Search

Search only in certain items:

The Punisher - Season 1
The Punisher - Season 1
2017 | Action
Jon Bernthal (1 more)
Tackles some very timely subjects
SO GOOD!
Contains spoilers, click to show
Once you get through the violence, this show hit home for me having so much military in my family and close friends.

It looks at some subjects that are for me very hard to watch. Soldiers come home from war and try to fit back into society. Fighting PTSD and the realization that society might not have a place for him, ex-Army soldier Lewis acts out in a violent and horrific way to get the public's attention in an attempt to get the world to see the way he sees. It was really hard to watch Lewis's transformation from a confused, out-of-place ex-soldier to a violent terrorist in his death.


Add to this the gravitas that Jon Bernthal adds to the role of Frank Castle and you have a very deep and almost sympathetic show. You just need to get past the sheer violence.
  
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
2017 | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and an army of all-star voices do justice to animated landmark – even if some magic is M.I.A.
Critic Review By Peter Travers - Rollingstone.com

Read the full review: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-beauty-and-the-beast-movie-review-w471990

Except:

What Beauty and the Beast rises or falls on is the love story, and here, allowed to slow down to let in intimate moments, the movie catches fire. Hobbled by a motion capture process that forced him to walk on stilts and wear a huge muscle suit covered in Lycra, Stevens goes beyond the call of family-musical duty to give us a flawed human being instead of a special effect; his is a Beast worth saving. Those are his eyes gazing down with passion at Watson's Beauty, his voice choked with genuine ardor. And suddenly, in a movie built on the bones of what preceded it, there is something there that wasn't there before. I'd call that an exhilarating gift.
  
I received this book as a free gift from Harlequin, but I liked the cover, so it did not take me long to get around to reading it. Normally, I find Harlequin romances formulaic in format and rather predictable. This book was a bit better than most, maybe because this is the second book that I have read by RaeAnne Thayne.
I found the situation that put a Hollywood socialite at the mercy of a random cowboy / army major to be a little unbelievable, but once the plot moved past the initial stages, I liked the chemistry between Mimi Van Hoyt and Brant Western. The two characters were in many ways complete opposites, but they still complemented each other. It was hugely ironic that Mimi became homemaker to Brant's place -- nesting syndrome was kicking in early. I also did not expect the period of separation, though it fit with Brant's military duties.
This book was a sweet, quick read that made me smile.
  
Monstrous Regiment: (Discworld Novel 31)
Monstrous Regiment: (Discworld Novel 31)
Terry Pratchett | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
It’s All In the Trousers
Contains spoilers, click to show
Polly Perks leaves home to join the army, to look for her brother. Naturally, as it’s a male dominated institution, she has to disguise herself. The short hair cut is easy, it’s the learning to belch, fart and swagger like an ape that takes time. Plus a well placed pair of rolled up socks in a strategic position makes all the difference.

She’s off to fight for her country Borogravia, a country that picks wars with other countries almost as often as a small child picks its nose.

Polly (or Ozzer as she becomes known) joins a raggedy band which becomes known as the Monstrous Regiment, lead by the legendary Sergeant Jackrum. A troupe consisting of a troll, a vampire, an Igor, and others. All with a big secret.

Although part of the Discworld novels, this can be read as a stand-alone novel. a thoroughly enjoyable read, which brings in some old Discworld characters we know and love.
  
R(
Resurrectionist (Matthew Hawkwood, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The sequel to 2006's <i>Ratcatcher</i>, <i>Resurrectionist</i> again follows the exploits of Matthew Hawkwood: a former army officer now working as a Bow Street Runner.

While <i>Ratcatcher</i>, in many respects, was a straight-forward action/adventure set in Regency London, this novel is more of a mystery/crime novel. This time, Captain Hawkwood is on the trail of body-snatchers - colloquially known as 'Resurrection men' - and of an escaped convict from Bedlam Hospital. Initially believing the two cases to be distinct, this later proves to be far from the case ...

Body-snatching was - and is - a pretty gruesome business, and McGee doesn't shy away from the full import of what the grave-diggers were involved in, with some of the scenes described not for the squeamish! Similarly, the early years of medical science are also touched upon - again, some of those scenes are not for the squeamish.
  
Billed as 'The Sharpe of the Civil War' (ever notice how these types of novels always use that character as their benchmark?), it's easy to see the influence of Cornwell's most famous creation on this novel, which (according to the author) is the first in a planned series of 10 books set during the English Civil War.

 This is told from the POV of a soldier in the (doomed) Royalist army: a soldier who has a history with some in authority (like Sharpe and Wellesley), and who is chosen to go behind the enemy lines on a top secret mission (again, like Sharpe), with the beginning and end of the novel taking place during one of the battles of that war (yet again, just like a Sharpe novel ...). Enjoyable enough, and gets off to a strong start, but is just not as polished as one of Cornwells books. Still, an impressive effort for a debut novel, and I may pick up more of the sequels ...