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Lindsay (1693 KP) rated Upper West Side Story in Books
Aug 30, 2018 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)
Have you ever read a book about justice that going on in your world that important to all. You thought it was dealt with in a movement that happens 50 years.
You see it still going on today. Well, a book called "Upper West Side Story", bring it to light and questions if our race is still an uphill battle among us. I got this feeling while I was reading the story. We meet a mother who will do anything to protect her son. This story really turns out to be a well written about a boy who is white and a friend with a black boy. We learn about friendships. Matt and Curtis are best friends. Everything changes after a freak accident.
The real issues come out during this time. It affects the whole family but mostly Matt. Viola losses everything but does the community realize that Matt is a child of Viola as well as Curtis is to Bettina. It happens during a time when they were fooling around or goofing around. Racial issues and political issues arise will they overcome or will the charges damaged all including the boy and his family.
You see it still going on today. Well, a book called "Upper West Side Story", bring it to light and questions if our race is still an uphill battle among us. I got this feeling while I was reading the story. We meet a mother who will do anything to protect her son. This story really turns out to be a well written about a boy who is white and a friend with a black boy. We learn about friendships. Matt and Curtis are best friends. Everything changes after a freak accident.
The real issues come out during this time. It affects the whole family but mostly Matt. Viola losses everything but does the community realize that Matt is a child of Viola as well as Curtis is to Bettina. It happens during a time when they were fooling around or goofing around. Racial issues and political issues arise will they overcome or will the charges damaged all including the boy and his family.
Lindsay (1693 KP) rated Upper West Side Story in Books
Feb 15, 2018
Upper West Side Story by Susan Pashman Have you ever read a book about justice that going on in your world that important to all. You thought it was dealt with in a movement that happens 50 years.
You see it still going on today. Well, a book called "Upper West Side Story", bring it to light and questions if our race is still an uphill battle among us. I got this feeling while I was reading the story. We meet a mother who will do anything to protect her son. This story really turns out to be a well written about a boy who is white and a friend with a black boy. We learn about friendships. Matt and Curtis are best friends. Everything changes after a freak accident.
The real issues come out during this time. It affects the whole family but mostly Matt. Viola losses everything but does the community realize that Matt is a child of Viola as well as Curtis is to Bettina. It happens during a time when they were fooling around or goofing around. Racial issues and political issues arise will they overcome or will the charges damaged all including the boy and his family.
You see it still going on today. Well, a book called "Upper West Side Story", bring it to light and questions if our race is still an uphill battle among us. I got this feeling while I was reading the story. We meet a mother who will do anything to protect her son. This story really turns out to be a well written about a boy who is white and a friend with a black boy. We learn about friendships. Matt and Curtis are best friends. Everything changes after a freak accident.
The real issues come out during this time. It affects the whole family but mostly Matt. Viola losses everything but does the community realize that Matt is a child of Viola as well as Curtis is to Bettina. It happens during a time when they were fooling around or goofing around. Racial issues and political issues arise will they overcome or will the charges damaged all including the boy and his family.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2067 KP) rated Irish Milkshake Murder in Books
Jan 4, 2024 (Updated Jan 4, 2024)
Three Tales of Unlucky Milkshakes
Get ready for murder and mayhem around St. Patrick’s Day with these three fun novellas. Up first, we get “Irish Milkshake Murder” from Carlene O’Connor, which finds Tara Meehan and Danny O’Donnell’s pre-wedding party running into a storm that traps them on an island with a killer. Next up, Peggy Ehrhart takes us to New Jersey in “Murder Most Irish.” Her series characters Pamela Paterson and Bettina Fraser are on hand when a man collapses in his lunch at a local diner. But was it murder? Finally, we travel to the north pole with Liz Ireland’s “Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun.” Spring is iceball season at the North Pole, but late after a game one night, the injured star of the local team is attacked. Can Mrs. Claus figure out who did it and why?
Since this is a novella collection, all three of these stories are fast reads. But the authors still pack in plenty of twists. They also do a good job of introducing their characters and the worlds they inhabit, so it is easy to jump in if you aren’t familiar with them. The St. Patrick’s Day theme is strong in each story as well. This is a book you’ll be happy to pull out in March and enjoy with your favorite minty milkshake. Who knows, you might even find a new series to read.
Since this is a novella collection, all three of these stories are fast reads. But the authors still pack in plenty of twists. They also do a good job of introducing their characters and the worlds they inhabit, so it is easy to jump in if you aren’t familiar with them. The St. Patrick’s Day theme is strong in each story as well. This is a book you’ll be happy to pull out in March and enjoy with your favorite minty milkshake. Who knows, you might even find a new series to read.
Merissa (11646 KP) rated Changeling (Outcast Mates #2) in Books
Feb 22, 2022 (Updated Jul 3, 2023)
My wish came true! Mongrel is now the first book in the Outcast Mates series, with CHANGELING being the second. You have no idea how happy this made me!!!
AND we get to hear a little snapshot of Andras and Bowie, as well as hearing how Bettina is getting on with Erzsébet. I loved Andras and Bowie, and I love Sebastian and Dominus just as much.
So, quick recap, Sebastian thought he was human but was actually fae. Dominus is an incubus, cursed by the fae. So should be easy, right? Of course not!
Sebastian is floundering in this unknown world but is travelling to somewhere he has been told he will be made to feel welcome, for the small payment of some of his blood. During his travels, he is taken to Dominus' brothel where the attraction is instant. All that changes though once Dominus realises he is fae. What follows is another slow-burn romance that is both sweet and steamy. The relationship develops between Seb and Dom over time. Yes, there is insta-lust, but that isn't everything!
I am so happy Ms Colgin returned to this world. Not only are the characters delightful and loveable, but the world-building is second to none. I love the history side of things and the way she develops the story. No 'wham, bam, thank you, ma'am' here!
I adored Dominus when we met him in Mongrel but I wasn't sure I'd like him as much as Andras and Bowie. Well, I do. Simple as that. But who next? I want Leonas, Ivaz, Sachi, and Annais... do I need to continue? I could return to this world every day and be happy. That is how brilliant it is.
So, that being said, do I recommend it? Ah, go on then. If I must... 😆 Seriously though, read Mongrel and then read Changeling. They're both fantastic and I can't wait for more!!!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 22, 2022
AND we get to hear a little snapshot of Andras and Bowie, as well as hearing how Bettina is getting on with Erzsébet. I loved Andras and Bowie, and I love Sebastian and Dominus just as much.
So, quick recap, Sebastian thought he was human but was actually fae. Dominus is an incubus, cursed by the fae. So should be easy, right? Of course not!
Sebastian is floundering in this unknown world but is travelling to somewhere he has been told he will be made to feel welcome, for the small payment of some of his blood. During his travels, he is taken to Dominus' brothel where the attraction is instant. All that changes though once Dominus realises he is fae. What follows is another slow-burn romance that is both sweet and steamy. The relationship develops between Seb and Dom over time. Yes, there is insta-lust, but that isn't everything!
I am so happy Ms Colgin returned to this world. Not only are the characters delightful and loveable, but the world-building is second to none. I love the history side of things and the way she develops the story. No 'wham, bam, thank you, ma'am' here!
I adored Dominus when we met him in Mongrel but I wasn't sure I'd like him as much as Andras and Bowie. Well, I do. Simple as that. But who next? I want Leonas, Ivaz, Sachi, and Annais... do I need to continue? I could return to this world every day and be happy. That is how brilliant it is.
So, that being said, do I recommend it? Ah, go on then. If I must... 😆 Seriously though, read Mongrel and then read Changeling. They're both fantastic and I can't wait for more!!!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 22, 2022
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Six Minutes to Midnight (2021) in Movies
Apr 4, 2021 (Updated Apr 4, 2021)
Historical story (Potential for a great film) (1 more)
Judi Dench
B-grade spy caper antics (1 more)
Some ridiculous plot-points
A "39 Steps-esque" thriller that doesn't match its potential
In "Six Minutes to Midnight", it's the summer of 1939 (so we are in a parallel time-flow here with the events of "The Dig"). A private girl's school - the Augusta Victoria College in Bexhill-on-Sea - is run with loving care by the spinster Miss Rocholl (Judi Dench). But the 'finishing school' is unusual, in that all its teenage students are German. Indeed, they are the offspring of prominent Nazis.
When half-German English teacher Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) applies for a suddenly vacant position, he is taken on to share the teaching duties with Rocholl and Ilse (Carla Juri). But in snooping into the activities going on there, he finds mystery and danger.
Positives:
This is a fascinating premise for a movie that will appeal to an older generation, along the lines of "They don't make them like this anymore". It has elements of the 'good guy on the run' that struck parallels with "The 39 Steps" for me.
It's great that the school is all based on historical fact. Miss Rochol did indeed run the school, as a part of a plan to infiltrate British high-society with pro-Nazi sympathies ahead of an invasion. In real-life, one of the pupils was the god-daughter of Heinrich Himmler and one - Bettina von Ribbentrop - was the daughter of the German foreign minister.
After a comic "Family Guy"-style set of production logos to kick off with (for a full one and a half minutes!!), the pre-title sequence is a superb scene-setter. What exactly is going on here? A frantic scrabbling in a bookcase. A pier-end disappearance. The school badge (a genuine reproduction!) with its Union flag and Nazi Swastika insignia. The girls performing a ballet-like ritual on the beach with batons. (This looks to be a cracker, I thought).
Judi Dench. Superb as always.
Chris Seager does the cinematography, and impressively so. Most of Seager's CV has been TV work, so it must be delightful to be given the breadth of a cinema screen to capture landscapes like this.
I like the clever title: "Six Minutes to Midnight". I assumed it was intended solely to reflect the imminence of war. But it actually has another meaning entirely.
Negatives:
For me, was a highly frustrating film. All of the great credibility and atmosphere it builds up in the first 30 minutes, it then squanders by diving off into sub-Hitchcock spy capers.
Izzard becomes a 'man on the run', and doesn't seem credible at that. (I appreciate the irony of this statement given that this is the man who ran 32 marathons in 31 days for charity!) But Izzard is built for distance and not for speed, and some of the police chase scenes in the movie strain credibility to breaking point. Another actor might have been able to pull this off better.
There's a lack of continuity in the film: was it perhaps cut down from a much longer running time? At one point, Miller is a wanted murderer with his face plastered on the front pages. The next, kindly bus driver Charlie (Jim Broadbent) is unaccountably aiding him and Rochol seems to have assumed his innocence in later scenes.
Various spy caper clichés are mined to extreme - including those old classics 'swerve to avoid bullets'; 'gun shot but different gun'; and 'shot guy seems to live forever'. And there are double-agent 'twists' occurring that are utterly predictable.
A very specific continuity irritation for me was in an 'aircraft landing' scene. Markers are separated by nine paces (I went back and counted them!) yet a view from a plane shows them a 'runway-width' apart. This might have escaped scrutiny were it shown just once. But no... we have ground shot; air shot; ground shot; air shot..... repeatedly!
Summary thoughts: This was one of the cinema trailers that most appealed to me over a year ago, in those heady days in the sunlit-uplands of life before Covid-19. It's a movie that showed a great deal of promise, since the history is fascinating. And there is probably a really great TV serial in here: showing the 'alternate history' consequences of these high-society German girls penetrating British society and steering the war in a different direction (screenplay idea (C) RJ Mann!) But the potential is squandered with a non-credible spy caper bolted onto the side.
So with "Six Minutes to Midnight", Downton-director Andy Goddard has made a perfectly watchable 'rainy Sunday afternoon' film, that I enjoyed in part for its 'old-school' quirkiness. But it's frustrating that all the promise couldn't be transitioned into a more satisfying movie.
(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/04/04/six-minutes-to-midnight-a-39-steps-esque-thriller-but-not-quite-pulling-it-off/. Thanks).
When half-German English teacher Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) applies for a suddenly vacant position, he is taken on to share the teaching duties with Rocholl and Ilse (Carla Juri). But in snooping into the activities going on there, he finds mystery and danger.
Positives:
This is a fascinating premise for a movie that will appeal to an older generation, along the lines of "They don't make them like this anymore". It has elements of the 'good guy on the run' that struck parallels with "The 39 Steps" for me.
It's great that the school is all based on historical fact. Miss Rochol did indeed run the school, as a part of a plan to infiltrate British high-society with pro-Nazi sympathies ahead of an invasion. In real-life, one of the pupils was the god-daughter of Heinrich Himmler and one - Bettina von Ribbentrop - was the daughter of the German foreign minister.
After a comic "Family Guy"-style set of production logos to kick off with (for a full one and a half minutes!!), the pre-title sequence is a superb scene-setter. What exactly is going on here? A frantic scrabbling in a bookcase. A pier-end disappearance. The school badge (a genuine reproduction!) with its Union flag and Nazi Swastika insignia. The girls performing a ballet-like ritual on the beach with batons. (This looks to be a cracker, I thought).
Judi Dench. Superb as always.
Chris Seager does the cinematography, and impressively so. Most of Seager's CV has been TV work, so it must be delightful to be given the breadth of a cinema screen to capture landscapes like this.
I like the clever title: "Six Minutes to Midnight". I assumed it was intended solely to reflect the imminence of war. But it actually has another meaning entirely.
Negatives:
For me, was a highly frustrating film. All of the great credibility and atmosphere it builds up in the first 30 minutes, it then squanders by diving off into sub-Hitchcock spy capers.
Izzard becomes a 'man on the run', and doesn't seem credible at that. (I appreciate the irony of this statement given that this is the man who ran 32 marathons in 31 days for charity!) But Izzard is built for distance and not for speed, and some of the police chase scenes in the movie strain credibility to breaking point. Another actor might have been able to pull this off better.
There's a lack of continuity in the film: was it perhaps cut down from a much longer running time? At one point, Miller is a wanted murderer with his face plastered on the front pages. The next, kindly bus driver Charlie (Jim Broadbent) is unaccountably aiding him and Rochol seems to have assumed his innocence in later scenes.
Various spy caper clichés are mined to extreme - including those old classics 'swerve to avoid bullets'; 'gun shot but different gun'; and 'shot guy seems to live forever'. And there are double-agent 'twists' occurring that are utterly predictable.
A very specific continuity irritation for me was in an 'aircraft landing' scene. Markers are separated by nine paces (I went back and counted them!) yet a view from a plane shows them a 'runway-width' apart. This might have escaped scrutiny were it shown just once. But no... we have ground shot; air shot; ground shot; air shot..... repeatedly!
Summary thoughts: This was one of the cinema trailers that most appealed to me over a year ago, in those heady days in the sunlit-uplands of life before Covid-19. It's a movie that showed a great deal of promise, since the history is fascinating. And there is probably a really great TV serial in here: showing the 'alternate history' consequences of these high-society German girls penetrating British society and steering the war in a different direction (screenplay idea (C) RJ Mann!) But the potential is squandered with a non-credible spy caper bolted onto the side.
So with "Six Minutes to Midnight", Downton-director Andy Goddard has made a perfectly watchable 'rainy Sunday afternoon' film, that I enjoyed in part for its 'old-school' quirkiness. But it's frustrating that all the promise couldn't be transitioned into a more satisfying movie.
(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/04/04/six-minutes-to-midnight-a-39-steps-esque-thriller-but-not-quite-pulling-it-off/. Thanks).