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David McK (3496 KP) rated The Rocketeer (1991) in Movies

Sep 21, 2020  
The Rocketeer (1991)
The Rocketeer (1991)
1991 | Action, Drama, Family
6
6.9 (14 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
I remember having an old game, back in the day (late 80s) in the Amiga: Rocket Ranger.

The reason I mention that?

Because it very well could have acted as inspiration for this 1991 film.

(edit: I've just discovered it's actually based on a lesser known graphic novel of the same name! Presumably so is Rocket Ranger ...)

Released in the wake of Batman, and a good couple of decades before the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), this stars a post-Bond Timothy Dalton on villain duty, with Bill Campbell taking on the role of Cliff Secord (who becomes The Rocketeer) and Jennifer Connolly as his love interest.

Set in 1938, this - apparently, like the comics - takes inspiration from the pulp serials of old, with director Joe Johnston bringing the same verisimilitude to the setting as he would his (much) later "Captain America: The First Avenger". Unfortunately, the film is a bit too po-faced for its own good - missing the wryness of, say, an Indiana Jones - an suffered somewhat from an unfortunate release window, sandwiched right between "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day".
  
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ClareR (5784 KP) rated The Sealwoman's Gift in Books

Apr 29, 2019  
The Sealwoman's Gift
The Sealwoman's Gift
Sally Magnusson | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is set in 17th century Iceland, and based on the true story of the kidnapping and enslavement of 250 Icelanders in Algiers.
We follow a Pastors family, Olafur and his wife Asta, as they and their family are kidnapped by corsairs and pirates, and sold off separately to their owners. Olafur is sent back to Denmark to seek a ransom, but he fails. So we follow the life of Asta, how she lives and adapts in the house of Cilleby, and how she copes with the loss of her children and husband.
The Icelandic Sagas are Asta’s Means of escape and comfort, and in telling them she gets Cilleby onside and makes her own life more comfortable. She refuses to give up her Lutheran belief, and believes that she will be reunited with her family - at least in death - because of this.
This was such a touching novel, and the narrator (I listened on Audible) really did the story justice.
  
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David McK (3496 KP) rated The Hunt for Red October (1990) in Movies

Mar 22, 2022  
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
1990 | Action, Mystery
4
7.9 (18 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
This was one of those movies (which is now over 30 years old!) that I knew about, but had just never gotten around to watching before.

I have now and, honestly? It's not that great.

Based on a Tom Clancy novel of the same name (one of his Jack Ryan novels) and starring both Alec Baldwin (as Ryan) and Sean Connery (as the Soviet submarine commander Marko Ramius), this purports to be a thriller about, well, The Hunt for Red October (it's in the title, folks!), a new state of the art Soviet sub that is virtually undetectable and in which Ramius is in charge, with his motivations somewhat murky: is he defecting (it's set during the Cold War)? Is he preparing to launch a strike on the US mainland? Why is a Scot pretending to be Russian??

I have to say, I did find it somewhat slow and ponderous, lacking any real threat or even any means of engaging the viewers interest!
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Sep 28, 2020  
Sneak a peek at the Middle Grade historical fiction novel THE DIARY OF ASSER LEVY: FIRST JEWISH CITIZEN OF NEW YORK by Daniela Weil, and read the titular character's top ten list on my blog! Enter the GIVEAWAY to win a SIGNED hardcover copy of the book!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/09/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-diary-of.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
For twenty-four years the Dutch colony of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil was a safe haven for Jews who had escaped the Inquisition in Europe. Recife, its capital, was known as “Colonial Jerusalem,” and it was from this religiously tolerant town that Asser Levy tells his story. When the Portuguese recaptured the territory in 1654, they brought the Inquisition and its torments with them, forcing Asser and his family and friends to flee to Holland. About fifteen ships arrive safely in Holland; Asser’s ship does not.

Through imagined diary entries based on real events, Asser tells the harrowing story of the Jewish refugees who arrived on the island of Manhattan and of some of the first court battles fought to allow religious freedom in America.