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Just Mercy (2019)
Just Mercy (2019)
2019 | Drama
Superb legal drama
A very topical film at the moment, telling the true story of a man ending up on death row after a dubious murder trial with negligible evidence weighed up against copious amounts of evidence of his innocence. As usual, it is the story of the police and DA being under pressure to convict someone of the crime and finding an easy target.
Jordan plays young lawyer Bryan Stevenson who moves to Alabama to fight for justice for death row convicts. Among many cases he meets Jonny D (Foxx), who initially refuses to fight any more despite the paper-thin conviction he received. Persuaded, the pair start their fight against the system, met time and time again with prejudice, injustice and an unfair system that is unwilling to review past cases.
The irony of this unfolding in the town that is so proud to have been where Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, the story of a black man facing an unfair trial accused of crime against a young white female, was not lost on me. This wasn't made much of in the film, I would guess out of respect for the family of the actual murder victim here, and not wanting to suggest a parallel with the false crime in the book.
The film does well to portray the racial injustice, unbalanced legal system and prejudice experienced by the authorities and smalltown America, but not overdo it. This leaves the viewer to mull it on their own, which is especially important to do in the current climate.
An excellent film that gets the balance right between story, faithfulness to the facts and sewing thoughts and parallels with modern day life.
  
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
1936 | Classics, Comedy, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This is between Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Hmm, I’m going to go with Mr. Deeds. Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur. It’s just an amazing film. It’s very funny. Longfellow Deeds is the main character, Gary Cooper plays him and he’s so appealing. I think it’s the definition of appeal. So Longfellow Deeds is this guy who lives in this tiny town, he’s makes a living writing greeting cards. Just a sweet guy. There’s a distant relative who’s this gigantic millionaire. Has a huge fortune. So this industrialist dies in New York City and they trace [him] down, he’s the only heir to this huge fortune. So they bring him to New York and now he runs this company. [But] this really ace reporter for the local paper wants to get the dirt on him, and [she’s played by] Jean Arthur. So she waits for him to come out and she acts like she’s starving, like she’s a homeless woman during the Depression. So he picks her up and feeds her some food and they start doing things together. And he absolutely falls in love with her. But, so, there’s all this dirt that’s coming out in the newspapers and they don’t know how it’s happening. But the scene…it starts very funny, but, again, it’s that heart, it’s balancing humor and heart that Frank Capra did so well, the scene in which he finds out the woman he’s fallen in love with is actually the one who’s doing all the dirt is one of the most emotional scenes in the film. And it’s so underplayed. So beautifully underplayed. He gets behind this column but you know he’s crying. And he can’t bear anyone to see him. It’s so incredibly moving and touching."

Source
  
I got this as a freebie a few months ago as I hunted for books to finish my Paranormal Roman & Urban Fantasy A-Z challenge on Goodreads.

This starts with Avaline doing her job as a lifeguard at the lake when she is attacked with magic by two assailants who know her name. She wakes up a month later to learn she, too, has magic. A dangerous magic. She has two choices and decides to stay at the school to learn how to control her vox magic.

I can't decide whether I liked this or not.

Everything was happening so quickly in it. She meets the guys, she lusts after them, she sleeps with one of them very quickly. She gets to lessons and on her second try ever she manages to make fire. I just expected things to take time...for her to initially struggle considering she didn't even know she had magic until a day or two ago.

I struggled to connect with the characters and wasn't really convinced by their relationships. I didn't feel any real sort of chemistry going on between any of them. Once again, I feel like this bit was rushed. I get lust but... I wasn't a fan of how the author wrote the romance parts.

This story had a lot of promise but we don't really learn much of anything. Ava learns about magic in lessons but we don't get to hear it. To me it feels like a bit of paper that's been scrunched into a ball and then flattened causing creases and ripples that means some details in the story have been glossed over. It could do with expanding a little with more details on certain aspects.

At this point I don't believe I'll be reading more of this series.
  
Antics in the Forbidden Zone by Adam and the Ants / Adam Ant
Antics in the Forbidden Zone by Adam and the Ants / Adam Ant
1990 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Following on nicely from “Just What I Needed”, I went to see my Dad in Florida and he had the 12” of “Stand and Deliver” which had “Beat My Guest” on the B-side. “I was into rap at that time, Run DMC and that kind of stuff, so for a ten-year-old it was ‘What the fuck is this?’ I was blown away. I was floored by the riff and “Beat My Guest” has the ultimate guitar riff, it’s so badass. I was into the make-up as well because I was into KISS too, so I thought that was cool. I was mesmerised by the whole look. “My Dad was always one step ahead of me. I remember being with him in Michigan once, we had this cottage we’d go to with my grandparents and he joined us one year, which was really fun. He was looking in the paper to see who was playing in Detroit - which was two hours away - he found out The Dead Kennedys were playing in some tiny little club and he left to go and see them. “I remember thinking my Dad was the coolest, I was ‘What the hell does that mean? He’s into some weird shit.’ He taught me everything. He spoke to me about music, but he doesn’t play music. I acquired a lot of his records when my parents split up, he gave me that Adam Ant record and I was bawling on the plane. “The next time I went to visit my Dad I’d discovered more Adam and The Ants and I wanted to talk to him about all of these other songs I’d heard, but he was already onto the next thing, which was Devo."

Source
  
Sign of Foul Play
Sign of Foul Play
Penny Warner | 1998 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
All Signs Point to a Winner
Two earthquakes in the middle of the night made it hard for Connor Westphal to sleep. However, she is going about her Monday morning when she gets a message from her friend Dan telling her there is a news story at the construction site he is working at. When Connor arrives to get the scoop for her weekly paper, she finds that someone has discovered the dead body of Cullen Delancy. The working theory is that he fell to his death when the earthquake struck, but what was he doing on the site in the middle of the night?

I’ve got to admit, I roll my eyes a bit when I see an earthquake pop up in a story set in California, but I quickly got over that here since it made for an interesting set up to the mystery. There are plenty of twists and surprises to keep us guessing. I did figure a couple of them out early, but I was still plenty surprised when Connor pieced it together at the end. Connor is deaf, which sets her apart from other series leads, and I love seeing how that plays out in the story. She’s a strong main character, and the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. The story edges just a bit toward the outskirts of cozies, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. The book came out in 1998, and it is really amazing how much technology has changed our lives in the past couple of decades. This is a great second in the series, and I’m looking forward to visiting Connor again soon.
  
Forever Consumed (Consumed, #3)
Forever Consumed (Consumed, #3)
Skyla Madi | 2014
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Forever Consumed was the final written chapter of Olivia and Seth's story - because we all know the characters' lives continue, if not on paper. I am pleased with the ending, though *Spoiler Alert* I'm not a fan of surprise pregnancies (not that it was much of a surprise, I pretty much guessed it as soon as she started puking). I'm glad Seth got his final fight, and won, against Don. I'm glad their marriage survived an unecessary situation. I'm glad Olivia and Seth both ended up happy with having a baby, *Spoiler Alert* and I'm very pleased that they ended up having a baby girl. The main thing I was disappointed in was Olivia's reaction - or lack thereof - when she watched the video of *Spoiler Alert* Seth and Selena kissing. I expected her to brush it off at first, because she was used to doing that with Blade, but I truly felt like she should have had more of a reaction, something a little similar to how she reacted to Selena's betrayal. I'm not saying she shouldn't have forgiven Seth (I mean, it was just a kiss and it was so obvious it pained him to have done it), but that whole scene was real anti-comactic and I was disappointed to see that Olivia was more upset with Selena. However, I'm glad she finally said something to the girl, because her sudden change in personality had me wondering where Olivia's best friend went. Other than that particular situation, I loved the story. In fact, my favorite scene from the whole trilogy was when Olivia and Seth first arrived at the desert. It was nice to watch these two grow as a individuals, as a couple, and as a family. [I wouldn't mind a spinoff of Selena and Jackson, though, just saying!]
  
Rotten Men (Rotten Love Duet #2)
Rotten Men (Rotten Love Duet #2)
Ivy Fox | 2019 | Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sooo good
Contains spoilers, click to show
Envy.

Such an ugly sin.

Yet, here I am guilty of it.

See, I envy you.

You who wake up in the morning not knowing what your future will entail. A blessed uncertainty filled with hope and mystery, with the potential to make it whatever you aspire it to be.

Must be nice — to open your eyes and dream of such a promising existence.

I have no such hopeful misguided notions.

My fate has been written down on crumpled paper, made smooth and immaculate by bloody tainted hands for the outside world to behold, since the day I was conceived.

There is no happily ever after for me but I’ve come to terms with my gilded golden cage long ago.

It’s their destiny that keeps me up at night — the pieces of my soul.

They are the ones who I would defy the devil himself for and stare true evil in the eye, taunting it to do its worst.

There is nothing I wouldn’t do for them, yet I know the wheel of fortune is not in our favor.

So, yes — I envy you.

While you dream of your colorful tomorrow, I dread its grayish arrival.

You see, we were all born rotten.

And rotten girls and boys don’t deserve a fairytale ending.

Rotten Girl is the first book in the duet -A Rotten Love



<strong>Sssoooo good</strong>

I loved this duet. Felt so good to finally see Selene home with her men! There is something to love in each of her men. I think I internally cheered when butcher was taken out,I'm also glad it was by her hand with both him an Ciro . Ivy Fox has a really good writing style that keeps you gripped from start to finish.



⭐⭐⭐⭐