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Fifty Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
10
6.6 (103 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's difficult to explain this book without being inappropriate towards a younger audience but I'll do my best.

EL James takes a lot of women's fantasies, that they are too afraid to ever ask their partner to try, and normalises them. A lot of people have described this book as "mummy porn" and okay yes maybe to a degree it is. However it is also so much more, it inadvertently investigates how far we are willing to push ourselves and change for someone we believe we are attracted to or even love. I don't know if she meant to but she certainly challenged mindsets with this book and challenges what we consider normal and acceptable behaviour.

It also brought the BDSM culture into the light and helped make it a lot less taboo. Until this book was released BDSM was seen as sex dungeons, dirty old men and scared, low self-esteem girls. This book helped challenge and change this perception and open people's minds to alternative forms of.... enjoyment.


It is certainly worth a read, if nothing else just to give you an alternative perspective of what society should and shouldn't see as acceptable in relationships.
  
John Macarthur has gone through meticulous study and research to uncover a truth about our relationship with Christ to a degree we have not exhausted as thoroughly as we should. Because of words being translated differently, we have lost a dynamic of that beautiful relationship: Now Macarthur has explained what it truly should look like.

Reading Slave has been truly convicting and enlightening. It gave me a whole new perspective on my relationship with Christ, and a fresh sense of peace. Christ is our Master and we are His slaves, and by explaining the culture and the true definition of the words that were originally written, we see salvation in a new light.

Not only was it engaging and convicting, it was easy to read. I've gotten Christian books that felt like I was reading college text books. And trust me when I say I don't like college text books—I have a bunch of them and I avoid them at all costs. But MacArthur's writing was clear and concise yet thoroughly explained and can be easily understood by a wide range of readers.
  
Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy is a collection of essays by various contributors, many of which have contributed to other books in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series. Many questions that went unasked are brought forth and argued, and many things that you never thought twice about are exposed.

I am a long-time Alice lover, having read and listened to the stories my whole life and played a part in the Disney-ballet. I love Carroll’s stories for what they are, and I see the beauty in chaos and nonsense. However I did enjoy reading through these essays, and gaining a new perspective on the classic adventure of Wonderland.

Although, to a certain extent, I can’t help but side with the party that it’s just a sweet silly story about a girl who wasn’t quite ready to face reality, until she realized what a mess nonsense can be.

This collection of intriguing essays will leaving you wondering about Wonderland more than you ever have before.

Recommendation: Ages 12+ for Alice lovers who want to think outside the box and deeper than before.
  
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Everything is no longer awesome
I liked the first Lego Movie a lot. I liked the Lego Batman movie even more. I should have liked this movie too. Maybe I was just having a grumpy Monday, but unfortunately I didn't like this one very much at all.

The Lego movies thrive on being fast paced - a visual feast for the eyes with rapid fire gags and knowing little nods and references to film and other pop culture. Lego Movie 2 is certainly fast paced, but because I didn't find any of the gags funny, I quickly grew tired and annoyed by it all. Only when we start to see a lot more of the real world - brother and sister fighting, Mum getting involved (Will Ferrell reduced to just shouting something out from another room rather than appearing on screen, weirdly) - that we get a real understanding of the impact on the Lego world and why everything is happening. That brought a real coherency and sentimentality to everything and meant that I enjoyed the final third of the movie a lot more than the rest of it.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla (1998) in Movies

Mar 24, 2018  
Godzilla (1998)
Godzilla (1998)
1998 | Sci-Fi
Much-reviled and frequently-mocked (especially in subsequent Toho films) American Godzilla is actually not bad as a mega-budget reinvention of the classic American monster B-movie (which the original Japanese Godzilla was inspired by), it's just very disappointing as an actual Godzilla movie. The French irradiate the Pacific, causing humble iguana to grow to ginormous proportions, experience curious gender issues, and then devastate Manhattan.


Some good effects sequences, particularly the two big battles between 'Godzilla' and the US armed forces, and the leads work hard to be likeable, but on the whole the film seems much more interested in American pop culture (there's a pastiche of Jurassic Park, jokes about Elvis, some really unsubtle digs at film critics who didn't like Independence Day) than in the Japanese pop icon it's supposed to be about - the monster is lacking in grandeur and majesty, doesn't have Godzilla's special abilities, and is basically just a big lizard you can kill with conventional weapons. (No wonder the beast is just called 'Zilla' in its subsequent appearances.) Not awful on its own terms, but then it was never going to be judged on those.
  
Wayne's World (1992)
Wayne's World (1992)
1992 | Comedy
A fun movie (3 more)
Great music
Perfect duo with Wayne and garth
Great cast
A true classic
This is a fantastic movie which is still relevant today.

Contains the famous bohemium rhapsody scene in the car at the beginning of the movie and just shows how fun the movie is going to be.

The duo of Wayne and Garth works well, you can't have 1 without the other. It has a great cast overall. Tia Carrere (Cassandra) is a fantastic singer and personally does the best cover of the ballroom blitz at the end. Quite gorgeous too.

You have a young Rob Lowe who never seems to age, Lara Flynn Boyle cast perfectly as the phsycho ex girlfriend and Kurt Fuller as the producer.

The pacing is fantastic, there is not 1 boring scene in the movie and I have to give it a 10 because I cannot find a fault in my opinion. Characters talking to the camera is fun (I love breaking the 4th wall), the pop culture references like a suprise terminator reference, the 1 liners and even Garth's dancing is fun.
  
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Devil Aspect in Books

Jan 27, 2019  
The Devil Aspect
The Devil Aspect
Craig Russell | 2019 | Crime, History & Politics, Thriller
7
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hmmm ... this is a difficult one for me to review because I loved the story, the characters, the setting, the time and the writing style but thought it a little drawn out and it dragged on a little too much for me BUT please do not let me put you off, I appear to be in the minority as this has had a lot of praise and 5 star reviews and it will definitely be perfect for people who want to have a lot of information to enable them to become totally immersed in a story; clearly the author has done a lot of research into the location, time period, culture, traditions and history and it certainly transported me there but I felt a little bogged down by it all at times which did detract from my overall experience.

Overall, although not a book that I find myself gushing about, it was mostly enjoyable and one which I definitely feel would transfer well onto the big screen.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK, via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
  
Ready Player One
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.9 (161 Ratings)
Book Rating
Pop culture (2 more)
Nostalgia drips from the page
Future true story
Modern retro
Coming to this book from the movie was a mistake but not a bigger one than reading this then watching the movie.

In a strangely possible future that sees the real world being second to virtual world of the Oasis, Wade Watts finds himself orphaned and obsessed with the 80s and all levels of geek and pop trivia. This obsession grows as he along with millions of others are undertaking a quest to control the virtual world and basically be the king of both worlds. Many movies, computer games, songs and even breakfast cereals are dissected in great detail and this attention to detail makes the book for me and is where it had me hooked. If you love nostalgia then this book will be a dream of not then it could be too much.

The story is packed with twists and turns with the obligatory love interest make this book fun, interesting and gripping in equal measure.

Book then movie, I need to learn to remember that one of these days
  
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Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated RuPaul's Drag Race in TV

Jan 5, 2020 (Updated Mar 27, 2020)  
RuPaul's Drag Race
RuPaul's Drag Race
2009 | Comedy, Drama, Game Show, Reality-TV
The Shade! (2 more)
The T
Get those nuts away from MY face!
That I can't audition 😭 (0 more)
Such good watching Queen
Gag me with a Delorian! This is some dam good TV. It's a wounderfull look into the world of drag, and the culture around it.
You love some queens, you hate some others, and it can be an emotional rollercoaster.
The Smash Game is the one I look forward to, and gurl! Does it deliver!!!
There is so much brutal honesty and the mix of love and confirm is great. Yes, it is edited, yes, there is a lot we do not see. But instead of think about the fun and the joy of watching this program, and think instead of the acceptance and mainstream love for this community that has come out of this program. Introducing an entire generation to drag and teaching us that love is love!
Oh and Ru and Michelle are so funny! Please see What's The T! Review to follow.
If you can't love yourself, how in the he'll are you gonna love somebody else?
Can I get an Amen!?
  
    SivaSiva

    SivaSiva

    Education and Lifestyle

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    "SivaSiva" is a revered mantra from South India naming the divine within all. This app is a portal...