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Jennifer Fox recommended My Brilliant Friend in TV (curated)

 
My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend
2018 | Drama, Mystery

"This extraordinary series, based on the collection of books, portrays the story of two young girls and their friendship over time. What is astounding to me is the agency and the “voice” of the two young prepubescent girls that is shown in ways rarely seen on screen. Psychologist Carol Gilligan, wrote extensively of the ways in which girl’s voices are squashed and eradicated by puberty. Likewise, filmmakers rarely portray this vital stage in young girl’s development. As the series progress and the two girls age, their female characters are impacted, twisted, and crushed by the pressure of society. It’s rare that one actually witnesses the crushing of girls into adults in such an exquisitely truthful manner. How these two girls struggle to survive and thrive under the pressures of marriage and sexuality and lack of educational access clamping down on them with their identity intact is brilliant. At the end of season one, I had the rarest experience: I felt like I had just finished one episode, not eight, as if I was at the very beginning of the story, not the end, and I longed for more narrative to come."

Source
  
TJ
The Jewel (The Lone City, #1)
Amy Ewing | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.9 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
My goodness. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book and I struggled through the 1st have but that ending!!! Holy mangos was that good!

Royalty comes with its perks in the Jewel but it also comes with its flaws.
 Royalty cannot bear their own children (well they can but they come out deformed and pass away).
 So they seek and purchase Surrogates. Once a female who has hit puberty test positive to be a Surrogate they are taken and kept at a facility to be auctioned off to these Royals.

We follow the story of Violet and her journey after being sold.

This story does have a romance but the story is more politically driven.

There were some faults that made this book a 4 instead of a 5.

Firstly the beginning just exploded with information and didn't really easy you into the plot. There were multiple times I had to reread the sections to understand what was going on or who certain people were.

Secondly the romance in this didn't give us much build up. I mean I do like the couple but there was not much to go progression wise.

Other than that this book was beautifully written and once I pushed through the 1st half I could not put it down.

Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
  
Aladdin (2019)
Aladdin (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical
The colors, choreography is remarkable (0 more)
In my opinion, two cast members were off. (0 more)
Will definitely keep your attention.
So I'm a big fan of the Disney classic and was looking forward to this. Right from the start I believe they got Aladdin cast member wrong. Sorry he has a freaking 5 o clock shadow through the majority of the film and hairy ass arms. I thought part of the magic was that the love story between two people at most 20 years of age. So yea not a fan of the post puberty Aladdin. The man sings and acts great however.

Will Smith as the genie was a welcome surprise. He brought his own majic to the part so not to dishonor the legend Robin Williams. The film is great because it is based off of Disney's Aladdin so it is not a word for word live action and even includes two new songs that hold up to the originals.

Another cast member I thought was missing major personality was Jasmine's father. Sure he looked the part but he was not fat or jolly and had a droll type manor. Despite these few differences the movie entertained my son and I and almost felt like a new movie. Snore factor of 0/10 great.
PS I miss Gilbert Godfrey as the birds voice.
  
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JT (287 KP) rated Good Boys (2019) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
Good Boys (2019)
Good Boys (2019)
2019 | Comedy
Kids, they say the funniest things – or in the case of Good Boys, some of the dirtiest and rudest you’ll hear leave a tweens mouth. Baby faced Jacob Tremblay plays Max, a young boy approaching the outer reaches of puberty. His childhood friends Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon) equally have problems of their own. One is losing his parents to divorce and the other is fighting a tough exterior to pursue an ambition to sing.

In a basic plot, the trio, who call themselves the ‘beanbag boys’, need to replace Max’s Dad’s drone after using it to do some aerial reconnaissance. The boys are desperate to learn the right way to kiss a girl after being invited to a party by the cool kids at school.

The group find themselves in all sorts of trouble on a four mile adventure to the mall, from infiltrating a drug deal in a frat house to the sale of a sex doll – not to mention the most effective way to put back a dislocated shoulder.

Good Boys is littered with harmless gags but the script does feel a little bland and awkward at times. Its foul-mouthed humour can become stale and it’s by no means on the same level as Superbad or even American Pie for that matter.

What you do get is a film with the occasional laugh and the odd heartwarming moment. A solid cameo by Stephen Merchant is one of the few highlights.
  
Script of the Bridge by The Chameleons UK
Script of the Bridge by The Chameleons UK
1983 | Rock
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Here's a band that's influenced anyone who's ever heard them - including me! They were the teenage band that pulled you out of the muck of post-puberty. It made sense in a J. D. Salinger kind of way. Confronting the world, kicking against the pricks, all those sort of motifs that you get with teenage years. The Chameleons were the band that organised your attack through the crap that was going on around you. Here's a story: when we first came over in '89, I thought The Chameleons were so massive. So I thought I'd ask people, ""Hey, when are The Chameleons playing Wembley? We're here, I want to see them!"" And they'd say, ""Never heard of them mate."" So I'd be like, ""No, no, no, The Chameleons, y'know, Script Of The Bridge?"" I'd just keep asking what enormo-dome they would be playing. And I could not believe how small a cult following they had - I was stunned to hear that this band didn't have such a wide following. In my view this band was bigger than Pink Floyd. I'm now friends with Mark Burgess and have been for 30 years. I'm always marveled by the stories that he tells me from the twists and turns of the band to how they could've been big but weren't. Script Of The Bridge is one of those lingering drones in music that's always been in the background."

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Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out (2015)
2015 | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Standard Pixar affair - easy to look at, appealing to a younger audience whilst simultaneously bludgeoning adults with relatable emotional moments that make you want to curl up in a corner somewhere and weep.
Inside Out ticks all these boxes without a shadow of a doubt.

The animation is wonderful as usual and is arguably Pixar's most colourful film to date. The concept of emotions can be complex at the best of times. It's a concept that most people will struggle with for their whole lives and is something that will truly never be understood. Inside Out tackles this with aplomb, using colour coding to make it accessible to kids, and exploring just how complicated feelings can become especially as puberty begins to hit. It's very clever in its execution as well.

The majority of the story takes place in Riley's head, as her emotions Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust all struggle to keep everything balanced as she starts to hit roadblocks in her life. One thing leads to another before Joy and Sadness are ejected out of the "control centre" and desperately try to find their way back, leaving the other emotions to handle the pains of growing up.
It's one part emotional family drama, and one part bonkers sci-fi adventure, and it works really well with the help of a great voice cast.

Inside Out doesn't quite hit the lofty heights of the best Pixar efforts for me, but it's still damn good and surely will appeal to everyone in some way, no matter what age your are.