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Tell Me It's Real (At First Sight, #1)
Tell Me It's Real (At First Sight, #1)
T.J. Klune | 2013
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This review and more can be found at my blog
https://aromancereadersreviews.blogspot.com
A Romance Reader's Reviews

Well, right from the start this had me laughing as Paul introduced himself. It was very frank and pretty much laugh-out-loud at times. He doesn't have the best opinion of himself, bless him, but he's so fun. And then he meets eyes with Vince while out at his friends drag queen performance at a bar/club and things go from there. Vince is not backing down about his intentions to date Paul, while Paul cannot believe that this younger, attractive, really nice if slightly dumb man, wants him and fights it tooth and nail.

They have a text conversation about a third of the way through the book that almost had me laughing like an idiot. The text faces that Vince was sending Paul were frigging hilarious. The Sex Face one is going to stick with me for a long time: >_<

And let's not forget Paul's parents. Oh. My. God! They are so funny it's not fair. I almost had tears streaming down my face at one point. They all go to nan's house for a meal and ignoring Johnny Depp, the homophobic parrot, they get into a conversation about how they met and it's stuff like this that has me crying with laughter at times. Vince, bless him. Not the smartest but he's a real sweetheart.
"He was choking to death in a restaurant," Vince explained
"I was not!" I said.
"On like a burrito or something."
"It was spinach."
"Anyway, he would have died had I not done the haemorrhoid manoeuvre."
"Heimlich. It's Heimlich."

There were so many conversations like this, with some crazy stuff being discussed and I LOVED it! They were such a cute couple and they gelled so well. It was so obvious they truly needed each other at the time that they found each other. Paul needed to let himself be loved and Vince needed someone to be there for him after a family issue. It was amazing!

I'm going to be keeping my eye out for other books in this series.
  
    Hamburg

    Hamburg

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Tabletop Game

    Hamburg is a card game in which each card has five different uses, and players must cleverly choose...

Studio 666 (2022)
Studio 666 (2022)
2022 | Comedy, Horror
If you like Foo Fighters, if you like metal, if you like The Evil Dead, then Studio 666 will be right up your street.
Considering that none of them are actors, the whole band do a pretty decent job here. Even the more awkward moments are played off nicely with a frequently funny script. The Foos have a well documented history of goofy music videos with a specific brand of humour, and Studio 666 definitely carries the same vibe over its feature length runtime. There are some familiar faces peppered throughout to pad up the cast. Jeff Garlin appears, being very Jeff Garlin. Leslie Grossman from American Horror Story, up-and-coming scream queen Jenna Ortega, and bonafide legend John Carpenter bring the horror credentials. A cameo from Lionel Richie (alongside a legit jump scare) and Slayer's Kerry King cover the music side of things, and the comedy is represented by the likes of Whitney Cummings and Will Forte. It's a pretty decent cast that surround Dave and the boys.
After the initial set up, proceedings do drag a fair bit in the middle, before everything goes full blown batshit. The gore in this movie is pretty ridiculous, and practically done for the most part with some impressive effects work. There's one kill in particular involving a chainsaw which is easily one of the gnarliest I've seen in a while. Even the CG demons don't look too shabby. As mentioned earlier, The Evil Dead has a huge part to play here, and the film is clearly influenced by it and its sequel, from the gratuitous blood sprays (and a blood filled lightbulb) to the way certain shots are framed, to an evil book made of human flesh, the whole project feels like one big homage.

Studio 666 is silly, visceral, gory fun, full of music industry jokes, a clear cut love for the horror genre, and a disgustingly riffy soundtrack. It could have quite easily been 15-20 minutes shorter, but it's a minor qualm that won't stop it from surely becoming a cult classic.
  
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
2021 | Biography, Drama, History
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
1/2 of a GREAT Movie
It is a fun surprise to be perusing all the streaming services available and tripping across a very entertaining film that, heretofore, was unknown.

Such was the case with THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN - a biography (of sorts) of the eponymous English painter, known for his fanciful portraits of cats.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (in the title role) and Written and Directed by Will Sharpe (BLACK POND) based on a story by Simon Stephenson (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sharpe), THE ELECTICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN is 1/2 of a very good (maybe even GREAT) film that falls apart in the 2nd half.

The first half of this film finds the eccentric Wain finding love and discovering his artistic talent. It is this 1/2 of the film that draws you in - and must have been what drew the talents of Sharpe, Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth in the first few seasons of THE CROWN) and Cumberbatch to this film. Cumberbatch, of course, is superb as Wain (especially in this first half) and his chemistry with Foy (who plays his love interest/wife) is tremendous and IS the reason to see this film.

However, the film shifts focus, by necessity, in the 2nd half to the rising stardom of Wain and his descent into madness. Toby Jones (as his benefactor) and the always under-rated Andrea Riseborough (OBLIVION) take center stage with Cumberbatch in this part of the film and the love, fun, whimsey and depth of the first 1/2 of the film disappears. Riseborough, particularly, suffers from a poorly written role where her character - Wain’s disapproving sister - is (in essence) the “bad guy”, so Sharpe and Stephenson replace love, warmth and support with disapproval, anger and madness. While this is true to the life that Wain lived, it didn’t make for a particularly interesting 2nd half of a film.

Come for Benedict’s and Foy’s chemistry and performances, stay for the rest because…well…it’s still pretty good.

Letter Grade: B

7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)