Search
Search results
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind in Books
Jan 21, 2018
Sweet read but not for everyone
A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind is literally a cleaning manual for those who follow spirituality as part of their general course. Shoukei Matsumoto, a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, has created a simple guide for those who want to be mindful about their daily chores and why monks themselves do each task with such vigour and importance.
While the book itself is sweet, with lovely picture representations, I did feel that some of it may not apply to a secular western household as they speak of how to repair an altar. And when you live by yourself, sharing chores is not really an option. With that in mind, the book is geared for a certain audience, many of which may have to read this as just a pleasant handbook.
While the book itself is sweet, with lovely picture representations, I did feel that some of it may not apply to a secular western household as they speak of how to repair an altar. And when you live by yourself, sharing chores is not really an option. With that in mind, the book is geared for a certain audience, many of which may have to read this as just a pleasant handbook.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Viking Queen (1967) in Movies
Mar 1, 2018 (Updated Mar 2, 2018)
Wildly historically inaccurate, wholly absurd Hammer exploitation movie based on the events of the Iceni revolt led by Boudicca in 1st-century Britain. Roman governor (American) falls unconvincingly for Briton queen (Finnish); their imminent marriage promises to be bad for the business of the local merchants and their corrupt ally, a Roman general (Scottish), so a conflict is provoked, leading to rebellion...
Problems are mostly with the script, which appears to be only vaguely familiar with the concept of historical research, although a lot of the acting and staging is also pretty poor. Some usually reliable actors (Andrew Keir, Patrick Troughton) do the best they can with the material they're given. Probably best viewed as a high-camp piece of unintentional comedy. The widely-circulated story that one of the Roman actors can be seen wearing a wristwatch appears to be apocryphal.
Problems are mostly with the script, which appears to be only vaguely familiar with the concept of historical research, although a lot of the acting and staging is also pretty poor. Some usually reliable actors (Andrew Keir, Patrick Troughton) do the best they can with the material they're given. Probably best viewed as a high-camp piece of unintentional comedy. The widely-circulated story that one of the Roman actors can be seen wearing a wristwatch appears to be apocryphal.
Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) rated Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization in Tabletop Games
Mar 7, 2018
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilizaton Review
From the moment it arrived in 2006, Vlaada Chvátil’s Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization has occupied a lofty perch in BoardGameGeek’s top ten. Thus, it seems strange that the game is often characterized, even by its fans, by its flaws. The general consensus was that military was unbalanced and overpowered, several cards were either overpowered or useless, and the game was too blasted long. It seems Vlaada didn’t entirely disagree with those assessments as Czech Games Edition released Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization in late 2015 with the goal of addressing the original game’s shortcomings. To quote Meat Loaf, two out of three ain’t bad.
Critic: Dave Neumann
Read the full review here: https://opinionatedgamers.com/2016/01/19/through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilizaton-review/
Critic: Dave Neumann
Read the full review here: https://opinionatedgamers.com/2016/01/19/through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilizaton-review/
Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Alchemist in Books
Jul 3, 2018
Overrated
I had high hopes for this book based on general hype and reviews, and sadly it didn’t quite live up to it.
It isn’t a bad book, not at all, it’s just very short and simple. It’s trying to be something very profound and inspirational, but for me it wasn’t. It has a nice message around following your dreams, but it comes across as a little cheesy and unbelievable. There was an odd quote in here that I actually really liked, but nothing much else to make me feel inspired. The characters too didn’t seem particularly well developed or interesting. The one bonus is that it is very short, so you can get through it fairly quickly without it starting to drag.
It’s an alright read, but not one I’d ever recommend as a “must read”.
It isn’t a bad book, not at all, it’s just very short and simple. It’s trying to be something very profound and inspirational, but for me it wasn’t. It has a nice message around following your dreams, but it comes across as a little cheesy and unbelievable. There was an odd quote in here that I actually really liked, but nothing much else to make me feel inspired. The characters too didn’t seem particularly well developed or interesting. The one bonus is that it is very short, so you can get through it fairly quickly without it starting to drag.
It’s an alright read, but not one I’d ever recommend as a “must read”.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) in Movies
Oct 13, 2018
Duller than it should be
For such for such an interesting true story, this film should really be fascinating and interesting too, but sadly it isn’t. Instead of focusing on the efforts of the husband or of the resistance in general, this film instead chooses to focus on the wife. Whilst she most definitely was involved, to me her role didn’t seem as pivotal as others and this made the film a little dull. It is undoubtedly a harrowing tale, but this didn’t come cross in the film whatsoever. The script wasn’t great and even Jessica Chastain, who I usually quite like, couldn’t make this any better. In fact I think she made it worse... and I know it’s a true story, but all this film did was made me worry about all of the animals that died during the war ?
Roxanne (13 KP) rated F My Life: And You Thought You'd Had A Bad Day in Books
Nov 14, 2018
Do you ever feel like your life is going down the toilet? Does something happen to you where you just wish the ground would open up and swallow you? Then read this book! Nothing makes you feel better about your own misfortune than reading about other people's misfortune. This book is a hilarious collection of unfortunate events that have affected members of the general public. These are the most popular stories taken from the website FML and are guaranteed to make you chuckle to yourself. I know this is meant to be read in small chunks and to be referred back to now and again as a pick me up but I just have to read a book from start to finish. This made the book a little repetitive and dry in places but overall I really recommend this book.
Courtney (149 KP) rated Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime in Books
Nov 28, 2018
Brilliant for forensic lovers
First I should say, I’ve never been a fan of non-fiction. It’s for this reason that this book has been sat on my shelf for around a year just waiting to be read. I finally got around to reading it and I have to say, this really dug into the depths of my interest in crime and the forensic aspect of this.
I loved how this book was set out, going through in the order in which events take place when a real life crime is committed and dedicating a chapter to each stage, providing real life examples along the way which really keeps you engrossed.
I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who is in the slightest interested in crime in general or just specific aspects such as fire scenes, toxicology and pathology.
I loved how this book was set out, going through in the order in which events take place when a real life crime is committed and dedicating a chapter to each stage, providing real life examples along the way which really keeps you engrossed.
I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who is in the slightest interested in crime in general or just specific aspects such as fire scenes, toxicology and pathology.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Holmes and Watson (2018) in Movies
Jan 3, 2019 (Updated Jan 3, 2019)
Almost incomprehensibly bad comic spoof of Sherlock Holmes that - despite the presence of many talented and genuinely funny performers - still manages to be totally lacking in laughs, wit, or anything much in the way of entertainment value. Serious adaptations of the original stories - hell, the original stories themselves - all managed to be much funnier than this.
General tone of self-satisfied knowing stupidity; lazy jokes about Donald Trump, selfies, people texting dick pics, etc; much-too-late-to-the-party spoofing of the Guy Ritchie Holmes films from nearly ten years ago. I'll go and see just about anything but it took a sustained effort of will not to walk out of this film. 2018 may have departed but this film lingers on in its wake like the stench from rotting carrion. For pity's sake, avoid.
General tone of self-satisfied knowing stupidity; lazy jokes about Donald Trump, selfies, people texting dick pics, etc; much-too-late-to-the-party spoofing of the Guy Ritchie Holmes films from nearly ten years ago. I'll go and see just about anything but it took a sustained effort of will not to walk out of this film. 2018 may have departed but this film lingers on in its wake like the stench from rotting carrion. For pity's sake, avoid.
Erika (17789 KP) rated Black Spire (Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge) in Books
Nov 2, 2019 (Updated Nov 2, 2019)
In general, Disney is making reading the books essential to the overall Skywalker Saga. I learned that the hard way after the Last Jedi.
The beginning of the book picks up right after the sub-standard book Phasma book, also by Dawson. Vi Moradi is the main character in this book, and I didn't really like her previously. The rest of the book picks up after the Resistance was basically destroyed. Vi goes with another character from Phasma, Cardinal (or whatever his real name is) to Bantuu, which is the planet featured at Disney Parks' Galaxy's Edge.
Again, this is filling time in between the Last Jedi and the impending Rise of Skywalker. So, it is useful to read, to know what exactly is going on. This is the only reason I rated this as 'ok'.
The beginning of the book picks up right after the sub-standard book Phasma book, also by Dawson. Vi Moradi is the main character in this book, and I didn't really like her previously. The rest of the book picks up after the Resistance was basically destroyed. Vi goes with another character from Phasma, Cardinal (or whatever his real name is) to Bantuu, which is the planet featured at Disney Parks' Galaxy's Edge.
Again, this is filling time in between the Last Jedi and the impending Rise of Skywalker. So, it is useful to read, to know what exactly is going on. This is the only reason I rated this as 'ok'.
Figure 1 - Medical Cases
Medical and Education
App
More than 1 million healthcare professionals use Figure 1 to: ◦ Recognize rare conditions in their...