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Liege & Lief by Fairport Convention
Liege & Lief by Fairport Convention
1969 | Rock
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"My favourite song is 'Farewell, Farewell' which is this beautiful arrangement, awesome songwriting and then Sandy Denny's voice is just so haunting. But that album is masterfully arranged, masterfully recorded and I love the drum sounds. We were always trying to get the drum sounds to be more Fairport - it's so economical but really funky at the same time and they just have a lot of crazy meters that you don't even notice are shifting from 7/8 to 4/4 because it's carried by these strong folk song lyrics and melodies. But that was a big touchstone for us, especially some of the fiddle style parts. I think Richard Thompson is one of the coolest guitarists out there and there's a Richard & Linda Thompson album, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, the title song of which is featured on this HBO show [Enlightened]. I thought. ""Is this a Liz Phair song from 1993, what is this?"" and then you discover it and think this song's fucking awesome. Her voice is definitely not as good as Sandy Denny's but it's probably more suited for that kind of 70s pop rock. But there's also this really great song on that album called 'The Calvary Cross', which could be a Lungfish song. He's just a dude who was way ahead of his time and more interesting than someone like Jimmy Page, who's been played to death and is such a rip-off artist!"

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Beth Orton recommended Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake in Music (curated)

 
Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake
1969 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I picked this, but it's virtually impossible to pick one [Drake record] and not another. There is no inconsistency in Nick Drake as far as I'm concerned, he's just extraordinary. I picked this one because I had to pick an album, I had to put him in there and I could't choose all the albums. I think I did this very honestly - that was the first record I heard by him, and I thought I'll be honest and I'll be loyal to that! 'Time Has Told Me', 'River Man' - it just has so many fucking great songs on it! 'Cello Song', 'Fruit Tree'; it's kind of the classic songs. I don't know what to say about Nick Drake - it's like trying to talk about air or your arm, or just something that's so much a part of your life and has been for so long now. If you want an introduction to Nick Drake, just start there; it's a great place to start. I've never tried to deliberately replicate him, but there's a song on my new album that's a complete rip-off of a guitar intro to one of his songs! It wasn't until Tom [Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers] walked in and went ""ah yeah, Nick Drake, great"" and I was like ""really?!"" And it was right under my nose - I think he's just become such a part of my... everything, I'd never even noticed that I'd gone ahead and done that."

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Logan Eccles (135 KP) rated Brightburn (2019) in Movies

Oct 1, 2020 (Updated Oct 2, 2020)  
Brightburn (2019)
Brightburn (2019)
2019 | Horror
A reimagination of Super-Man you diddnt know you needed
Contains spoilers, click to show
I am shocked by how many bad reviews this masterpiece has on here! The story, the filming, and the acting is outstanding. I love the idea of what if Super-Man was in the horror/suspenseful thriller instead of superhero/action. The comparison between the two stories is so good but it's still just different enough not to be dismissed as a bad rip off. A married couple on a farm finds a baby in a spaceship. Baby grows up and has superpowers. Now, this is where it gets different, the child develops psychopath type tendencies. Collecting pictures of organs, stalking, obsessing over guns, and excessive knowledge of animals.

This cast guys is so good and so right for this story. Elizabeth Banks and David Denman are a sweet convincing couple and bring the emotion and realities of if this happened. Elizabeths take on how a mother would respond to her child being a psychopathic killer is so raw and realistic. Throughout the movie, she reacts as if she knows but doesn't want to accept it and of course that's how a mother would react, mother knows Best but mother also protects. David Denmans take on a protective husband and suspicious father is so unique in storytelling. I mean of course he's going to let his sterile wife keep the baby from the woods but that's not his baby he don't know where that thing came from, but it makes his wife happy. Last but not least Jackson A. Dunn is bound to rise in stardom after his stellar performance.

Also, I usually don't like spoiling but watch the credits please cause it sets up a possible sequel and universe. Micheal Rooker pops up mid-credits as like a crazy youtube theorist guy. He starts going off about superpower being sightings and how they are out there killing people and terrorizing the world. It even shows a line up of potential super-powered horror villains for possible movies.
  
    Touchgrind Skate 2

    Touchgrind Skate 2

    Games and Entertainment

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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Umbrella Academy in TV

Mar 7, 2019 (Updated Mar 7, 2019)  
The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy
2018 | Action, Fantasy
Characters (1 more)
SFX
One For A Rainy Day
A few years ago when I heard the guy from My Chemical Romance had wrote a graphic novel, it peaked my interest, but after reading up on some reviews of the book, it just sounded like a rip-off of other properties like Watchmen and X-Men and to be honest I wasn't a huge fan of the obscure character designs and bizarre artwork. I never got around to reading it after this as I was kind of put off by the accusations of unoriginality and the weird art.

Then late last year, I read that there was a Netflix adaption of the show being released and my curiosity was once again peaked. After reading some of the early glowing reviews from critics, I knew that I had found my next binge.

This show is fantastic, which for the most part is owed to it's well written and well acted characters. The members of the Umbrella Academy and their various odd relationships with one another, as well as the outsiders that have interaction with them throughout the show, make the character dynamics of this show as a whole pretty unique and exciting. The cast are all brilliant, with Robert Sheehan's Klaus being the clear stand-out. He gets all of the best lines and nails the American accent that he speaks with in the show.

It is cool to get an insight into the world that the show-runners have crafted, which is as odd as it is charming. It is similar to our own world, with a few pretty drastic changes that change the dynamic of the universe in a oddly interesting way. There were points while watching the show that I was reminded of other superhero stories like Watchmen and X-Men, but instead of Umbrella Academy blatantly ripping off these other stories, it instead takes some of the best parts from its respective influences and adapts them to suit the narrative that is unfolding. It comes off as more of a wink and a nod than just a lazy copy/paste job.

I also feel like the amazing CGI work on Pogo the chimp, - who is highly intelligent and serves as the family's butler, - deserves a shout-out. It is quite possibly the best CGI that I have ever seen in a TV show and is almost on the same level as the CGI on Caesar in the Planet Of The Apes movies.

Overall, The Umbrella Academy is a stellar example of what happens when a show embraces it's influences and presents them in a coherent way in collaboration with the original story that the show itself is telling. It is not the greatest superhero story ever filmed, but it is an extremely entertaining and satisfying ride that the show takes you on over its 10 episodes and it is well worth your time.
  
FC
Final Crossing
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book through a FirstReads giveaway.

I really enjoyed the story found in this novel, and it definitely kept my interest throughout. Religion coupled with politics is certainly something that is at the forefront of our society right now, and the ways in which they were used and interacted together in the plot was very intriguing. I also liked how it bounced back and forth between the points of view of Jonas and Rudiger so the reader could gain perspective on the story from both sides.

However, there were quite a lot of proofreading errors in my copy, which was not labeled as a proof or anything other than an off-the-shelf edition. While I am not one to avidly search for such things, read with a red pen in hand, or anything of that nature, there were just too many to ignore. There were even a few in back-to-back sentences. That is the reason I dropped a star from my rating.

All-in-all, "Final Crossing" is a great suspense thriller where religion is used to bolster the thoughts of a serial killer into believing he's doing the work of God, eventually crossing paths with a Senator's Chief of Staff. However, if you're the type to rip your eyes out when you see a typographical or grammatical error, you might want to step away from this one, or at least take a couple deep breaths first.

4 stars