Hannah Pooley Writes!

  Published on the Ocelot and Swindon Link, 19th October 2022 https://www.theocelot.co.uk/feature-songs-that-helped-us-through-lockdown https://swindonlink.com/lifestyle/feature-hannah-pooley-lockdown-songs/ The world changed forever in March 2020, when a global pandemic swept the globe and forced many to retreat to their homes. As we adjusted to life spent mostly indoors, between various takeaways, Joe Wicks workouts, and Netflix marathons, one of our biggest solace’s was music. With more time available, we were given the chance to reconnect with our Spotify accounts and record collections, enabling us to dance in the kitchen more and perhaps push ourselves further on a socially distanced jog. The world has not gone fully back to ‘normal’, but with hindsight to reflect on that surreal time, I decided to catch up with some of the important people in my life and ask them to reflect on the question – what song helped you get through lockdown? Hannah’s own pick: this is me trying – by...

Published on Talking Mental Health, September 2022 https://www.talkingmentalhealth.com/post/social-media-detox-mental-health-5-tips The unfortunate truth about social media is that it plays host to plenty of information that can negatively affect our mental health. After taking time away from social media, Hannah Pooley gives her insights into how you can take part in your own digital detox. If you were to check your phone statistics right at this moment, your daily screen time could truly shock you. Even more so if you check how much time you spend on social media. According to Statista, the average screen time of UK phone users in 2021 was 4 hours a day, and a study conducted by the University of Leeds earlier this year found that, during the UK’s three lockdowns, over half of those surveyed spent 11 hours on their devices, with some users reaching up to an astonishing 14 hours per day. For many of us, it’s clear that scrolling on social media apps has become an absolute centre piece...

(Above Image Credit - Leah Bryan) Published on the Ocelot and Swindon Link, August 2022 https://www.theocelot.co.uk/review-arctic-monkeys-headline-performance-at-reading-festival https://swindonlink.com/lifestyle/hannah-pooley-arctic-monkeys/ After years of waiting and even more time spent trying to get to the bar, Arctic Monkeys returned to their first UK show in four years on Saturday night, at Reading Festival 2022. The sense of anticipation from the crowd was truly palpable after a long, hot, day watching the likes of Enter Shikari and Wolf Alice. The audience was a mixture of all ages, but as always with Reading festival, it was most prominently a younger crowd and they had an appetite for a riotous end to the evening. The festival’s main stage has become a second home to the Arctic Monkeys and this year’s performance was their third time headlining. For a band who are still only in their mid 30’s and have recorded six studio albums (with another on the way in October), it is a pr...

Published on the Ocelot and Swindon Link, August 2022 https://www.theocelot.co.uk/review-jordan-peeles-latest-project-nope/ https://swindonlink.com/lifestyle/nope-film-review/ Director Jordan Peele delivers another mind-bending film this summer with his latest project Nope, which is best described as a sci-fi horror, and just like his previous films Get Out (2017) and Us (2019), Nope has plenty of thrills, humour and social commentary. The film is set on a remote ranch in California, which is home to the Haywood siblings, OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer). They run a horse training business that has been passed down through several generations, which once had a prominent name in Hollywood. They are even descendants of the jockey who appeared in the first ever moving image, created in 1878. The Haywood siblings couldn’t be more opposite - OJ is quiet and brooding, whereas his younger sister Emerald is vivacious and unpredictable. The pair must accept that their business is f...

Published on the Swindonian, June 2019 https://theswindonian.co.uk/culture/godzilla-king-of-the-monster-2019-review-by-hannah-pooley/ Godzilla is back again (whether we like it or not) for another fight. Following on from the Aaron Taylor Johnson fronted Godzilla (2014) comes Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Since the aftermath of the 2014 attack of San Francisco, the world has been rocked by the presence of Titans, gigantic creatures that once dominated the Earth. Studying and tracking down these creatures is the shady crypto-zoological organization Monarch. Working for Monarch is the biologist Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), along with her daughter Madison (Millie Bobbie Brown); they are at a Monarch base where a giant larva called Mothra is born. Emma has been developing a device known as the “ORCA” that emits a frequency that can attract and alter the behaviour of these titans, which is exactly what she uses to calm down the Mothra creature. However, Monarch are not the only people who...

  Published on the Swindonian, May 2019 https://theswindonian.co.uk/culture/aladdin-2109-reviewed-by-hannah-pooley/ Disney is back with yet another live action remake. This time they have tackled the 1992 animated classic Aladdin. For those who have been living under a rock, Aladdin is set in Agrabah, a city teaming with merchants, snake charmers and fire breathers. Our main character, Aladdin (Mena Massoud), is a “street rat” that has to steal food to get by and lives in the ruins of an old building along with his pet monkey Abu. Up high in the palace overlooking the city is Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott). She longs for freedom and to see the rest of the world. Her father the Sultan is desperate to find a suitor for her to marry but she clearly has other ideas. One day she decides to sneak out into the thriving city streets, meeting Aladdin who saves her from narrowly having her hand cut off for stealing. The two have an instant connection as they escape the angry mob. Meanwhile, ...

  Published on the Swindonian, May 2019 https://theswindonian.co.uk/culture/rocketman-2019-review-by-hannah-pooley/ Drenched in glitter, copious amounts of vodka and a surprising amount of emotion is the new film about Elton John – Rocketman. The film follows John’s huge rise to fame in the 1970’s, from his humble upbringing in suburban Britain, to massive sell out shows at Madison Square Garden. Taron Egerton plays Elton, first seen in the film waltzing into a rehab facility wearing what can only be described as one of the most flamboyant outfits ever captured on screen. He is dripping in orange rhinestones, flares, horns and even red angels wings. Whilst sat disenchanted and downtrodden, Elton realises he is at a crisis point and begins to look back at his tumultuous life. Young Reginald Kenneth Dwight, as he was once known, was a dab hand at the piano from an early age, picking it up just from hearing a few notes and replicating them. Son to a disgruntled mother and a practicall...

Published on the Swindonian, November 2018   https://theswindonian.co.uk/culture/bohemian-rhapsody-film-review/ Bohemian Rhapsody follows the formation of the band Queen, fronted by enigmatic Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek). Young Freddie finds a band called Smile, a bland band who have just lost their main singer and he manages to persuade them he has what they are missing – a great, over the top performer, song writer and vocalist.  What follows next are the highs and lows of recording some of the most iconic pop songs ever, and of course, the lead up to the 1985 Live Aid gig at Wembley Stadium. This film wouldn’t work without such a believable, fully committed performance from Rami Malek – a huge contrast for those who have seen him as Elliott in Mr. Robot as a shy, introverted computer hacker. He oozes charisma and extravagance, and you will soon get used to his fake overbite, which I was initially concerned about.  Freddie’s relationship with Mary Austin (Lucy Boyn...

Published on the Swindonian, October 2018   https://theswindonian.co.uk/culture/a-star-is-born-review-by-hannah-pooley/ Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) is a huge rock star in his own right when the film begins, swigging on  liquor and popping pills before he takes to the stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. But something is missing, he is lost in the fame bubble and he is losing his identity. After his set, he demands his driver to take him to the nearest bar where he sees the enigmatic Ally (Lady Gaga). She is singing “La Vie en Rose” complete with black stick-on eyebrows at a local drag club where they let her take up the stage once a week. Jackson instantly falls in love with her voice, and with her jaw dropping performance. He tells Ally that she has something special. Their spark is undeniable. Later that night, after a bust up at the bar (and a bag of frozen peas) Ally sings to Jackson one of her own songs and he becomes spellbound. Ally works in a deadbe...

  Published in FEED magazine - Issue 11: April 2018 What makes someone brave? Is it standing up in front of an audience, riding on a ridiculously high rollercoaster or deep-sea diving, perhaps? The answer, of course, is that bravery comes in all sorts of forms. Being brave means facing your fears and all the obstacles that life can throw at you. The person I am focusing on, Kris Hallenga, seems to exude a pure selfless bravery that I genuinely don’t believe many people would be capable of. Kristin Hallenga, is the co-founder of the breast cancer charity CoppaFeel, that was founded in 2009. You may have seen representatives of the charity at festivals, or other events such as marathons, as they are pretty noticeable – the people in question are dressed up as massive boobs! She set up the charity with her twin sister Marin after discovering at the tender age of 23 that she had stage four breast cancer. Kris became concerned that she had an unusual lump and, after eight months of livi...

Published in FEED magazine - Issue 10: February 2018 By 2017, television shows have become an unstoppable tour de force in the entertainment world, and quite frankly, my life. Who doesn’t enjoy the exciting prospect of 10 hours of TV ready to binge, and laughing at Netflix when it asks you – “Are you sure you want to continue watching Black Mirror?” when you’re 10 hours deep in a session? With cinema ticket prices on the rise, and our pockets getting ever tighter, TV is the ultimate home comfort – easy to access and providing hour-long episodes to watch in between doing the laundry. The small screen these days lets us enter all sorts of different worlds and sagas. It drags us in with twisty storylines, and huge special effects, not to mention big budgets. Here I plan to talk about my personal highlights of 2017 television, some that everyone talks about (for good reason), and some more obscure. Some you may disagree with and some may intrigue… either way, get to your television pronto ...

  Published in FEED magazine - Issue 9: November 2017 Fear comes in all different forms, and growing up can create  a whole new level of fear in many folk. Your body is changing.  You aren’t a child anymore, but are nowhere near adulthood.  You feel the pressure from school, your parents and your friends.  Sounds pretty horrendous right? Well imagine you had to face  bloodthirsty alien beings from another dimension, intent on  breaking through from the other side! Welcome to Stranger  Things. A world set in the 80's in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, where creatures truly go bump in the night.  Netflix has just released Season 2 of Stranger Things, and have amped up every aspect from  Season 1. (Some spoilers for the Season 1 and hints to Season 2 ahead)… Stranger Things became a smash hit last year, with an estimated 22 million streams worldwide. It pulled viewers in with its delicious 80's beats, mysterious government cover-ups...

  Published in FEED magazine - Issue 4: April 2017 The year is 1999 and cinemagoers everywhere  are repeating the line “I see dead people” with  a shocked glee. The man who wrote this now  iconic line is M. Night Shyamalan. And the film is,  of course, The Sixth Sense. This film was a game  changer for modern cinema, calling back to  suspense pictures from the classic Hollywood  (notably Hitchcock, an idol of Shyamalan’s). The Sixth Sense was number 1 in the US Box Office  for 5 weeks and grossed over $26.6 million in its  opening weekend alone. It had everyone talking,  and for good reason – the twist was genius. The  film saw Bruce Willis proving he still had what it  takes as a serious actor, far from John McClane. In the wake of its success, Shyamalan’s early films  became instant hits; through word of mouth of  ‘amazing twists’ and spine-tingling suspense.  Next came Unbreakable (2000), a nuanced, ...