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The Thin Blue Line (1988)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
1988 | Classics, Documentary, Documentary
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"As someone who’s really passionate about what he does, I have a lot of opinions about documentary films. A lot of documentary filmmakers don’t really think about their films cinematically, and some documentaries almost seem like they were just copy-and-pasted like Microsoft Word documents. I’ve always loved how Errol Morris takes a wrecking ball to those conventions. His films are constantly exploring the idea of what a documentary is. His films tweak and twist reality, and they don’t just try to serve the audience digested ideas on a platter. If I had to pick a favorite, it’s his transcendent 1988 classic The Thin Blue Line, which recounts a murder case and then riffs and re-riffs on it like a Bach fugue. It was the first film to really use re-creation and reeneactment scenes in a new and highly cinematic way, both to explore a case and to challenge a viewer’s own bias and subjectivity. Nowadays, its approach and editing style loom over every one of these multipart true crime series and podcasts. The Thin Blue Line is almost like the influential band that’s been ripped off so often that new converts may not realize just how significant it is."

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Shattered Glass (Shattered Glass, #1)
Shattered Glass (Shattered Glass, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This caught me early on, probably the first page actually when Austin met Peter and his bunny slippers at the diner. I was instantly intrigued at what was going to happen between these two. When Austin left and phoned his fiancé I was like, "WTF?". How could he react like that when he was engaged to a woman?!

Nevertheless, I loved Austin's obsession with Peter (and the bunny slippers!) and was jumping for joy when he came to his senses regarding his marriage and more or less stalked Peter at the diner resulting in some fun scenes between them and maybe a few upsetting ones too.

The story quickly evolved into something much more complicated with Peter's background coming to light and that of his "brother" Cai. So very complicated but intriguing.

One thing that got me a bit was Austin's stupid comments when he needed to be serious causing a lot of trouble between him and everyone. Ugh! I wanted to smack some sense into him a lot of the time. And as for Peter; all the lies!? Why?

It was a good story, if a little too complicated at times trial wise, and I really liked it. I look forward to reading more books by the author.
  
*I read this as part of the Innkeeper Chronicles Volume One - Books #1-#3*

This one starts with a bang, almost literally, as a boom bike rides through their small town to deliver a message to Dina. A message from her sister, who she hasn't seen for years, asking for help. Not to mention the arrival of a Hiru, a peaceful race that has been hunted for generations because of their ugly exterior, to the inn seeking sanctuary.

There was a lot of action in this one, it seemed to never stop, and I was getting very eager for everything to come to a head. So many things were going on, I didn't want to stop reading.
Things progressed between Dina and Sean. Old friends showed up to help when things went awry. We had some really cute scenes with little Helen, Dina's niece.

I liked a lot of this book. It is my favourite of the series so far and I cannot wait to continue it to see more of this band of friends and guests.

>P.S. I also feel like I should mention the artwork included in this book. The drawings of Dina and Shaun and Maud and Helen... All amazing.
  
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Amy Adams recommended Vertigo (1958) in Movies (curated)

 
Vertigo (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
1958 | Drama, Mystery

"I love Alfred Hitchcock, but that was the first one that I saw. I saw it in humanities class in high school. We broke it down and had to write all these articles about it, and it stayed with me for a lot of reasons? in exploring all of the imagery that Alfred Hitchcock uses, and just the tone of the film. I always was a Jimmy Stewart fan — my fiancé is kind of very Jimmy Stewart. [laughs] He’s like the every man. I really loved him. And then of course the Hitchcock blonde; a lot of it had to do with the females in the films, so it’s no surprise that I became an actress. I was obsessed with Kim Novak; I would pull my hair back and try to tweeze my eyebrows so I could be a Hitchcock blonde. I loved it. And that was the first time I’d ever explored film intellectually, in that class, because before then I was, you know, I just went to the movies — things would move me and I wasn’t sure why. To get to sit down with my teacher and break a film down intellectually was a discovery for me. It’s still one of my favorites. It speaks to me very strongly."

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ClareR (5879 KP) rated Gingerbread in Books

Apr 17, 2021  
Gingerbread
Gingerbread
Helen Oyeyemi | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My initial thought on finishing Gingerbread was “what have I just read?”
This is a meandering, imaginative tale with gingerbread at it’s heart. There are a lot of nods to fairytales, from the use of gingerbread, to the name of Harriet’s best friend: Gretel. The rags and riches stories: characters leaving their farm homes to move to the city and make their fortunes.
Magical realism is used throughout, from the way that Harriet and her mother leave their homeland of Druhastrana to move to London, to Perdita’s talking dolls, who are in fact part doll, part plant.
Moving houses, haunted houses, boys who run away just like the Gingerbread Man. This is not a linear, beginning, middle and end kind of story.
At points I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but decided I didn’t care. It’s a joy to read, and I quite like a book that makes me work for the story, from time to time!
There was a nod to real life: a country cut off from any others (Brexit, anyone?), girls working for pretend/ little money and exploited, and illegal immigration.
There’s a lot to unpick in this, but to be honest, I just enjoyed the ride!
  
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Tom Chaplin recommended Want One by Rufus Wainwright in Music (curated)

 
Want One by Rufus Wainwright
Want One by Rufus Wainwright
2003 | Singer-Songwriter
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"It’s funny, this list, I’ve actually met a lot of the people I’ve chosen! Rufus came on tour with us in 2003, it was the first time we’d got on a tour bus and the first iPods had come out. Tim had an iPod, and I checked it out, I put it on and the album he had on there was Want One and I was completely blown away. He sounds a bit like Radiohead-does-classical, particularly on that record. I remember saying to him that he sounds a lot like Radiohead and he was a bit like, “Really?”, I don’t think he even knew their music. That album was written, I think, during the time he got clean from being really addicted to crystal meth. I mean it sent him blind and stuff, it was really serious. So the album tells that story, with just beautiful songwriting, and I don’t know if he ever got close to that album again in terms of song-writing, it’s such a phenomenal record. And I like orchestral arrangements if they’re done well, or else it can sound like Il Divo or something but he did it so well, mixing pop and classical."

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
1967 | Pop, Psychedelic, Rock

"I guess you could pick any one album of their mid- to late-period, especially Revolver or Rubber Soul. This was very much discovered as a teenager, their story, their music, the feeling of a slight sense of ownership. I don’t like that, in a way, because I hate it when people feel that they kind of own our songs as a band! But anyway, anyone’s who’s grown up with The Beatles feels that sense of, “They’re mine!”. But Sgt. Pepper's… is just mind-bending as to how ambitious it is and also what their energy must have been like and the scene they were occupying. I wish that existed now; unfortunately it just doesn’t. There was a kind of innocence to that time that doesn’t exist now, it was a time when great pop music... you... you still had to try. I think one of my big problems with music today, with a lot of the pop music that’s out there, don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of great music, but most of what the general population listen to or are exposed to is really kind of mindless or soulless and music can do so much more for you as a human being."

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Rowan Atkinson recommended Being There (1979) in Movies (curated)

 
Being There (1979)
Being There (1979)
1979 | Comedy, Drama

"Peter Sellers movies, I would have to have in on him. I’m tempted by Being There. Again, one of his more serious things, but a beautifully attenuated performance I thought he did in that. I haven’t seen the movie for a long time. I’m always nervous about saying, “Oh, that was a brilliant movie,” if you haven’t seen them for 15 years or 20 years, because you may go back to them now and think, “Oh, ah, well actually, it’s not great.” Or at least, “It’s got those great bits that I remember, but there’s a lot of stuff in between that is very unimpressive.” But I seem to remember the only thing that really spoiled it — and it was very much the fashion at the time — was the sort of bloopers edit over the end credits. And I thought that movie in particular did not suit and did not need shots of Peter Sellers cracking up. But obviously the producers or the distributors said, “Look, it’s a Peter Sellers movie and it hasn’t got a lot of laughs in it. Can we just stick something silly in the end?” And that is what they did, and it didn’t completely ruin the film, but it came very, very close, in my opinion."

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Once Upon a Time in the West Soundtrack by Ennio Morricone
Once Upon a Time in the West Soundtrack by Ennio Morricone
1972 | Rock, Soundtrack
8.3 (10 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Like I mentioned I love the desert. I have a video somewhere of my wife and I listening to this record driving in Joshua Tree. It really does sound like how it looks. To be honest, I knew of the soundtrack long before I saw the film. And that's how it is for me with a lot of Morricone scores. I went through a deep Morricone phase in my twenties, and just any soundtrack he ever did I bought. The movie's already there – you can see it. And I bet he would agree too – a lot of his music is far more cinematic than the films he's actually scored. He has this intense visual element to his music which is always exciting to hear. So that record in particular, I remember I first heard it in my twenties and it really blew my mind. The production – the fact that it is so produced – sure it's a recording from the 60s or something. But it is a studio album. So you hear him getting really great sounding recordings in some old-school microphone (old-school now). Really getting such a rich, beautiful sound. And then you get that fuzz effect, which is just quintessential Morricone sound, probably because of this record."

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