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Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
1971 | Classics, Drama
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"It’s probably not cool to admit you don’t quite get a cult movie. But it’s probably better than trying to act cool by pretending you really dig a movie that you don’t fully understand. There are several other films on the Criterion label that I could expound on sincerely and endlessly: Life of Brian, Robocop, Straw Dogs, Hard Boiled, and The Red Shoes, for example. Instead, for the eleventh movie in my top ten, I would like to include a film that has become something of an intangible Magic Eye picture for me: Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop. There is no movie that I have watched more often in an attempt to unpeel and unravel it. I have seen the film many times, first on Alex Cox’s BBC2 series Moviedrome, once at the theater, and many times in this very Criterion edition. Hell, I even visited some of the locations on a Route 66 trip. Still, I’ll admit that the movie is an endearing puzzle for me. I may not be the right age or nationality to fully crack the enigma of this movie, but the fact that I haven’t stopped trying in twenty-three years has to stand for something. Ryan O’Neal’s character from The Driver and Kowalski from Vanishing Point I feel I can race alongside, but James Taylor and Dennis Wilson always seem way ahead of me, their Chevy a mirage in a heat haze. But the fact that I’m talking about it now and waxing lyrical over it means that it has got under my skin in a way that other movies haven’t. And I will continue to pursue this film, even if I never quite catch up."

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From the Double Gone Chapel by Two Lone Swordsmen
From the Double Gone Chapel by Two Lone Swordsmen
2004 | Electronic, Pop
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This was the basis for the baseline in Sleaford Mods, fucking great stuff. Stuff like 'The Lurch'. They did a cover of the Gun Club's 'Sex Beat', that's great. Most of Weatherall's work is bass heavy, it's solo stuff. Wrong Meeting, the album that came after this, that's bass-led. There's a rockabilly feel to it. But with From The Double Gone Chapel it's 80s synths, bass, car alarms. The inner sleeve, which is just a coffee stain and a packet of Marlboro Lights next to it, that really influenced me. Same with Mike Skinner's sleeve where he's just sat in his flat with a pint, it's just fucking brilliant. That's how it is, he's not pretending to be anything. Those things merge, all of it is a big melting pot. I think I've hit it good with the albums that I have chosen for you as far as my contribution to Sleaford Mods. I mean, Andrew, whatever he makes, I go with. Initially, when we started doing Wank, the album before Austerity Dogs, I would have said to Andrew that I want a big heavy bass and I want a dusty Wu Tang thing. He took that on board and made it his own, then he would bring these slices of music to me and I thought the sound wasn't something I'd really go for, but it was quite good. I don't tell him anything any more, he just gets on with it. This the band I've been trying so hard to get into. I think we've been very lucky, regardless of the hard work and the shit me and Andrew went through, it was luck as well. I feel quite grateful that it happened to us."

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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Sep 18, 2020  
Where are my dog fans? Check out this super sweet interview with Ava, the Labrador Retriever from A DOG'S DAY SERIES by Catherine Stier - Author on my blog. Read about the first two books in the series, and enter this awesome giveaway to win a hardcover copy of I Am Jax, Protector of the Ranch (Book 1), hardcover copy of I Am Ava, Seeker in the Snow (Book 2), a $15 gift card to The Twig Book Shop, a stuffed animal - adorable “Ava” Lab dog toy, dog stickers, and dog socks.

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/09/book-blog-tour-dogs-day-series-by.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS FROM FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES**
Spend a day in the life of a livestock guardian dog! Jax the Great Pyrenees has a big job. After the Texas sun goes down, it's up to him and two other LGDs to protect their ranch from predators. But when the lead dog gets hurt, Jax and a young pup are the only ones left to protect the flock through the night. Told from the dog's perspective, this story also includes back matter about the breed and role of the working dog.

**BOOK SYNOPSIS FROM SECOND BOOK**
Spend a day in the life of an avalanche rescue dog! Ava is a chocolate Labrador retriever with a big job. She and her handler have trained for years to be ready to help people at their ski resort if an unexpected avalanche hits. But Ava quickly finds out there's much more to being an avy dog than daring rescues. Told from the dog's perspective, this riveting story also includes back matter about the breed and the role of the working dog.
     
Ghostbusters (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984)
1984 | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Great comedic writing from Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd (4 more)
Imaginative ghost designs
Great chemistry between the stars
That iconic theme song from Ray Parker Jr.
Mostly everything is explained through science
Some special effects haven't aged all that well (2 more)
Some younger viewers may be frightened by some imagery- parental discretion is advised
Some sexual references.
Ghostbusters is a comedy horror film from 1984 directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis who also star in the film. The film follows three ex-university professors as they go into business to catch ghosts. This was Ghost Hunters before it was cool. One of their first clients, Dana Barrett played by Sigourney Weaver, hires Dr. Peter Venkman, played by Bill Murray, to investigate a haunting in her apartment. The chemistry between Murray and Weaver here is great. Murray is clearly a womanizer and wants nothing more than to go out with Weaver. Weaver plays hard to get of course. The monster designs are very imaginative for the time, some of them being a little bit creepy. When the movie uses practical effects, it looks really good. But when it instead goes for other special effects, it really breaks the illusion that these monsters are real. You can really see it with the demon dogs if you know what to look for. There is one scene in which Dana Barrett is possessed by the demon known as Zuul where she tries to seduce Peter Venkman, but it never goes anywhere. There's another scene where a demon hand comes out of a lounge chair that Dana is sitting in. And it literally cops a feel. No joke. Go watch that scene. It really looks like Dana is getting molested there. I don't know why that is in there but there it is. Be warned. Some scenes may frighten younger children. Parents be advised. But nonetheless, Ghostbusters is still a classic to watch during Halloween. Cause I ain't afraid of no ghost.
  
When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain
When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain
Giles Milton | 2018 | History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Book Review by Cari Mayhew.

If only all events in history could be taught this way! This is his hands down one of the most entertaining history books you’ll ever read! The book is composed of 50 chapters depicting from lesser known points in history. The stories are dramatic, compelling, and often shocking. There are tales of heroism, injustice, conspiracy and cannibalism.

Each chapter is it's own little, well written, real-life story. And each is rounded off with a profound sentence or two to summarise. I gained an appreciation of the role of pigeons and dogs in the war, I learned why the Dodo bird became extinct, and I discovered that it’s possible to survive 2 nuclear bombs.

Normally with non-fiction book with so many isolated sections, I'd be tempted to skip sections, but that was not the case this time - I enjoyed every single one! I’ve noticed there are more books in the series, and I intend to read them all!

The best way to convey how well written the stories are, is to leave you with an excerpt:
“There was a sickening crunch and a violent jerk. The right wing of the plane was ripped off by the mountain peak and flung backwards into the rear of the fuselage. The plane, wildly out of control, smashed into a second peak, which tore off the left wing.

Inside the cabin, the terrified passengers expected the shattered plane to plunge them to their deaths. But the plane’s crash-landing miraculously spared some of those on board. The fuselage hit a snow-covered mountain slope and slid downwards before coming to a halt in a deep drift.
As a wall of silence descended over the wreckage, the injured and groaning survivors came to their senses. They were lost in the wilds of the High Andes. But they were alive!”

For more of my reviews, check out www.bookblogbycari.com
  
Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens
Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens
1970 | Folk, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The thing about Cat Stevens is I probably prefer Mona Bone Jakon as far as the songs and production goes, it's a little bit starker, a little rawer than the other ones, but the reason I picked Tea For The Tillerman was because of the song 'Father And Son'. It's not my favourite Cat Stevens song at all but it was written for a musical that was never made called Revolutia, a blended word of 'revolution' and 'Russia'. The song sort of doesn't make sense - why is this one guy singing both of these characters? It's Cat Stevens singing the high voice and the low voice - and you wondered, god, this guy was probably at the height of his worldwide fame and he's obviously a master craftsman, he can crank out the songs but why couldn't he get this musical made? Or maybe he didn't want to - it seems like he wanted to and it just never happened. Then he was like, oh, just put it out on the next album. And I think there's a couple of other songs that seem like they could be from that same musical - 'But I Might Die Tonight' I think is kind of similar. All these albums that I really love from the 70s and late 60s - David Bowie's Diamond Dogs or The Kinks' Arthur, and they are songs from musicals basically, but it doesn't make sense there's this one guy singing it. Maybe it's ego or something, but that's why I picked that album. I looked up on Wikipedia what the reviewers thought of the album and I think the Rolling Stone guy talked about "Cat Stevens' occasional overuse of dynamics", which was the thing we were trying to do with Break Line, make things dynamic - start small and get big, and it's just so funny that at that time a reviewer would be like, "I'm sick of all these dynamics - I want more compression!"

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The Last Thing She Said is filled with more then one mystery. Chris is the main one that needs to find answers for a dying friend. But what if that friend ends up being a famous author that wants to give her children the legacy that she left behind?

Well the way this plot goes. Chris and his mother do not know anything or seem to know that they are were friends to someone that was to be kidnapped and dead. When your mother last friend is leaves a letter to your son and ask you find out who murder her first husband George? The plot start to get thick and hot again.

This brings in the Geezer Squad to open up the cold case of a century. The author seem to bring in Mac and his wife which help a bit. If you meet the mayor you should not be surprised that their going to be a case that brings laughter between the two dogs.

Their seems that theirs is murder that needs solving that happens to be bring in two murders and a kidnapping. Who killed Lacy Woodhouse? Who would want George Livingston dead? Why extort money from Horace Billingely?

Laura Carr doe not disappoint. She gives us more then one mystery to dig into. How they all be connected and be related to the kidnapping and murder of George Livingston? To find out all this you will have to read The Last Thing she said. There is not one why to find one answers to why Mercedes Livingston? What ever happened to her? Their seems to be mystery until Chris gets and autographed book.

This author does her book brilliantly that I can not wait for the next one. This author adds her other mystery characters in seemly and they seem to help if they can. This time Mac get pulled in a bit. Will his wife be able to help with Chris cold case?
  
MO
My One and Only
2
6.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved Kristin Higgins' last release, All I Ever Wanted. I loved that it was a good romance with good characters and no explicit sex scenes. I loved the dogs. I loved the quirks. I loved the family, I loved everything about it. I was psyched to get her new release.

Sadly, it was a huge disappointment.

There were a few things that stacked against her in the beginning and I figured they would be made up for later, but it didn't improve. First, the characters.

I didn't like the main character, Harper. She was pessimistic, nosey, had no filter from her brain to her mouth, and her view of marriage was slightly offensive to me (only because I'm a Christian and a romantic. Don't mess with me.). I figured by halfway through the story maybe she'd see things the way they were, or that at least someone would hit her over the head and tell her to get a grip, but nobody did. I didn't like her interior monologue either. She didn't swear, but she had a few expletives that were... raunchy. I don't mind the "d" word too much. But supplementing the word "Crotch" or other phrases of similar nature just doesn't sit well with me.

And her boyfriend had the mentality of a sixth grader. Not joking. We'll leave it at that. Moving on!

Then there was her Ex. He was hot stuff, and I could see how the two of them could make it work (their personalities played off each other) but I just didn't like him. He was totally ignorant of the mistakes he'd made, at the halfway through point where we finally learn the back-story of her and him I seriously wanted to beat him over the head with a baseball bat--or a Bible--and give him a lecture about what marriage meant because the guy didn't get it. I didn't want the two to get back together, because it would be a recipe for disaster all over again. By the looks of it, neither of them had learned from their mistakes!

Second, I knew what was going to happen. She broke up with her boyfriend, she was going to fall for Nick again, and they were going to get married. Again. And because I didn't give a rat's poo about the characters, I didn't really care what happened to them.

Third, there were editorial mistakes. Now I know it's rude to point those out because when you read something dozens of times, you miss stuff like that. I understand that. I'm a writer. But I'm also a Professional Writing major and an editor, and I proofread stuff and I write promotional material and I edit things. It's what I do. It's my job. When I read a published book and I find things like "/= in the middle of the paragraph, or a grammatical error that is definitely not dialect or part of the character's personality, it makes me angry.

Fourth: I don't remember Kristin Higgins being a poor writer, but this book was poorly written and full of fragments. Sentences go like this: Subject, Verb, Direct Object. Or, Actor, Action, Description. Rearranging this causes passive voice, which is never fun to read, even though it does raise the word count. Ellipses should be used sparingly. Two or three per book: not per page or per paragraph.

And, no offense, but the dog was retarded. I know I shouldn't complain about the dog because now I'm just being whiney. But really? Maybe I'm biased about dogs, but I can't stand anything that bounces when it barks, even when it is in a book.

So those are five reasons why I stopped halfway through the book. This one is going to PBS. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to read Kristin's books. I've got a few more of hers that I hope will be as great as All I Ever Wanted, but this book was not her best work.

Recommended: Ages 18+ (Please note I don't know what sort of content was in the second half of the book.)
  
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
2019 | Action, Crime, Thriller
Dantes Inferno
#johnwick3 is an adrenalin shot to the #heart, delivering on almost all of its promises to be bigger, better & smarter than its previous instalments. #johnwick films have always risen above the generic & mundane action films we get bombarded with nowadays as they seem to understand what makes action thrilling as well as learning from the best action #classics of the past & #johnwick3parabellum is no exception to this either. JW3 (like John Wick the character himself) shows just how much its evolved, learnt new skills & matured as a film realising that action its self is too an art form just as graceful, elegant & smooth flowing as a #ballet. In fact the comparison to ballet, #dance & #theatre is present during most #action scenes making them a beautifully choreographed, atmospheric & visually stunning display of bullet barrages & swooping movement. Comparisons dont end there either i was thrilled to see John compared to #Dante (from #DantesInferno) & there are countless scenes inspired by or paying homage to old #westerns, #90s action films, #Korean #revenge films & old #kungfu/#Japanese mob films which was #respectful & added to the films #charm too. World building is expanded on more in this one also as are some characters stories & I absolutely #loved seeing John evolve & learn from each fight to help him progress/gain an edge over his opponents. #Fights are thrilling, wincingly #violent & so exhilarating that I once again found my #heart racing with highlights being a #knife in an old shop & gunfight involving attack #dogs which was incredibly fresh & intense. Cinematography is ravishing always especially when smoke, #neon & rain is being pumped out all across the screen with #electrifying & mood drenching effect. Sadly I do have some negatives, I found the last act shoddy compared to the intelligence, thrill & beauty of the first two. In this act an odd #humour creeps in that felt a bit off, #action feels subpar compared to what we've just already seen, the ending a little silly & i also found the main #villain under used & under developed. That being said its still a fantastically made, must see showstopper thats learnt from the best. #keanureeves #matrix
  
Toy Story (1995)
Toy Story (1995)
1995 | Animation, Comedy, Family
Classic
Toy Story's magic amazingly manages to hold decades after its 1995 release. Woody (Tom Hanks), a toy cowboy, is used to being king of the roost in owner Andy's home. When a shiny new toy shows up by the name of Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Buzz and Woody have to figure out a way to coexist in Andy's room.

While the movie largely revolves around the big characters of Buzz and Woody, Toy Story would be nothing without the rest of its fun and lovable crew. My personal favorite was Rex (Wallace Shawn) a T-Rex scared of disappointing any and everyone. His numerous moments of distress keep the comedy level ramped up. He is the antithesis of a film that stresses living in the now as he is always worried about what's going to happen next.

It's an adventure that takes you all over the place while breaking animation barriers in the process. You'll explore an exciting world through the eyes of tiny toys where everything is much bigger. From racing through Pizza Planet and escaping "The Claw" (Ohhhhhhh) to harrowing escapes from attack dogs and evil neighbor kids, you're never bored from one moment to the next. Seriously, what's not to like?

There are so many classic scenes, it's hard to keep track. One scene in particular saw Woody trying to communicate with the other toys from neighbor Sid's window. He's trying to prove that Buzz is still alive but only has Buzz's arm. All hell breaks loose when the other toys realize the truth. The scene is less than two minutes, but easily one of the most memorable.

I saw this film for the first time when I was eleven and the message was lost on me then. Years later, it's staring me dead in the face: It's about not trying to be something you aren't but rather focusing on being the best YOU you can be. It's a magical film that takes us back to a time before video games were everything. The first of one of the best trilogies ever done, I give it a solid 98.