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Dire Straits (Bo Blackman, #1)
Dire Straits (Bo Blackman, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
So this is my first full-length foray into paranormal/urban fantasy for a long time since I lost interest in the genre a year or so ago and I have to admit I got pulled into it.

I'm usually wary of urban fantasy books because I read books for the romance in them, be it a little flirting or a full on sex-fest, and this was more of a subtle he-wants-her-does-she-want-him sort of thing, though I think that Bo is a little oblivious right now--or purposely ignoring it. Maybe a bit of both.

The story pulled me in from the start though I will admit I skipped a few paragraphs here and there where she was doing too much description. It was intriguing, as to who behind it from the start. Who was it aimed at? Were they from a family?

Admittedly I was a little torn over who I thought it was of the three recruits but it did become a bit more obvious the more that was read.

I'm definitely interested in reading more of the series in the future, if only so I can see what happens with Bo and Michael :P
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Beckman (2020) in Movies

Mar 17, 2021 (Updated Mar 17, 2021)  
Beckman (2020)
Beckman (2020)
2020 | Action
"๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ'๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฉ? ๐˜–๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ?"

When I say Pure Flix's superbly silly Christian ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ž๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฌ + Holy Bible mashup with ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ'๐˜ด ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ's Pastor Dave in the Keanu Reeves role and William Baldwin as a twisted desert sex cult leader where a drill goes into some dude's eye at one point - I want you to know that not only is that as righteously (no pun intended) entertaining as that sounds... it's better. Shocking what good acting, minimal preaching, and a budget that costs more than a Happy Meal can do for these things even as there's still no real characterization. Made by people who aren't just trying to cash-in on the success of Wick, but people who clearly love and respect the franchise: this has the delicious wide-angle comically over-the-top fight sequences, bumping screechsynth score, general nasty brutality, portentous monologues, and weaponized masculinity in all their respective glories. Never thought I'd see the day where one of these is executed with actual competency, especially when they aren't afraid to get down and dirty. I haven't seen a film which instantly made me demand cult status in forever - but this one absolutely deserves it.
  
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by The Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by The Sex Pistols
1977 | Punk
8.9 (15 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Of all the people who were a direct influence on Oasis, the line goes back to the Sex Pistols, whether thatโ€™s Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses or Factory Records, and if they hadnโ€™t played those two gigs in Manchester who knows what would have happened? And on that album youโ€™ve got Lydon or Johnny Rotten with that voice going on about the Royal Family and boredom and the rest while youโ€™ve got Steve Jones just hammering it out like a pub rocker or like someone whoโ€™s into Slade or The Small Faces rather than punk rock, and between those two things youโ€™ve got it. Every time I listen to it I think that if it came out tomorrow it would fit right in, it wouldnโ€™t feel dated. Way back at the start of Oasis we did a radio session for Mark Radcliffe and during โ€˜Cigarettes and Alcoholโ€™ Liam out of nowhere sang โ€˜Sunshi-i-ineโ€™, you know, with about ten extra syllables and when it went out on the radio I remember thinking, โ€˜Fuck me, that sounds great.โ€™ And when we came to record I was like, โ€˜Sing it like you did on Radcliffe again, like Lydon.โ€™ It was his idea, I just pushed him toward it."

Source
  
Three Divisions (Crescentwood #1)
Three Divisions (Crescentwood #1)
R.A. Smyth | 2020 | Contemporary, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Holy fluff balls, what an amazing start to this series!

Although based around seventeen year old Sophie this is anything but a typical teen book. This is most definitely an adult read with some hard hitting topics like abuse, suicide and bullying to name a few.
    Nothing phases Sophie for long, she's an awesome character, with a strong survival instinct, a smart mouth and feisty kick ass personality. She has a kind of sex appeal that calls like a siren song to not one but four men (a girl can dream!!)

The four men all have an outward persona that isn't endearing but beneath the surface lies a hot mess......They go from mean and moody to a girl's wet dream and back again. Like Sophie they all have a hard past driving them, things that bleed into their current lives, each fighting their own demons.

There isn't anything that I don't like as the bits that make me uncomfortable are crucial foundations for the story. They add depth to the characters and create a more three dimensional look at all the key players.

A good strong start to what promises to be an amazing, gripping series....... **Taps fingers impatiently waiting for the next book**
  
They Say I'm Different by Betty Davis
They Say I'm Different by Betty Davis
1974 | Rhythm And Blues, Soul
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Would Betty Davis have been famous if she hadn't married Miles Davis? Well, is Betty Davis famous? Because it didn't really work; at the time, it put people off, because she was married to Miles Davis - "Oh, she's his missus, she's just bloody flaunting it. I'm not buying a bloody record by her". You can dress it up how you like, be raunchy and using sex to sell it and everything, but it didn't really work. So I think she may have been more successful if she wasn't married to Miles Davis, because it isn't anything like him. Some of her other records are a bit crap, a bit hit and miss in places, but this one reminds me of Grace Jones: it's got a lot of soul, and it gets a really good groove going, and she just does her thing over the top of it. A lot of funk used to give me a headache, but this has a few parallels with Captain Beefheart; it reminds me of Clear Spot-era Beefheart. I knew of Betty Davis at the time, in the 70s, and I completely dismissed her because it gave me a headache, but now I've rediscovered her. And she's brilliant."

Source
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Richard Jewell (2019) in Movies

Sep 21, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)  
Richard Jewell (2019)
Richard Jewell (2019)
2019 | Drama
There were long stretches of this movie where I liked it a lot... right until I remembered who made it and why (a story about a 'good ole boy' famously + very publicly under investigation by the government where both the FBI and the media are both portrayed as parasitic losers with nothing better to do - yeah I'm sure this has absolutely no parallels to anything going on in the present day whatsoever...โ€ฆโ€ฆ..). Other than that it's like your regular late-period Eastwood: mostly just fine with assorted confirmation biases, too much fat, drippy over-fabrications, unabashed factual inaccuracies (the addition of the sex-for-news bit is just ew let alone stupidly unoriginal), a general oversimplification of the events, and a dated view of women - though not without a fair amount of awesome scenes to keep it (for the most part) watchable. I think even this movie's supporters underplayed how fortifyingly *amazing* Paul Walter Hauser is in this - he's not only uncannily casted but straight-up riveting, I recommend this movie simply to see him alone tbh. He's behind only Phoenix and Sandler for the best actor of 2019 imo - nothing else in this film even matters. The last ten or so minutes are horrendous.
  
The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1970)
The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1970)
1970 | Thriller
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
'It'll make you think of Dr No!' promises the poster for this almost indescribable comedy-thriller written and directed by Burgess Meredith. It didn't make me think of Dr No: it made me think of what it must be like to take hallucinogenic drugs while suffering from a bad case of the flu. The details of the plot are almost enough to defeat the English language - suffice to say that the key turning point in the story comes when the Buddha (who also narrates the story) uses his mystic powers to turn villainous Chinese-Mexican Mr Go (James Mason - yes, it's James Mason trying to play a Chinese-Mexican) into a benevolent philanthropist.

It's not just that the film is bizarre and incoherent, with plenty of gratuitous nudity, and European actors cheerfully playing Asian characters: it's also that the production values are incredibly primitive. It's almost like watching pornography without the sex (or so I would imagine). Not one element of this film is robust enough to elevate it into 'so bad it's funny' territory. It's just bad. That said, Jeff Bridges made his film debut in it, which presumably goes to show that even the least promising starts can lead to a distinguished career. But even so - for masochists and the troubled only.
  
In His Command (Don't Tell, #1)
In His Command (Don't Tell, #1)
Rie Warren | 2013
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

I read books for the romance and I'll tell you now, this was full of it, which is why I liked it so much. Normally when I read a MM book, it's more concentrating on the sex, whereas this one concentrated on the relationship and how it grew from mistrust into love. It was so sweet in places and I was bawling for a while near the end.

I liked both of the main characters and how they acted around each other. They were both great guys who'd had to put up with a lot of crap in the past and when they finally got it together I was almost cheering.

Liz, Caspar's best friend and one of his Lieutenants, was also a cool character and though I thought we'd never see her again after they left Alpha, she makes another appearance near the end, which also had me smiling.

I should probably point out that it does concentrate more on the romance and it's progression that the dystopian world but it's still a good tale if you don't mind that minor detail.

If you like MM Romances that actually focus on the romance, then this shouldn't be missed. I recommend it.