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Chris Parnell recommended Annie Hall (1977) in Movies (curated)

 
Annie Hall (1977)
Annie Hall (1977)
1977 | Comedy, Romance

"It would probably be a Woody Allen movie, and I don’t know whether it would be Manhattan, or Annie Hall, or Broadway Danny Rose. Those are my three favorites, but it’s kind of hard to pick a favorite among those. I don’t know. It’s hard. I mean, they’re all three so good. I don’t know. Maybe Annie Hall is my favorite. It’s one of the most lauded certainly. But then you’ve got Manhattan, and the romance of New York City, and you have that obviously in Annie Hall, to a certain extent. Broadway Danny Rose is less often mentioned, I find, but still really amazing with him (Allen) and Mia Farrow. He’s such a character, and Broadway Danny Rose represents all these, you know, sort of loser acts in a way. But it’s such a sweetness to it that I love, and it’s just like all of his – I like all of those movies certainly. So well shot, in beautiful black and white. "

Source
  
On the Town (1949)
On the Town (1949)
1949 | Comedy, Musical, Romance
9
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Cheery MGM musical is possibly the only chance you will ever have to see Frank Sinatra belly dancing. Three sailors on leave in New York for a day have various misadventures and hook up with girls who are rather more clued-up about big city life than they are.

Made in 1949, and you can almost taste the buoyancy and optimism of post-war America: there are no social issues to be explored in this film, which is all about being young and carefree and enjoying yourself. Subverts expectations by having some of the girls be much more romantically pro-active than the boys they encounter; this is rather charming and funny. Still, one of those musicals where a lot of the songs are slightly forgettable, but Gene Kelly and Ann Miller dance up a storm every time they get the chance. It's almost pure froth, but rather touching and enormously likeable.
  
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Jon Watts recommended Mazes and Monsters (1982) in Movies (curated)

 
Mazes and Monsters (1982)
Mazes and Monsters (1982)
1982 | Drama, Fantasy
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This one isn’t a high school movie, but more a college-age movie. It’s called Mazes and Monsters and it stars Tom Hanks. It’s about the dangers of role-playing games, and if you play these role-playing games, you’ll lose touch with reality. Tom Hanks is a kid who gets too into their version of Dungeons and Dragons, which they call Mazes and Monsters. He loses touch with reality and thinks he really is on the quest, and disappears into New York City. His friends have to try and find him. It’s definitely worth checking out if you can find it. It might be one of those movies that just disappeared. I think it was a made-for-TV movie, but it’s always affected me. I saw it when I was a kid on the Saturday afternoon matinee movie, and it just has this ending that is so bleak that I’ll never forget."

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Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Audre Lorde | 1982 | Biography, LGBTQ+
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a snapshot in time from Audre Lorde’s childhood to young adulthood. She is born to immigrant Caribbean parents, and grows up in New York City. She leaves home to forge her own path at a young age, and lives in Mexico for a while during the McCarthy era. Throughout the book, she learns to love herself and accept her lesbianism. This book tells us what it was like to be a lesbian in the 1950s and more so, what it was like to be a black lesbian. It shows how Audre worked hard for everything, from working to provide for herself, to studying. She was fiercely independent, and even in hard times she doesn’t fall back on her parents.

This book is a real snapshot in time, and I loved reading it. This is such a readable memoir. I really enjoyed the pieces of poetry that she has added to the prose that she wrote around that time too.

Definitely a book worth reading.
  
Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby, #1)
Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby, #1)
Ira Levin | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
7
8.7 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
106 of 230
Book
Rosemary’s Baby ( Rosemary book 1)
By Ira Levin
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor-husband, Guy, move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and only elderly residents. Neighbours Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome them; despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband starts spending time with them. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets' circle is not what it seems.

This is a book I’ve been wanting to read for so long and I finally got round to it! I think I was expecting more while I did enjoy the read it didn’t live up to expectations. It was chilling in places but fell a bit flat for me!
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Murder in Morningside Heights in Books

Feb 16, 2022 (Updated Feb 16, 2022)  
Murder in Morningside Heights
Murder in Morningside Heights
Victoria Thompson | 2016 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder at a Women’s College
Frank Malloy’s new private investigation business has only been open a few months, but it hasn’t gotten him any interesting cases until the Northrups walk in. Their daughter Abigail has just been murdered on the campus of the women’s college where she taught. Her parents want to know what happened without the press getting wind of a scandal to ruin her reputation. Soon, Frank’s new wife, Sarah, is helping him figure out what happened to Abigail. With several competing motives, will they figure out the truth?

As always, this was an excellent trip back to 1890’s New York City. The story was fast paced, so even when I was ahead of the characters, it wasn’t for that long. And I still wasn’t sure about who the killer was until we reached the logical conclusion. Of course, it’s always great to spend time with the characters, and I love how Frank and Sarah’s world continues to evolve. I also enjoy the humor that the characters and their relationships provide. It’s a nice balance to some of the more serious themes the series tackles. This book will please fans of the series. Believe me, it is worth the time invested in catching up if you are still behind on the series like I am.
  
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Gordon Gano recommended track Do You Love Me by Heartbreakers in L.A.M.F. by Heartbreakers in Music (curated)

 
L.A.M.F. by Heartbreakers
L.A.M.F. by Heartbreakers
1977 | Punk
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The amazing thing about this song is that I heard this album after I had seen and heard Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers play it live at Max’s Kansas City, and it was basically the same group doing the same songs. “I think it was 1977 or 1978. I was 15 and I went for an Easter break vacation from high school, it was my first trip by myself; I had an older brother living in New York City and my family was living at Wisconsin at that time. I went and stayed with him and he was into all the punk stuff that was going on. He looked to see what was playing he said ‘Johnny Thunders is great and he’s playing at Max’s Kansas City.’ “It was the most exciting experience I ever had with rock and roll. I think it’s because the music appealed to me, I’d never heard it before, I never heard any recording or anything about this Johnny Thunders, any of the songs or anything. I think it’s also because of the age I was, because being fifteen everything was this great discovery in the world of music for me at that time, particularly with all things of rock and roll. “Punk music was this thing that just hit me; it hit me in a perfect place, and of course there’s a great variety. That live show is riveting and inspiring in every way. With the music, the sound, guitar and then the attitude, the swagger and the craziness of it. Everything was appealing to me. I felt that this is what I wanted to do, and this confirmed it."

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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies

Nov 4, 2019 (Updated Nov 4, 2019)  
Joker (2019)
Joker (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
The Killing Joke
I finally saw Joker yesterday with a full crowd of people in the theater. Which i was surpise of because it has been out for a month now. But the crowd and i loved Joker.

This is my favorite movie so far of this year. It is psychological, horrorfying, and it takes the Joker charcter on a whole nother level. Joker takes place in the 80's and as a origin movie, Joker is dark, twisted, moody, and terrorfying movie.

Joaquin Phoenix, Frances Conroy and Robert De Niro are excellent in this movie. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Frances Conroy should get nomiated for the oscars.

Joaquin Phoenix takes elements from Cesar Ramero's Joker, Jack Nicolson's Joker and Heath Ledgar and make its it his own. His laugh is perfect. Its scary and so phenomal.

Lets talk about the plot: Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks -- the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he's part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

The way their protray Gotham City in the 80's is perfect. Gotham City, this time is New York City and I think thats perfect.

Joker is the first live-action theatrical Batman film to receive an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, due to its violent and disturbing content. It is also the best DC film since The Dark Knight Rises.

Joker is a memorizing movie, it is psychological, it is twisted, dark and gloomy.

Joker is a highly reccordmend movie, if you havent seen it yet, than i highly reccordmend you see it.
  
City of Shadows
City of Shadows
Victoria Thompson | 2021 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Target: A Fake Medium
Newlywed Elizabeth Miles Bates is enjoying her new life in 1919 New York City, but she has to call upon her conman roots when her friend Anna Vanderslice comes to her for help. Anna’s mother has started going to a medium, spending money they don’t have in their budget to do so. Elizabeth quickly confirms that the medium is a fake, and her husband, Gideon, figures out that there is more to the plot than Elizabeth originally thought. Can she figure out how to stop the medium?

I enjoy this series since the caper storylines are a break from the mysteries I normally read. This one was a bit more straightforward than some of the others, but I still enjoyed every page, and there were a few branches to the plot I didn’t expect. Another draw to this series is the characters. They are their usual charming selves here. The multiple viewpoints add to the fun since some of the reactions to the events are funny. Yet, the characters have some real depth to them and I love seeing how they are growing as the series progresses. If you are looking for a little something different in a crime novel, this is one you’ll enjoy.
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Still Me in Books

Feb 16, 2018 (Updated Feb 16, 2018)  
Still Me
Still Me
Jojo Moyes | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
8.7 (31 Ratings)
Book Rating
Enjoyable return to some old friends
Louisa Clark is attempting to follow advice to live boldly and try new things, which leads her to New York City. There, she becomes enmeshed in the life of the wealthy Gopnik family, serving as Agnes Gopnik's personal assistant. As such, Lou has plenty of time to tend to Agnes' every whim, but it takes some time to realize she might not be spending quite so much time on finding herself. Lou is far away from her boyfriend, Sam, who is still serving as a paramedic in England, and they are finding that long-distance romance isn't so easy. Meanwhile, Lou meets a new friend in New York, Joshua Ryan, who causes her to question many of her feelings. Lou loves New York, its pace and fashion, and many of the people she meets. But she still feels torn between worlds and her quest to discover who she really is, for once and for all.

I had no idea that Moyes was writing a third book in this series until recently and also had no clue where the story would go, but I have come to really care for the character of Louisa and knew I'd read it. I have to say, this one really surprised me, and I ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would. While pieces of it may be a bit predictable, other parts were a little surprising, and the cast of characters is just so enjoyable that you get sucked in immediately. I found myself looking forward to immersing myself in the novel after a long day. It was refreshing to see Lou start to look inward a bit more, maybe grow up a tad, and start looking after herself more. After all these novels, you feel responsible for her and also get frustrated with her decisions, as if she's a sister or friend of your own.

The novel does a strong job of showing how Lou is tugged between two places--America and England--and struggling to discover where she belongs. It also illustrates some surprising similarities between herself and her wealthy patron. Watching Lou deal with Agnes' secrets--and, as the younger wife of an older, wealthy man, she has many--you get to see her mettle and true character. There are also some lovely and funny appearances by Lou's family, whom I've come to quite adore. You'll fall for the Gopnik's eclectic neighbor, Margot, as well.

This novel is surprisingly touching at times and really I just enjoyed it. It's a typically well-written novel from Moyes, featuring well-loved characters and a cast of new, engaging ones that you can't help but fall for and love (or dislike, as required) as well. If you've enjoyed Lou before, I think you'll find this a nice addition. If you haven't read about her journey, I encourage you to go back and pick up the first book--she's a rewarding character to discover.

More at https://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/.