Darkness the Color of Snow: A Novel
Book
Like No Country for Old Men and Snow Falling on Cedars, a haunting, suspenseful, and dazzlingly...
Renminbi Rising: A New Global Monetary System Emerges
William H. Overholt, Guonan Ma and Cheung Kwok Law
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Critical analysis of RMB internationalization and the coming global currency shift Renminbi Rising...
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Duck Soup (1933) in Movies
Jun 29, 2020
Acting: 10
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
Main character Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is absolutely hilarious. He has quips for days and he’s always doing something to liven up a scene. The other characters, while good, get lost in the greatness of his funny antics.
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Numerous setpieces abound here which keeps the movie fresh. The movies’s consistent change of scenery and large visual spectacles propels Duck Soup to almost passable heights. I can appreciate a movie with a constant change of pace, especially older films.
Conflict: 3
I spent a decent amount of this movie trying to figure out just what exactly was going on. The conflict never seemed strong enough for me to think the stakes were worth it. It was clear the focus was more on the comedy aspect rather than driving the story.
Entertainment Value: 8
Memorability: 3
Pace: 10
Plot: 7
Resolution: 5
The ending was meh and that’s me being generous. It was essentially a compounding of the story as a whole which totally lost steam for me towards the back half of the movie. it felt like, by the time we reach the end, the writer forgot what initially made the story great in the first place.
Overall: 76
When you don’t really know what’s going on right off the nose, it makes it hard to settle into the story. Duck Soup does a lot of things rights. However, a solid main character and grandiose scenes aren’t quite enough to mask the fact that the movie falls just shy of being good. Not terrible, but definitely not great.
Great Bales of Fire: More Tales of a Country Fireman
Book
More tales of a country fireman, from the author of ALL FIRED UP. Perfect for fans of Heartbeat or...
The Louise Parker Method: Lean for Life: The Cookbook
Book
THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE LOUISE PARKER METHOD: LEAN FOR...
So You Want to Sing Rock 'n' Roll: A Guide for Professionals
Book
Rock 'n' roll is a style that was born out of the great American melting pot. An outgrowth of the...
Driving home to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets stuck in a terrible snowstorm. It forces her to stop at a rest area in Colorado. There she finds four other strangers stranded as well. When going back out to her car to try to get a cell signal, Darby makes a horrible discovery: in the van next to her vehicle, there's a little girl locked in a crate. Darby has no cell signal, there's no phone at the rest stop, and no way of knowing which of the four strangers has abducted this child. She's trapped and must find a way to rescue the kid. But how?
When I first picked up this book, I found it a little slow. Honestly, I think it's just because it stressed me out completely. One young college student trapped in the snow, trying to save a kid. It's a lot. I will say that Darby Thorne is a total badass (much like my hero, Darby Shaw, of The Pelican Brief).
This book is basically just a horror show, filled with violence, terror, and suspense. You don't know who Darby can trust, or what on earth will happen next. Adams packs a lot of tension into a book set in a rest area, and into a story that spans over less than half a day. It's pretty impressive.
Overall, while I can't say I completely enjoyed this book, because I was constantly worried, it's very well-done and suspenseful. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 here.
Kurt Vile recommended Journey in Satchidananda by Alice Coltrane in Music (curated)
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Apr 22, 2021
This kind of cinema is lost of me, guys. I'm glad you enjoy it. But I'll never watch anything like it again. It's okay, though. I'm sure Tarantino will be just fine without my money. He seems to be doing all right for himself.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2432 KP) rated Murder Comes to Call in Books
Oct 28, 2020
While this is the fourth book in the series, you could easily jump in here. You would miss out on the growth in the characters and their relationships, which is definitely part of the charm of the series. Plus these are just great characters to spend time with. Fans will be delighted to check in with these friends and catch up with the latest going on in their lives. The plot seemed to be a bit scattered early on, but I suspected that events would tie together, and my faith was rewarded. In fact, I was impressed with just how everything came together by the end. The setting, both location and historical, come to life well. We get a great feel for the impact of World War I on this village without it ever slowing things down. I was fully absorbed in another time and place as I read, and if you are looking for a great historical mystery, you will be, too.




