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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
2022 | Action, Animation, Comedy
5
7.5 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Antonio Banderas' Zorro-alike Puss in Boots was arguable the break-out star from Shrek 2.

So much so, that he got his own spin-off in 2011 'Puss in Boots' which, from memory, I felt lacked the spark of his earlier entries.

So much so, that it was just over a decade later that he got his second solo movie, in this.

Which, artistically (and, I felt, to it's detriment) takes its cue from the 'Into the Spider-verse' movies and so, like those, comes across as an over-caffeinated sugar-rush of a headache, which (IMO) overshadows the whole message about found family and living your life to its fullest.

YMMV, of course.
  
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Joel Schumacher recommended Blade Runner (1982) in Movies (curated)

 
Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
1982 | Sci-Fi
8.5 (75 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Speaking of that, we must go to Blade Runner — true visual genius, and also in a class never matched. I saw it the first show, the first day, with a bunch of my friends. I can remember that because it was at the Cinerama dome in Hollywood, and it was on that huge screen with that incredible sound system. I still remember that great Vangelis music. But that opening — it’s embedded in my mind, that opening, with that scape of the city and its almost Mayan-like temple formation and those fires out of nowhere shooting up. Plus, Sean Young — that interview [with Harrison Ford’s Deckard] is unbelievable. I got a lovely letter from her last year. I worked with her on Cousins. Amazingly, amazingly beautiful. And of course it has the great Harrison Ford, and Edward James Olmos, and we could just go on and on with that movie. Daryl Hannah is great in it. And the doll guy, William Sanderson, who I got to work with on The Client — he played one of Tommy Lee Jones’ posse. One of the great things about my job is that I’ve been able to cast, sometimes, my favorite people."

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The American President (1995)
The American President (1995)
1995 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

"The next one is The American President. I’ve been talking a lot about romantic comedies lately because of Sleeping with Other People, and you know, I’m listing all my favorite rom-coms, and you’re talking about When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and things like that, that could just as easily be on this list for me; I watch those movies all the time and love them. But I realized it took me a second to realize that The American President is a romantic comedy, because it has a political angle, and it’s got that [Aaron] Sorkin dialogue. But it’s directed by Rob Reiner, and ultimately it’s just a full-on love story between these two people that also has snappy banter and comedic scenes. I think Annette Bening gives one of the best comedic performances of her career; she’s so specific. There’s a scene where, it’s like before her first date with the president, played by Michael Douglas, and she’s sitting in the office and she’s tapping her pen on the desk. The guy says to her, “What’s up? You got a hot date tonight?” and then she does this move where she goes to put the pen in a jar, and the whole jar falls over. There was something so effortless and so specific about that to me; it’s a moment that jumps out at me, in terms of making the work you’re doing funny, but still feeling in the moment. I don’t know how many times she shot that scene, but it looks so natural. When I watch it, I find it hard to believe that it wasn’t really an accident that she knocked over that jar, and that’s incredible. I love that movie, and I love Annette Bening. And her hair. And her shoulders, her shoulder muscles when she’s dancing with the president in that blue dress. These are all things I aspire to."

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Jack of Spades
Jack of Spades
Joyce Carol Oates | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book was certainly a page turner and a quick read, although I really just wanted it to be over. Andrew J. Rush is a successful mystery author -- married with a wife and three grown children. He also secretly (not even known to his wife and children) writes under the pseudonym Jack of Spades - and these books are dark, violent thrillers.

The book starts with Rush receiving a court summons that a woman in nearby locale is accusing him of stealing - basically plagiarism. He feels threatened and slowly, the unbidden Jack of Spades within Rush starts coming out.

The book is peppered with Stephen King references and I don't typically read King's more dark novels, so I can't say if there's a comparison here. Overall, I didn't find the book scary, or even that psychologically interesting, but a bit stupid. While a character in a novel like this shouldn't be likeable, per se, you should have some sort of admiration for their cunning. Instead, I just found Rush annoying and stupid.

Oates provides us with a back-story that is supposed to explain Rush's pathology, but it seems thinly constructed. The whole premise just seems off. I can't imagine someone not picking up on this guy and his behavior, his wife not just walking out, his kids not just taking their mother away, etc. It was just not my cup of tea.

(Note: I received an advance ebook copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)
  
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Becky Albertalli | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, Gender Studies
9
9.0 (29 Ratings)
Book Rating
I got this because I saw the film was out on DVD and I like to read the books before I see the film.

So, this centres around 16 year old Simon who's in the closet, scared to come out to his friends and family. He's instead having an email conversation with someone else from his school - someone whose identity he doesn't know - sharing tales of his life while starting to fall for this someone.

I actually really enjoyed this from the first page. I was drawn into the drama as Simon is pretty much blackmailed by a fellow pupil into helping him get a date with one of Simon's friends. Things escalate and don't go great in the end and I really felt for Simon. Kids can be so cruel to each other and over stupid things that shouldn't matter.

I just fell in love with this group of friends. I loved how protective they could all be of each other and then when Simon and his crush/Blue finally got around to meeting each other...I was smiling like a lunatic. It was so cute. I fell in love with them even more. There was just something so believable about this group. Crushes, friendships, parents.

I cannot write a truly fitting review of this book but if you like young adult books with gay characters or just a sweet romance, then you really should give this book a read.

I definitely feel like I need to read more books by Becky Albertalli now, if they're anything like this one
  
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Marc Riley recommended Berlin by Lou Reed in Music (curated)

 
Berlin by Lou Reed
Berlin by Lou Reed
1973 | Rock
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The irony about Berlin is that it was delivered as a concept album, but its component parts are from all over the place. The earliest songs off it are demos for the Velvet Underground. It's intriguing because 'Berlin' the song is from his first solo album, and then you've got 'Stephanie Says' [from VU] which has been changed to 'Caroline Says I'. He rejigged everything and came up with a concept album, but it's a hodge podge really. I interviewed him about Berlin and just about got away with it because I love the album. And I don't think it would have been as good if Bob Ezrin hadn't been producer. As much as David Bowie and Mick Ronson turned Transformer into the album it is, Bob Ezrin turned Berlin into the album that it is. The story goes that Bob Ezrin told his own kids that their mum had died just so he could record them crying for the album, and then when he had that on tape he told them, nah, she's alright really, I just made it up. That's what I heard anyway. You want to know why Lou Reed punched David Bowie that time? Well, I heard it was because Bowie offered to produce Berlin, but on the condition that Reed quit heroin. But Berlin is just an amazing album, especially coming straight off the back of Transformer, and you can tell that Lou Reed is not comfortable with being a pop star as presented by David Bowie. Somebody like Lou Reed [who] actually did reinvent the wheel – with some help from John Cale – with the Velvet Underground, and then one of his acolytes is seen to be helping him on his way. He was probably smarting a little bit from that. Really, Berlin shouldn't have worked, it was constructed from waifs and strays, but it has that great production with all the brass on it. 'Sad Song' is so beautiful. It's probably the most beautiful song you'll hear in your life."

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Book Club (2018)
Book Club (2018)
2018 | Comedy
I really enjoyed this movie. I saw it in theaters when it first came out and enjoyed it then and I've found myself watching it every once in a while just to revisit it. I really love the cast, I love the plot, I love the lightheartedness of it all. I don't think it's such a bad thing that it's not a movie that particularly pushes your brain to think too much. I like that it's a comedy and even more that they read Fifty Shades of Grey. I think the jokes are 10 times funnier if you've read those books because they make so much more sense.

It's a fun, lighthearted film that I'm sure will make you laugh - either because you think it's funny or because you think it's bad. Either way, a laugh is a laugh, right?
  
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David McK (3562 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in Video Games

Feb 13, 2020  
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
2019 | Action/Adventure, Fighting
Like, I'm sure, more than a few others, I've entertained fantasies of owning a lightsabre and mowing down a metric ton of Imperial Stormtroopers.

This is probably about as close to fulfilling that fantasy as I'm ever likely to come. Owing quite a bit to the Tomb Raider games - and, apparently, Metroidvania)(never even heard of that) - with a dollop of Dark Souls thrown in, this combines (re)exploration and combat in a story set roughly 5 years after Revenge of the Sith, with protagonist and former Padawan survivor Cal Kestis rediscovering his connection with the Force on a quest for a lost Holocron that identifies Force sensitives throughout the Galaxy. Its just a pity, I felt, that the map was hard to read and that there was no quick-travel option anywhere in the game...