Look, I wasn’t expecting ‘The Kissing Booth 3’ to be Citizen Kane, but I wanted at least something sensical. Talk about outstaying a welcome. I liked teh first two installments well enough for me to look for this on Netflix as soon as it became available, but I just have to be honest, I have a huge crush on Jacob Elordi. His presence here is worthwhile, but the film is a chore to get through. Yes, we get the usual teen problems, but the cast seem to have. checked out and I feel like everyone is just counting the hours until check out time. They all look bored, and I felt it.
Profondo is a flanker to the original Acqua di Gio men’s perfume, and for those who love the original, it’s probably going to be a treat because this is supposed to be somewhat a reinvention of the original scent, but with more green notes instead of aquatic ones. For me, it smells exactly the same. Granted, I am not an expert of the original version, but I don’t detect any difference here. If for anything, I found this version to be weak – the longevity isn’t as heavy from what I remember from the original. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a hater of this scent. I actually think it is well done and of course, many have tried to imitate it. It’s just too boring for me, and if I had not received a free sample in the mail, I don’t think I would have actively searched to try this. You have smelled this before, and you have smelled it a million times already. I am just contributing to the noise.
Look, I try to give every movie a shot. But sometimes, a bad movie is just that…bad. Kimmy Gatewood’s ‘Good on paper’ maybe sounded good on, um paper, but it’s so bad it put ne in a rotten mood afterwords. It is based on the stand up routine of Iliza Shlesinger. And I have never heard of her (but then again I don’t know much about stand up comics) I was kind of attracted to the film because I thought it was at least rom com adjacent, but it’s just a stupid story of a guy tricking a girl. Nothing else to be said, I ain’t wasting any more of my time on this.
I know it has been getting rave reviews everywhere, but call me the dissenting voice on the third season of ‘Pose.’ I just finished watching the first two episodes of this season…and I kind of don’t like it. The show has zoomed now to 1994, and it’s a year I know only too well. OJ Simpson is on the news, but it seemed to be that it’s the same old thing over at the house of Evangelistas. The shows are still going on, and Pray Tell is still front and center, and that’s not good for me. I find Billy Porter’s acting insufferable, and the situation is even worse, because Porter is out for blood – he desperately wants that Emmy and he is chewing every piece of scenery to get it. There’s no subtlety there, and for me, it is such a turn off. I don’t really know if I could stomach to watch the rest of the season.
Even though I wanted to see it, I was a little skeptical about ‘Cruella.’ I thought to myself: will it be too Disney, too commercial, too not my genre? It’s an origin movie, but I feel it will also be sleek and too shiny for me. When someone said the movie reminded them of ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ though, that was reason enough for me to want to check it out despite my reservations.
Well, i was kind of right. The film was a little too much on the action/fantasy formula for me. The story kind of bored me, as it gelt very familiar and predictable. There were some elements I liked – that little bit reminiscent of ‘All About Eve’ and, yes, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ but that part was a little on hte thin side for me and wasn’t enough to keep my over all interest.
As for the Emmas, I liked Thompson just a tiny bit more than Stone. But both characters were not three dimensional enough for me, though both actresses took the time and effort to give them depth.
All in all, the film is pretty to look at, bur just a bit too hollow for my taste.
Upon researching Louise Alexandra, I find her story fairly fascinating. She is actually Dr Louis Koopman, who does cancer research, and was groomed by Rebecca Parris. Why oh why then is her album ‘Today,’ so boring and bland? She doesn’t have the most distinctive voice, and at times pitchy, but her biggest crime is that her singing style is so boring you have forgotten about it even as you listen to it. The original compositions here that she mixes with the standards are so blah. She has some ok ideas (the message of the medlette of Nature Boy and Everything Must Change is interesting) but she lays them over forgettable arrangements, I hope she finds the cure for cancer, cause this recording ain’t cutting it.
‘Me, Myself & Di’ is a quirly British comedy. It’s very British and is somewhat ‘cute,’ and is probably saying something about class structures in the UK, but… can it just be funny instead? I know humor is subjective, but I did not never crack a smile throughout the film.
I started watching ‘Cruel Summer’ on Hulu because, I have to be honest, of Froy Guttierez, who is cute, and also allegedly the boyfriend of actor Richard Madden. But after watching the first episode, I am hooked on it. It’s a very interesting story, about three years in the life of Jeanette (Chiara Arelia) Basically, in a span of three years (separated by her birthdays by the years 1993, 1994, 1995) she gets transformed from a geeky young girl on the first year to someone with a court case by the third. There are holes to be filled in the story, but from what we can gather, she sees a classmate and her boyfriend kissing, and by the end, we see her being accused by the same girl of ‘taking over’ her life.
It’s a mystery and a drama for sure, and the cast is appealing enough and there seems to be enough layers in the story to keep me interested.
When I was last at Luckyscent, I saw this new perfume niche house called BDK Parfums. It is based in France, at the Palais Royal in Paris and I knew I just had to check it out. It must be good if it can stand along Serrge Lutens, among many prestigious brands. Apparently, the most popular of the line is Gris Charnel. Look at the copy to describe it:
Quai Saint-Bernard, near the Jardin des Plantes, the first couples arrive at the Tino-Rossi garden. As the night falls, the number of dancers increases and the bleachers fill up. Under the silver moon and the lights of the tourist barges that criss-cross the quay a few meters away, the bodies mingle to the rhythm of the music. It is then that two glances cross paths. A discreet invitation brings them to the center of the track. As if they were carried away, they dance in the heat of the night. From this hand-to-hand seduction punctuated by knowing smiles, they end up slipping away to give free flow to more carnal desires. In the early morning, the sheets give off a scent of sleepless nights, mischievous and lascivious embraces.
Doesn’t it make it sound so interesting?
It is, and it’s a well-done perfume. It’s so well-blended that no big note comes out in the beginning, although I could sense a black tea base. I think there’s some fig in the beginning but I struggle to get it. I do get a calming cardamom there, and a woodsy heart. The base is a soothing sandalwood/tonka bean blend and I sense some vanilla. But it’s not gourmandy, this scent smells like a perfume. While reading about it, I saw someone describe this as smelling like toasted almonds, and now I can’t get that out of my head. This skews more cold-weather and masculine than anything else, but maybe that’s my body chemistry as well.
I do like it a lot, and when I first sprayed loved it even more. As the day wore on, I realize I admire it more. If I were in a place where it’s mostly cold, I probably would like it more.
Amanda Holden has a good enough voice, but it is on the bland side. And it’s sad that on her album ‘Sings From My Heart,’ she chooses such an uninspired selections of songs with thankless arrangements. You have heard all these songs before sung just as well, but with more interesting takes. Just singing it won’t make a dent here. I was so bored listening tot his album I couldn’t wait to finish it. It’s such a shame because Holden seems like such a nice lady.
Luha Thoughts 