The Originals
8.1
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TV Show Watch
Klaus, the original vampire/werewolf hybrid, returns to New Orleans -- which his family helped build...
Black Truffle & Spice (Spice #3)
10.0
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Book
Zola Washington and her gay roommate, Pierre Jackson, are cooking up to open a café in Toronto...
Contemporary LGBTQ+
David McK (3695 KP) rated Carry-On (2024) in Movies
Dec 29, 2024 (Updated Dec 29, 2024)
Instead, it's Carry-on.
As in luggage.
This is Christmas set - although I'm not sure I'd call it a Christmas movie (discuss) - set in an airport, and follows a young security guard after he is blackmailed into letting a suspicious package through security on Christmas Eve.
This steadily ratchets up the tension, as he struggles to stop said package from boarding a plane and to keep his colleagues (including his fiance) in the dark over just what is going on ...
Moving Stretch: Work Your Fascia to Free Your Body
Book
Moving Stretch is an effective, powerful and fun way of freeing the body from hunching, restriction...
RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Deepwater Horizon (2016) in Movies
Feb 18, 2019
Berg builds and maintains the tension expertly, as this procedural disaster movie takes shape, but this is no Titanic (1997) or Poseidon Adventure (1976). The disaster itself only takes up about 30 minutes of the 107 minute run time as we are taken through the technicalities of America’s worst ever oil disaster, one which claimed 11 lives and spilled 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The tension is palpable, the disaster is terrifying yet exiting and whilst wearing its roughneck Vs. company man heart on its sleeve, you are left feeling that we are given a much greater understanding of the subject as well as the newsworthy disaster.
This is helped along by the great visuals and sound design, as well as art direction and visual effects, which along with the great performances, not least BP man, Vidrine (John Malkovich), makes this a must see.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Shallows (2016) in Movies
Oct 28, 2019 (Updated Oct 28, 2019)
The best thing about The Shallows is easily Blake Lively. It's more a less a one woman show (the rest of the cast are paper thin and take up a tiny amount of screentime.)
She provides us with a lead character who you want to survive, and sells the simple narrative nicely.
The other main character is of course the shark. For the most part, we don't see much of the shark and this is where the horror elements of The Shallows are best realised. The general atmosphere of the first two thirds of the runtime carry a suitable amount of tension.
The final third let's it's slip a bit in this respect, switching out tension for action, which is usually ok, but here we're subjected to some dodgy special effects work, and a whole lot of stupid plot points that don't make a whole lot of sense (silly plot points are actually present throughout, and the main reason why The Shallows isn't better than it is)
One final thought - some of the sweeping shots are really nice - some good camera work going on!
It's not a bad watch by any means, and as far as shark movies go, it's better than most.
The Girl in the Photograph
7.0
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Book
For fans of Kate Mosse and Kate Morton comes a haunting novel about two women separated by decades...
Necessary Lies
10.0
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Book
Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty...
Merissa (13749 KP) rated Hashtag Holidate in Books
Nov 25, 2025
Adrian is an influencer who travels from place to place, hoping to make it big with his 'Twelve Holidates' feature. Maddox is the owner of a four-generation hardware store, who dabbles in photography, and has his roots set firmly at home. So, yes, these two are opposites from the very beginning, and even more so if you count the grumpy/sunshine vibe too.
This was an easy, well-paced read that has lots of tension between the two MCs. They obviously get together, which leads to steamy times. I don't say this very often, but while I enjoyed them together, I loved the snark and tension more.
One thing that personally didn't work for me was the use of hashtags at the end of each chapter. I skipped over them to get to the main story, but that's a me thing. I'm sure for others who follow the Insta/influencer lifestyle more, they were a fun feature.
Anyway, an easy Christmassy read that made me smile, and one I definitely recommend.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 25, 2025