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Napoleon (2023)
Napoleon (2023)
2023 | History
6
7.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Whole Does Not Equal The Sum of it's Parts
The new Epic Motion Picture NAPOLEON is the perfect example of the term “the whole does not equal the sum of the parts”. There are some very, very good items in this film, they just don’t combine to make a Motion Picture above the average.

Directed by Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR), NAPOLEON tells the tale of the titular Frenchman who rises to great power only to fall to great defeat. It is a story ripe for a fascinating film, this just isn’t that film.

There are many, many things that work in this movie, like the performance of Oscar Winner Joaquin Phoenix (THE JOKER) as Napoleon. He plays him as an enigmatic figure who is over-compensating for a lack of…something. Bravery? Self-Confidence? Height? That’s the problem, the film never delves into it, it just gives us a quirky character - strongly played by Phoenix - who is, obviously, using his power and skills as a General to cover up a flaw…whatever that is.

Vanessa Kirby (Oscar Nominated for PIECES OF A WOMAN a few years back) is equally strong and enigmatic as Napoleon’s Empress, Josephine. Kirby’s performance is, probably, the strongest in the film as she plays Josephine as strong and independent, living by her own rules and knowing that she has the powerful Napoleon at her beck-and-call. But, again, we never really find out the person behind the facade and her scenes with Phoenix/Napoleon fall flat for there never is any really love or passion between the 2 of them, just a “baby boy” fawning all over Josephine and a manipulative (we think) social climber using this “baby boy”.

4x Oscar Nominee (but never a winner) Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR) knows how to produce an EPIC and he puts together some EPIC Battle Scenes and Napoleon’s Emperor Inauguration scene is one to behold (which is why you should see this film on the largest screen possible) but these scenes seem isolated and separated from the rest of the film.

And, there, is where the problem of the film is. We have an interesting performance by Phoenix, a strong performance by Kirby and EPIC scenes from Scott, but they all seem isolated and in their own film and never quite gel together to build any emotional connection. All seem cold, flat and calculated. There is none of the passion that Napoleon says he has for France.

Go to marvel at the craft of the film, leave feeling unfulfilled, emotionally by NAPOLEON.

Letter Grade: B-

6 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Rebel Rose (The Queen's Council #1)
Rebel Rose (The Queen's Council #1)
Emma Theriault | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Set against the backdrop of revolutionary France, ‘Rebel Rose’ continues the story of Beauty and the Beast after the curse is broken. Belle and her Prince now have to find a way to navigate married life, rank, politics and explain a 10-year absence from the French Court of Versailles.

Controversially, Emma Theriault baits the hardcore Disney fans straight out of the gates by naming her Prince Lio (Lio, Lion, beast, gettit?) rather than Adam. In the grand scheme of things this can easily be forgiven but it still seems a strange choice. Maybe Adam was too English for a French Prince?

However, the use of first person perspective ensures that our protagonist remains firmly in Belle. Belle has refused the title of Princess upon marriage in order to stay true to her roots but is constantly hiding her true self: even referring to a trip around Europe as “one last adventure before the walls of the castle close around her”. When Belle witnesses the revolutionary sparks within the city this divides her further: how can she be part of the nobility these people rally against and an avid “commoner” at the same time?

In truth, Belle as a character divided me as well. Belle has always been my favourite Disney Princess (possibly to do with that massive library) and, in the most part, I feel Theriault wrote her well and stayed true to the character. However, in the early pages Belle felt very spoilt and selfish to me: preferring to disguise herself and explore Paris rather than support Lio in explaining his decade-long disappearing act to King Louis.

I was intrigued to know what my fellow reviewers thought and was unsurprised to see a LOT of criticism of our heroine, her shunning of the title of Princess and her lack of enthusiasm to be a leader. However, I almost felt that this made the story more realistic. Just because she broke a curse and married a Prince doesn’t mean she can automatically feel ready and comfortable leading a kingdom! Maybe she just has a fondness for hairy men?

Belle’s reluctance and tentativeness to lead also fed very nicely into her passion to improve the lives of the residents of the kingdom of Aveyon. This is common sense to her and therefore doesn’t feel like ruling. Indeed, it is not seen by any of the main characters as ruling but in the end it saves them all from a revolution of their own.

I would have liked Lio to be a little bit more developed than he was. The fact that he harboured an element of PTSD from the curse was really interesting but not explored any further than his nightmares and aversion towards roses. There was undoubtedly chemistry between him and Belle but it was just a bit lacklustre in my opinion. This may be due to his absence for a lot of the book but I felt the reader could have loved him a lot more than we did.

Lio’s cousin Bastien is the slimy villain of the tale and I would have liked a bit more mystery and suspense within his character. I appreciated that Belle didn’t like him initially as he was a powdered, wig wearing noble who was close to King Louis, basically as far away from Belle as possible. Bastien is also quite snobby towards Belle in his earliest chapters so you can’t blame her for disliking him.

  However, by using language to plainly show that Belle distrusts her husband’s cousin, Theriault instantly creates a flashing neon “villain” sign above his head. This would have been fine in a middle-grade book but within YA I think the reader could have been afforded to be misled a couple of times before uncovering Bastien’s real intentions.

**This section contains spoilers**
I also believe that Bastien’s eventual story arc was a tad unbelievable. At first I thought his revolutionary sympathies and further plots with various goons was a ruse in order to gain the throne for himself, particularly once he had established himself firmly with the advisory. Emma Theriault’s decision to keep Bastien true to the revolution seemed rushed, and a bit odd to be honest. This is a noble who lives in the lap of luxury and attends to King Louis himself but who then turns on his own kind after basically forcing the kingdom of Aveyon to break away from France? It didn’t seem plausible to me.


Rebel Rose is an easy to read continuation of one of our favourite Disney tales. It reintroduces us to old favourites such as Mrs Potts and Lumiere as well as introducing new characters such as Marguerite and Bastien. Belle’s journey to staying true to herself and following her gut is one anyone can empathise with and her discovery that she does not have to appease to outsider’s expectations will never cease to be important.

The magic contained within this novel is a perfect springboard for the rest of the novels within the Queen’s Council series: the next one is based on Mulan and will be written by Livia Blackburne before Jasmine’s story by Alexandra Monir follows in 2022. The majority of the action within this novel does take place towards the end so it can be a little slow paced and politics focused but I enjoyed seeing Belle and Lio break free of their fairytale life and become a little more real.

Although this isn’t my favourite Disney novel, I do appreciate the break away from the retelling genre and the move towards bringing these well-known characters into the real world. For a debut novel I think Emma Theriault should be immensely proud: the research for the historical context alone must have been a mission!
  
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
2017 | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Beauty and the Plot Holes
I know I shouldn't be looking to much in to animated movies turned in to live action, but this movie really had some obvious plot holes. I will get to a few of those in a bit. First I would like to say this was not a bad movie. I actually enjoyed it more then I thought I would have. The CGI was really good and the music/songs were done really well and really funny.

This movie played really closely to the animated movie. The beginning of the movie was one of the thing I felt was really off. I did not like the party being the back drop to him being a stuck up snob. I would have preferred him just turning the old lady away at the door and then getting cursed. I also thought all of the people turned into household objects were servants in the castle and not just party guests. Then at the end of the movie you have the household objects mingling with towns folks. I know they had to do it with how the beginning of the movie was set up, but it was really weird.


As I stated earlier I really like the CGI, I thought it fit in really well with the live actors. The Beast looked amazing, it had a very life like look to it. All of the household objects looked fantastic as well. They way they moved in the scenes, it did not feel computerized at all.


Now I know most of you have probably seen the animated movie and hopefully most of you have seen this movie. But one thing I like doing when I am watching a remake or know the story really well, I like to find the plot holes that are really funny and I will mention a few here. First is I like the fact they are in France and only say a few french words. I know its supposed to be a kids movie and most of them don't want to read subtitles, but at least give them all an accent. The only one with an accent was the candle holder. Second I would like to point out during the whole movie to and from the castle there were wolves that were ready to attack onsite. But when Belle headed back to the village to save her dad the Beast was not concerned at all about the wolves getting her. Last I would like to say that with how dangerous everything in the woods were Belle's dad left the horse behind at the castle even though he new about the wolves and how far away it was. Also there was the fact that if Belle was going to be there forever, why does she even need the horse.


Well this was a fun movie and think everyone should see it, maybe with a kid in the room so it is not weird. Until next time, enjoy the show.
  
MH
More Holmes for the Holidays
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
[a:Martin H. Greenberg|6436872|Martin H. Greenberg|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg] and company have provided a fine collection of Sherlockian holiday stories that fit in quite well with the traditional set.

"The Christmas Gift" by Anne Perry is a nice little piece about a stolen Stradivarius and a couple who want to marry against the wishes of the young lady's father. There is an excellent red herring, one of the few in this anthology.

In "The Four Wise Men" by Peter Lovesey, Watson must answer a call to duty from his former commanding officer in the Army, in order to help guard a medieval treasure in a Christmas pageant. The game is soon afoot, and Sherlock's powers of observation are as keen as ever.

Barbara Paul's "Eleemosynary, My Dear Watson" gives Holmes a jewel theft and a kidnapping to solve, which he does in his inimitable way. One clue seemed slightly too obvious to me, but it may not to other readers.

In "The Adventure of the Greatest Gift" by Loren D. Estleman, Holmes receives a wax cylinder containing a recording of a song popular in America. He takes it as a warning of a crime which could lead to war between Britain and France, and of course he leaps into action. This is Mycroft Holmes' only appearance in the volume.

There's plenty of misdirection in "The Case of the Rajah's Emerald" by Carolyn Wheat. Somehow, though, I suspected one of the great revelations in this one from the beginning, but I couldn't tell you exactly why. It didn't ruin the story for me, and there was still a surprise at the end.

On the other hand, Edward D. Hoch's "The Christmas Conspiracy" managed to take me completely unawares. I couldn't fathom why the crime would be committed or by whom, despite having a major clue dropped by one character. Very well done!

"The Music of Christmas" by L.B. Greenwood telegraphed the identity of the criminal from the start, but was well worth reading. One of the characters also tugged at the heartstrings.

Bill Crider's "The Adventure of the Christmas Bear" is largely memorable because of the appearance of Oscar Wilde as a character.

"The Adventure of the Naturalist's Stock Pin" by Jon L. Breen gives us Charles Darwin as Holmes' client. The mystery is less Sherlockian than some of the others, but I didn't mind reading it.

Daniel Stashower's "The Adventure of the Second Violet" was an interesting twist on a well-known Christmas story. I cannot say more without spoiling it, but he has a nice touch.

"The Human Mystery" by Tanith Lee is as dark as I expect from her, and was a depressing ending to the collection. It was, however, very well-written.

The anthology left me hungry for more Holmes, and wishing that I weren't between seasons of BBC's Sherlock or that I had another collection of stories on hand. That's the sign of a success, I think.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Paris Secret in Books

Dec 17, 2018  
The Paris Secret
The Paris Secret
Karen Swan | 2016 | Contemporary, Crime
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

The Paris Secret</i> is Karen Swan’s latest contemporary novel of light mystery, surprises and a hint of romance. A rich family man in France has recently learnt of an abandoned apartment belonging to his long-deceased father. What was even more astonishing was the discovery that the place is stacked top to bottom with famous artwork. Flora Sykes, a British Fine Art Agent, is hired to tell the family more about their newfound possessions.

Although Flora comes from a wealthy family, the opulence of the Vermeil family is overwhelming. Despite the initial welcoming, Flora is disconcerted by the behaviour of their rotten daughter, Natascha, and terse yet handsome son, Xavier. Feeling like she is already unwanted, things get worse after her research exposes a devastating secret about the family’s history. Fearing she is to blame for the Vermeil’s downfall, Flora tries to focus on her work, but her confusing feelings towards Xavier are driving her to distraction.

For art lovers, <i>The Paris Secret</i> will hold great appeal. A vast amount of research has gone into the novel to be able to include such detail about famous painters, artwork, auctions and much more. While the story primarily focuses on said topic, there is also the added touch of romance developing in the latter stages as well as a continuous theme of brotherly sisterly bonds.

A real-life scenario in which a Paris apartment was discovered after being shut up since the Second World War inspired Karen Swan to write this enthralling story. Using this as the bare bones, Swan tried to imagine what the discovery would have been like for the family, how it would alter their futures, and most importantly what it would change about the knowledge of their history. What emerges is a gripping book that emphasizes the importance of family, prejudices and the continued effects of past war.

In a way,<i> The Paris Secret</i> can be viewed as a piece of Chick Lit – it is about a twenty something woman who has never been in love. On the other hand, is there enough romance for it to sit comfortable under this heading? Perhaps not, but that helps to improve the overall storyline. The inevitable romance scenes do not detract from the Art History plot, thankfully limiting the amount of pages some readers may find uncomfortable.

In all honesty you will need to have a little interest, or enough knowledge of the fine art world to get the most out of this book. Although a leisurely read, <i>The Paris Secret</i> contains many highbrow topics and less of the unpretentious lovey-dovey stuff. Flora is an easy character to like and the narrative flows exceptionally well. Karen Swan is a worthy author to keep in mind when browsing for something to read.