Search

Search only in certain items:

The Flight Attendant
The Flight Attendant
Chris Bohjalian | 2018 | Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cassie Bowden is a flight attendant who works international flights out of JFK airport in New York City. On a flight to Dubai, Cassie meets, Alex Sokolov, a finance guy who is in town on business. They decide to have dinner after they are both settled in the city and that leads to much more. Cassie ends up spending the night with Alex, there's only one problem. She wakes up in the morning and he does not. Laying in a pool of his blood, Cassie doesn't know whether she is responsible or not. She is known for her drunken escapades, but has never encountered anything like this. Instead of telling anyone, she returns to the U.S. She will grapple back and forth with herself, her friends, family, attorney, and FBI about what really happened that night in Dubai and who is Alex Sokolov.

I have loved Chris Bohjalian's books from the first one I read, Midwives.

There was a time in my life when I wanted to be a flight attendant. I'm not sure what happened that I didn't go through with it. I would have loved to travel the world seeing different places no matter how briefly. Although I here the flight attendant life isn't as glamorous as it may seem.

This book really grabbed me from the start. Cassie liked to get drunk and make bad decisions. This time she thought she found a nice guy, but who would want him dead. The FBI thinks she may have been in on it, but she's nothing but a flight attendant, not a spy. Will she continue her wild behavior, or will this incident be a wake up call for her?

Travel with Cassie all over the world as she tries to figure out her life and where it all went wrong. Will she make it out of this situation or will she spend the rest of her life somewhere she doesn't belong?
  
Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (2020)
Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (2020)
2020 | Documentary
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Danny Trejo is a man with the most terrifying voice I've ever heard, but after watching this, I just really really really want to be his friend.
I remember being completely drawn in by his silent character in Desperado, and then shortly after, recognising him in From Dusk Till Dawn. He's a guy who always manages to cut an intriguing and intimidating figure whatever movie he has been in.
His backstory has become just as famous, his incarceration at San Quentin in particular being pretty common knowledge.
This documentary really dives into his life story, starting with his childhood years, through his time in multie prisons, and then through his acting career and life as a changed man, and a genuinely good person. Watching Trejo speak about his life is just wonderful. The details he recalls are hugely interesting and the way he speaks about everyone he has come across through his life is respectful. He acknowledges that his life these days is a good one, and he can look back on his tougher years and find the humour in some of the shit that he endured.

All of the guests on this documentary, from fellow actors like Donal Logue and Michelle Rodriguez, to director Robert Rodriguez, to fellow inmates, to family members, all speak of him with a lot of warmth.
While Inmate #1 (a reference to some of his early acting credits) does indeed chronicle all of his misdemeanors, his difficult upbringing, his criminal life, it also shines a light on all of the good he has done since leaving prison in 1969. The amount of work he has done for his community is tremendous, and he still gives talks and lectures today, trying to help people who need it. It's an important balance in the way the narrative is told and reveals Trejo to be a pretty down to earth guy.

Its a super interesting story that's worth checking out. Long Live Dany Trejo.
  
40x40

Kyera (8 KP) rated Noteworthy in Books

Feb 1, 2018  
Noteworthy
Noteworthy
Riley Redgate | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Note Worthy reminds me of Twelfth Night, She's the Man, or even Mulan - where a girl masquerades as a guy for whatever purpose and ends up in over her head. Jordan wants to be in theatre, but as an Alto 2 she is hard-pressed to even find a find tailored to her range. All she wants is to pursue her dreams. Feeling down, she notices an audition for a tenor in an all-male A Capella group and takes a chance. Dressed as Julian and sporting a short wig, she impresses the Sharpshooters enough to claim the open spot and suddenly everything changes. She actually had this small, musically-inclined family to belong to. A place at Kensington - as long as nobody realizes that she is a girl.

Pretty quickly, it looks like one of the guys might be a future love interest for Jordan, not Julian as in all likelihood the group will eventually discover her secret. I expected that they would be hurt at first, but eventually forgive her after all they've been through together. Most of my expectations came to pass, although there were slight deviations. Overall, there weren't really any big surprises or reveals in the book.

The characters are so wonderfully well written and realistic. You watch them grow, learn about themselves and find yourself grinning like an idiot when Trav does (because that boy seriously needed it). You cheer for their wins and want to personally beat up those who wrong them. You've become an honorary Sharp and these guys are your family just like they are for Jordan.

Highly recommended contemporary novel about growing up, learning about yourself, making friends and the secrets you keep. And most importantly? Music. Great read for teen/young adult readers with a small amount of profanity.
  
40x40

Alex Wolff recommended Ordinary People (1980) in Movies (curated)

 
Ordinary People (1980)
Ordinary People (1980)
1980 | Drama

"Those performances. Timothy Hutton’s performance in that is probably the most directly inspiring to me, and that’s a young guy at the top of his game, emotionally raw, and brings everything that a young actor could want in a performance. I feel that that film is the most heart-wrenching and true portrait of a family maybe I’ve ever seen. To describe it well would reveal too much. That’s what’s brilliant about it. Everyone should watch it and watch Mary Tyler Moore with Timothy Hutton and Judd Hirsch. I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe that movie. It seems like such a simple concept, and yet Robert Redford kills it. The scene that always gets me, hits me so hard, is a small scene that not many people would say they love. Most say the big breakdown scene with Judd Hirsh. For me, it’s the scene where Timothy Hutton has been going to Judd Hirsch for a little bit, and he’s opening up. It’s such a journey of what it means to be vulnerable and the importance of vulnerability in your own family, especially after trauma. My character in The Cat and the Moon is very much inspired by Timothy Hutton’s character in Ordinary People. His journey of being so closed off and edgy to cracking open into this well of unmined emotion. Particularly the scene where he and Donald Sutherland, who’s amazing as well, are decorating the tree — ugh, the Christmas tree. It’s such a sweet scene. Mary Tyler Moore comes home, and she’s got this cold, dark look on her face. I’ll never get over her facial expressions in that movie. What she’s thinking versus what she’s putting on the surface is the most genius magic trick. It’s the most exhilarating thing ever. That movie is the best."

Source
  
Peppermint (2018)
Peppermint (2018)
2018 | Action, Drama, Thriller
You've seen it all before
I hate to sound like a broken record here, but these movies are all starting to run together for me.

 The premise, innocent woman has her family gunned down in front of her eyes. She goes off the grid for several years and then returns to track down and administer her own form of private justice in her complete transformation into a hardened killer. Along the way she encounters the usual sympathetic cop, dirty cop, innocent bystanders and becomes a social media sensation.

It is all too familiar like the recent Death Wish and Equalizer remakes it feels like this story has been told too many times recently and better than this one. The characters (especially the villains) are so generic and unmemorable they just blend into the background.

These "take the law into your own hands" films really have to go above and beyond to deliver something unique for me to be memorable since they are so formula these days and this one definitely did not.

I did enjoy watching Jennifer Garner kick some bad guy ass, but even that was done better in the recent Atomic Blonde.

Overall, meh.

  
Show all 4 comments.
40x40

ClareR (5869 KP) Apr 15, 2019

@Kevin Phillipson I’m in the U.K. - it’s free on Amazon Prime at the moment if you have it!

40x40

Kevin Phillipson (10072 KP) Apr 15, 2019

Okay thanks

40x40

Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated Big bang theory season 11 in TV

Dec 3, 2019 (Updated Dec 4, 2019)  
Big bang theory season 11
Big bang theory season 11
2017 | Comedy
3
7.8 (37 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Nerdy Jokes (0 more)
Annoying Characters (0 more)
Why Don't I Like This?
I want so much to like this, it's perfect for me: supreamly nerdy. There are so many references to sci-fi things, science, and all things geek, but sadly, it is not enough to draw me in.
The characters are (to me) very one dimensional, predictable, and just plain annoying.
Add that to the later seasons, where, like all programs that has passed it's expectation date, it just starts to go down hill.
America has a bad tradition of drawing out it's TV for far to long. At an average of 20 episodes a season, and usually 6+ seasons, programs go stale, get repetitive, loose the elements that made them good, or just forget to follow through with plots and character arcs. Lost. The Simpsons. Family Guy. 24. NCIS. How I Met Your Mother. Vitualy any program suffers at least a little in the later seasons, hopefully it recovers for the final, but not always. And while many will disagree, I just felt it was lacklustre to the end.
I know lots of people love it, and I by no means hate it, it's just not for me, despite trying and wanting to like it.
Like bananas.