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Pete Wareham recommended Miles Smiles by Miles Davis in Music (curated)

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Alice in Wonderland (2010) in Movies
Dec 3, 2020 (Updated Dec 3, 2020)
A greasy, molten CGI fever dream that bounces from random bullshit to random bullshit with the appeal of rabies mouth foam - I actually sort of dig it? Ten and a half years ago this was read as possibly one of the worst offenses to the Disney brand at the time; but now in lieu of the ever-growing gallery of visually sterile, grossly overbloated, laborious live action remakes we have now from the company the fact that this has any idiosyncrasy at all - insane as it is - makes this automatically better by comparison and you can't convince me otherwise. For better and for worse there's a reason people remember "Tim Burton's πππͺπ€π¦ πͺπ― ππ°π―π₯π¦π³ππ’π―π₯" and not "Guy Ritchie's πππ’π₯π₯πͺπ―", for instance. Not to say this is that good, it still sucks a shit ton where it counts - has most of the usual collection of issues these have including but not limited to trying to turn this purposefully senseless source material into another bland "find your destiny" snore and maybe the most nothing lead character to ever exist (doesn't help that Wasikowska dons one expression the entire movie). But it's also 100% cockamamie self-assured auteur work that occasionally finds home to some striking imagery like tiny Alice crossing the water over bloated decapitated heads or the gorgeous final battle on a chess board-esque field. As you've heard, angry bobblehead Helena Bonham Carter steals the show. I like this a lot more than its detractors but hate it a lot more than its supporters.

Kim Pook (101 KP) rated Thriller (2018) in Movies
Jan 18, 2021
A group of children decide to play a prank on a boy called chauncey from school. He is tricked into entering an empty house where they chase him around wearing masks to scare him, he retaliates by pushing one of the kids and sends her over the balcony to her death, but rather than confessing that it was a prank gone wrong the children all tell the police that chauncey killed her and he is sent to prison.
4 years later Chauncey is released from prison and the friends have gone their desperate ways. We see how they are coping now, some are still struggling whilst others are living a normal life, that is until they find out that Chauncey is back. It turns out they have every right to be worried as he is understandably very angry and wants revenge.
In theory the movie sounds good and in some parts it is good, but unfortunately not enough to keep me gripped. In many parts the acting wasn't great, you could see it was a low budget movie and the music they used in scenes just didn't work with what was happening, its almost as if a random piece of music was picked and they thought "that will do". I also found I didn't feel any kind of connection to the characters, they didn't have much of a storyline and I didn't care really care if they lived or died. Sadly I won't be watching this movie again.
4 years later Chauncey is released from prison and the friends have gone their desperate ways. We see how they are coping now, some are still struggling whilst others are living a normal life, that is until they find out that Chauncey is back. It turns out they have every right to be worried as he is understandably very angry and wants revenge.
In theory the movie sounds good and in some parts it is good, but unfortunately not enough to keep me gripped. In many parts the acting wasn't great, you could see it was a low budget movie and the music they used in scenes just didn't work with what was happening, its almost as if a random piece of music was picked and they thought "that will do". I also found I didn't feel any kind of connection to the characters, they didn't have much of a storyline and I didn't care really care if they lived or died. Sadly I won't be watching this movie again.

Kim Pook (101 KP) rated The Prom (2020) in Movies
Dec 24, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
From the get go this movie made me so angry. Basically the PTA of a high school decide to cancel prom rather than allow her to take her girlfriend. Then when we are thrown into a musical number by meryl Streep and James corden, I knew this was going to be fab right after I finished laughing at James corden fake accent of course! Anyway this duo are the star of a Broadway show called 'Eleanor' which closes on opening night due to bad reviews, and not for the first time either. During a long bar scene they decide they want to become activists to regain their fame, their project? Get prom reinstated and ensure Emma can bring her girlfriend.
Considering I thought the whole movie was about giving prom the go ahead, I thought prom was reinstated very quickly, as many dance numbers and 40 minutes later they are successful. As the movie is over 2 hours long though, that obviously meant there is more to the movie, but I'll leave that to you to see what happens. A word of warning though, it is so cruel! In true Hollywood style though it all works out.
I really enjoyed the movie, it has so many catchy and humorous songs. It's funny, emotional and full of pazazz all the way through. Arianna De bose and Jo Ellen pellman as Alyssa and Emma have great chemistry, and who'd have thought James cordon would be so good at playing a camp gay guy! If you love musicals, you will definitely love this.
Considering I thought the whole movie was about giving prom the go ahead, I thought prom was reinstated very quickly, as many dance numbers and 40 minutes later they are successful. As the movie is over 2 hours long though, that obviously meant there is more to the movie, but I'll leave that to you to see what happens. A word of warning though, it is so cruel! In true Hollywood style though it all works out.
I really enjoyed the movie, it has so many catchy and humorous songs. It's funny, emotional and full of pazazz all the way through. Arianna De bose and Jo Ellen pellman as Alyssa and Emma have great chemistry, and who'd have thought James cordon would be so good at playing a camp gay guy! If you love musicals, you will definitely love this.

CARROT To-Do - Talking Task List
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CARROT doesnβt just make getting things done fun β she makes getting things done addictive. ...

Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Night Swim: A Novel in Books
Aug 4, 2020
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.
Having worked in the criminal court system for years, I was looking forward to The Night Swim by Megan Goldin. The premise that you follow along with a podcast to reach your own verdict of a current and controversial trial sounded intriguing. I found myself angry by the main character's obvious slant on her podcast. If her role was to present an unbiased reporting of the events in court, she failed at her job. Her reporting of the case proceedings and the investigation taken are accurate, detailed, and complete. Goldin successfully captures the emotions involved in sensitive cases such as the one podcaster Rachel Krall covers for the third season of her podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty.
Goldin's story of the trial, the people involved, and the overlapping, interconnected tale from the past are woven into a clever novel narrated by Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz. All three narrators are accomplished voice actors. LaVoy narrated books by Patterson, Deaver, Grisham, and Goldin's New York Times Bestseller, The Escape Room.
The narrators' voices matched the story well, but the speed in which they spoke was too slow for me, and I listened to the story at a faster rate.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/3/20.
Having worked in the criminal court system for years, I was looking forward to The Night Swim by Megan Goldin. The premise that you follow along with a podcast to reach your own verdict of a current and controversial trial sounded intriguing. I found myself angry by the main character's obvious slant on her podcast. If her role was to present an unbiased reporting of the events in court, she failed at her job. Her reporting of the case proceedings and the investigation taken are accurate, detailed, and complete. Goldin successfully captures the emotions involved in sensitive cases such as the one podcaster Rachel Krall covers for the third season of her podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty.
Goldin's story of the trial, the people involved, and the overlapping, interconnected tale from the past are woven into a clever novel narrated by Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz. All three narrators are accomplished voice actors. LaVoy narrated books by Patterson, Deaver, Grisham, and Goldin's New York Times Bestseller, The Escape Room.
The narrators' voices matched the story well, but the speed in which they spoke was too slow for me, and I listened to the story at a faster rate.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/3/20.

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