THE CHILLY WINTER BUCKET

WHAT TO BINGE-WATCH:

Daredevil: Season 3

The devil of Hell's kitchen, last seen under a collapsing building in The Defenders, is back. He is unlike you've ever seen him: Broken and faithless. The season walks us through Matt's recuperation and his subsequent return to his full strength. Kingpin, in the meantime, hasn't lain idle. Cleverly duping the FBI into thinking he was helping them, he gets himself out of prison and into house-incarceration. FBI Special Agent Poindexter is quickly recruited by Kingpin, who utilises some of Poindexter's unique talent to pass him off as Daredevil. As Daredevil, Poindexter proceeds to commit murder and theft. The town soon turns against Daredevil, and Wilson Fisk convinces the world that he was indeed innocent. Vanessa returns, and Fisk marries her in a grand ceremony that ends in perhaps the finest superhero punch-up on TV in recent times.

WHAT TO WATCH:

Man from U.N.C.L.E

A movie that uses the tried and tested formula of U.S – U.S.S.R rivalry , but refreshingly, a light hearted take on it. Henry Cavill plays well the role of a swash-buckling womanizing spy of sorts , for the United States , whereas Arnie Hammer portrays a solemn and rigid Soviet.

The movie is humorous at parts, in exploring the dynamics between the premier spies of the world powers , but the attempts to make the audience laugh get more desperate towards the end. Alicia Vikander appears to be just for eye-candy , but she she turns out to be a femme fatale right before the end.

To summarise , it’s a fun spin on a James Bond-ish plot definitely give a watch , Cavill’s swagger steals the thunder.

WHAT TO READ:

Flatland

One of the most unique books you will ever come across, Flatland is a masterpiece of science fiction, and is delightfully entertaining. Originally meant as a satire on the hierarchy of Victorian Culture, it is now renowned for its contribution to the examination of spatial dimensions.

The story describes the journey of a square, a resident of a two-dimensional world, Flatland. In this world, the women are straight lines while the men may be polygons having any number of sides, which ultimately determines their social status.The narration begins with the square providing details of life in Flatland, simultaneously serving as a very good satire on Victorian society, caste system and gender inequality.

Ultimately, this is a book about opening up our mind to the enormous range of possibilities, and not just living our lives mentally trapped in a finite number of dimensions.
Edwin Abott's lovely parable is a mind-expanding work if you read it that way.

SUMMER BUCKET 8.0

WHAT TO READ

Little Fires Everywhere:

Celeste NG's second novel is one bound to take you on a breath-taking journey. Set in Ohio, USA, the novel begins with a house being set to fire, lending the name to the book. The culprit is revealed as early as the second page. Now, the book takes us back in time, taking us on a ride to the present day. Written in third person, the author does a fantastic job of developing no fewer than 4 principal protagonists and a number of side characters with an exceptional level of details.



The city of Shakers Height in Cleveland is a seemingly Utopian society, with residents having their lives governed by rules and living in complete peace in harmony. Things change when Mia arrives with her daughter, Pearl to this seemingly perfect city and is rent a house by Mrs. Richardson, the living embodiment of the perfect lifestyle of Shakers Height.

The novel is exceptionally well crafted, with a number of available points of view owing to the presence of multiple protagonists. It revolves around a number of plots including motherhood, friendship, the relationship between siblings, influence of society and many more. The ending will leave you pleasingly satisfied as a circle of events and characters is perfectly completed.

WHAT TO WATCH

SNATCH:

A hilarious 1999 comedy by director Guy Ritchie, Snatch is a wonderfully thought out roller coaster ride of laughs. Featuring an ensemble of Brad Pitt,  Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Benicio del Toro, the movie opens with a jewel heist of a Jewish diamond shop. Franky Four-fingers(Benicio del Toro) flies to London with an 86 carat diamond, hoping to get a better price selling to the Brits. A Russian fellow-thief recommends a gunsmith, since Franky is fearful of his safety. Boris, the recommended gunsmith, is supposed to be impossible to kill. He conspires to steal the diamond from Franky, and hires two African American pawnbrokers to do it for him.

  

Parallely, the top gangster in London, Brick Top, has Tommy and Turkish(Jason Statham), help him rig aKSHAT a match of unlicensed boxing. Turkish and Tommy need a caravan, and attempt to buy one off Mickey O'Neil(Brad Pitt), a gypsy. This is 1999, so naturally, Brad Pitt is secretly a bare-knuckle boxing champ:/. "Aa fookin 'ate paikees" is an oft-heard phrase when watching the movies.

The diamond, in the meanwhile, is stolen(after a considerable amount of trouble) by the pawnbrokers. Boris cuts off Franky's hand, for the case with the diamond is cuffed to it. Boris is then robbed by the man who was supposed to be delivered the diamond, Avi. Avi is robbed by the pawnbrokers, who get into trouble with Brick Top, the gangster. The pawnbrokers are robbed by Avi again, who comes back with hired muscle: Bullet-Tooth Tony(Vinnie Jones). Turkish and Tommy convince Mickey to fight for them in Brick Top's boxing match.

Who comes out on top? Where does the diamond finally end up? The hilarious twists and turns in the film are thoroughly enjoyable. 

El quinto cubo de verano

To be honest, I am in rebellious mood right now. I am changing the blog's template a bit.

Film:
Edge Of Seventeen (2016)

The movie begins with Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) rushing into Mr. Brunner’s, her History teacher’s (Woody Harrelson) room, informing him that she’s about to commit suicide. Mr. Brunner’s reply is a perfect illustration of what lays in store ahead; humorous and witty, but with a serious note to it.

The movie revolves around the life of a 17-year-old Nadine, who believes her life is as miserable as they come. A short look back into the past shows Nadine being bullied by her classmates when she was young. The only people in the world she is able to connect with is her father and her best (and only) friend Kristie. Everything is seemingly well until her father passes away when she is 13. Now, she only has Kristie in her life and things take a turn for worse when Kristie starts dating Nadine’s elder brother, who is despised by Nadine. What follows is an amazing tale of how Nadine reacts to this seemingly betrayal of trust of the highest magnitude as she leads us on a wonderful journey portraying some of the common teenage problems in a humorous way without losing the plot.It is an absolute gem of a movie, which ultimately makes you root for all of the characters involved. Simply Phenomenal.

Television:

The Night Manager A British spy mini-series of six episodes directed by Susanne Bier, starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki. Tom Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, the protagonist in this spy thriller by  John Le Carre. Jon Pine is the night manager for a hotel in Egypt. Riots ensue on the streets, and one woman seems distressed. Viewers learn that she is romantically involved with a local gangster. She possesses information linking the gangster and Richard Roper, an English billionaire, in an illegal arms trade. Despite Pine’s best efforts to offer her protection, she is murdered, no doubt on the orders of the aforementioned gangster. Distraught, Pine leaves Egypt and moves to a remote hotel in Switzerland. Roper visits this Swiss hotel, and Pine rekindles his thirst for revenge. He is recruited into the MI6 by Angela Burr, an agent who’s been after Roper for years. Following this, Pine infiltrates Roper’s organisation. Details, of course, are best enjoyed on-screen. The action-packed series is available for streaming on Prime Video.

Kindle:

Killing Floor (Lee Child's Jack Reacher Debut)

This is the book that introduces Lee Child's popular character, Jack Reacher. Reacher is an ex-MP(military policeman, for the unfamiliar) who's been made redundant by the end of the cold war. After spending his entire life in the military (Reacher grew up in a military family), he's now completely on his own. After spending much of his life abroad, he's wandering about the country, getting to know the U.S. up close and personal. As will continue to be the case, Reacher travels light, with nothing more than the clothes on his back, paying cash, traveling by bus and staying off the grid.

On a whim, Reacher has a bus driver drop him off at the interchange for tiny Margrave, Georgia. Reacher has heard a story about an ancient Blues man who once spent time in the town and decides to check it out. He walks fourteen miles into town, orders a cup of coffee in a diner, and is promptly arrested for murder.

Reacher knows that he hasn't killed anyone, at least not in Margrave and not for some time, so he's obviously mystified. He soon discovers that there are a lot of weird things going on in this tiny, pristine town where the townfolk, or at least a good number of them, are harboring some strange secrets. Reacher couldn't care less. He just wants to get clear of the murder charges, get back on the bus, and resume his wandering life. But he quickly develops a personal stake in the murder case, which is decidedly bad news for the evildoers.

Before long, the bodies are piling up left and right, and Reacher is contributing more than his fair share to the carnage. This is a cleverly-plotted book, although it does depend on a coincidence that's almost too huge to swallow. Still, it's a fun read that sets the template for the future books in the series. This is essentially "Shane" brought forward into the Twentieth (and now the Twenty-first) century. Jack Reacher is the mysterious stranger with something approaching mystical powers, who rides into a troubled town, albeit on a Greyhound rather than a horse. He cleans up the town, disposes of the bad guys, dallies briefly with a beautiful, sexy woman that he will have to abandon in the end, and then, once his job is done, he rides off into the sunset.

What's not to like? The formula has worked very well through sixteen books now, and Jack Reacher has become an international favorite. Those who have somehow missed him would do well to start with Killing Floor.