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Of Love and Other Demons
Book
Nobel Prize winner and author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera,...

Ours are the Streets
Book
When Imtiaz Raina leaves England for the first time, to bury his father on his family's land near...

Dark Water
Book
A selection of deliciously spooky short stories from the Japanese master of suspense, the acclaimed...

Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Cargo (2017) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020 (Updated Oct 26, 2020)
Emotional Story About Father's Devotion To His Child During The Zombie Apocalypse
Contains spoilers, click to show
I like this movie. I mean an emotional journey of a father trying to find a safe place and people to take care of his baby daughter before he turns into a zombie is a great premise. Martin Freeman also puts on quite a good performance as he portrays the character Andy on this journey. The backdrop of Australia was beautiful as the setting in this movie too. This film has a well written plot and tense atmosphere but for me personally didn't quite reach fare enough into the horror genre to scare you and not enough zombie action. What it did have was added tension from the characters of other survivors and not knowing how they would deal with Andy being infected. I really liked some of the small details like how the little girl Thoomi made modifications to her shoes so her mother couldn't find her tracks or how she painted her face with stuff to hide her smell from the zombies. I even liked the villain's motivations and reasoning because they seemed realistic and very believable. Still it has me on the fence a bit because it feels like it was missing something when being considered a zombie movie. I wanted to rate it higher but personally feel like it deserves the score of 7/10.

Elizabeth (1521 KP) rated Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Shows
Jul 20, 2020 (Updated Jul 20, 2020)
Immersive (2 more)
Songs
Performances
Food distribution (1 more)
Limited set
Immersive theater at its best
Another show that my daughter and I saw as it was on its way out. It was our first time seeing an immersive show so I made sure to get us tickets at the tables rather than the stadium seating.
It was a tiny little theater with a stage smaller than I've seen in some schools so you couldn't help but feel like you were part of the show. Because of its small size, it was a fixed stage, with no room for set changes. There were different sections of the stage to make it feel as though you were in the pie shop or the barber shop.
During some of the dance numbers, the cast would dance on the tables we were seated at. Even if you opted for the stadium seats, there was some movement of the cast through those seats as well.
When buying the tickets, you had the option to purchase tickets with or without pies. They had both meat pies and vegetarian pies. When we arrived, they had run out of pies even though we'd purchased ahead. Instead of being able to eat them prior to the show, we had to pick them up after the show was over. It wasn't a huge deal, but when you're hungry and can smell other people's pies, it can be a bit distracting.
It was a tiny little theater with a stage smaller than I've seen in some schools so you couldn't help but feel like you were part of the show. Because of its small size, it was a fixed stage, with no room for set changes. There were different sections of the stage to make it feel as though you were in the pie shop or the barber shop.
During some of the dance numbers, the cast would dance on the tables we were seated at. Even if you opted for the stadium seats, there was some movement of the cast through those seats as well.
When buying the tickets, you had the option to purchase tickets with or without pies. They had both meat pies and vegetarian pies. When we arrived, they had run out of pies even though we'd purchased ahead. Instead of being able to eat them prior to the show, we had to pick them up after the show was over. It wasn't a huge deal, but when you're hungry and can smell other people's pies, it can be a bit distracting.

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2355 KP) rated Murder in Murray Hill in Books
May 19, 2021 (Updated May 19, 2021)
Investigating a Murder as Life Changes
New York City Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy gets a new case when a man walks into police headquarters wanting to report his daughter missing. Henry Livingston has no clue where Grace might have gone, but Frank quickly figures out that she has been responding to lonely hearts ads in the newspaper trying to find herself a husband. While she might have eloped with someone, all signs point to something much worse. Is Grace still alive? Can Frank and Sarah Brandt find her?
This book is darker than some of the others in the series, but it deals with that darker subject sympathetically, and there aren’t any details we don’t need. The darker subject of the mystery is balanced out by lighter sub-plots involving Sarah and Frank’s future plans. (And if you aren’t up to date on the series, know that this one spoils some major events from the end of the previous book.) I love the characters, so it was wonderful to check in again with them and find out what is happening in their lives. The mystery is twisty; just when I thought I knew where things were going, something would happen to confuse me again. The world of 1890’s New York City is brought to life expertly without slowing the story down at all. This is another page turning entry in the series.
This book is darker than some of the others in the series, but it deals with that darker subject sympathetically, and there aren’t any details we don’t need. The darker subject of the mystery is balanced out by lighter sub-plots involving Sarah and Frank’s future plans. (And if you aren’t up to date on the series, know that this one spoils some major events from the end of the previous book.) I love the characters, so it was wonderful to check in again with them and find out what is happening in their lives. The mystery is twisty; just when I thought I knew where things were going, something would happen to confuse me again. The world of 1890’s New York City is brought to life expertly without slowing the story down at all. This is another page turning entry in the series.

TravelersWife4Life (31 KP) rated The Outlaw's Daughter (The Haywire Brides, #3) in Books
Feb 24, 2021
The Outlaws Daughter is the third book in the Haywire Brides Series by Margaret Brownley. It can be read as a standalone (I haven’t read the other in this series yet and got along just fine), I will be going back and reading the rest of the books in this series though.
I loved Texas Ranger Matt Taggert in this book! His balance between doing his job and his feelings for Ellie-May was interesting to see. I thought that there was good chemistry between the two main characters and that Matt showed respect for everyone involved. Ellie-May is a great southern Momma (at night when she hears a noise, her first thought is to reach for her shotgun under her pillow!), she is a well-behaved lady who takes care of those around her, and she loves her kids. She is someone I would love to meet in real life. The plot of this story was interesting, it had fast-paced scenes and slower-paced scenes, and I liked the western feel to the town. It kept me engaged throughout the story. I liked the small town where everyone knew everyone, which is not always a good thing, but it was cool to see the town interact with the characters.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars for the fun characters, the cool western town, and the storyline
I loved Texas Ranger Matt Taggert in this book! His balance between doing his job and his feelings for Ellie-May was interesting to see. I thought that there was good chemistry between the two main characters and that Matt showed respect for everyone involved. Ellie-May is a great southern Momma (at night when she hears a noise, her first thought is to reach for her shotgun under her pillow!), she is a well-behaved lady who takes care of those around her, and she loves her kids. She is someone I would love to meet in real life. The plot of this story was interesting, it had fast-paced scenes and slower-paced scenes, and I liked the western feel to the town. It kept me engaged throughout the story. I liked the small town where everyone knew everyone, which is not always a good thing, but it was cool to see the town interact with the characters.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars for the fun characters, the cool western town, and the storyline

Lawrence Kasdan recommended Shampoo (1975) in Movies (curated)

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Beetlejuice (1988) in Movies
Nov 7, 2020
Micheal Keaton (1 more)
Tim Burton
Say His Name
Beetlejuice- is a halloween classic. Its also a tim burton classic. The cast is really good, the fantasy gothic horror element is really good. Its also a dark film, and its PG and it does have some not PG moments. Its a excellent movie.
The plot: After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose "help" quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.
Burton cast Ryder upon seeing her in Lucas. O'Hara quickly signed on, while Burton claimed it took a lot of time to convince other cast members to sign, as "they didn't know what to think of the weird script.
Warner Bros. disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film House Ghosts. As a joke, Burton suggested the name Scared Sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian is in development hell and now its shelved. So the likely chance of it coming out is unlikely, but who knows.
Like i said before Beetlejuice is a excellent Halloween Classic.
The plot: After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose "help" quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.
Burton cast Ryder upon seeing her in Lucas. O'Hara quickly signed on, while Burton claimed it took a lot of time to convince other cast members to sign, as "they didn't know what to think of the weird script.
Warner Bros. disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film House Ghosts. As a joke, Burton suggested the name Scared Sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian is in development hell and now its shelved. So the likely chance of it coming out is unlikely, but who knows.
Like i said before Beetlejuice is a excellent Halloween Classic.

ClareR (5885 KP) rated The Miseducation of Evie Epworth in Books
Nov 10, 2020
The Miseducation of Evie Epworth came along at just the right time for me. Another lockdown was looming, things weren’t looking wholly optimistic, and along came Evie, hurtling down a country lane in a red MG. Actually, this has to be one of the most laugh-out-loud, followed-by-a-gasp openings I’ve ever read. And it didn’t stop there. Evie is a breath of much needed fresh air. She reminded me of the hope that you have as a young person, embarking on your grown up life as you leave formal education.
The dreaded Christine (soon to be Evie’s stepmother) makes such a good baddie (or a baddie you love to hate!). She’s a pleasure to hate, to be honest - but I’m afraid I did feel sorry for her - she just wanted a way out of the life she’d been given. Mrs Scott-Pam, Evie’s beloved next door neighbour, and her estranged daughter, Caroline, are just the people to help Evie out of her predicament - and the rest of the cast of colourful characters are just perfect.
I’m so glad there will be more of Evie in the future, and I can’t wait to read more.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to Matson Taylor for reading along, commenting, answering our questions and generally talking with us about all things Evie related. I really did have the best time 😊
The dreaded Christine (soon to be Evie’s stepmother) makes such a good baddie (or a baddie you love to hate!). She’s a pleasure to hate, to be honest - but I’m afraid I did feel sorry for her - she just wanted a way out of the life she’d been given. Mrs Scott-Pam, Evie’s beloved next door neighbour, and her estranged daughter, Caroline, are just the people to help Evie out of her predicament - and the rest of the cast of colourful characters are just perfect.
I’m so glad there will be more of Evie in the future, and I can’t wait to read more.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to Matson Taylor for reading along, commenting, answering our questions and generally talking with us about all things Evie related. I really did have the best time 😊