![]() ![]() The Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean series each have multiple entries, in the years before the franchises were run into the ground. It’s a compelling window into our era of blockbusters and inflation. Now we’ve compiled all of the movies that have achieved just that and ranked them by Tomatometer. And, of course, you’ll need an audience willing to turn out in droves the world over, from America to Lebanon to Zambia. Cracking a billion dollars globally requires a mighty recipe of the hottest stars, the shiniest filmmaking technology, and an engaging plot with twists and turns that never becomes super-duper complicated. A movie making that minimum seven figures isn’t cool, it’s a box office bomb. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”Īnd in this town, it’s true. We heard it in a Hollywood movie once: “A million dollars isn’t cool. (Photo by Warner Bros./ courtesy Everett Collection) All 52 Billion-Dollar Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() Nesta’s journey throughout Court of Silver Flames is about her own self-acceptance and healing, and by the end of the novel, she’s in a place where she’s admitted her feelings for Cassian, reconciled with her sister, and made her peace with all the choices she’s made. But though those are all things that feel like they will naturally carry over to the as-yet-untitled sixth book in the series, there’s no hint that the next novel will feature Nesta as its primary protagonist.Īnd the thing is, it doesn’t feel like it really needs to. ![]() Sure, it introduces a new villain for Rhys, Feyre, and the Night Court, and the looming threat of another war they may or may not be able to win. ![]() This is also a novel that feels fully formed, a complete story in and of itself. The result is more a complex character study of one of the series’ most prickly and difficult characters – Nesta Archeron – and less a sweeping fantasy adventure than some of the series’ previous efforts. Maas’ bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series to the next level, introducing darker, more uncomfortable emotional themes and a lot of extremely explicit sex. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The story would come to define her life-even though these days she would rather discuss just about anything else. More than half a century ago, Susie Hinton (soon to be known by her gender-neutral pen name) was a student at Will Rogers, where she received a D in creative writing because class assignments were nowhere near as important to her as working out the plot and characters of The Outsiders. “It’s been a long time, so I was kind of looking around … and a woman came up and asked me, ‘Is this your first time inside the school?’ I said, ‘No, not really.’” “It was funny when I first came into the building,” she said near the end of a phone conversation last Halloween, a week and a half after her appearance with Macchio. Prior to the event, Hinton was quietly going about her business, wandering the school’s halls absent-mindedly. Hinton, the writer whose teenage words would forever be emblematic of young adult literature and whose most famous creation, The Outsiders, helped launch Macchio’s career some 40 years earlier. Hosted by Magic City Books, the live conversation in the Art Deco auditorium at Will Rogers High School featured another pop culture icon: S.E. ![]() Ralph Macchio (most recently of “ Cobra Kai” fame) was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to promote his memoir, Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me. ![]() In late October 2022, a big-time streaming star returned to the city where it all began for him. ![]() ![]() ![]() Soft in the Middle is such a beautiful book about growth and self-love. Gemini – soft in the middle by shelby eileen | gentle, affectionate, indecisive This is why it is perfect for the devoted and reliable Taurus. It has become a favorite that I go back to over and over again. The first time I read The Chaos of Longing, I felt an ache in my chest. Her words, for me, are the epitome of courageousness. Recently I listened to Nikita Gill’s IGTV videos and felt a renewed sense of confidence. ![]() aries – wild embers by nikita gill | courageous, confident, determined This is exactly why I paired my favorite poetry collections with each star sign. Whether or not you believe in astrology, it is still incredibly fascinating to read what traits you can attribute to your zodiac sign. This has been my before-work regimen for a few months now, and nothing has seemed to kick off each day better than reading what the stars have in store for me. Morning routine: shower, coffee, horoscope. ![]() ![]() But to the rarest of readers we say, "Proceed, but cautiously. A librarian, bookseller, or acquaintance should be able to suggest books more appropriate for your fragile temperament. It is likely that your answers will reveal A Series of Unfortunate Events to be ill-suited for your personal use. No refunds.Īre you made fainthearted by death? Does fire unnerve you? Is a villain something that might crop up in future nightmares of yours? Are you thrilled by nefarious plots? Is cold porridge upsetting to you? Vicious threats? Hooks? Uncomfortable clothing? Writing activity: Write your own idiomsĪll products are digital and downloadable. ![]() Notes about punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, and literary elements In January 2022, Randi Schofield was a 34-year-old single mother who, not long before, left her full-time job of eight years as a personal bailiff to a local judge. BOOK the First THE BAD BEGINNING by LEMONY SNICKET Illustrations by Brett Helquist Dear Reader, I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant.4 Passages (one per week) for copywork/dictation.This guide contains the following features: It’s geared toward children ages 8-11 and is an indispensable tool for parents who want to teach language arts in a natural, literature-bathed context. ![]() ![]() The Arrow is the monthly digital product that features copywork and dictation passages from a specific read aloud novel (you purchase or obtain the novels yourself). ![]() ![]() Montresor takes advantage of Fortunato's intoxication to lead him into a small chamber, where he has already prepared chains and a trowel. Fortunato, already drunk, becomes increasingly unsteady as they descend deeper into the vaults. Fortunato, who is known for his love of wine, eagerly agrees to accompany Montresor to his underground vaults to sample the wine.Īs they make their way through the catacombs, Montresor begins to ply Fortunato with wine, urging him to drink more. He meets Fortunato at a carnival and tells him that he has acquired a cask of rare Amontillado wine and needs his expertise to determine its authenticity. Montresor begins by describing how he has been wronged by Fortunato and expresses his desire for revenge. The story takes place in an unnamed European city, during the carnival season, and follows the narrator, Montresor, as he seeks revenge on his acquaintance, Fortunato. ![]() ![]() "The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1846. ![]() ![]() ![]() Her characters are almost never carefree jet-setters. Mandel favours settings in which travel and improbable meetings are inherent: hotels, bars, cargo ships. ![]() Mandel is going places, even though she specializes in stories about characters who can’t be sure where they’re going. Her characters’ rootlessness is a central feature of her six novels, including the 2014 bestseller Station Eleven and 2020′s The Glass Hotel, which found its way onto Barack Obama’s year-end reading list and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. John Mandel novel does: with a kind of free-floating bemusement she wears lightly but can’t shake. She was relating to her surroundings, in other words, much as a character in an Emily St. So I’m the non-driving person with a UV-resistant sun umbrella walking down the street. She doesn’t really fit, she told me on a Zoom call. Still, this latest visit to the city was by far the longest of her life. ![]() As a teenager in the 1990s she used to stay with him in his hometown and make day trips into Los Angeles. Mandel was raised on Vancouver Island and in the British Columbia Gulf Islands, but her father was Californian, a plumber from Ventura County. John Mandel, she and her family were on an extended working visit to Los Angeles. ![]() ![]() I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat. No one knows how much he risked for me. ![]() I also saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside-so much like my own. ![]() Entwined with You From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity. We were bound by our need. It was too hard, too painful.except when it was perfect. He was my addiction.my every desire.mine. My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. and desires. The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds. ![]() I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily.Gideon knew. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. Bared to You He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. Together in one deluxe box set, the first four novels in the Crossfire series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mehmet urges his troops on by reminding them of the three days of looting they will be allowed should they capture the city, and he inspires his commanders not only with the promise of booty, but also by stressing their sacred duty as Muslims to vanquish this famous Christian capital.Īnd indeed, once Constantinople is taken, the story of the city becomes one of plunder and depredation. The Byzantine emperor Constantine Palaiologos tells his soldiers that a man should always be prepared to die for his faith or country, his family or sovereign but now, he says, we are being asked to give up our lives for all four while Mehmet’s words to his forces are in stark contrast to the heroism and dignity of the Greek emperor. ![]() The speeches made by the Greek and Turkish leaders on the eve of the decisive assault reveal what the two sides believed they were fighting for. Warlord, Sultan Mehmet, frustrated by the resistance of the Greeks, ignoring the advice of some of his commanders to lift the siege and avert further humiliation, decided to make one, final overwhelming attack to take the city. ![]() ![]() ![]() Everything was rewritten when he was up in the air". He was inside and outside his body at the same time, indulging in what it meant to belong to the air, no future, no past, and this gave him the offhand vaunt to walk. Or, at Colum McCann so elegantly encapsulates this event in his wonderful new novel, "Within seconds he was pureness moving, and he could do anything he liked. This was a dance with death that was also pure acrobatic art. Which is why, in August 1974, when a French acrobat with the nom juste of Philippe Petit stepped out on to a cable stretched between the two towers of Manhattan's World Trade Centre, the nation was gobsmacked. Whether it be the kid who wins eight gold medals in an Olympic swimming pool, or that neo-fascist who survived the first solo transatlantic flight, or that "one small step for mankind" moment on our lunar sphere, Americans love saluting anyone who, so to speak, defies gravity. Being a country which promotes the cult of rugged individualism alongside a corporate ethic which so profoundly encourages conformism, the United States has always exulted in acts of derring-do which astound and confound. One of the great intriguing truisms about American life is the way that, for all our inherent social conservatism, we are still always dazzled by anyone who engages in a high-wire act. ![]() |