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The Collection (2012)
The Collection (2012)
2012 | Action, Horror, Mystery
6
7.0 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
From the creative yet somewhat disturbed minds of Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton (Saw IV, V VI and 3D). The Collection is a suspense horror that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seats. The film is based on an insane masked killer who “collects” bodies after his victims undergo a series of macabre torture and death. Staring Josh Stewart (The Dark Knight Rises) who portrays a man named Arkin who has been tortured himself. Arkin is forced to help find Elena who is portrayed by Emma Fitzpatrick (The Social Network) who decided to attend an underground rave with her friends and was the only one who survived a brutal bloody massacre on the entire club. Christopher McDonald (“Boardwalk Empire”) is Elena’s father and is extremely wealthy and hires a team to help locate Elena and bring down this masked crazed killer. Arkin is forced to help the team by going back to the very place he had once escaped to help find Elena. The team is lead into a maze of disturbing rooms and halls booby-trapped with all sorts of insane killing machines. Will Elena and the team be able to return safely to their families?

Fans of the Saw films will find that The Collection is a spitting image of its sister movie with the same gruesome killer and horrific killing machines. Granted that the ideas may be similar the stories are quite different and executed very well. The film is very bloody yet heroic at the same time and though some scenes and dialog proved to be quite ridiculous as generated by the audience’s laughter, in the end was somewhat of an entertaining thrill ride. The film is not your run of the mill slasher film where the killer is after a young group of kids who are being chased in a forest out in the middle of nowhere. The victims in this film are all types of people who are wanted for the killers collection of gruesome horrors.

You do not need to see the previous film in the series “The Collector” to enjoy this film but the background knowledge does help with the mythos of the character.

Though the film is somewhat entertaining with all its gruesomeness, I seem to be more of a fan of the Saw franchise. Even with the same sort of plot of mice all headed for the cheese just with a bunch of death traps in the way. It just seemed as though there wasn’t really a back story and it did not expand upon the previous film that much. Granted one really is not needed it may have helped with the flow of the film. The Collection is recommended but is not a must see film and does not add to the excitement of movies to come in the coming years.
  
The White City
The White City
Grace Hitchcock | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Religion, Romance
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Characters (3 more)
The Plot Line
True Crime Elements
Writing Style
Fantastic Debut!
I am a lover of true crime, historical fiction, suspense and romance. I mean a huge lover of all of them. So, when I saw that this was the best of all of those worlds, I was ecstatic. This is a debut novel from Grace Hitchcock and let me tell you what. The detail she includes in this story, made me feel like I was right there in the center of the World’s Fair, following these awesome characters, and reaching an ending that left me wanting another story just like it.


Winnie and Jude’s characters are wonderful! I loved them so good. The detail with which Hitchcock created the scenes that Winnie saw, and went through, and how Jude fell for her, was awesome. I felt like I became Winnie and fell for Jude instantly. Jude was a sweet soul and Winnie was absolutely full of spunk and sass!

The real life serial killer aspect woven into the story was incredible. I had no idea about that time period having someone like that, and it really made the story that much more captivating. The twists and turns of the roller coaster story, seeing Winnie going “undercover” to prove to her Police Chief father that she was right, was fantastic and had me reading this book and finishing it in a 24 hour period.

If you love historical novels, love the thrills of a great suspense story, and enjoy reading a God-filled romance book, then look no further than this 4 star debut. Ms. Hitchcock has extreme talent and is sure to be on the best sellers list before long! I sing the praises of this story loudly and can’t wait for the next book from this talented author, as well as another incredible installment in this new series from Barbour!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*
  
Untamed (Thoughtless, #4)
Untamed (Thoughtless, #4)
SC Stephens | 2015 | Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh, Griffin... (smh). First off, I am a HUGE fan of the Thoughtless series. This is one of my all-time TOP favorite series. SC Stephens has a way of writing that brings you so close to the characters that you feel as if you know them personally. I was completely caught up emotionally in this series from day one and I still carry it with me. It's almost scary his much this series affected me... I was so overly sensitive to their thoughts and feelings, it was as if I was experiencing it firsthand. This most recent addition was no exception. On a personal note, this was a very tough book for me to read as the overall theme hit very close to home for me. Watching the lies and deceit flow so easily from Griffin was very hard to stomach. His snowball of bad decisions was painful to watch, for him, Anna and the girls and for the rest of the band and family. I love the D-Bags but always saw Griffin as that annoying friend that you just can't help but love and hate. I found him incredibly annoying at times and hearing it all from his POV was interesting as you saw that he did truly justify his actions.. in his own Griffin kinda way. As frustrating as it was at times, making me want to smack the $hit out of him, he was easier to understand. In the end, he rectified himself in a way that I never thought Id seem, nor did anyone else!? We all got to finally see out Hulk grown up. He's still there, just in controlled doses.. ;-) His relationship with Anna and the girls was beautiful to witness.. we really got to see a whole other side to him. This book tore me up, left me hanging at moment, scared to death and made me bawl my eyes out... Yet another masterpiece form SC Stephens.. surely not to be missed!
  
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Caribou recommended Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich in Music (curated)

 
Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
1998 | Classical
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Again, I've gone for the "pop" album - I've gone for the greatest hit. I thought about all his records and the minimalist composers, and I could have gone for a Terry Riley record or whatever, but there's a reason this is his hit. I could come back and listen to this any time. One of the greatest live music experiences of my life was when Steve Reich had his 70th birthday at the Barbican, and he came over with his musicians and did nearly all of his classic pieces. I saw Drumming and other stuff, and then I saw this at a little church across the street from the Barbican and it's so beautiful, so gorgeous. Really, really moving. Having said that, this year Kieran and I booked a trip of DJ gigs because we hadn't seen each other in a while, and we played the Snowbombing festival in Austria, which was hilarious. We were driving around, so we hired my friend who's this really placid Czech guy. He's the driver on all my tours and I've never seen him get agitated about anything ever. Most people who drive primarily for a living are prone to road rage, but I've never seen him lose it. So he asked us if we wanted to put on any music so on went Music For 18 Musicians. He's not really a music fan - if you put on Albert Ayler he'd be like, "Jesus Christ, what are you trying to do to me here?!" So we were driving through the Alps, I was chatting to him and Kieran and listening to this piece of music that I love. I didn't really notice but he'd gone silent and 40 minutes in he was like, "Um, excuse me, this music's driving me insane, can we please turn it off?" To me it's the opposite of that, it's the most soothing music possible, so I guess that illustrates that it's not for everyone."

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Terry Gilliam recommended Pinocchio (1940) in Movies (curated)

 
Pinocchio (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
1940 | Animation, Classics, Family

"""Let’s go to Pinocchio, Disney’s Pinocchio. That was a truly, utterly magical movie. The world was so beautifully detailed and so fantastical, and yet believable at every point. I love that movie. It’s really stuck with me, because it was at a level of craftsmanship that was so unbelievably high, and it’s maintained that position in my head for all the years. Great songs, great everything. Great characters. I don’t know what else one can say about it. It’s just a great story. I think the first film I saw was probably Snow White. That’s the advantage of being old. You get these films when you’re at the right age. But those two in particular really, really stuck with me because I just hadn’t seen anything so beautifully crafted. The great thing, it made me a big fan. It took me years to discover that Cliff Edwards was the voice of Jiminy Cricket. I always loved “When You Wish Upon a Star,” and he was singing that. Now I’m a great fan of Cliff Edwards. His music is brilliant, but most people have forgotten him. I just think he was known as a singer, and he played the ukulele. He just ended up with a wonderful voice. I think his voice was also used in one of the other Disney films, which I can’t remember. But it was his singing that is just right. I think that’s Pinocchio. I saw Pinocchio maybe 20 years ago again, and what amazed me about it is how, as a child, I remembered this vast universe, huge world. In fact, it’s tiny. You go from Geppetto’s workshop and the little village to the bad boys’ island just like that. Bing. It’s so tight the way that they do it. The next thing, you’re in Monstro’s belly. It’s a great one to watch just to see how succinct you can be and still create a universe. It’s a lesson I’ve never learned, the succinct part."""

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And Now My Love (1974)
And Now My Love (1974)
1974 | Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I’m trying not to go the obvious route, but I do love Citizen Kane and I can’t leave that off here. It’s an incredible movie and the story’s told in this ingenious way and I never get tired of looking at it. It’s like visual fireworks and the sound is incredible — everything about it. But if I had to watch a movie that means something to me — and I did see it in my childhood — it’s And Now My Love by Claude Lelouch. It is a story told over the 20th century that is told stylistically as a history of film, so the film style changes throughout. It starts off in silent movie and goes through cinema verite and goes through everything. The gimmick is it’s the story of love at first sight and you follow two family lines through the couple meeting. It was very influential on me in many ways; it’s got a lot of the highlights and influences of European cinema. It’s about a criminal and a spoiled brat who belong together, and it also has a bigger thing which is that you’re learning the story of the 20th century. Its depiction in particular of the 1960s, definitely had an impact on me in terms of how to portray an intimate experience in the midst of history. I saw it in a second-run movie theater. All those movies were being released in the United States and they would end up on the weekend in double features and I can tell you right now, I was 12 years old when it was in the theater and I went back and saw it. It’s super-romantic. It’s got this incredible depiction of France and it’s got this great love story and it’s really ingenious. All the themes with reference to film style and film genre. One of the characters actually turns out to be a filmmaker. It’s incredible."

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TB
The Black Widow
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
63 of 230
Book
The Black Widow
By Linda Calvey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Growing up after the war in the East End of London, Linda falls in with local gangsters including the Krays, Freddie Foreman and Ronnie Cook.

When the love of her life, Mickey Calvey, is gunned down on a job gone wrong, Linda resolves to carry on his work.


But in 1990, after years of living in fear of her lover Ronnie Cook, Linda finds herself accused of his murder alongside Danny Reece, in a trial that shocks the nation. Still, Linda sticks to her code of honour, refusing to confess. Until now...

After 18 years behind bars alongside notorious names including Rose West and Myra Hindley, she is released.


This is the final truth about her life and what happened the day Ronnie Cook was murdered.

This is a book that could go one way or the other. Some may say Linda Calvey is glamourising her life of crime that she’s name dropping and making herself more than what she is. Too a point I can see these opinions. I went into this book not knowing what to Expect I also went in with an open mind. In my opinion it seemed a very honest telling of her life but I only went by what I could read and and see between the lines. I saw a lot of regret especially when it came to her children. I also saw the lure of being offered a glamorous lifestyle. Do i like her or agree with her lifestyle? Not really she did the time for her crimes though! Do i believe her accounts about the murder of Roy? I’m not sure but I’m not a judge! I want to say I really enjoyed this book and sometimes I had to remember I wasn’t reading a Martina Cole novel 😂. Do I buy all the things she did? I do think maybe some embellishments occurred but overall it was definitely an interesting read.