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James Koppert (2698 KP) rated The Secret History in Books

Oct 28, 2019 (Updated Oct 28, 2019)  
The Secret History
The Secret History
Donna Tartt | 1993 | Fiction & Poetry
5
7.7 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Incredibly well written (0 more)
I didn't like the characters at all (0 more)
Accomplished but is it likeable
Although its it's incredibly well written and highly accomplished, the one thing that lets it down is that the chapters are just incredibly unlikeable and so you can't get that invested in what happens to them.
  
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Timothy Olyphant recommended Blue Velvet (1986) in Movies (curated)

 
Blue Velvet (1986)
Blue Velvet (1986)
1986 | Drama, Mystery
8.9 (7 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I love Blue Velvet. Put that in there. Alright, this’ll take forever if we talk about what I love about David Lynch. I love that guy. He’s one of the people out there that I just can’t get enough of. I just love everything. I love the way he does it. I love that at first you think it’s weird. [But] it’s actually not weird at all. It makes total f—g sense to me. And you know what I love about it? It seems like it should be pretentious, but there’s nothing pretentious about it. That story creeps you out, it’s fascinating, it’s funny. And [it’s got] dialogue like, “Heineken? F— that s—. Pabst Blue Ribbon!” That’s poetry."

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Blake Jenner recommended Superbad (2007) in Movies (curated)

 
Superbad (2007)
Superbad (2007)
2007 | Comedy

"Number four is Superbad. I love Superbad. It’s the same kind of feel I get from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, where you kind of want that, but they’re not winning the whole time like Ferris is. They’re kind of losing the whole time, but still, you want them to win. They’re losing the booze and they’re getting into fights. They’re doing all this stuff looking for the great outcome. But even then they don’t win because they really just want the girls. I feel like everybody can relate to that — just anybody — no matter if you’re a guy or a girl. That blind faith you have in yourself, when you’re just speed-bumping it or tripping over life as a teenager, but you still know you’re going to prevail in some way, shape, or form. But you really don’t know. It’s really just hope. That’s a cool part of that movie, and it’s just funny as f—. Excuse my French. It’s just funny as hell. I love that movie. I love McLovin. I love everything about it."

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Kurt Vile recommended Good Old Boys by Randy Newman in Music (curated)

 
Good Old Boys by Randy Newman
Good Old Boys by Randy Newman
1974 | Singer-Songwriter
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"And then after that I got into Good Old Boys, which is a more refined thing, and at first I was like, no, I like Sail Away better, but Good Old Boys: he'll be singing like a love song, like a song like 'Marie', best love song ever, but then if you listen close, he's like, ""I love you the first time I saw you, and I will always love you Marie"". And then you realise, y'know, ""I don't listen to a word you say, when you're in trouble I just turn away"". You realise it's a love song from an asshole, a Southern asshole basically! There's another song on there, called 'Guilty', and that killed me. You've got to listen to the lyrics on that song. He starts out: ""Yes, baby, I been drinking, and I shouldn't come by I know, but I found myself in trouble, and I had nowhere else to go"", but then the production's amazing, it just kicks in with the drums and he's like: ""Got some whisky from the barman, got some cocaine from a friend"", and then it builds up and builds up, he's talking to his girlfriend. He's obviously a shit and he's shown up drunk at her doorway, and the punchline at the end is: ""You know I just can't stand myself and it takes a whole lot of medicine for me to pretend that I'm somebody else."" It's incredible! He always mocked the singer-songwriter thing, even though he was inspired by it. I say that in his moments like 'Guilty' and 'Marie', he says it better than Bob Dylan or anybody, or even Neil Young; obviously they're still talented at being real, they're both clever, they can put you on psychedelically any time they want and say [their lyrics] mean something or not and give a very cool response - not too cool, they can just answer any way they want, just be immortal. But Randy Newman has the concise moment that hits you in the gut; sometimes, I think, he's nailed it better than Bob Dylan. I totally think it's important to have humour in records. That's my personality anyway, but that's the best thing you can do, really. Because I was sometimes sad or melancholy, but I think the people that just ran that home, like in the grunge era, fucking like Smashing Pumpkins - I liked them when I was a kid - or even Eddie Vedder - no offence on them really, but at the same time they're victims of thinking there was this movement, like in the '70s, that there was this utopian dream that they'd change the world, like Crosby or something. But it's too one-sided after a while. Like fucking darkness in grunge - I don't know, no relief whatsoever? It's bullshit, it's too one-sided, it's not the way life is: life isn't that fucked, but it is. I just think that people, when they get too dramatic, it comes off like a bummer."

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DreadpirateSmoo (95 KP) rated Joking Hazard in Tabletop Games

Oct 27, 2021 (Updated Oct 27, 2021)  
Joking Hazard
Joking Hazard
2016 | Adult, Card Game, Comic Book / Strip, Humor, Party Game
Easy to play, can be quick or long. (0 more)
It just isn't as funny as it could be. (0 more)
I found myself finding this game super easy to play and have played it a fair bit.
I don't ever pick to play this game myself and I think that is because I just don't find it funny.
Where games like what do you meme and cards against humanity are laugh out loud silly or blurt out a laugh offensively funny I just found this one lacking, and for me that really puts me off playing a game like this.
  
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Reggie Watts recommended The Ice Storm (1997) in Movies (curated)

 
The Ice Storm (1997)
The Ice Storm (1997)
1997 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Another time travel movie, as I call it. I love the pacing of the film and how strange it was. When I saw it I just fell into the reality of the movie, just seeing him get on the train and head out to this place that he’s not excited about going to, and then getting there and being trapped by the forces of nature. Again, for me, some films just have an immersive atmosphere—and the music, and all the shots, the period that’s it’s in, and the casting, it just really transported me to that time period. And I love Sigourney Weaver. I’ve seen other things that she’s been in, but for the most part I think of her as the, you know, Alien. So to see her in something that I was excited about, and just as a character, that was great. But it was a very transporting movie. If a piece is going to take place in the past, I want it to feel like that, whatever that means. If the details aren’t right, it will take me out of the movie. And with The Ice Storm I just fell into that reality so hard-core. I just remember it being like, “Oh my god.” I think I saw it twice because I worked in the movie theater at that time and saw it for free."

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Judy Greer recommended Singles (1992) in Movies (curated)

 
Singles (1992)
Singles (1992)
1992 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

"I think I’m going to go with Singles, and it’s because of a very specific time in my life. Soundtrack is really important to me, and I’m a child of ’90s grunge. That movie was Seattle, Nirvana, Pearl Jam — it’s the greatest soundtrack. My favorite band was Smashing Pumpkins and my favorite song by Smashing Pumpkins is “Drown,” and that’s on there. Plus, I loved all the different storylines being woven together. I love Cameron Crowe, and the idea of these people living in Seattle and looking for love. I was a senior in high school when it came out. I mean, I saw it in the theater like three times. I was like, “Oh my God, this is gonna be my life. I’m gonna move out of my parents’ house, and I’m gonna go and try to make it in the city somewhere, and it’s gonna be like this.” And, you know, Bridget Fonda as Janet was just the greatest character. I was like, “I’m gonna be like her. I am kind of like her. But not the pathetic parts of her, the great parts of her.” But everyone was just was trying to find themselves, find love, find a career, find a path, find their life. It was really aspirational for me at the time that it came out, so it really scratches that itch that I had then, and it will always be that meaningful to me. I recently made my husband watch it. I can’t remember if he had seen it or if he just didn’t remember it, but I just could tell, even though he loved it and appreciated it, like, it didn’t kill him the way it killed me. And you know, he was like, “Yeah, no, it’s good. I like it.” But he is obsessed with Almost Famous, and I love Almost Famous, but that was more meaningful for him. Singles is just… the movie, the music, the time, the look, the actors, the wardrobe, the backdrop of Seattle. Just all of it."

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Moon over Parador (1988)
Moon over Parador (1988)
1988 | Comedy

"Moon Over Parador — on a scale of one of ten, it’s like an eight and a half. It’s something that you can really… If you just see it from the beginning, you’re captured, you’re hooked."

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Sofia Coppola recommended Lolita (1962) in Movies (curated)

 
Lolita (1962)
Lolita (1962)
1962 | Classics, Drama, Thriller

"I love Kubrick. I love the way he put that film together, the way it’s filmed. Just some of the shots he did there, like the reverse shot in the car window with the monster."

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