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Gaz Coombes recommended Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg in Music (curated)

 
Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg
Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg
1971 | World
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"We listened to a fair amount of Serge during Supergrass. We spent a lot of time in France – recording and writing in different houses and villas – and we’d often hear him on the radio. This one really got to me when I started to get nerdier about sounds – the bass sound is killer, and the drum sounds are great. The one person I’ve worked with who can get close to those Serge drum sounds is Nigel Godrich. We did a few bits of the Hotrats [Coombes and Goffey’s covers side-project] album together. They’re sort of dirty and a bit unstable; there’s something about them. You have to get past what a nutcase he was but it also adds to it; this whole mythology and glamour around him. My sister-in-law bought me this about five Christmases ago and that reignited my love of it."

Source
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Furies in Books

Sep 26, 2019  
The Furies
The Furies
Katie Lowe | 2019 | Thriller
4
6.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Violet joins Elm Hollow after the death of her little sister and father. It's a private girls school that has a history of magic and witchcraft thanks to an association with the 17th century witch trials. Violet finds herself drawn to three girls--Robin, Grace, and Alex. She becomes close with them, particularly Robin, and finds herself invited to an advanced study group led by their art teacher, Annabel, which goes into more depth about the witchcraft practiced at the school so long ago. The girls seem to think the magic is real, and that they can harness it. Always lurking in the background is Emily Frost--Robin's former best friend--who died before Violet came to Elm Hollow. She and Violet look very similar. As time passes, Violet starts to wonder if the witchcraft is real. And what really happened to Emily?

The girl is found dead on a swing on a playground on Elm Hollow Academy property--no known cause of death. That's how this novel opens, and then we have Violet, who tells us the story looking back, recounting her time at Elm Hollow. So the story opens dramatically and we know something has terrible happened. And that Violet makes it out okay.


"Inconclusive, they said, as though that changed the fact of it, which was this: a sixteen-year-old girl, dead on school property, without a single clue to suggest why or how."


This book should be been really good--I'm a sucker for private school tales (I thought it was a boarding school one, as well, but it wasn't)--but it just didn't work for me. I thought about putting it aside several times, but I just couldn't. I need to work on my DNF skills.

There is a lot here: two dead girls; witchcraft and the occult; mythology; friendship and coming of age--and none of it feels fully explored. A lot of the book focuses on mythology as Annabel teaches some of it to the girls (I felt myself skimming over that, and I like mythology). There's the focus on witchcraft, but it never seems fully embraced. There's a lot of violence (won't go too far for spoilers) but there are never really any consequences. It's very strange, and honestly, not the sort of YA book I'd encourage for teens.

And, then, I just didn't care for these characters. Robin is hateful, and I couldn't form a bond with Violet, our narrator. That would be all well and good if the action was enough to keep my interest, but it wasn't. The book just felt jumbled, and I wasn't interested in picking it up. Even a few late twists didn't really redeem things for me.

Lots of others have found the story powerful, however, so if you like mean girls with a side of possible witchcraft, you may enjoy this more. 2 stars.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) in Movies

Apr 6, 2019 (Updated Apr 6, 2019)  
The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
7
7.1 (29 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Good-natured family fantasy based on Arthurian legend. Alex Elliot draws a magic sword from a stone and finds himself charged with defending Britain from an ancient sorceress, the problem being he's only twelve years old.

Scores highly on the CGI spectacle front, and some good gags as well, but some of the learning-and-growing stuff feels a bit laborious and it's probably about twenty minutes too long. Child acting is mostly acceptable and Patrick Stewart is always good value, even though he's hardly in it. Given the film is trying hard to hit the same beats as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, and mostly succeeding, it's a little hard to see why it has turned out to be such a flop; a victim of too many other dud films based on classic mythology leaving a bad taste in the mouth, I guess. No-one involved in this one has any real reason to feel ashamed of themselves, anyway.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Gods Of Egypt (2016) in Movies

Mar 17, 2018  
Gods Of Egypt (2016)
Gods Of Egypt (2016)
2016 | Action, Sci-Fi
4
5.5 (15 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Entertainingly bad
Let's face it, you know a film with Gerard Butler in it is never going to be good. But at least with Gods of Egypt it's that bad it's vaguely entertaining.

It's take on Egyptian mythology is actually an interesting one and it's just a shame they decided to take some of it too far with over the top and pretty naff CGI. Gerard Butler hams it up and it's quite funny to listen to his accent constantly switching between English, Scottish and American. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau is a good actor but he's given absolutely nothing to work with here other than a terrible cheesy and stilted script. Brenton Thwaites isn't too bad either but he does seem to be playing a very similar character to that of the latest Pirates film.


This is one of those films you watch just to laugh at how bad it is. And fortunately for this, I've seen worse!
  
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Merissa (13353 KP) rated The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry #1) in Books

Dec 17, 2018  
TS
The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry #1)
Guy Gavriel Kay | 1992
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first thing I would say about this book is that it is a slow burner. For probably the first third of the book, you are wondering about whether to carry on or not (the first time you read it at least!) but if you can stick with it, it does become worth your while.

The history and mythology that GGK has put into the Fionavar Tapestry are things that dreams are made of - certainly for every Fantasy fan.

One of the common complaints about this book seems to be that the five friends adjust too well to their 'new' world. My reply is that it's amazing how normal things can seem to be when you're with friends :o)

This book is an excellent introduction to the series and also sets the second book up very nicely.

This trilogy, along with Tigana by the same author, firmly remains on my Favourites shelf!