Academy Award Nominations 2024 (Full List)

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Here is the list for films nominated for the Academy Awards 2024 (Oscars). What did you think ? Are you happy with the films that got nominated, or did you favourite miss out? Few shocks down there I thought!

Being Still (2023)

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It has been quite a while since I sat down in an effort to think about what is going on with me, and how if at all, I have evolved or changed since this time last year. I find it hard to believe that it has been a year first of all, but then again, as I say that, I believe everyone feels the same, none of us take the passing of time well, (At least not after we all get out of our early 20’s!). Sometimes, I think that we overestimate what we can get done in a year, and the ways in which we can grow in that time, gets overlooked when we aren’t where we want to be, or at least, where we think we should or perhaps could be. I have not written publicly as much as I would have liked, I have had my journal that I scribble in when I am feeling confused about my emotions, but in terms of this site, or the Youtube channel that I have used over the last couple of years, they couldn’t have been more neglected. So, that means, in a way, this has been my year for ‘Being Still’;

Code Red (Mitch Rapp 22) – Book Review

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Code Red is the latest book in the Mitch Rapp series which has just been released. Of course we all know the series started with Vince Flynn writing about our favourite hero, before his untimely death led to Kyle Mills taking over the series, with this novel, being his last, he is moving on from the franchise after 9 books. Considering I have been writing reviews for these books for the last 5/6 years, I can’t believe I never noticed that they are in line with the year. This is the 23rd book, and its 2023! (I will not have people call me out on the technicalities of Term Limits). (Check out the others here, Red War, Lethal Agent, Total Power, Enemy at the Gates, Oath of Loyalty) But anyway, I digress. As usual I read this book over about a 13 hour period, starting it at night, reading half of it, going to bed and finishing when I woke up. This time around the book really did feel different, for me, in a bad way, it truly felt like 2/3 different narratives and that the ending of each one brought about the beginning of the next, despite Mills attempts to interweave the narrative in a way that was meant to avoid this from happening!

Academy Award Nominations 2023 (Full List)

Hi!

Here is the list for films nominated for the Academy Awards 2023 (Oscars). What did you think ? Are you happy with the films that got nominated, or did you favourite miss out? Few shocks down there I thought!

Is Elon Musks’ Twitter Tick Worth It?

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Since Elon Musk took over as owner of Twitter earlier this week, he has been tweeting consistently about some ideas he has to take the company forward under his leadership and where he can see potential revenue. This has led to him explaining that he wants to monetise the infamous Tick that ‘famous people, public figures etc’ are able to have on their account which proves that they are who they are say are. But with most people saying that they are not willing to pay for this ‘privilege’, the topic of conversation for users of the platform has become, is the tick worth paying for? In short, to pay $8 only for the tick, is outrageous and not something worthwhile, but it is lower than the initial $20 price point which he originally stated. But the true question around this is not if the product is worth purchasing, but rather what has led to him talking about introducing a paid service? Video discussing this topic available here.

Oath of Loyalty (Mitch Rapp 21) – Book Review

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Oath of Loyalty is the 21st book in the Mitch Rapp series, becoming Mills 8th novel, who has had a great run since the death of Vince Flynn. I enjoy this series immensely and regularly find myself re-reading them! I have written reviews for the later books in the series as I only started the series when the American Assassin film was made! If you are interested in those reviews, then you can check them out by clicking the name of the novel, Red War, Lethal Agent, Total Power, Enemy at the Gates. All of the novels are something that I struggle to put down and in general I read them over a couple days (And sometimes just the 1 sitting!). The books are always a solid 7.5/10 at least, over the time that Mills has been writing he has spent a lot of time creating new characters with whom he spends most of the narrative rather than using those created by Vince Flynn. But in this novel there is a change of pace for Mills with a focus on the characters whom Flynn had created over the years and we get to see the way in which they have developed since their inception.

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six – Book Review

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Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger is an upcoming psychological thriller about 3 couples who take a vacation in a luxury cabin in the Georgian woods, with a severe storm on its way, which is going to shatter the idyllic atmosphere first, the families secrets, or the storm? The book is around 420 pages long and I read it in about 2 days, with me being unable to put down the novel! This is Lisa’s 20th novel, with an upcoming Netflix series starring Jessica Alba based on her novel Confessions on the 7:45, with most of her novels being thriller / suspense novel, it is safe to say that based on the content of this book, I am looking forward to checking out some of her previous iterations. 

Ava VS Polar – Assassin Films

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Ava and Polar are films with similar concepts that were released around a year after one another, with Polar coming first followed by Ava. Both films focus on a contract killer / assassin, who is working towards retirement which is not in line with what their employers have planned for them. Over the course of the films, we see what happens when sub-par killers hunt the Apex predator of their industry. Polar was released in 2019 based on the graphic novel called Polar; Came from the Cold with Ava following in 2020 with the former being a Netflix original and the latter getting a mix of a theatrical release and VoD services. Both films received predominately negative reviews, which while I am inclined to agree with, overall it is too simple to say they are bad films, when instead they need to be reviewed properly. Did they have good concepts? Were they original? What were the deaths like? What were the audiences thoughts on the performances? Did an overarching story appear? Of course I won’t look at all of these points, but what I hope to achieve by noting this to readers, is that for all forms of media, you can not simply say that it is good or bad, but rather you need to critically think about you just consumed and how best it can be described.

Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman – Film Review

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Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman is a 2021 American horror thriller film which was written and directed by Daniel Farrands starring Peyton List, Tobin Bell and Lydia Hearst. The film was released as video-on-demand back on 8th October 2021 with it following on dvd a week later on the 15th. The film follows the early life of Aileen Wuornos in 1976 following her marriage to a wealthy commodore in Lewis Feel. The film focuses on the events that transpired following this marriage, with deaths in the family, a group falling apart and the subsequent return to a life of nothing of note for Aileen, we get to see the outcome of her action and the story being told via middle aged Aileen and her memory. The film received poor reviews from critics with some of them giving an rating of 2/10 stars with comments such as ‘It’s a crude exploitation from a one-note helmer who keeps trying to make his mark as some type of master of true crime fiction’. I am inclined to agree with this, the film is not something I would be recommending to others, but if you want to read more about my thoughts, check out below.

Cobra Kai – Season 5 Review

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Cobra Kai season 5 debuted on Netflix on September 9th 2022, 9 months after the 4th season. The show has been going since 2018 now, which means even with the 18 month break between season 2 and 3, we are back on track for a season each year! Which is of course great news for fans. As mentioned previously, it is expected that the show will run for 6 seasons, which would mean we have only 1 season left to go, which as of now, has not been green-lit at Netflix, so we are probably going to be waiting at least a year for it if not longer. After watching this season, I think it is safe to assume that the creators and actors are leaning towards having a final 6th season with the potential plot that may take place already on the table and the fans being aware of what we may see. But if the show were to end here, while it would not be the most perfect ending to a series, I have to say I would take it as it would provide a situation that could make the fans happy and think about the future that the characters have.