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No Saving Throw (A Ten Again Mystery)
No Saving Throw (A Ten Again Mystery)
Kristin McFarland | 2019 | Crime, Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Save a Place for This Debut
Autumn is happy running Ten Again, the gaming store she owns in the small Wisconsin college town where she grew up. Things are going well until one of the regular gamers in the store dies in the mall. Things quickly turn on Autumn and the rest of the gamers, with some of them in particular in the police’s spotlight. But Autumn doesn’t think her gamers, who have become her friends, could really be killers. Can she prove it?

While I’m not much of a gamer, this book still sounded like lots of fun, and I was right. There are some references to geeky things, most of which I got, but if you don’t get the reference, it shouldn’t interfere with your enjoyment of the book. That’s because the mystery is strong, with lots of events and clues to keep the pages turning until we reach the logical and suspenseful climax. The characters are wonderful, and I love how much they care for each other. I also appreciated Autumn’s debates about being involved in the investigation. It felt realistic when she would try to get out before something pulled her back in. I do wish Autumn swore a little less, but that’s my only complaint about this fun debut.
  
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Hari Nef recommended Mulholland Drive (2001) in Movies (curated)

 
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
2001 | Documentary, Drama, Mystery

"What I love about Mulholland Dr. is its full commitment to and immersion in this world of chaotic femininity that almost seems to loop and has no beginning, middle, or end. It’s my favorite film, and I think it’s the best film about actresses and being an actress. How Lynch destabilizes the idea of what a realistic character is—I find that more true to the chaotic emotional reality that the film is trying to convey than something more linear. This film just plucks away at something deep and dark in the back of my monkey brain, and I can’t get enough of it. The way he uses mood and sound, and the way he has nightmarish visions and images, like the lady behind the dumpster—he just lets that hover over the film and you feel like you’re going to see her again but you never do. I know there have been criticisms of the way he portrays women, particularly white women, and white people. People critique the lack of diversity in his films, and I understand why, but I almost feel as though ideas like whiteness and femininity are characters in his films that he explodes in the way I believe they should be."

Source
  
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Jon Cryer recommended All That Jazz (1979) in Movies (curated)

 
All That Jazz (1979)
All That Jazz (1979)
1979 | Drama, Musical, Sci-Fi
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"A great, great movie that was unjustly robbed of a lot of the recognition it would have gotten, but it came out in the year of amazing other movies, you know, like Apocalypse Now and a lot of other great stuff. To this date it is the most accurate portrayal of theater folk and what it’s like to produce and be part of theater. As a theater geek all my life, I was hoping that Smash would be like that, and boy it’s not. All That Jazz nailed it, just in terms of the reality of it. But again, it would go off into those fantasies that still totally worked, and worked as incredible dance numbers, but you know, were clearly fantasy numbers inside one of the most realistic portrayals of that subculture that had never been put on screen. It’s f—ing perfect. It’s just f—ing perfect. It’s great because it’s funny, it’s cynical about the theater but also clearly loves the subject matter. You know, I grew up backstage — my parents were actors — and it just captures that world absolutely incredibly accurately. Plus, it’s just a really ballsy, artistic movie from Bob Fosse in that it incorporates a lot of strange stuff, but all of it works."

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Absence of Alice
Absence of Alice
Sherry Harris | 2020 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Seeking Stella
Sarah Winston is happily preparing a garage sale for her latest client, Alice Krandle, when she gets a phone call claiming to be from someone who has kidnapped Sarah’s landlady and friend, Stella. With clear instructions not to contact the police, she sets out to find Stella while also following the kidnapper’s strange demands. Can she find her friend in time?

Yes, this book is part thriller, but it is still part cozy as well. The balance truly works. The twists and turns kept me glued to the page. Because of the plot, the book is a bit darker than a typical cozy, but it is just a shade or two darker. One reason this book still feels cozy is the locations and characters we love are front and center. How this plot impacts the characters and their relationships is realistic and does a great job of building on what we’ve seen in previous books. There are discussions of some of the Sarah’s other cases, and they are vague enough to avoid most spoilers, but I still recommend reading the books in order. If you aren’t already a fan, you’ll be hooked in no time. And those who already know and love Sarah will be thrilled with her latest adventure.
  
Untraceable (2008)
Untraceable (2008)
2008 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
𝘜𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. Wants to be a 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘴 x Saw hybrid, ends up being 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘋𝘰𝘵𝘊𝘰𝘮 with most of the fun stuff subtracted, and if it were a piece of tacky CBS cybercrime dross. There's some real heat to the torture porn here but it's undercut by the fact that they consciously choose to rarely show it at all and overedit it to hell and back when they do (both fronts offended even worse than 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭: 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐) - instead opting to be a rote procedural where everyone dumps heavy bouts of cheesy exposition about things that it's clear no one actually knows what they're talking about, until its final moments where it takes a dumbass pivot where it decides to be a preachy, hypocritical, defanged commentary about technology which is about as non-knowledgeable as your average "Black Mirror" episode. Diane Lane gives it an honest try but it saves absolutely nothing from this lifeless white noise. One of the only positives is that it's unpredictable, but only in the sense that there's nothing to predict. At least it's one of the precious few of these things to make realistic online comments - and Lane very seriously repeats the full acronym for 'rofl' during a live snuff film. Still sucks though.
  
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Peter_mark84 (59 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Resident Evil 7 biohazard in Video Games

Jun 27, 2019  
Resident Evil 7 biohazard
Resident Evil 7 biohazard
2017 | Action/Adventure
First person scares (4 more)
Amazing graphics
Clever A.I
Intriguing story
Really challenging boss fights
Handgun is bit naff (0 more)
Scary stuff
So I have been play this for while.

Totally love the game, one of the best Resident Evils I have played. The graphics and SFX set a very tense atmosphere. The graphics in particular are very crisp and it almost looks real. This is true for Baker family and other Humans you meet.

Monsters less look realistic in comparison. Though do give great jump scare. Not sure on their official name but I call the "Venomites", The tall tendrily creatures that the Bakers seem to have are creepy as hell.

The puzzles are you standard Resident Evil fare, which is good and really enjoyable for fans of the older entries in particular.

The boss fights are something else, So far I fought Ma & Pa Baker. These were tough to beat. Using a lot of different attacks to keep you guessing. No QTEs, just good old wits, skill and hoping your ammo does not run out.

I particularly like the story, keeps you guessing and wondering if and how this fits into the rest of Resident Evil universe.

I recommend this to anyone who loves a good scary game. Just maybe don't play before bed.
  
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natmac (13 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies

Oct 14, 2019 (Updated Oct 14, 2019)  
Joker (2019)
Joker (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
Phoenix's performance is what holds the movie up, it feels realistic, desperate and sad. (2 more)
The cinematography is amazing and Gotham has never been seedier.
The third act of the film is really enjoyable and tense because of how low the stakes are and how well defined the characters are.
It straight up rips off both Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. (2 more)
It spells out the story even though I thought it was pretty obvious what was happening anyway.
Subtlety is absent from the film.
Joker is very original if you're a fan of superhero movies, but a rehash if you've seen the essential scorcesse flicks.
Contains spoilers, click to show
It would have been interesting if they took the story in a different direction and steered away from the King of Comedy Route. They should never have told you that some of the stuff that happens are hallucinations. The flashbacks were not needed at all to spell it out, I found them kinda annoying. To be honest, I don't know how I feel about the Joker's first kills being out of self defense. I like that this joker is quite different to previous interpretations, but what I love about the character is how he defies any sort of morals or logic.