
Procol Harum: The Ghosts of a Whiter Shade of Pale
Book
Formed in the 1960s, 'Prog Rock' British group Procol Harum are best known for their multi million...

Black Notes From the Deep by Courtney Pine
Album Watch
Black Notes From The Deep includes four tracks featuring another British music icon of equal repute,...
jazz

Music of the Spheres by Coldplay
Album
Music of the Spheres (subtitled Vol I. From Earth with Love) is the ninth studio album by British...

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) in Movies
May 12, 2021
This tension has caused Zeke to be shot in the line of duty when fellow officers refused to respond to his calls for backup which even further inflamed a tense situation and made Zeke a Lone Wolf who is hesitant to work with others and has cost him his marriage.
Unfortunately for Zeke; a grisly murder happens and he is assigned a new partner named William Schenk (Max Minghella); to investigate what appears to be a copycat of the long-dead Jigsaw.
The fact that the victim is a fellow cop inflames the office and when Zeke is sent a package from the killer which promises more killings to follow as the corruption within his department needs to be stopped.
As the victims begin to mount; Zeke and William find themselves in a race against time to discover the identity of the killer and stop the killings.
“Spiral: From The Book Of SAW”; is an interesting new entry into the franchise and in keeping with “Jigsaw:’ was more engaging than several of the last films in the main franchise as it gives audiences deeper characters and scenarios than normally shown in the series.
While the traps are as clever and gruesome as fans of the series would expect; the decision to target cops is an interesting choice and in many ways reflects the growing cries for reforming the Police but does it in an extreme way and balances out that there are good cops in the mix who serve and protect.
Chris Rock also served as a Producer was good in the role and it was refreshing to see him play a darker and more dramatic character. While he still has moments of clever riffs; they are appropriately placed within the film and do not take away from the fact that Zeke is a troubled and driven individual.
The supporting cast is solid and while I was able to identify the individual behind the killings fairly early; there were enough Red Herrings along the way that may keep audiences guessing.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman who directed the second to the fourth film in the series has made a solid return to the franchise and keeps the dark and dirty look of the film’s trap sequences and while they are gory; there is a cleverness to them that should delight fans of the series.
In the end “Spiral” has enough of what fans of the franchise expect and infuses some interesting new characters and scenarios to make one of the more complete and enjoyable entries in the series.

Learn To Play Guitar Solos
Music and Education
App
Learn how to play guitar solos with this selection of 176 easy to follow tutorial lessons. ...

Reckless Heart by Joanne Shaw Taylor
Album Watch
Having famous fans such as Joe Bonnamassaand Glen Hughes and being described by Jools Holland as a...

Almost Interesting
Book
A hilarious and biting memoir from the actor, comedian and Saturday Night Live alumni David Spade. ...

Rock Paper Scissors
Book
Soon to be a Netflix series from the producer of The Crown The phenomenal new thriller from the...

Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Nobody's Fool (2018) in Movies
Feb 9, 2020 (Updated Feb 9, 2020)
I know that Tyler Perry is revolutionary and whatever, but the more of his movies you watch, the more it's just blatantly obvious how much they are all the same. I love that he writes and produces and directs, I think that's great, but when all his characters are the same, especially his women, it just gets tiresome. This idea that Missi Pyle's character is supposed to be this hardworking, self-made, independent woman who does everything a man does when she's trying to decide between Charlie and Frank, it just felt fake, and it made her so unlikeable and unrelatable. I don't know a single woman who would play those men the way that she did. And Amber Riley's character? She was a horrible friend. If I saw my friend acting the way Danica was, I would tell her to get it together and stop being so rude to Frank.
I think the best performance in this movie was Mechad Brooks - I think he was funny and his jokes landed. But other than that, it was just bad. That cameo from Chris Rock too? Unnecessary. The plot was just incoherent, the acting was bad, the character development was bad, it was all bad.

Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism
Book
When the 2016 Oscar acting nominations all went to whites for the second consecutive year,...