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Dirty Dancing  (1987)
Dirty Dancing (1987)
1987 | Drama, Music, Romance

"Finally, we’re going to go with a film that is so culturally relevant that as soon as I say it you’ll be able to quote at least one line from it. We’re going to go with Dirty Dancing. Because, come on, nobody puts Baby in a corner, right? Of course it’s been acted out, it’s been referenced in numerous films. It was in Crazy, Stupid, Love. This is the move that Ryan Gosling does to get the girls, right? And he and Emma Stone reenact this scene. So, you want to talk about a film that just had an amazing soundtrack, the performances were great, and it speaks to the confusion of teenagers growing up, but not in a, I feel like, a “loner” teenager way. There’s been a lot of teenage films where they feel like a loner. This is someone who liked her family, and she was a little irritated with her older sister as siblings tend to be, but she liked her dad and her mom, and when push came to shove at various points, she ran to her dad to help. There was something striking about how all of that worked together in a film that just made you feel good and want to dance and want to take someone to see, and then, how many years later, that film still holds up. And if you don’t believe me, go watch it. It still works."

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Horse Feathers (1932)
Horse Feathers (1932)
1932 | Classics, Comedy
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I watch this with my family a lot. All of the Marx Brothers movies have been very popular in the Columbus household for the last 20 years or so. I was a bit of a dictator making my kids watch these movies. They grew up with them because kids are really reluctant to watch black-and-white films. Our family loved the Marx Brothers films, and for some reason the one that we always went back to, and the one that we were obsessed with, was Horse Feathers. It’s 1932, so that’s going back a long way. Yet at the same time I would show that movie to my kids who were seven and five and three, and they were mesmerized. I learned a lot about comedy and breaking the rules in that movie — in terms of comedy — which extended to seeing movies like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein and Annie Hall to a certain extent. The Marx Brothers started it all, and it’s smart comedy. The funny thing about the movie is, there are scenes that, still for me and my family, are falling down funny. So they can watch that movie and take away from it — maybe laugh a little harder than they do at some of the more modern comedies. That movie — and there’s like five or six Marx Brothers movies — is just a wonderful sort of family experience and that’s why it’s on the list."

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The Rite Of Spring by Igor Stravinsky
The Rite Of Spring by Igor Stravinsky
2012 | Classical
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I thought we ought to have one classical album as I do play a lot of classical music at home. I thought about Chopin’s Nocturnes but they didn’t change anything. The Rite Of Spring really was, for me, the first punk album. It was the most uncompromising vision. In the period it was done, no one was doing anything like Stravinsky. He was writing parts for instruments that didn’t have those notes, so they had to have new ones made with extra notes so the orchestra could play that piece. That’s forward thinking. The whole story of the making of the album is so fantastic – that Stravinsky has no money and Coco Chanel comes along and invites him to live at his house and Stravinsky sits in a room alone writing all these parts for all these instruments. It’s extraordinary and a remarkable achievement. Then, the fact that on the opening night in a swishy Parisian theatre the audience hated it. They think it is the most terrible row and now it is acknowledged as one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century. It’s too good a story and I admire his commitment and his inventiveness and his absolute passion to making that record work. You listen to it and think "how did anyone ever do that?" Anyone who hasn’t heard The Rite Of Spring and likes music should really take a listen."

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Jonathan Higgs recommended Showbiz by Muse in Music (curated)

 
Showbiz by Muse
Showbiz by Muse
2008 | Rock

"This is another case of, "Where's my Radiohead gone?" Hearing Muse for the first time was like, "Holy shit, this is like Radiohead, but heavier, and more pop, but also darker as well", and I just absolutely fell for it, hook, line and sinker. I was at the perfect age, was just getting into actually being good at playing stuff, and Matt Bellamy was all over the place in terms of his musical talents, playing the piano and guitar, and stuff that teenagers love. Stuff that sounds flashy and complex and twiddly but is actually not. And the bass player! Fuck me, the basslines on the album! Bass players don't do that kind of stuff! He's the sort of main character in an awful lot of those songs. It was an absolute revelation. I was a bass player before I was anything else, and I remember thinking, "Holy shit that sounded ace"! They ripped up the rulebook in so many ways for rock music. It was so enjoyable as well. Every song had a real sense of performance and razzmatazz. Of course it's called Showbiz and it is a type of show. So I think, more than anything, that's probably what you would say about my band, particularly live - we're not subtle, it's over the top. Whether people like it or not, that's got into us now and it's hard to take a step back."

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Mark Arm recommended Teaching You The Fear by Really Red in Music (curated)

 
Teaching You The Fear by Really Red
Teaching You The Fear by Really Red
2015 | Alternative, Compilation, Punk, Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Really Red are from Texas and they released Teaching You The Fear in 1981. My friend Smithy and I had a fanzine called Attack and that was one of the records that came through. Our first band Mr. Epp eventually played with them. There's a lot going on in that band for a so-called hardcore punk band. There was a lot of cool stuff coming out of Texas in the early 80s like Big Boys and The Dicks, a little later the Butthole Surfers. Really Red was quite a political band. So many political punk bands were really strident like Crass but in the wake of Maximumrocknroll fanzine many of them were 16-year-old kids spouting shit about stuff they didn't really understand. And who wants to take advice from someone with a very small worldview? Really Red were a little older, maybe five to eight years older than me, and I know this because Ronnie Bond eventually moved up to Seattle and I got to know him a little. Those guys were old enough that when The MC5 came through Houston in the early 70s they hung out with them. Really thoughtful guys but most importantly kick-ass songs. Kelly Younger was a really unique guitar player. They also referenced Nico and The Velvet Underground as well as political punk stuff. They just seemed a little broader than a lot of things that were happening at the time in the hardcore scene in particular."

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Uncle Peckerhead (2020)
Uncle Peckerhead (2020)
2020 | Comedy, Horror
8
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Uncle Peckerhead is a silly name for a silly movie, but dammit, it's a movie that knows how to have a good time.

There's really not too much to grumble about with this punk rock splatter flick. For starters, it has a mostly likable cast, the highlight being David Littleton as the titular Peckerhead (Peck for short). Even though he's a flesh eating demon, he still comes across as a good dude who just wants to look after this young punk band he's taken on as travel companions. The interactions between him and Max (Jeff Riddle) are pretty hilarious. In fact, the film got a few good laughs out of me during it's runtime.

As a musician, I also appreciated the fairly accurate portrayal of what it's like playing live music at ground level. Audience's who don't care, sparsely populated venues, and the occasional promoter who turns out to be a douche (not my place to say if they deserve to get eaten or not...)
The gore in this film hits hard as well. It's fairly infrequent, but when it does come, it's pretty absurd and all achieved using some decent practical work.
I also enjoyed the soundtrack for the most part, and have been introduced to a great punk band called School Drugs through this film as well - another positive!

Uncle Peckerhead is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, it's entertaining, gory, funny, and just a complete blast. Seek it out!
  
Astro Bot Rescue Mission
Astro Bot Rescue Mission
2018 | Action/Adventure
VR integration (2 more)
Gameplay
Collectibles
Wonderful use of VR
I kept reading online that "Astro Bot Rescue Mission" was one of the best games available for PSVR. But at a $40 price tag, I couldn't take the leap.

Then a few weeks ago it went on sale for $19.99, so I finally decided to give it a try. And I was completely impressed!

This game really makes you feel like you are a giant robot in a world full of small robots. You control one of the little bots through levels filled with platforming challenges, but VR changes how things work. For example, you might want to make your character run back behind you. In a normal game, you'd have to mess with camera controls, but with this one, you just turn your head to follow him.

If he needs to go up platforms to a bridge far above you, you look up and guide him across using his shadow. If you look down and see a hole in the ground with a collectible item, you can guide him down into the hole to collect it.

Basically, it's like playing a 3D Mario game in a whole new way. I was blown away and played all the way through it, then went back to find the collectibles I had missed.

I would recommend this to anyone new to VR. And I get motion sick easily, but this game never made me sick. A+
  
    Disney Crossy Road

    Disney Crossy Road

    Games and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Why should the chicken get all the fun? From Hipster Whale, the makers of the original Crossy...

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Merissa (12911 KP) rated Lay Me Down (Reveler #2) in Books

May 8, 2021 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)  
Lay Me Down (Reveler #2)
Lay Me Down (Reveler #2)
Erin Kellison | 2014 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
We met Maisie during her sister's story and to be fair, she comes across as very light-hearted, whimsical, carefree, almost to the point of being irresponsible. However, as you read through her story you realise there is a lot more to Maisie than meets the eye. She is a wonderful character to read about and you will soon by smiling at the comments she makes or actions she takes. The provoking and prodding banter between her and Steve Coll as they get to know more about each other is very witty and warm to read. It soon moves from warm to hot though as they take things to the next level.

Without giving away any of the story, I will just say that this book manages to tell Maisie and Steve's story, continues with Jordan and Michael's as well as laying the way for the next books in the series. Pretty impressive for a novella!

An excellent continuation of the series and I would definitely recommend you read book 1, Darkness Falls, first as although it's not imperative, it will help you to understand certain levels of the story easier. Looking forward to more on this imaginative and unusual series.
 
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
 
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
The Navigator’s Daughter
The Navigator’s Daughter
Nancy Cole Silverman | 2022 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good, but Not What I Expected
When Kat Lawson’s father gets a letter from the DOD that someone has found the wreckage of his downed plane from World War II, he asks Kat to go to Hungary and take pictures of it for him and find out what happened to the people who rescued him. Since Kat’s personal life is in a state of flux, she agrees. What she finds when she gets there are people who are almost too willing to help her. Are they up to something? What will she learn about her father’s past?

This book takes place in 1996 and the setting just after Russia had left Hungary makes for an entertaining read. It allows us to get caught up in not only what happened to these characters during World War II, but also in the decades since. Honestly, if the book had stayed focused on that, I would have been completely satisfied with it. There is a crime fiction element, but it came across more as a sub-plot, and I felt it was a little forced into the book. However, it appears to be setting up future books in the series, and I will definitely be back for them. I enjoyed getting to know Kat and watching her grow as the book progressed. The other characters helped pull me into the story. This is a promising debut that I enjoyed.