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Butch Vig recommended Marquee Moon by Television in Music (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) in Movies
Apr 16, 2021 (Updated Jul 4, 2021)
ππ©πͺπ³π΅π¦π¦π― ππ°π―π·π¦π³π΄π’π΅πͺπ°π―π΄ ππ£π°πΆπ΅ ππ°π΅π©πͺπ―π¨. Boo-fucking-hoo, sad sad sad. Total bullshit, another turn-of-the-millennium ππ’π¨π―π°ππͺπ’ wannabe where a bunch of junk characters spout faux-philosophical anecdotes about No Actual Thing for what feels like literal ages. Starts off with some minor intrigue but no sooner I couldn't stand it - what with it's downright laughably corny music and sterile-as-can-be cinematography *on top of* this aggressively cringe dialogue delivered by such nonentities. Feels like one of those fake AI bots from Twitter being fed every somber hyperlink film and spatting out its jumbled tropes. I'm not going to say this doesn't have intriguing ideas, they just go nowhere and most of these stories just... don't even finish? Young Rob McElhenney in a bit part outacts the entire cast of unenthusiastic performances from A-listers (other than McConaughey who just feels right in and around any courtroom setting, but even then they give him next to no breathing room). Still in disbelief with how boring they decided to play this.
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated To the Bone (2017) in Movies
Sep 10, 2020
Can be triggering for some
The movie starts with a hospital support group, the girls are super skinny and talking about food, why? They are anorexic! This story focuses on 20 year old anorexia sufferer Ellie, she lives with her step mum who watches her when she eats and weighs her on a regular basis. She takes Ellie to see a specialist doctor to try and help her, and he admits her to a clinic with other people with eating disorders, it has no doors and no electronic devices are allowed. Fairly normal for rehab.
There's not much to say about the movie really, it's nice to see a movie dedicated to getting better rather than leading upto the illness. Be warned though, if you suffer from or have suffered from an eating disorder and are easily triggered then I would stay clear of the movie as the eating disorder language and attitudes towards food is pretty full on, such as tips on losing weight, where to hide your vomit, weight numbers and calorie counting.
There's not much to say about the movie really, it's nice to see a movie dedicated to getting better rather than leading upto the illness. Be warned though, if you suffer from or have suffered from an eating disorder and are easily triggered then I would stay clear of the movie as the eating disorder language and attitudes towards food is pretty full on, such as tips on losing weight, where to hide your vomit, weight numbers and calorie counting.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Crawl (2019) in Movies
Sep 8, 2019
Kaya Scodelario makes a striking action heroine (1 more)
Some "Jaws-lite" action scenes
Directed by Alexandre Aja (βPiranha 3Dβ) this is a sub-90 minute film that at least doesnβt outstay its welcome. Itβs been a decent summer hit for the studios (at the time of writing it has made $75 million on a meagre $13 budget).
Itβs certainly not for the faint-hearted in its gore. It delivers a lot of chomping, with the action getting progressively more ludicrous, reminiscent of the βflesh-woundβ scene in βMonty Python and the Holy Grailβ!. Some jump scares work well. But I canβ t say its a great film, because itβs really not. In the hands of a Spielberg, this might have really had legs (β¦to chomp on, LoL). Itβs CERTAINLY no βJawsβ. Itβs not even a βDeep Blue Seaβ. But itβs mildly entertaining nonetheless.
For the full review, please check out One Mann's Movies on https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/09/06/one-manns-movies-film-review-crawl-2019/
Itβs certainly not for the faint-hearted in its gore. It delivers a lot of chomping, with the action getting progressively more ludicrous, reminiscent of the βflesh-woundβ scene in βMonty Python and the Holy Grailβ!. Some jump scares work well. But I canβ t say its a great film, because itβs really not. In the hands of a Spielberg, this might have really had legs (β¦to chomp on, LoL). Itβs CERTAINLY no βJawsβ. Itβs not even a βDeep Blue Seaβ. But itβs mildly entertaining nonetheless.
For the full review, please check out One Mann's Movies on https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/09/06/one-manns-movies-film-review-crawl-2019/
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Hollow Man (2000) in Movies
Aug 3, 2020
Dated
Back when this was originally released, I recall it being quite gory and having some pretty impressive special effects. However I'm afraid to say it's now looking very dated.
You can tell without a doubt when this film was made. It's got a cliched and predictable story line with lots of ridiculous and obvious actions from characters that are really rather dull. The most irritating one is by far the most overused in most horror films - oh he's dead but we won't check... 5 minutes later, he's alive & still trying to kill me! Urgh. So cheesy and there is a lot like this in here that really made me cringe. Especially the pretty poor dialogue and misogynistic Kevin Bacon. The effects whilst good at the time now seem a little dodgy and outdated which is a shame but it's made more obvious by the fact that everything is CGI.
Overall it's not a great film and I've seen much better films based on the idea of the invisible man, but it's probably not the worst film you'll ever see.
You can tell without a doubt when this film was made. It's got a cliched and predictable story line with lots of ridiculous and obvious actions from characters that are really rather dull. The most irritating one is by far the most overused in most horror films - oh he's dead but we won't check... 5 minutes later, he's alive & still trying to kill me! Urgh. So cheesy and there is a lot like this in here that really made me cringe. Especially the pretty poor dialogue and misogynistic Kevin Bacon. The effects whilst good at the time now seem a little dodgy and outdated which is a shame but it's made more obvious by the fact that everything is CGI.
Overall it's not a great film and I've seen much better films based on the idea of the invisible man, but it's probably not the worst film you'll ever see.
Home At Last
4.0
Rate It
Book
This is my command-be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God...
Kevin Phillipson (10072 KP) rated Indiana jones and the dial of destiny (2023) in Movies
Jun 30, 2023
Harrison ford (1 more)
Phobe waller-bridge
Start off by saying this is better indiana jones film than kingdom of crystal skull said it I would say 4th best indie film of the 5 with last crusade being the best if this the last one then it out on high there's plenty from the start showing a younger indiana jones doing what he does best defeating nazis In search of the mcguffin of the title and then we see older at the end of his career u know the rest its a fun movie with plenty of good action scenes not forgetting the new casting of phobe waller-bridge as his sidekick have to admit she's rather good some point gonna have to watch flea bag and then there's mads mikkelsen as the villian of the movie and does it so well as only mads can overall u see it definitely.
My top five indie films
1 last crusade
2 raiders of the lost ark
3 Temple of doom
4 dial of destiny
5 kingdom of crystal skull
My top five indie films
1 last crusade
2 raiders of the lost ark
3 Temple of doom
4 dial of destiny
5 kingdom of crystal skull
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Crazier Eights: Camelot in Tabletop Games
Dec 23, 2020
DISCLAIMER: We have previously reviewed Crazier Eights: Olympus and Crazier Eights: Pantheon, and this preview has much of the same verbiage as the family of games share most things. Near the end of the preview are my thoughts about the differences in Camelot vs Olympus and Pantheon.
War. Old Maid. Go Fish. Crazy Eights. These are classic card games we probably all grew up playing. There have been many re-themes and new difficulty layers spread upon them to make them even more interesting. While UNO certainly has cornered the market on the Crazy Eights base, we have a new contender: Crazier Eights. Recoculous has published several versions of this card game with different themes: Avalon, One Thousand & One Nights, Olympus, and Shahrzad. Today we are taking a preview of Crazier Eights: Camelot.
You HAVE played Crazy Eights right? The card game where you attempt to be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but you can only play down if you can match the suit or number on top of the discard pile? And if you canβt, you throw down an 8 as a wild and call the color to be played next? Well there you have the easy rules. Crazier Eights: Camelot (which I will from here call C8C) holds basically the same rule-set with a few new mechanics and a theme. The win condition is still the same: be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but to win you will need to play your hand strategically against your opponents.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, shuffle the large deck of cards and place the deck in the middle of the table. Flip the top card to begin the discard pile and dictate the first card play. Deal each player seven cards and you are ready to begin!
The turn structure is familiar: check for any βstart of turnβ effects and apply them, draw a card, play and/or discard a card, then resolve any βend of turnβ effects. The deck is comprised of Events and Assets in different colors (suits) and numbers like in a typical deck of playing cards. After checking and resolving start of turn effects on Asset cards in your personal tableau, you must draw a card from the deck. This is where C8C strays from OG Crazy Eights a bit. You may play a card from your hand (Assets and Events) and discard a card to the discard pile (matching the suit/number/or an Eight), or simply play a card from your hand without discarding. Cards played from your hand can be Event cards that are played, resolved, and then discarded to the bottom of the discard pile, or an Asset card that is played to your tableau that cause chain reactions or other abilities on future turns. Next, resolve any end of turn effects from Assets in your tableau before the next player begins their turn.
Play continues in this fashion until one player has rid themselves of their hand and is crowned the Master of the Camelot! Or at least, the winner of the game.
Components. This game is a box full of cards. The cards are good. The layout makes sense, and the art on the faces of the cards remind me of very classic art depicting ancient Arthurian scenes. I am no art historian, so I do not know if they are existing art pieces or new ones crafted for this game, but either way, they are a joy to behold⦠if you can spend the time appreciating the art instead of tracking what cards you need to play and what effects you can chain together (that was me). Extra points to the Recoculous team for associating symbols with the different suit colors for our colorblind friends. This is something that unfortunately goes unaddressed far too often.
This implementation is the third Crazier Eights we have had the chance to try, and I can say that we really enjoyed our plays of it (we played Olympus first and recently also reviewed Pantheon). The game comes with many interesting and varied effects to craft an ingenious strategy, and the art is stellar. Beware of playing with AP-prone gamers, as there is a lot going on and it is more than just a skinned Crazy Eights.
This Camelot set is slightly different than our previous experiences with both Olympus and Pantheon in a few ways. Firstly, it is more of a base game deck like Olympus instead of a standalone/expansion like Pantheon. Secondly, this set seems to use more cards that affect the assets of other players, specifically in destroying them. Additionally, I have noticed a few cards in the deck that specifically say if certain criteria are met one player automatically wins or loses the game. Thatβs it. Done-zo. Maybe I missed these cards in the other sets, but I do not remember them ever surfacing. Having each set focus on different aspects of the game and the manipulation of the rules ever so slightly to affect a playerβs strategy from one set to the next is quite enchanting to me. Could you put all the sets together to make a massive meta-deck a la Munchkin with all the sets and expansions? Probably, but like Munchkin, I probably would rather keep them separate.
Now having played this family of games several times, I can say that it is my favorite Crazy Eights derivative and certainly worthy of a look. If your game collection is sorely lacking in Arthurian-themed card games, or if you want a hybrid game of old school rules with interesting twists, then do consider purchasing this or one of its predecessors.
PS β Donβt worry if, while you are playing, you have all your Assets stolen or destroyed. I have won the game with zero Assets in front of me while opponents have had eight, ironically. Assets are great, but you still need to shed your hand.
War. Old Maid. Go Fish. Crazy Eights. These are classic card games we probably all grew up playing. There have been many re-themes and new difficulty layers spread upon them to make them even more interesting. While UNO certainly has cornered the market on the Crazy Eights base, we have a new contender: Crazier Eights. Recoculous has published several versions of this card game with different themes: Avalon, One Thousand & One Nights, Olympus, and Shahrzad. Today we are taking a preview of Crazier Eights: Camelot.
You HAVE played Crazy Eights right? The card game where you attempt to be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but you can only play down if you can match the suit or number on top of the discard pile? And if you canβt, you throw down an 8 as a wild and call the color to be played next? Well there you have the easy rules. Crazier Eights: Camelot (which I will from here call C8C) holds basically the same rule-set with a few new mechanics and a theme. The win condition is still the same: be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but to win you will need to play your hand strategically against your opponents.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, shuffle the large deck of cards and place the deck in the middle of the table. Flip the top card to begin the discard pile and dictate the first card play. Deal each player seven cards and you are ready to begin!
The turn structure is familiar: check for any βstart of turnβ effects and apply them, draw a card, play and/or discard a card, then resolve any βend of turnβ effects. The deck is comprised of Events and Assets in different colors (suits) and numbers like in a typical deck of playing cards. After checking and resolving start of turn effects on Asset cards in your personal tableau, you must draw a card from the deck. This is where C8C strays from OG Crazy Eights a bit. You may play a card from your hand (Assets and Events) and discard a card to the discard pile (matching the suit/number/or an Eight), or simply play a card from your hand without discarding. Cards played from your hand can be Event cards that are played, resolved, and then discarded to the bottom of the discard pile, or an Asset card that is played to your tableau that cause chain reactions or other abilities on future turns. Next, resolve any end of turn effects from Assets in your tableau before the next player begins their turn.
Play continues in this fashion until one player has rid themselves of their hand and is crowned the Master of the Camelot! Or at least, the winner of the game.
Components. This game is a box full of cards. The cards are good. The layout makes sense, and the art on the faces of the cards remind me of very classic art depicting ancient Arthurian scenes. I am no art historian, so I do not know if they are existing art pieces or new ones crafted for this game, but either way, they are a joy to behold⦠if you can spend the time appreciating the art instead of tracking what cards you need to play and what effects you can chain together (that was me). Extra points to the Recoculous team for associating symbols with the different suit colors for our colorblind friends. This is something that unfortunately goes unaddressed far too often.
This implementation is the third Crazier Eights we have had the chance to try, and I can say that we really enjoyed our plays of it (we played Olympus first and recently also reviewed Pantheon). The game comes with many interesting and varied effects to craft an ingenious strategy, and the art is stellar. Beware of playing with AP-prone gamers, as there is a lot going on and it is more than just a skinned Crazy Eights.
This Camelot set is slightly different than our previous experiences with both Olympus and Pantheon in a few ways. Firstly, it is more of a base game deck like Olympus instead of a standalone/expansion like Pantheon. Secondly, this set seems to use more cards that affect the assets of other players, specifically in destroying them. Additionally, I have noticed a few cards in the deck that specifically say if certain criteria are met one player automatically wins or loses the game. Thatβs it. Done-zo. Maybe I missed these cards in the other sets, but I do not remember them ever surfacing. Having each set focus on different aspects of the game and the manipulation of the rules ever so slightly to affect a playerβs strategy from one set to the next is quite enchanting to me. Could you put all the sets together to make a massive meta-deck a la Munchkin with all the sets and expansions? Probably, but like Munchkin, I probably would rather keep them separate.
Now having played this family of games several times, I can say that it is my favorite Crazy Eights derivative and certainly worthy of a look. If your game collection is sorely lacking in Arthurian-themed card games, or if you want a hybrid game of old school rules with interesting twists, then do consider purchasing this or one of its predecessors.
PS β Donβt worry if, while you are playing, you have all your Assets stolen or destroyed. I have won the game with zero Assets in front of me while opponents have had eight, ironically. Assets are great, but you still need to shed your hand.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) in Books
Apr 1, 2019
The Winter of the Witch is the conclusion to the Winternight trilogy that began with The Bear and The Nightingale (enjoyable, but a little overhyped) and continued in The Girl in the Tower (fantastic). And ooooohhh what a conclusion it is! Vasya truly comes into her own in this book, dealing with the Russian fae with a confidence and conviction she didn't quite have before. The war between the twin brother spirits - the Bear and the Winter King - comes to a head, with Vasya in the middle. While that war is heating up, so is the war between the Tatars and the Russians, with its climax in a version of the real-world Battle of Kulikovo.
The whole of Vasya's family history is finally revealed, which has surprises of its own. Previously unknown family members appear, and Vasya is no longer as alone in her powers as she thought she was.
It can be very hard to review books in a series - especially concluding books - without spoiling things, so I'll just say this was an epic conclusion to the trilogy and was just as enchanting as the other books. I cried at more than one point in this book, because Vasya's heartbreak is so poignant. Gorgeous book. Beautiful use of Russian mythology. This entire trilogy is just brilliant.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
The whole of Vasya's family history is finally revealed, which has surprises of its own. Previously unknown family members appear, and Vasya is no longer as alone in her powers as she thought she was.
It can be very hard to review books in a series - especially concluding books - without spoiling things, so I'll just say this was an epic conclusion to the trilogy and was just as enchanting as the other books. I cried at more than one point in this book, because Vasya's heartbreak is so poignant. Gorgeous book. Beautiful use of Russian mythology. This entire trilogy is just brilliant.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Secretary (2002) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020
Flubs the ending, but otherwise faultless. I think this is less about portraying kink as a symptom like every damn movie about kinks/fetishes seems to think they mean; and more about two people who probably weren't very healthy to begin with - and finding outlets for their other unconventional desires outside of their traumas/predispositions. In layman's terms, they can be atypical *and* kinky while the film is able to mostly divorce the two - and intersect them only as needed. Unlike the (rightfully) unfavorably compared ππͺπ§π΅πΊ ππ©π’π₯π¦π΄ films, this has the awareness to recognize that there can be a link between abuse and kink - but it isn't always the case, and when it is it doesn't always have to sum up the whole. And even then I'm not sure this movie is all that interested in fully glamorizing these people or its relationship anyhow. Spader and Gyllenhaal are otherworldy, I'd be willing to say this might be each of their finest performances respectively. Strings you along scene by scene through an unrelenting mix of sexual tension and scandalous agitation that escalates from the first nanosecond until its perfection sadly unravels in the final fifteen minutes - which aren't exactly awful, just inferior and pretty much kill the momentum/direction this was leaning towards beforehand. Apart from that, downright electric.