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Mellow Gold by Beck
Mellow Gold by Beck
1994 | Indie, Rock, Singer-Songwriter

"The thing about Beck was that he felt like a well-kept secret for a while. I can’t actually remember how I stumbled upon him, but it was way back around the time of his second album Stereopathetic Soulmanure, that was before he had his big breakout, crossover albums. This track is from Mellow Gold, which was his third album and had ‘Loser’ on it, so other people were starting to pick up on him, finally. I couldn’t believe that nobody else had heard of this amazing talent; he was completely doing his own thing and you could tell he had real soul. The fact that this was around the time of Britpop just made him stand out all the more to me, I couldn’t stop listening to his early stuff. ’Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)’ sums up what I loved about him in those days and why I still do now. It crystallised the appeal of those records, it’s got such an amazing narrative and it was obvious that it was a true story, that he really had lived above or below that truck driver who was on weird speed or angel dust. He just encapsulates that sort of nightmarishness of having problems with the neighbours and the pitched-down vocals make it sound totally ominous. There’s such an experimental flavour to it musically and lyrically and you can hear how he would cut and paste ideas. That’s how those early albums were - every track different to the last. I love everything he’s done really and that experimental flavour has never really left him, all the way up to making a pop record with Colors. I absolutely battered his first few albums though and for a while I felt like I was the only one. The guy’s a real one-off."

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Coven Deception
Coven Deception
D. H. Davis | 2019 | Paranormal, Romance, Thriller
4
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I enjoyed how Brooke found it in herself to stand up to her father and the Elders when she discovers they are hiding things from her. (0 more)
Honestly how similar this book was to Twilight was a definite downside to me. (0 more)
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Coven: Deception by D. H. Davis is very similar to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer in the fact that it is largely a supernatural teen romance. Add in the threat of the coven being under attack and exposed, and it becomes an interesting read.

 Brooke Lesley is in training to become the leader of her coven once she turns eighteen but it is not that easy. She must deal with an overbearing father, mastering incantations, and learning history from Elders who are hiding things from her. Being super stressed out Brooke decides to take a walk during lunch and ends up witnessing two men trying to rob an old lady. Brooke steps in to help her only to find Jessie, a boy from her school has the same idea. As it turns out he is a vampire which means that their friendship is forbidden.

 Soon strange things start happening all over town and an Elder from another coven is killed. The coven Brooke is from ignores all the signs and lets their long-standing hatred for vampires cloud their investigations. Brooke and her friends notice that not only is this unnamed threat an issue but also the Elders are hiding the truth about the feud with the vampires. It will take cunning and rule-breaking on their part but is up to Brooke and her friends to find out what really is going on, and to try to stop it.

 I enjoyed how Brooke found it in herself to stand up to her father and the Elders when she discovers they are hiding things from her. The fact that her mother encourages her to do what she must in order to make changes the coven desperately needs instead of following blindly behind her husband was also surprising considering the coven dynamics. Honestly how similar this book was to Twilight was a definite downside to me. The whole forbidden love with a vampire seems kind of overused and when the wolf attacked the school I was just waiting for Brooke to say it was a shapeshifter and start talking to it.

 Young adults and teens will enjoy this book the most. It might even be safe for most middle school students. Fans of the Twilight series will either love this book because of how similar it is or hate it, calling it a rip-off. I give this book a 2 out of 4 rating. I found it to be a good midrange young adult book. It might not have been the best supernatural teen romance but it was certainly far from the worst. I would recommend it to fans of the genre looking for a quick read.

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Darren (1599 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies

Oct 4, 2019  
Joker (2019)
Joker (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
Thoughts on Joker

Characters – Arthur Fleck is a loner that has been struggling for work, he wants to be an entertainer and is working on his own material to try his luck at stand-up comedy. He starts a new relationship and thinks his life is going in a new direction, until he learns the truth, becoming the icon we know. Murray Franklin is the host of his own talk show, he handles the comedy of the real events and is the man Arthur sees as an idol, he sees one of the clips of the stand up and puts it on his own show. Sophie is the neighbour and single mother that starts a relationship with Arthur, showing him in a better life. Penny is the mother of Arthur, she sees only the good in the richest man in the town and writes to him often waiting for a reply from her former employer. While most of the characters do have more about them, though most details will contain full spoilers.
Performances – Joaquin Phoenix gives us a wonderful performance, showing his commitment to the role, which will be one people will talk about when award season hits. Robert De Niro is joy to watch as the charismatic talk show host. Zazie Beetz is good to watch, though she just doesn’t get enough screen time. Frances Conroy is strong to through the film.
Story – The story here follows a man that has been failed by the society and the mental health system, which sees him struggle to deal with reality and begin his path to become one of the most iconic comic villains. This is much like Venom, a strange choice for a character to bring to the centre stage because we shouldn’t be backing a villainous character, but this time we do get everything connecting to why Joker became who he is. By stepping into how mental health can be brushed aside at times forcing people to fall through the cracks, not being treated the correct way to help them. If you are expecting any sort of comic book movie, you will be lost in this one because nothing we see has anything that couldn’t become a reality, which is what could make the film feel unsettling in places. This is also a story that could have been told without needing to throw a big character name like the Joker in around it and it might have been even better if it didn’t rely on the familiar name.
Crime – The crime side of the film shows how Arthur starts by being a victim, before he starts to try and show just how far he will go to stand up for himself.
Settings – The film does use the settings brilliantly, showing how Arthur has come from the bottom, never been given a thing in life, which does reflect just how we would see a Batman figure born with wealth.

Scene of the Movie – Talk show time.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – I didn’t like the laughing stuff, it would include spoilers to why though.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting a dark spin on the world for one of the biggest names in comic book history, without making it feel like a comic book in anyway.

Overall: Dark and as Twisted as You Would Imagine.
  
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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated James Acaster: Repertoire in TV

Aug 6, 2020 (Updated Aug 6, 2020)  
James Acaster: Repertoire
James Acaster: Repertoire
2018 | Comedy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
I have been a fan of stand up comedy, erm, all my life… well, at least since Billy Connely kinda invented it, in a way that wasn’t all about hating the mother in law and homophobia. When I moved to Edinburgh in 1999, I found myself at the epicentre of new comedy, every August at the unparalleled event that is the Fringe Festival.

Over the years I have seen most of the living greats at the art live, be it a full show or a smaller set at the legendary bullpit of Late and Live. Sad exceptions being Eddie Izzard and Dylan Moran, still on the bucket list. It has given me a pretty good eye for who is gonna make it big when they start out. I saw Jack Whitehall aged 16; Jimmy Carr before anyone knew who he was; and many others that have gone on to have decent TV and touring careers.

Having moved to Glasgow in recent years I started to see less comedy. Not that The Stand and other venues don’t have it going on, but because it just feels less of a thing outside of Edinburgh. So, when James Acaster came to my old place of work, the legendary Oran Mor, I booked tickets for myself, my daughter and her boyfriend in a heartbeat.

I had seen him do a lot of Mock The Week and a few other guest spots on TV, and thought from the start that this guy had something kinda special. The main good sign being that he made me laugh! A kind of blonder Jarvis Cocker, with the dress sense to match, he has a quirky, sleepy but cross delivery that is a total winner. He is very fast with an improvised moment, is very clever in his off kilter observations, and charmingly wanders into surreal tangents whenever possible. In other words, totally up my comedy avenue.

I was delighted to see that he had a new four part special on Netflix when I was recently surfing around old comedy shows I’ve seen half a dozen times. Repertoire is consecutive shows that work either alone, or payoff better as a whole, when early jokes get a back reference in a genius fashion. To explain why they are funny is not a thing I’m about to attempt. Comedy is so subjective; if it makes you laugh then it is good, if not… it might still be good, but not for you. You have to watch it to know.

So many highlights. At least three moments that made me have to pause it because I was laughing almost too much and in danger of passing out. Generally, you get a content knowing smile out of it, patting yourself on the back for getting his multi-layered intentions. Some things are just weird or hilarious, but often there is an intelligent point being made on the sly. When the two combine, I find him one of the best around for quality of writing and delivery.

As a side note, in part 3 of Repertoire he makes reference to a recent nightmare gig, when the entire front row of a Glasgow show kicked off and threw verbal abuse at him. That was the show we were at! He handled it remarkably well, turning the final portion of the show into an improv about that, chucked the planned material away. It isn’t every stand-up that can handle hecklers that well. Total kudos, Mr Acaster.

Recommended big time.