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FilmIntuition (33 KP) rated The Art of Escaping in Books

Sep 20, 2018

Set in Rhode Island, Erin Callahan's The Art of Escaping takes place in the summer between junior and senior year, when most students are busy making plans for their future or trying to pad their applications for college.
Then there are those like our unusual protagonist Mattie who uses her three months away from class to find herself by daring to pursue her passion for escapology.
Tracking down the daughter of her favorite escape artist (a local, female Houdini, if you will), although she's hesitant at first, Miyu gradually gives in and begins teaching Mattie the tricks of her mother's trade from lock picking to underwater escapes. Soon enough Mattie is performing her act under a stage persona at a hip speakeasy like club.
An entertaining albeit unusual YA novel that strains your suspension of disbelief, Callahan's Art gets better the further you get into it.
And while its overly stylized characters come off as wise beyond their years and their retro interests and dialogue might have played better if the book - already retro in feel - had been set in the '80s or '90s, it's a fun, fast, and wholly original read nonetheless.

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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo in Books

Dec 3, 2019

Better than a biography

Until seeing Trainwreck, I didn't really rate Amy Schumer as she's made some other pretty poor films. But Trainwreck was great and I'm pleased to say her book is along the same lines.

This is an autobiography but not. Amy tells us humorous anecdotes and sometimes serious and emotional stories about different aspects of her life. Each chapter has a subject or topic of interest, but it is in no way a linear life story. Instead they're rather jumbled but it all makes sense. Amy has a rather laid back conversation style, which for the most part works as it fits in with the stories she's telling although there are times when it gets too conversational - there are just some things that dont come across as well in writing as they would do on stage. Theres a lot of good heartwarming messages in this book, but of course with a decent amount of humour too. I enjoyed reading this a lot more than I expected and it was nice to find out more about a comedian I knew little about. It womt win any writing awards, but it's definitely entertaining.

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Vegas (725 KP) rated Stan & Ollie (2018) in Movies

Mar 21, 2020

Stan & Ollie (2018)

2018 | Biography, Comedy, Drama

8.0

(30 Ratings)

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The portrayal of Stan and Ollie (0 more)

Not a real feel good film considering the subject. (0 more)

Great portrayal of two greats

Coogan and Reilly star as the legendary double act, both actors must has spent hours perfecting Laurel and Hardys mannerisms, speech and comic timing as their portrayal of their respective characters are spot on...

This is the story of the latter part of their career, on a tour of the UK with the possibility of a new film as a dangling carrot to perform...

The comic routines during the stage parts of the film are almost as well performed as the real thing, yet coupled with the humour, is an underlying sadness of two stars trying to regain what they once had, and it's this that stops it being a feel good film as it is quite moving and sad if you are a fan of the duo...

It is interesting to see how their relationship is strained at times yet in spite of that how much they obviously cared for each other...

I don't know if the stars won any awards for their playing of Stan & Ollie, but if they didn't, they should have...

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Jackjack (877 KP) rated A Star Is Born (2018) in Movies

Apr 19, 2020

A Star Is Born (2018)

2018 | Drama, Romance

8.3

(71 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Pretty good!

Ok so I loved how this film captured the raw romantic start to the film, a big star bringing a women he just met to his big show making her sing, it was oh so magical.

I well and truly got lost in this emotional rollercoaster, the film opens with lady gaga In her very average job, she finishes her shift and goes to perform in a drag act/gay bar, here is where she sings her heart out and it just so happens a very drunk Bradley cooper is in there listening after he had just performed his own concert, it all stems from there you see how they get close and he brings her to all his gigs where she sings her songs on stage and she finally gets noticed and becomes a big star herself, but it's not all glamour and fame you see the ups and downs in a stars world with her husband on a downwards spiral abusing drugs and alcohol you see the struggle and see the love between them Both. Amazing story with a very unpredictable sad ending. Definitely worth the watch!