Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (3021)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Melanie Caldicott (6 KP) rated The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in Books

Apr 29, 2021  
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Aimee Bender | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved the concept of this books and as soon as I heard about it I was intrigued and wanted to read it. I read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in a couple of days, which with 3 children rarely happens, so I continued to find it intriguing and compelling throughout.

However, I found the narrative elusive and shadowy which was often frustrating. Whilst I understand that Bender was creating a narrative largely written from the perspective of a child, from whom many things were hidden and secret, I still found that as a reader you were constantly trying to grasp what she was describing and failing. I found this made the book less plausible and destroyed the intrigue turning it into annoying gameplay.

I have read other novels with narratives from the perspective of a child such as The Earth Hums in B Flat, The Book Thief, Mister Pip, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Room etc and found these all to be written far more skillfully than Bender manages here. It is an art to realistically write through the eyes of a child but reveal things to an adult reader through the child's naive perspective of the world. If this is failed to be achieved it can leave the reader feeling frustrated and disillusioned through being led on a journey that is over-constructed and inauthentic.
  
40x40

Hazel (2934 KP) rated Buried For Good in Books

May 30, 2021  
Buried For Good
Buried For Good
Alex Coombs | 2021 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Once again, a treat is in store with another thrilling read starring Hanlon where nothing is straight forward or easy.

This is the third instalment in the series where Hanlon is now a Private Investigator - I have to admit that I haven't read the previous two but have read the first four in the series when Hanlon was a serving Police Officer. I don't think you have to have read the first two in this particular series but I would definitely recommend reading at least the very first novel (The Stolen Child) where Hanlon is introduced and you get a real sense of who she is.

What we have here is another fast paced and enthralling read with twists and turns aplenty and a fare smattering of red herrings that keep you guessing to the end. Alex Coombs is able to put you right in the middle of the story with his excellent descriptions of the various locations and he creates interesting and compelling characters that have you hooked and reading way too late into the night.

An excellent addition to anyone's book shelf or eLibrary and I would definitely recommend any of Alex Coombs' books.

Many thanks go to Boldwood Books via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
40x40

Phillip Youmans recommended There Will Be Blood (2007) in Movies (curated)

 
There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
2007 | Drama
8.4 (12 Ratings)
Movie Favorite Watch

"Next up is There Will Be Blood. I gotta say, Paul Thomas Anderson might be the best working director alive. There Will Be Blood was such an interesting balance of showing why Daniel Plainview prospered in the oil rush of California. But it also shows how he’s essentially decrepit as a human being. He’s almost rotting away. He’s losing sight of his own humanity. It’s about dehumanization. Even outside of how gorgeous it looks, especially when the fire ignites the oil derrick and then the camera is rushing in. It’s a low angle tracking shot following Plainview as he’s rushing toward the fire. The colors in that scene are literally just dumbfounding. But the biggest thing is performance, performance, performance, performance, performance! Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing, and Paul Dano as the pastor is freaking insane. Insane! And his dynamic with Daniel Plainview is some of the most compelling s–t I’ve seen on film. The fact that Plainview views Paul Dano’s character as a necessary mechanism to control the people in the town, but he doesn’t give him any bit of respect; Plainview doesn’t believe a lick of what Dano is saying in those church services. But he feels it’s important for the people in the town that are working day in and day out for him to believe it. It’s such an interesting dynamic."

Source
  
40x40

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Gentlemen Broncos (2009) in Movies

Jul 4, 2021  
Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
2009 | Adventure, Comedy
7
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
I get a lot of the disdain but honestly, this is pretty much the exact natural evolution of 𝘕𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦 - for better and for worse. Am I proving the (brilliant) point of this film - portraying the intrinsic merits of an original idea over that same idea bastardized by greedy agencies and/or people who claim to be supportive while in the same breath spitefully swearing 'their version' is inherently better - in suggesting that if Hess would have restrained his weird Hess-isms just a smidge, that this downright compelling premise would have built up a bit more crucial meat which would have made this the great film it deserves to be? Then again, if that were the case this would have also missed out on its deliriously kooky atmosphere which provides such unforgettable nuance. I don't get much out of the main characters here but the supporting ones are next-level delish - Sam Rockwell and Jemaine Clement are fully game for this ravishing surrealism and it shows. Has some funny fuckin' moments but - as with most of the director's work - I admit that it strains from time to time. It also happens to be both gorgeous design-fetishism *and* has a dope soundtrack - Jared Hess is essentially Wes Anderson if he was obsessed with gradeschool potty humor.