Edgar Colt

Vitor Miguel

Prisma Soulstorm

Serena

Jordan

Bruna Guedes

Husain Kothari

FRNK

Uendi Prifti

Abdul Hasib

Loughlin Sullivan

Delaney Knopp

What would you do if you could pause time on a whim, freezing everyone and everything, while you wander around, without anyone seeing or hearing anything? What a fab premise for a story.Image: Frozen time (Source.)Cher famously sang that If I Could Turn Back Time, she’d strive to change and so win back her lover. In Groundhog Day, another rewinding scenario, weatherman Phil (who wakes to Cher (and Sonny) singing “I Got You Babe” each morning), tries various silly, selfish, funny, and dangerous things, before turning to good deeds and new skills (play the piano, speak Italian, sculpt ice) to earn the affections of Rita. I asked a group of friends the opening question about pausing time. Their answers included: •	Crime-fighting superhero;•	Rob banks; •	(A third person said the first two options are not mutually exclusive)•	Switch people's hats;•	Get more work done;•	Stealer of unsecured trifles;•	Stare at people's faces longer than is socially acceptable;•	Get perfect composition, light, and focus for photography (which is itself a way of freezing time);•	Go to Africa and steal all the poachers’ ammunition;•	Work through a political hit list;•	Think of a great comeback or make minor adjustments, for good or evil;•	Get Trump’s tax returns to NYT and WashPo;•	Take selfies with celebs;•	Jump queues;•	Swap neighbours' mail so they have to meet/talk to each other;•	Try on clothes without needing the dressing room;•	Put the roulette ball on their number;•	Tie people's shoelaces together - but not prevent unrelated accidents, as “that would be playing God” (huh?).None of my friends suggested checking up on a partner, prying into personal stuff of family, friends, enemies, colleagues, or celebrities, nor cheating in quizzes or tests. Nothing sexual, either, though I expect some thought of it, and then thought better of it. One did suggest debagging (pulling down the trousers) of an obnoxious colleague, but that was for revenge, rather than titillation.My favourite was: “Squish everyone’s faces into smiles, on the underground / subway. When time re-started they’d all be smiling at each other.”If only this book had a dash of such creativity, humour, and compassion. Even the political hit list is arguably better than what unfolds.Why DNF? (= Did Not Finish)This is supposedly comical literary erotica. It also has Baker’s trademark, almost pathological, attention to tiny details of movement, touch, and texture. (See my review of The Mezzanine, HERE.)Arno Strine doesn’t want to use his power for riches, revenge, love, nor even sex, and has no aspirations to do good. He flicks into what he calls the Fermata or Fold to undress women with more than his eyes, and touch them intimately. Yes, you read that right - or maybe I should say wrong. Very wrong. He figures that as they don’t know, there’s no harm in it.I kept going for a third of it (95 pages - hence no rating), in the hope of finding the promised humour or eroticism, or just to see Arno develop as a character. Also, I had been told there was a twist, and I’ve enjoyed other books by Baker, including the very sexual Vox (see my review HERE). I’m not a prude. I understand the temptation to use such an ability for smutty ends, but to do it so invasively, for more than twenty years, without any real reflection, let alone remorse… Nope. I hope karma eventually whacks Arno like a ten ton truck, but I don’t want to continue reading. Yes, it was published a generation ago, before #MeToo, and yes, Arno occasionally has a few thoughts about boundaries, but it’s just too horrid and repetitive. Even when he puts sex toys in unexpected places it’s more creepy than funny.ConsentConsent should be freely given, unambiguous, keen, and continuous. Maybe Arno eventually learns that, but in case he doesn’t, may I offer you a cup of tea? My effort and expectations, the quality of my tea and crockery, and your past enjoyment of tea are no guarantee you want a cup with me right now - even if you warmly accepted my invitation. If I want tea and you don’t, I can always have some by myself later - as could you if I withdraw my invitation.Image: “But you wanted tea last night” (Source, Buzzfeed article.)Animation of the cup of tea analogy, 2.5 minutes, HERE.It’s a bit simplistic: in particular, it ignores cultural expectations and other unequal power dynamics that might make someone say they consent, when they don’t really. Nevertheless, it’s a useful starting point to explore the subject. Film adaptation?!I was amazed to see that imdb lists a 2015 film, with a cast of four and running time of 66 minutes. However, there are no release details, nor a single rating. Maybe it never happened. A film in the 1990s (the book was published in 1994), perhaps, but in the twenty-teens? Surely not. I hope not.What would I do?If I could pause time, I’d regain what I wasted on this and use it to read something better. Then I’d squish some faces, switch some hats, and restart time. (I’m not going to admit to anything else here!)

Mortal Kombat returns to consoles after a long hiatus featuring a return to the gruesome fatalities....

After his death sometime in his 43rd year, suburbanite Lester Burnham tells of the last few weeks of his life, during which he had no idea of his imminent passing. He is a husband to real estate agent Carolyn Burnham and father to high school student Jane Burnham. Although Lester and Carolyn once loved each other, they now merely tolerate each other. Typical wallflower Jane also hates both her parents; the three suffer individually in silence in their home life. Jane tries to steer clear of both her parents. Carolyn, relatively new to the real estate business, wants to create the persona of success to further her career, aspiring to the professional life of Buddy Kane, the king of the real estate business in their neighborhood. Lester merely walks mindlessly through life, including at his job in advertising. His company is downsizing, and he, like all the other employees, has to justify his position to the newly hired efficiency expert to keep his job. Things change for Lester when he falls in love at first sight with Jane's more experienced classmate, Angela Hayes. Both Janie and Angela can see Lester's sexual infatuation with Angela, who courts such attention from any man as a sign that she is model material, she having once appeared in Seventeen and is a career to which she aspires. Lester's infatuation with Angela gives him a reenergized view on life, where he openly doesn't care anymore what anyone thinks about what he does, anyone except Angela. This infatuation coincides with the Fittses moving in next door: homophobic disciplinarian US Marine Colonel Frank Fitts who rules the house with a military fist (that fist being both figurative and literal), his semi-comatose wife Barbara Fitts, and their bright and quietly subversive 18-year-old son Ricky Fitts, who openly abides by his father's rules while behind the scenes lives by his own quite different perspective. Much like Lester's infatuation, Ricky immediately becomes infatuated with Jane; he considers girls like Angela as ordinary. The entry of Angela and the Fittses into the Burnhams' lives ultimately leads to each of the players confronting what is truly in his or her heart.

A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.

In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss (

2007 film directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

On New Year's Eve, Wilson, a twenty-nine-year old guy has just had the worst year of his life. He emigrated to Los Angeles, has no date, no concrete plans and every intention of locking the doors and forgetting the last year ever happened. That is until his best friend, Jacob, browbeats him into posting a personal ad on Craig's List. When Vivian, a strong-willed woman hell bent on being with the right guy at the stroke of midnight responds, a chaotic, sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching journey through the black and white streets of L.A. begins. In the waning hours of the year, emotional vulnerability and bitterly honest humor seem to be waiting around every corner.

Ben Willis is an art student who works the night shift several times a week at the Whitechapel Sainsbury's. He's clear about the arrangement: he trades his time for money - cashback, as he calls it. We meet his co-workers, Sharon, Barry, and Matt, and their supervisor, Jenkins. Ben's colleagues are good at wasting time, but Ben talks to us about how he makes his shift go faster: by imagining that time has stopped. We see this late-night world of drudgery through Ben's eyes, as time does indeed stop, and he can get out his sketch book.

Marcin, a young man wants to kill a couple, for reasons unknown. When he arrives at their address he ends up meeting their daughter Ola instead. He heads out for the night, continues to keep an eye on her, insinuates himself into her party plans, and eventually makes a connection with her that allows him to ingratiate himself with her parents the next day. None of the fun, however, detracts him from his initial plan.

Bruno Stroszek is released from prison and warned to stop drinking. He has few skills and fewer expectations: with a glockenspiel and an accordion, he ekes out a living as a street musician. He befriends Eva, a prostitute down on her luck. After they are harried and beaten by the thugs who have been Eva's pimps, they join Bruno's neighbor, Scheitz, an elderly eccentric, when he leaves Germany to live in Wisconsin. In that winter bound, barren prairie, Bruno works as a mechanic, Eva as a waitress. They buy a trailer. Then, bills mount, the bank threatens to repossess the trailer, Eva wants privacy, and inexorably, the promise of a new life deserts Bruno.

A love story set in a dystopian near future where single people are arrested and transferred to a creepy hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal and released into the woods.

Set in the roaring 20s of Berlin. Hans, an old discouraged dancer, befriends with a poor kid from the streets. To flee from poverty and loneliness they teach each other a vaudeville act to have some excitement in their lives. With the power of dancing, fantasy and friendship they escape the upcoming war into a world without poverty, hunger and loneliness.

The curious, adventure-seeking, fourth grade group of 10 year old boys, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny, all join in in buffoonish adventures that sometimes evolve nothing. Sometimes something that was simple at the start, turns out to get out of control. Everything is odd in the small mountain town, South Park, and the boys always find something to do with it.

Sick, twisted and politically incorrect, the animated series features the adventures of the Griffin family. Endearingly ignorant Peter and his stay-at-home wife Lois reside in Quahog, R.I., and have three kids. Meg, the eldest child, is a social outcast, and teenage Chris is awkward and clueless when it comes to the opposite sex. The youngest, Stewie, is a genius baby bent on killing his mother and destroying the world. The talking dog, Brian, keeps Stewie in check while sipping martinis and sorting through his own life issues.

A well-meaning but struggling writer decides to lead a sort of double life by pretending to be a private detective using the methods he read about in old detective novels.

In the mythical continent of Westeros, several powerful families fight for control of the Seven Kingdoms. As conflict erupts in the kingdoms of men, an ancient enemy rises once again to threaten them all. Meanwhile, the last heirs of a recently usurped dynasty plot to take back their homeland from across the Narrow Sea.

An animated series on adult-swim about the infinite adventures of Rick, a genius alcoholic and careless scientist, with his grandson Morty, a 14 year-old anxious boy who is not so smart. Together, they explore the infinite universes; causing mayhem and running into trouble.

After starring in the popular sitcom "Horsin' Around" in the late 80s and early 90s, BoJack Horseman struggles with his deteriorating popularity, depression, addiction, and maintaining the relationships with those he cares about, but can't seem to stop hurting, all while living in the satirical, pun-filled city of Hollywood, California.

Jan Juliusz

Jeff, the most average person in the world and is trying to live his average life despite frequent interference from his three alien roommates. These aliens are on earth to judge Jeff, and by proxy the entire population of Earth. While they are only there to judge, the aliens interfere in his life and try to aid him constantly, thus throwing his life into chaos and tainting their own research.

Final Space is an epic animated sci-fi comedy about a spaceman named Gary who is working off a prison sentence and makes a mysterious new alien friend, Mooncake, that he immediately bonds with. But what Gary doesn't know is that his adorable new sidekick is actually wanted by the sinister Lord Commander who will stop at nothing to use Mooncake's untapped powers for evil.

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