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The People on Platform 5 (UK); Iona Everson’s Rules for Commuting (USA)
The People on Platform 5 (UK); Iona Everson’s Rules for Commuting (USA)
Clare Pooley | 2022 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The People on Platform 5 was a truly fabulous read on The Pigeonhole, and not a book I would have picked up to read if left to myself - which is the joy of The Pigeonhole!

Six very different people take the same train every day, never talking to one another (or anyone else - this is an English train, after all!), and it’s not until one of them chokes on a grape, that the ice is broken.

These people are a great cross-section of people you might meet on a train, all with relatable problems, and the train setting was such a good idea. It showed how although we all try to ignore one another on public transport, people are generally more than happy to listen in to other peoples conversations and lend a hand if necessary!

I really enjoyed immersing myself in the lives of Iona and her fellow travellers every day, and felt bereft when the ten day serialisation was over. A recommended read!
  
Gladiator (2000)
Gladiator (2000)
2000 | Action, Classics, Drama
Are you not entertained?
"The General who became a slave.
The slave who became an Gladiator.
The Gladiator who defied an Emperor.
A gripping tale, is it not ..."

So says Joaquin Phoenix's Emperor Commodus towards the end of this movie, talking to his erstwhile friend Maximus (Russel Crowe), after seizing power in the early parts of the film and believing the General to be dead in Germania (as per his command) and after also killing Maximus's wife and son.

The plot, then, basically, is a straight A to B revenge.

This, I believe, is also the film that launched Russel Crowe and Phoenix both to stardom - I struggle, personally, to think of any other since where either have been as electric as they are in this movie.

It may also help that they have a stacked supporting cast, including the likes of Oliver Reed (in his last onscreen role), Connie Nielsen, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi and Djimon Hounsou and some spectacular action scenes of the Roman games ...
  
Player Elimination
Player Elimination
Shelly Jones | 2025 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Who Eliminated Wren’s Landlord?
Wren Winters is running the game story she and her late husband started in a small college town. Her biggest issue is her landlord, who is talking about doing something new with her building despite the fact that he uses the game store to try out new solo games himself. But one morning she arrives at the store to find the police there. Someone has murdered her landlord. But who?

I’ve gotten back into games the last couple of years, so I was hoping this would be a good cozy mystery with that theme. Sadly, it needed just a bit more. There is one character who uses they/them pronouns that I found distracting, but that’s probably mostly on me. Overall, the characters were a little flat. The mystery was uneven, although the ending was good. Even the games Wren and her friends played didn’t give us the details I was hoping to enjoy. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll continue this series.
  
Truth Teller (The Truth Teller Series #1)
Truth Teller (The Truth Teller Series #1)
Kurt Chambers | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Remember when you were 6 or 7 and first read The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe? Well I do and the whole 'you could go to another realm and be special' thing was such a key to drawing me into fantasy. And at that age the whole talking animals thing was entirely in keeping with my imagination.

But if you are a little older, nicely into double figures of age. Although the escape to another realm is still a terrific idea, the talking animals are just not going to fit anymore. What you need is a bit of action and likeable characters who are realistic while still being elves and dwarves. But if Narnia is no longer a viable destination at that age, where is?

Truth Teller fits the bill perfectly. Charlotte is a normal ten year old girl on holiday with her family. While wandering around the shops of the local town she finds a strange curio shop. She finds one of the objects in the shop interesting - a sort of snow globe without any snow. The odd little man who runs the shop gives it to her for free, but warns her that the price she pays might not be of the monetary kind.

That night while studying the globe she feels if she is falling into it and finds herself in a cold woodland, where she meets Elder. Very soon it is apparent to her that she is not anywhere near where she should be, if she is even on Earth at all anymore. Elder is an elf and he and his family try to help Charlotte find her way back home. Meanwhile dark forces are stirring and rumours of invasion are spreading.

Chambers has set out to provide an entry point into fantasy for younger (female) readers and has done a sterling job. My immediate reaction to this book was that it is flawless, in idea and execution. Although perhaps a little cliched for grizzle fantasy readers like myself it contains just enough strange creatures - elves, dwarves, giant wolves and druids - and a sprinkling of magic here and there to whisk the plot along. And it is whisked at some pace too, the narrative fluid and always in motion towards the books conclusion without much of a pause for breath.

Charlotte as the main character is well written and prone to modern turns of phrase that baffle her elven friends. Elder the elf boy she meets is charming and friendly even though he is as confused by Charlotte's plight as she is. The other characters are also very well drawn.

The story entwines the various threads into a whole that is easy to read and hard to forget. Reaching the last page was something I dreaded but like a lot of things the end of this book is just the start of the story of the Truth Teller.

If anyone is looking for a first book in fantasy, without the talking animals, this book fits the bill perfectly. Narnia for the iPhone generation? It's pretty close to that.
  
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Sam (74 KP) rated The Hate u Give in Books

Nov 30, 2018  
The Hate u Give
The Hate u Give
Angie Thomas | 2017 | Children
2
8.4 (54 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strong Characterisation, Great Cover (0 more)
Wrong Tone, Bad Examples (0 more)
Problematic
I was so excited to start reading this one. Because of how popular it had been, I'd put off buying it for ages. Waterstones had a special edition in and that was as much of an excuse as I needed to buy it.
It's got five-star reviews everywhere, has won so many awards, and literally, everyone is talking about it. So, of course, it's worth a try.
Only I didn't enjoy it to the point where I got halfway through and couldn't finish it. I wasn't even sure whether to post the review because I know that lots of people will disagree with me over this.
I was so excited for a book to be out that's about police brutality in America towards black teenagers, and was surprised, to begin with, that something as serious as this was in a YA book, but also happy that it was being told to teenagers. It sounded like my ideal book.
But I just couldn't get along with it at all. The whole idea with the book is to show what casual racism is doing to America, but at the same time on every few pages, there's another part talking about how horrible and funny and evil white people are. If a book wants to make a stand against racism, make a stand against it from both sides, not just one. You cannot end racism by calling the other race.
I just found it really one-sided in its battle against racism. I am definitely not saying that the police shooting was right, let me just say that, and Starr has every right to hate the police for shooting her best friend. However, this does not mean that every few pages there needs to be a comment about how awful white people are.
A much healthier focus for the book would have been equality, not switching the racism to the other side in a 'how-do-you-like-it-now' move.

Read the full review at https://ohbookit.blog
  
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Rian Johnson recommended F for Fake (1973) in Movies (curated)

 
F for Fake (1973)
F for Fake (1973)
1973 | Documentary
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I got four, and there’s one more. It’s a biggie. And again, this is one that’s maybe a little bit of a stretch in terms of it being a con man movie, but I actually don’t think so. It’s F for Fake. If I was numbering these, this might be number one. It’s a movie that’s really hard to define. It’s pretty commonly termed a filmic essay by Orson Welles on the subject of fakery, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s so many things. I don’t even know how to start talking about it. At its essence, it is about what we were just talking about. It’s about the charlatans and fakery and the notion of fake versus real, and the notion of the con versus legitimacy, I guess. And he just digs into that pretty deeply. And also in a way that’s so incredibly entertaining. The way that the movie’s cut, also, you would think that, today with our shorter and shorter attention spans and our notions of fast cutting, you would think that the way that Orson Welles, the style in which he cuts this film, would be easily absorbed by us. But I actually… You know, I have friends of mine who are much, much younger than me. You know, it actually took a second viewing to kind of absorb the film. I mean, it really is still pretty insane, the abstract way that Welles cut this whole thing together and made the whole together work. I feel like he’s absolutely self-aware; that’s part of the act. That’s what’s fun. And that’s why that opening sequence in the train station, you see him putting on that character and very much doing the… You know, I think he’s aware of it. I think he’s also aware that it’s kind of funny, that that’s part of the gag, you know, is pretending to be somebody you’re not, putting that on. Putting on that big cape and that big hat, and being that guy. And, you know, if you’re Orson Welles, you can pull it off."

Source
  
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Tom Jones recommended The Sun Years by Jerry Lee Lewis in Music (curated)

 
The Sun Years by Jerry Lee Lewis
The Sun Years by Jerry Lee Lewis
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"""Whole Lotta Shakin'', was the first time I heard him, in Pontypridd, being played from Freddy Fey's record shop. People used to ask me, because I loved music so much, 'What do you think of this record, what do you think of that record?' When Elvis Presley came out, I said he can't be the only one - a white man being influenced by black music in the South. So when 'Whole Lotta Shakin'' came out, my friends said, 'Is that what you're talking about?' I said, 'That's exactly what I'm talking about!' Another guy, playing piano, similar to what Elvis was doing, but even more syncopated, white and from the South. It was unbelievable to hear that record. Then 'Great Balls Of Fire' followed, and 'High School Confidential' was a great record. When you listen to his records, he always sings up, except towards when he got older and the pressures of life got on him. In the beginning, he was always up, you know the ends of everything came up. Little Richard was pushing the shit out of everything but Jerry Lee, he had his syncopation, it was like he floated. He fell out of favour, because he married his cousin - it was a shame, he was still making great records. There's one called 'Loving Up A Storm' and that's equally good. That's on The Sun Years, they're all there. I saw him live in Cardiff in 1962, and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates were there and they were slick... I thought, 'Shit, how's Jerry Lee going to get over this?', because they closed the first half. He came on, and instead of how Johnny Kidd and the Pirates were very aggressive, Jerry Lee was the opposite, he opened up with 'Move On Down The Line' and the band were like [sings] and he just walked on and was like [gestures] showing us the the chord he was going to play. He just sat down at the piano and - boom - went into it. It was like 'Jesus Christ!' You know, it was smooth, it was slick, it was rock & roll but he wasn't like, screaming - he had a different take on it and yet it was rocking."""

Source
  
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
1994 | Comedy
Terrific, under-rated gem
Coen Brother's films fall into 3 categories for me:

Terrific, well-known films: FARGO, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THE BIG LEBOWSKI

Terrible, overly-indulgent films: HAIL CAESAR, A SERIOUS MAN, BURN AFTER READING

Under-rated gems: BARTON FINK, MILLER'S CROSSING, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS

And this film, the 1994 homage to 1940's fast-talking comedies THE HUDSUCKER PROXY.

Set in the business world, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY tells the tale of a young, ambitious corporate ladder climber who is taken under the thumb of a conniving business exec who wants to use the young man as a patsy for the business.

Tim Robbins stars as the young, ambitious Norville Barnes who's "gee shucks" demeanor and the faithful belief in those around him anchors this film in a common decency that Robbins exudes in spades. Countering Robbins is a crafty film veteran - Paul Newman as evil, corrupt Corporate Executive Sidney J. Mussburger. Newman was winding down his career at this point, so must have seen something in the script that caught his eye, for Newman has a spark and a spring in his step that shows that the old man "still has it". He plays off of Robbins well and it is a joy to watch this veteran actor work. Equally interesting in this film is Jennifer Jason Leigh who channels her inner Rosalind Russell as fast-talking, hard-pushing reporter (and erstwhile girlfriend of Barnes), Amy Archer.

But this being a Coen Brothers film, this movie is just as strongly about the atmosphere and the dialogue as it is the characters - and what an atmosphere they create. Delivering a strong "1940's Art Deco meets Techno-Punk" theme, the Coens deliver a visually interesting world that is incorporated with intriguing characters.

In other words - it's a Coen Brothers comedy - and one that is well done.

To tell more about the story is to spoil the picture, but realize that this film is well made, well scripted and well acted (if a little slight on story). It is a very entertaining way to spend a few hours.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)