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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
1984 | Action, Adventure

"Number two would be The Temple of Doom, because when I was a kid I was obsessed with Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was, like, my favorite movie. As soon as I saw it I was like, “This movie is amazing.” I was so obsessed with it, and my parents… I don’t know if they knew there was Temple of Doom or if they just didn’t want me to see it because it was a little, like, edgier. Indiana Jones was my life. And then I remember at school one time someone said, “Oh, what about the other movie?” And the idea that there was another movie that I was unaware of was, like, nothing has been more of a shocking reveal since that day. And so I went and tracked down that movie, and what’s really amazing about that movie is it totally defies genre constraints. That movie is totally bonkers and totally sincere. It doesn’t really fit into any genre category. That’s what I always found so amazing and inspiring about that movie. It just seemed like this movie is so great, so any movie could be, like anything is possible. Because in this movie, people’s hearts are getting ripped out, and they’re closing up and then they’re still alive, and children are being enslaved by these sort of like ancient Indian mystical people, and they’re trying to find these stones that, put together, have powers, and there’s famine in the village, and they jump out of a plane on a raft, and everything is so turned up in that movie that it just — all the way down to the mine car race — it’s like one of the most awe-inspiring action or adventure movies I’ve ever seen. Yet it’s still totally grounded in the world of, like, this relatable character. I think that movie shows that a lot of other movies aren’t trying hard enough. Because, even the monkey brains part, it’s just such a memorable movie, it’s so bonkers, and yet it never feels like a joke, it always feels sincere. That to me was like, wow, you can do all these really fantastical elements in movies and you can still take them seriously and it works."

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Emerald Blaze
Emerald Blaze
Ilona Andrews | 2020 | Paranormal, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
4.5 stars.

I do really enjoy this series.

This one starts with Catalina and her team trying to coax a "helper" monkey down off a lamppost while fellow PI firm, MII, do the same - both working for separate clients who claim to own the monkey. After sorting that little issue out they sense an unusual force coming from the water and are attacked by a horde of strange creatures. Afterwards she is summoned to her boss' house where she learns of a new job. A man has been found dead in what's known as the Pit and his father wants his murderer found and killed. Catalina has to figure out who did it and Alessandro - her teenage crush and the man who broke her heart when he left six months ago - is there to do the killing.

A lot more than just the above happened but it would be a spoiler to share that with others so I'll let you figure out the fun that is this book.

I really love House Baylor. They are all really protective of each other and have some of the handiest powers going for a PI firm: precision shooting, ability to sniff out lies, the ability to build armoured cars. I feel they've grown a lot over the last four books and in this one, they really are top of their game.

The romance between Catalina and Alessandro was definitely on a slow burn in this. We knew they cared about each other after the previous book but when he left, he really hurt her. It was like the pink elephant in the room. They didn't really acknowledge it but it was there, floating around, knocking into them occasionally to make them remember. It took a while but they did - eventually - talk to each other about it and finally resolved the issues they'd put between them

'm assuming that this isn't the last we'll see of these two since one arc of the storyline did not get resolved fully and the next book they'll be fighting the threat side by side to the death. I can't wait!
  
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Wayne Coyne recommended Live at Leeds by The Who in Music (curated)

 
Live at Leeds by The Who
Live at Leeds by The Who
1970 | Rock
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"We've been playing The Soft Bulletin live, and you have to consider that chain of events where you make a record but then you have to become the people who play it in front of people. When I saw The Who play live in 1977, that was really a moment that changed music for me; it was no longer music, it was like a deeply religious power to me. They were still doing these songs from Tommy, in a sense like they were on Live At Leeds, where it was just utter chaos, [and] utter release. And even though people would say that at the time that I saw them they weren't at the peak of their powers, they were powerful enough on this night. That was a life-changing, fucking devastating couple of hours of music. I walked out there like I'd changed heads. And it's like that on Live At Leeds. They start to discover that psychic energy: they're feeding off each other's energy, looking at each other, listening to each other, letting that be the reason the songs sounded the way they did. And that's hard to do, to be an intuitive musician - you have to surrender and say yeah, it's like this, and that's a motherfucker, what if it sucks? You have to trust that you have it in you. So when I hear Live At Leeds I'm always reminded that these are young guys, they didn't know that they were playing at their peak, they were just playing what they felt like playing. And the way that the volume goes up, and the way they even lose themselves - the playing is so intense that they even lose the tempo - but they leave that in the record and that's what's music's about. It's not just something that's kept in time, it's people making a racket. Fuck, sometimes it's out of control. There's moments like that on 'Magic Bus' or 'My Generation', moments in those jams that I think are some of the greatest moments of that type of rock & roll. There's that invisible energy guiding them through this. In 1970 you probably had not heard music like that ever.]"

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Salvaged (Releasing the Magic #2)
Salvaged (Releasing the Magic #2)
Maya Riley | 2019 | Dystopia, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
98 of 250
Kindle
Salvaged (Releasing the Magic book2)
By Maya Riley

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

What do you do when you find out you’re the thing you fear most?

Seven months ago, the Void Virus was set loose on Earth. The world is now in chaos. The origin of the virus has been unveiled, and mysteries of my past have come to light.

A lot has changed during that time. I started out alone, struggling to survive. Now I had four guys, my sister, and Puppy who all had my back no matter what.

Not only did I gain a strange healing ability, but now Lincoln could create fire. That isn’t the last of the weird things going on, though. On top of that, I discovered I was created in a lab, with the intention to bring about a great change. Those intentions weren’t necessarily good. Now that I’m back on their radar and I know more about what I might be capable of, I have become the thing I fear most, and am left with more questions than ever.

We receive word of some sort of sanctuary for survivors. A place that promises protection for those who seek it. It could be a trap, but it could also be true. We do our best to travel in search of this place, but rotters aren’t the only things standing in our way. Our journey is filled with twists, turns, and straight up chaos.

If there is a safe place for survivors, we won’t stop until we find it.

Together, we will find The Salvaged.


So this was a struggle at first which was annoying as I enjoyed the first book so much, I still like her style of writing and the fact it wasn’t relationship led. Something was missing and it wasn’t till the last few chapters it got exciting. I’m hoping she is just setting the next book up as I was close to give this a 2 star rating. It was one of those books that just plods along not bad but not brilliant either. I’m curious to find out more about the magical side and the powers Blyss is bringing out.
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Spider-Man 3 (2007) in Movies

Sep 24, 2020 (Updated Sep 24, 2020)  
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
2007 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
The third and final entry in the Sam Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man films is arguably the most well known, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons, and it's a real shame as there are flashes of greatness, but the finished product is a hot mess.

One of the main issues is of course the three big villains all battling for screentime. Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) is a great villain to add to the series, but his story is executed poorly, and includes a dumb retcon in a half arsed attempt to link him to the original film. It's just unnecessary and soils something that could have been good. And then there's Venom - A huge fan favourite villain who Sam Raimi apparently doesn't like, and it's evident. Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) is rushed into the narrative, and his reasons for hating Peter Parker feel forced as a result. Venoms inclusion feels a bit tacked on, and unfortunately reaks of studio meddling.

Other than that, there's also the issue of over confidence - the assumption that an audience wants to watch an edgy version of Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker swanning and dancing down a street is bold to say the least - I could even forgive the infamous scene if it wasn't immediately followed up with a second dance number in a jazz bar. I get that it's designed to portray the symbiote suits hold over Peter and his deteriorating character attributes, buts it's a massive shitty swing and a miss (much like the whole movie in general) that makes me want to scream.

It's not all bad though. All of the cast, new and familiar, are good. I think Bryce Dallas Howard is a great Gwen Stacy. It has some decent set pieces as well - the scene where Sandman is discovering his new powers is brilliant, as is the fight between him and black suit Spider-Man in the underground. I also quite enjoy the final showdown when we (finally) get to see Venom properly.

It's not enough though, and Spider-Man 3 ultimately is a flawed if ambitious comic book sequel.