
Don Alvaro, or the Force of Fate (1835): A Play by Angel De Saavedra, Duke of Rivas
Angel De Saavedra, Robert M. Fedorchek and Joyce Tolliver
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Don Alvaro, or the Force of Fate by Angel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas (1791-1865), premiered in 1835...

Gogglebook: The Wit and Wisdom of Gogglebox
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Channel 4's Gogglebox is one of the most loved shows on TV. Every week, more than 7 million of us...

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus
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The legendary relationships guide that mothers recommend to their daughters, friends give as gifts...

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Howling (1981) in Movies
Oct 30, 2020
The plot takes a little while to kick in, but the slow first half actually allows the audience time to get to know the characters. Karen White (Dee Wallace) takes the lead, and is a hugely likable protagonist to carry the story forward. By the time the monstrous shenanigans kick off, you genuinely want her to win. Everyone else is a little disposable, allowing the rest of the focus to go towards werewolf characters, mainly Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo) and Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks), two characters that are sick of hiding their true nature, and want to live free, like wild animals should, feeding in humans and all. Unfortunately, the slow burn first half leaves little time to properly explore this aspect of the narrative.
The transformation effects are fucking great. Do they look dated? Sure, but considering that this released in 1981, the practical effects used are fantastic. I'm a fan of the bubbling effects in particular. When the transformation is complete, the aesthetic mostly avoids looking like a guy in a suit (not completely mind) and this is probably down to the make up work on the faces. The creatures look pretty damn mean.
A solid screenplay, a decent cast, and some great effects work ensure that The Howling stands out in a decade of gratuitous horror. Love it.

Juliette Jackson recommended track This Is the Day by The The in Soul Mining by The The in Music (curated)

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Briar Rose in Books
Sep 6, 2019
I'll start by saying I love the cover of this book.
Then: I'm a big Jana Oliver fan, having loved her Demon Trappers series so when I saw the First Reads giveaway on Goodreads for this I just had to enter and luckily for me, I was picked as one of the winners.
I have to admit that I, too have always liked the idea of Princes and Princess' and fairy tale endings and this was a unique take on it, with the twisted fairy tale one that is almost of Briar Rose's own making.
I kinda wish I could say more but I don't want to ruin it for those who are going to read this...sorry ;D
Saying that, it was very unique to me, as I have never seen or heard of anything like this before, and I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was the authors style which I can easily fall into or maybe it was the idea of the story but I was captivated by it from early on.
I also really liked all the major characters though it took a while for Pat to grow on me. The rest; Briar, Joshua, Reena and Ruric were all pretty cool from the start.
If you're a fan of the author then you should give this a try, as well as those who like fantasy books as this is no ordinary fairy tale.

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2340 KP) rated Murder Most Fermented in Books
May 23, 2020
I had a mixed reaction to the first book in the series when I read it last year, but since I already had book two, I decided to give this one a chance. The plotting is better and more focused here with sub-plots that stay in the background. I enjoyed the story and trying to figure out what was going on, although one part of the plot was dropped. The rest reached a logical conclusion. Once again, the story takes place over several weeks, but I was expecting that, so I wasn’t nearly as confused by the timeline. Unfortunately, the characters are still thin outside of Halsey and one or two others. I love the Southern California setting; those always appeal to me. If you enjoy wine, you’ll enjoy the wine list and pairings at the end of the book. I wanted to like this book more than I did, although there were definitely things that appealed to me, and it does show the author is improving.

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