The series focuses on William Murdoch, a fictional Victorian-era Toronto’s detective who solves many of his cases using procedures unusual and advanced at the time such as fingerprinting and trace evidence.  He is assisted by the three other main characters: 

· Inspector Brackenreid is Murdoch’s immediate superior and a blunt and sceptical man who prefers conventional methods of detection over Murdoch’s.

· Constable George Crabtree, a jolly young policeman who is often unable to grasp the more advanced methods, but his enthusiasm and loyalty make him a good assistant.

· Doctor Julia Ogden, who as Crabtree is a great supporter of Murdoch’s methods and her skills in pathology usually helps  revealing great deals of useful evidence to aid Murdoch in solving cases.

What really delights me about this series are two key topics, besides a catchy rich soundtrack mostly composed by classical music: 

·  First and foremost, I am pleasantly surprised by the presence of anachronistic technology in some episodes whereby Murdoch uses the existing technology in order to improvise a crude prototype of a 21^st century device. 

· Further to this, the story is remarkably clever overall and truly thrilling in key episodes. Plot, though fictious, is deeply enhanced by engaging historic figures, such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Harry Houdini, Nikola Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle, among many others; and by adding other subplots that involve certain historical issues in the time placed, such women’s suffrage movement and discrimination towards racial minorities.

To cut a long story short, you may as well stick to Murdoch Mysteries at the earliest opportunity to enjoy 14 seasons full of exceptionally performed criminal cases with a fantastically written plot which arouses curiosity and a brilliant storyline that resembles those of Sherlock Holmes fictions, but where even its writer appears! It is well worth seeing, so don’t miss it!

by Pablo Álvarez Rodríguez

Nine-year-old Beth is in an orphanage, where she meets the caretaker, who teaches her how to play chess. During this period, she becomes addicted to tranquilizers. A few years later, she is adopted by a traditional couple that wants Beth to be a miss, so she has to fight in order to play chess and attend to tournaments, where she will meet very interesting people.

The series is a rollercoaster ride during the seven chapters. It’s a great adaptation of the book The Queen’s Gambit, written in 1983, that manages to transmit the drama to the big screen perfectly. Gary Kasparov and Judith Polgar, two Great Masters, collaborated with the series.

The Queen’s Gambit is a startling drama recommended for people over 16 years old that has been the world’s most viewed series since it was released, on October the 23^rd, 2020.

If you are wondering what is the genre of the movie, I don't really know the answer. Maybe It's a romantic movie, a comedy or both of them.I realize that the director made a big effort in order to launch something special. Nowadays, It is the best example about how a film can become a  masterpiece as time goes by.

The storyline is the  sequence of how Harold and Maude find together ???and fall in love. From that point on, they live hilarious and crazy situations.

Harold is an enigmatic, spoiled, rich kid with an extreme pale skin who can have anything he wants.  He has two hobbies, faking his death and attending funerals. He represents pessimism .

 Maude is in her eighties and she is carefree and young at heart. She lived through the Holocaust and she only wants to live life to the fullest. She drives like a fool and loves  attending funerals too. She represents optimism.

Finally, I would like to highlight the soundtrack by Cat Stevens which conveys a lively and happy atmosphere
 It is certainly at the top of my list of shocking and riveting movies and I strongly believe that It will change the way you see love.
José Ramón Álvarez Bada

 

The plot focuses on what happened in Sutton Hoo’s excavation (Suffolk, England) in 1939, when an Anglo-Saxon funeral ship was found. Such an archaeological discovery it was really relevant because, although it’s a remnant of the 6^th century, it was intact and full of objects. That’s the real story this movie tells us. However, as important it is what happened as the way it happened: Mrs. Pretty (Carey Mulligan) is a wealthy landowner who hires a local excavator and self-taught archaeologist, Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes), in order to dig some burial mounds on her farm. Mr. Brown works with a team made up of others farm employees and Mrs. Pretty’s cousin (Johny Flynn as Rory Lomax). When they discover the outstanding site, the news spreads quickly and, consequently, a Cambridge archaeologist arrives to take over the excavation. The new director brings his own team of experts, and with them some conflicts related to pride, authority, recognition and… love will arise. All set at the beginnings of World War II.

 

I find it a deeply poignant film, in which an excellent cast leads the viewer beyond an interesting script. That’s the excuse to put us faced with universal issues that have to do with human relationship. It also teaches us how important the past is to understand the present.

 

This film is well worth seeing. The story catches the viewer and makes him think about his own world, and I have no doubt it will change the way you see the past. Don’t miss it! 

María López Carrión C1-1 B

In 1949, sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole leaves his home in Texas after his grandfather's funeral.  The ranch where he grew up will no longer belong to the family, and the boy runs away, horseback riding, with his friend Rawlins. On their way to Mexico, where they hope to experience their nostalgic fantasies of cowboy life, they meet Blevins, an even younger guy who is fleeing from his own tragedies and who will be the trigger for another. 

 

The journey to Mexico and their stay there is a traditional coming-of-age story: an account of discovery -of love, of sex, of death. But the novel is more than that: it is an epic tale of magnificent landscapes and silence, of deep friendship shared in a handful of words, of romantic dreams turned into harsh realities. And, overall, this is the memorable story of a hero: John Grady struggles against fate while preserving his moral integrity and his idealism. 

 

This book is not easy to read. Not only does it include very specific vocabulary and often ignore punctuation, but it also reflects the main characters’ dialectal English. Nevertheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed it: this is a powerful and sensitive story told in a language of overwhelming lyrical beauty. 

 

I highly recommend it.

 

 Guadalupe Robles Merino – C1.1 C

The book tells the story of Marie, the mother, and Diane, the daughter. Marie is a pretty young girl who is admired and loved, ; she enjoys being in the spotlight and is courted by the most handsome boy of the  in town. Everything changes when she got pregnant and get  got married. When Diane is born, Marie is aloof, envious and jealous with of her. The girl will grow up without maternal warmth and trying to understand the reasons of her mother’s attitude. In her university studies, she will meet a professor that will have an important impact on her life.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book because it is about a topic that I had never thought it could happen in the real life. Despite the fact that the story is set in France in the seventies, I was disappointed with the antiquated mentality that the characters show.

I would recommend Strike your heart because it not only talks about maternal relationships but also about other complex human relations. Don’t miss it!

                                     Cora Medina

 

A few days after his visit, Marcus receives  some news notice: the police had found the rest  remains of a young girl in Harry’s garden. How could it have happened to Harry? Harry admits that he had an affair with the teenager, and she was his truly  true love, but… why have he has he never mentioned her?

 

The more Marcus investigates, the less clear the case is. Every finger points at Harry, and it seems like if he was hiding something. As much as he knows, he has the necessity to solve this crime, but also to write the story and try to clean his friend’s image.

 

The plot is absolutely thrilling and well developed. Each chapter makes a twist across the lives of the Aurora inhabitants during the ’75 summer, of course with effect in the Nola and Harry’s story. 

 

Despite of the fact that this kind of excessive changes is not for every reader, I find in that the reason why it was fascinating to read it???. If you are looking for having a great entertainment, this is your book, because you will not leave the novel aside.

Carmen González Rodríguez

I found it amazing to be able to observe how the author has been able to reflect in Soraya's character how little or no physical contact and no social interaction since childhood can affect the personality, the way of being and the way of facing the world that a person has. 

In addition, we must not forget that the curse that Soraya carries is really hard for her emotionally, due to the fact that she is unable to touch anything without it falling over and dying, from a butterfly to a small child, absolutely everything falls dead at her feet when touched by it her??. But neither can we say that Soraya is a character of pure light, no, not at all, she is a character with many lights and shadows, sometimes she makes certain decisions that could even have  picture her as a villain; she acts wrong knowingly, she wants to be feared, but on the other hand she feels guilty and bad for having this curse. I think these aspects of the character is what has made Soraya a very interesting protagonist. 

Girl, Serpent, Thorn has been a very entertaining novel, which has managed to maintain the pace and intrigue from the beginning, the characters have seemed to me very well built, formed, with background and with particularities that make them very real. In addition, the story has been one of the best I've been able to read in recent months, it had been a long time since I was so hooked on a novel.

Claudia Fernández. 

The book is divided in 19 chapters. In the opening pages of this fascinating book, there is an explanation about how the ability to read people’s attitudes and thoughts by their behaviours was the origin of the communication system used by humans before spoken language evolved. Furthermore, the next chapters focus on understanding non-verbal communication such as arm signals, space invaders,  and the most common gestures we see daily or seating arrangements.

What I like most was the cultural differences the book provides. We live in a globalised world, in which different cultures coexist. I find pretty interesting to know the most common cross-cultural gestures. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by how modern humans are worse at reading body signals than our ancestors because we are now distracted by words. 

I would recommend this exciting book if you have good eyesight. Moreover, underlining the essential information it is a must! The book contains words that are hard to understand. Nevertheless, getting the general meaning is not tricky. 
IRENE SÁNCHEZ

The plot is absolutely thrilling, romantic and touching at the same time. Mel Gibson, as the central character, is Willian Wallace, a Scottish man that in the thirteenth century, after he lost all his family, fought as a leader of the Scottish clans against the English king Edward I (interpreted by Patrick McGoohan). Exceptional performance of Catherine McCormack as Wallace´s first love and wife. 

One of the most fascinating moments in the film occurs when Wallace shouted: “They may take our lives but they will never take our freedom” during the Battle of Stirling. Masterful, poignant and provocative scene with Wallace´s army hopelessly outnumbered waiting in an open field for the attack of British troops.

The awesome Scotland highland landscapes and Ireland fields, the locations where the movie was filmed, make you feel that you have stepped back 700 years in time, the same as the characters in the film.

Furthermore, the spectacular special effects and an incredible soundtrack wrap you in an unforgettable atmosphere where love, fight, action and peace, go by hand.

To sum up, I only have a word to describe this film. Brilliant, a truly great piece of filmmaking. If you have never seen it, I definitely recommend it to you.

Agustín García Fernández C1 C 

It based on Jane Eyre´s life. She has no parents, no money, she is a girl in a man´s world, and, to make matters worse, she is not beautiful. She even is even made unattractive, in the eyes of the world, by having a strong Character: she will not do what she is told to do.

Jane has many troubles in school and is traumatized of by  the ghost of her Uncle. She falls in love with a man, and she can become a teacher in the boarding school where she lived and where things were so horrible at the beginnings and at the end many things were solved in her life.

What I like most is how she overcomes the difficulties and has the strength to keep the wolf out of the door in the moments of starving???. It is an example of recovering a lost life in an example of determination and sometimes how dreams become true.
Gracia Álvarez López

 

Robert de Niro gives a masterful performance of Frank Sheeran, a Second World War veteran, con and hit man who worked with some of the most prominent figures of the 20th century. 'The Irishman' is the chronicle of one of the great unsolved mysteries of the USA: the disappearance of the legendary trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa. A great journey through the murky ins and outs of organized crime, its rivalries and its connection to politics.

Despite its detractors for its long duration, you can feel every one of De Niro’s years in his haunting performance, as well as those of Paccino and Joe Pesci, who are “de-aged” via computer-generated imagery as well as analog makeup and hairpieces.

The Irishman is a monumental work without any kind of doubt.  An impressive cast with legends giving us luxurious interpretations, such as Al Paccino in the role of Jimmy Hoffa or a great Joe Pecci playing Russel Bufalino, make it a must-see film.

PABLO GUTIÉRREZ SUÁREZ

In 1920s Copenhague, the portrait artist Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) ask her husband, Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) to pose for a painting on which she is working. This situation unmasks the Einar identity as a woman, who names herself as Lili Elbe. When Lili’s fight against her masculine identity became too much to bear, she starts looking for psychologic help and meets Dr. Kurt Warnekros who explains that he has met some people like her and suggests a new and controversial solution: a reassignment surgery.

This film not only has a very moving plot but also, I believe that it can reflect a reality of actual issues such as transsexuality of which lot of people is  are ignorant. Furthermore, from my point of view the performance of Eddie Redmayne is excellent, since he can transmit how much a transgender person can suffer. This film also reflects the rejection and ignorance about the LGBT community in this age.

In conclusion, this film will make you think and understand better this people. I highly recommend it.

 Marina Seijo Gómez

The film tells the story of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), an obsessive and meticulous FedEx employee who must travel very often, what makes him uneasy for his family.?? Chuck is sent to fix a production problem overseas and the merchant plane he was travelling on was stroke struck by a storm and crashed into the ocean. He managed to reach the shore of what he would later realize was a deserted island and he would have to find a way to survive with only the mailpacks carried by the plane that reached out the island.

From my point of view, this is a film not to be missed. I was expecting to watch a second-rate movie about a « Crusoe », but I was pleasantly surprised as this film is thrilling as itself and the plot is incredibly well structured. You can almost feel yourself in the stress of survival and, in a deeper and emotional way, the most absolute loneliness and the struggle to remain sane. All this portrayed by a splendid Tom Hanks. This film is food for thought also, the deep internal monologues and the relationship he develops with a personified unanimated object make us realise how emotional dependant and fragile we are.

As said, most of the dialogues are the protagonist’s own clear thoughts and conversations with nobody so they are easier to follow than complex and mixed interactions, which allows the student to focus on what he is hearing and watching and therefore stop relying in subtitles and improve efficiently spoken English comprehension.

This absolute classic will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end and will provide you the chance to develop your English skills as no other film could.
Juan Pablo Menes García

This thought-provoking film is set in Northern Italy, drawing the viewer´s attention to the horrors of the Nazi’s occupation, showing the gloomiest aspects of the Holocaust and capturing the atmosphere of the harsh living conditions in a concentration camp. The movie depicts the story of Guido (an open-minded Jewish-Italian librarian), his wife Dora and his son Joshua. The film reaches a climax when Guido was taken with his son to a concentration camp. Once there, in order to protect his son and to keep him in high spirits, Guido used his imagination to convince him that they were really playing a game.

With an excellent cast, an exciting script and a captivating linear narrative, the film’s ending is very stressful emotionally. Although tragedy is threaded throughout the movie, the story comes to my mind as a beautiful portrait of altruism, loyalty and love. This amazing drama includes numerous comic reliefs and a powerful soundtrack that supports the plot and fills every scene with the right emotion.

I strongly recommend this impressive masterpiece of cinema, which wonderfully conveys optimism and courage. It is certainly at the top of my list of good movies. Don’t miss it, it is well worth seeing!!.

 

The story takes place in Pensylvania, a mother and her son, Christopher, are escaping from her abusive boyfriend. Their new home, is a town with a forgotten story, one which will be awaken when Christopher disappears for six days. After his return, Christopher knows he has changed, he is also aware of the presence of a mysterious entity in the local forest. Moreover, he knows that he is the only one who can stop that creature from attacking the town.

 

This is a hooking book with an unpredictable plot. The thing I liked most was how every character became the storyteller at some point. This enables you to deeply understand the story and it creates a feeling of empathy towards every character. However, it is a really vast book and it gets slightly slow in some parts.

 

I would recommend the book to people who like Stephen King. His narration is similar and its story is equally terrifying. It is a perfect book for learning English since its vocabulary isn’t complex and its grammar is flawless. Imaginary friend is one of my favourite books and a must if you like terror and horror novels.

 Raquel Salgueiro

 

It begins with the folksy twang of a guitar and shots of streetlights blinking awake as night falls on a small Colorado town. A widower named Louis Waters is sitting alone in his kitchen one night when he receives an unexpected visit. Addie Moore, a neighbor who lives alone, wants to know if Louis would consider coming to her place sometimes to sleep with her. It is not about sex, it’s just about “getting through the night.”

 

‘Our Souls at Night’ is a wise and wistful story about the fragility of the human being and the need to love and be loved to give meaning to life. It is not only a story of loneliness on the verge of old age, it is also a song of hope to the possibility of being reconciled with oneself at the end of life, to be able to live without ties, without fear of what people will say, to seek human warmth in the long sleepless nights. An uplifting story where women are once again the pioneers, the daring ones, the ones who break conventions, where to bare the soul is to feel life in its fullness.

Carmen Cuervo

The story of this final chapter begins after the tragic death of Albus Dumbledore (Hogwarts’ Headmaster and Harry’s mentor). Our main characters, the seventeen-year-old Harry Potter and his friends Hermione & Ron, decide to leave their lovely school to undertake the puzzling search of the remaining Horcruxes (the pieces of soul of Voldemort, the fearful villain of the story). Meanwhile, Voldemort and his Death Eaters are taking control of the school and Ministry of Magic…Death, friendship, fear, love, jealousy, good and evil drive them to the final battle of Hogwarts, where Harry, accompanied by the Order of the Phoenix, schoolmates and teachers, faces Voldemort and his fervent followers and servants.

In my opinion, the plot is absolutely thrilling, although much darker than the previous ones. The humour is fading away while the action gains prominence. My favourite character is Professor Snape, who finally turns out to be a real hero in the shadows. 

To sum up, I strongly recommend it. Despite being originally written for children focused to the children, it evolves to an epic best-seller series for every generation. If you are into the fantasy genre, this book is a must!

Javier Santamarta González C.1.A

This tv series has a total of 62 episodes distributed on five seasons. This number of episodes is a reference to the 62nd element of the periodic table, the Samarium, a very important element of the treatment of cancer. The tv series is full of references like this, another example of this is the name of the series which contains another two elements, bromine and barium. So If you are going to watch it, you should pay close attention in every moment because sometimes, you can even find some spoilers.

If after you finish this tv series you feel like you want to watch more you have two options, the first one is El Camino, a film also written and produced by Vince Gilligan that will give you the  end some characters deserve, a proof that you have paid attention during all the series is that you will know how this film will end even without watching it. The other option is to watch Better call Saul, a tv series that explains shows the life of some characters before all the events of Breaking Bad. 

According to IMDb, Breaking Bad with a score of 9.5/10 is the best tv series ever so you should definitely give it a chance.

Enol Marqués Fernández

The series is a teen cliché, two brothers who try to gain Elena’s heart. As you might deduce in the title, the program is related to with vampires; apart from the romance story, there is a second plot related to murders, fights and supernatural stuff.

The reason why this series is extremely helpful in improving our level of English is because of two principal reasons; , the first one is because all the actors talk in a very understandable way, that is crucial since when you try to understand a foreign language, it is easier for you to listen to someone with a clear voice. The second one, which I think that is common to all the series, is that they can show you new vocabulary besides the one that you are trying to learn, especially informal ones.
Elsa González Alonso

The story unfolds in the USA during the second part of the XX century, when computers did not exist and every single calculation had to be calculated by hand, simply with a piece of paper and a pencil. At the NACA, it was made by women, as Katherine Johnson, known as “computers”.  At that time, women could not be engineers, however the men needed them to check every number before launching a rocket. Moreover, Katherine was a black woman, and the film shows us how she and her mated ??had to work harder than anyone else for this reason. 

One of the most surprising moments in the film occurs when Katherine starts to work hand in hand with the main engineers of the NACA to prepare the Apollo 11 mission, as she was the best of the NACA for the position, despite being a woman or being black. 

I would highly recommend Hidden Figures, specially if your life is related with  to science and you want to fight against stereotypes. It will move you as it builds up to the happy ending. I am sure it will become one of your top five films.

Lía Brea Hernández

The story takes place in Amsterdam, and it all starts when the main character, Hazel Grace, meets the other main character, Augustus Waters. As in all love stories, they fall in love, but there is the fact that they both have cancer. There are many moments that both of them spend together until the end of the book.

I really liked “The fault in our stars” because I felt a lot of things that I have never felt before while reading. For example, at the end of the book something unexpected happened that made me cry a lot. And I know crying while reading is a natural thing, but until that moment I used to believe that crying with a book was impossible. I also enjoyed reading it because I was in love with all the characters. There wasn’t one that I didn’t like. In fact, I would say that the worst one became one of my favorites!

To conclude I have to say that everybody should read “The fault in our stars” at least ones once in their life because it is a book with which you acquire numerous values ​​as you read it.

Estela Fernández Míguez