Smashbomb

"I was in hospital this year and I made a point of listening to Exai and Oversteps, and Oversteps is amazing. I completely missed it at the time because I thought they'd disappeared way up their own arses. Academic music for academics. There is an element of that, I think. But those EPs remind me of walking around London completely off my head. It's the best music for that. For me, they represent coming back to electronic music after doing my homework. I immersed myself so much in the idea of the heritage of where my music came from that I missed out on rave culture and a whole scene that I belonged to, having come out of that whole electro/breakdance thing. I felt like I'd taken a wrong turn. But coming to Autechre… What I heard in them was Sonic Youth in electronic form. You've got that whole thing of mutated music turning itself inside out. Destroying itself as well. It induced a bit of a head rush and a panic that was actually quite enjoyable. Walking around London with a huge pair of headphones on completely off my tits listening to Autechre is the city experience for me. I like the overload of it. But they are also capable of beauty – I think that's what makes them so real. I have struggled with a few of their records. Chiastic Slide was one I bought when I first moved to Kilburn and I really didn't think much of it at the time. But what's amazing about Autechre – even at that point when they hadn't become IDM gods – was you knew that you had to persist with them; that it wouldn't reveal itself on first listen. You had to dig a bit, the same with Sonic Youth. I persevered with Sister and it became a favourite after a while. Chiastic Slide is now my favourite Autechre album. You can't rely on them to just do what's expected. Picking the EPs is a bit of a cheat, but some of my favourite tunes are on them – 'Cichlisuite' and 'Envane'."

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Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated Alice in the Looking Glass: A Mother and Daughter's Experience of Anorexia in Books

Jun 24, 2019

I'm probably more obsessed with ED books than is healthy, but it's so reassuring to read other people's experiences that are similar to my own. This book was absolutely fantastic - not only did it help me see that I'm not alone or abnormal, but I was also able to read a mother's point of view on the experience. I understand now how awful it must have been for my own mother during my inpatient hospital stay and the initial battle of getting a diagnosis.

I found it interesting that they gave Jo (the mother)'s perspective first, instead of Alice herself. We learn about what she witnesses before we find out exactly what Alice was actually thinking and feeling.

They don't include weights or numbers in this, which is tremendously helpful. Like Jo says, this is a competitive illness, and even parents seem to want to compete in having the "most poorly" child. But it's so triggering for other people to read about how much weight someone lost, and it's not really relevant. Weight loss is just a side affect of the illness, and not the main issue itself.

The reality is addressed so honestly in this book, all the feelings and experiences that we may be ashamed to admit are written in black and white. It made me feel a lot less guilty about things that I've felt, knowing other people have felt the same way, too. And the recovery aspect was not unrealistically easy or happy; Alice is not completely recovered even at the end of the book, but is managing her illness. That is how most of us will live for a long time, if not for the rest of our lives. But Alice expresses how she is so much happier "managing" her anorexia than she was when she was suffering years ago. It gives hope - even if you don't fully recover, life can be good.

I really loved this book. I'd urge anyone with a loved one who is suffering from an eating disorder (or has one themselves) to read this, as it would really help seeing both perspectives on the journey. 5 stars.

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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Big Sick (2017) in Movies

Sep 25, 2019

The Big Sick (2017)

2017 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

8.0

(44 Ratings)

Movie Rating

I like it when there's an Unlimited screening of a film I'm not entirely sure about. I'd seen adverts for The Big Sick and was on the fence about seeing it, but when you get a sneaky Unlimited you have to go.

Based on Kumail Nanjiani & Emily V. Gordon real-life story (click on that link to see them interviewed on The View), The Big Sick is a romantic comedy that will have you laughing out loud.

Kumail's family are determined to find him a Pakistani Muslim girl so that he might settle down and follow in their traditions. But Kumail is anything but traditional. He's trying to make it as a comedian, while driving Uber in his spare time.

He meets Emily at one of his gigs and the pair hit it off. As they get further into their relationship though, Kumail worries what his traditional family will say about her. But Emily finding his parent's catalogue cards of potential brides changes everything.

When Emily is taken sick, her friend call Kumail for help. With the hospital putting her into a medically induced coma, he's then left with the prospect of contacting her parents, who up until this point, he'd managed to avoid...

It's a recurring things with my friends that they always ask me what I've seen or have booked at the cinema now, and this is the first one that has pretty much made them all react in the same way...

Me: I'm going to see The Big Sick.
Them: *scrunches face up at the title of the film*

I'm not even kidding, something about the title just doesn't sit right with them. But I have been urging them to go and see it anyway. Kumail Nanjiani is such a funny guy, if you haven't seen him in Franklin and Bash you really need to.

This film was funny and emotional, and felt very real. I feel contented about having watched it, and that doesn't happen a lot with me. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter make a great pair alongside Nankiani and Kazan. It's an all-round nice film, heartbreaking at points, but still wonderful.

Kudos

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Happy Death Day (2017) in Movies

Sep 25, 2019

Happy Death Day (2017)

2017 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

6.9

(82 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Groundhog Day, but a little more kick ass. Theresa wakes up on her birthday on Monday, September 18th in a strangers bed. She heads back to her house dismissing everyone she sees, she throws out her roommate's cupcake, she carries on with her professor, and then gets murdered by a hooded figure wearing the mask of their campus mascot.

Groundhog Day, but a little more kick ass. Theresa wakes up on her birthday on Monday, September 18th in a strangers bed... well you get the idea. She runs through her day, but instead of heading to the tunnel that led to her death the night before (tonight?) she heads back to her sorority house where, you've guessed it, she gets murdered.

As she loops through her birthday over and over she gets to know Carter, the guy who's bedroom she keeps waking up in, and he encourages her to try and work out what's going on in the hopes that she might be able to change the outcome.

Yet another one that I hadn't seen anything about until a couple of days before I saw it... and you know what? It was really entertaining. It's down as a slasher movie, but there's a bit of everything in it. I jumped in my seat, which doesn't happen very often. I just really enjoyed it. I was so wrapped up in it that I didn't even see the twist coming.

My only quibble, and this really isn't a major thing (I noticed it, so for me to do that I guess it is a little bit major), was when she was admitted to hospital. Her professor/doctor/lover (talk about conflict of interest) says that she's showing signs of trauma, which as we and she knows is because of how she died in the last loop. If she's showing signs of that trauma, and she says that she's feeling weaker with each loop... then... well... how does she make it too the end of the movie? Admittedly she's going to be running on a lot of adrenaline, but... well, it bugged me a little.