Ecstasy
Book
In the glittering hotbed of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Vienna, one woman’s life would define...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Slumber Party Massacre (2021) in Movies
Mar 22, 2022
Unfortunately, a lot of this falls apart in the final third. The film makes a shift into full blown, serious slasher territory, and flat out abandons a lot of what made the first hour so entertaining. The smart characters start making dumb decisions, and the narrative plays out in a way that leaves a slightly sour taste in the mouth. It ultimately leads to an underwhelming ending, which is a shame considering how genuinely decent it started out.
However, Slumber Party Massacre is a pretty good time overall, and is a slasher that can stand proudly side by side with the original.
The Vow
Book
In a stunning work of feminist historical fiction for readers who loved Dawn Tripp’s Georgia and...
Women in Art Historical Fiction Art History Biographical Fiction
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Divine Order (2017) in Movies
Mar 10, 2018 (Updated Mar 10, 2018)
A solidly scripted and involving film; not too heavy or worthy, it finds time for plenty of lighter moments along the way, though the mood is generally as serious as you might expect. Slightly manipulative, but then that's always the case with this type of film - there is a welcome degree of subtlety, compared to some (one of the leading opponents of women's suffrage is female, for instance). Sofia Helin gets a brilliant cameo as a visiting advocate of 'Yoni Power' (google it if you don't know; I'm not going there in a film review). The version we saw was let down by some inept subtitling but this is still an engaging and well-made drama, not just historical agitprop.
Edwards basically writes some (I believe) far fetched memoir but mingles it with self help bullshit that has been regurgitated from other peoples ideas. I am confused by the author's objectives. Whilst I appreciate any woman who is a good and opinionated feminist, I feel that Edward's 'Sisterhood' is cringey. The writer comes across as middle class and perhaps would have benefited from excluding her middle class status to seem less arrogant to working class readers.
I learned of a technique for essay writing in college (PEE) Point, Evidence and Evaluation. This is a formula that Edwards uses throughout her book and it makes the flow very artificial instead of conversational.
On the plus side, it was her first novel, and she managed to write it and publish it. It just wasn't for me.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Greed (2019) in Movies
Feb 24, 2020
A friend initially demurred from seeing Greed, suggesting that he didn't need to see a movie to know how screwed up capitalism is - but I dragged him along anyway and we both enjoyed it. Mainly this is because it has a strong cast and a good script, although Steve Coogan is doing one of his comic grotesques and David Mitchell is basically just playing his usual comic persona under a different name. The shift from comedy to darker and more serious material as the film goes on is well handled, although you could argue the film is pushing it by attempting to be anti-capitalist, pro-feminist and pro-refugee all at the same time. Manages to be crowd-pleasing entertainment while scoring some serious points about the nature of the world in which we live. It may not teach you anything new, but it will probably make you care more about things you already know.
Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life
Book
"I was wowed and moved." (Tracy Chevalier). Anne Bronte is the forgotten Bronte sister, overshadowed...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Book
Few could have predicted the enduring affection inspired by Joss Whedon's television series Buffy...
Shared Lives of Humans and Animals: Animal Agency in the Global North
Taina Syrjamaa and Tuomas Rasanen
Book
Animals are conscious beings that form their own perspective regarding the lifeworlds in which they...
The Al-Baqara Crescendo: Understanding the Qur'an's Style, Narrative Structure, and Running Themes
Book
Recent manuscript evidence from al-Jami' al-Kabir in ?an 'a' suggests that the Qur'an took its final...