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The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3)
The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3)
Jasmine Guillory | 2019 | Contemporary, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A hate to love romance that's heavy on the hate
Maddie and Theo are both close with Alexa. Maddie's her best friend and Theo is her best work bud. But they hate each other, ever since a terrible interaction that left them both offended. But when the two meet again at Theo's birthday party, they somehow wind up kissing and feel an undeniable spark. And with Alexa getting married--and Maddie and Theo the two main members of her bridal party--they are stuck together for awhile. So they agree to hook up (and hook up only) for the duration of the wedding preparations. No falling in love allowed. Right?

So this was a cute and fun entry in the series, per usual, but I did not care for Maddie and Theo as much as some of the other couples. There was not as strong as a supporting cast, either, though Alexa had some good moments. I think I cared for Maddie and Theo as individuals, ironically, but together, they just didn't get me as romantically invested. For one thing, Maddie and Theo were mean to each other! Really mean. This was haters to lovers with a lot of hate, like cringe-worthy hate, at times, and I didn't find that funny or sexy. So between the copious amounts of mean, plus secret romance hidden from your *best friend*--I was a little tense. I needed more happy go lucky romance!

Overall, this was a light and fluffy romance, but I had a hard time always rooting for the couple, and sometimes Maddie and Theo just didn't seem right for each other. I was mostly smiling by the end, but I didn't always enjoy the ride. 3 stars.
  
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John Krasinski recommended The Verdict (1982) in Movies (curated)

 
The Verdict (1982)
The Verdict (1982)
1982 | Drama

"I think it’s probably one of the most inspirational movies for me because of Paul Newman‘s performance. I think that is, to me, some of the best, [most] controlled acting in a movie. I think that he has this incredible likability. Even though he’s a drunk, washed-up lawyer, you’re still rooting for him from the very beginning. I’m that sort of weird guy who will watch a movie almost every day if I can. It’s harder when you’re working on the show. I buy a lot of movies on used DVD so I can have certain scenes. I was really looking for things to inspire me. When I got out of college I was waiting tables professionally [and] couldn’t afford to go the theater [every] night. I think those great movies can actually make you feel a certain way. Not only emotionally, but if you’re in this business, it’s one of those things where you see someone do something that good and it buys you a year of energy. That’s what I was really looking for. It sounds so cliché,[but I wanted] to bask in the glow some of these amazing performances, like [those of] Dustin Hoffman and Marlon Brando. But it was also fun. To get back to what I was saying before, that 1970s raw energy, it’s almost frustrating now that people aren’t making more movies like that because people won’t go see them. Even Away We Go is, in a way, a tribute to the 1970s movies, too, but more of the Hal Ashby thing. Again, I don’t think people are making movies like this, so for Sam to do it is incredibly cool. And the fact that my name’s on the poster is totally surreal."

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Cypher (The Dragon's Bidding #2)
Cypher (The Dragon's Bidding #2)
Christina Westcott | 2016 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
read book 1 first!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in The Dragon’s Bidding series, and it cannot be read as a stand-alone. You NEED to read A Hero For an Empire before this one and I would recommend you read them back to back. It’s been 4 years since I read the first one, and I think that’s why I feel as I do about this one. I did not have time to reread book one before reading this one!

I found this a much more difficult read, to follow. It’s heavy on the technical stuff and at times I struggled to keep up.

It moves fast, and even though I had to slow down my reading (which is usually a good thing!) I still struggled a bit.

Fitz and Wolf’s relationship is intense in book one, and that flows over into this one. That fact, and the fact we meet Cypher here, are what made me able to finish this book.

Cypher takes over Wolf’s body, his muscles and his bones but not his mind. He can see what Cypher is doing and is helpless to stop it. He has to trust his love for Fitz, Ari and the others in his life will tide him through and THEY will get to the bottom of it all.

It is HEAVY on the fighting/violence scale. While I enjoyed that in book one, it was a not so much here.

Things are still not where Wolf, Fitz and Ari want them to be, and I expect it may take more than one more book to make it so.

I have Cypher’s book to read next, and given what happens here, I’m looking forward to that.

3 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Furious 7 (2015)
Furious 7 (2015)
2015 | Action, Mystery
5 years after Fast and Furious 6 and following on from Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift (F&F 3), Hobbs, Dom and his family find themselves under attack from a new enemy. Deckard Shaw, brother of Owen Shaw (from Fast and Furious 6) is out for revenge and Dom and co need to find him before he finds them, unfortunately the only way to do this is to is to rescue the inventor of a of top spy device.

Fast and Furious 7 takes the team into the realms of James Bond as they team up with a shadow ops team and, to match the ramped up story line the action is bigger with more guns, missiles and fist fights but less street racing.

Unlike most of the other films there is no set up for a sequel, due to the fact that Paul Walker, the actor who plays Brian O'Conner died during the making of it so the film end on a high note , giving Brian a good, Happy ending.

Even though we are now on the 7th film about car racing I can say that the franchise is still entertaining. Even though the same characters are in most of the films they manage to keep entertaining and don't feel like the same thing being done over and over, part of this is due to the increasingly over the top action and storylines and the fact that, at least some of the characters have growth through out the franchise.

Furious 7 is bigger and louder than the previous films, not only with the fights and chases but also with the stunts and still delivers what you would expect so if you liked the others then you can't go wrong with this.
  
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
1984 | Horror
80s horror is its own unique thing, and nothing quite encapsulates the era as well as A Nightmare On Elm Street. Another series that spawned a whole bunch of sequels, the original holds the crown, and still stands the test of time.
For one, iconic slasher villain Freddy Krueger is a scary motherfucker here. There are glimpses of the more comedic elements that would encompass his personality in later entries, but here, for the most part, he's a no nonsense, nasty SOB. Of course Robert Englund relishes in his role, and it's hard to see anyone else effectively filling his shoes.
Opposite Freddy is Nancy Thompson (a fantastic Heather Langenkamp), a well written and hugely likable final girl, a final girl who rivals Laurie Strode in the pantheon of horror protagonists.

The premise of ANOES is wonderfully simple. Don't fall asleep. This film scared the living shit out of me when I was a young teenager. Wes Craven was extremely successful in doing for sleep what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. As an adult, it's less scary sure, but still makes me feel uneasy. This is thanks to a wonderfully creepy score by Charles Bernstein, and the of course, the incredibly executed, and imaginative kill scenes. The gory moments are paced out nicely, and hit hard when they arrive. The first kill in particular is a solid all timer, and then the infamous scene where Johnny Depp meets his demise is so otherworldly. It really drives home the near impossible odds that the good guys are facing.

ANOES is obviously a genre classic, and I personally think it just gets better with age. One of the all time greats, from one of the all time greats.
  
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Gaz Coombes recommended track We Did It Again by Soft Machine in Vols. 1 & 2 by Soft Machine in Music (curated)

 
Vols. 1 & 2 by Soft Machine
Vols. 1 & 2 by Soft Machine
1989 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I can’t really remember when I first heard this song, it was probably on tour at some point with Supergrass, but I heard it again a year or so ago on the radio on 6 Music and I remembered what a cool song it was - ‘Oh fuck yes, I know that track, I’m going to listen to it again.’ I heard The Fire Engines on 6 Music recently, their song ‘Big Gold Dream’ and again I remember hearing that over the years and thinking ‘fuck, that’s really cool’, it really reminded me of early Supergrass as well and then you hear the new wave punk thing and all the bands that The Fire Engines must have inspired. “We Did It Again’ satisfies that whole kind of throwaway feel to a song. I love the beat of this and the pace of the track. It’s my kind of drumbeat as well, that motoring, 1974 German drumbeat. I’m not really a big Soft Machine fan to be honest, I haven’t got loads of their records, but I really like the vibe of this. “I think it’s inspiring in terms of way that it sounds and a repetitive lyric is always good, I always love a repetitive lyric. It’s the attitude of track, that’s another thing that jumps out at me when I hear something, the attitude. This is kind of irreverent and offhand and I like things when they’re throwaway. They’re not throwaway in the sense that they’ve not been worked on a lot, but this is a great one for me in that if you can deliver something that you’ve worked on and it’s finessed but it sounds a bit throwaway, I think that’s a great combo."

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Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus by Nick Cave / Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus by Nick Cave / Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2004 | Alternative
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I think one of the main reasons I picked Abattoir Blues and Lyre Of Orpheus was because, as a double album, you get more bang for your buck. Abattoir Blues has a more gospel feel to it, background vocals and big crescendos. Lyre Of Orpheus was generally a quieter record except for the title track, which is one of my favourites. I love the lyrics to that song. One awesome thing about Nick Cave is the darkness and the humour in his stuff. On Abattoir Blues, I love 'There She Goes, My Beautiful World', 'Hiding All Away' and 'Nature Boy'. Just good tunes man. At this point you can hear the Warren Ellis influence. I've always been a Nick Cave fan, since The Birthday Party. My roommate at the time, Charles Peterson [Sub Pop photographer], had a copy of Prayers On Fire and I've been listening to and following Nick Cave ever since then. First time I got to see him he didn't play Seattle, so me and my friends drove three hours north to Vancouver and that was on the First Born Is Dead tour. My favourite ever Nick Cave lyric was going way back to 'Deep In The Woods' [from Mutiny/The Bad Seed] - where it ends with the line, "Tonight we sleep in separate ditches"; that always cracks me up. 20,000 Days On Earth was the best music documentary I've ever seen. It didn't follow the normal " and then he did this and then he did that" of those Behind The Music narratives, it was a surreal and cool peak in to Cave's world. Something I learned about him that I didn't know already is that he likes to eat pizza in front of the TV!"

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Rocco and the Price of Lies
Rocco and the Price of Lies
Adrian Magson | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, this book follows Inspector Rocco in solving three murders of famous and powerful people, where forged paintings, theft and deceit are involved. I really liked multiple perspectives used in this novel, I like the ability to read the thoughts of not only the positive but negative characters as well. I liked Lucas Rocco as a lead character, I think he is an intelligent and good detective.

This book is set in France, and I really enjoyed reading about the French way of police work, it was quite new and refreshing for me. The beginning was a little slow for me, but later it picked up the pace, and all the turns and twists made this book more entertaining. Even though it is part of the series, I think this book can easily be read as a stand-alone, as a first-time reader, I was able to understand what was going on. I think the research for this novel was very well done, and I was able to learn a few new things as well.

I liked the writing style of this book, it was simple and easily understandable, but at the same time, I could feel the French atmosphere in every chapter. The chapters were pretty short, and this book didn’t leave me bored, the pages just flew by. I liked the ending of this book, I think it rounded the story well and left me satisfied with the outcome.

So, to conclude, it was a pleasant mystery book, filled with unique and amusing characters as well as a well-delivered plot. If you like French mystery books, I think you would enjoy this novel as well, if you are looking for something new (like I was), do give this book a go, and I hope you will like it as much as I did.
  
Follow the Snowflakes
Follow the Snowflakes
Angelina Kerner | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Previously I read some of the short romance books, and unfortunately, they kind of disappointed me, but I actually enjoyed this novella, maybe because I read it at the suitable time, or maybe because I could relate with some of the things which were mentioned in the book.

The blurb of this novella is pretty accurate, Cat accidentally meets a stranger in a car accident, and because she has a good heart, she helps him out. One thing leads to another and they spend more and more time together, but life throws in some pleasant surprises and twists for Cat. This is a sweet story, with pleasant characters and interesting twists. I enjoyed reading this novel because it was not too sweet, it had its edge in it, but at the same time, it was pleasant and romantic.

The author was born in Novosibirsk, Russian Siberia, and I did like the little details she proudly shared about her Russian heritage. Do not be fooled by the cover, even though this book is filled with pictures giving it a playful feel, it is a story for adults. I really liked the art at the end of the novel, and I think it is great if you have children, you can give it to them to colour in. Everybody wins!!!

The writing style of this novella is quite simple, with easy and understandable vocabulary. I liked the short chapters, it made this book really great one sitting read. The ending of this story rounded everything as I was suspecting, and for me, it didn’t leave any loose ends. So to conclude, it is a great read if you like Hallmark and looking for a quick, playful and Christmasy story which is pleasant, romantic and not over sweetened. Enjoy
  
Revenge (2018)
Revenge (2018)
2018 | Action, Thriller
I always feel a bit iffy about rape-revenge horror - it's a sub genre that at its best can be a satisfying and empowering thrill ride, and at it's worst, can come across as cheap exploitation. Revenge is luckily in the former camp.

Lead actress Matilda Lutz gives us a badass vengeance seeking protagonist for the ages, while the other three actors (it's a damn small cast) Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombes, and Guillaume Bouchède effectively provide the the absolute bastards we all want to see die so badly.

The locations and wide shots in Revenge look stunning by the way. In between all the nasty bits(which we'll get to), it's just a stunning and vibrant film to look at, with a lot of the horror elements taking place in blazing sunshine.
As for the aforementioned nasty bits - holy shit, this film is violent. By the time the credits roll, everyone and everywhere is just covered in blood. The practical effects used are pretty great, and looks believable, even if the sheer amount of viscera is absurd at times.
It provides us with some grisly set pieces that linger on the brain, in particular, a scene where a character has to un-impale herself from a tree - it's genuinely quite harrowing.
Also, maybe give this a pass if you're squeamish about foot stuff. I don't know about you, but I always found the foot abuse in Die Hard rather uncomfortable, and this makes that look like a children's cartoon at times.

Overall, Revenge is just a smack to the face. A fairly slow build, but high octane when it gets rolling, with good performances, plenty of blood, and enough jarring sound and camera edits to make you uncomfortable. Worth a watch for horror fans, without a doubt.