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The Inpatient
The Inpatient
2017 | Action
A few decent scares (1 more)
Multiple endings
Too slow paced (1 more)
Short
Learn what happened at the asylum before Until Dawn
The Inpatient takes place 60 years Before Until Dawn. Like Until Dawn, it is mostly narrative and choice based with multiple endings. The Inpatient puts you in the middle of the the downfall of the asylum and hotel from the 1st game. It's short, averaging 2 hours per playthrough and slower paced than the original. It combines Creature Feature, Isolationism, and Body Horror genres. Unlike the 1st game you only play as one character (who yiu can choose gender and skin tone for). It also uses a feature allowing you to speak your answers in conversation into the VR's built in mic rather than clicking on the different answers. I will not spoil this because it has a very nice twist in the story, but you are a patient with amnesia and suffering from terrifying nightmares (that you play through). Shit hits the fan and you go from there. As you explore the asylum you can piece together memories by finding things that trigger those memories, showing you bits of who you were before losing your memory. It plays with paranoia as well, you have no idea if you can trust the staff or not. As a standalone, I can't recommend it because of length and it mainly just builds onto the story of the 1st. If you have played Until Dawn and liked it, than this is worth it. The other big downside is you walk sooooo sllooowww. It's playable with the DS4 controller or Move Controllers.
  
Life of the Party (2018)
Life of the Party (2018)
2018 | Comedy
Mother/daughter relationship (1 more)
No fat-bashing
Frat hazing ritual (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
I went into this movie with few expectations and was pleasantly surprised that Melissa McCartney's character wasn't completely ridiculous and over-the-top. It was easy to feel empathy for this sympathetic character who returns to school to finish her archaeology degree as an adult-student following a big change in her life. Her daughter also attends the university and instead of the typical teenage response of angst and embarrassment, she obviously loves her mom and they have a great relationship. This movie is sweet and has heart. There are some silly situations, but most are benign. For the most part, I enjoyed this movie.

 I would have given this a higher rating but took away a star for promoting dangerous practice.

I have a bit of a problem when it comes to the frat initiation scene because people are ignorant, i.e. the Bird Box challenges, and will attempt stupid feats they see in movies. The scene in question involves someone being spanked with a wooden paddle. Some may think it is a harmless prank, however, if attempted in real life by amateurs, it can cause real physical damage to a person, from kidney injuries, broken skin, and broken bones, and it should not be attempted at home. Especially not drunken revelers. Just the idea of pledging to a frat, sorority or team tends to make young people think of humiliating or painful acts to inflict upon others so anything that may encourage undeveloped minds to engage in hazing practices gets a thumbs down from me.

Otherwise, a fun movie.
  
Parasite (2019)
Parasite (2019)
2019 | Drama
Story (3 more)
Acting
Humor
Unexpected twists
It's long? (0 more)
This Parasite gets under your skin...
I will try not to spoil anything, because I really enjoyed watching this movie unfold. It's the kind of film where you can't really guess where it is going, because where it is going is so strange...

Based on the director, I expected sci-fi or horror. This movie isn't either of those genres: it is basically a human-level character study, but in a universe with slightly-cartoonish logic.

I know that doesn't make much sense, but if you watch the movie you might agree.

The main family is broke. They have no money for food and their neighbor recently put a password on their wifi, so they don't even have phones that work. When the son gets the chance to become a tutor to a rich girl, even though he isn't qualified, he jumps at the chance. And, slowly but surely, he and his family plan ways to get all four of them hired on at the rich owners' house.

That's all I will say, because discovery is important for this movie to work. There is a lot of drama and real-life class struggle, but the movie is often punctuated by humor that takes a second to register. It might be a physical sight gag; it might be a turn of phrase; it might be a facial expression; but I found myself laughing out loud, even as uncomfortable things were happening.

If you don't mind subtitles, I strongly recommend Parasite. It is as good as the reviews say.
  
This Lovely City
This Lovely City
Louise Hare | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The beginnings of the Windrush generation.
The only thing I didn’t like about This Lovely City by Louise Hare, were the attitudes of a lot of the (predominantly) white, male Londoners. And there’s not a thing that the author could do about that.

In 1948 answering a call from the Homeland, Lawrie and hundreds of mainly young men like him, arrived in London, fresh off the Empire Windrush from Jamaica. They were there to help rebuild England after the Blitz and the end of the Second World War. We see this story mainly from Lawrie’s point of view, so we see the racism, the way he was turned away from jobs because the other men wouldn’t want to work with ‘his type’. It was a shock to see the use of the ‘n’ word so often, and the blatant hostility towards Lawrie and his friends.

This story isn’t just about that though. There’s a bit of a love story and a mystery to solve as well. Lawrie makes an upsetting discovery, and rather than being thanked for it, he is immediately under suspicion. Again, solely down to the colour of his skin.

I loved this book. It gave me an insight into the lives of the Windrush generation as they began their lives here. Lawrie and his girlfriend Evie were great characters to read about - I WANTED all to be well for them, as I did for the other Jamaican characters, if I’m honest.

If this is Louise Hare’s first book, I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for my copy of this wonderful book.