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Andy K (10821 KP) created a video about AVP - Alien Vs. Predator (2004) in Movies

Dec 10, 2017 (Updated Dec 11, 2017)  
Video

Battling the Queen

  
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Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) created a video about Syllablade in Apps

Nov 13, 2017  
Video

Syllablade | Word Battling RPG for iOS and Android

Slay epic monsters with weapons, wands, and words! Team up with your friends and become loot hunting heroes in Syllablade - the word battling RPG!

  
This is the second book in Allen's series about the Ravenshurst cousins and I loved it! It's well written and funny and the two central characters are both endearing.

I loved the polar bear and the incident with the bathing machines - very enjoyable historical fiction with a very sexy romance!
  
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Justin Hawkins recommended Reckless by Bryan Adams in Music (curated)

 
Reckless by Bryan Adams
Reckless by Bryan Adams
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"You know, it’s amazing how quiet this album sound when you play it now. That’s down to old fashioned mastering. It was mixed by Bob Clearmountain – what a great name, because Reckless sounds like his surname! I always think the name ‘Clearmountain’ is so Dickensian as well. “But every song here was either a single, or sounds like it should have been released as a single. It’s just amazing. And Tina Turner’s here as well on one song, It’s Only Love. “Whenever I play this album, it sounds familiar, beautiful and like bathing in warm water. A bath of ‘Clearmountain’ water!"

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Countess Dracula (1971) in Movies

Feb 14, 2018 (Updated Feb 14, 2018)  
Countess Dracula (1971)
Countess Dracula (1971)
1971 | Horror
Historically-inspired Hammer horror; not actually part of its main Dracula series, but the title helped the box office, I guess. Ageing Hungarian noblewoman discovers she can restore her youth by bathing in virgin blood, takes a shine to a young soldier, decides to impersonate her own daughter in order to woo him (as you would). Meanwhile life for the domestic staff around the castle becomes unexpectedly more hazardous.

Restrained and thoughtful horror movie; a bit less garish and gory than you might think. Interesting subtext about the relationship between the young and the old, and fear of ageing. Driven along by a terrific performance from Ingrid Pitt (Pitt thought there should have been more blood in the movie). Runs out of things to do slightly before the end, but still a classy movie.
  
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
1954 | Horror
6.7 (10 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Number four would be the Creature from the Black Lagoon. That one, of course, was split up; two actors played him. Ricou Browning was the Gill-man in the water, and Ben Chapman was the Gill-man out of the water, on the land. The most memorable imagery for me would be Ricou in those underwater sequences, when he’s swimming underneath Julie Adams. She’s innocently having a swim in her little white bathing suit, like “la la la,” having no idea that this thing is lurking underneath her. But that underwater performance of his has channeled its way into my own creatures. I’ve played two fish-men now in my career, so I think that the Creature from the Black Lagoon actually left a huge thumbprint on me from that."

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Do you like slowly wandering around the woods with no particular aim than to take in the surrounding beauty, breathe in the fresh air and be present and at one with nature? Then this book Shinrin-yoku: The Japanese Way of Forest Bathing for Health and Relaxation by Yoshifumi Miyazaki, should definitely be on your bookshelf! Honestly, if you’d asked me if there was such as thing a couple of weeks ago, I would have laughed at you and told you, you were just lazy. But it really is a thing.

Shinrin Yoku or ‘forest bathing’ was developed in Japan in the 1980s and brings together ancient ways and wisdom with cutting edge environmental health science. Believe it not, (oh, you must!) there are now forest bathing stations and walkways scattered throughout Japan, but you don’t have to all the way over there (although I would love to) to experience this simple, calming practice. No! With this book you can learn the art, strap on your walking shoes and get on out there and start your own Shinrin Yoku pathway.

Although, reading the book, it’s got a certain appeal and much more “hippyish” in China, including an itinerary of forest therapy (and tree-hugging), soba-noodle making, pottery workshops and stargazing – and that’s just day one! Can also include mediation, yoga, aromatherapy and forest concerts.

Involving all the senses, and taking all the greenery around you (and green is a very relaxing colour) you will find Shinrin Yoku benefits you in ways you didn’t know were possible. Numerous tests and studies have been made for this book. One example I’d like to share was how subjects were monitored (and properly measured) after just 15 mins walking in the morning, and 15 mins sitting and viewing the greenery in the afternoon. This short break in everyday life – reduced stress, blood pressure, pulse rate and cortisol, and increased a whole range of feelings from comfort and calmness with a decrease in anxiety.

Another great example showed the effects of just staring at a Bonsai tree for 60 seconds. Well, I tell you, I’m getting everyone I know who needs de-stressing a Bonsai tree for Christmas! It will be the best bloody present they could ask for – even if they do look at me as if I’m going mad when I ask them to just do one thing for me. Sit and stare at it for 60 seconds every day…

Now. Are there any Bonsai specialists in the UK? I want one or two.
  
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Lev Kalman recommended Suzanne's Career (1963) in Movies (curated)

 
Suzanne's Career (1963)
Suzanne's Career (1963)
1963 | International, Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Rewatching this film on the other side of my twenties, the overwhelming fact of everyone’s youth really hit me. They’re just eighteen! And suddenly, the whole movie is Degrassi. Suzanne is Paige, Guillaume is Spinner, Bertrand is Jimmy. And Spinner and Jimmy think it’s really funny to take Paige out on dates and make her pay the bills. Then Spinner takes the joke way too far and Jimmy’s caught in the middle, wanting more than anything to seem cool. The final scene at the pool, the bathing suit competition so to speak—everything about it is casually devastating: the rhythm of the cuts, the lighting, the suntan lotion choreography. Bertrand (Jimmy) realizes he and Sophie (Ashley) aren’t superior to Suzanne, they’re just skinny. Man, that scene hits hard. Like Degrassi, Rohmer knows that the most interesting thing about teens is that they’re works in progress. Like, sometimes they actually learn a lesson."

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Catherine Hardwicke recommended Parasite (2019) in Movies (curated)

 
Parasite (2019)
Parasite (2019)
2019 | Drama

"How could I not love it? I’m a former architect and “Parasite” even had a photo of the “architect” who designed the house. I was fascinated with the long horizontal window in the living room of the elegant house — looking out to the peaceful garden — in contrast to the long horizontal window in the semi-basement house looking out to the crowded neighborhood where a guy pisses regularly. As it rains at the elegant house — seen through the window, it’s a beautiful sight, but in the semi-basement house — rain becomes a flood of sewage! So many layers of detail which reveal economic inequities…. the cramped bathroom with the raised toilet — the only area where the sister could get cell phone reception… vs. how she “fit in” when bathing in the more luxurious bathroom. I loved the delicious details like the sister pointing out the “schizophrenic” area of the child’s paintings — the dark shape in the lower right hand corner — so she could be paid more for art therapy! Yummy! And of course the amazing shot where the former housekeeper is HORIZONTAL in the basement — trying to push open the bookcase. I thought she was possessed by a demon. Then the film surprised me again and took another unexpected seismic shift. All the visual delights strengthened the story in a great feedback loop! Bravo!"

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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
1963 | Comedy

"It’s a mad movie. It’s just insane. This was the first movie I remember having so many stars that I loved. My favorite scene is when the older woman realizes that her son-in-law lives close to the treasure, so she calls him up. I remember the phone ringing and ringing, and when they cut to her son, he’s with a girl in a bikini doing the twist to some song. And she has this disaffected look on her face, just staring into nothing. The son is in a ’50s-style bathing suit just jumping around her going, “Yeah. Go.” That moment is something I’ve put in theater pieces, and even when I go out and I’m on the dance floor, I think of that scene. So if that movie gave me anything, aside from the excitement of seeing all these awesome comedic actors, it was that moment. I love that old-style humor, you know, like Some Like It Hot, just over the top. I think comedy was done with a lot more class back then. And that was a crossover period. It’s hard to get that these days. Now it has to be cool. Back then it just had to be crazy and zany. That movie should be listed next to the definition of “zany” in the dictionary. “What is zany?” “Watch this movie.”"

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