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The Outsiders
The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton | 1988 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.7 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
A great read about a kid in Oklahoma who is just trying to understand life. Written in 1967 it follows Ponyboy, yes that's his real name, his two brothers, and thier 'gang' of greasers as they try to navigate a world where they are labeled little better than hoods and have to avoid getting jumped by the socs from the rich side of town.
It's a coming of age story that I have mixed feelings about waiting so long to have read. It talks about class structure and how the way you present yourself to the world isn't always a reflection of self.

There is a lot of heavy stuff in it that translates well even decades later. And yeah, there will be people who say there's a little more than friendship between a few of the characters and whether or not that's true is up to the reader.

The book is told by a 14 year olds pov. An old (kind of) soul. But even if he thinks he's in the know he's still 14.
There is triggering things with violence, abuse, alcohol, and smoking, it's worth the discussion (in my opinion).
  
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien | 1954 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.5 (64 Ratings)
Book Rating
Tolkein created a complete detailed universe complete with its own mythology and lore (2 more)
Varied and rounded characters
Epic journey of good verses evil and the grey areas in between
You will become obsessed...it is difficult not to fall in love with the world and it's characters (0 more)
Masterpiece
There is little I can say that has not already been said about The Lord of the Rings. It is an epic story of friendship, love, betrayal, war and essentially a coming of age journey. Middle earth and all its inhabitants come alive in your hands...you are transported to a world in chaos, a world of change where nothing is certain. Battle with dwarfs and elves, fight along side men who are impossibly brave and flawed and cry as the tiniest of people carry the biggest of burdens.
This book and the subsequent movies based on the world have been well quoted and are almost inbedded in British culture.
I envy those who haven't read them yet..you have a fantastic journey ahead. It will not be easy (this is not light reading) but it will be more than worth it. Enjoy, and give the elves my love.
  
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure
Return of the most of the Raimi villains! (3 more)
Willem Dafoe steals every scene he's in, as usual!
Interesting story
Fixes alot of the problems I had with Tom Holland's Spider Man
They did it! Finally made 3 awesome consecutive Spider Man movies!
Contains spoilers, click to show
Was worried this movie's hype train would be it's demise. Wrong. They somehow managed to fix all 3 Spider Man franchises in one movie . I was super excited to see the return of Tobey and Andrew, although I do wish they would've been able to keep it a surprise. Unfortunately, that has proven time and time again to be very difficult to do in this day and age. I don't hold that against them. It was still a very awesome aspect of the movie. Most of the Raimi villains' actors seemed to slip right back into character, even after all these years. It was quite a ride from start to finish. While the ending was a bit expected, I can't imagine any other ending working, and I didn't see all aspects of it coming 100%. Do yourself a favor and see this movie!
  
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Jon Watts recommended Leolo (1992) in Movies (curated)

 
Leolo (1992)
Leolo (1992)
1992 | International, Comedy, Drama
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This is a really obscure one, but there’s a really weird French-Canadian movie called Leolo. Roger Ebert loved it. He gave it a four-star review when it came out. The filmmaker, Jean-Claude Lauzon… He made two movies and then he died. It’s a really tragic story. It’s this surreal, messed-up story about a kid whose family is going insane, and so he comes up with these fantastical stories to escape from his world. I saw that movie when I was in high school, and it just made such an impression on me because of the way it balanced humor and absurdity, and surrealism, and then just tragedy. It’s great. I should probably see it again. I haven’t seen it in a couple of years, so I want to make sure it still stands up. That movie is another very particularly strange coming-of-age movie that will always be a reference for me."

Source
  
The World's End (2013)
The World's End (2013)
2013 | Comedy, Sci-Fi
8
7.4 (27 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Predictably smart and funny comedy-SF movie from the makers of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; five old friends come back together on an ill-conceived pub crawl and find that revisiting past mistakes is less important than dealing with the alien forces apparently at work in their old home town.

The director claims this is SF in the British tradition of John Wyndham; to me it looks much more like an update (not quite a spoof) of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, set somewhere in the Home Counties. Terrific cast, some very good jokes; also some rather impressive action sequences. Not quite in the same vein as Shaun of the Dead, as this movie has some quite dark emotional threads running through it, with themes of regret and guilt and coming to terms with getting older.

I have to say that while I loved this film, I am of the same generation as the main characters and can fully sympathise with their various situations; younger people of my acquaintance couldn't quite see the point of the film. Almost certainly an age thing - whether your response to the track listing of the soundtrack is 'Wow, non-stop classics!' or 'Eww, dad rock' (or even 'Never heard of any of this') will probably be a good indicator as to whether you'll like the actual movie or not.