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Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
1974 | Drama, Romance

"I’m sort of torn on my last film between Badlands and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. I’m on the fence — I love both of those films. Badlands, for me, is a very important film because I feel like a lot of the time it’s the kind of film I would love to make, if I could just make one. It’s so small, but really perfect. I think another great example of a film, which is like a second film, that people don’t think about, is Days of Heaven, which is again another flawless film. His use of voice over is the best out of any filmmaker. Linda Manz, her voiceover, nothing can beat it, you know. I always think that if there’s a voiceover in a film, it’s gotta be like that, where it?s not telling you what’s happening, it’s talking about completely different things. It’s incredible."

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Taika Waititi recommended Badlands (1973) in Movies (curated)

 
Badlands (1973)
Badlands (1973)
1973 | Crime, Drama

"I’m sort of torn on my last film between Badlands and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. I’m on the fence — I love both of those films. Badlands, for me, is a very important film because I feel like a lot of the time it’s the kind of film I would love to make, if I could just make one. It’s so small, but really perfect. I think another great example of a film, which is like a second film, that people don’t think about, is Days of Heaven, which is again another flawless film. His use of voice over is the best out of any filmmaker. Linda Manz, her voiceover, nothing can beat it, you know. I always think that if there’s a voiceover in a film, it’s gotta be like that, where it?s not telling you what’s happening, it’s talking about completely different things. It’s incredible."

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The Museum of Extraordinary Things
The Museum of Extraordinary Things
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
i think this book and me just met at the wrong time because when I finally got I to this I did really enjoy it however it took me a FRICKING long time to get into it. I was in a YA rut and this was the first non YA book that I read in a LONG time and I just don't think I was ready for the world of adult fiction again but this book honestly was so well written and such an uplifting story it just didn't agree with me right now but I would like to give it another chance but for now it's a no
  
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David Byrne recommended Pangaea by Miles Davis in Music (curated)

 
Pangaea by Miles Davis
Pangaea by Miles Davis
1976 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I was immersed in jazz for a while. I had certainly been aware of it for years, particularly the electric Miles Davis stuff, but this was a period where I went back into it and listened to a lot of Thelonious Monk records. I really love those; they’re so spiky-sounding. There was a whole bunch of Miles Davis electric records that were just never released in this country. I think Columbia or CBS or whoever it was just decided, “We don't like this stuff. We’re not gonna release it.” So you’d have to get the Japanese version CD. But it’s just amazing stuff."

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Dorothy Must Die
Dorothy Must Die
Danielle Paige | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
2
7.8 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
the description of OZ (2 more)
The cowardly lion
the rest if the original gang
the plot just went in circles (2 more)
no real heroes
never really found it's footing
Not so Wonderful Oz (read in 2014)
This book had so much potential to be really amazing and different but in the end it just fell short. The characters were bland and the plot just felt like it was going around in circles trying to find a point where the real plot could take off. I know this is the first in the series so I am holding out a little hope that maybe the second book will be better.

The only thing I really liked was the description of OZ and it's more horror induced characters. I feel like this has more potential to be a good TV show or movie over a book.
  
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AbmostFiction (32 KP) Jul 23, 2017

That's disappointing!

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BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) Jul 23, 2017

Yeah I was really let down but I do want to give the next book a chance at some point.

Aftercare Instructions
Aftercare Instructions
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was actually quite disappointed by this one. I felt like I expected more from it, especially with it dealing with more serious subjects such as abortion right from the start.

The reason I don’t read much YA any more is the way that everything is glazed over and ignored. I feel like Aftercare Instructions had the chance to be a really good, deep novel about an issue that rarely makes it into YA, but in reality, it brushed over it.

I need to point out I only made it 1/3 of the way through before giving up.

Everything seemed to happen slowly and the narration seemed too whiney to be realistic. The main character, Gen is unlikable and annoying. Within the first 1/3 of the book her character is barely built and does nothing other than complain.

The plot didn’t move, and when nothing happens and I’m that far into the book, I know it’s time to give up.

The book is set out with alternating chapters being in a script format laying out the backstory of the characters. The first YA book I read with this format was cute. The second – fun. But when I’ve now read countless YAs set out in this format, it’s much less quirky and now seems a bit like it’s something to do to fill the pages without adding a decent description or trying to set a scene. It’s a space filler and it just ruins YAs for me.

I always hate DNF-ing books from Netgalley, especially ones by new authors but I just felt like this one could have been a lot more than it was, and it just seemed too much like the stereotypical YA I want to avoid reading and that I wish wasn’t taking over the genre lately.
  
Less
Less
Andrew Sean Greer | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Less is a good name for this book, because that's how I found it. Less than the love story it is purported to be. Less interesting than people say it is. Less funny than reviews would have me believe. Less than I was expecting. It's a Pulitzer Prize winner, apparently? Maybe I just don't "get" contemporary fiction. Because unless it's YA, I very, VERY rarely like it. I didn't like Arthur Less. None of his misadventures were that funny.

The book was a little meta; Arthur is told that the book he's writing isn't that interesting because his protagonist, a middle aged gay white man, isn't interesting and no one cares about him. Which is exactly how I feel about Arthur Less. He's a middle aged gay white man with the means to travel the world, and a boyfriend who would have married him if he'd only, I don't know, asked. But he just floats through his life a little melancholy and woe is me. And not in the like actually depressed kind of way. Just - meh.

Arthur is BORING. Arthur is privileged, and boring, and annoying as all hell. This book just makes me want to avoid Pulitzer Prize winners. Who awards these prizes, and WHY? Also why does everybody rave about books like this?

Blargh. Don't bother with this book. People who say it made them laugh out loud don't know what they're talking about, or perhaps haven't read actually funny books. They should read something by Ellen, or Trevor Noah, or Tiffany Haddish. THEY'RE ACTUALLY FUNNY.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
Show all 3 comments.
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Dracoria Malfoy (690 KP) Jul 29, 2018

Oh wow. I've actually been planning on reading this book ever since I found out about the Pulitzer winners. I'm still going to read it, but I'll be a little more cautious about it now.

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ClareR (6054 KP) Aug 2, 2018

Oh dear - I’m glad I only bought it as the Kindle daily deal!! I won’t feel so bad if I have to ditch it (like I’d ever do that ?).

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
1999 | Drama, Mystery

"My favorite movie is The Talented Mr. Ripley. “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy — Tommy.” Philip Seymour Hoffman was crazy. Jude Law was just great. I don’t like what he did, but it was just the whole running-around-Europe-loving-jazz [thing]. That was very interesting to me. He didn’t want to do his father’s business. He just wanted to love jazz. He was free enough to do it and be content. I think Matt Damon was very interesting. Just to be so conniving and to steal identities and money. Jude Law was so naive for a while and then he realized Damon was a moocher. It was kind of weird how quickly someone could be deceived when they’re caught up in their own world."

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Colin Newman recommended Frequencies by Lfo in Music (curated)

 
Frequencies by Lfo
Frequencies by Lfo
1991 | Techno
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is such an important record. It spawned a whole scene of music. You talk to any electronic musicians from the 90s onwards, and they'll say that. And they were just two boys from Leeds. I haven't seen him for a long while, but we worked with Gez, G-Man, we released his records in the 90s and I know what kind of guy he is. But I'd also spoken to Mark Bell, and Mark was very different. When I talk to Gez, I just talk to someone who's made a record, and he's just talking about his music. Mark was very clever and he was obviously the thinker of the two of them. But that combination of the two of them, those two guys: the title track with that bass, and 'Simon From Sydney', again it's a record that we've listened to a billion times. Gez used to say that they were part of a breakdancing crew, they were just mates, and they were so young when that record came out. I think they were 19, and they had a song in the top 20 and somebody on Radio 1 said their music was awful or something like that. They had everything happening at once at a very young age. I'm sure it affected them. But LFO were lads, you know. It wasn't high concept. It was dancefloor. That was what they were trying to do: to move people's butts and shake the bottom end."

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Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated The Glitch in Books

May 31, 2018  
The Glitch
The Glitch
Elisabeth Cohen | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Incredible Character Development (0 more)
All over the place. (0 more)
Not worth the hype
So, when I first heard about The Glitch, I was all like - Wow. What cool idea for a story! This is going to be awesome. I need to get my hands on this one! And then I read it, and I was all like - WTF did I just read? Did someone slip me drugs? Did I miss something?

Shelley is like one of those Steve Jobs-esque corporate tech CEO robots who is basically all work and zero play. Her company is called Conch, and is sort of like a Siri for everyday life that clips onto your ear. Even Steve jobs seems like a wuss compared to Shelley. She's stiff, and brusque and her marriage and friendships are more of business arrangements it seems, as well as having children (Nova and Blazer?!? ummm what?), she has ZERO social life - and she likes it all this way. In fact she thrives on it.

The story starts out with Nova going missing on the beach and her and her husband CASUALLY STROLL around on the beach looking for her while they are both ON THE PHONE taking conference calls. I cannot even believe people like this might exist. Then a "glitch" happens with the Conch product and weirdness ensues. I'm all for weird books. I don't base a books review on unlikeable characters. In fact Shelley is written PERFECTLY. Elisabeth Cohen is apparently a technical writer by trade and she shines at developing Shelley as a character. Her writing is SO smart, and sharp and I LOVE the way she writes. I'm giving a slight pass since it's her first novel because the words are there - and they are exquisite! They just need some finesse in arranging the story better. But the themes here all ALL over the place. Kidnapping? Corporate espionage? Time travel? Lightning? Weird romantic feeling for coworkers and nannies? Women's empowerment? Technology? Work/Life/Mom balance? I had enough trouble with being in Shelley's head with her ramblings and descriptions - thoroughly written, and passionately descriptive - but the story itself just fell flat.

And the ending, just really unsatisfying. And a bit unbelievable knowing how hardcore Shelley was about most things - It was like she just conceded and gave up? Which seemed so out of character.. There were several times I was like "No WAY this type A personality would let this chick in her house!" and "Why isn't she calling the cops!" It was like you knew so precisely who Shelley was by the incredible character development of how robotic and precise her actions would be and then - what? Huh? What just happened? I'm still just really confused.

I hate when this happens. I find out about a book that sounds so ridiculously awesome that i rush out to find it wherever I can immediately. The description when I first heard of the book had a question in it like "What would you do if you met your younger self?" I want to read THAT book. That's what I thought I was reading and where it was going, but it turned into this whole other story that went somewhere else entirely. There was so much promise and potential and I'm pretty bummed. It wasn't worth all the hype I've been hearing.