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Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
2020 | Comedy
As good as the first - just not my thing
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan sees Borat return to the USA after the humiliation he caused his country in the first movie.

This time Borat is returning to America to get “Mac”Donald Trump to acknowledge the Premier of Kazakhstan as his friend and ally, and it couldn’t be more different than the first film. Borat is now a recognisable face across the globe so Sacha Baron Cohen can no longer parade around the streets and dupe unsuspecting members of the public. Instead he has to don ridiculously terrible disguises that surprisingly still fool people, and also put Maria Bakalova as his daughter Tutar front and centre with a large portion of the scenes.

For the most part, this works as Bakalova is a fantastic actress and she’s a delight to watch. Alongside Cohen who works his magic yet again, you can’t help but marvel at their guts and acting prowess at pulling off these stunts with a straight face. And not only this, but they excel just as well at the sweet and heartwarming side of this film that focuses on the father daughter relationship and female empowerment.

My biggest issues with this film (and it’s predecessor) probably come down to personal taste. I laughed a fair amount watching this and there are some crazy scenes that you can’t help but chuckle at – the synagogue and cosmetic surgery clinic to name a couple. I also thought the twist ending was absolute genius. However I’m not a huge fan of hidden camera type comedy that goes beyond humour and into cringeworthy and embarrassing, and sadly Borat does this a lot, even to the point where it’s crude and disgusting. This is just my personal view, as I just don’t find comedy funny if it’s making me cringe. There’s bad taste that’s funny and bad taste that goes too far, and for me Borat features both of these. Fortunately the former just about prevails and doesn’t make the film too uncomfortable. What helps is the political themes and motivations that are so ably managed and highlighted, and the fact that they’ve managed to seamlessly integrate the COVID-19 pandemic into the filming which is pretty impressive.

Cohen has been very smart when it comes to releasing this film, in the hope that it may have some impact on the upcoming election. Frankly after watching this, I’d be surprised if it didn’t. The scene featuring Rudy Giuliani, which has been very well publicised over the past few weeks, is both fascinating and creepily disturbing in equal parts and if this doesn’t hamper the public’s opinion of him, I don’t know what will.

Overall this is a very smart and daring film with two fantastic actors. There has been a lot of debate over whether this is better or worse than the original, but for me it’s just more of the same. But if you loved the first one, you’ll love this.
  
    20000+ Soup Recipes

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Nick Rhodes recommended Man-Machine by Kraftwerk in Music (curated)

 
Man-Machine by Kraftwerk
Man-Machine by Kraftwerk
1978 | Dance
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Kraftwerk were a major influence on me musically and stylistically. They were really the first truly electronic band I'd heard. Afterwards, of course, I listened to all the other German things like NEU! and Can. I'd listen to The Human League and whatever came out of England in that time period. But, Kraftwerk were right at the centre of it. The first album I heard in its entirety was Trans-Europe Express, which I almost picked for this because I do love that album. But, I think Kraftwerk’s absolute masterpiece is The Man-Machine - be it visually, song-wise, arrangements or sounds. It is as close to a perfect record as I feel has been made in that genre. There is nothing that touches it. When I used to DJ at the Rum Runner club - I was 16 or 17 and starting out - I used to play a lot of tracks from The Man-Machine because almost everything on that album you can play. Funnily enough, I'd never seen Kraftwerk until recently when they played the Tate Modern. I went to three shows - The Man-Machine, Trans-Europe Express and Computer World - because I felt as they had had such an impact on me I should go and see a whole load of the shows. They weren't a letdown, the 3D effect was extraordinary and it was such a joy to hear those songs loud through a system like that. You don't tend to get to hear synthesisers that loud unless you go to a club and listen to some horrible remix. Kraftwerk had great taste and a lot of music is about taste. They didn't make so many albums over a period of time but everything has been impeccable - every sound, every delay, every vocoder. They really paid attention to detail and that's something I have a complete obsession with. I can fiddle with something for ages and ages that I feel changes the whole track and nobody else will hear what I'm doing. Kraftwerk had a great ability for that. They made really impeccable records."

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer  - Season 3
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Season 3
1998 | Horror
Faith (5 more)
Doppelgangland
Wish
Umbrella scene
Band Candy
Mr Trick
The Zeppo (1 more)
Dead man party
Another amazing season to an amazing show
Some amazing episode in this series also the introduction to Faith and Anya can't be over looked they were both amazing editions to the show." As usal the quotes where outstanding.
"You know what? I was wrong. You are an idiot. My life happens to, on occasion, suck beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. And it's not just mine. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're too busy with their own"


I loved Band Candy and a great introduction to Jane Epson on the buffy writing team.
I think everyone got a little misty eyes watching Buffy get her umberlla award at prom.
Only reason this didnt get a 10 from me is because my most hated buffy episode is the Zeppo athough Xander is one of my favorite charcter that epsidose reallt bored me and im not a zombie fan so dead man party was also not to my taste
  
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Joe (148 KP) created a post in Unanswered Movie Endings

Apr 12, 2018 (Updated Apr 12, 2018)  
So, I’ll kick things off with the 1982 The Thing… This post could divide opinions but I’d love to know what you guys think. Oh, and ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** for anybody who hasn't seen this movie.

My theory is that Childs is infected and Mac is not. The main reason being that Childs drinks from the bottle that I believe was being used as a Molotov cocktail. After Childs takes a sip from the bottle, Mac gives a grin as if to say he knows he’s infected because he was drinking gasoline instead of whiskey, and since Childs is infected he doesn't know the difference in taste. I’m almost certain some of you will tell me that it’s confirmed in the Playstation 2 game of The Thing from 2002 but personally I don’t think there should be any connection between the two. If my memory serves me correct, you don’t ever see Mac in the PS2 game?…

Either way, let me know what your theory of the ending is.
  
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Dean (6925 KP) Jun 6, 2018

Good point, I watched it again a while ago. Not sure if it's gasoline in the bottle. You do get a feeling Childs is infected but at that point knows the place is about to blow up.

Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies
Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies
Various Contributors | 2018 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Criminally Fun Animal Inspired Short Stories
This latest collection of short stories from the members of Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter features 13 tales, or is it tails, involving animals. Yes, there are lots of dogs and cats featured, including a murdered crazy cat lady, a story about a dog getting into trouble with his human, and a movie stars famous dog. But we get some unusual animals, too, including an octopus and exploding cows.

As with any collection, there were a couple of stories that weren’t to my taste. But I would then find I loved the next one. And when each story takes less than 30 minutes to read, you aren’t committed to something you don’t like for very long. For short stories, the characters were well drawn, and each story featured at least one twist with longer ones features a few more surprises. While a couple stories trend a little darker, there are some light, very fun stories in the collection as well. Truly, there is something here everyone will enjoy.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) in Movies

Mar 1, 2019 (Updated Mar 1, 2019)  
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
1966 | Western
Whether or not you consider this to be one of the greatest westerns ever made or just an empty, cynical joke is probably a matter of personal taste; coherent arguments can be made both ways. Against the backdrop of the American Civil War, three gunmen search for a coffin full of dollars: Eastwood isn't especially good, but Van Cleef is certainly bad, and as for Wallach... The first of the film's many careful ironies is that there really isn't very much to choose between them in moral terms - those who view the western as a venue for articulating moral principles may not be impressed.

However, maybe they are missing the point, for while this may be a cynical movie, it is by no means wholly amoral, and there is compassion on display as well. What you would have to be utterly contrary to argue against are the brilliant set-pieces orchestrated by Leone, invariably accompanied by Ennio Morricone's stunning score. Eccentric and impressionistic in places, but still an extraordinary piece of cinema what ever you think of its place within the western genre.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Entry Island in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
Entry Island
Entry Island
Peter May | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not my usual sort of thing, but recommended to (more like thrust upon) me by someone whose taste in books is usually interesting. Not necessarily in this case, though: a competent mash-up of a contemporary police procedural thriller with a windblown historical romance set during the Highland clearances (younger readers, ask your dad): a Canadian cop starts having flashbacks (kind of) to his ancestor's life while investigating a murder on a remote island; he feels certain he knows the prime suspect, although she and he have never met before...

The structure of the book certainly works in its favour: whenever you get bored of the whodunnit, the switch to goings-on in the 19th century Hebrides is welcome, and vice versa. And, fair's fair, the story does pick up pace and interest in the final third after a slightly stodgy opening. However, neither the plotting nor the writing are what I'd call inspired; workmanlike is the word that springs to mind. Passes the time inoffensively but unlikely to linger in the memory.