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Emperator (The Chronicles of Alcinia #6) by Miriam Newman

Miriam Newman

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Book

Son of a king, grandson of a general, Sergius is a warrior without equal. It has been easy for him...

Historical Fantasy Romance

Awix (3310 KP) rated Wild Rose (2018) in Movies

Apr 16, 2019 (Updated Apr 16, 2019)

Wild Rose (2018)

2018 | Drama, Music

7.8

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

A Star is Paroled, More Like

Scottish-set take on the same kind of material as A Star is Born features a terrific performance (both acting and musical) from Jessie Buckley, and much less material about people falling in love or weeing themselves on stage. Talented but off-the-rails young woman comes out of prison, tries to reconnect with her mother and children, plans (not very realistically) to go to Nashville and become a country star. (The point is repeatedly made that country music is not the same as country and western music, but this is possibly not the venue to be pedantic in.) Features a cameo by Whispering Bob Harris, who gives an oddly unconvincing performance even though he's playing himself.

Buckley is tremendous, as noted, but Julie Walters is equally good as her disapproving mum (no singing from Walters, though); the film plays engagingly with audience expectations and - to its credit - resists the temptation to suggest there are easy answers to life's questions. It works really hard to earn its moments of triumph and joy: there is some real heartbreak along the way, and the film suggests that while being dedicated to your dreams is all very well, it can also make you a horrible person to be around. Cheats a bit at the very end, but has earned the right to by that point, I would say.

Kudos

Loving and Leaving Washington: Reflections on Public Service

John Yochelson

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Book

Middle ground lost John Yochelson was seventeen when he first heard President Kennedy'scall, "Ask...

Brazil: The troubled rise of a global power

Michael Reid

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Book

A knowledgeable appreciation of a complex, vital South American giant, destined to be one of the...

Belize Footprint Handbook

Alex Robinson

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Book

From mountainous, tropical rainforests with abundant wildlife to fertile subtropical foothills and...

Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Lovecraft Country in TV

Oct 23, 2020

Lovecraft Country

2020 | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

7.5

(11 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

Lovecraft country was a total surprise to me, I expected something that was totally over the top and when I saw the opening scene of the first episode it looked looked I was going to be right. However the show soon settles down and, after the first episode finds itself ground in reality, even if it is a reality contain magic. A lot of the episodes have a Lovecraftian/Pulp feel (The strange case springs instantly to mind) but they are still set in a very real feeling world and some episodes throw a real emotional punch.
The first couple of episodes focus on a couple of characters which leave some of the supporting cast feeling a bit two dimensional to begin with but, by the final episode almost everyone has been filled out and some of the best emotion comes from the characters you'd least expect.
There is violence, racism, sex and magic in Lovecraft Country so you may want to keep younger viewers away.
The series has Lovecraftian themes but also pulls on other classic literature and still manages to steer away from the more conventional monsters , there are no vampires, no zombies and, even though it's called 'Lovecraft' Country his most famous creation, Cthulhu, only has a small cameo that has no effect on the story, favouring the Shoggoth as the go-to Lovecraft creation.