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Jarvis Cocker recommended Basement Five by Basement Five in Music (curated)

 
Basement Five by Basement Five
Basement Five by Basement Five
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"That was from John Peel, where I discovered load of music when I was younger. It was a free album given away with their first album. I remember John Peel didn't really play the proper album, he just played the dub version. I had taped most of the tracks off the radio but I didn't have a copy, and ended up finding it at a market about ten years ago. To me that's like Thatcher Music - it came out about the time that Thatcher came to power and in some ways you can hear that, it's got this cold harshness, like its anticipating the shit that's going to go down, especially the track called 'Paranoia Claustrophobia', it's great but it's pretty dark. I got told off for playing that. In the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher dying you weren't supposed to mention her. I was doing the show at the time, I thought it was a big event and didn't really like the fact that we weren't allowed to mention it. Tony Benn had died a few months earlier and as soon as that happened everyone was going 'loony left' and stuff like that, nobody seemed to take much care about whether they were going to upset his family, but as soon as Margaret Thatcher died it was 'oh don't speak ill of her, have some respect'. So you weren't allowed to play records that referenced her and you weren't supposed to mention her, but I played that Basement Five and said something like 'music from the Thatcher era' and ten minutes later somebody came down and said 'don't say things like that'. Tory governments are always going on about how the BBC is a hotbed of socialism but I got told off for that so I don't think there's much truth in it."

Source
  
Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Children of a Lesser God (1986)
1986 | Drama, Musical, Romance
Unfortunately doesn't come out entirely unscathed from stage to screen, a touch too long and a touch too slow for this to be consistently potent - and some segments are a bit too writerly even for me as well as the occasional Broadway banality here and there that sort of brings this to a lull in the middle. But all the same, this is surprisingly complex and fragile filmmaking on the subject for 1986. On a technical note the music and visuals are hushed rhapsody together, and I particularly admire how there's an expressive intimacy in the conversations Hurt has with deaf characters whereas there's this palpably cold distance in the ones he has with hearing ones - an aspect that seems almost intrinsic. And on that note I also have to appreciate how it confronts Hurt's fixer mentality *as well as* Matlin's resistant anger rather than making the deaf character ultimately bend to the will of the 'virtuous helper' 'for their own good'. William Hurt is sensational, and Marlee Matlin is in one of the top-tier greatest performances of the 80s - the fact that they self-gratifyingly gave her their pity award and then immediately refused to cast her in much else is evidence #18,000 on why the Oscars are rancid bullshit. On top of all of that it's packed with awesome scenes and it's just a damn good romance... though if I have one more quibble: do the hearing characters really need to repeat aloud every fucking thing the deaf characters sign to them to absolutely no one at all but themselves like they're talking to a toddler? This really couldn't have been subtitled? But I digress, I still cried multiple times so we aight.
  
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
1994 | Horror, Mystery
Off the bat, New Nightmare is a veritable treat for fans of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Six films deep, the cold hard fact is that this series had become so far removed from what it once was, for better or for worse, and this 7th entry into the franchise provided the shake up so sorely needed. It's meta as hell, taking place in the "real world" where ANOES is just a movie. It's a fun slasher that sees the beloved series bleeding over into reality, when an evil entity begins to terrorize the actual Heather Langenkamp, posing as the ever popular Freddy Krueger.
This whole premise is just great. The dialogue can be a bit on the nose sometimes, but it's honestly forgivable, considering that Wes Craven was trying to out-Scream himself before Scream even existed. Craven himself appears alongside the likes of Robert Englund and producer Rob Shaye as themselves. Krueger himself is thankfully a scary bastard once again. This version doesn't have time for quips or shenanigans, instead opting for general terrorising and murder (a particular highlight riffs on the infamous ceiling kill from the original, but adds to it in the best way) and is probably the scariest version of Freddy since the first two movies.
The plot is clever in its way that it connects back to the original 84 story, and deserves all the credit for having the balls to take the series in a new direction. It deserves bonus points for the commitment to using practical effects

New Nightmare is a wonderful example of what a somewhat stale series should do next, and further cements just how important Wes Craven was to the genre. It's an ambitious sequel that earns it status as a fan favourite.
  
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Merissa (11612 KP) rated Patch Up (Patch Up #1) in Books

Apr 10, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)  
Patch Up (Patch Up #1)
Patch Up (Patch Up #1)
Stephanie Witter | 2013 | Contemporary, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I will start with the only slight negative which is purely my personal opinion before gushing about the rest so consider this fair warning.

I understand the need for well-placed adjectives and how important a role they play - however, saying that I felt that certain adjectives were overused in this book. For example, 'frizzy' hair, 'strong' forearm, 'thin' fingers. I actually lost count of how many times these adjectives were used to describe the same part of anatomy over and over again. Like I said though, this is my personal opinion and is the only negative I could think of!

As for the rest of the story - I LOVED IT! This is not an easy read, in fact, it is quite harrowing in places. It will, however, grip you and draw you in as Skye fights to regain her life. You will cheer for every step she takes forward and commiserate with her as setbacks happen. Duke is the one who first tries to break through the wall that she has built around herself. Duke is not a hero, in fact, he is more of an anti-hero. He is just as broken as Skye but manages to hide it and deals with it in a different way. Neither of these characters is perfect and they both push each other away and hurt each other with their words. Trust me though, you will be rooting with everything you've got that these two will make it and survive. There is no insta-love in this book, not a single drop. That is just part of what makes it such a good read. It builds up slowly and is not the main focus at all. Life is messy, complicated and at times incredibly painful, even with the one you want to be with. This book describes all that with such clarity it is incredibly easy to lose yourself in it. The supporting characters are in no way lacking either. They support, comfort and emphasise the story in all the right places, doing their job perfectly. I understand that Derek and Kate have their own story coming too which I am looking forward to.

So in a nutshell, be prepared to be blown away by this novel. It will upset you, make you smile, give you warm fuzzies and cold chills. So much more than what I was expecting and I will definitely be reading Fix Up, the continuation of Duke and Skye's story, as soon as I possibly can.
 
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
July 30, 2016
  
The Mercy (2018)
The Mercy (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama
“With shroud, and mast, and pennon fair”.
It’s 1968. Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle“; “Magic in the Moonlight“), an amateur sailor and entrepreneur based in Teignmouth, Devon, is inspired by listening to single-handed round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester and does a a crazy thing. He puts his business, his family’s house and his own life on the line by entering the Sunday Times single-handed round-the-world yacht race. It’s not even as if he has a boat built yet!

Lending him the money, under onerous terms, are local businessman Mr Best (Ken Stott, “The Hobbit“) and local newspaper editor Rodney Hallworth (David Thewlis, “Wonder Woman“, “The Theory of Everything“). With the race deadline upon him, Crowhurst is pressed into sailing away from his beloved wife Clare (Rachel Weisz, “Denial“, “The Lobster“) and young family in a trimaran that is well below par.
But what happens next is so ludicrous that it makes a mockery of whoever wrote this ridiculous work of fiction. Ah… but wait a minute… it’s a true story!

It is in fact such an astonishing story that this is a film that is easy to spoil in a review, a fact that seems to have passed many newspaper reviewers by (Arrrggghhh!!). So I will leave much comment to a “spoiler section” that follows the trailer (which is also best avoided). This is honestly a film worth seeing cold. What can I say that is spoiler-free then?

Firth and Weisz make a well-matched couple, and the rest of the cast is peppered with well-known faces from British film and (particularly) TV: Andrew Buchan and Jonathan Bailey (from “Broadchurch”); Mark Gatiss (“Sherlock”, “Out Kind of Traitor“); Adrian Schiller (“Victoria”; “Beauty and the Beast“).

The first part of the film is well executed and excellent value for older viewers. 60’s Devon is warm, bucolic and nostalgic. In fact, the film beautifully creates the late 60’s of my childhood, from the boxy hardwood furniture of the Crowhurst’s house to the Meccano set opened at Christmas time.

Once afloat though, the film is less successful at getting its sea-legs. The story is riveting, but quite a number of the scenes raise more questions than they answer. As stress takes hold it is perhaps not surprising that there are a few fantastical flights of movie fancy. But some specific elements in Scott Burns’ script don’t quite gel: a brass clock overboard is a case in point. What? Why?
And it seems to be light on the fallout from the race: there is a weighty scene in the trailer between Best and Hallworth that (unless I dozed off!) I don’t think appeared in the final cut, and I think was needed.
All in all, I was left feeling mildly dissatisfied: a potentially good film by “Theory of Everything” director James Marsh that rather goes off the rails in the final stretch.

This was a time where morality and honour were often rigidly adhered to – British “stiff upper lip” and all that – and seemed to carry a lot more weight than they do today. So some of the decisions in the film might mystify younger viewers. But for the packed older audience in my showing (Cineworld: this needs to be put on in a bigger screen!) then it was a gripping, stressful, but far from flawless watch.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to the film’s composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who shockingly died last week at the ridiculously young age of 48. His strange and atmospheric music for films including “The Theory of Everything“, “Sicario” and (particularly) “Arrival” set him on the path to be a film composing great of the future. Like James Horner, another awful and untimely loss to the film music industry.
  
A cold case comes to live with the discovery of a new body, a new murder, and multiple new connections. A two-year-old child is found standing in the middle of the street. A mysterious man in ragged clothing appears in a little girls closet completely out of nowhere. A woman disappears from her basement without having left her house. With the help of the rest of the experts in the Philadelphia Police Department, Detectives Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne unravel a chilling series of dream-like murders.

The Stolen Ones is book 7 of a series of detective novels. At the time of request, I was unaware of this fact, and I hoped that I would not be confused because I hadn’t read the others. I’m happy to say that I had no trouble at all getting lost in this story. I am totally in love with Kevin Byrne and his snarky Irish attitude, and Jessica’s tough-girl-who-is-here-to-kick-ass mentality.

The story was incredibly complex, and a few times I found myself stopping and saying “wait, what? I’m confused.” I had to check to make sure I hadn’t skipped a track in the audiobook. I hadn’t, all was well… there were just some jarring sections that I think were hard to interpret because it was audio instead of printed. however all things considered it wasn’t enough to negatively affect the story.

The performance by William Hope was very good. I liked his voices and interpretations of the characters a lot, especially Kevin Byrne. He has done quite a few audiobooks, and his experience is obvious; he reads with a good authority, pace, and energy.

There were some gruesome details of violence so it is not for the faint of heart or stomach. It was enough to shock me, but it wasn’t anything I would regret listening to. I’d definitely recommend it to ages 18+ who are into the crime thriller genre.
  
Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park
Katherine Faulkner | 2021 | Contemporary, Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This seemed to be the book that everyone was reading a few weeks ago, and just as I was building myself up to preorder it, it popped up on The Pigeonhole - and I’m so glad that it did.
This has some of my favourite ingredients in a thriller:
đź“šUnlikeable characters
📚I’m not quite sure what’s going on
📚Characters who who don’t know what’s going on either
📚Multiple (3) viewpoints, including one that’s decidedly dodgy
đź“šA big secret that the reader can see coming - but what is it?!
đź“šA heart stopping moment of revelation!!
I felt sorry for Helen - she has a high risk pregnancy, is stuck at home on a building site, and makes friends with a woman (Rachel) who won’t leave her alone! Rachel befriends Helen at her antenatal class, when Helen’s brother Rory, and his wife Serena fail to turn up. Rachel is pregnant, yet drinks, smokes, drinks caffeine and eats all the food you’re told not to eat. Helen is very insecure, lacks in self-confidence and can’t tell Rachel that she doesn’t want to see her.

In fact as the story progresses, Helen’s fears and confusion are really well described. I could feel the dreamlike quality of Helen’s consciousness towards the middle and end of the book - she became more confused.

On the other hand, her brother Rory and his wife Serena, who are also expecting their first baby, seem very laid back. Helen reads far more into the friendship with Serena than Serena does. Serena is dismissive and quite cold.

I didn’t see the end coming, and I loved the slow burn leading up to the big reveal. It gave me enough time to properly despise a number of the characters, realise that Helen’s friend KAte was one of the best people in this circle, and that money can’t always buy you what you want.

This is a book that deserved the hype - it’s well worth a read!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and to Bloomsbury/ Raven Books
  
Shadow Sands (Kate Marshall #2)
Shadow Sands (Kate Marshall #2)
Robert Bryndza | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I stupidly thought that you wouldn't be able to better or even come close to be as good as the first in this series "Nine Elms", which was one of my all time top reads, but I was so wrong ... Mr Bryndza has written another doozy of a book that I absolutely gobbled up. You don't have to have read the first story as this works as a stand alone BUT you really should!

Once again, I was totally engrossed from the first to the last word and became totally invested in the strong characters and their stories. The pace felt spot on for me and the tension, particularly when the story is being told from the victim's side, was spine-tinglingly good. Similarly, when the story is told from the killer's point of view, there were times when I got shivers up my neck he was so cold and matter-of-fact about the terror he was inflicting on a fellow human being - it was perfect.

As I've said, the characters are strong. The relationship between Kate and Tristan feels natural and genuine and I really feel for them as they go through their own struggles as if they were real people such is the strength of how they have been developed by the author. I thought it was genius to have Peter Conway (from Nine Elms) make an appearance and I hope we get to "see" more of him in subsequent books.

Mr Bryndza says "there are lots more books to come, and I hope you stay with me for the ride!" ... well, I certainly will and can't wait for the next instalment.

Highly recommended for readers who love dark, exciting, suspense-filled stories that despite making you feel ill at ease at times, you read on into the night.

I am so grateful to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for providing my advance copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
  
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018) in Movies

Jun 29, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018)
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Musical
Be still my beating vagina indeed... I think that every time I see Andy Garcia, and this time was no exception. But no more of that or I'll start drooling on the keyboard.

One thing that made me click with the movie is that we all know a Harry, Bill and Sam in their younger forms. In fact it gave me a few little traumatising flashbacks, but luckily I was soon moved on by the singing.

I'm very pleased that Pierce's singing was hidden within group pieces or as mildly rhythmic speaking. Pierce, I love you, but no! The singing is amazing throughout and listening to Cher, well, wonderful. The songs were all lovely, toe tapping and smile inducing. If nothing else, then this movie is just a brilliant chance for some karaoke.

I think that my favourite thing is Christine Baranski and Julie Walters together. They're just perfect, and how I see myself being in the future... hell, I'm almost there right now.

For a moment I really wanted to give this five stars as it was immensely enjoyable but the flaws just leave me cold on that last star. Howard Stark feels to me like the weakest out of the cast, I wasn't overly keen on him in the first one either. At several times in the movie I felt like I was watching people standing in front of a green screen, I don't know if they were or if it was just the way it was shot, but it certainly felt distracting. Lastly, if you turned the singing and dancing back into normal dialogue scenes I don't feel like you're left with much of a film, the story is just padded out with what everyone is there to see.

But like I say, it's a good watch. It is emotional and it does instil you with a warm feeling. At one point I thought I was going to actually audibly cry. There are definitely enough good moments in it to make it a must watch.
  
Shadow of Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery #14)
Shadow of Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery #14)
Lauren Carr | 2022 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Are you looking for some fun cold cases to solve? Maybe even a bit of mystery to solve with a twist. Lauren Carr's latest book "Shadow of Murder" does just that. We get a prologue full of mystery and murder. You will be wondering how a gunman kills an entire family. Is it real, or is it not. You will have to read or listen to find out for yourself.

This book had me going and wondering who would kill a whole family, including a law officer. There are a few main characters. We meet two of them right at the beginning of the story. Erica and Dusty.

I love the fact that mysteries are going on throughout the book. I enjoy that Erica and her friends seem to need to help the new local deputy chief. David gets some time with his wife and newborn. I recall David meeting a woman and a little boy I thought was introduced to him as his son?

Mac is pulled into a Chao once he returns from Europe with Archie. His son Tristain brings to life the disappearance of a missing person, a woman named Konnor Langston. Why did she disappear? It goes on from there. There are many mysteries and curses and stories of witches as the book goes on. I wonder who killed Erica's parents and why? Who taking advance of Larry? Why were Erica Hart's parents killed, and will Erica get justice for her childhood friend Konnor?

If you are looking for a good versus evil? This book has it. Once a dark shadow tries to harm Erica. Dusty seems to fall for a bird guiding him to help Erica. Will Erica and Dusty get together? There may be some romance for more than just two folks in the book. How will Dusty's father-law decide to find some love as well? There seems to be the talk of angels and demons? They're a bit supernatural in this book; that is a nice change to the story.