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One Night on the Island
One Night on the Island
Josie Silver | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cleo is heading to the remote Irish island of Salvation for work, but it's personal too. She's about to turn thirty, an age her father never reached, and she's trying to reconcile where she is in life. A columnist who writes about finding love, she's yet to discover it herself. On Salvation, she plans to "self-couple"--a concept brought up by her boss, but Cleo can't help but feel there's something to finding herself. As for Mack Sullivan, he's heading to Salvation to research his ancestry and photograph the island he's heard so much about from his mother and grandmother. Escaping his estranged wife and crumbling life is a bonus, though he'll miss his two sons terribly. It's only when they arrive on the island that Mack and Cleo realize they've booked the same one room cottage--a terrible mix-up on a tiny island with no other accommodations. Forced to live together until the next ferry arrives, the two can barely stand being in the same space. But as time passes on the lovely island, their attitudes change.

This is a very slow moving, slow burn romance that focuses on being thoughtful and deliberate in its descriptions. There's less action and a lot of focus on the island and tons and tons of focus on Cleo and Mack's emotions and thoughts. So many thoughts, so much angst!

As for my thoughts... seriously, even on a small island, no one had a spare room? Not even a little one? Enjoying this book means buying into the premise that two complete strangers were truly willing to share a ONE ROOM cottage--sleeping across from another in a bed and a sofa. Thanks but no thanks. Also odd was Cleo's self-coupling (aka marrying herself) concept, which both she and her boss seemed quite into and even Mack accepted. Hmm...

Far more delightful was Salvation Island and its inhabitants. I could have read an entire book just focused on the enjoyable folks Cleo and Mack ran across, particularly the women Cleo joined at knitting circle and the lively group who gathered at the local pub. And while there were plenty of descriptions of this island, some were quite fun (otters!).

The book is told in a back and forth point of view from Cleo and Mack. They grow on you. It's not their fault they were trapped in the same lodge. This one was a little too slow and emotional for me in the beginning, but I still got a bit tearful at the ending.

I received a copy of this book from Random House / Ballantine and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
  
V for Vendetta (2005)
V for Vendetta (2005)
2005 | Action, Thriller
Missed the point... Ponderously
Contains spoilers, click to show
"BOLLOCKS!" This is the standard British insult which is banded about by the stereotypical characters as perceived by our American cousins. Or is this a succinct review of the film? Alan Moore, more famously known for Watchmen, was the original author of the graphic novel of the same name, which was published between 1982 and '85 and then later reprinted in full by DC comics, had his name removed during production. The Brothers Wachowski, of The Matrix fame, a seminal film, penned the adaptation and did so without truly understanding the source.

We ended up with a dull, overly bombastic and ponderous take on a much more subversive novel, with stereotypical fascist villains, shown to have taken power by releasing a virus upon the country's population, rather than the comic's thesis on the apathetic voters, legitimately electing them.

This is Hollywood does Britain, and as usual, they got it wrong. This is a sci-fi fantasy, where the hero/terrorist dons a Guy Fawkes mask and romantically spreads revolution across the country. But Hugo Weaving's ranting, good though he always is, is just boring and overblown. He is a Nutter and not in the good sense. I don't understand what gives him the right to blow up Parliament for us? I think that he's the other side of the same coin; a dictator in his own right. Is this the point? Maybe, but that point is lost when the film is trying to walk the fine line between epic political film-making with an edge, and a major comic book adaptation by the creators of the revolutionary Matrix. Though, the ill-conceived sequels should have served as a warning to us all as to what to expect from this project.

When I first watched this, I thought it was okay, but on repeat viewings it just continues to fall further and further down in my estimation. Boring, contrived, and misconceived. The Brothers Grimm Wachowski need to rethink their strategy and their role in the business and they are in no way, shape or form serious filmmakers. They have a fantastic and they did have a revolutionary view of cinematography, but as for being deep and meaningful writers... more ponderous and self absorbed than anything else.
  
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Laetitia Sadier recommended Australasie by Astrobal in Music (curated)

 
Australasie by Astrobal
Australasie by Astrobal
2016 | Electronic
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is Emmanuel Mario, who I met in Toulouse thanks to Julien Gasc. Julien also does his own great records and is part of Aquaserge. I could have put Aquaserge in the list, because they would totally fall into this category of people who've been working very hard for many years and who eventually make a masterpiece. But they're all part of a group of people in Toulouse who I finally met. I say finally, because I left France absolutely appalled that I couldn't meet anyone that could mirror my taste and my desire to make music. So I immigrated to this country, for the music, and of course I had met Tim, so it made a lot of sense. In France it was impossible. But anyway in 2003 or 4 I came across this group of people who were all incredibly talented and sexy and good-looking and had no big egos, and with no shame about what they were doing, exposing their vision. There were a lot of complexes in the French music scene which got better later on, but to me these people were like, wow, I've found my brothers and sisters, it was absolutely wonderful. So Emmanuel became a long-time collaborator and he's very good at working with other people, but there was also a desire to do his own stuff. He was kind of doing it before he started working on this project, but then I guess he found his focus and made this incredible piece of work. From one track to another you're transported to very different countries, but it's also very familiar to Emmanuel, and I find that to be a real strength: to have such a variety of different styles, but still be familiar and to have some similarity. He reaches really far out to find certain tracks and to bring them back to a whole. I think it's a brilliant album musically and also for its variety. It also tells a story, about the Kerguelen Islands, which were discovered by this French captain. He was sent to go and find new islands and new places to conquer, and I think he was trying to conquer these islands but they're not conquerable. There's too much wind and it's too hostile. But he said that they were worth conquering; he lied about those islands and was treated like a hero, but eventually the truth came out."

Source
  
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Merissa (12926 KP) created a post

Feb 24, 2021  
❤🔥FREEBIE ALERT!!!❤🔥 FOR FINLAY by J. Nathan is #FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2CmQYdq

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Nook: http://bit.ly/2hpIoi3

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2glYhG8

Apple: http://apple.co/2huPtdx

Google: https://bit.ly/GooFin

---

EXCERPT

“Can I do that? Can I just hold you tonight?” Her eyes held a mix of amazement and disappointment. And after a long torturous pause, she nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that.” I lay down beside her, wrapping her tiny body in my arms and pulling her front into my chest. “Trying to sleep is gonna be a lot harder now.” Finlay’s laughter mixed with my own, somehow easing the awkwardness that existed now that I’d screeched on the brakes. “Yeah. I totally appreciate you being a gentleman and all, but maybe next time, give me some warning first.” I smiled, leaning down and pressing my lips to her forehead. “Next time, I won’t be a gentleman.”

---

BLURB

Finlay Thatcher is a lost soul, guilt-ridden after the death of her twin brother. When Alabama's football coach gives her the opportunity to work for him, she knows it's her chance to move on, even if it means living her brother's dream.

Caden Brooks is Alabama's star quarterback. He's got it all. The attention of adoring fans. A girlfriend who'd do anything to hold on to him. And a future in the pros. He's getting along just fine until Finlay steps into his life, despising him at first sight and pushing his buttons like no other.

Unfortunately for Finlay, and her attempt to keep Caden at arm's length, there's nothing Caden loves more than a challenge. The problem with this challenge is she comes with a secret that has the power to destroy everything.

This New Adult Romance is book one in the For You standalone series. Each book can be read as a complete standalone as it follows a new couple.

---

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Natasha Khan recommended Works 1965-1995 by Steve Reich in Music (curated)

 
Works 1965-1995 by Steve Reich
Works 1965-1995 by Steve Reich
1997 | Classical, Compilation
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I discovered him at university when I was 20. The first thing I ever heard was 'Come Out' which has a sampled voice that just keeps saying "blood, come out" and it just keeps beating, so this was Steve Reich's very early tape phase experiments where he stuck it on two tapes and would press play at the same time and they start off together and then gradually start to move apart. First of all you get an echo on the vocal, and then as the two vocals move away it starts to kind of [imitates the sound], and it's so trippy it's amazing. I feel like it's the earliest rap or something, it’s got this really amazing sample, this guy who's street, the way he's talking - his accent's amazing and authentic, and then you just have like the rhythm that's created through words. Percussiveness and then there's ... syncopation starts happening and it's constantly evolving, moving, different rhythms, and that's basically his thing. 'Come Out' inspired me when I was at uni. I made a tape and slide piece, which is this projected piece that you animate using different slides. [Reich]'s using really graphic, violent imagery and I got a little boy to talk about fights at school, he was like six! I was asking how he felt about the fighting, has anyone ever tried to punch him, how does it feel? And I put his voice along with all these images of men fighting, and I phased it and did weird things to it, laid them all on top of each other, just experimenting in my own way with that. But that really inspired me and I started to delve more into Steve Reich. There are some preachers which he did tape phase experiments with, like "it's gonna raiiiiin, it's gonna rain!", such a musicality to what he's doing even though what he was doing was very conceptual. Again, it was a very rigid, composer-y thing to do, which is to set up a tape experiment, but within that he chose words and expressions that are really emotional and move through all different phases, making you think about all sorts of things and culturally, politically, there's a lot behind it. And then on this [Works] there's 'Music for 18 Musicians' which I absolutely love. Eighteen musicians would sit round, play their rhythm and then the next person would start a fraction of a second after them so they'd be in sync sometimes all playing the same thing but with a slightly different time part, so it totally fucked your brain. But the sounds that come out: you get all these weird intervals, syncopations, harmonies, rhythmic counterparts that are happening but the key that he chooses is heartbreaking and amazing as well. There are certain notes and harmonies, certain two notes will just start to really vibrate together and it just starts to create an amazing cinematic, filmic burst of ideas in my mind. It's almost like meditation or mantras, Ravi Shankar or something for me, Reich has done a similar thing. Like it just keeps on going round and round and then you get drones and then other drones come in and then they create textures that are moving all the time, so it's almost like a meditative state that you get into."

Source
  
My Spy (2019)
My Spy (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Family
Eleven months after first being slated for release we finally got My Spy in the cinema. With its predecessors like Playing With Fire, The Pacifier and The Game Plan leaving a very mixed tough guy/kid's movie playing field I wasn't expecting great things.

JJ has stepped over the line one too many times and now he's relegated to surveillance with Bobbi, the agency tech wizard. Their mission is to stay put and watch the wife and child of a man who was connected to the case.

When they get to their stakeout position the last thing they expect is to be made by the very person they're watching. Sophie may only be 9 but she's no fool and she's about to use her new found leverage to her benefit.

I absolutely loved this, it was looking a little rough at the start but I genuinely enjoyed myself once it hit its stride.

But it was a 12A? Honestly astounded to see that pop up at the beginning, I would have assumed it would be a PG, but that extra allowance gave the film a bit more colour.

This comedy felt perfect for Dave Bautista, I don't think I've seen him in a role that really felt suited to him, I like his humour but even the lovable Drax was always a bit off. Everest in Hotel Artemis was probably the best until I saw this. I love that he got a chance to do a mix of drama and comedy all in one film.

His pairing with Kristen Schaal as Bobbi was such fun. Their completely different approaches coupled with her to-the-point attitude make for a great team. Bobbi's adoration and desire to do more fieldwork is played off incredibly well.

I'm not usually a fan of child actors, it can seem forced and unnatural, but Chloe Coleman as Sophie is savage and I love it. Her standing up to JJ and her vulnerable side comes over so well, I genuinely enjoyed her acting and her comic timing, I can't wait to see her in more things.

The only actor I would query is Ken Jeong, he's funny and I find him generally amusing in most things he does but in this A) he wasn't entirely believable in the role and B) his humour was a step apart from the rest of the script, his parts in particular weren't in scenes designed for humour. It was the only part of the film that made me pause as I watched it, but it wasn't a massively negative impact on the whole.

We get some great settings and amazing action style sequences, the ones with both Bautista and Coleman had some real heart and humour. The whole storyline where he teaches her how to spy is amusing and well done.

I really did enjoy My Spy, that 12A totally helped it from being like those before it, the script could be aimed more at adults and the humour could cover both adult and children's amusement, it's a great stress-free film and I would absolutely watch it again.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-spy-movie-review.html
  
Fatal Affair (2020)
Fatal Affair (2020)
2020 | Drama, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
After a night of passion, a woman finds her partner dead in the bath and an unknown stranger grabs her starting the beginning of the movie. Forward to present day and a married couple are moving into that same home to start a new life, from the get go you can see this couple are struggling as they face away from each other in bed.
Ellie goes to work the next day and meets a new male colleague David, whom she went to college with, he's charming and there's a lot of flirting between them. Ellie gives him her number and asks him to call her anytime. She invites him out for drinks with her and her friend, but when her friend can't make it, her and David take the time to catch up with plenty more flirting back and forth, they start kissing in the toilets but before it got too far Ellie backs off and goes home, telling David that she is sorry.
Ellie thinks that's the end of it, but we soon discover David isn't that charming man she thought he was, he keeps texting her, turning up wherever she goes and watches her at home, he even turns up at her house as a plus one with Ellies friend just to be close to her.
I can't say this is a one of a kind movie, as there are a few like it and all very similar, it's still enjoyable but unlike the movie 'obssessed', it's not one I could watch over and over.
  
DM
Dark Matter
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
91 of 220
Book
Dark Matter
By Michelle Paver
⭐️⭐️⭐️

January 1937 Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he's offered the chance to be the wireless operator on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken. But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return - when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark.

This was good I enjoyed the atmospheric feel of it and the version I have has picture of the arctic not sure if they all do. I think I was expecting something chilling and scary but this really wasn’t for me I got caught up in others reviews I think. While it was well we and I did like it I just didn’t find it as good as I was expecting.
  
The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love
The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love
5
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Comic Con (0 more)
Main character (0 more)
The title of this book had me wary from the start, but I'd heard good things about it, and the author is a woman, so I hoped it wouldn't be what it sounded like. Because seriously. We don't need more books about angsty white guys complaining about the girl they love not liking them back.

Unfortunately that's exactly what I got in this book.

First, the good points. The author has a very immersive writing style, and she captured the feeling of a Comic Con VERY impressively. I haven't been to NYCC, but I've been to other nerdy cons, and the hectic pace of panels, and getting tickets, and standing in lines, but nerding out over ALL THE GEEKY STUFF - yeah, that was perfectly written. I really enjoyed that. The other characters - Casey and Felicia, specifically, and Samira, and the rest of Roxy and Graham's families - those were also well done. The brief scene with Roxy's Iranian family was especially nice, which is to be expected from an Iranian-American author!

But Graham irritated me. Roxy wasn't well explored because we only saw things from Graham's point of view, and her love interest Devin's appeal wasn't shown very well at ALL.

I spent most of the book wanting to yell at Graham to just TALK TO HER ALREADY. He's all miffed that his plans aren't going right and the obnoxious Brit is stealing his girl but he won't. Just. TALK. To her.

I think the only reason I actually finished the book was because it was short. And for the description of Comic Con, that was actually really good. But the main character was just frustrating. I should have spent this time on another book.You can find all my reviews and more at http://goddessinthestacks.com