Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman
Book
'Lindy West is an essential (and hilarious) voice for women. Her talent and bravery have made the...
Leon Trotsky: A Revolutionary's Life
Book
Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein in southern Ukraine, Trotsky was both a world-class intellectual and a...
Lockdown on Rikers
Book
Mary Buser began her career at Rikers Island as a social work intern brimming with ideas, ready to...
The Thurber Carnival
Book
The hilarious writing of James Thurber, author of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty', collected in...
Brave Punk World: The International Rock Underground from Alerta Roja to Z-off
Book
Punk rock may have started in the United Kingdom and United States but it certainly didn't stay in...
Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli's Lifelong Quest for Freedom
Book
One needs to be a fox to recognize snares, and a lion to frighten the wolves Niccolo Machiavelli...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) in Movies
Jun 16, 2020 (Updated Jun 16, 2020)
The film-makers seem to have noticed the theoretical issues with the plot of the book - the main character has no real agency and is merely an onlooker - and fixed this by introducing a subplot in which Moreau experiments on him, thus setting up a reasonably elegant action-adventury sort of climax complete with happy ending. This does put the film rather at odds with Wells, though, and gets in the way of exploring the book's actual themes - its somewhat problematic subtexts about social control and the different sort of uplift attempted by the British Empire are still there if you look for them, seemingly by accident. Enough of the book's imagery and ideas survive to make this worthwhile viewing and probably the most rewarding adaptation, but really - read the novel as well.
Duff McKagan recommended A Shape of Punk to Come by Refused in Music (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Serial Mom (1994) in Movies
Jul 4, 2021
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵!"
𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵: 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐. Does anyone do the satirization of stuck-up suburban values as originally and/or as brutally entertaining as John Waters? Most other directors would have turned this into a threadbare lecture that refused to have any sort of fun. But here we have this beautiful concoction of B-movie theatrics, gore, pitch-perfect performances, jovial filth, rock-solid lampooning, and A1 comedy - so lovingly inspired by low-budget camp and slashers of the 60s-80s that it honestly could pass off as one in many respects. Kathleen Turner is a live wire - in one of the most religiously entertaining female performances of all time, it has a blast radius that would make a military warhead quake. This is the type of role that just demands your attention, perpetually switching between these polar opposite demeanors at the drop of a hat with expert-level talent and all game for the ensuing absurdity. Which on its own would have been enough to carry 93 minutes of fun but then the film is also super clever and uproarious without rest. Had an ear-to-ear smile on my face for most of the runtime and laughed so often that my mouth began to give out mid-laugh due to the muscles simply being too worn out from overwork. Quotable as fuck and every scene is memorable, a total killer.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and More: 101 Stories of Angels, Divine Intervention, Answered Prayers and Messages from Heaven
Book
These true personal stories of angels, answered prayers, messages from heaven, miraculous healing...