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Merissa (12058 KP) rated Tainted Lives in Books
Jun 20, 2017
Tainted Lives by Mandasue Heller
I started off disliking this book intensely, there didn't seem to be anything "nice" about it at all. Very dark and gritty. The thing was, I couldn't actually stop thinking about it once I put it down. This for me is a sign of an exceedingly well written book so although I was hoping it would lighten up a bit I stuck with it.
Trust me when I say there is nothing fluffy about this book at all. There are scenes in it that are definitely not for the faint-hearted. And the only light part about the whole book is the very end!
How the characters grow and interact with each other is a joy to read. And you can completely understand the decisions and choices that Sarah makes. Vinnie is such a despicable character that you cannot help but to loathe him, but he does make an excellent villain, a true psychopath.
I would recommend this book very highly, just not for a light read.
* Verified Purchase ~ January 2013 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Trust me when I say there is nothing fluffy about this book at all. There are scenes in it that are definitely not for the faint-hearted. And the only light part about the whole book is the very end!
How the characters grow and interact with each other is a joy to read. And you can completely understand the decisions and choices that Sarah makes. Vinnie is such a despicable character that you cannot help but to loathe him, but he does make an excellent villain, a true psychopath.
I would recommend this book very highly, just not for a light read.
* Verified Purchase ~ January 2013 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Amazing Crayon Drawing was truly amazing. Remember how Awesome used to be a word to describe something that was truly "Awe-some?" well, it's Awesome.
Looking at the drawings were really inspiring and amazing. When I think of crayons, I think of cheap kids art supplies. My family business is retail art supplies and art classes for kids ages 4-12, and we don't have your typical Crayola crayons. We have the fancy pastels and the high-quality pencils and stuff. But Hammond uses Crayola, something I never considered a professional artist's tool.
Crayon drawing looks a lot like colored pencil or hard pastel on a gritty paper. depending on how hard you press you get either a buffed glossy look, or a light colored pencil look.
The instructions are good, though I can't draw and don't feel that this book would make me any better at it, but it definitely leads artists through the step by step process of laying down colors in a realistic way.
Recommendation: Ages 8+ to anyone who loves to draw with color (at a very reasonable price).
Looking at the drawings were really inspiring and amazing. When I think of crayons, I think of cheap kids art supplies. My family business is retail art supplies and art classes for kids ages 4-12, and we don't have your typical Crayola crayons. We have the fancy pastels and the high-quality pencils and stuff. But Hammond uses Crayola, something I never considered a professional artist's tool.
Crayon drawing looks a lot like colored pencil or hard pastel on a gritty paper. depending on how hard you press you get either a buffed glossy look, or a light colored pencil look.
The instructions are good, though I can't draw and don't feel that this book would make me any better at it, but it definitely leads artists through the step by step process of laying down colors in a realistic way.
Recommendation: Ages 8+ to anyone who loves to draw with color (at a very reasonable price).
Deep in the gritty underbelly of New Orleans, psychologist Grayson Thibodeaux loses everything when his wife leaves him to climb her company’s corporate ladder. He buries himself in his job of creating mind-bending adventure games for businesses as team-building explorations. When his ex-wife’s company hires Grayson’s to create an elaborate game, he doesn’t see how things can get worse. Until she dies during the course of the game he created…makmaking him the prime suspect for murder.
My Thoughts: Everyone loves a good mystery and this is no exception. Fast paced and keeps the reader guessing until the end. With so many twists and turns that keeps the readers' interest.
This is a well-written novel with interesting characters that the reader will easily identify with. This is my first novel from Robin Caroll, and it won't be my last. I truly enjoyed her writing and the plot for this novel was interesting.
Not only a mystery but a story about forgiving as well. A wonderful read for those who love a good mystery and suspense book.
My Thoughts: Everyone loves a good mystery and this is no exception. Fast paced and keeps the reader guessing until the end. With so many twists and turns that keeps the readers' interest.
This is a well-written novel with interesting characters that the reader will easily identify with. This is my first novel from Robin Caroll, and it won't be my last. I truly enjoyed her writing and the plot for this novel was interesting.
Not only a mystery but a story about forgiving as well. A wonderful read for those who love a good mystery and suspense book.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Serenity (2019) in Movies
Mar 7, 2019 (Updated Mar 7, 2019)
Not what I expected
I really don’t see what they were trying to do with this film. From the trailer it looks like it should be a dark and gritty thriller with a fantastic cast, and it all honesty it probably should have stuck with that. Instead it has such a bizarre and unexpected twist that really throws off the balance of the entire film. It’s unpredictable (which is unusual for a twist), but it is just so odd and out of place that I spent the rest of the film trying to figure out whether I actually liked the twist or not. In the end, I decided I didn’t.
And as great as the cast are, some of the acting felt a little too over the top and some are a little underused (Djimon Hounsou and Diane Lane). There are also parts of this film where Matthew McConaughey is driving past corn fields in a pickup truck that made me feel like I was watching Interstellar. I really wish I had been watching that instead.
And as great as the cast are, some of the acting felt a little too over the top and some are a little underused (Djimon Hounsou and Diane Lane). There are also parts of this film where Matthew McConaughey is driving past corn fields in a pickup truck that made me feel like I was watching Interstellar. I really wish I had been watching that instead.
The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) rated The Departed (2006) in Movies
Apr 2, 2018
Leonardo Dicaprio (4 more)
Matt Damon
Jack Nicholson
The direction is superb
Dialog is gritty and great.
A great 2 sided coin spinning on the edge of a 3rd story window...
This shouldn't be the first oscar Scorsese wins, but tragedies happen every day I guess... That said this is deserving of the honor, more so than most oscar winners. The Cat and Rat runaround is interesting to watch unfold. plus lines like "I'm the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy." make this a great watch.
A little bit of trivia:Martin Scorsese did not realize this was a remake of a Hong Kong movie until after he had agreed to direct it. It's the only remake of a foreign film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Martin Scorsese said that he was surprised the film had won, because the film is such a tough, nasty, and violent film, he never thought about the idea of awards while he was filming it.
Here's some great alternate movie posters to enjoy as well.
A little bit of trivia:Martin Scorsese did not realize this was a remake of a Hong Kong movie until after he had agreed to direct it. It's the only remake of a foreign film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Martin Scorsese said that he was surprised the film had won, because the film is such a tough, nasty, and violent film, he never thought about the idea of awards while he was filming it.
Here's some great alternate movie posters to enjoy as well.
Dean (6926 KP) rated Black Summer - Season 1 in TV
Jan 3, 2020 (Updated Jan 3, 2020)
Simple but effective (1 more)
Gripping episodes
Zombietastic!
After hearing good things about this zombie show on Netflix I finally caught up with it.
Definitely worth putting to the top of your list. This is how a zombie series should be done. We join the start of an outbreak with a small town evacuation and join a handful of survivors trying to get to safety. What I really liked is that the episodes just follow the chaos as it unfolds. You could imagine the situations happening in this type of event. The episodes vary from around 25 - 40 minutes in length. Some are just about 1 guy trying to avoid a zombie. Another episode shows the distrust in others when things go bad. So there is great variation overall in the settings and situations that arise. It's a little low budget, more evident in some episodes. However it doesn't need big budget effects and it has a raw gritty feel which adds to the intensity. A must for Zombie and Horror fans. Season 2 is coming this year.
Definitely worth putting to the top of your list. This is how a zombie series should be done. We join the start of an outbreak with a small town evacuation and join a handful of survivors trying to get to safety. What I really liked is that the episodes just follow the chaos as it unfolds. You could imagine the situations happening in this type of event. The episodes vary from around 25 - 40 minutes in length. Some are just about 1 guy trying to avoid a zombie. Another episode shows the distrust in others when things go bad. So there is great variation overall in the settings and situations that arise. It's a little low budget, more evident in some episodes. However it doesn't need big budget effects and it has a raw gritty feel which adds to the intensity. A must for Zombie and Horror fans. Season 2 is coming this year.
JT (287 KP) rated The Book of Eli (2010) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
A solid effort from the Hughes Brothers as they take on a post apocalyptic style western. Denzel Washington plays Eli a lone traveler who is following a path with a destination only he knows about. In his possession a book, so valuable to the resurrection of the human race that he’ll stop at nothing to protect it.
A story based around religion is not always going to be for everyone but if anything the cast is a shining light in an otherwise scrappy film.
Gary Oldman plays the true archetypal villain, looking like a cowboy but sounding like a biblical reverend, he truly knows how to play the bad guy. Washington gives an equally decent performance but is some way off his best.
The cinematography is stunning and the desolate landscape depicts a true reflection of the aftermath of nuclear war. It’s grainy and gritty but needed to pack more of a punch. The brief action and fight scenes are well choreographed and the twist in tale at the end should be enough raise a few questions in the car park.
A story based around religion is not always going to be for everyone but if anything the cast is a shining light in an otherwise scrappy film.
Gary Oldman plays the true archetypal villain, looking like a cowboy but sounding like a biblical reverend, he truly knows how to play the bad guy. Washington gives an equally decent performance but is some way off his best.
The cinematography is stunning and the desolate landscape depicts a true reflection of the aftermath of nuclear war. It’s grainy and gritty but needed to pack more of a punch. The brief action and fight scenes are well choreographed and the twist in tale at the end should be enough raise a few questions in the car park.
SK
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