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A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
1971 | Crime, Sci-Fi

"A Clockwork Orange I’ve seen about 35 times. I remember first seeing that and I certainly didn’t get half the movie, but when I was young, I just thought it was just kind of weird and strange and I really appreciated it as I got a little older and saw it more often and more often. Then it became this sort of like a party background movie, something that just became part of my life. I certainly appreciated the language. Not profanity or anything but its own language, and the visual of it, I really appreciated the visual, because the visual is such a storytelling part of it and the language was so bizarre in its own kind of language. I really appreciate the work that goes into that. This is more like a highbrow sort of snobby film pick, but a sick demented sense of humor is kind in that movie as well. Ultimately it’s the visual storytelling and the language that I thought was so tremendous. It’s an absolute acid-trip fantasy weird thing. I never did drugs growing up because I watched Clockwork Orange enough so I didn’t have to do drugs. There’s a lot of shock value to it, but I really appreciated it for that. It was really kind of interesting for me and it all was put together in a very smart way, I believe. It’s not just sensationalism or anything like that because that kind of s— bothers me. But anyway, there’s a lot of things in that movie that I really like and appreciated. it really well in that film."

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Issac Holman recommended track Claire by Baxter Dury in Happy Soup by Baxter Dury in Music (curated)

 
Happy Soup by Baxter Dury
Happy Soup by Baxter Dury
2011 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Claire by Baxter Dury

(0 Ratings)

Track

"Baxter Dury was a big inspiration for me and Laurie. Back in the day when we were first touring we’d do loads of shows and I remember that on pretty much every journey we’d have the album Happy Soup on, not talking to each other, we’d just have that on full blast. ‘Claire’ was the one that struck a chord with me, I love the honesty and sincerity of it and the softness in his voice. The instrumentation is everything that I love about a tune, it’s quite melancholic and nice and sad. “I love Baxter Dury. I love Ian Dury as well, but I think they’re in completely different ballparks, they get compared quite a lot but I don’t think they should. I actually discovered Baxter Dury through my Mum, I feel like I’m dropping my parents into this whole thing! My Mum’s very much into new and current music, she’s got her finger on the pulse and she’s always introducing me to new stuff. When this came out she was the first person who showed it to me. She said ‘This is Ian Dury’s son’ and I was ‘Woah, this is fucking sick.’ “Weirdly, Baxter was doing something on 6 Music and he played one of our tunes. He ended up talking to Laurie about the tune, a song of ours called ‘Where's Your Car Debbie?’ and I think he wanted to know more about it. Much to our excitement, we got in contact with him and ended up doing a tune with him and becoming friends with him, it was wicked."

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Wolfhunter River (Stillhouse Lake, #3)
Wolfhunter River (Stillhouse Lake, #3)
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
126 of 250
Kindle
Wolfhunter River (Stillhouse Lake book 3)
By Rachel Caine

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

She can’t ignore a cry for help. But in this remote hunting town, it’s open season.

Gwen Proctor escaped her serial-killer husband and saved her family. What she can’t seem to outrun is his notoriety. Or the sick internet vigilantes still seeking to avenge his crimes. For Gwen, hiding isn’t an option. Not when her only mission is to create a normal life for her kids.

But now, a threatened woman has reached out. Marlene Crockett, from the remote town of Wolfhunter, is panicked for herself and her daughter. When Gwen arrives in the small, isolated rural community, Marlene is already dead—her own daughter blamed for the murder. Except that’s not the person Marlene feared at all. And Gwen isn’t leaving until she finds out who that was.

But it may already be too late. A trap has been set. And it’s poised to snap shut on everyone Gwen loves. Her stalkers are closing in. And in a town as dark as Wolfhunter, it’s so easy for them to hide…


Another brilliant book in the series I really really enjoyed it! Only one star off a 5 because I did find some bits a bit of a rush. I love the strong chap the kids are dealing with it all so much better. It’s just a shame we only have 2 books left knowing we’ll never get a 5th is heartbreaking. I have nothing but love for this author.
  
Fonzo (Capone) (2020)
Fonzo (Capone) (2020)
2020 | Biography, Crime
What's the scariest thing to reckon with: mortality, humanity, or yourself? Tom Hardy plays a constipated bulldog with a pinch of Beetlejuice in this utterly beguiling Frankenstein's monster of a film which can only be described as 𝘎𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪 (2018) hopped up on a bunch of prescription medication. I think the major takeaway from this is that Trank makes a tedious gangster movie - but a pretty fuckin' sweet horror/fantasy curio. Right off the bat I admire it for being so scene-to-scene fascinating based solely on how wholeheartedly unique it is; I expected no less from Trank than an auteurist stamp as big, original, and defined as this. Yes this is wonderfully experimental, yes this is very uncomfortable - seasoned with bodily fluids, a good amount of violence, and the sort of medical anguish which starts out grim and only gets more merciless as it continues... however, it also doesn't amount to too much. Hardy's grotesque turn here is memorable but 80% of the time it's reduced to staring off into the distance making various faces. It also has a similar issue to Barry Levinson's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘦𝘴 in that the show-stealing macabre nightmare segments are just *crying* to break out more than the seemingly stock, incompetently structured narrative. However this was still super cool just on principle alone, and as someone who is sick of rote biopics it's nice to see one of them not be afraid to try something unquestionably different for a change (especially by dragging such a historic, opulent figure through the mud the whole time). Plus one of these are finally under an hour-45, go figure!
  
Sherlock, Jr.  (1924)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
1924 | Classics, Comedy
7
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I have seen and very much enjoyed the work of Buster Keaton in the past, most notably The General, which knocked me sideways by how inventive and genuinely funny it was. My main movie love for the silent era is Charlie Chaplin, and much like it is possible to like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones but only truly love one, Keaton will always be second best for me. But what a second best. Genius is an overused word, of course, but pioneer says it better anyway. The sheer volume of invention per minute is magnificent – from the technical editing techniques that were created just for this film, to the forms of visual comedy that broke the mould and raised the bar in every scene.

Most memorable is the cinema scene where Keaton’s love sick amateur sleuth tries to hide by actually entering the screen – a trick paid homage to in many movies since, including Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo. It is astonishing to think he not only thought of doing this in 1924, but also pulled it off with jaw-dropping special effects for the time. It’s also really funny. You don’t have to force a laugh because you feel you should, it is still clever and amusing almost 100 years later. In fact, the entire 46 minute print still looks so good it is hard to believe it is that old in any way. Surely one of a handful of half length films from the period that will always be watched for what they are and not just museum pieces.
  
Young Readers' edition of The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark was adapted for younger readers by Kate Moore from her bestselling novel The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women.

It tells the story of the wonder drug of the early 1900s, radium. It was thought to cure illnesses, and its luminescent properties made it ideal for glow-in-the-dark watches and for dials and instruments of pilots during WWI. To paint these devices, women would lick the brushes, dip them into the radium, paint, then repeat. The women did not know they were becoming sick with radium poisoning. Some did not show symptoms until years after they stopped working with the radium.

If you read the original version, you know it is detailed and includes timelines of multiple people. The version for a younger audience is written with age-appropriate content, but it is still incredibly detailed and more than 400 pages. The story shows these women as individuals, showing their separate lives, but also the strong, tight-knit group who fought for themselves and to ensure workplace safety for all.

This book is perfect for assigned reading for history or science classes.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/1/20.