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Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1980 | Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Loved this film even though all three of the original films were filmed and seen before the first part of the Star Wars series. Mark Hamell, Harrison Ford, The late Carrie Fisher were the best as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Lai she soon should everyone that she was not some helpless princess who let everyone else do things while she sat back and did nothing. Her costumes were amazing, she was right in there fighting along with them to save their homelands/worlds from the Dark Lord Darth Vada. The ariel battles were fantastic. Storm Troopers were meant to be menacing when in fact they were quite funny at times. R2 D2 and 3PO where hilarious and Chewie adorable. The Jedi training was good. The shock about Luke's father I mean who would not be shocked and disgusted at finding out your father is Darth Vada and the girl you love turns out to be your sister.
  
NW
Naked We Came (Jake Travis, #5)
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I had a really hard time getting into this novel. The fact that it is fifth in a series, and I had not read the previous four, bothered me but it might not have been so bad had the author put a bit more background into the characters, often imposed without rhyme or reason, whom it felt we should already know and be familiar with. Many previous events from other novels were also referenced often which I felt was akin to joining a conversation, which had already been going on for a very long time, halfway through. The book was a bit sluggish for a large part of the story, finally hitting its stride about 3/4 of the way in. I wasn’t crazy about the cadence of the writing and sometimes it was difficult to discern who was speaking or how many people were part of a scene. Many of the situations lacked insight and seemed incredibly far fetched.
  
40x40

Colin Newman recommended Tabula Rasa by Arvo Part in Music (curated)

 
Tabula Rasa  by Arvo Part
Tabula Rasa by Arvo Part
1984 | Classical, Experimental
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"People who didn’t live through that period or weren’t old enough to know what was going on somehow imagine that there was this fantastic post-punk thing going on. That’s all made up in hindsight. Really, everything was pop of the most plastic kind. And a lot of it was quite terrible. Though I did like Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” which came out in 1984. There was a real thing in the early-to-mid ’80s about modern classical music; there was a lot of that stuff around, and those were the more interesting things. If you know Tabula Rasa and know anything about the music that I’ve been involved with, you might struggle to find how I would connect with that kind of music. But it’s not really experimental music. It’s very emotional. It doesn’t have the form of a song but it’s not far from the world that Eno was exploring with his Ambient series."

Source
  
Toy Story 4 (2019)
Toy Story 4 (2019)
2019 | Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Toy Story 4 is the sequel that no one really needed. Its one massive positive is that it manages not to ruin what the first three films created. It does somehow take characters back a step in their development though, which is slightly confusing, particularly with Buzz. Seeing this film is definitely not a waste of your time, but I don't think it can top what we've already had in the series, apart from when it comes to the animation which is truly incredible. I guarantee you'll think that within the first five minutes.
Remember to stay for the credit scenes, there are four (I think) in the first section, and then one right at the end.

(Full review here. Warning... it contains a spoiler but it's in white writing on a white background so you can read the review without seeing it, just highlight it to read my waffle. http://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/06/toy-story-4-movie-review.html)
  
Dead of Night
Dead of Night
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Second entry in Simon Scarrow's now so-called 'Berlin wartime thriller series (after Blackout), again following Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke of the Kripo (criminal police) as he first investigates the murder (as the wife of the doctor believes) - or was it suicide? (been already ruled as such) - of a SS doctor, before being told in no uncertain terms to leave it alone.

He is then pulled into an investigation of a separate murder (again, is it such? The parents believe so, but the state does not) of a child which, as events transpire, seems to have more and more to do with the death of the SS doctor.

So I could see from roughly a third of the way into this where it was going. And it is horrifying that these events - well, maybe not *these* exact events, but very very similar ones - took place routinely in 1940 Nazi Germany.

Learn from history.

So it will never be repeated.