Search
Search results
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated K-12 (2019) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
At a mesmerizing crossroads between 𝘈 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 and 𝘓𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦, didn't know what the fuck I was watching half the time and I think that's precisely why I loved it. Blurs the line between sick and sweet exactly the way it wants to. Point of note that I've never been a huge Melanie Martinez fan, so this is my first 'real' experience with her. I think her passion (she co-wrote, directed, starred in, and costumed the thing) clearly shows in this endearingly clunky phantasmagoria of absurdist gore, demon cringe, political hostility, and demented babycore. The type of product where there's people throwing bowls of cockroaches at others, vomiting up orange liquid, then tearing out their eyeballs and swapping them between blunt critiques on American exceptionalism and musical numbers about body image and identity reclamation. The photography, sets, and costumes/wigs/makeup is seriously next level and it helps that the acting - shockingly - doesn't suck. The back half of the album has some clinical bops. For sure the one of these album-long music videos that feels closest to an actual movie, if this were any other artist you all would have adored it 🤐
Strawberry Shortcake > Class Fight > Lunchbox Friends > Fire Drill (should have been on the album) > Teacher's Pet > Detention > Orange Juice > Wheels on the Bus > Recess > The Principal > High School Sweethearts > Drama Club > Show & Tell > Nurse's Office.
Strawberry Shortcake > Class Fight > Lunchbox Friends > Fire Drill (should have been on the album) > Teacher's Pet > Detention > Orange Juice > Wheels on the Bus > Recess > The Principal > High School Sweethearts > Drama Club > Show & Tell > Nurse's Office.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The V Girl: A Coming Of Age Story in Books
Jan 11, 2021
*I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
2.5 stars.
It was all rather dark and sexually violent--and not in the good way of dark romances.
I loved the romance aspect of it, the one between Lila/Lily and Aleksy. It was so sweet at times! The other bits just seemed too much for me after a while. The way she wanted to not be the V-Girl but how she was determined it was to be taken by someone she cared about--Rey--only he wasn't entirely receptive to the idea. And then having that same thought process again and again. I kinda wanted to hit her a little when she couldn't make her mind up between the two guys.
It was the rest of the storyline I didn't really gel with. There was always a lot going on, most of it dark and violent. Some of it was political, most of it sex-related. Lots of sex related things happening in this.
Anyway, the reason I requested this book was down to the cover and the description. That is one amazing cover! And the description was pretty promising but at the risk of repeating myself, it was a little too dark for my tastes in its topics.
2.5 stars.
It was all rather dark and sexually violent--and not in the good way of dark romances.
I loved the romance aspect of it, the one between Lila/Lily and Aleksy. It was so sweet at times! The other bits just seemed too much for me after a while. The way she wanted to not be the V-Girl but how she was determined it was to be taken by someone she cared about--Rey--only he wasn't entirely receptive to the idea. And then having that same thought process again and again. I kinda wanted to hit her a little when she couldn't make her mind up between the two guys.
It was the rest of the storyline I didn't really gel with. There was always a lot going on, most of it dark and violent. Some of it was political, most of it sex-related. Lots of sex related things happening in this.
Anyway, the reason I requested this book was down to the cover and the description. That is one amazing cover! And the description was pretty promising but at the risk of repeating myself, it was a little too dark for my tastes in its topics.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Broken Beauty (Broken Beauty Novellas #1) in Books
Jan 12, 2021
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars.
This is a novella length story, the first of six, and deals with the aftermath and issues surrounding rape. It was a tough read at times but a good strong story.
I felt sorry for Mia. Being brought up in a political family and then being raped…and her father wants to glorify it to get more voters so he can win his election. How twisted can your life get? Her family do and say things to get voters, whether it’s helping Mia cope or not–mainly not–and I wanted to scream and shout at them in her defence.
And despite all that, some people do care. Dom, the policeman that found her in the first place, tries to help her realise that the only way her attackers will not get away with it, is to tell the truth and stop following her family’s wish to let it drop. He’s so nice and gentle with her. Her friend, Ari, tries to do whatever Mia wants but seeing how she’s struggling…what can you do?
It’s an emotional and sometimes tough story to read but after finishing this, I’m looking forward to the next part in the series to see what Mia does next. I hope she’s strong enough to go against her family.
3.5 stars.
This is a novella length story, the first of six, and deals with the aftermath and issues surrounding rape. It was a tough read at times but a good strong story.
I felt sorry for Mia. Being brought up in a political family and then being raped…and her father wants to glorify it to get more voters so he can win his election. How twisted can your life get? Her family do and say things to get voters, whether it’s helping Mia cope or not–mainly not–and I wanted to scream and shout at them in her defence.
And despite all that, some people do care. Dom, the policeman that found her in the first place, tries to help her realise that the only way her attackers will not get away with it, is to tell the truth and stop following her family’s wish to let it drop. He’s so nice and gentle with her. Her friend, Ari, tries to do whatever Mia wants but seeing how she’s struggling…what can you do?
It’s an emotional and sometimes tough story to read but after finishing this, I’m looking forward to the next part in the series to see what Mia does next. I hope she’s strong enough to go against her family.
Financial Mail Magazine
Finance and Magazines & Newspapers
App
The Financial Mail is a national magazine in South Africa with a focus of reaching the country's top...
Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices
Tor Hakon Inderberg, Siri Eriksen, Karen O'Brien and Linda Sygna
Book
Climate change poses multiple challenges to development. It affects lives and livelihoods,...
Conservation and Development in Cambodia: Exploring Frontiers of Change in Nature, State and Society
Book
Written by leading authorities from Australasia, Europe and North America, this book examines the...
Feeding Cities: Improving Local Food Access, Security and Resilience
Book
There is enormous current interest in urban food systems, with a wide array of policies and...
Shimmer and Burn
9.0
Rate It
Book
To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in...
Young Adult Dark Fantasy Fantasy Horror
Awix (3310 KP) rated Citizen Kane (1941) in Movies
May 23, 2020
Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is the Citizen Kane of modern movie-making. That doesn't make a lot of sense, but it tells you everything about the place of this film in our culture. Amoral narcissist inherits a huge fortune, accrues even more wealth and power by peddling fake news, but finds his political ambitions thwarted by a sex scandal (which just goes to show you how different life is from the movies).
Trying to ascertain the extent of Citizen Kane's influence on the movies is a bit like trying to map the coastline of the USA without leaving Kansas: the film is packed with so many narrative and technical innovations it's impossible to conceive of the impact it had on the industry. Terrific performances and a clever, serious script about the dangers of choosing the love of power over the power of love, and many moments and images of throwaway genius. You might have expected Welles to make more of the possibilities for unreliable narration in the movie, plus some of his technical virtuosity seems more geared towards showing off than thought-through storytelling, but this is still a genuine classic. One wonders what else Welles might have achieved, had he been allowed to continue to make films with all the resources of Hollywood behind him - but it wasn't to be. Still, this film alone guarantees him immortality.
Trying to ascertain the extent of Citizen Kane's influence on the movies is a bit like trying to map the coastline of the USA without leaving Kansas: the film is packed with so many narrative and technical innovations it's impossible to conceive of the impact it had on the industry. Terrific performances and a clever, serious script about the dangers of choosing the love of power over the power of love, and many moments and images of throwaway genius. You might have expected Welles to make more of the possibilities for unreliable narration in the movie, plus some of his technical virtuosity seems more geared towards showing off than thought-through storytelling, but this is still a genuine classic. One wonders what else Welles might have achieved, had he been allowed to continue to make films with all the resources of Hollywood behind him - but it wasn't to be. Still, this film alone guarantees him immortality.
