Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2334 KP) rated Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow! in Books
Dec 23, 2023 (Updated Dec 23, 2023)
Yes, this is a Christmas entry in the series. While it may not quite seem like it from the teaser, we still get plenty of Christmas spirit on these pages, and I enjoyed some of the twists the set up brought us. It helps that we see many of the regular characters, and they are charming as always. I did find one of the other contestants to be very one dimensional. I get we weren’t supposed to like the guy, but did he have to be that much of a cliché? There is plenty going on to keep us reading, including set up, before the body drops, and I was never bored. However, the climax was weaker than it could have been, even though all our questions are answered. No matter when you read this entry, you’ll enjoy another Christmas with Meg.
Pasha: My Story
Pasha Kovalev and Natasha Devon
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Pasha's talent and determination has taken him to some amazing places all around the world including...
Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art
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From the best-selling author of Fosse, a sweeping yet intimate—and often hilarious—history of a...
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Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day
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In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details,...
RHS Chelsea Flower Show: The First 100 Years, 1913-2013
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2013 saw the publication of the best-selling RHS Chelsea Flower Show: a Centenary Celebration. This...
Russian Revolutionary Posters
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Russian Revolutionary Posters tells the story of the development of the Soviet poster, from the...
Slayaway Camp
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“A killer puzzle! 5/5 stars” - Touch Arcade Become Skullface, a psycho slasher bent on...
The Warren Buffett Philosophy of Investment: How a Combination of Value Investing and Smart Acquisitions Drives Extraordinary Success
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See the world's number 1 investor like never before - and learn how you can replicate his success....
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) in Movies
Oct 3, 2017
The first movie was released with no hype behind it and for most people was a pleasant surprise. This film has a lot more to live up to and unfortunately it doesn't quite get there. Although the movie does feel like a sequel, it's not the worst sequel I've ever seen and it's not the worst sequel released this year.
Julianne Moore plays the antagonist in the movie and whilst her motivations for what she was doing were questionable, you could tell she was having fun with the character and it was a fun performance to watch. The action scenes were as fast paced and as fun as you would want them to be and although they do feel cartoony, there are a few crazy set pieces that you can’t help but grin at.
This movie also introduces the Statesman, an American version of the Kingsman who work out of a whisky factory rather than a tailor’s shop. Jeff Bridges and Halle Berry don’t get much screen time, which is fine, but Channing Tatum is hardly in the movie at all, despite appearing on a lot of the marketing for the film. I think he is onscreen in Hateful Eight for longer than he is in this.
Ok, spoiler time. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t read on past this point. I mean if you have seen any of the trailers for the movie then you already know that they have brought Colin Firth back from the dead.
The explanation for this is sort of anti-climactic. Essentially, The Statesman have came up with a cure to gunshot wounds to the head and any other fatal wound that you may sustain, the process involves wrapping the wound in a gel strip and then inflating it with two syringes. Sure, you can argue this is a heightened reality where crazy stuff like this is entirely possible, but my problem with it, is that it immediately lowers all of the stakes. If anyone can be brought back from the dead, then how is there any peril left for the characters in the franchise?
After this whole revelation, they kill off Merlin, the character played by Mark Strong. His death is really pathetic and something that could have easily been avoided. Eggsy accidentally steps on a landmine, (even though they specifically point out that they are using a minesweeper,) then Merlin sprays the mine with a freeze gel so that Eggsy can step off of the mine and Merlin takes his place, then he distracts some guards and gets blown up. What I’m left wondering is the limit of what can be fixed with the regeneration strip. Surely if a bullet to the head can be walked off, then getting blown up by a landmine is fair game? Could they not have tried piecing him together like a jigsaw a wrapping him in the magic gel strips? I guess they could bring him back in the next movie and I’m sure if they do, we will know when the first trailer for Kingsman 3 is released.
Overall this isn’t a bad movie, it’s just disappointing. There are some entertaining action scenes, but rubbish dialogue and ridiculous plot elements make this inferior to the first Kingsman movie and pretty mediocre overall.
Ted Buxton: My Life in Football
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As a professional football coach and football scout, Edward 'Ted' Buxton is well-known in the world...