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The Lonely Londoners

Samuel Selvon and Nasta Susheila

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Both devastating and funny, The Lonely Londoners is an unforgettable account of immigrant experience...

The Art of Eating Well

Jasmine Hemsley and Melissa Hemsley

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The bestselling cookbook from Hemsley + Hemsley, including recipes from Jasmine and Melissa's...

LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020) in Movies

Oct 12, 2020 (Updated Oct 12, 2020)

Starting with the positives for this one...
The three young leads are pretty likable, one of them wears a Ghost shirt at one point which was cool. Method Man plays a priest which is always going to be a good time. It has a diverse cast and deals with the issue of gentrification which you don't see often in movies.

But that was about it for me, everything else is just kind of shoddy. Although the whole cast seem to gel nicely, aside from a few moments that made me smile, none of the humour really landed.
The vampire aspect of this movie was just a bit lame. There's a lot of references to Blade, and a nod to The Lost Boys, but all that does is remind the audience that they could be watching a much better vampire film.
I appreciate that this a family friendly film, but I don't recall seeing a single drop of blood, which is weird considering the subject matter.

There aren't really any set pieces until the end, and honestly, the final showdown is woefully shit. The stakes never seem high throughout, and the twist regarding the vampire leader is telegraphed from the first moment they appear on screen.

Living in the UK, I can't comment on how well Vampires vs The Bronx represents The Bronx itself. In that regard, I've heard positive things, and the closing lines of the movie suggest that this is a film made for those who live there, which is a great thing, but it may somewhat explain why I just didn't connect with it in the way that others have.

As a commentary on several relevant social issues, it's not too bad. As a vampire film, it sucks, pun fully intended.

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Elizabeth (1521 KP) Oct 13, 2020

As someone who grew up in the Bronx, it was not the best representation. It was a cutesy movie that was happening in a generic urban area. It could have been any urban project in a major US city.

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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) Oct 13, 2020

Thank you for the insight 🙌

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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Written in Red (The Others, #1) in Books

Aug 26, 2019 (Updated Sep 3, 2019)

Written in Red (The Others, #1)

Anne Bishop | 2013 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.8

(5 Ratings)

Book Rating

Well I thought this one started on a bit of intrigue. Where had Meg come from? What were these scars she had? How had she so new to...life?

I found this really hard to put down, if I'm honest, the story really pulled me in and despite there not being much of a romance, I'll admit I was hooked. I loved the innocence of Meg and her just being really nice to everyone, which equally confused them and made them want to protect her. It was nice seeing them turn from scary "other" beings to almost friendly. Especially with Meg. She became one of them. Part of their family.

Despite its lack of romance--I can't decide if something may happen between Meg and Simon in the future--I enjoyed this. It had a few elements of horror style things in--at the beginning and towards the end some trespassers are eaten alive and then some detailed snow related deaths towards the end--but although I didn't enjoy that bit so much, I forgot about it quickly enough.

I loved how every species of other in the Courtyard had their own little traits. The Crows with the "shiny". The wolves with their "arroooo" greetings. Tess with her living hair. The Hawks and their love of rats and mice. The elementals and their horses.

It was really well thought out and though it was almost 500 kindle pages long, I didn't lose interest once.

I'm interested enough in this group of characters to carry on the series. I even read the excerpt for the next book and it HAS given me hope for something more between Meg and Simon so I will be buying the next book at some point in the future.