too often into full-blown absurdity. That said, there are moments when The Sadness fails to ride the line between heightened gore and comic violence. As the disturbing tales continue to unravel, the most terrifying revelation may be that the monster behind them is much closer than anyone thinks.” In the rest of the book Rosen explains how he copes – or doesn't cope – when he is in that "deep dark" place and feels sad. It's a deeply personal insight; but also universal. We feel sad with and for Rosen, and by extension with and for Quentin Blake, who has given the book such heartrending illustrations.