Alex Anne Mastroni

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Everyone knew I was reading this book. Coworkers would see me turning pages on every break I had. I was already telling friends I would loan them the book when I was finished. This book fully encompassed the full story of an Army nurse, Frankie’s, life before, during, and after the Vietnam War. Halfway through the book when Frankie goes home, you almost want the book to end because it almost feels as if everything has ended safely. But you still have half of the book left! But that would be as naïve as Frankie was before she left for war. Spoiler! I admire Hannah explaining how easily someone can get addicted, like Frankie, to pills and normalizing it to the reader. This book is so much more than I thought it would be. When I turned the last page and saw it was the last page I audibly gasped.

The Women

1 like

I think this is my new favorite movie. Ever. Writing this review first before reading other reviews posted so my review stays pure. SPOILERS BELOW! I think Anora believed that Ivan wanted to be married to her emotionally also because he proposed to her. She uses that as a defense fact when setting the record straight that she’s staying married to her husband. Although we never really find out her ulterior motives? Does she love him? Maybe. Is she after his money? Maybe. Are they both kids? Not legally, but emotionally yes. I smiled the entire movie because EVERYTHING Nora says is right. Everything she says is true. She finds out her husband is actually a pussy, and he is. And she lets no other person, treat her as less than equal. Ending Scene Thoughts: End of the movie is her realizing she loves Igor, so I do, and then proceeding to have sex with my man. With his hands around her neck she bounces back to trauma, then realizing he’s calming her like he mentioned doing earlier. Maybe then she realizes she can find someone who truly cares about her as a person? But then cries because she knows it’s all still so fucked up what he did. I’m not so sure on the latter. I need to talk more about Igor because I’ve never fallen in love like this. I fell in love with him because he never acted like Ani was being dramatic, even when she rose her voice. They had a love that had no emotional judgment, just words and facts. I want to watch this movie again.

Anora

2 likes

I fell for starting this movie because I saw Olivia Colman was in it. Something in her smile just convinces me everything is going to be alright. The story gets into the hilarity of a religious person convicting someone so they themself can feel like a martyr and makes me do that special laugh when you’re chin touches your chest. The parallels of the newspaper article authors saying the same thing as the dirty letter writers is uncanny. Reminding the audience there are people in the world who say things are not conventional even while they commit the same acts themselves. In the end, being vulgar might be what everyone needs once in a while to vent!

Wicked Little Letters

I was in a race to finish this book by the end of the year to complete the Goodreads Choice Awards challenge! I fully support the idea of normalizing personality traits, because if one human being is feeling something, someone else in the world must also have felt the same thing to some degree. I’m not going to discredit the author’s experiences because I didn’t appreciate her tone. I applaud this author for sharing their story even though they knew criticism would come. By sharing their story they gave hope to other people who have similar personality traits. Self reflection needs to be done no matter what type of personality you have, and Patric helped paved the way to help others understand theirs together.

Sociopath: A Memoir

1 like

During and after this show I was doing research because I was hooked! The amazing cast includes some personal favorite throwbacks including Patricia Arquette who played Kissin' Kate Barlow from Holes and Paul Dano who played Dwayne Hoover from Little Miss Sunshine. However, my new found love is the Reddit favorite, Benicio del Toro and the strange behavior he has mastered to portray someone totally in control at times, but also a spontaneous lunatic. Eric Lange is also remarkable with his many detailed ticks that sell the character’s persona for me. The scenes that stand out in my head are the POV shot that provide the viewer with so much character perspective when they are racing to their escape and choosing to use the continuous shot allows the viewer to embody a 360/VR experience. The use of music to reference past scenes always has a purpose, as well as when they flash back to previous scenes but from different angles. Genius! One thing that is atypical for a jail movie is the use of pop music throughout. There are features from Mark Ronson, Nick Jonas, and Megan Trainor. It almost tricked and lightened the mood into thinking everything is okay, where in reality you always need to be on guard at a prison.

Escape at Dannemora

6 likes

My partner and I were consistently asking each other “what would you do in this situation?” throughout the movie. The main character, Ethan Kopek, is faced with what seems like a predicament he cannot get out of. So, what do you do in a predicament you can’t get out of? I typically fall asleep during movies and “Carry On” had me unhinged. The anticipation keeps your heart pumping at the lengths Jason Bateman’s unnamed character will go. The movie had some “Dark Night Rises” moments, which is one of my top 5 favorite movies, so you know I had a soft spot for “Carry On”. My brother-in-law said there would in no way be that much room in the cargo hold on the plane for people to walk around in, but alas, such is Hollywood.

Carry-On

No cliffhangers at the end of the chapters to make this a real page turner. I feel like most chapters end with typical detective sayings like “There was something about him she just didn’t trust” and it more so feels like at the end of each chapter is a visual fade out and cut to commercials. I did enjoy reading this on my phone because when you are finished with the book you can search the perpetrators name and see where they pop up through the book! Some surprises there! I do feel like this book does portray real people accurately in giving them sicknesses and having men cry and express their feelings. However I still didn’t feel a connection with any of the characters.

The Next Girl: A gripping crime thriller with a heart-stopping twist