Search
Search results
Gilbert (11 KP) rated Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Books
Sep 1, 2017
Harry Potter - never will be another series Like this One!
Since the craze of Harry Potter fandom began with the books and streamlined along with the movie franchise, I was crazy about Harry Potter myself. I always pre-order the books as soon as they came out. I even went to a Harry Potter event at Borders in the OC. It was fun! I read all the books in the series and along with the films, I looked forward to the new one as they came out. Sadly, the franchise has ended. Once that book on the play came out, I grabbed that one too. Harry Potter will always be part of my life because I followed it as it came in book and film form. The first one was amazing and the movie was just perfect.
Becka (82 KP) rated Vampire Academy Blood Sisters (2014) in Movies
Jul 6, 2018
Vampire Academy Blood Sisters
Contains spoilers, click to show
The movie was fantastic. The actors chosen for the characters that I already loved from reading the book, were perfect. Danila Kozlovsky was great as Dimitri and Zoey was exactly as I imagined Rose Hathaway. The action could have been a little better and there were some things I felt we're important that weren't included. But, I know that just because I felt the things left out were important, doesn't mean that they actually we're important. I loved the ending very much, it definitely felt like a Rose thing to do and I appreciate that the movie stayed true to the characterization of each character. The script seemed natural, and the graphics were great as well. And despite hating them in books, the cliff hanger at the end was great!
Chris Columbus recommended Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) in Movies (curated)
Review can also be found on: diaryofdifference.com/2018/05/24/gunshots-goalposts-the-story-of-northern-irish-football-benjamin-roberts-book-review/
For the lovers of football and history - this book will be of your interest. If you happen to have any connecting with Northern Ireland as well - this book is made for you!
<img src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510KFWLQLML.jpg"/>
I don’t think I fit in the description above. I love watching football - but I am not a football maniac, that knows who plays where, the club’s managers and who is on top of the Champion’s League this year. I love me some good sports matches, and I know a lot of players by name or face, but that’s about it.
Now - Gunshots & Goalposts: The Story of Northern Irish Football - the book that covers the stories of many football players in the past century in Northern Ireland.
While it covers so many stories, I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters, and I choose to blame this on the way the book was written.
Which - is not a bad thing at all. Why? Because, this book is not meant to make you fall in love with the characters. It is instead, meant to show you the real picture of their lives, the politics that were ongoing in that time, and give you a brief history lesson of what you happened to miss in high school. All related to football, of course.
For me, it was very useful to learn a bit about the politics and history. Before I started the book, I knew NOTHING about Northern Ireland’s history. I knew NOTHING about their football history. This was a great first book for me to dive into the waters of the history of Northern Ireland's football.
The author, Benjamin Roberts, has done a wonderful job in the description and research. It covers a lot of the history period from the First and Second World War, the protestants vs catholics, the unionists vs nationalists, the east vs the west.
This book reminds me a lot of a movie that has been made in the country where I was born - Macedonia. The movie was called ‘’The Third Half’’ and deals with Macedonian Football during World War II, and the deportation of Jews from Macedonia. It reminded me a bit of this, even though in this book we don’t connect with the characters, or dive into their stories too much.
This is a three-star book for me - for the sole reason that this is not a book that I would usually read, and I wouldn’t read books similar to this one either. I enjoyed it, at times, but wouldn’t re-read it. However, I would definitely recommend it to people that love both football and history. I just prefer books where I connect with the characters.
For the lovers of football and history - this book will be of your interest. If you happen to have any connecting with Northern Ireland as well - this book is made for you!
<img src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510KFWLQLML.jpg"/>
I don’t think I fit in the description above. I love watching football - but I am not a football maniac, that knows who plays where, the club’s managers and who is on top of the Champion’s League this year. I love me some good sports matches, and I know a lot of players by name or face, but that’s about it.
Now - Gunshots & Goalposts: The Story of Northern Irish Football - the book that covers the stories of many football players in the past century in Northern Ireland.
While it covers so many stories, I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters, and I choose to blame this on the way the book was written.
Which - is not a bad thing at all. Why? Because, this book is not meant to make you fall in love with the characters. It is instead, meant to show you the real picture of their lives, the politics that were ongoing in that time, and give you a brief history lesson of what you happened to miss in high school. All related to football, of course.
For me, it was very useful to learn a bit about the politics and history. Before I started the book, I knew NOTHING about Northern Ireland’s history. I knew NOTHING about their football history. This was a great first book for me to dive into the waters of the history of Northern Ireland's football.
The author, Benjamin Roberts, has done a wonderful job in the description and research. It covers a lot of the history period from the First and Second World War, the protestants vs catholics, the unionists vs nationalists, the east vs the west.
This book reminds me a lot of a movie that has been made in the country where I was born - Macedonia. The movie was called ‘’The Third Half’’ and deals with Macedonian Football during World War II, and the deportation of Jews from Macedonia. It reminded me a bit of this, even though in this book we don’t connect with the characters, or dive into their stories too much.
This is a three-star book for me - for the sole reason that this is not a book that I would usually read, and I wouldn’t read books similar to this one either. I enjoyed it, at times, but wouldn’t re-read it. However, I would definitely recommend it to people that love both football and history. I just prefer books where I connect with the characters.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper in Books
Feb 13, 2018
Lizzie Pepper became a famous actress as a teen -- growing up before America's eyes on her TV show. Eventually Lizzie meets America's most famous movie star, Rob Mars -- and quickly their courtship and marriage becomes tabloid fodder and her life changes forever. At first, Lizzie is head over heels in love with Rob and all that he brings: romance, lavish trips, and instant stardom. But soon, her life is taken over by Rob's wealth and fame -- his constant absences, a complete lack of privacy, and a world overshadowed by Rob's total commitment to One Cell Studio, a form of study and practice that nears cult status. Once they have children, Lizzie begins to doubt everything about their relationship -- and what her husband stands for.
This was a fun book. Written by Hilary Liftin, a celebrity ghostwriter, Lizzie is a really enjoyable and insightful character. The book is clearly supposed to be based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. I kept imagining Rob Mars as a creepy twist between Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe, which was a little frightening. The One Cell piece is oddly disconcerting, as it's supposed to be, and made me want to delve more into the weirdness that is Scientology. Lizzie's evolution was fun to read about (I enjoyed, on a personal level, that she had twins) and she remained a realistic and relatable character, despite being elevated to movie star status. It truly makes you think about some of the insanity that movie stars have to go through, especially those that have children. It also gets you thinking about various religious cults and the power they have over people. In the end, probably a 3.5 star book, as it's a quick, fun read, but with a surprising depth behind it in places. After all, in the end, a marriage crumbling is a marriage crumbling, even in Hollywood.
This was a fun book. Written by Hilary Liftin, a celebrity ghostwriter, Lizzie is a really enjoyable and insightful character. The book is clearly supposed to be based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. I kept imagining Rob Mars as a creepy twist between Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe, which was a little frightening. The One Cell piece is oddly disconcerting, as it's supposed to be, and made me want to delve more into the weirdness that is Scientology. Lizzie's evolution was fun to read about (I enjoyed, on a personal level, that she had twins) and she remained a realistic and relatable character, despite being elevated to movie star status. It truly makes you think about some of the insanity that movie stars have to go through, especially those that have children. It also gets you thinking about various religious cults and the power they have over people. In the end, probably a 3.5 star book, as it's a quick, fun read, but with a surprising depth behind it in places. After all, in the end, a marriage crumbling is a marriage crumbling, even in Hollywood.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Touched With Fire (2016) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Touched with Fire is a very depressing movie. As a person diagnoses with bipolar disorder, there are touches of reality in seeing the characters dealing with mania and depression. The problem with the movie is it shows the extreme of this mental illness. The characters in mania putting their lives in danger. The family only worried about the negative aspects of the disorder. This needs to be said..not everyone with bipolar disorder acts like this. The family treating them poorly says a lot about the misunderstanding of the illness.
The story is a snapshot of all of the aspects of being bipolar. There are not medications that always work. There are not routines that can sidestep mania or depression.
On a good note, this does bring awareness to some of the bipolar geniuses throughout history. The book by psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison’s (who make a cameo appearance) 1993 Touched with Fire, is the inspiration for this movie. She shows the connection to bipolar and creativity.
When you see this movie, keep in mind, we are all weird in our own special ways. Don’t judge someone on their diagnosis or their rough times. You may miss the spark.
The story is a snapshot of all of the aspects of being bipolar. There are not medications that always work. There are not routines that can sidestep mania or depression.
On a good note, this does bring awareness to some of the bipolar geniuses throughout history. The book by psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison’s (who make a cameo appearance) 1993 Touched with Fire, is the inspiration for this movie. She shows the connection to bipolar and creativity.
When you see this movie, keep in mind, we are all weird in our own special ways. Don’t judge someone on their diagnosis or their rough times. You may miss the spark.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Insurgent (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
With the faction system thrown out of balance, Jeanine Matthews(Kate Winslet) the leader of Erudite needs to find someone who can open a box with the answer to fix it all. Unfortunately, only a special Divergent can open the box, and Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is that one. Based on Veronica Roth’s bestselling book Insurgent comes second installment of The Divergent Series: Insurgent.
With Tris, Four (Theo James), Peter (Miles Teller) and Caleb (Ansel Elgort) on the run from Eric (Jai Courtney) and other members of the Dauntless who follow Erudite. Now being blamed for the attack on Abnegation Tris and the others must fight to stay alive; to do so they seek refuge with Amity. From that point on Tris and Four realize they must find the rest of the Dauntless to stop Jeanine from slaughtering anymore innocent lives. With betrayal, alliances, and having to face the truth; Tris struggles to forgive herself for the events that happened in Divergent. Will the truth set her free or will she get herself killed?
The second installment of the Divergent franchise brings a strong focus to plot progression and more so action. With the main characters on the run the pace of the movie is fast and keeps the viewer entertained. Be warned though, the 3D is kind of a pain; since a lot of the scenes having running or speedy shots the glasses definitely took away from the experience. If I were to go see it again it would be 2D for me. The acting between the two stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James is a homerun; the chemistry from the first movie did not fade in the second! However, one problem I had with this film is the soundtrack; I feel the first movie had such a dynamic background track. Unfortunately, this film’s soundtrack really did not stand out as must as the first one.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who loved the first one, but to the fans of the books I would take it with a grain of salt. It’s not exactly like the book, but as a fan of the books and the first movie I thought it was a great adaptation.
With Tris, Four (Theo James), Peter (Miles Teller) and Caleb (Ansel Elgort) on the run from Eric (Jai Courtney) and other members of the Dauntless who follow Erudite. Now being blamed for the attack on Abnegation Tris and the others must fight to stay alive; to do so they seek refuge with Amity. From that point on Tris and Four realize they must find the rest of the Dauntless to stop Jeanine from slaughtering anymore innocent lives. With betrayal, alliances, and having to face the truth; Tris struggles to forgive herself for the events that happened in Divergent. Will the truth set her free or will she get herself killed?
The second installment of the Divergent franchise brings a strong focus to plot progression and more so action. With the main characters on the run the pace of the movie is fast and keeps the viewer entertained. Be warned though, the 3D is kind of a pain; since a lot of the scenes having running or speedy shots the glasses definitely took away from the experience. If I were to go see it again it would be 2D for me. The acting between the two stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James is a homerun; the chemistry from the first movie did not fade in the second! However, one problem I had with this film is the soundtrack; I feel the first movie had such a dynamic background track. Unfortunately, this film’s soundtrack really did not stand out as must as the first one.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who loved the first one, but to the fans of the books I would take it with a grain of salt. It’s not exactly like the book, but as a fan of the books and the first movie I thought it was a great adaptation.
SK
Same Kind of Different as Me Movie Edition: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
Lynn Vincent, Ron Hall and Denver Moore
Book
Soon to be a Major Motion Picture A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in...
Science: The Peculiar Science Behind the Movies
Book
Just like you, Dr Michael Brooks and Rick Edwards have watched movies and been sucked into those...







