The Queens Lady
8.0
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Can she tread a dangerous line between love and duty? Raven-haired and fiercely independent, Joan...
Historical fiction Tudor England
The Empire's Bladesmen: Forbidden Relics
10.0
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Captain Shao Lian, a battle-hardened veteran of the Ming Dynasty’s imperial army, had become a...
historical fiction historical fantasy
The Underhanded (William Dresden #1)
6.0
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Europe' s last line of defense against neofascism— a history professor? Professor William...
International Spy Conspiracy Thriller
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Operation Avalanche (2016) in Movies
Jul 15, 2019
July 20th, 1969. Less than 10 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis in the midst of the Cold War the great ‘space race’ between the two world superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, is on. NASA astronauts Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong journey to the moon aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft where Neil Armstrong becomes the first human being in history to set foot on the moon. That’s what the history books say. However, almost immediately after the crew of Apollo 11 returned to Earth there were many individuals on both sides who claimed not only was it not possible to land human beings safely on the moon and return them to Earth, but that NASA had faked the entire event in conjunction with other organizations and agencies within the American intelligence and military communities. This is where the basis for today’s film originates.
‘Operation Avalanche’ is an American-Canadian found footage/conspiracy thriller film directed by Matt Johnson who also starred in and co-wrote the film with Josh Boles. The film also stars Owen Williams, Jared Raab, Andrew Appelle, Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Krista Madison, Tom Bolton, and Sharon Belle. The film begins in 1967. The Central Intelligence Agency suspects that a Soviet mole has infiltrated NASA and is providing the Russians with information on American rocket technology. Four employees of the CIA are sent in undercover as a documentary film crew to determine if the agency’s suspicions are true and to determine the mole’s identity. Instead, what the discover sends shockwaves through the agency’s upper echelons and could potentially lead to a Soviet victory in the space race and bring to light one of the biggest conspiracies imaginable.
This movie is a brilliantly conceived and executed piece of film making. It not only includes historical news footage from the event, but combines it with a bit of guerrilla film-making. The film was shot in Toronto, Washington DC, and Houston, Texas. They were able to shoot on site at NASA by claiming they were shooting a documentary which was not entirely untrue. Essential they sort of broke the ‘fourth wall’ three times. The characters in the film were documentary film makers going undercover to shoot a documentary under the guise of a documentary film crew. The attention to detail from the locations, to the music, to the people themselves (how they looked, talked, and dressed) was something that one would imagine would’ve taken a larger budget. These folks pulled it off brilliantly essentially creating a period piece within the film. You get a genuine sense that the characters are who they act like they are in the particular time and place. Four CIA operatives looking to move up in the agency by moving themselves into place to be assigned to an undercover operation with low risk to themselves with the slight possibility of danger but then get caught up in a secret far bigger than anything they originally anticipated. The senses are heightened, the pace increases, and the conspiracy begins to unfold. The film is most definitely worth checking out. It kinda slows down a bit too much at certain points but all in all an excellent film. I’m going to give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It’s certainly what I’d like to call a ‘thinking persons movie’. If you’re a fan of history, conspiracy theory, or both this film is certainly worth watching.
Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities: Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka
Book
2009 brought the end of the protracted civil war in Sri Lanka, and observers hoped to see the...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Dressed to Confess (Costume Shop Mystery, #3) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
As Margo investigates, she finds a bit of a conspiracy surrounding this murder, which just adds to the fun of the mystery. A couple of things get glossed over in the climax, but for the most part, everything is wrapped up well. I love this setting, a town that goes all out for every occasion, including throwing costume parties. And the characters are fantastic, just like they are in the earlier books in the series.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/08/book-review-dressed-to-confess-by-diane.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Abbie Devine (3 KP) rated Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) in Movies
Jan 2, 2019
I was apprehensive when I found out the new Black Mirror film was going to be interactive as I didn't want the plot to be overshadowed by the interactive feature. But I was wrong
The film is great. An original story archetype of time looping but with that classic Black Mirror edge.
If you are a tiny bit obsessive like me, you might want to set aside two hours or so to explore every choice and ending.
Without any spoilers, some endings can be rather satisfying, whilst others can be a bit hit or miss but quite often with the chance to retry from a certain point without necessarily changing the timeline.
So if you are looking for a new existential crisis, Bandersnatch is the one for you.
The Indigo Children: New Age Experimentation with Self and Science
Book
The Indigo Child concept is a contemporary New Age redefinition of self. Indigo Children are...
The Templars
7.0
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The Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful - and most secretive - of the military orders...
history
Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad (2018)
2.0
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Swifty the Arctic fox works in the mail room of the Arctic Blast Delivery Service but dreams of one...
animation