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    Icycle: On Thin Ice

    Icycle: On Thin Ice

    Games and Entertainment

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    Ever kissed a fish? Cult of Mac's Best Damn iOS Games of 2013! Games and art become one in the...

The Constant Rabbit
The Constant Rabbit
Jasper Fforde | 2020 | Contemporary, Humor & Comedy
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The humour and rabbit culture references (0 more)
I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of authors like Terry Pratchet, Robert Rankin, Jasper Fforde, and Tom Holt. Books written within the realms of the ridiculous, that make me smile, definitely get my vote. So when a new book by Jasper fforde comes out, about a society of anthropomorphised rabbits, I’m definitely on board.

The premise is really interesting. Decades ago an unexplained event led to a bunch of rabbits morphing into humanoid form. They’re still rabbits in essence, but just the size of humans and with the ability of human speech. Well these rabbits bred like the proverbial rabbit, and cut to present day where there are millions of anthropomorphised rabbits living in Britain. Still being the ‘sub-species’ though they live and work in a lesser capacity than most humans.

This book is a very intricately woven story about the prejudices that the rabbits face, their efforts to overcome it, and their ultimate acceptance that things are never going to change.

Interspersed with the usual Fforde humour, where Humans are often referred to as ‘Fudds’ (a reference to Elmer Fudd), and a detailed description of the ‘Beatrix potter’ clothing range. There are also some harsh ‘close to the bone’ observations. Our protagonist works for a certain government department as a ‘spotter’, his job is to go through the database and identify certain rabbits. It’s a special skill, as to most humans, ‘All rabbits look the same’.

At a time when the subject of racism is very much in the forefront of everyones minds and in the news every day, this is an interesting book. He’s not making light of the subject of racism, far from it. His jibes are more at the state of the UK and it’s various political and ethical issues.

For example, in the book there is a group called ‘TwoLegsGood’ a supremacist factor. This group, on finding out that a certain rabbit has committed an act that THEY consider a crime, drag him from his house in the middle of the night and ‘jug’ him! This involves upending him in a forty-gallon drum of cheap gravy that had been seasoned with bay leaves, celery, thyme, juniper berries and red wine (I see you smiling there!) It is later discovered to be a case of mistaken identity with TwoLegsGood showing no remorse, under the presumption he’s a rabbit and is bound to be guilty of something.

Funny right?

Now take out the fact the victim is a rabbit and the drum is filled with cheap seasoned gravy, and it’s not so funny anymore, it’s actually a serious and reprehensible crime.

That is the beauty of satire and the genius of this book.

A well thought out piece of satiric writing tackling the ‘hot potato’ subject of race. A light-hearted read with a serious message.
  
Sound of Metal (2019)
Sound of Metal (2019)
2019 | Drama, Music
Acting by Riz Ahmed, Paul Raci AND Olivia Cooke (2 more)
Wonderful story: show not tell!
Sound design is simply epic
When I was young, I remember being scared to death by an old black and white movie about a woman who went blind.... I remember she was travelling on a bus and the movie simulated the view through her eyes as her vision dimmed and then went black. (I've googled this without joy, so can't place the movie!) I found the concept of suddenly losing one of your key senses to be utterly terrifying. So, I was fully engaged with Ruben's issues in this movie.

I thought the movie was going to be downbeat and depressing. But, both with it's positive portrayal of the deaf community and with the extraordinary ending, I found it to be a wonderfully heart-warming tale.

Positives:
- There is just SOOO much depth to this story: a character torn from his familiar world and struggling to adapt to the changes. It's fundamentally a movie about acceptance of self. The last two minutes of the screen time are momentous: one of the best endings of a movie I can remember in recent memory. A truly religious experience.

- "Sound of Metal" won the BAFTA at the weekend for Sound, and deservedly so. It's another leading character in the film, with the editing deftly weaving between the soundscape that most of us live in and Ruben's perception. Apparently, the sound team used a hyper-sensitive microphone in Ahmed's mouth to pick up the inner noises of his body.

- Both Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci are nominated for Oscars. Simply stunning performances from both of them.

- Although not nominated, I'd lob Olivia Cooke's name into that frame too. It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to see the same actress who played "Pixie" in the body of Lou. It's a transformation akin to Charlize Theron's in "Monster". (In fact, it took me until the Paris scenes to actually recognize her!)


- Director Darius Marder - IN HIS DIRECTORIAL FEATURE DEBUT! - delivers a fabulous example of "show not tell". All of the detail is present in the film to tell the story if you look for it. You don't need dialogue to give Lou's backstory: just a casual shot of her lower arm is enough.

Negatives:
- It's a VERY minor quibble but, with a 2 hour running length, the Paris scenes dragged just a little for me. I might have chosen to do a few nips and tucks there in the 'party' scenes. But I wouldn't have wanted to lose much.

"Sound of Metal" has - I'm sure - a guaranteed slot in my Films of the Year list. Simply stunning and highly recommended, this is currently showing in the UK on Amazon Prime.

(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/04/13/sound-of-metal-dont-ignore-that-ear-bud-volume-warning-on-your-phone-kids/ )
  
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Tim Booth recommended Love by The Beatles in Music (curated)

 
Love by The Beatles
Love by The Beatles
2006 | Pop, Rock
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I find that many albums by The Beatles don't completely hold together for me. While Sgt. Pepper's… holds together stylistically, it isn't one of my favourite albums. However, I have to include The Beatles, because they are clearly the greatest band that ever stalked the earth. I got into the Love album to introduce my son to The Beatles. George Martin lovingly remastered it and I think he has made some improvements. Sonically it is fantastic. It flows. I love being able to go across their entire span of history. I went to the Love Cirque De Soleil show in Las Vegas, which was a bad idea, but this record is a fantastic introduction and became my son's understanding of The Beatles. The other records are well worth investigating, of course, and they made truly great records, but there aren't any that could go in my Baker's Dozen. The album contains 'A Day In The Life', which is in my top five greatest songs. I love the fact it was created through such a mad, collaborative technique. One part is John, one part is Paul and they left a minute-and-a-half to fill with something. What fucking amazing, arrogant craziness could do that? And, to then produce one of the greatest songs. That song is akin to how James write to a degree. We write through improvisation. No one takes anything into a room. We start improvising and the improvisation may take ten minutes or it may take 90 minutes. We record it all and then whoever wants to can take a track, chop it up in whatever way they want to, and then present it back to the band. Someone else can then input and add a keyboard line or whatever. Therefore, we have this collaborative process that you can hear on the new album that is a little insane, as we might have had a part, which worked in the first ten minutes, and then we might try and weld it to something that worked hours later. They don't necessarily join and we have to find a way of joining them. That acceptance of chance can lead to the best moments. Most bands have one or two songwriters (we now have four) and they are at the mercy of their conscious ability. With us, a chaotic reaction to each other is creating the song, which is probably why we have been around for 33 years and we never get bored. We never know what the fuck we are going to do next. The Beatles had that on their greatest collaborative songs, where they couldn't be sure quite where a song was going. They allowed themselves the possibility of fucking songs up in a great way. The Beatles are the Shakespeare of our time. They will still be played in 100 years' time and people will still wonder how the fuck they made such amazing music."

Source
  
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis, Volume 1
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis, Volume 1
Brian Michael Bendis | 2012 | Comics & Graphic Novels, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, before I begin my review of ULTIMATE COMICS: SPIDER-MAN Vol. 1, I feel the need to confess something: there was a point in life where I was a lot less liberal, a lot less "forward thinking". I felt heroes like Miles Morales were unnecessary, examples of "lazy writing". I felt that instead of creating a non-white Spider-Man, he should have been a newly created hero, not a copy of one already in existence.

Since that time, I have experienced what I can think of no word to better describe it other than an <I>awakening</I>. Much of it was the ignorance I was raised in - a racist father, a mother who followed his ideals because she was co-dependent, lacking any autonomy. It's like a veil was lifted from my eyes and I can see/think a lot more clearly. Far more acceptance and understanding now in my life, and I quite like me much more.

Now, that said, since my <I>awakening</I>, I went and checked out the first volume, as it was on sale on Comixology. Can't think of a better reason to check out what was previously, for me, a much overlooked tpb!

Man, I just want to say that I share many of the others' feelings: this was a fun series! The 616 Spider-Man hasn't been that much fun in far too long a time! He captured the youthful innocence of the character, but also exhibiting maturity and sense of honor that was not common for his age.

Those who have known me are aware that I am not a fan of Brian Michael Bendis. I felt he excelled more with his own characters (like SCARLETT, which I loved immensely) than taking on the task of writing for existing characters. However, here, I felt that he was top of his game, offering us a Spider-Man that this world truly needs!

I don't really want to do this, as 95% of the book was beyond awesome, but the inclusion of ULTIMATE FALLOUT #4 (of 6) was the only negative thing I can offer about this book. The story is awkward as it shows us Miles already in costume, already testing out his newfound powers and abilities. I felt that it made reading Miles' story after it confusing at first. It really brought nothing to the story.

Other than that, the book was solid! Bendis' writing was hot as heck, fun yet not as overly wordy as he can be known for. And assigning Sara Pichelli the task of illustrating Miles' adventures was gold! Her pencils are always tight, giving each character their own distinct visual persona! All across the board, this book was so much win!

Don't be like I used to be: read this book, because you, too, will believe in Heroes again!
  
    Need for Speed™ Network

    Need for Speed™ Network

    Social Networking and Entertainment

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    Welcome to the Need for Speed™ Network, powered by Autolog. The Companion App to Need for...