Book Review

Title: Elizabeth Grant: My Life, My Story – A Memoir

Author: Marion Suzenne Witz & Carol Krenz

Publisher: Author House

Pages: 222

ISBN: 978-1-4490-4760-3

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Elizabeth Grant is a fascinating woman! Her name might ring a bell as she is the Queen of Cosmetics with her Elizabeth Grant beauty product line that is a best-seller on Canada’s Shopping Channel, internationally renowned and a well-known brand used by numerous celebrities. I know Elizabeth Grant from my mother’s television, as it appears the only thing she watches is this highly animated, enthusiastic and pleasantly playful woman talk about her “girls” and how much her products will change your life. Truth be told, Elizabeth Grant doesn’t seem to make statements she can’t uphold. Her own life changed when she was badly scarred from a bomb blast while living in London during WWII’s Blitz. Grant managed to transform her tragedy into a blessing and ended up with a business empire. While waiting in her doctor’s office one day, Elizabeth Grant discovered an experimental ingredient called Torricelumn that helped soldiers heal their wounds. What was initially a mission to heal her own scars led Grant to discover a serum akin to youth in a bottle.

Into her eighties, Elizabeth Grant decided it was probably time to write her memoir – or at least, up until the “autumn” of her life as she puts it. Age is merely a frame of mind for Grant as she acts youthful, and looks decades younger than her actual age. Grant’s memoir is full of honesty about her own life, which was not easy and far from a fairytale, but she seems to have worked with what she has and made the absolute best out of what was handed to her. Grant has been endowed with a great virtue – resourcefulness.

My Life – My Story is a collection of memories from one woman’s incredible life that had her living in England, South Africa and Canada. The book can be divided into two areas that seem to best define Elizabeth Grant – her cosmetics business and those she was affected by. Her mother and stepfather played large roles in defining who she would become, as well as her marriage, children and vast amount of friends with whom she spent many joyous hours, including one of my favourite personalities – Noel Coward!

However, perhaps the most touching moment of the book, and defining moment in Grant’s life, was the day she confronted Charles for standing her up on a date scheduled for a few weeks previous. Grant’s belief was that she was stood-up because of her newly scarred face from the bomb blast, when in fact, it was the unfortunate day that Charles went out to get a newspaper and returned home to see it had been bombed and his family had all died in the explosion. Charles was the only survivor, and Grant had saved his life. “He put his head on my shoulder and sobbed. This was my turning point. I put my arms around him. I made up my mind there and then that I was going to survive this war and to do this I needed to rebuild my inner strength,” she says in My Life – My Story.

DVD Review

Title: Pandorum

Studio: Alliance Films

Director: Christian Alvert

Principle Cast: Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le

Length : 108 minutes

Rating: 14A

Release Date: January 19, 2010

Reviewed by: Rhys Dowbiggin

Imagine you wake up with little memory of who or where you are. The room is dark, gloomy, and generally an unsettling environment. You’re memory is hazy, save for the thought that someone should be there to greet you. No one is there. The only way in or out of the room is a door.

What would you do? Would you risk opening the door? What unspeakable horrors could be lying in wait on the other side? In the end, the only thing to fear is fear itself.

Pandorum begins with a short contextual synopsis typical of most sci-fi films (more on that later). A man wakes up from hyper-sleep in a pod that would test even the least claustrophobic. The pod opens and he falls to the floor. He finds himself in a spaceship navigation deck. A second man awakens soon after. Their memory is vague except they remember enough to know there should be others.

They set out to power up the ships reactor and find a way out. They ultimately discover the last of humankind have evacuated to space in the Elysium, a ship meant to populate the only known planet capable of harboring life besides Earth. Of course we already know this. It’s the first thing we are told via the opening synopsis. Therein lays a problem.

As a viewer, we are told this within the first 15 seconds of the movie. Yet by telling the audience before any of the action even occurs, we’re already let in on a little secret. It’s like on Christmas morning being told what you’re getting five minutes before you are given your gifts. Surprise? Regardless, the film has plenty of intrigue. Conceptually, and similar to the film Cube, the film is compelling.

Film Review

Title: Dear John

Director: Lasse Hallström

Stars: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Henry Thomas

Genre: Drama

Studio:Relativity Media

Audience Suitability: PG-13

Running Time: 105 Minutes

Release Date: Feb. 5, 2010

Written by: Robert Waldman

Boy meets girl provides the impetus for Dear John, a new romantic tale from director Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules) This modern day drama opens up many issues for debate.

Films with characters returning from overseas military duty has been a common theme over the past decade. Dear John follows the on-again off-again romance between two young people smitten by love. Through a chance encounter Savannah meets John. Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!) shines as Savannah Lynn Curtis and Channing Tatum (Public Enemies) puts in an impressive turn as John Tyree. Just home after a tour of duty overseas, the two quickly fall for each other.