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Fortunes of France: The Brethren: No.1
Robert Merle, Neil Gower and T. Jefferson Kline
Book
The Perigord of sixteenth-century France is a wild region on the edge of the reaches of royal...
Jonathan Caouette recommended 3 Women (1977) in Movies (curated)
Paul Weller recommended Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies in Music (curated)
Merissa (11961 KP) rated Ensnared by Innocence (Roaring Rogues #1) in Books
Aug 10, 2021
ENSNARED BY INNOCENCE is the first book in the Roaring Rogues series and we are introduced to a Regency world where an Heiress can be sold off to pay debts, whether she wants to be or not.
Francine has no idea why her aunt is so adamant she accept the proposal of someone Francine dislikes intensely. In three months, Francine will reach her majority and then won't have to marry anyone. With that in mind, she approaches Blakely and propositions him.
This was a delightful book to read, with the relationship between Francy and Erasmus growing from mutual admiration to love. I would have liked a bit more about Erasmus shifting to a lion rather than just a sex scene, plus more about his Cubs. Still, that scene was steamy so maybe I missed something. There are some classic one-liners in here that made me chuckle, together with wonderful descriptions of the ton, the surroundings, etc.
The first book in a series that I have thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending. Looking forward to the next one.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Francine has no idea why her aunt is so adamant she accept the proposal of someone Francine dislikes intensely. In three months, Francine will reach her majority and then won't have to marry anyone. With that in mind, she approaches Blakely and propositions him.
This was a delightful book to read, with the relationship between Francy and Erasmus growing from mutual admiration to love. I would have liked a bit more about Erasmus shifting to a lion rather than just a sex scene, plus more about his Cubs. Still, that scene was steamy so maybe I missed something. There are some classic one-liners in here that made me chuckle, together with wonderful descriptions of the ton, the surroundings, etc.
The first book in a series that I have thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending. Looking forward to the next one.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Joey Santiago recommended Moog Indigo by Jean-Jacques Perrey in Music (curated)
Gareth Evans recommended After Life (Wandafaru Raifu) (1998) in Movies (curated)
Stephen Morris recommended Marquee Moon by Television in Music (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Contagion (2011) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)
"ππ°π―'π΅ π€π’π΅π€π© π’ π€π°ππ₯!"
Totally unrealistic, not even a *single* scene where someone buys out all the toilet paper. In all seriousness, it's interesting to kick this around in terms of the current pandemic really only until this starts to take form of a narrative movie (a fucking bingo drawing for who gets the first vaccines? lmfao) rather than a "what if?" scenario - but it's never any less measured or just plain fun. Soderbergh's sickly, medical-esque digital palette coats a befitting film over a story with absolutely no regard for the sanctity of human life. I wish it retained most of the pure penchant for schadenfreude it did in its first hour before turning toward a more traditional route - characters being viciously snuffed out one after another without warning, paranoia cranked up to 11 (bystanders are the enemy, air is the enemy) but even still it does have a giddy love for the cruelty of dragging this world and its inhabitants through the wringer. Sacrifices depth for pure pacing perfection (favorably, might I add) in what is essentially a seamless series of montages that boast the same kind of uninterrupted inertia of (lesser) films such as ππ’π±π΅πͺπ·π¦ ππ΅π’π΅π¦. And what a bitchin' score, no? Could have ended with more vigor, but very much succeeds as the business-casual ππ’π£πͺπ― ππ¦π·π¦π³.
Totally unrealistic, not even a *single* scene where someone buys out all the toilet paper. In all seriousness, it's interesting to kick this around in terms of the current pandemic really only until this starts to take form of a narrative movie (a fucking bingo drawing for who gets the first vaccines? lmfao) rather than a "what if?" scenario - but it's never any less measured or just plain fun. Soderbergh's sickly, medical-esque digital palette coats a befitting film over a story with absolutely no regard for the sanctity of human life. I wish it retained most of the pure penchant for schadenfreude it did in its first hour before turning toward a more traditional route - characters being viciously snuffed out one after another without warning, paranoia cranked up to 11 (bystanders are the enemy, air is the enemy) but even still it does have a giddy love for the cruelty of dragging this world and its inhabitants through the wringer. Sacrifices depth for pure pacing perfection (favorably, might I add) in what is essentially a seamless series of montages that boast the same kind of uninterrupted inertia of (lesser) films such as ππ’π±π΅πͺπ·π¦ ππ΅π’π΅π¦. And what a bitchin' score, no? Could have ended with more vigor, but very much succeeds as the business-casual ππ’π£πͺπ― ππ¦π·π¦π³.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Everything Must Go (2011) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020
Sterile and not funny, but more importantly yet another one of those mopey pity parties about a loathsome, middle/upper class, middle-aged white man who learns to love from those around him by first abusing them emotionally and wallowing in doldrums. The first stretch is pretty rough but that all being said, eventually turns into some serviceable sad porn. The Laura Dern scenes are pointless, and the direction barely rises above just adequate - but I feel the main problem is the very aspect that gets the most praise here; despite Ferrell's best efforts this character comes out as nothing much more than flat. It's clear they were going for like a Jim Carrey in ππ΅π¦π³π―π’π ππΆπ―π΄π©πͺπ―π¦ π°π§ π΅π©π¦ ππ±π°π΅ππ¦π΄π΄ ππͺπ―π₯ or Adam Sandler in ππ¦πͺπ¨π― ππ·π¦π³ ππ¦, but they fail to have those crucial catharsis scenes, those bursts of emotion which made Ferrell's turn in ππ΅π³π’π―π¨π¦π³ ππ©π’π― ππͺπ€π΅πͺπ°π― come out unscathed. So instead we have this guy who comes across as more deflated than successfully melancholy and just sort of sulks around while the story does everything you expect it to, then it's suddenly all solved but who really cares by then? Anywho, he and Hall have some serious chemistry and their scenes are enough to make this not so bad even if it can't escape convention.
David McK (3372 KP) rated The Karate Kid Part II (1986) in Movies
Nov 26, 2020
This isn't a tournament...
I've only recently just finished watching the actually quite good The Karate Kid spin off (featuring the same characters, 30 years later) on Netflix.
The reason I mention this?
Because the final episode of Season 2 teases Daniel returning to Okinawa, when he wistfully rediscovers/looks at a book about the history of that location.
It's the same book as in this film (he's reading it on the plane), which I'd never actually seen before.
The plot, basically, is that Daniel accompanies Mr Miyaga back to his ancestral homeland of Okinawa when the latter receives a letter saying his father is dying, 6 months after his (Daniels) victory at the All Valley Karate tournament - the film actually picks up directly here, with Kreese attacking Johnny Lawrence (one of the two main adult characters in Cobra Kai). It transpires that Mr Miyaga left to avoid a fight with his best friend, who had an arranged marriage to Mr Miyaga's love. Said friend still holds a grudge, with his nephew starting to pick on Daniel as a foreigner. As in the first, this ends with a Karate fight, but here the stakes are raised considerably with said fight more brutal than in the first film (but not as brutal as in the season 2 finale of Cobra Kai).
The reason I mention this?
Because the final episode of Season 2 teases Daniel returning to Okinawa, when he wistfully rediscovers/looks at a book about the history of that location.
It's the same book as in this film (he's reading it on the plane), which I'd never actually seen before.
The plot, basically, is that Daniel accompanies Mr Miyaga back to his ancestral homeland of Okinawa when the latter receives a letter saying his father is dying, 6 months after his (Daniels) victory at the All Valley Karate tournament - the film actually picks up directly here, with Kreese attacking Johnny Lawrence (one of the two main adult characters in Cobra Kai). It transpires that Mr Miyaga left to avoid a fight with his best friend, who had an arranged marriage to Mr Miyaga's love. Said friend still holds a grudge, with his nephew starting to pick on Daniel as a foreigner. As in the first, this ends with a Karate fight, but here the stakes are raised considerably with said fight more brutal than in the first film (but not as brutal as in the season 2 finale of Cobra Kai).