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The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<h2><strong>My body, heart and soul were not ready for the final book.</strong></h2>
I procrastinated reading <em>The Shadow Glass</em> because this is the end. The End. THE END.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2925" src="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2017/06/internal-screaming-sherlock.gif"; alt="internal screaming sherlock" width="320" height="147" />
It's a week after finishing the last book in <em>The Bone Witch</em> trilogy and mere hours before this review is going live and I'm sitting here going: OH. MY. GOD. What are words even? Can I come back when my tears are refreshed and ready to cry internally again (because I can't actually cry when reading for some reason)? <em>Will my review even give justice???</em>

<h2><strong>I adore the characters SO MUCH.</strong></h2>
Back when I first read <em><a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/some-of-those-arcs-from-last-year/">The Bone Witch</a>,</em> I had so much difficulty getting through the first book because it's filled with descriptions and world-building, which made the book go by slowly. However, I loved the concept and the characters, so I sucked it up and continued. But when I read <a href="http://theartsstl.com/rin-chupeco-the-heart-forger-sourcebooks-fire/"><em>The Heart Forger</em></a> last year, I got <em>completely </em><em>invested</em> in the characters Chupeco created and fell in love with all of them.

Tea, Kalen, Fox, Inessa, Likh, Khalad - these are only a few of the characters that make up the trilogy. I adore the entire cast Chupeco introduces to us from the first book and brought over through the rest of the trilogy as well. I love their dynamics with each other, the relationships they've developed and their interactions. In particular, I truly appreciated how everyone accepted Likh's transition as she discovered more about herself and who she truly is. I also enjoyed reading their sassy and snarky remarks as Tea continues on her journey to get a shadow glass in order to save the one she loves, even if it will potentially kill her.

<h2><strong>Everything comes together in <em>The Shadow Glass</em>.</strong></h2>
I had so many questions after reading <em>The Heart Forger</em>! (Mainly, will my precious beans survive???) I am so happy Chupeco answers all of those questions in <em>The Shadow Glass</em>. Much like the second book's format, the story is told in two timelines eventually coming together at the end. One timeline is in the Bard's perspective when Tea is older while the other is Tea telling her past. This format can get confusing and overwhelming with so much going on, but it is easily rectified by the end.

<strong>Side Note:</strong> I read <em>The Shadow Glass</em> at midnight and half of my brain is asleep, so um, that probably explains me being confused and overwhelmed. Sleepy Sophia does not equate to understanding Sophia.

<h2><strong>What a beautiful ending.</strong></h2>
I am still a bit speechless, but <em>The Shadow Glass</em> is simply beautiful and marvelous. (I even wrote a coherent review!) I'm grateful for getting to know each of the characters and reading their journey, although I'll miss them greatly. I encourage everyone to give <em>The Bone Witch</em> trilogy a try - the slow beginning and all the information are well worth it.

<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/the-shadow-glass-by-rin-chupeco/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
The Great Wall (2016)
The Great Wall (2016)
2016 | Action, Drama, Mystery
4
5.8 (27 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Disappointingly Pedestrian
Acclaimed director Zhang Yimou has been at the helm of some of China’s greatest film assets. 1991’s Raise the Red Lantern is widely regarded as one of the defining foreign-language films of its period and 2004’s House of Flying Daggers received huge critical acclamation for its stunning cinematography and exceptional script.

Here, Yimou teams up with one of Hollywood’s greatest assets, Matt Damon in a monster flick to rival all others. But does The Great Wall showcase the very best from its director and leading man?

When a mercenary warrior on the run from a group of bandits (Matt Damon) is imprisoned within China’s magnificent Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As surge after surge of snarling, prowling beasts called Taotie besiege the massive construction, his quest for immeasurable fortune turns into a journey toward heroism. He joins a vast army of elite Chinese soldiers to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.

Unfortunately, The Great Wall squanders the talents of both Damon and Yimou with an unnecessarily dense script overriding any sense of drama. To be honest, it’s all just a bit of a bore.

The cast is fine but so vast that Damon and Jin Tian, who we will see again very soon in Kong: Skull Island, are the only stars to make any sort of impact. Even then, a poor script stops them from being anything but cardboard cut-outs. There is no character development whatsoever. In fact, as I write this paragraph I nearly forgot to mention Willem Dafoe. He makes no impact on the final outcome at all.

Elsewhere, the special effects range from laughably poor to adequate and certainly not befitting of a film costing well over $200million. The wall itself is rendered in decent CGI and the numerous battle scenes have a reasonably immersive feel, but the Taotie lacks realism and as the main antagonists throughout, this is a serious problem.

The cinematography too is not up to the standard of Yimou’s previous works. Relying far too heavily on green screen, it wastes his incredible eye for detail and continuously feels like you’re sat watching a very expensive video game. As with last year’s Gods of Egypt, there’s a certain glossy quality to the picture that dominates and this is what stops it being believable.

Nevertheless, the music is very good indeed. Ramin Djawadi has scored big budget blockbusters like Iron Man and Pacific Rim with The Great Wall taking a few influences from the latter. It’s definitely the saving grace here and alleviates a couple of the shortcomings.

Overall, The Great Wall is a film unworthy of the talent both behind and in front of the lens. It’s crammed full of poor CGI and uninspiring cinematography, though its great score is unquestionably a highlight. With such good subject matter, it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/02/18/the-great-wall-disappointingly-pedestrian/
  
Sound of Metal (2019)
Sound of Metal (2019)
2019 | Drama, Music
Rooted in Humanity
SOUND OF METAL has a pretty simple “one-line summary”: Heavy Metal Drummer deals with going deaf. But is it the humanity at the center of this film that makes it worthwhile.

Written and Directed by Darius Marder (THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES), SOUND OF METAL tells the tale of Ruben, the drummer of the Heavy Metal Band BLACK GAMMON, who must come to terms with suddenly losing most of his hearing.

Starring Riz Ahmed - in an Oscar nominated turn - SOUND OF METAL follows Ruben’s journey as he comes to terms with the wrinkle that his life has thrown at him and the silence makes him study the non-stillness inside of him.

This all sounds like it could be corny, right? Well…under the guidance of Marder and with a central performance that is grounded and real by Ahmed, it is anything but. This film finds itself in it’s humanity and the very real, personal interactions.

Credit must start with the performance of Ahmed (heretofore known to me as Bodhi Rook in STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE), he is in almost every scene in the film and he must bring a vulnerability to the screen for the audience to care about him - and he accomplishes this in spades. Even when his character makes mistakes (and, trust me, he makes a TON of them), you end up rooting for him to succeed.

Paul Raci was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Joe, the head of the Deaf Community for Addicts that Ruben eventually goes to. His turn is also grounded in the reality - the reality of addicts who have yet another twist in their life thrown at them. Raci has a road-weary look to him and gives off an aura of someone who has seen - and heard - it all, so must take a “tough love” approach. This performance works very well.

Also strong in this film is Olivia Cooke (READY PLAYER ONE) as Lou, Ruben’s girlfriend/lead singer of the Metal Band they are in. She must make some tough decisions in the course of this film - and you end up emotionally engaged in her story as well. Both Ruben and Lou are good people at heart that must make hard choices, you root for both of them to succeed even though, through these choices, pain and suffering and separation must occur.

All of this sounds good, but there has been many a film that falters under the “good intentions” of it’s Director/Screenwriter, but SOUND OF METAL avoids most of the pitfalls of these types of films by not dwelling too much on the pain and suffering of the leads - it’s there, but (as Joe would say), deal with it. I’m a little surprised that Marder did not get a Best Director Oscar nod (the work is that good), but am glad that he did get an Original Screenplay nomination.

And…as you can imagine…a film about Deafness is reliant on the Sound Design to help bring that aspect of Ruben’s experience to the audience - and this film delivers the goods. The sound team was, rightfully, nominated for the Oscar for sound design - and they should easily win - for the sound is another character in this film and that is what, ultimately, makes this film works. The audience is put in Ruben’s shoes and, at times, are unable to hear what others on the screen are saying.

A very satisfying film experience - one that needs to be seen with no distractions (especially sound distractions), so find a quiet time, lower the shades and dive into the world of the SOUND OF METAL.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
  
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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Aaru in Books

Nov 8, 2019  
Aaru
Aaru
David Meredith | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rose is only 16 but her life is over. She has terminal cancer but a mysterious strangers offers her and her family the option of taking part in a trial. When she dies they assume the trail failed and mourn her passing, her sister being hit particularly hard. Then the message comes... Rose lives on.

This books takes one fascinating idea - what if people's personalities and memories could be copied at the point of death and then recreated inside a computer? - and looks at it from a lot of different angles. It is certainly thought provoking, and occasionally disturbing.

The first half of the book deals with Rose's death, the grief of her family and then the emotional trauma, denial and final acceptance that in some ways she is still alive. It also follows Rose's journey as she discovers her new virtual world and its other inhabitants.

The second half is darker and moves into thriller territory as Rose's new paradise shows that it may not be perfect and both her and her sister are exposed to danger. Some of the themes here - obsession, violence, sexual abuse, suicide - are made all the worse by their premeditated nature.

This book will make you think about a potential life after death but it doesn't flinch from showing the emotional, physical and moral implications that might arise both for those saved and those they leave behind.
  
Captain Marvel (2019)
Captain Marvel (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure
Following the traumatic and devastating events of last years Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel finally arrives on our screens with huge expectation, anticipation and excitement. As Nick Fury was reduced to dust in the final moments of Infinity War, along with half of all living things in the universe, we saw that he'd just managed to send out an SOS message. The recipient of that message was revealed to be Captain Marvel, so far absent from the cinematic universe but labelled outside of it as "Marvel's biggest female hero", and "quite possibly Marvel's mightiest Avenger". With mad Titan Thanos still on the loose, and half of all life to restore, there's clearly a great deal resting on her shoulders. Thankfully we'll get to see how that all plays out in just over a month when Endgame hits our cinemas, but in the meantime we need to get up to speed on the origins of Captain Marvel.

But this isn't your standard origin story. When we first join Captain Marvel, or Vers as she is currently known, she is already part of the Kree Starforce, fighting alongside her mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) as they take on shape-shifting enemies, the Skrulls. She already has a considerable amount of power, although she has no memory of how exactly she came about it, or of any kind of life preceding it. Following an early morning bit of fight training, with Yon-Rogg urging her to try and control her emotions and her power, it's straight into the action as the Starforce team are sent out on an important field mission. Things don't quite go according to plan though, and when they're ambushed by a group of Skrulls, Vers is kidnapped by Skrull commander Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and taken to their ship for interrogation.

The interrogation has a kind of Total Recall effect on Vers - unlocking memories of her life as a child, growing up with friends, military training and more. She manages to mount an escape, fleeing the ship and crash landing on planet C-53 (or as we know it, Earth), along with a bunch of Skrulls. She lands in the middle of a Blockbuster video store, with the Skrulls landing on a nearby beach and assuming the shape of some surfing humans in order to blend in with the locals. It's not long before the dramatic arrival has drawn the attention of a couple of SHIELD agents by the name of Fury and Coulson, both looking a lot younger than we're used to, due to the fact that we're in 1995. The de-aging effect, used sparingly but impressively in previous Marvel movies is simply incredible here, given that it is being relied upon for the entire movie in order to make the young Nick Fury believable. And it totally works too.

Up until this point in the movie, I felt that it was all just a little bit bland. We don't really get much time to get acquainted with our hero, or the alien world she inhabits, and the space-team-field-mission elements have all been done previously, and much better, in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Coincidentally, Ronan and Korath who star in those movies both appear early on in Captain Marvel, providing some nice backstory for them and a link to the rest of the cinematic universe. It's only when Vers arrives on Earth, and teams up with Nick Fury in order to stop the Skrull invasion, that the movie really finds its footing, becoming a great deal more interesting and enjoyable. Things really lighten up too, accompanied by a great 90s soundtrack and giving off a cool 90s buddy cop movie vibe. It's also great to see Nick Fury acting much less serious and having a lot more to do than in previous Marvel movies. As for Vers, we finally begin to learn a lot more about her too as she begins to piece together her forgotten history and learn more about her life on Earth as Carol Danvers.

The movie is made all the more fun by a couple of very good additional characters. Ben Mendelsohn is outstanding as Talos, providing just the right combination of menace and humour. Special mention also for Goose the cat, who joins Danvers and Fury on their journey. Although, if you're familiar with the comics (where he is known as Chewie), you'll know that there's more to him that meets the eye and he literally manages to steal every single scene he's in, providing some of the movies laugh out loud and surprising moments.

The final third of the movie is where things really kick in though with Carol Danvers unlocking her full potential, despite being repeatedly told throughout life that she's too emotional and too weak. Unleashing hell in an epic, breathtaking and extremely satisfying space battle. With just over a month to go until the release of Endgame, Thanos better be scared. He's not going to know what hit him!
  
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