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Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Faction Paradox: The Book of the Enemy in Books
Nov 30, 2020
This is, for all intents and purposes, as close to identifying, or, at the very least, understanding who the Enemy is. The stories that make up the whole of this collection is as follows: Subjective
<b>"Interlock" and "The Annotated Autopsy of Agent A" Simon Bucher-Jones
"Cobweb and Ivory" Nate Bumber
"The Book of the Enemy" Andrew Hickey
T.memeticus: A Morphology" Philip Purser-Hallard
"The Short Briefing Sergeant's Tale" Simon Bucher-Jones
"A Bloody (And Public) Domaine" Jacob Black
"Life-Cycle" Grant Springford
"First Draft" Nick Wallace
"Eyes" Christian Read
"We are the Enemy" Lawrence Burton
"Timeshare" Helen Angove
"A Choice of Houses" Simon Bucher-Jones
"Houses of Cards" Lisa Sarah Good
"The Enemy - The Hole in Everything" Simon Bucher-Jones
"The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy" Jay Eales
"No Enemy But Despair" Simon Bucher-Jones
"The Map and the Spiders" Wilhelm Liebknecht</b>
I quite enjoyed the book as a whole, even though there was some weak pieces that did not really seem to fit, like Helen Angove's "Timeshare". Overall, it was a fitting collection for what it was intended to be. Of particular interest were Simon Bucher-Jones' interconnecting briefs that tie it all together. Quite brilliant, despite some of the weaker stories.
And, yes, as some people have remarked in their reviews, there were some noticeable punctuation and formatting errors. However, the stories are good enough to overlook and not focus on those shortcomings.
Recommended to all fans of Faction Paradox as a whole!!
<b>"Interlock" and "The Annotated Autopsy of Agent A" Simon Bucher-Jones
"Cobweb and Ivory" Nate Bumber
"The Book of the Enemy" Andrew Hickey
T.memeticus: A Morphology" Philip Purser-Hallard
"The Short Briefing Sergeant's Tale" Simon Bucher-Jones
"A Bloody (And Public) Domaine" Jacob Black
"Life-Cycle" Grant Springford
"First Draft" Nick Wallace
"Eyes" Christian Read
"We are the Enemy" Lawrence Burton
"Timeshare" Helen Angove
"A Choice of Houses" Simon Bucher-Jones
"Houses of Cards" Lisa Sarah Good
"The Enemy - The Hole in Everything" Simon Bucher-Jones
"The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy" Jay Eales
"No Enemy But Despair" Simon Bucher-Jones
"The Map and the Spiders" Wilhelm Liebknecht</b>
I quite enjoyed the book as a whole, even though there was some weak pieces that did not really seem to fit, like Helen Angove's "Timeshare". Overall, it was a fitting collection for what it was intended to be. Of particular interest were Simon Bucher-Jones' interconnecting briefs that tie it all together. Quite brilliant, despite some of the weaker stories.
And, yes, as some people have remarked in their reviews, there were some noticeable punctuation and formatting errors. However, the stories are good enough to overlook and not focus on those shortcomings.
Recommended to all fans of Faction Paradox as a whole!!
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Mortuary Collection (2019) in Movies
Oct 16, 2020
The Mortuary Collection is the latest in a long line of Creepshow style horror anthology films, a particular sub genre that can be hard to pull off, but director Ryan Spindell rises to the challenge pretty damn well.
The short stories presented here escalate in tone and subject as the film progresses, starting off relatively fun, but getting increasingly darker and in depth. This is something that the characters comment on between the segments, showing a nice sense of self awareness, but not going over the top with it.
Some of the later stories are hard to watch at times, and are quite emotional in places, especially the one that features actress Sarah Hay as a woman in a vegetative state. It's a genuinely sad story, topped off with some fantastic creature design. An interesting mix to say the least.
The stories are all good in their own right, but are tied together with a clever twist and a satisfying conclusion.
The main character is Montgomery Dark played by a brilliant Clancy Brown. He has a proper Phantasm/Tall Man/Angus Scrimm vibe to him (definitely no accident) and is suitably creepy as this movie's story teller.
The film is pretty damn visceral, and employs both practical effects, and decent digital effects to achieve what it does. It's all looks disgustingly awesome. It also has a great music score by Mondo Boys to compliment all the creepiness.
I was pleasantly surprised by The Mortuary Collection. It's a good time, a competent anthology film, and well worth a watch for horror fans.
The short stories presented here escalate in tone and subject as the film progresses, starting off relatively fun, but getting increasingly darker and in depth. This is something that the characters comment on between the segments, showing a nice sense of self awareness, but not going over the top with it.
Some of the later stories are hard to watch at times, and are quite emotional in places, especially the one that features actress Sarah Hay as a woman in a vegetative state. It's a genuinely sad story, topped off with some fantastic creature design. An interesting mix to say the least.
The stories are all good in their own right, but are tied together with a clever twist and a satisfying conclusion.
The main character is Montgomery Dark played by a brilliant Clancy Brown. He has a proper Phantasm/Tall Man/Angus Scrimm vibe to him (definitely no accident) and is suitably creepy as this movie's story teller.
The film is pretty damn visceral, and employs both practical effects, and decent digital effects to achieve what it does. It's all looks disgustingly awesome. It also has a great music score by Mondo Boys to compliment all the creepiness.
I was pleasantly surprised by The Mortuary Collection. It's a good time, a competent anthology film, and well worth a watch for horror fans.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Planet Terror (2007) in Movies
Jan 22, 2021
If you seek a movie so absurdly over the top in almost every regard, then look no further.
Planet Terror is a glorious throwback to practical driven and blood soaked video nasties of the 70s and 80s, is super stylized to the point of self aware stupidity, and boasts a fantastic cast - a roll call of who's who in the cinema of Rodriguez/Tarantino.
Of course, Planet Terror is one half of the duos Grindhouse project, and for me, slightly takes the edge over Death Proof. Both films are great and gleefully brimming with tributes to the exploitative sub genre of its namesake, but Planet Terror is just balls to the wall fun, a blast from start to finish.
Its has badass female leads - Cherry Darling, a former go-go dancer with a gun-leg, and Dakota Block, a nurse who shoots trigger functioning syringes full of sedatives at anyone who pisses her off - Rose McGowan and Marley Shelton and both brilliant.
It has Bruce Willis mutating into God knows what. It has Tom Savini and Michael Biehn as zombie fighting sherrifs. It has Sayid from Lost collecting people's testicles in a pickle jar.
And Jesus Christ it has so. much. gore. It must have been a hell of a sticky set to work on to say the least.
To top it all off, it even opens with the now infamous Machete "trailer", with Danny Trejo and motherfucking Cheech Marin.
Planet Terror is a ride as soon as the opening credits start. An absolute must for any horror or grindhouse fan.
Planet Terror is a glorious throwback to practical driven and blood soaked video nasties of the 70s and 80s, is super stylized to the point of self aware stupidity, and boasts a fantastic cast - a roll call of who's who in the cinema of Rodriguez/Tarantino.
Of course, Planet Terror is one half of the duos Grindhouse project, and for me, slightly takes the edge over Death Proof. Both films are great and gleefully brimming with tributes to the exploitative sub genre of its namesake, but Planet Terror is just balls to the wall fun, a blast from start to finish.
Its has badass female leads - Cherry Darling, a former go-go dancer with a gun-leg, and Dakota Block, a nurse who shoots trigger functioning syringes full of sedatives at anyone who pisses her off - Rose McGowan and Marley Shelton and both brilliant.
It has Bruce Willis mutating into God knows what. It has Tom Savini and Michael Biehn as zombie fighting sherrifs. It has Sayid from Lost collecting people's testicles in a pickle jar.
And Jesus Christ it has so. much. gore. It must have been a hell of a sticky set to work on to say the least.
To top it all off, it even opens with the now infamous Machete "trailer", with Danny Trejo and motherfucking Cheech Marin.
Planet Terror is a ride as soon as the opening credits start. An absolute must for any horror or grindhouse fan.
Buzz Aldrin recommended 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in Movies (curated)
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Logan (2017) in Movies
Sep 20, 2019 (Updated Sep 20, 2019)
The crown jewel in Fox's X-Men saga
Logan is easily one of the best comic book movies out there.
This is the third solo outing for Wolverine (following one garbage pile attempt, and one annoyingly average attempt), James Mangold really pulled it out of the bag for this one.
The characters are great - Hugh Jackman at the top of his game for his final performance as Logan. He's a grizzled and pain ridden man, in this bleak, mutantless future.
Patrick Stewart is also at his best here as Charles Xavier. The two of them are the beating heart of this movie.
We're introduced to Dafne Keen (playing a young X-23) who rounds out the small cast nicely.
As Logan fights a shadowy organization to keep her safe, the stakes have never been higher, and no one feels safe at any point - something that has never really been explored in the X-Men franchise.
Logan is a hard film to watch, it's bleak, its gritty, it's not particularly colourful (especially if you opt for the brilliant Noir version), and it's brutally violent in parts.
The set pieces are nasty in places, and sometimes pretty shocking, but it all aids the narrative here - the narrative that Wolverine is an ailing old man, who is struggling against all odds to do one last good deed, and protect the few people that still mean something to him.
It's an emotional and powerful film, that deserves all the praise bestowed upon it - amazing work from everyone involved .
This is the third solo outing for Wolverine (following one garbage pile attempt, and one annoyingly average attempt), James Mangold really pulled it out of the bag for this one.
The characters are great - Hugh Jackman at the top of his game for his final performance as Logan. He's a grizzled and pain ridden man, in this bleak, mutantless future.
Patrick Stewart is also at his best here as Charles Xavier. The two of them are the beating heart of this movie.
We're introduced to Dafne Keen (playing a young X-23) who rounds out the small cast nicely.
As Logan fights a shadowy organization to keep her safe, the stakes have never been higher, and no one feels safe at any point - something that has never really been explored in the X-Men franchise.
Logan is a hard film to watch, it's bleak, its gritty, it's not particularly colourful (especially if you opt for the brilliant Noir version), and it's brutally violent in parts.
The set pieces are nasty in places, and sometimes pretty shocking, but it all aids the narrative here - the narrative that Wolverine is an ailing old man, who is struggling against all odds to do one last good deed, and protect the few people that still mean something to him.
It's an emotional and powerful film, that deserves all the praise bestowed upon it - amazing work from everyone involved .
Event Countdown Free - Countdown timer for important dates and life events. Birthday, Holiday, Christmas, Wedding, Anniversary, Pregnancy, Graduation or Race
Events, Productivity and Utilities
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Event Countdown is a free and simple countdown timer app for the important dates and events in your...
Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter #1)
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A quiet summer night...a neat suburban house...and another innocent, happy family is shattered - the...
crime fiction
Merissa (12066 KP) rated Bound in Flame (The Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society #1) in Books
Aug 3, 2020
Bound in Flame is the debut book by this author and is also the first in The Hawaiian Ladies’ Riding Society series. Set in the early 1900's we find out about the Suffragette movement as seen by a young (eighteen-year-old) Letty. She wants to go to school and become a vet although she is not sure that it's possible. Instead of being a woman with her feet set firmly in logic, Letty finds out that she is one of the magical Gates and her powers, her flames as she calls them, are not just there to get her into trouble. Letty knows who she is and also knows what she is up against, more so than Timothy, our main male, in some cases.
This is a wondrous tale of a time gone by, told with a sense of gentility. It has a historical setting but with fantasy elements. I have no idea if the settings, dates, occasions, people, etc. are real but, to be honest, I don't really care either. I thoroughly enjoyed the flow of this story, with the wonderful characters you learn about.
I thought this was a brilliant start to a series I want to read more from. Thoroughly enjoyable, a good long story to sink into, with settings and characters that leap off the page. Absolutely recommended by me.
* 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!
This is a wondrous tale of a time gone by, told with a sense of gentility. It has a historical setting but with fantasy elements. I have no idea if the settings, dates, occasions, people, etc. are real but, to be honest, I don't really care either. I thoroughly enjoyed the flow of this story, with the wonderful characters you learn about.
I thought this was a brilliant start to a series I want to read more from. Thoroughly enjoyable, a good long story to sink into, with settings and characters that leap off the page. Absolutely recommended by me.
* 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!
Merissa (12066 KP) rated Flight (Voodoo Butterfly, #3) in Books
Aug 6, 2020
Flight is the third book in the Voodoo Butterfly series and it really must be read as a series rather than a set of standalones.
We start off in Malaysia as Sophie has travelled there to figure things out with Taj once and for all. Once there she realises things weren't as simple as she thought although, to be fair, it was quite clear as the reader just what was going on! 😁 Still, it made for a thrilling read, especially with the added bits of Sophie learning as she goes along. I do so love Marie and the witticisms she gives to Sophie.
The details given are, quite simply, amazing. I can only imagine the amount of research this series has taken but it is worth every moment. Yolanda was a bit too obvious for me so I can't say as I was surprised with that turn of events but even so, I still enjoyed how it was written.
This is an amazing series that just gets better with each book. I love the depth and history of each story and how they interlock with each other. I will always be #TeamJacques but I guess I can see how Taj fits into the picture. 😉
All in all, a brilliant book in a fantastic series that I most definitely recommend. Can't wait for the fourth!
* 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!
We start off in Malaysia as Sophie has travelled there to figure things out with Taj once and for all. Once there she realises things weren't as simple as she thought although, to be fair, it was quite clear as the reader just what was going on! 😁 Still, it made for a thrilling read, especially with the added bits of Sophie learning as she goes along. I do so love Marie and the witticisms she gives to Sophie.
The details given are, quite simply, amazing. I can only imagine the amount of research this series has taken but it is worth every moment. Yolanda was a bit too obvious for me so I can't say as I was surprised with that turn of events but even so, I still enjoyed how it was written.
This is an amazing series that just gets better with each book. I love the depth and history of each story and how they interlock with each other. I will always be #TeamJacques but I guess I can see how Taj fits into the picture. 😉
All in all, a brilliant book in a fantastic series that I most definitely recommend. Can't wait for the fourth!
* 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!
Merissa (12066 KP) rated Courtship (Voodoo Butterfly #4) in Books
Aug 7, 2020
Courtship is the fourth and final (so far) book in the Voodoo Butterfly series and, my word, but it ends with a bang!
Madame LaLaurie and Dr Bones are still causing chaos in Sophie's life but now she has a wedding to plan as well as continue her priestess training. Something has to come first - but what? Not only that but Jacques is still ignoring Sophie to the best of his ability and although she understands why, it still hurts.
This book is full of revelations, some obvious, some not. The characters and situations take on a life of their own and you will continue turning pages, not wanting to put it down in case something happens whilst you're away!
I have loved every book in this series and have made no secret of being #TeamJacques. However, I have come to the reluctant conclusion that Taj is right for Sophie. I still don't quite see it but I'm stubborn like that.
So is this the end? I really hope not. After all, Sophie still has one more wish from Amir and she is not yet Queen. I really, REALLY, hope there is more to come in this series and, you never know, maybe Jacques will tell his story so he can get his HEA!!!
A brilliant book most definitely recommended by me.
* 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!
Madame LaLaurie and Dr Bones are still causing chaos in Sophie's life but now she has a wedding to plan as well as continue her priestess training. Something has to come first - but what? Not only that but Jacques is still ignoring Sophie to the best of his ability and although she understands why, it still hurts.
This book is full of revelations, some obvious, some not. The characters and situations take on a life of their own and you will continue turning pages, not wanting to put it down in case something happens whilst you're away!
I have loved every book in this series and have made no secret of being #TeamJacques. However, I have come to the reluctant conclusion that Taj is right for Sophie. I still don't quite see it but I'm stubborn like that.
So is this the end? I really hope not. After all, Sophie still has one more wish from Amir and she is not yet Queen. I really, REALLY, hope there is more to come in this series and, you never know, maybe Jacques will tell his story so he can get his HEA!!!
A brilliant book most definitely recommended by me.
* 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!