Search
Search results
Lee (2222 KP) rated The Mule (2018) in Movies
Jan 29, 2019 (Updated Jan 29, 2019)
A simple, enjoyable story
It appears there's just no stopping Clint Eastwood. Not only does he star in The Mule, a movie 'inspired by a true story', but he's also on producing and directing duties too. Just when you think you've seen him in his last ever role, he's back, 88 years old and still going strong!
Eastwood is Earl Stone, a highly successful horticulturist and Korean war veteran who we first meet in 2005. He arrives at a horticulture convention where he charms the ladies, engages in friendly competitive banter with other exhibitors and sneers at the guy promoting a new way of ordering flowers over the internet, before going on to win first prize for best bloom. But over the years all of this success has been at the expense of his family and while he's buying everyone in the bar a drink to celebrate his win, his daughter is getting married, wondering where her father is while her mother consoles her. A life on the road devoted to work has lost Earl the most important thing in life.
Shifting forward 12 years to 2017 and Earl has been forced to close up the flower business, blaming the damn internet for it all. He pays off his farm workers as best he can before heading off to his granddaughters house where she is holding a garden party. His presence only causes tension though - his daughter can't bear to be anywhere near him, while his ex wife takes the opportunity to once again give him a piece of her mind, disappointed that despite a lifelong devotion to work, he now can't even afford to help pay for his granddaughters upcoming wedding.
So when an offer comes his way, working as a mule for the cartel in return for good money, Earl accepts. An old man traveling, with no previous speeding tickets, is less likely to be stopped than the traditional Latinos they usually use, and Earl benefits by continuing his love of traveling the country in his trusty old truck. He tries the charming old man routine with the cartel members he comes into contact with on both sides of his deliveries, with varying degrees of success, but in-between he manages to just enjoy life - driving on the open road, singing along to the radio for hours on end. And the money certainly is good - Earl is able to buy a brand new truck, help pay for his granddaughters wedding and even help prevent a bar he's been going to for the last 50 or so years from closing. He gradually becomes more trusted within the cartel, becoming responsible for transporting increasingly larger quantities of drugs and drawing the attention of the more powerful cartel members. Attending big parties at their lavish houses, dancing with bikini clad girls and engaging in threesomes, this ninety something certainly is making the most of his twilight years! As power shifts within the cartel and Earl gets drawn deeper in, he finds himself having to decide between the cartel and his family. A decision with very different but serious consequences depending on which path he chooses.
All the while Earl is having his fun, the net is closing in on him in the form of a couple of DEA agents played by Bradley Cooper and Michael Peña. Under pressure to secure a bust from boss Lawrence Fishburne, they're getting closer and closer to capturing the cartels top mule. All three of these actors are seriously underused though in what are essentially pretty standard cop roles.
The Mule is a fairly simple movie with no big sense of drama, and certainly no Breaking Bad levels of cartel tension. However, I was never bored at any point and just found myself completely engrossed in it all, swept along by the genial nature of Earl and what was an enjoyable, sentimental story.
Eastwood is Earl Stone, a highly successful horticulturist and Korean war veteran who we first meet in 2005. He arrives at a horticulture convention where he charms the ladies, engages in friendly competitive banter with other exhibitors and sneers at the guy promoting a new way of ordering flowers over the internet, before going on to win first prize for best bloom. But over the years all of this success has been at the expense of his family and while he's buying everyone in the bar a drink to celebrate his win, his daughter is getting married, wondering where her father is while her mother consoles her. A life on the road devoted to work has lost Earl the most important thing in life.
Shifting forward 12 years to 2017 and Earl has been forced to close up the flower business, blaming the damn internet for it all. He pays off his farm workers as best he can before heading off to his granddaughters house where she is holding a garden party. His presence only causes tension though - his daughter can't bear to be anywhere near him, while his ex wife takes the opportunity to once again give him a piece of her mind, disappointed that despite a lifelong devotion to work, he now can't even afford to help pay for his granddaughters upcoming wedding.
So when an offer comes his way, working as a mule for the cartel in return for good money, Earl accepts. An old man traveling, with no previous speeding tickets, is less likely to be stopped than the traditional Latinos they usually use, and Earl benefits by continuing his love of traveling the country in his trusty old truck. He tries the charming old man routine with the cartel members he comes into contact with on both sides of his deliveries, with varying degrees of success, but in-between he manages to just enjoy life - driving on the open road, singing along to the radio for hours on end. And the money certainly is good - Earl is able to buy a brand new truck, help pay for his granddaughters wedding and even help prevent a bar he's been going to for the last 50 or so years from closing. He gradually becomes more trusted within the cartel, becoming responsible for transporting increasingly larger quantities of drugs and drawing the attention of the more powerful cartel members. Attending big parties at their lavish houses, dancing with bikini clad girls and engaging in threesomes, this ninety something certainly is making the most of his twilight years! As power shifts within the cartel and Earl gets drawn deeper in, he finds himself having to decide between the cartel and his family. A decision with very different but serious consequences depending on which path he chooses.
All the while Earl is having his fun, the net is closing in on him in the form of a couple of DEA agents played by Bradley Cooper and Michael Peña. Under pressure to secure a bust from boss Lawrence Fishburne, they're getting closer and closer to capturing the cartels top mule. All three of these actors are seriously underused though in what are essentially pretty standard cop roles.
The Mule is a fairly simple movie with no big sense of drama, and certainly no Breaking Bad levels of cartel tension. However, I was never bored at any point and just found myself completely engrossed in it all, swept along by the genial nature of Earl and what was an enjoyable, sentimental story.
All Islamic Audio Stories Muslims Free
Book and Lifestyle
App
Get the largest collection of free All Islamic audio stories Muslims for your phone or tablet. Read...
Art Of Brick Laying
Productivity and Reference
App
This is a series of 236 tuitional and informative videos all on the art of brick laying and more! ...
Arrette Scale – Sketch and draft architecture
Productivity and Utilities
App
Rated #1 Technical App for Architects by ArchDaily! Arrette Scale for iPad is an app for designers...
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) in Movies
Nov 14, 2020
Crude: check. Offensive: check. It’s Borat… what do you expect?
Kazakh news-hound Borat Margaret Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) is in trouble with his country's rulers after his first 'moviefilm' brought shame and disrepute to the country. Under threat of death he is sent on a mission to deliver Johnny - a monkey, but the most popular celebrity in Kazakhstan - as a gift to Donald Trump.
All of this gets screwed up when Johnny meets an untimely end during transportation. Fortunately all is not lost, since Borat's daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) has smuggled herself into the States. Borat determines to offer Tutar as a gift to US VP Mike Pence. But first, she must be made less feral and more acceptable to US society.
Baron Cohen has made his primary career out of spoofing both celebrities and common-or-garden bigots, giving them the rope with which to hang themselves with their outrageous views. This is what he did so successfully in the first Borat film in 2006. An issue now is that, since that first movie made Borat such a pop icon, his appearance on the street in his usual garb generates unwelcome attention. As such he adopts a variety of different disguises to get closer to his "victims".
Helpfully, his "daughter" (a brilliant Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova) is an unknown face, and takes some of this strain on her own shoulders.
So, I'm in no way a prude. And the antics in here generated a half dozen chuckles and a few genuine belly laughs. But some of the gags went just too far for me, and strayed into "genuinely uncomfortable" territory. A "moonblood" dance is just plain gross. And, notwithstanding Baron Cohen's Jewish roots, a gag involving the holocaust treads into territory that I don't think should be remotely approached for the purposes of comedy.
Many of the (allegedly) unaware stars manage to crucify themselves - and presumably, in some cases, their careers - by coming out with the most appalling commentary that often beggars belief. A doctor - Charles Wallace - would surely be struck off if in the UK. Others just appear gullible and/or easily led. Rudy Giuliani's behaviour - although ambiguous - is at the very least lewdly suspicious. You just wish that the team would have let the action proceed a bit longer.
As a saving grace, amongst all the crass and bigoted behaviour, there are individuals that shine out as warm and generous individuals. One is holocaust survivor Dim Evans, who sadly died earlier this year, holding out a hand of friendship to Borat when he appears in a synagogue obscenely and ridiculously dressed as a jew.
But the real star of the show is unemployed 'babysitter' Jeanise Jones who is genuinely taken in by the plight of Tutar. The warmth, concern and compassion she shows is genuinely heart-warming. The best news to come out of the whole movie is that a GoFundMe page, astutely created by her pastor, has so far raised more than $180,000 to help her out of poverty. This is on top of the $100,000 that Sacha Baron Cohen has donated to her Oklahoma City community.
2020 has been a bizarre year in general, but no more so than with the election shenanigans in the US. When you have Rudy Giuliani hosting news conferences from The Four Seasons Total Landscaping car park, sandwiched between a crematorium and a sex shop, and Donald "CAPS LOCK" Trump defiantly Tweeting like a moron, it's really difficult for any comedy film to top that.
'Borat 2' gives it a go. And you can only be impressed by the cojones on Sacha Baron Cohen. But ultimately this outing ends up feeling overly-scripted and 'forced' compared to the original. Borat fans will no doubt love it. I tolerated it, and was intermittently entertained. But I would have preferred more of the clever hilarious bits and less of the cringingly crude and offensive stuff.
Oh... and if you're ever on "Pointless" and need a pointless Tom Hanks movie... don't forget this one!
(For the full graphical review, please check out the bob the movie man web site here - https://rb.gy/ef9wcf . Thanks.)
All of this gets screwed up when Johnny meets an untimely end during transportation. Fortunately all is not lost, since Borat's daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) has smuggled herself into the States. Borat determines to offer Tutar as a gift to US VP Mike Pence. But first, she must be made less feral and more acceptable to US society.
Baron Cohen has made his primary career out of spoofing both celebrities and common-or-garden bigots, giving them the rope with which to hang themselves with their outrageous views. This is what he did so successfully in the first Borat film in 2006. An issue now is that, since that first movie made Borat such a pop icon, his appearance on the street in his usual garb generates unwelcome attention. As such he adopts a variety of different disguises to get closer to his "victims".
Helpfully, his "daughter" (a brilliant Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova) is an unknown face, and takes some of this strain on her own shoulders.
So, I'm in no way a prude. And the antics in here generated a half dozen chuckles and a few genuine belly laughs. But some of the gags went just too far for me, and strayed into "genuinely uncomfortable" territory. A "moonblood" dance is just plain gross. And, notwithstanding Baron Cohen's Jewish roots, a gag involving the holocaust treads into territory that I don't think should be remotely approached for the purposes of comedy.
Many of the (allegedly) unaware stars manage to crucify themselves - and presumably, in some cases, their careers - by coming out with the most appalling commentary that often beggars belief. A doctor - Charles Wallace - would surely be struck off if in the UK. Others just appear gullible and/or easily led. Rudy Giuliani's behaviour - although ambiguous - is at the very least lewdly suspicious. You just wish that the team would have let the action proceed a bit longer.
As a saving grace, amongst all the crass and bigoted behaviour, there are individuals that shine out as warm and generous individuals. One is holocaust survivor Dim Evans, who sadly died earlier this year, holding out a hand of friendship to Borat when he appears in a synagogue obscenely and ridiculously dressed as a jew.
But the real star of the show is unemployed 'babysitter' Jeanise Jones who is genuinely taken in by the plight of Tutar. The warmth, concern and compassion she shows is genuinely heart-warming. The best news to come out of the whole movie is that a GoFundMe page, astutely created by her pastor, has so far raised more than $180,000 to help her out of poverty. This is on top of the $100,000 that Sacha Baron Cohen has donated to her Oklahoma City community.
2020 has been a bizarre year in general, but no more so than with the election shenanigans in the US. When you have Rudy Giuliani hosting news conferences from The Four Seasons Total Landscaping car park, sandwiched between a crematorium and a sex shop, and Donald "CAPS LOCK" Trump defiantly Tweeting like a moron, it's really difficult for any comedy film to top that.
'Borat 2' gives it a go. And you can only be impressed by the cojones on Sacha Baron Cohen. But ultimately this outing ends up feeling overly-scripted and 'forced' compared to the original. Borat fans will no doubt love it. I tolerated it, and was intermittently entertained. But I would have preferred more of the clever hilarious bits and less of the cringingly crude and offensive stuff.
Oh... and if you're ever on "Pointless" and need a pointless Tom Hanks movie... don't forget this one!
(For the full graphical review, please check out the bob the movie man web site here - https://rb.gy/ef9wcf . Thanks.)
Becs (244 KP) rated Stars Over Zephyr in Books
Apr 20, 2019
AMAZING! This novel does not disappoint one bit!
You can also see this review on my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com
I received Stars Over Zephyr to review for my honest opinion from The Parliament House. Stars Over Zephyr is the third book in The Snow Spark Saga by Kathryn Lee Martin and it does not disappoint one bit!
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Gore, Violence, Oppression, Death
Kathryn does an amazing job blowing the reader away with the development, the background, the plot, and the story-line. Stars Over Zephyr is very well written and the story instantly grabs your attention, keeping it held until the very last page. You will be left in a puddle of tears at the ending and wanting more, being unable to wait until the fourth book is published. I sure am!!
The story picks up right where it left off in book 2: Garden of Ashes. Stars Over Zephyr follows the main gang: Rags, Henny, Colton, Ethan, and Ali, and their journey (more like escape) from the Threshing Floor. Throughout the first half of this novel, the gang are trying to escape the wraith of Sahrobi, the Kingdom Corps, and Hyperion who are trying to capture them to torture and execute them.
The gang happens to stumble upon some Pre-Yellowstone ruins where they hide out to escape the wraith of the Kingdom and the harsh winter winds. They leave behind the shelter just before dawn to travel to what they believe is to be Solstice. Now Solstice isn’t the safest place and is actually where a lot of criminals head to seek refuge. So it spells trouble with a capitol T.
Once the crew arrives, they are reprimanded by a group of Supporters who are trying to take back the Kingdom. This is where the gang meets Meridian who gives them an ultimatum – choose to work as slaves or be executed and sent back to Hyperion and the Threshing Floor in pieces. Rags, Colton, and Henny choose the latter where they also decide to gain intel on the rebel group so they can take the Kingdom back themselves. Before they decide to take the offer of working as slaves, they ask only one thing – that Ethan and Ali get home to Lexicon safely.
Characters:
Rags – our rugged MC who just wants to go home to her family. Still as realistic of a character as ever and seems to be cozying up with Henny and Colton at the same time (gurrlll choose already please *gets down on my knees and begs for Henny to gain her love*
Henny – still a smol angry cinnamonroll. Still as adorable as ever and has become very protective of our MC.
Colton – my little Irish boy *insert heart eyes here* He’s such a gentle boy and is honestly such an amazing friend to not only Henny, but to Rags as well. Seemed to replace Matthew as a brother but idk about that scene.. *glares at Rags for confusing me*
Ethan and Ali – these two little babes have gained so much background in this book. Ethan is still as annoyed as ever and Ali, oh my precious little Ali!
Lilian and Lotan – minor characters and don’t have a very important role. They are just kind of there in the story.
Meridian – the leader of the supporters and one bada** lady!! She plays a major role in the story and plot, and gains a ton of background. You tend to like her towards the end of the novel.
Hyperion – the wicked king that wants to be bowed too. He deserved what happened to him. (not saying cause spoilers)
Sahrobi – the evil devil child of Hyperion. She’s still hunting the gang and honestly she deserved full force what happened to her. (again not gonna say cause spoilers)
Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. This novel was so well written and there were only a very few grammatical errors, but I’m not holding that against the author as the story made up for it!
2. There was so much development and background given in Stars Over Zephyr! I loved it so much.
3. The plot was AHMAZING!!!
4. The overall story has left me feeling some feels. I really can’t wait for book 4!
5. I am defiantly going to reread this very soon as I enjoyed it so much.
“Some of the hardest things in life, Ragamuffin, are knowing exactly when and where to keep your mouth shut and stay out of things.”
I received Stars Over Zephyr to review for my honest opinion from The Parliament House. Stars Over Zephyr is the third book in The Snow Spark Saga by Kathryn Lee Martin and it does not disappoint one bit!
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Gore, Violence, Oppression, Death
Kathryn does an amazing job blowing the reader away with the development, the background, the plot, and the story-line. Stars Over Zephyr is very well written and the story instantly grabs your attention, keeping it held until the very last page. You will be left in a puddle of tears at the ending and wanting more, being unable to wait until the fourth book is published. I sure am!!
The story picks up right where it left off in book 2: Garden of Ashes. Stars Over Zephyr follows the main gang: Rags, Henny, Colton, Ethan, and Ali, and their journey (more like escape) from the Threshing Floor. Throughout the first half of this novel, the gang are trying to escape the wraith of Sahrobi, the Kingdom Corps, and Hyperion who are trying to capture them to torture and execute them.
The gang happens to stumble upon some Pre-Yellowstone ruins where they hide out to escape the wraith of the Kingdom and the harsh winter winds. They leave behind the shelter just before dawn to travel to what they believe is to be Solstice. Now Solstice isn’t the safest place and is actually where a lot of criminals head to seek refuge. So it spells trouble with a capitol T.
Once the crew arrives, they are reprimanded by a group of Supporters who are trying to take back the Kingdom. This is where the gang meets Meridian who gives them an ultimatum – choose to work as slaves or be executed and sent back to Hyperion and the Threshing Floor in pieces. Rags, Colton, and Henny choose the latter where they also decide to gain intel on the rebel group so they can take the Kingdom back themselves. Before they decide to take the offer of working as slaves, they ask only one thing – that Ethan and Ali get home to Lexicon safely.
Characters:
Rags – our rugged MC who just wants to go home to her family. Still as realistic of a character as ever and seems to be cozying up with Henny and Colton at the same time (gurrlll choose already please *gets down on my knees and begs for Henny to gain her love*
Henny – still a smol angry cinnamonroll. Still as adorable as ever and has become very protective of our MC.
Colton – my little Irish boy *insert heart eyes here* He’s such a gentle boy and is honestly such an amazing friend to not only Henny, but to Rags as well. Seemed to replace Matthew as a brother but idk about that scene.. *glares at Rags for confusing me*
Ethan and Ali – these two little babes have gained so much background in this book. Ethan is still as annoyed as ever and Ali, oh my precious little Ali!
Lilian and Lotan – minor characters and don’t have a very important role. They are just kind of there in the story.
Meridian – the leader of the supporters and one bada** lady!! She plays a major role in the story and plot, and gains a ton of background. You tend to like her towards the end of the novel.
Hyperion – the wicked king that wants to be bowed too. He deserved what happened to him. (not saying cause spoilers)
Sahrobi – the evil devil child of Hyperion. She’s still hunting the gang and honestly she deserved full force what happened to her. (again not gonna say cause spoilers)
Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. This novel was so well written and there were only a very few grammatical errors, but I’m not holding that against the author as the story made up for it!
2. There was so much development and background given in Stars Over Zephyr! I loved it so much.
3. The plot was AHMAZING!!!
4. The overall story has left me feeling some feels. I really can’t wait for book 4!
5. I am defiantly going to reread this very soon as I enjoyed it so much.
“Some of the hardest things in life, Ragamuffin, are knowing exactly when and where to keep your mouth shut and stay out of things.”
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated A Cold Day in Hell in Books
Jan 29, 2018
Engaging characters (2 more)
Great courtroom scene
Strong female lead
Engaging debut mystery
Lauren Riley is a thirty-eight-year-old twice-divorced mother of two college age daughters, working cold case homicides. She has a great, younger cold case partner, Reese, and carries a torch for her ex-husband, Mark. Meanwhile, her ex, Joe Wheeler, is a Garden Valley homicide detective and a total (excuse my language) a-hole, who brazenly punches Lauren in the mouth after learning she's working against him on a case. Lauren's working two jobs -- her daytime gig on cold cases and also as a certified Private Investigator (PI). Lauren is hired by her nemesis, attorney Frank Violanti, to work the high-profile case of David, who is accused of murdering Katherine Vine, the beautiful, younger wife of Anthony Vine, who runs a successful chain of gyms. Lauren knows taking the case could stir up some issues in her department, with the DA, and with Reese. But in her gut, she feels that David is innocent. Can she and Frank make peace and prove it?
I read a lot of mysteries and while there are thankfully more strong female detectives coming on the scene (see Kristen Lepionka's Roxanne Weary and Emily Littlejohn's Gemma Monroe, for instance), they are still few and far between. While Lauren Riley may still be finding herself (there's a lot of side coverage of emotional entanglements and relationships here), I still love finding and championing a complicated, real, strong female detective.
Lauren's PI case is really the star of the show, and it's interesting and engaging throughout the entire novel. It keeps you guessing throughout, questioning whether David did it or not, and who else played a key role in Katherine and Anthony Vine lives. Nothing is cut or dried.
Also fascinating is Lauren's main cold case. While you could argue some of it ties up neatly, it doesn't go as expected, per se, if that makes sense, and the characters involved are intriguing and different. All the cases kept me interested as I read. A lot certainly happens in this novel, between Lauren's work and personal life. Nothing is boring, and there's never really a dull moment, especially once you get into the swing of things and realize that the book covers both her personal life and her work life in-depth. It also tells the story from more than Lauren's POV, even if she's the main focus, which works surprisingly well.
I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the book culminates in a trial related to Lauren's PI case, and it's a great, suspenseful, incredibly well-written piece of work. The courtroom scenes were so well-done and really had me on the edge of my seat. One of the things I loved about this novel was how I could so easily picture each of these characters-- each is well-described and fleshed out. Redmond writes darn good trial scenes (and a darn good book), and I was frantically flipping the pages to see how things would turn out.
It wasn't until I finished the book that I learned the author is a retired homicide detective, but it definitely shows as you read. The novel is written expertly in terms of police and courtroom procedure, but still enjoyable in terms of the characters. There is a lot of personal "stuff" in terms of Lauren; this will be a little different if you are used to the Bosch type of detective (the love of my life and my hero). Still, it's completely refreshing to see a complicated female lead detective, and, as mentioned, so nice to be reading more of these stories. I grew to really love Lauren.
The courtroom scenes are great, and a lot will keep you guessing. Sure, some of the cold cases wrap up what seem a little easily, but even Lauren addresses that as she works. I read some reviews that Joe Wheeler is a cliche character, and I guess I could see where people get that, but for me, society as of late seems to be showing us everyday that these sort of angry, abusive men truly exist. Everywhere. To me, Joe was a sadly realistic portrayal of a horrible man, and his slow, boiling anger only added to the tension of the entire novel.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It looks like it's going to be a series, and it ends with some unfinished issues that make me even more eager for book two.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
I read a lot of mysteries and while there are thankfully more strong female detectives coming on the scene (see Kristen Lepionka's Roxanne Weary and Emily Littlejohn's Gemma Monroe, for instance), they are still few and far between. While Lauren Riley may still be finding herself (there's a lot of side coverage of emotional entanglements and relationships here), I still love finding and championing a complicated, real, strong female detective.
Lauren's PI case is really the star of the show, and it's interesting and engaging throughout the entire novel. It keeps you guessing throughout, questioning whether David did it or not, and who else played a key role in Katherine and Anthony Vine lives. Nothing is cut or dried.
Also fascinating is Lauren's main cold case. While you could argue some of it ties up neatly, it doesn't go as expected, per se, if that makes sense, and the characters involved are intriguing and different. All the cases kept me interested as I read. A lot certainly happens in this novel, between Lauren's work and personal life. Nothing is boring, and there's never really a dull moment, especially once you get into the swing of things and realize that the book covers both her personal life and her work life in-depth. It also tells the story from more than Lauren's POV, even if she's the main focus, which works surprisingly well.
I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the book culminates in a trial related to Lauren's PI case, and it's a great, suspenseful, incredibly well-written piece of work. The courtroom scenes were so well-done and really had me on the edge of my seat. One of the things I loved about this novel was how I could so easily picture each of these characters-- each is well-described and fleshed out. Redmond writes darn good trial scenes (and a darn good book), and I was frantically flipping the pages to see how things would turn out.
It wasn't until I finished the book that I learned the author is a retired homicide detective, but it definitely shows as you read. The novel is written expertly in terms of police and courtroom procedure, but still enjoyable in terms of the characters. There is a lot of personal "stuff" in terms of Lauren; this will be a little different if you are used to the Bosch type of detective (the love of my life and my hero). Still, it's completely refreshing to see a complicated female lead detective, and, as mentioned, so nice to be reading more of these stories. I grew to really love Lauren.
The courtroom scenes are great, and a lot will keep you guessing. Sure, some of the cold cases wrap up what seem a little easily, but even Lauren addresses that as she works. I read some reviews that Joe Wheeler is a cliche character, and I guess I could see where people get that, but for me, society as of late seems to be showing us everyday that these sort of angry, abusive men truly exist. Everywhere. To me, Joe was a sadly realistic portrayal of a horrible man, and his slow, boiling anger only added to the tension of the entire novel.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It looks like it's going to be a series, and it ends with some unfinished issues that make me even more eager for book two.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Castles of Mad King Ludwig in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2020
“Well why CAN’T I just have a long hallway between my garden and my porch? How else am I going to get to the stairwell?” – Nobody ever.
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a game of castle construction in the most ridiculous fashion. Oh, there ARE rules, mind you, but what results can be a ludicrous display of asinine architectural planning but also hilarity at what monstrosity you have assembled.
DISCLAIMER: I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. Also there is an expansion to this game, but we are not reviewing it at this time. Should we review it in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. -T
Ok, stop ranting about how stupid your castles always look at game’s end. In this game you are building a castle for an eccentric (and mad) king to appease his skewed vision of stylish housing. Setup is somewhat lengthy, so I will not detail all the steps here. Determine the starting player and give them the castleeple (grr) to denote them as the first Master Builder. As Master Builder, you will draw room tile cards that dictate from which size pile you will draw room tiles. The Master Builder will then assign each room tile a cost and place the tile next to the cost for all to see. Each player will then choose a room tile to add to their castle and pay the Master Builder the cost (or choose a corridor). The Master Builder will then choose their room tile and pay the bank the cost. For every room tile that did not get chosen a coin will be placed on it as consolation for whomever purchases it in the future.
Once you have placed your room tile you score the points printed on the room, add or subtract any bonus points for placing near other specific rooms, and check for room completion. If you have connected all entryways from a room to different rooms or corridors you may receive the benefits of room completion printed on a separate completion bonus tile. These bonuses could range from re-scoring the room, drawing extra bonus cards, or even receiving room tiles for free.
Game play continues this way until the room tile cards run out. Players take note of their position on the scoring tableau and count up any bonus cards they have completed as well as placement in the face-up public goals. Score any bonus points for leftover money and allow the winner to gloat and show off their preposterous castle… thing.
Components. There are quite a lot of components for this game. You are definitely getting your money’s worth here. The cards are of good quality. The room tiles, bonus tokens, scoring tableau, coins, and main organization board are thinner stock cardboard, but they have held up really well for me. The castleeple and scoring discs are nice, and the rule book is concise and easy to read and comprehend. The artwork is nice, and the whole package it put together really well. Ok, so I honestly don’t remember what the insert looks like because I tossed it right away, but I’m sure it was fine too?
So I gave this one some crap at the top of the review for being mostly ridiculous. And it is. But, I also really really like this game. It allows me to contrive a strategy and tactics as I play, and I feel great about what I have done by the end of the game. I did not really care for Suburbia when I played it, and though this is not a copy, it is similar. Why do I like this one so much but not the other? I really do not know. The art is way better on Castles, but surely that can’t be enough to overpower the game play right? Is it the Master Builder feature? It is the different sized and shaped room tiles that allow me to make a monster on the table in front of me? Must be all of these things. As you can see, I am not alone in my enjoyment of the game as Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an absurd 15 / 18. Get this one for all your architect aficionado friends.
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a game of castle construction in the most ridiculous fashion. Oh, there ARE rules, mind you, but what results can be a ludicrous display of asinine architectural planning but also hilarity at what monstrosity you have assembled.
DISCLAIMER: I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rule book, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy from the publisher directly or from your FLGS. Also there is an expansion to this game, but we are not reviewing it at this time. Should we review it in the future we will either update this review or post a link to the new material here. -T
Ok, stop ranting about how stupid your castles always look at game’s end. In this game you are building a castle for an eccentric (and mad) king to appease his skewed vision of stylish housing. Setup is somewhat lengthy, so I will not detail all the steps here. Determine the starting player and give them the castleeple (grr) to denote them as the first Master Builder. As Master Builder, you will draw room tile cards that dictate from which size pile you will draw room tiles. The Master Builder will then assign each room tile a cost and place the tile next to the cost for all to see. Each player will then choose a room tile to add to their castle and pay the Master Builder the cost (or choose a corridor). The Master Builder will then choose their room tile and pay the bank the cost. For every room tile that did not get chosen a coin will be placed on it as consolation for whomever purchases it in the future.
Once you have placed your room tile you score the points printed on the room, add or subtract any bonus points for placing near other specific rooms, and check for room completion. If you have connected all entryways from a room to different rooms or corridors you may receive the benefits of room completion printed on a separate completion bonus tile. These bonuses could range from re-scoring the room, drawing extra bonus cards, or even receiving room tiles for free.
Game play continues this way until the room tile cards run out. Players take note of their position on the scoring tableau and count up any bonus cards they have completed as well as placement in the face-up public goals. Score any bonus points for leftover money and allow the winner to gloat and show off their preposterous castle… thing.
Components. There are quite a lot of components for this game. You are definitely getting your money’s worth here. The cards are of good quality. The room tiles, bonus tokens, scoring tableau, coins, and main organization board are thinner stock cardboard, but they have held up really well for me. The castleeple and scoring discs are nice, and the rule book is concise and easy to read and comprehend. The artwork is nice, and the whole package it put together really well. Ok, so I honestly don’t remember what the insert looks like because I tossed it right away, but I’m sure it was fine too?
So I gave this one some crap at the top of the review for being mostly ridiculous. And it is. But, I also really really like this game. It allows me to contrive a strategy and tactics as I play, and I feel great about what I have done by the end of the game. I did not really care for Suburbia when I played it, and though this is not a copy, it is similar. Why do I like this one so much but not the other? I really do not know. The art is way better on Castles, but surely that can’t be enough to overpower the game play right? Is it the Master Builder feature? It is the different sized and shaped room tiles that allow me to make a monster on the table in front of me? Must be all of these things. As you can see, I am not alone in my enjoyment of the game as Purple Phoenix Games gives this one an absurd 15 / 18. Get this one for all your architect aficionado friends.
I have a tough time reviewing books about Black Feminism. I enjoy reading them - well, maybe "enjoy" isn't quite the right word. They can be tough. I am glad to have read them. But how to review them? I'm a white woman, it's not really my place to critique these works. But it would be remiss of me to not talk about them - denying them the same space on my blog that I give to everything else I read is its own kind of erasure. I'm not sure how best to resolve this, but for this specific book, at least, I can talk about what I learned from it.
What I learned is that some of my childhood was straight-up racist. I always thought of my childhood as pretty idyllic - my parents were high school sweethearts, and to this day still adore each other. We lived in a house my parents owned. (My most formative years were actually spent in the house my mother grew up in; my parents bought it from my grandparents when I was seven.) We got to run around and play on a quiet neighborhood street where we knew all of our neighbors. We had pets of various species, we got technology fairly quickly since my father was a computer geek, we had a garden out back that Mom canned beans out of every year.
But I was homeschooled until eighth grade. (With Bob Jones and Abeka Books, notoriously Christian curriculum. I thought humans lived with dinosaurs well into my twenties.) We went to a conservative Christian church every Sunday. (And Tuesday. And some Fridays.) While my parents taught that I could be anything I wanted to be, the church definitely over rode that with "women should be subservient to men" and "don't trust your own judgment, ask God/your parents/the elders."
The incident that Jerkins' book brought back to mind, though, was a party I went to. I'm pretty sure it was someone's birthday party, but at a church. Not our church. There were a lot of people, though, so I could be wrong about the birthday party. It was this party where I got the tiny scar in my eyebrow - some kid broke the bat on the pinata and threw it behind him, where it hit me in the face. Before that, though, was the cake walk. There were footprints laid out on the concrete floor, and we paced around them while music played, kind of like musical chairs, I think. (I was younger than ten, my memory is a little fuzzy.) I won the cake! I thought nothing of this until reading This Will Be My Undoing.
"The cakewalk was a dance performed in the late nineteenth century at slave get-togethers. You lean or rear back and kick your feet out left and right or vice versa as you move forward......White people would watch them dance, fascinated by the exoticness of it all. These spectacles were purposeful humiliations. But the cakewalk evolved as slaves' own form of subversion. While serving at large and fancy parties in the early 1800s, they would watch well-to-do white people perform strict and stiff dances, like cotillions and quadrilles, and mimic them, exaggerating the bowing and small skips and hops and adding some high steps and jumps. In diaries kept by white people in the antebellum South, the cakewalk is not depicted as a form of satire. After all, why would a sweet slave mock his benevolent master? To white people's eyes, this imitation seemed like flattery. They were delighted that the slaves were attempting their civilized dances. In fact, they would hold competitions and the winning slaves would receive a cake, hence the name. Yet they were being mocked, right in front of their faces."
WHY WAS THIS BEING HELD AT A CHURCH PARTY? I don't recall if it was all white kids, but it probably was. My hometown was not very ethnically diverse. The more I learn - academically, politically, socially, secularly - the more I realize my childhood was pretty fucked up in a lot of different ways. I don't know if it was more or less fucked up than most white kids' childhoods - white supremacy is insidious. I was an ignorant child at the time, but to realize, decades later, how racist holding a cakewalk is, stopped me in my tracks. (Incidentally, this means that calling something "a cakewalk" has its roots in racism, like so many other things in our language. Cakewalks weren't easy - but the best dancers made them look that way.)
So that's what I can say about this book. I learned something about my childhood. Beyond that, all I will offer is that Jerkins is an excellent writer; the book flows well and is an easy read, despite the subject matter not being easy. Read it. It's important.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
What I learned is that some of my childhood was straight-up racist. I always thought of my childhood as pretty idyllic - my parents were high school sweethearts, and to this day still adore each other. We lived in a house my parents owned. (My most formative years were actually spent in the house my mother grew up in; my parents bought it from my grandparents when I was seven.) We got to run around and play on a quiet neighborhood street where we knew all of our neighbors. We had pets of various species, we got technology fairly quickly since my father was a computer geek, we had a garden out back that Mom canned beans out of every year.
But I was homeschooled until eighth grade. (With Bob Jones and Abeka Books, notoriously Christian curriculum. I thought humans lived with dinosaurs well into my twenties.) We went to a conservative Christian church every Sunday. (And Tuesday. And some Fridays.) While my parents taught that I could be anything I wanted to be, the church definitely over rode that with "women should be subservient to men" and "don't trust your own judgment, ask God/your parents/the elders."
The incident that Jerkins' book brought back to mind, though, was a party I went to. I'm pretty sure it was someone's birthday party, but at a church. Not our church. There were a lot of people, though, so I could be wrong about the birthday party. It was this party where I got the tiny scar in my eyebrow - some kid broke the bat on the pinata and threw it behind him, where it hit me in the face. Before that, though, was the cake walk. There were footprints laid out on the concrete floor, and we paced around them while music played, kind of like musical chairs, I think. (I was younger than ten, my memory is a little fuzzy.) I won the cake! I thought nothing of this until reading This Will Be My Undoing.
"The cakewalk was a dance performed in the late nineteenth century at slave get-togethers. You lean or rear back and kick your feet out left and right or vice versa as you move forward......White people would watch them dance, fascinated by the exoticness of it all. These spectacles were purposeful humiliations. But the cakewalk evolved as slaves' own form of subversion. While serving at large and fancy parties in the early 1800s, they would watch well-to-do white people perform strict and stiff dances, like cotillions and quadrilles, and mimic them, exaggerating the bowing and small skips and hops and adding some high steps and jumps. In diaries kept by white people in the antebellum South, the cakewalk is not depicted as a form of satire. After all, why would a sweet slave mock his benevolent master? To white people's eyes, this imitation seemed like flattery. They were delighted that the slaves were attempting their civilized dances. In fact, they would hold competitions and the winning slaves would receive a cake, hence the name. Yet they were being mocked, right in front of their faces."
WHY WAS THIS BEING HELD AT A CHURCH PARTY? I don't recall if it was all white kids, but it probably was. My hometown was not very ethnically diverse. The more I learn - academically, politically, socially, secularly - the more I realize my childhood was pretty fucked up in a lot of different ways. I don't know if it was more or less fucked up than most white kids' childhoods - white supremacy is insidious. I was an ignorant child at the time, but to realize, decades later, how racist holding a cakewalk is, stopped me in my tracks. (Incidentally, this means that calling something "a cakewalk" has its roots in racism, like so many other things in our language. Cakewalks weren't easy - but the best dancers made them look that way.)
So that's what I can say about this book. I learned something about my childhood. Beyond that, all I will offer is that Jerkins is an excellent writer; the book flows well and is an easy read, despite the subject matter not being easy. Read it. It's important.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Angelicalynnn (21 KP) Jul 6, 2018
iamsara (130 KP) Jul 19, 2018