Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Gaspar Noe recommended Day Of Wrath (2006) in Movies (curated)

 
Day Of Wrath (2006)
Day Of Wrath (2006)
2006 | Action, Drama, Mystery
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Day of Wrath, for me, is another kind of perfection. It’s mature themes for mature people. It’s about inquisition and war, and no wonder why, after doing that movie about inquisition during the invasion of the Nazis in Denmark, then he was recommended to move away from Denmark just to save himself and family. It’s a very cruel movie about a cruel historical time, but in which some people are put in positions that they have to behave cruel against others, and all the characters are changing. It’s very weird. Even the young girl who is very nice at the beginning, then she starts to turn to a witch, and you know that she’s going to die also, but the weak characters are touching. It’s a very complex movie in terms of the multiple faces that every human has in their life. You have the nice face when the situations are nice, and when the situations turn dramatic and there’s no way out, some people just become evil. What I like about Dreyer is he was studying movies about religion but from a very atheist approach. His movies are about the inside of humankind. It’s such a perfect movie. There are some movies that you see and you go, “Oh, I wish the music was different,” or “I wish the actor was funny,” but there are the movies that you watch over and over and see that there’s not one single frame to change. They’re perfect."

Source
  
40x40

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Long Island Iced Tina in Books

Feb 24, 2021 (Updated Feb 24, 2021)  
Long Island Iced Tina
Long Island Iced Tina
Maria DiRico | 2021 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reappearing Painting and Murder
Mia Carina is thrilled for her friend Nicole, who is expecting her first baby. Nicole has chosen Mia’s catering hall, Belle View, as the location for one of her baby showers. Despite Mia’s best efforts, the baby shower is interrupted by a fight between Nicole’s mother and step-mother. Then, one of Nicole’s presents turns out to be a valuable painting stolen years before. Things only get worse when Mia finds the body of a shower guest the next morning. Is the murder linked to the painting?

I enjoyed the first book in the series, and this one was great as well. The painting added a fun element to the mystery, and I really enjoyed seeing how that played out. The mystery had some great zigs and zags along the way. The climax was a bit complicated, but I was able to think it through, and it did make sense. All the characters were wonderful, with some interesting growth for the series regulars. Mia’s grandmother provides a very funny sub-plot, and there are other great moments of humor throughout the book. At the end, we get four recipes and a hit for hosting events yourself. The series is set in Queens, and Mia’s family is involved in the mob. Even so, this is most definitely still a cozy series. Grab some ice tea and enjoy this delightful book.
  
A Girl’s Guide to the Outback
A Girl’s Guide to the Outback
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It is amazing to me how just a few words can make you smile or tug at your heartstrings. Jessica Kate really took me on a marvelous ride in this book. I loved the fun cover, the textured feel to it and all the quotable moments in this book.

     When I started reading this book, I immediately noticed how easy it was to relate to the characters. I personally think that it is because deep inside most of us associate with either Sam or Kimberly on some level. They had fun together, teased each other, and they did hurt each other (unintentionally). The making of a quintessentially fun couple. Any great relationship or story is based on how people handle themselves when they are faced with obstacles and Jessica Kate made these characters shine in the way that they handled the obstacles that came up.

     In the Girl’s Guide to the Outback, we see some really great examples of overcoming obstacles, building friendships, compassion, and patience. There are two main characters Sam and Kimberly who made me smile more in the space of an hour than I usually do all day, and whom I feel will go down as some of my top favorite characters of all time. I would argue that Julie and Mick could be considered somewhat main characters as well, they were great and put smiles on my face as well
  
40x40

Ed Helms recommended Groundhog Day (1993) in Movies (curated)

 
Groundhog Day (1993)
Groundhog Day (1993)
1993 | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

"Groundhog Day. I can watch that movie just a million times and never get sick of it. There was a whole spate of movies around that time in the ’80s and ’90s where something magical would happen, and sort of screw over a protagonist in some way, and some of those devices were very corny and kitschy and didn’t work as well. Some of them just worked magnificently, and this one is one of those. It’s just these sort of inexplicable moments where the universe is teaching this one guy a lesson, and they never explain how or why, but you don’t care, because it just kind of makes sense. And the way it unfolds, it’s sort of like it’s one of those things that, I think, if you tasked somebody with writing a story with that premise, where a guy wakes up every day in the same day and he has to relive it over and over again until he learns to be a good person, you’d be sort of overwhelmed, like how can I do that? Then you see this version of it, and you’re like, that’s the perfect way to do it. It’s like, “Oh, it’s so simple.” That’s a brilliant script, when it looks like there was no other way to do it, if that makes any sense. And the performances, everyone from Chris Elliott to Andie MacDowell to Punxsutawney Phil. I mean, they all nail it."

Source
  
Blood Red Sky (2021)
Blood Red Sky (2021)
2021 | Action, Horror, Thriller
6
6.6 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Blood Red Sky is a movie that has some decent ideas, and some great performances, but is sadly bogged down by a whole lot of waff.
Honestly, it's a shame that the marketing for this gave away the whole vampire aspect. Had it been advertised as a airborne hijack thriller with hints of a supernatural element, then the twist could have hit the same way that it did back in the 90s, when I was but a young boy innocently watching From Dusk Till Dawn, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.
The pacing is so so. The narrative premise is a good and straightforward one, but it's dragged down by constant flashbacks that feel unnecessary and like padding. Whenever things get interesting, another flashback is thrown in. It's frustrating, mainly because everything surrounding these negatives are solid! The vampires themselves are brutal, and reminiscent of the creatures seen in 30 Days of Night. Lead actor Peri Baumeister puts in a fantastic performance, as does her onscreen son, Carl Anton Koch. The two of them make proceedings relatively impactful, especially during the closing moments. The whole climactic scene is pretty entertaining to be fair, and goes some way to making up for all of the faffing about.

Blood Red Sky isn't half bad overall, but it's could have done with dropping all of the unnecessary exposition and ultimately achieving a shorter runtime.
  
40x40

Tyondai Braxton recommended Tracers by Ben Vida in Music (curated)

 
Tracers by Ben Vida
Tracers by Ben Vida
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"""Ben Vida is a composer and sound artist whose work I really love. This record he did pairing his idiosyncratic electronic voice with percussion is a favourite. I suppose everyone I have given on this list has a strong character. The thing I love about Ben too is that he's so good at synthesising sounds and he has such a strong compositional voice. But his music has such a great sense of humour too – some of the sounds are absurd. They are really high quality, well made objects, but in a lot of ways it's so funny. I'm always excited to listen to anything that Ben does. And it's great to get a chance to work with him too. He's been a long time collaborator. I also sought him out to work with me as a performer on my HIVE project. When I first started the project, it was this installation where there were these five wooden mushroom-like pods. It's a piece for three percussionists and two modular synths. Being a fan of his music and having known him for a couple of years, I asked him to do that with me. And so we ended up touring that around together. I ended up adding some vocals to some records that he did. He did a record called Slipping Control a couple of years ago, that I worked on with him. So it's been a very rich creative relationship."""

Source
  
40x40

Jason Williamson recommended Prince Blimey by Red Snapper in Music (curated)

 
Prince Blimey by Red Snapper
Prince Blimey by Red Snapper
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is just double bass, drums and some kind of keyboard at some point. I chose this album for the opening track. The rest of the album is alright, but it sounds a bit dated. The opening track though is great. The start with the saxophone, or whatever it is, is quite dark, and then it teases with the synths. I used to have it on and think, ""Oh, this is fucking great."" This came out in 1996. I was living with a guy who bought it. I would have never have bought it but he was a bit of a fashionista, you know. I was living in Nottingham. I had split up with my girlfriend and was lodging with this guy. He bought it and I got really into it, this album and Photek, which I chose as well. They started to get my mind thinking about electronica, although Red Snapper was essentially a live act, to me it sounded like electronica, all instrumental. He asked me to do some singing for him, the guy from Red Snapper. But I couldn't do it. He wanted me to do one song and I said I could do it, and then he said ideally he wanted me to do two and I was like, ""Hold on, come on."" I just didn't have the time, I said I'd have to let him down. Though the stuff he sent me over was quite good."

Source
  
My beloved agents are back, Zaiba is leading another investigation, where her dad and little brother Ali are potential suspects! We have some new characters added this time, that are quite sneaky and have their secret agendas.

The plot of this book is quite interesting and has some really surprising twists and turns. I really liked the parent-child relationships analysed in this book. How parents influence their children without even realising it, I think it is quite an interesting topic. The investigation has its intriguing nuances, but this time the author could not hide the culprit, it was very obvious who it was.

The whole book was set in the school fete, with a very cheery atmosphere, that I thoroughly enjoyed. 🙂 The writing style of this novel is entertaining and easy to read, like in the previous book. The chapters have medium length, but the great illustrations make this book a quite entertaining read. The ending, as I mentioned before was quite predictable. Like in the first book, this book also has great material for young agents, that I think will be useful and fun. 🙂

So, to conclude, it is a great novel with beloved and new characters as well as a plot that has some surprises, and life lessons to teach. This book can be read as stand-alone, but if you read the first part and missed the crew, do give this part a go, it is a very enjoyable read indeed.
  
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
1968 | Classics, Sci-Fi
Trippy ending space stuff > HAL stuff > ape stuff > monolith stuff

Was fully ready to come out of this being like "Yeah this ain't really all it" but it was, it really fucking was all it. I've seen big budget studio movies from less than a year ago (including but not limited to a certain superhero-led murky monstrosity involving a big purple thumb villain and some exposition stones) that look demonstrably worse than this - which, for all intents and purposes, is the best looking movie of all time (considering the time, anyway). There isn't a lone shot that looks anything less than astounding, what people must have felt back in 1968 watching this doesn't even have anything remotely comparable today. I can understand why some people wouldn't gel with this; some scenes are played out way too long and much of the William Sylvester stuff is dull as a doorstop not to mention stifled by the visual gimmick - but it avoids being the easy style over substance vehicle it could have been (which for the record I still would have been all for) by actually having a truly ingenious and thought-provoking screenplay with go-to quotes out the wazoo. And I think even this film's supporters don't give it enough credit for how continually unnerving this is, either. Obviously there's nothing more constructive one can even add about the greatness of the film or its score, acting, effects, etc. It rules.
  
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
2002 | Comedy, Drama
Bracingly twisted, disturbing 110 minutes of sex-crazed, sleazebag college sociopaths and the unenviably depressing lives they lead. A more quintessential Bret Easton Ellis film than even 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰 in showcasing his deliriously warped sense of the world. A university 'romance' drama soaked in booze, coke, apathy, sex, and a seething disdain for living well - naturally I loved it in all its parasitic debauchery. One of the most quietly experimental films of the early 2000s and also one of the fewer ones from that era that actually has a righteous soundtrack and tolerable sense of style. James Van Der Beek is a beast - existing on some other religious, primordial plane of existence that we can't comprehend in our current timeline just yet - and every other performance isn't too far behind. We should probably check up on the people who view this as some sort of misunderstood Truth Serum though, I just love it because it's fucked up tbh and I unashamedly dig me some rich slime. Loathes its characters but never superficially, like it *really* does - revels in the glee of inflicting cruelty on these horrid people but backs it up with tangible emotion to create this hypnotic clash of feelings. Couldn't take my eyes off it. I shudder to even use this now meaningless saying but... I'd be hard pressed to say you could have gotten away with making this today.