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Julianne Moore recommended Little Women in Books (curated)

"My mother gave me “Little Women,” telling me that she thought I was ready for it. I can’t count the number of times I read it between the ages of 10 and 15 – I used the book like a set of worry beads. It soothed and enchanted me, and it was only much later, as an adult, that I realized that Louisa May Alcott (and my mother) had given me a road map of the journey from childhood to adulthood. It is, obviously, a highly moral book, but to me it felt as if its precepts were based on a personal (rather than a Christian) morality. In the world of “Little Women,” the girls all learned what their responsibility was toward one another, themselves and the world at large – the choice was up to them. They could choose to be headstrong (Jo), unengaged (Meg), shy (Beth) or selfish (Amy). But through their thoroughly engaging adventures they learned to be productive and ambitious ( Jo), loving and domestic (Meg), musical and devoted (Beth) and artistic and philanthropic (Amy). I learned that I could be whatever I wanted to be, and that you could come from anywhere to achieve [it]."

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Terry Crews recommended The Pianist (2002) in Movies (curated)

The Pianist (2002)

2002 | Drama, War

8.6

(19 Ratings)

Movie Favorite Watch

"I want to go into another movie that I gotta bring up. The Pianist with Adrien Brody, Roman Polanski, the whole thing. Now, I don’t endorse his moral behaviors, but I have to say man, that movie… What he did with that character put me there, and I had never been there. Literally, I’m in the theater, and dude, I’m crying, I’m like, “Yo, this is crazy!” I go by emotional moments; if I walk out of the theater and I’m actually changed, you know what I mean? You know, you see the world in a different way. That’s the power of movies, to me. Like, when you go in and you saw the world one way, but when you walk out, I’m like, “I saw the world in a whole different way.” And Adrien Brody’s performance really taught me what an actor should do and should be. He gave everything he had. It was an awesome performance, an awesome movie, and I would just encourage everybody to see that one. That’s one of my favorite movies of all time. I bought that sucker; I got it on Blu-Ray, you know? [laughs]"

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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Notes on a Scandal (2006) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020 (Updated Nov 29, 2020)

Jesus - and I cannot stress this enough - CHRIST. 92 minutes of perfectly-paced, rhythmic showcases for some of the hardest-to-watch scenes in cinematic history which don't spill a single drop of blood. The last time I winced this violently at scenes that don't feature any gore was, fuck, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯? Just explosive, thought I was going to pass out or have a heart attack before this (classily) fucked-up and abusive portrait of the different forms emotional manipulation can take was over. Dench, Blanchett, Nighy, and Simpson are stellar and the paranoid cinematography is genius; people are always walking over and into the frame, choking each shot with paranoia - you're always trying to look past something or someone just to get a glimpse of this dark, remorseless world. I'll also cop to just loving character studies about psychopaths, let alone ones with such savage views on class and the lies people are willing to tell themselves so that they can keep their moral privilege - so they aren't like their own definitions of 'the filth', even if they're demonstrably worse. Effortlessly one of the elite stalker/obsession movies.

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Kristina (502 KP) rated Be the Girl in Books

Dec 7, 2020

Contains spoilers, click to show

The meaning behind this story is an important one, it's just unfortunate that it didn't hit very hard until the last 100 pages or less. I continued to read because I knew something big was coming, something shocking and interesting, and I was right: the whole time, I assumed Aria had attempted suicide and was trying to forget her past, so it was definitely a surprise to discover she was escaping from a mistake she made that actually led to a former student committing suicide. The first 85% of the story I wasn't bored, necessarily, just waiting expectantly for "more". But, boy, that last percentage really packed a punch. It goes to show how bullying can go wrong, how there are literally life and death consequences to such actions. It also highlights some of the differences in those with autism, which is nice, because I feel like that topic is shied away from by many. I love K. A. Tucker and I hate to say that, while the moral of the story was an important one, 'Be the Girl' wasn't one of my favorites.

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Josh Napper (40 KP) rated Here Comes the Boom (2012) in Movies

Sep 27, 2019

Here Comes the Boom (2012)

2012 | Action, Comedy

6.3

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

HEADLINE:
here comes the boom
plot
A high school biology teacher looks to become a successful mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to prevent extra-curricular activities from being axed at his cash-strapped school.
What lessons did you learn from this story (theme/moral)? What do you think others will learn from it?
A teacher can do more for his students than help them in the class room. One man struggles in no match for the mans achievements. Regular people can transform into heroes. Anything is possible when you believe in yourself.
What group of people would like this movie? Who would you recommend it to? Who would you not recommend it to?
i would recommend it to anyone that likes a good overcoming movie, and a movie where a teacher does the unbelievable for their students.
What is your final word on the film: Is it good or bad?
i would say the movie called here comes the boom is a good movie.
RATING SYSTEM:
crap
poor
decent
even
Good
Great
perfect
I give the movie here comes the boom a movie rating of 5.

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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Day of the Triffids in Books

Sep 5, 2019

The Day of the Triffids

John Wyndham | 1951 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.6

(8 Ratings)

Book Rating

Famous and highly influential British catastrophe novel. The collapse of global civilisation, after what appears to be an encounter with a comet blinds the majority of the world's population, is made even worse by the existence of sentient, mobile, lethal carnivorous plants, genetically engineered before the disaster. It sounds schlocky written down like that - and most screen adaptations end up that way - but Wyndham's dry, cultured, understated voice means this is a chillingly plausible and deeply affecting depiction of the end of the world.

In some ways this is very much of its time, but in others it is a remarkably prescient book, touching on issues such as the weaponisation of satellites and genetically-modified foodstuffs. It is also a vehicle for Wyndham to explore some of the key issues of his novels - the moral decisions faced by survivors, and the conflict between the individual and the collective. The structure of the plot is somewhat idiosyncratic, and accusations that this is the kind of catastrophe where the really bad stuff just happens to other people may have some weight to them, but this is an immensely readable and thought-provoking book which still feels relevant today.