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Prom Nights from Hell
Prom Nights from Hell
Meg Cabot | 2007 | Young Adult (YA)
6
5.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Overall rating 2.5 stars

<b>The Exterminator's Daughter - Meg Cabot</b> - 3 stars.

If this had been a little longer and fleshed out just a little more then it would have gotten four stars but since it wasn't, it's getting three. Adam was quite fun and I loved his water pistol on the two occasions it appeared. If the author ever fancied doing it into a full length story then I'd read it because Mary and Adam make quite a fun team

<b>The Corsage - Lauren Myracle</b> - 2 stars

I didn't particularly enjoy this one until the last five pages but they couldn't save the story. Not to my liking at all.

<b>Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper - Kim Harrison</b> -2.5 stars

Madison was quite annoying when she was arguing that she was still alive and took the amulet from Seth and leading up to that it didn't really grab me and pull me in. I don't think I'll be reading more of this series.

<b>Kiss and Tell - Michele Jaffe</b> - 3 stars

I enjoyed this once we got past the initial back-info overload. Once Sibby arrived and was being her teenager-y annoying self and winding up our super-powered Miranda i got into the story. The prom took a while to arrive but she had an almost kiss with her crush before things went to hell. And then we get a little twist at the end before she ends up getting a date with her crush. If it was a full length story then i would read it.

<b>Hell on Earth - Stephanie Meyer</b> - 2 stars

I had no idea what was going on in this for a long time and then when I figured it out I wasn't into the plot. Not for me.
  
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Nancy Whang recommended Paul's Boutique by Beastie Boys in Music (curated)

 
Paul&#039;s Boutique by Beastie Boys
Paul's Boutique by Beastie Boys
1989 | Hip-hop, Rock
8.0 (4 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"It's a brilliant album. What's not to like? It's universally loved and accepted as an album, as a collection of music. When you're a kid you listen to Beastie Boys because you like to sing '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)' because it's silly and fun but Paul's Boutique is sophisticated and mature, as well as being really musical, which I really like about it. And long before I had any awareness of what sampling was, all the different bits that they use I was always curious about what they were. I always knew they were from other songs, because some of them I recognised. But it was super fascinating to me. I was already in love with New York and the idea of moving to New York. And in my adolescent fantasy I thought: ""I'm going to graduate high school, I'm going to move out of the house, I'm going to move straight to New York, and then maybe, one day, I'll get to meet one of the Beastie Boys."" And now I've met all of them! James [Murphy] is really good friends with Ad-Rock and he'd be at the studio with us and I'd go there and be with Adam, and eat pizza with Adam. It was so bizarre because 15-year-old me was losing her mind but I had to be cool. But also it was totally normal because he's just a normal guy and he's hanging out with my friend who's just a normal guy and they're doing normal stuff. But no matter how many times I meet them or see them I've never stopped being star-struck. I have to stop myself falling apart."

Source
  
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Ross (3282 KP) rated Good Omens in TV

Jul 4, 2019  
Good Omens
Good Omens
2019 | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Broadly fine
I am a long-time fan of Terry Pratchett, and a more recent fan of Neil Gaiman, and yet it was only the release of the TV series that prompted me to finally read their joint effort. I thought the book was pretty good, lots of nice silly little jokes spread about, and a good plot keeping up momentum throughout.
I felt the TV series let the book down a little bit. While the overall story and the dialogue, in the main, is true to the book, I felt a lot of it fell flat. A lot of the humour (which comes in the form of charming asides, generally in the narrative of the book) missed the mark and just did not land properly. I did like the expanded section on Azirafale and Crowley's efforts through time, though I think they laboured it too long on the angel's unwillingness and didn't quite show how much they had worked together.
Tennant played Bill Nighy playing a demon, Sheen played David Mitchell playing an angel and they were broadly fine but didn't really sit perfectly for my liking. The rest of the cast were pretty strong (with the exception of Jack Whitehall who I utterly detest and don't think he can act for toffee).
The special effects were on the poor side, but that is only compared to the major big-budget TV shows like GoT and The Walking Dead. The physical effects were excellent.
In all, I am glad they restricted the series to a small number of episodes and did not try and drag it out too long. The ending was not given the build-up it deserved, there really wasn't enough peril before the two single acts that stopped the end of the war (Pulsifer and Adam).
I was very happy to see the relationship between Azirafale and Crowley develop beyond friendship
  
Show all 4 comments.
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Madbatdan82 (341 KP) Jul 11, 2019

Whitehall was a bizarre choice

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Ross (3282 KP) Jul 12, 2019

Jack Whitehall didn't even play the typical Jack Whitehall character. He was fine as ... Adultery Pulsifer, but was dreadful as Newton Pulsifer.

Ready or Not (2019)
Ready or Not (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Bloody Good Fun
Ready Or Not is a 2019 black comedy/horror movie directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olphin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by Gus Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. Producers on the film included Tripp Vinson, James Vanderbilt, Willem Sherak, and Bradley J. Fischer. It was produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures, Mythology Entertainment, Vinson Films and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film stars Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny and Andie MacDowell.


Grace couldn't be happier after she marries the man of her dreams at his family's luxurious estate. There's just one catch -- at midnight on the wedding night, the wealthy Le Domas family hosts a generations long tradition of playing a game with each new addition to the family. Tony, her new father-in-law explains that Grace must participate in a session where she must draw a card from a mysterious wooden box and play the game to be a full-fledged member of the family. She must now hide from midnight until dawn while her new in-laws hunt her down with guns, crossbows, and other weapons s she desperately tries to survive the night,


This movie was great. I liked it quite a bit. It was a fresh take on one of my favorite genres. The movie was also pretty funny and had a good way of mixing the horror with comedy. The acting was also really good with Samara Weaving doing a great job and a solid performance from Adam Brody too. The script and plot could have been a little more solid but it's a enjoyable ride. There were some inconsistencies with the plot and some humor that fell flat but overall a good mashup of genres and fresh take on some stereotypes and cliches. I give this movie a 8/10. Not necessarily a horror movie but more aligned with survival horror, I recommend it for people who like movies like that.
  
The Guest (2014)
The Guest (2014)
2014 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Solid script (2 more)
Some sweet sweet murder
The best twist fuck ending in a long time
What in the mind fucking hell went on here
Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard are a pair of my favorite writer director teams in the history of mumblecore movies... theu have an I don' give a shit attitude that oozes through each kill in every movie they make. From the demented serial killings in A Horrible Way to Die to the revenge filled destruction of mercenaries and spiteful children in You're Next. And this movie is no different....
I wouldn't exactly call it a horror film by label, but the killing is so over the top bloody and disturbing that I suppose it is horrific.
Dan Stevens portrayal of Army boy David is spot on... emotionless and cold to the view. He renders each murder with a purpose... even those final few near the end. Even though they were brutal and harsh. They explained how sick and twisted he truly is.
Maika Monroe is solid as well. Anna makes you feel pity for all the things sshe is going through. Her personal life is a mess and her family life is no better...
This movie is not what I thought it was going to be. It was better than I expected and I will be watching it again. 9 enthusiastic severed heads out of 10
  
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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Shatter Me in Books

Apr 27, 2018  
Shatter Me
Shatter Me
Tahereh Mafi | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.4 (23 Ratings)
Book Rating
Shatter Me is one of those books that will stick with me forever. I may even re-read it just because I enjoyed it so much! I mean, I never re-read books! But I may very well re-read this one! It's one that I can pick up the next one after not having read it for a year, and I can jump right back in because I remember it all. I can't wait until the next book comes out! Oh my gosh! Why on earth did I wait so long to read it? Oh yeah. College.

The writing was magnificent (man has it been a long time since I've been able to say that). It was interesting, and different, and felt like a free flowing train of thought instead of conscious sentences or pages from a diary. It was beautiful and poetic, and full of metaphors about nature and beauty and pain that were so honest and true that I couldn't figure out why I hadn't thought them up myself first. Sometimes there would be a phrase that Juliette thought to herself that was true but she refused to admit to thinking, and it would be crossed out. (like that ^). I really liked this, because it showed what she was really thinking, but it also showed what kind of person she wanted to be.

The plot was fantastic. It never stopped moving forward. There were brief times of rest in the thriller aspect of the story, but the tension itself never went away, and there were no dead plot fillers thrown in.

I really liked Juliette. She wants to be strong, but after a long life of being emotionally abused, she's a weak broken pitiful creature who just wants to be loved and nurtured back to health. She will do anything to be on good terms with someone she loves. She's dying to be touched, but she knows she can't be because she'll kill whoever touches her. And she doesn't want to hurt anyone. She wants to help people and comfort them, but she knows she'll kill them. What a horrible place to be in!

I won't say too much about her love interest, Adam, but I will say he is so going on my list of favorite literary crushes. He is hott stuff. And because of that, I'm going to put my recommendation as ages 16+. If you can't read Hush Hush or Hourglass, I'd hold off on this one for a while…

Content/recommendation: Some hot kissing scenes, and I'm seeing a potential for more in the later books. Ages 16+
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) created a post

Feb 4, 2020  
Last night I went to watch We Will Rock You at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, and I had such a fantastic night.

It really is a genius marketing idea to announce a tour of this show not long after the release of the hugely successful Bohemian Rhapsody film. And boy is it a good show. I knew nothing about this other than it was Queen music, and I'm not sure what I had been expecting from the actual story but this wasn't it! The plot centres around a futuristic world where rock music is banned, and whilst the actual story element isn't particularly strong, it more than makes up for this by being downright hilarious. You can tell this is a Ben Elton written musical. The script is so funny and clever, and I love how it's obviously been updated over the years to still be relevant with modern pop culture. The acting and singing too are very strong. The two leads have stunning voices and whilst Ian McIntosh isn't quite Freddie, he still has an amazing voice. Although for me the two standouts were Adam Strong as Khashoggi (who really needed even more stage time) and Michael McKell as Buddy. McKell especially was amazing, really embracing the camp Jack Sparrow-esque Buddy and bringing the house down with his delivery on the jokes.

Whilst the plot may not be the strongest, this more than makes up for it in sheer fun and entertainment. 9/10
     
We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You
2002 | Musical
9
7.8 (5 Ratings)
Show Rating
I went to watch We Will Rock You at the Palace Theatre in Manchester back in February, and I had such a fantastic night.

It really is a genius marketing idea to announce a tour of this show not long after the release of the hugely successful Bohemian Rhapsody film. And boy is it a good show. I knew nothing about this other than it was Queen music, and I'm not sure what I had been expecting from the actual story but this wasn't it! The plot centres around a futuristic world where rock music is banned, and whilst the actual story element isn't particularly strong, it more than makes up for this by being downright hilarious. You can tell this is a Ben Elton written musical. The script is so funny and clever, and I love how it's obviously been updated over the years to still be relevant with modern pop culture. The acting and singing too are very strong. The two leads have stunning voices and whilst Ian McIntosh isn't quite Freddie, he still has an amazing voice. Although for me the two standouts were Adam Strong as Khashoggi (who really needed even more stage time) and Michael McKell as Buddy. McKell especially was amazing, really embracing the camp Jack Sparrow-esque Buddy and bringing the house down with his delivery on the jokes.

Whilst the plot may not be the strongest, this more than makes up for it in sheer fun and entertainment.
  
The Overnight (2015)
The Overnight (2015)
2015 | Comedy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
In the mood for a quickie? Patrick Brice’s “The Overnight” is just that – a short in length, long in substance cinematic romp.

The film follows a laid back, somewhat boring Seattle couple, Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling), who have just relocated to LA. As young parents they seem to be doing everything the “normal” way. They work hard, dote on their little boy, and their love life is rushed.

One afternoon while taking their son to the park, they have a chance meeting with, Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), an eccentric LA couple who have a son about the same age.

The two couples decide to get together again for a play date at Kurt and Charlotte’s house. Once the kids are put to bed by Kurt’s unique method of melodic keyboard playing, the adults decide to have a play date of their own.

At first the film seems to center on the mundane expectation of how life should be. A strategic starting point for the plot, as it develops into a raw and titillating experience.

Increasingly throughout the evening their blood alcohol levels rise and inhibitions wane, until the night turns into somewhat of a kinky party. Far from smooth and seductive, the interplay between the characters is uncomfortable and ridiculously funny.

The comedic style is unabashedly salacious. For example, at one point Kurt shares his unique paintings. They are the type one would expect to find somewhere like LA’s art scene. If you stare long enough into one, you realize they are all portraits of anuses – beautiful, colorful ass portraits.

The short length of the film in combination with a quick witted comedic style makes for a great date movie. It is both sensual and awkward, much like first dates can be. It will be an effective ice breaker, because it is sure to be the most awkward thing occurring in that moment.

People tend to lock themselves into boundaries which may not serve their best interest, simply because they believe that is how society works. This film pushes & explores those boundaries in a brilliantly humorous way without turning into a cheesy romantic comedy.

I give “The Overnight” 4.5 out of 5 stars
  
Marriage Story (2019)
Marriage Story (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Drama

"What a surprise! Actually a movie about people! No special effects, no super heroes, no gunfights; just a riveting two hours and 15 minutes about some human beings you can recognize as real, going through the agonizing upheavals of a marriage that is no longer working, and therefore facing the daunting, heartbreaking throes of divorce. That’s Noah Baumbach’s new picture, “Marriage Story,” and it is right up there with the best of this exceptional director-writer’s finest work, thus only confirming my long-held opinion that Baumbach is vividly among the top picture-makers of his generation. It is a joy to see and hear actors speaking dialogue that is superbly crafted and profoundly believable. And to watch a film during which the camera is always in the right place for the actors to shine and the scenes to play most effectively for the audience. All this talented and insightful direction, of course, results in brilliant performances. If there is a more nakedly affecting and moving turn by an actor than Adam Driver’s here, I certainly haven’t seen it. He’s always good, but this is truly striking, vividly touching, and simply as good as it gets in modern pictures. I always enjoy Scarlett Johansson’s work, and she certainly doesn’t disappoint here. And Alan Alda’s aging character is memorably drawn. Like so much of the best American movies, Baumbach’s work here is both deeply personal (though not autobiographical) and at the same time quite clearly universal. I really hope that this picture is successful enough to encourage other filmmakers to bring real people to the screen, and to tell stories that resonate with reality."

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