Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Gaz Coombes recommended On The Beach by Neil Young in Music (curated)

 
On The Beach by Neil Young
On The Beach by Neil Young
1974 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is such a glorious and beautiful album. There are not many albums that make me want to cry but I think this is stunningly beautiful and raw and emotive and it contains some of the best and favourite Neil Young lyrics. You know: 'I need a crowd of people/ But I can't face them day to day' - I feel that. I'm interpreting that in a certain way but I'm with him on that. There are so many times that you listen to stuff that you really feel. It feels so real; more than real even. It's a beautiful album. 'Revolution Blues' has got everything; it's got a great sounding band working really well and nailing it and it's got an energy. Nothing's too internal either. I was talking to someone earlier about the lyrics to Matador and I know that there are some really personal lyrics on there but they still have to have a hook; they can't be too internal. I can't internalise too much or else I close myself off to whoever is listening. I don't want to push anyone away by being so morose or depressing. But Neil Young does it so well. Lyrically he's a great inspiration to me. They sometimes feel like throwaway lyrics or he has quite simple couplets that feel very day-to-day, but then equally he can be a lot more abstract and using metaphors as well. I've looked at that quite a lot in terms of creating that balance of metaphors and real day-to-day life. But why not have some anger in there? I hear that a lot in 'Revolution Blues' where he talks about 'killing stars in their cars' and that's great. It's angry; it's like the first line of 'To The Wire'. The first line of the song is, 'I want to cut myself' but the second line is: 'I want to cut myself down.' You know, it's where I want to cut myself free of all the pressures. I remember when I played it to people and they were like, 'Gaz! What was that?' and I was like, 'No, no, no, it's part of a couplet. The pay-off is line two.' You know, I'm not into self-harm or anything but I like the fact that some days I might feel like I'm really completely fucked and that I might hate myself and do some damage but I won't. I question it. And like I say, Neil Young does that really well."

Source
  
After He Died
After He Died
Michael J. Malone | 2018 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The main protagonist in this novel is Paula, a middle-class housewife, who just became a widow. A young woman – Cara, is trying to shine a different light on Paula’s deceased husband Thomas. This novel is told from two different perspectives – Paula’s and Cara’s. This book is soaked with grief, both of these characters lost people in their past, and they are still dealing with their grief. I really liked Paula in this book. I could feel her pain and her confusion, and to be honest, I was confused with her because all those little clues and words left me as much baffled as Paula herself. I really wanted to like Cara in this novel, but I couldn’t bond with her. I did like what she represented and I did like her attitude, but I couldn’t warm up to her.

The narrative of this novel is very masterfully delivered. It covers a really wide spectrum of events: we have a domestic noir, filled with family relationships and grief, and at the same time we have murders and mystery which are unfolding very slowly. I really liked the topics M. Malone discussed in this book, such as poverty and homelessness; how people deal with grief and what death brings to the families; drugs and how it influences people and their future, etc. I think this novel is more character driven than the investigation itself, but all these talks about feelings and sadness were too much for me at times, I wanted more pace and more unexpected findings. 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of surprises and twists, but I needed more. 😀

I really enjoyed M. Malone’s writing style, it is a very well crafted novel, and his way of sharing Scottish lingual nuances was absolutely adorable and I really liked them. 🙂 This book has a very strong “rich vs. poor” accent, and the setting is changing between luxury, wellness, and shady areas with homeless people, and I found it very well balanced in this book. The chapters were pretty short, and the whole novel was quick and easy to read. The ending of this book rounded this novel very well and it did leave me satisfied. So, to conclude, this is a very sensitive novel, where the pain after someone’s death is very raw and haunting, but at the same time, it is a great thriller filled with very realistic and casual characters and a very unexpected plot. I really liked this novel, and I hope you will give this book a try and enjoy as much as I did.
  
Spies in Disguise (2019)
Spies in Disguise (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Animation
Strong chemistry between Smith and Holland
Blue Sky Animation Studios has often been seen as the "poor little sister" in the animation game - behind Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks - and is often listed as the "Ice Age" studio. But, if you look into their filmography, you will see a solid mark of quality throughout.

This studio has delivered solid animated outings with such fare as ROBOTS, HORTON HEARS A WHO, RIO and FERDINAND (along with the myriad of ICE AGE films) and their latest feature - 2019's SPIES IN DISGUISE - is no exception. I was pleasantly surprised by the fun, action, comedy and suspense of this film and was entertained throughout.

Blue Sky, of course, IS the "poor little sister" to the "Big 2" and it shows in some of their casting choices. Where I thought vocal work was being done by Tina Fey and Holly Hunter, I soon discovered that it is Rachel Brosnahan and Reba Mcintyre - not shabby at all, but not quite the "A" team either (it's like you are listening to the Broadway replacement actors for the Original Cast).
 
That is probably because they spent all of their casting money on the 2 leads - Will Smith and Tom Holland - and they are TERRIFIC together. Unlike Holland's lackluster (and lack of chemistry) turn with Chris Pratt in the PIXAR film ONWARD, Holland and Smith work well together in this film and I enjoyed their interactions with each other. Of course, Will Smith is in a league of his own when it comes to charming, cocky adventure hero with raw emotions and a soul - and that is EXACTLY what his character is and it works very, very well. Add to that Holland's riff on his Spiderman Peter Parker character - a scientific genius who is socially awkward and we have a fun duo to root for throughout this film.

Other outstanding voice talents in this cast include Masi Oka (who's voice would be terrific in just about ANY animation film), Rashida Jones, Karen Gillen and the always good Ben Mendelsohn as the villain.

Directors Nick Bruno (in his Directorial debut) and Troy Quane (in only his 2nd Animated outing) do a professional job keeping the plot moving, the fun brewing and the plot and action scenes simple and easy to follow (an easy thing to screw up) and this makes SPIES IN DISGUISE a very fun escape for an hour and 42 minutes.

Letter Grade: B+

7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Justice League (2017)
Justice League (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Oof
I had a horrible horrible feeling that Justice League was going to be rubbish. After the double whammy of raw sewage that was BvS and Suicide Squad, my hopes for a third ensemble film weren't high at all.
The finished result was worse than I thought it was going to be be though...

Firstly, we will start with the characters - a collection of some of the finest heroes the world of comics has to offer.
Batman, who I thought was the best part about BvS, is relegated to a boring and tired waste, who acts as occasional comic relief. It doesn't help that at this point, Ben Affleck seems completely uninterested in even being involved (can't blame the guy).
After a pretty good solo outing, Wonder Woman has gone from an empowered female badass, to someone who mopes around about her ex boyfriend (but is still admittedly badass).
The Flash (one of my favourite DC characters) is LITERALLY useless from start to finish.
Cyborg has the remnants of a potential interesting back story, but the rushed nature of the whole affair gives us next to nothing there.
Aquaman isn't too bad, but is there, like Batman, for light comic relief whilst he shouts generic gym-bro nonsense everywhere.
Superman, when he turns up, is ok. Just not really given much to do - it's all just a big mess.

The villain of the piece is Steppenwolf, a bland, forgettable and generic CGI demon who has little-to-no impact as he shouts his way through the bare bones narrative.

Talking of the CGI, it's just not that great, again. I'm not sure how this keeps happening with the amount of money being pumped into these things?
The third act of the film is draped in CGI, and it all looks cheap! And I just can't get my head around it! Ahhhhh!
(I'm not even going to talk about Henry Cavill's now infamous and hideous CGI mouth)

When it comes to the DCEU, the better films have been the solo outings, and it really shows here - the three characters who had not yet appeared properly at this point (Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash) just seem hugely wasted in a movie that is obviously trying to play catch up with the MCU - something that's not necessary! DC has a wealth of great source material to draw from, and it's yet to be utilised properly!
It would seem that going forward, Warner Bros are concentrating more on these solo films, and judging by the putrid mess of Justice League, that's is definitely the right direction to go in.
  
40x40

Lee (2222 KP) Oct 11, 2019

Despite the fact that I agree with everything you've said, I actually quite like this movie!