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    Rupi Kaur

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    From the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of milk and honey and the sun and her flowers...

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Young Jean Lee recommended Rashomon (1950) in Movies (curated)

 
Rashomon (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
1950 | Classics, Crime, Drama
9.0 (7 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This film has one of the best endings I’ve ever seen, starting with the sword fight as remembered by the woodcutter. Up until this point, the fights have looked the way fights usually look in movies. But here, from the moment we see the samurai and bandit’s two sword tips enter the frame, trembling in their shaky hands, we’re in a much more believable world, where people are afraid to kill and be killed. And then there’s this conversation between the priest and the commoner: The priest: It’s horrifying. If men don’t trust each other, this earth might as well be hell. The commoner: That’s right. This world is hell. The priest: No, I believe in men. [Pressing himself against the wall in anguish.] I don’t want this place to be hell. That moment when the priest presses himself against the wall and says “I don’t want this place to be hell” sums up pretty much everything I’ve ever tried to express in my own work. The happy ending, where the woodcutter walks off with the abandoned baby as the sun comes out, always makes me cry."

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40x40

Jonathan Higgs recommended track Cue the Strings by Low in Great Destroyer by Low in Music (curated)

 
Great Destroyer by Low
Great Destroyer by Low
2005 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Cue the Strings by Low

(0 Ratings)

Track

"I think I came across this record because it was produced by Dave Fridmann and I was interested in him at the time because of other stuff he’d done, particularly The Flaming Lips. I heard this record and asked other people about it and they were saying, 'Aren’t they kind of folksy?' And I was like, 'No! What? Have you not listened to them?' Because this album does have that quiet, acoustic thing at the heart of it, but Fridmann has produced it like In Utero or something. Almost all of the instruments are pushing at the top of the range and it gives this really weird feeling of a loud quiet band. This song ‘Cue The Strings’ has this kind of crappy, wind-up string sound, that sounds like it’s been recorded onto tape a hundred times with two voices singing over it. That’s all that’s in it. But you get this feeling as it goes on that it’s absolutely massive and it’s hard to describe why, but I think it’s something to do with that production, the way it’s just biting at the distortion level. It’s got this swelling feeling that’s like the sun rising and that matches the lyric; 'Here comes the cold sunshine.' You get the feeling of being on a planet that has no atmosphere and when the sun rises you’re going to get burned up. It feels like such a huge sound but it’s really only two voices and a keyboard. I think that’s a great example of the power of production."

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Embrace The Night (The Blood Rose #5)
Embrace The Night (The Blood Rose #5)
Caris Roane | 2014 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An excellent addition to the Blood Rose series, this novella tells Jude and Hannah's story. Jude is a Mastyr who has suffered a loss, Margheta killed his wife and daughter a hundred years ago. Hannah is a human who owns the bar where those from the Realm can go and relax, safe in the knowledge that they won't be burnt to a crisp when the sun comes up.

Now Hannah knows all about the Blood Rose phenomenon that is sweeping the Realms, after all, she is part of the group that has set up a communications network in the hopes of working around Margheta and still finding ways to talk to each other in emergencies. Hannah is not prepared to leave her bar though, for reasons that she will go into.

This is fast-paced, the same as all of the Blood Rose series, but full of information and action. With no grammatical or editing issues that I found, I can definitely recommend this book and the series. Can't wait for the next one.

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

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 13, 2016
  
Once Upon a Dream (Mystic Beach #1) by Aislinn Archer
Once Upon a Dream (Mystic Beach #1) by Aislinn Archer
Aislinn Archer | 2022 | Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
ONCE UPON A DREAM is the first full-length story in the Mystic Beach series. I first met Ellie and Hunter in their short story - Here Comes the Sun - which takes place when they are six years old. This one takes place over a longer amount of time, and they both grow and change in a number of ways.

Both of them lose their mothers and neither of their fathers will ever win a 'Father of the Year' award! Ellie - who changes her name to Brighid - is hands down my favourite. She deals with what life throws at her, loves her best friend, and does the best she can. Hunter - I love him and hate him at the same time. He's got a long way to go before I'll forgive him for how he treated both Ellie and himself. And those pathetic excuses he makes to himself just aren't going to cut it. Too many excuses and not enough thought. Being completely honest here, the longer the book went on, the more I disliked him!!!

There is enough mysticism here to keep me happy whilst definitely leaving me wanting more. In fact, that's the feeling I've got now that I've finished this story. I want - no, I NEED - more! I want to see how the paranormal becomes normal for Brighid. I want to know more about Mystic Beach. I want to know more about the guys in the band, especially Kieran! And not forgetting Mace.

The world-building - whether in Virginia, Delaware, or New York - is first class. The characters are all different and don't blend into each other. The pacing is perfect. And the part near the end in New York? Had me in tears! Good on Brighid for showing backbone though and doing what was best for her. Still had me in tears though.

A fantastic book that I thoroughly enjoyed and can't wait for the next one. Highly recommended by me.

PS - LOVED the Robin of Sherwood references!!!

** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
May 12, 2022
  
Seoul Station (2016)
Seoul Station (2016)
2016 | Animation, Horror, International
8
6.2 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Seoul Station starts as we see a homeless man injured and ignored around the station, we move off to see Hye-Sun who along with her boyfriend Ki-woong have been struggling for rent, forcing him into attempting to pimp her out, when her father Suk-gyu discovers this, he heads to Seoul to save his daughter.

Soon the homeless dies, but he doesn’t stay dead, turning into a zombie, it isn’t long before the zombie plague hits Seoul and Suk-gyu must work with Ki-woong to locate his missing daughter and escape the city before it is too late.

 

Thoughts on Seoul Station

 

Characters – Suk-gyu is the father searching for his lost daughter, he knew she ran away and now he gets the chance to come and save her from the seedy underworld her boyfriend wants to put her in, only to become the real saviour against the zombies. Hye-Sun is the runaway daughter, she struggles to keep the rent coming and after her argument with her boyfriend wanders the streets alone just as the zombie outbreak starts. Ki-woong is the boyfriend who seems to be a slacker spending more time in the internet cafes over supporting his girlfriend, he is forced to work with Suk-gyu to find Hye-Sun.

Story – The story here follows three main characters who are trying to survive a zombie outbreak in the big city of Seoul, this is a prequel to Train to Busan and shows us how the outbreak started to spread. The story keeps the attempts of a father trying to save his daughter the focal point in this film, this gives us two main characters to support and hope see get reconnected after she had run away from home at a young age. We also get to see a father and new boyfriend interact with the tension you would expect from this. This isn’t anything ground breaking for the zombie genre and by being animated we get to increase the scale of everything which does help show how a big city would cope with the panic of a sudden outbreak.

Horror – The horror in the film comes from the zombie outbreak, the zombie behaviour will always work for horror and the idea that nowhere is as safe as it should be only adds to the horror in the film.

Settings – The film is set in Seoul which is one of the locations the train goes through in Train to Busan, the scale of the city shows us just how a big population would react to an outbreak.

Animation – The animation used in the film is great to see, we get to see each bloody wound suffered through the outbreak.


Scene of the Movie – Third act twist is shocking.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Shut the bloody doors.

Final Thoughts – This is a great prequel to put us in the world of Train to Busan, we get to see just how conflicted people can become and just follow one small story in the bigger picture makes us interested to learn more.

 

Overall: Great fun animation.

https://moviesreview101.com/2019/06/19/abc-film-challenge-world-cinema-s-seoul-station-2016/