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The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window
A.J. Finn | 2018 | Thriller
10
8.0 (41 Ratings)
Book Rating
Did that really happen?
Dr. Anna Fox has been in her house for the past ten months. After an accident involving her husband, daughter and herself, she became agoraphobic. She now spends her days staring out of her windows, spying on her neighbors and keeping up with all the comings and goings of the neighborhood. When a new family moves in across the park from her, she is immediately drawn to the mother and the son, a single child family like her own. They come over to introduce themselves and she feels an instant connection. But then Anna thinks she sees a crime being committed at the neighbors house. Did she really see something or is the combination of medications and alcohol blurring the lines of reality and fantasy? Will the authorities believe her or will they believe the family and the rest of the neighborhood that Dr. Fox is just a crazy, drunk, cooped up lady.

So many people I know have read and enjoyed this book. I loved it, it was so hard to put down. I was totally shocked by the twists and turns that this book dished out.

At first I was rooting for Anna. This poor lady devastated by the accident and her family leaving her because of it. I wanted her to be able to leave her house and live her life and have the opportunity to be with her husband and daughter again. Instead, she spends her days chatting with other agoraphobes and providing council to them, playing chess online and drinking lots of red wine while watching old movies.

When Anna's secrets are revealed I'm not sure if I felt sorry for her or was upset with myself for being on her side. I think this is a book all thriller fans will enjoy. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.
  
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Lenard (726 KP) created a post

Jan 12, 2020  
Final Oscar Nomination Predictions
This has been a weird year where it seems like you cannot base the BP noms on an equitable studio split or traditional metrics. I do not think there will be 10 and there is a good chance that only 8 will get nominated again, but I have no idea which film will be snubbed so here are the predictions for 2020.

BEST PICTURE
1917 (Universal)
Ford v Ferrari (Fox)
The Irishman (Netflix)
Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
Joker (Warner Bros)
Little Women (Columbia)
Marriage Story (Netflix)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Columbia)
Parasite (Neon)

BEST DIRECTOR
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit

BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas, Pain & Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Taron Egerton, Rocketman
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

BEST ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Lupita Nyongo, Us (here is where preferential balloting is good)
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (His speech solidified his nom)
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell (my longshot, but ScarJo is not respected in Hollywood)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won, Parasite
Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
People talk about a lack of female direction nomination, but screenplay is just as void.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Joker
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
I wish there was room for Lorene Scafaria.
     
    Sequences with Ibbleobble

    Sequences with Ibbleobble

    Education, Games and Stickers

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    Sequences with Ibbleobble is fun educational math game suitable for children aged 5 - 8, perfect for...

Jennifer's Body (2009)
Jennifer's Body (2009)
2009 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
7
6.4 (17 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The best way to describe Jennifer's Body is that it's pretty middle of the road. Nothing spectacular, but still pretty entertaining, and a would-be standard demonic posession horror-comedy if it wasn't for some good turns from the cast.

The plot revolves around popular high school teen Jennifer (Megan Fox) becoming possessed after a satanic ritual goes awry. Her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) is caught in the crossfire as she tries to find a way to stop Jennifer's murderous Succubus ways.
The movie misses a trick in its titular character. Megan Fox is good at the whole evil schtick, but Jennifer is possessed for about 95% of the runtime, and for that entire duration, she's an absolute douche. We don't see enough of Jennifer beforehand to feel much sympathy towards her. A flashback sequence dealing with how she ended up possessed starts to lean in that direction, but it's an opportunity that's not explored enough. It feels like there's a message in here about the pressures put on women in today's culture to always look the part. An important message indeed, but it's gets lost somewhat in this oversight.
Amanda Seyfried is the real lead here, and her character is wholly sympathetic, and a huge bonus for the overall film. The relationship between her and her boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) is believable and often humourous, and together, they add so much to this movie.
It's also worth mentioning that Adam Brody and J.K. Simmons are both great, and definitely provide the best comedic moments.

The scares are spread pretty thin, but there are a few creepy moments here and there, and some decent gore for good measure. A lot of it seemed practical as well which is always a plus. The little CGI on display is a bit dodgy, but a minor gripe.

Overall then, Jennifer's Body is an imperfect, but solidly entertaining splatter film that tries to capture the struggles of being a teenager, and kind of succeeds, and is certainly worth a watch.
  
    Sea Lion Simulator

    Sea Lion Simulator

    Games

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    Out of the cold water comes this baby Sea Lion, ready to fish and hunt to become a huge creature. ...

    AVP: Evolution

    AVP: Evolution

    Games and Entertainment

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    Please note: iPod touch (4th gen) is NOT supported. Check out AVP: Evolution 3.0 remastered, now...

Taming the Fox
Taming the Fox
Amelia Bishop | 2023 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
TAMING THE FOX was originally an erotic short story but has been revised and re-released.

Harlan is a fox shifter, with no family and no clan, as he doesn't want to breed with a vixen. He has his family's cabin and lives alone, only going into town when necessary. Shane is a wolf shifter, from a rather well-to-do family, who visits his mother's old house and decides to live there, for reasons the same as Harlan's. These two meet and a spark of attraction is there immediately but, for 'reasons', Harlan won't do anything.

Now... I loved the premise of this book, and the characters are all great - apart from those that aren't meant to be. It is a long book, with plenty of time for you to sink into the story. BUT it didn't have to be. One of the reasons it is so long is because there is a constant back and forth as Harlan fights his feelings. For me, this went on too long, as it eventually took away from the story and made the impact of his feelings and the situation less than it should have been. After all that, the ending and the epilogue are done in just a couple of pages. Okay, slight exaggeration, but you get the meaning.

The focus of this story was definitely our two MCs, so enjoy what world-building you can. What is there, is done very well. There is angst here, but it is mainly internal by just one of the MCs.

A different story and one I enjoyed. Definitely recommended by me. Take a read for yourself and see what you think.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Aug 17, 2023
  
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Action scenes (1 more)
Story
Underwhelming end to the arc
So after X-Men First Class we got Days of Future Past, which led to Apocalypse, and now Dark Phoenix, While the first three were good entertaining movies, and even though Apocalypse wasn't the strongest it still entertained, and the came Darl Phoenix, which is sadly and wholly underwhelming 1 hour 54 minutes.

Sophie Turner should have shined in the film, the performance felt stilted and in place, painful to watch, the knock on effect from this, you feel no empathy for Jean Grey.

One scene is more laughable than tense when Jean/Dark Phoenix with with Erik/Magneto.

As the house of mouse now owns Fox I suspect a reboot may not be as far away with, on general, Disney / Marvel knowing how to do a great superhero movie.

The best bot about this film ? the badges you can get at Frankie and Benny's
  
The Scam
The Scam
Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The unlikely duo of criminal Nick Fox and FBI Agent Kate O’Hare are after a casino owner who is knowingly helping launder money that goes to terrorists. But as their con is set in motion, things quickly spiral out of control. Will they be able to turn their target into an FBI asset?

These books are always light, fun reads and this book is no exception. The characters could have more depth, but they are developed enough to keep my interest, and the crew that Nick and Kate always pull together is half the fun. The twists and plentiful and the ride is fun. I’m very anxious to get my hands on the next in the series.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/09/book-review-scam-by-janet-evanovich-and.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Joy (2015) in Movies

Mar 17, 2018  
Joy (2015)
Joy (2015)
2015 | Drama
7
6.7 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
It takes a special kind of confidence to ask a movie studio to give you $60 million to make a two-hour-plus movie about mops and the home shopping channel, but David O Russell clearly has it and here is the result. What Fox were doing saying yes is probably less mysterious if you look at Russell's track record and the calibre of the cast he assembled for this movie.


Still, this is probably the most substantial movie ever released which is predominantly concerned with the realities of domestic cleaning and the intricacies of injection-moulded plastic and patent protection law - I suppose there is also a healthy element dealing with the protagonist's family and relationships, and the general hard-work-and-dedication-will-get-you-there-eventually ethos is the kind of thing that makes studios and audiences comfortable. Good performances, obviously; generally very engaging and watchable; educational, too, especially if you have trouble keeping the floor clean.