Smashbomb

"I had heard about Cassavetes, and when I started to see his movies I realized that I knew his face from childhood favorites Rosemary’s Baby and The Dirty Dozen. I loved The Dirty Dozen because of The Team. I still have an eight-by-ten publicity still from that movie. Which Cassavetes movie did I see first? I can’t remember. I know we watched Minnie and Moskowitz many times before a tour around the year 2000 and quoted it often, and I still offer Minnie’s toast to Zelmo in most instances when I am in the position to offer a toast: “To you and your happiness.” I know at some point I saw I’m Almost Not Crazy . . . before I saw Love Streams itself. Love Streams is, to me, Cassavetes’s version of Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia or Russ Meyer’s Supervixens: a summing-up and distillation of ideas, theories, characters, plot devices; making a statement by improving upon many earlier acts and creating something that absolutely could not have been made without specific lives behind it, celebrating those lives and the shared history of creator and audience. I’ve never seen Love Streams projected; first I owned a VHS copy and later a copy of the European DVD whose release was sponsored by Agnès B. Love Streams also reminds me of my favorite movie, The Misfits, in the way that life on-screen and off- is a crucial collaborator in the ultimate full effect of the movie."

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Kudos

Christine A. (965 KP) rated Flesh and Blood (DI Amy Winter #4) in Books

May 5, 2021

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.

Not until reading the 4th book in Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series did I figure out how to read the series without losing sleep. I started reading it first thing in the morning. Her novels are brilliantly written police procedurals, full of exciting characters and backstories, that are hard to put down.

As with the prior three installments, Flesh and Blood, focuses on Amy Winter's professional life and personal life. This time her team is tasked with investigating a wave of apparent suicides at several seaside resorts. The main reason her team travels to Clacton is it is Winter's boss’s, DCI Donovan, a prior partner who is the latest apparent suicide victim.

After the team's last case and ensuing news coverage, their profile has gone up, and they are under the microscope by the press, public, and their higherups. Their presence and help are not welcomed in Clacton, but Amy, as usual, plows on and is determined to find the truth...no matter where or who they need to investigate.

Mitchell has established a well-formed world around DI WInter's childhood, biological and adoptive parents, work, and personal life. It would be remiss to not read the series from the beginning.

This 200-word review will be published on Philomathinphila.com.

Kudos

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Dec 5, 2020 (Updated Dec 5, 2020)

Stop by my blog, and check out this great interview with the sexy Ridge Steele from the Western historical romance novel ONCE UPON A MAIL ORDER BRIDE by Linda Broday. Enter the GIVEAWAY to win a signed copy of the book, all four books in the Mail Order Brides Series autographed by Linda Broday or a $10 Amazon gift card!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-once-upon.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Accused of crimes he didn't commit, ex-preacher Ridge Steele is forced to give up everything he knew and make his home with outlaws. Desperate for someone to confide in, he strikes up correspondence with mail-order bride Adeline Jancy, finding in her the open heart he's been searching for. Upon her arrival, Ridge discovers Addie only communicates through the written word, but he knows a little of what trauma can do to a person and vows to stand by her side.

Addie is eager to start a new life with the kind ex-preacher and the little boy she's stolen away from her father―a zealot priest of a terrorized flock. As her small family settles into life at Hope's Crossing, she even begins to find the voice, and confidence, she'd lost so long ago.

But danger is not far behind, and her father will not be denied. While Addie desperately fights the man who destroyed her childhood, a determined Ridge races to the rescue. The star-crossed lovers will need more than prayers to survive this final challenge...and find their way back to each other again.

Kudos Comment

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) in Movies

Jan 25, 2021

Comedy comes in many forms and is certainly subjective. Unfortunately, slapstick comedy which is plastered all over the second outing for Indiana Jones really holds the film back as a whole for me.
Where Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade are more straight shooting adventures, the comedic elements in them are placed fantastically, sparingly, and add to the overall experience. Temple of Doom is more of a gauntlet of jokes and over the top silliness, and most of it unfortunately doesn't land.
A lot of this comes from Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), who acts as (constant) comic relief and Indiana Jones' love interest. The character is written in a way that she ends up at worst not being remotely likable, and at best being hugely grating.

Thankfully, the final third of Temple of Doom redeems matters a fair bit. The whole last sequence is unrelenting in its series of events. The action is masterfully executed, and feels like Spielberg was just constantly trying to one up himself in what he was doing, and his efforts result in an extremely fun and thrilling final act.
Once again, a lot of practical effects on display that lends this blockbuster series a sense of magic in a pre CGI age, and an as-per-usual incredible score from John Williams can be considered huge positives.

Overall then, Temple of Doom is a mixed bag for me, and easily my least favourite of the initial trilogy, even if I do have some find childhood memories attached to it!