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Adam Lambert recommended track Zombie by The Cranberries in Something Else by The Cranberries in Music (curated)

 
Something Else by The Cranberries
Something Else by The Cranberries
2017 | Alternative
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"It's such a cool song and it so represents that sound, the grunge of the 90s. I’ve just turned 37, so for me with the 90s’ I remember all the music that was out, I remember turning on MTV and seeing all the music videos and hearing all these songs. Rock videos were at their height at that point - at least in America - I know in the UK you had a little more pop than we did earlier on, but rock music was just everywhere. “This song reminds me of me coming out of adolescence and smoking cigarettes for the first time, trying rebellious teenage things like sneaking out of the house and going with my friends to the beach without our parents knowing; things that were kind of wrong. Now I look back, they were pretty harmless, but it was me kind of being a rebel for the first time as a teenager. “’Zombie’ reminds me of a couple of close friends. Actually, the girl that played it for me passed away about eight years later. It reminds me of her and that time."

Source
  
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
1955 | Classics, Drama

"Last but not least, man, will be a classic that really holds up and it’s not a comedy. I don’t want to end this on a neutral or serious note, but Rebel Without a Cause, man. I really, really dig that movie. I really dig that movie and I really dig James Dean. I dig what he was about. I’ve watched interviews and movies about him and stuff, and I just dig him as an artist and I really think that that captures… It’s a coming-of-age story, too, but it’s not the ones that we’re used to — that we’re going to laugh at and feel like, “Oh, they won out.” He’s coming from a very dark place as a teenager, which we all go through. I’m sure a lot of us haven’t been in the darkness as long as his character has, but we get how that feels and it’s kind of cool to see him simmering in that emotion. It’s not anticipated at all, so it’s really seamless. It’s really nice to see. You kind of see him growing up in, like, the scrappiest version it can look like."

Source
  
40x40

Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Fire in Books

Nov 23, 2023  
Fire
Fire
Kristin Cashore | 2009 | Young Adult (YA)
8
7.5 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
175 of 235
Book
Fire (Graceling Realm 2)
By Kristin Cashore
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

She is the last of her kind...

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.


This was really good. I was expecting it to carry on from Book1 but it doesn’t it follows the story of Fire and another world we do get a mention of Graceling which is how we find it’s another world but not till the end. So this is Fires story and she’s considered a monster in a world where the monsters are beautiful and bright but deadly. She has the power to control minds and is feared she goes to help the king and all sorts of events unfold. It’s a really good YA and I’m starting to like this writers style.
  
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
2016 | Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Putting the “Wars” back into “Star Wars”.
Expectations have been sky-high for this first in the ‘add-in’ series of Star Wars films. But with director Gareth Edwards at the helm, whose past movie track-record includes just the low-budget “Monsters” and the less than memorable “Godzilla“, I was frankly concerned.
But the English guy (with the Welsh name) has seriously delivered!
“Rogue One” (I have omitted the inane and irritating suffix “: A Star Wars Story”) tells the story behind the story of the original Episode IV: “A New Hope”. Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything“) plays Jyn Erso, daughter to Imperial weapons expert Mads Mikkelsen (“Doctor Strange“, “Casino Royale”). An interrupted childhood leads the delinquent Jyn on a personal journey to become a leader in the fragmenting Rebel Alliance, as a small band of heroes battle to obtain the plans for the Empire’s planet-zapping Death Star. Will they succeed (this is hardly a question worth asking given the start of Episode IV!) and at what cost?

I’m throwing it out there…. this is the best Star Wars film since “The Empire Strikes Back”. The story (John Knoll and Gary Whitta) is almost Shakespearean in its scope, leading to a moving and memorable finale. As a standalone episode within the Star Wars canon – chronologically positioned as it between “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” and “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” – the film marvellously knits the two together bringing in cameos from Episode III as well as (very surprising) cameos from Episode IV, now nearly 40 years old. The screenplay (by Chris “About a Boy” Weitz and Tony Gilroy, writer of the “Bourne” films) is whip-smart with great lines.
For Star Wars fans the film is also chock full of ‘Easter Eggs’ from the original Star Wars. All of these are great fun but – frankly – some don’t make a lot of sense: for example, a chance encounter with a character in the streets of Jedha City doesn’t gel with what happens an hour or two later.

After Rey in last December’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” we again see another kick-ass heroine and a further cinematic nod towards girl-power in the movies. But this is a nuanced heroine with more than a hint of darkness about her. Felicity Jones plays her perfectly, reflecting her transition from teenage rebel to rebel-leading teen.
In general, the darkness continues throughout the supporting cast with some of the heroes – notably the impressive Diego Luna (“The Terminal”) as Cassian Andor – managing to do some very anti-heroic things at points in the story. The rest of the cast, and especially Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang as dynamic martial arts duo Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, generate the warm fuzzies enough for you – as the audience – to really care for what happens to them. This even extends to the lump of metal in the frame – the droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) – who could be the film’s Jar Jar Binks but manages instead to steal the best comic lines in the film.

Elsewhere Forest Whitaker (“Arrival“) is underused as rebel guerilla Saw Gerrera; Mads Mikkelsen adds gravitas to a key strategic role; and Ben Mendelsohn makes for a memorable Imperial villain. The only slightly irritating character in an otherwise stellar ensemble cast is pilot Rodhi Rook (played by Riz Ahmed from “Jason Bourne“): more for the rather pointless way his character is written than for the Londoner’s portrayal per se.
An equal member of the cast is the sublime music of Michael Giacchino, having the unenviable task of following John Williams into the Star Wars franchise. But he does a great job. After the shock of the non-traditional opening (and an abrupt and rather out of place Title shot) the style settles down, with some of the swelling music in the closing reel adding tremendously to the emotion of the finale.

The film is not quite perfect though. The first half of the film could have moved on a bit quicker to get to the breathtaking finale. And even though CGI has moved on significantly from the stick men and women walking around on the deck in “Titanic” in 1997, the state of the art (no spoilers, but you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen the film) still has room for some improvement. (Perhaps the first of these scenes could have been as subliminal as the last for better effect).
An outstanding effort, and one I definitely want to watch again. The Bluray version will also be a ‘must-buy’ when it emerges, since – with 4 to 5 weeks of re-shoots done in the summer, and many scenes in the trailer not appearing in the final cut – there must be an enormous number of deleted (original?) scenes that may tell a very different story from the one we saw this week.
Disney must be so, so pleased at their very expensive investment in Star Wars, and fears that the Mouse would trash the brand seem to be – thankfully – unfounded.
  
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Drama, War
During the opening credits of Jojo Rabbit, we're treated to The Beatles singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" while documentary footage plays showing crowds of Germans going absolutely nuts for Hitler, sieg-heiling and cheering for him. It's a fairly good indication of the kind of humour you can expect from Jojo Rabbit and writer/director Taika Waititi, who hit the big time after directing 'Thor Ragnarok', but has previously been responsible for a wide range of brilliantly quirky movies such as 'What We Do in the Shadows' and 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople'.

We begin by meeting 10 year old German boy, Johannes 'Jojo' Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis), as he nervously prepares to head off to Nazi youth camp in order to fulfill his dream of serving Adolf Hitler. Heading up the camp is one-eyed Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell), aided by a bunch of inept instructors, including Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson) and Finkel (Alfie Allen). At the camp, boys get to play with knives and hand grenades, girls are taught the importance of having babies (Fraulein Rahm has given birth to 18!), while all of the children are taught about the evil monsters that are the Jews. Accompanying Jojo at the camp are best friend Yorki (a brilliant Archie Yates, soon to be starring in the recently announced remake of Home Alone) and Jojo's imaginary friend Hitler (Taika Waititi). When Jojo refuses to wring the neck of rabbit during a lesson on killing (earning him the nickname Jojo Rabbit), and is hospitalised following an unfortunate incident with a grenade, he is forced to leave the camp behind, returning home to be with his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson).

While his mother is out during the day, Jojo discovers a teenage Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) hiding out in the wall-space of his sisters bedroom. Jojo is initially shocked, and repulsed, by this hideous Jew, even more so when he discovers that it was his mother who was responsible for hiding her. As time goes on though, Jojo and Elsa begin to form a friendship, with Elsa feeding Jojo a series of made up ridiculous stories and tales regarding the origins and ways of Jews so that Jojo can write a book about them. All the while, Rosie remains completely unaware that Jojo knows anything of Elsa. The bumbling, goofy Hitler occasionally shows up too when Jojo needs words of encouragement, or when times are tough, and provides us with some welcome light relief. More humour is provided in the form of various smaller characters, including gestapo member Stephen Merchant and his team during what is essentially a pretty serious and dramatic scene as they show up and ransack Jojo's house.

But Jojo Rabbit is a movie about relationships. The Jojo/Hitler dynamic begins to take a backseat as things start to get more serious and we focus more on the bond between Jojo and his mother, and the relationship between Jojo and Elsa, as the final months of the war play out. The child actors in Jojo Rabbit are all outstanding and we also get to see a wonderfully different side to Scarlett Johansson. Sam Rockwell is hilarious and Rebel Wilson is just, well, Rebel Wilson! Occasionally though, we are dealt an unexpected gut punch, and it's fair to say that you'll be crying at Jojo Rabbit just as much as you'll be laughing. If I'm honest, I really wasn't expecting that side to Jojo Rabbit and it did more for me and my enjoyment of the movie than the comedy did, which wasn't really as laugh out loud as I thought it would be. Overall though, Jojo Rabbit is simply wonderful - funny, heartbreaking, sad and poignant - and unlike anything you've ever seen before.
  
The Hustle (2019)
The Hustle (2019)
2019 | Comedy
The Hustle stars Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as a pair of con artists who extract money from men using their feminine wiles. Hathaway and Wilson have a great chemistry on screen and some of the physical humor had me laughing so hard that my eyes were watering from laughter. Other times the jokes fell so flat I cringed, especially early on with the lampooning of male behavior so over the top that it seemed like an SNL bit rather than a part of a story they were trying to tell. It takes the movie a while to get its feet underneath it and really start running, but it does eventually get there.

What I didn’t realize going into this movie was that it is actually a reboot of the Steve Martin, Michael Caine and the late Glenne Headly classic, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. As soon as you realize this you know exactly how the story will go down to the last punch line. That is a real bummer for fans of the original because you know one of the biggest end reveals about half way through the movie.

Knowing the twist at the end doesn’t ruin the movie, but it did take a lot of the fun out of it and I wish they changed the twist to outsmart the audience who knew they were following the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels playbook.

Rebel Wilson plays off Anne Hathaway really well, I’d actually like to see them do something original together in the future. The chemistry reminds me of David Spade and Chris Farley with Hathaway playing the straight man and Wilson playing the physical comedian. The best parts of this movie are when these two are facing off in a scene trying to outdo one another.

I can’t say this enough; I really wish they changed the twist at the end so that I could have enjoyed it more because I really wanted to like it. Those who have never seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels may enjoy it more than I did. The lady behind me was so shocked with the twist reveal at the end that her gasp was audible across the theater, so obviously not everyone has seen the original.

Because of the big laughs I did have while watching this movie I can’t say I hated the movie, it was definitely good for some laughs. But the con of the movie is to get you into the theater without you realizing that it’s just a replica reboot of a classic.
  
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Elena Favilli, Francesca Cavallo | 2017 | Biography
10
9.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Detailed, accessible, fun for all, wonderful illustrations (0 more)
Nothing (0 more)
Fabulously feminist, and a wonderfully fun read to boot
If I could give this more stars, I would.

Yes, I know the title indicates this book is for rebel girls. I am a mother of two fairly rebellious boys - but felt it was every bit as relevant for them as it was for females! After all, why shouldn't boys read about fabulous, inspirational women too?

This book is an absolute thing of beauty - 100 accessible, creatively written tales of women who helped to shape the world we live in. The illustrations are superb, and it hits just the right note with my two kids (5 and 7). They were initially suspicious that it was going to be one of those 'educational' books, but a few stories in and they were hooked.

People with boys, don't be deterred from buying this book, simply because the title indicates a female bias. It's so important that we start recognising the achievement of women (past and present) because they've so often been ignored - and both girls and boys can benefit from this. Also - a word of warning, grown-ups are likely to get a bit hooked on it too. :-)
  
Rebel Jewel (Jewel Chronicles #3)
Rebel Jewel (Jewel Chronicles #3)
Natalina Reis | 2019 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rebel Jewel is the culmination of the Jewel Chronicles, and we reunite with Milenda and Jaali as they return to Ntale, determined to rid the people from the Elders' rule, and free all the indents. This is the third book in the series, and they DO follow on, so you will need to have read the first two to get the fullest enjoyment from this one.

They have only been together for three years, but so much has happened to both Milenda and Jaali during that time. Jaali was a contestant for Milenda's hand. Milenda moved to Jaali's homeland, and undertook all that entailed. They had a daughter. And now they are returning home, to right the wrong, and to set Milenda back into succession for the throne.

As with the previous two books, there is a richness of character to the story, a depth that will entice you in. There is plenty of action to keep you turning the pages, with an intricate storyline that will keep your attention. A great finish to the story.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
1983 | Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Ewoks (1 more)
R2-D2
May The Force Be With You: The End
Return of the Jedi- is the final movie out of the oringal trilogy. So is it my favorite one, no. The 4th one is my favorite one, it goes 4, 6, 5. It has good scenes like the battle between luke and the rancor, the battle planet desert beast, the battle on edor and the battle between Luke, Dark Vader and the Emperor.

The plot: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) battles horrible Jabba the Hut and cruel Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) reaffirm their love and team with Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), the Ewoks and the androids C-3PO and R2-D2 to aid in the disruption of the Dark Side and the defeat of the evil emperor.

I realize that these movie are slow, and it takes it time to build up suspense. Which can be good, but its bad because i fall alseep, cause its boring.

Other than that, Return of the Jedi, is the end of the oringal trilogy and a good end to a excellent trilogy.

May The Force Be With You.
  
The Selection
The Selection
Kiera Cass | 2012 | Children
9
7.9 (48 Ratings)
Book Rating
141 of 230
Kindle
The Selection ( Book 1)
By Kiera Cass
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


I absolutely loved it!! I can’t begin to describe how much I loved this book. The world building and social standings were well written. The characters are all interesting. The story is so good it kept me wanting to read more. This is my first book by this author and I will definitely be reading more! A real Cinderella feel!