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You Only Live Twice (1967)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
1967 | Action, Mystery

"That would have to be a James Bond film, and then I was trying to think of what my favorite one would be. And I guess it would probably be You Only Live Twice. Mr. Connery. Even though I really like Roger Moore, too. I mean I liked all the Bonds, honestly. Including the newest, Mr. Craig. He’s fantastic. But yeah, You Only Live Twice. It takes place in Japan as a part of it, and you’ve got Blofeld, Spectre, the classic villains, and the whole thing with the volcano that’s really a secret lair. And you’ve got Russia and the United States. You know, it’s huge in scope. And I don’t know, it’s this great classic Bond to me, and a great song, a great theme song. I think the first time I saw it, I definitely saw it on TV. I’m not sure what year it came out, but I may not have even been born yet when that came out. I mean my first exposure to James Bond was absolutely on television. And then my first one to see in the theater, which I also love, is The Spy Who Loved Me. That was pretty exciting. That was the first Bond I saw at a movie theater."

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In His Command (Don't Tell, #1)
In His Command (Don't Tell, #1)
Rie Warren | 2013
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

I read books for the romance and I'll tell you now, this was full of it, which is why I liked it so much. Normally when I read a MM book, it's more concentrating on the sex, whereas this one concentrated on the relationship and how it grew from mistrust into love. It was so sweet in places and I was bawling for a while near the end.

I liked both of the main characters and how they acted around each other. They were both great guys who'd had to put up with a lot of crap in the past and when they finally got it together I was almost cheering.

Liz, Caspar's best friend and one of his Lieutenants, was also a cool character and though I thought we'd never see her again after they left Alpha, she makes another appearance near the end, which also had me smiling.

I should probably point out that it does concentrate more on the romance and it's progression that the dystopian world but it's still a good tale if you don't mind that minor detail.

If you like MM Romances that actually focus on the romance, then this shouldn't be missed. I recommend it.
  
N&
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book is set after World War II and broaches a subject that is not often talked about, The Japanese Internment. Kettle is a young refugee from the internment camps who takes care of a small group of children like him. He insist they earn it honestly so life is hard but they have each other.

Nora is the child of a famous lawyer fighting for the rights of the Japanese but he has a dark side that only his family knows. She is determined to protect her younger sister from the harm that can come within their own house.

The two main characters are well written and the perceptions they have of each other before meeting speaks truth. The time and place setting is very well developed, it puts you there. I love that Taylor used the Japanese Internment as a base of her story. Perhaps more will learn about this tragic time in America.
  
Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1)
Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1)
Rachel Hawkins | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
The review ... oh the review. I was going to rate this book 3 stars, but it gets a bump due to the hilarity of it. When your husband, who you forced to listen to the audiobook during car excursions, laughs hysterically at a book .. I mean, that gets points.

The start of this book felt very, very young adult, very funny, super funny and entertaining and the audiobook version of this I think made it so fun to read. I think maybe my favourite character was ms vamp - I love it when secondary characters just jump out of a page and just catch your interest like that.

Overall the story was cute and entertaining, the end of the book took on a more serious, but yet still funny note (how is that even possible!) but that is so good, I'm interested to see where the story ends up and will definitely pick up book 2 in the series.
  
Z(
Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)
6
7.0 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
It was an interesting read. Does it contain a love triangle? Yes. Does it have a heroine that is in over her head? Yes. Does it some times want you to take said heroine and shake her? Sometimes. Is it complete fantasy that has little to nothing to do with real science? Yes. Does it have anything to do with the Zodiac? No???? Sorta????? Does it have space travel? Yes.
I really liked the book. it is loosely based on the zodiac meaning it has all the 12 signs plus the 13th one no one talks about. And like astrology would have it each sign is aligned with an element and personality trait. And the leader or at least a very important political office is given to someone who can read he stars and predict the near future. Our heroine is unfortunate in that she is not only young and new at her job she is cursed to know that she will never be believed.
  
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
2019 | Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Another case of 'visionary film-makers' getting together to produce something visually lavish but also very derivative and hobbled by a goosey-goosey-gander plot. Cyber-surgeon and part-time bounty hunter (you can tell it's a comic book movie) finds a brain in a can and installs it in his dead daughter's robotic body; she turns out to be Alita, who looks like Gollum's better groomed little sister but fights like a CGI'd version of Bruce Lee. Alita tries bounty hunting, also has a go at roller-boogie, falls in love (somewhat unconvincingly). Some good actors are saddled with unrewarding parts.

Looks good (as you would expect) and the action sequences are impressive (ditto) but it's not especially involving and the shapeless story in particular is a problem. It all feels a bit cool and mechanical, without much of a sense of humour - the one really funny moment is unintentional. Not an outright bad movie but spending $200 million on an adaptation of a relatively obscure comic book with someone equally little-known in the title role is a mistake, unless you end up with a film that people are really going to get excited about. Alita is not that movie: it's just another good-looking but vacuous comic-book film.
  
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Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) created a post

Apr 8, 2020  
Mini review time for VFW on 4K.

VFW feels like the most 80s film I've seen since the 80s. It doesn't rely on nostalgia or 'remember this' moments its just a genuinely very well made movie thats clearly been made by people with a lot of passion and love for films of the past. Its so well done infact that you could actually mistake it for a forgotten film from a past era or decade. Caked in grain its undeniably sleazy, brutal, disturbing and shocking with such a great sense of constant dread. All characters are awesome too as is the hauntingly hypnotic and pulsating synth soundtrack which a company's the great dialog so well that most scenes just leak a cool atmospheric warmth. stephen lang is a stand out here calm, collected and as badass as ever. Very much like Green Room meets Near Dark this is defo one to check out for sure. If you hate grain on your 4K transfers you may want to stay clear but it undoubtedly adds extra character to the movie and makes the colours pop which is surprising for a disc with no HDR. Only available on import but not very expensive I'd say this is most definitely a buy.
     
Bugsy Malone Soundtrack by Paul Williams
Bugsy Malone Soundtrack by Paul Williams
1976 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I wonder if a little kid is watching that movie, is it scary? Because when the kids get shot with the pie or whatever, they disappear, they don't come back, you're dead. I love the sound of all the songs, and the songwriting is amazing - it's just one of those perfect combinations of songwriting and production, and I think he sings all the songs. That's what gives the film its unique tone, because it could be this soupy Disney-style exploitation of the innocence of a child's voice, but it's this grown man, and you fully buy into the reality of the setting. Sure it's a send up of the Prohibition-era gangster genre but you can watch the scene of the guy singing 'Tomorrow' and start weeping - it's just so real. And you've got the little girl dancing around doing her ballet, it gives you shivers. And it's a very dark movie, it kind of looks like The Godfather, very darkly lit. Jodie Foster is amazing - she's like one of the best child actors of all time. I think that a great musical has its moments of hilarity and then also moments of deep sadness, pathos. I think we probably veered too far on the dark side with our musical."

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Van Halen by Van Halen
Van Halen by Van Halen
1978 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"If you're thinking I don't seem like a big Van Halen guy, then you'd be right. I liked parts of what they did, but what this is really about is a moment in 2017. Whenever Spoon play, we'll go through the same process in the build-up to stage time. The clock is ticking, we're sipping tequila and we're blasting music, turning it up a little louder with each track. The tour manager comes in, tells us we've got five minutes, and then it's time to pick one last song before we go on. For a while, this was it. It got us going! It was Alex (Fischel) who picked it, I think. It's sort of a David Lee Roth mission statement; all those fucked up lyrics, ""my love is rotten to the core,"" and ""you're semi-good looking."" We've had other pump-up songs - it was 'I Wish' by Stevie Wonder for a while - but this is one of those ones that makes you appreciate the art of the riff. You have to write a lot of them before you land on one this good. It's pure '70S rock and roll. I feel like we need some more of that nowadays."

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The Cruel Prince
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.4 (36 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Cruel Prince - Holly Black [BOOK REVIEW]
I asked you guys on a Goodreads poll to decide what should be my next read. And a huge number of you have decided that The Cruel Prince should be the one! And here I am, one week later, saying THANK YOU, for giving me a reason to read this book now!

Now, before I say anything else, I want you to know that I don’t have much experience living and reading about the Faerie world. I know fairies exist, and I know about that world, but I wasn’t too involved when I grabbed this book.

And I am glad for that, because…

The Cruel Prince is a great book to start your experience in this magical world. It starts with a great statement that there won’t be any fish sticks, or ketchup or TV Shows (believe me, that is Chapter 1), and it gives you a wonderful introduction to what turns out to be a beautiful place.

We follow the story through Jude’s eyes. Jude and her two sisters witness the murder of their parents. And not just that, but they also get dragged into the Faerie world because the person that kills their parents is the father of Jude’s oldest sister.

And living in the Faerie world as a human is not easy at all. At school, Jude and her sister Taryn are constantly being bullied, and the biggest bully of them all is Cardan. He is the prince, the last son of the king, and he is so evil and self-assured. *gasps* And I love him!

‘’The odd thing about ambition is this: You can acquire it like a fever, but it is not so easy to shed.’’

While Taryn is calm and tries to avoid trouble, Jude is restless and keeps talking back to Cardan. She won’t let him win, and she won’t let him humiliate her. And that brings her a hell of a trouble.

And one day, she had enough. She decides to be even more fierceless and brutal, because that is the only way of survival…

‘’If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.’’

I love Jude, with all my heart. I loved her bravery and the way she never gives up, and keeps going for what she wants, even if people think she is being silly. I strongly agree with Jude - we should all strive towards our goals, no matter how difficult or ridiculous they may seem.

I also love Cardan. He is not a mean person,even though he is really cruel, but the background story is so harsh, and the reasons behind it are so strong. I could understand where he came from, but I am not in any way encouraging his bullying. I think that’s not acceptable under any circumstances. He was amazingly described, and there is the fight between good and evil going inside him.

‘’Love is a noble cause. How can anything done in the service of a noble cause be wrong?’’

The love and hate between Jude and Cardan is something you need to read about. Only Holly Black is able to describe the way they are towards each other. But this is the best love-hate game I have read in a while.

When we enter this world, we also see it from the eyes of her sisters Taryn and Vivi, and what I loved was that we get told the pro’s and con’s of the world, and why Taryn would decide to marry a faerie and get her place in the Court, or why Vivi would leave and go back to the human world. And sometimes, when you are a human in a world so beautiful, but so cruel, you realise that you can’t live with it (all that have read the book will know exactly to which scene I am referring to…).

If you haven’t picked up this book yet, please do so. I could not recommend it enough! It is filled with a lovely scenery of an amazing world, great adventure, great characters and stories around them. I read it in almost one go, as I couldn’t put it down!

A masterpiece, where faeries would give up their immortality to have this on their bookshelves, I am sure!

‘’And no matter how eager you are for it, you cannot make the moon set nor rise any faster.’’