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The Stories You Tell
The Stories You Tell
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Private Investigator Roxane Weary and her brother, Andrew, are night owls, but it's still never good news when she gets a call from Andrew in the middle of the night. This time, Andrew tells her that he's just had the strangest visit from Addison Stowe, a young woman who used to work with him at the hotel where he tends bar. She seemed panicked and scared, begging to used Andrew's phone, and she disappeared almost as quickly as she arrived. At Andrew's pleading, Roxane starts looking for Addison, but she quickly realizes this is not a straightforward case. Soon the police are on Addison's trail--and Andrew's too. Add a dead cop to the mix, and it looks like Andrew could be mixed up in something serious.


"Clients hired me to find lots of things, and I took them all seriously--but people, most of all."


So, I won't lie. I have a particular affinity for one Roxane Weary, our sarcastic, intelligent, bisexual PI. This is the third book in Roxane's series, and I just love them all. You know how you can give your iPhone a name? Well, one of mine (I have one for work and one for personal use, okay) is named Roxane. This gritty PI has wormed her way into my heart. And I've said it before and I'll say it again--it's just so refreshing to have a bisexual character in mainstream fiction who is real. She's not a crazy person or a murderer, she's just a smart, complex character. The main character. And when Roxane is talking, it sounds like my own friends hanging out. It makes me happy.


"The state of straight people was troubling."


This book finds Roxane on a slightly personal quest, as her search for Addison gets real fast, once it looks like Andrew could be in some big time trouble. Her searching leads her to a shady nightclub--including its shifty manager--and some of Addison's suburban friends. We also, as mentioned, have a dead cop, meaning that Tom is in full force in this one. Tom is the former partner of Roxane's late father, and Roxane's old flame. I'm happy to report that there's plenty happening in Roxane's personal life--both with Catherine and Tom. Lots of sexual tension and witty banter on a variety of fronts. (And I am the only one who would be perfectly fine if Catherine just disappeared? Roxane deserves someone who treats her properly.)

Anyway, despite a cast of recurring characters, this one will standalone just fine. That being said, if you haven't read the first two books, I highly recommend them. The conversational first-person style Lepionka uses for Roxane is amazing and draws you in from the start. I adore Roxane's voice. (Partially because I deem her my kindred spirit--see below.)


"Apparently he was one of those people who listened to and deleted messages instead of just reading the transcription and ignoring it like I did."


Roxane is a witty, awesome, complex main character, and she's nearly impossible not to love. The story itself is dark and twisted, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. No gimmicks, just a good mystery. There's lots of humor, lots of surprises, and lots of Roxane, one of the best PIs around. 4.5 stars.
  
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Robin Hood (2018) in Movies

Jan 28, 2019 (Updated Jan 28, 2019)  
Robin Hood (2018)
Robin Hood (2018)
2018 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Scattered flickers of creativity sparsely appear through the film. (0 more)
For the most part, it's just an extremely generic, middle of the road, inoffensive action romp. (0 more)
A Middling Reboot
This is another movie from late 2018 that I am only just getting a chance to see. After my girlfriend and I sat through this one, she turned to me and asked what I thought of it. In response, I just shrugged my shoulders and went, "It was alright." That is genuinely the best way that I can think of to sum up my feeling on this film.

It's a mediocre action movie based around the basic concept of the old tale of Robin Hood. It is extremely cheesy and has bags of whatever the opposite of subtle is. It tries to tell a gritty, 'Year One,' type of story for the character and treats the Robin Hood moniker as a dual identity for Robin Loxley, which draws heavy comparisons to the Batman/Bruce Wayne dynamic. Unfortunately, not much of it lands due to the lack of risk-taking involved.

The movie also feels weirdly dated, especially considering that it's only a few months old. There are an abundance of overindulgent slow motion shots in the style of 300; a movie that was 12 years old at the time of this movie's release. The use of green-screen in this film is actually pretty atrocious judging by today's standards and actually might be some of the worst out of any 2018 movie I saw. This is noticeable throughout the whole movie, but is especially rough-looking during a carriage chase that happens around two thirds into the film.

The cast are all phoning it in as well. Taron Egerton does nothing special with the lead role and Ben Mendlesohn hams it up as the Sheriff Of Nottingham, doing pretty much the same villainous shlock that he did in Ready Player One and Star Wars: Rogue One, way to not get typecast Mendo!

That's the other weird thing about this movie, is that it's not sure what era it wants to be set in. Some of the accents, language and costumes are suitable for the period that the movie is set in, but other elements and other lines and costumes etc feel like they are from 2018, the year that this movie was made. The end result that they were aiming for may have been a sort of rolling timeline that transcends the days of the Crusades that the movie is set in but what we get is just a scattered mess.

There were a few positives in this thing. Some cool shots, Some of the stunt archery is, (while super unrealistic,) pretty cool to watch. I know that 'Real Life Legolas,' Lars Andersen was hired to teach the cast some archery and I believe he helped out with the action choreography as well, which is pretty cool. There are also some glimpses of creativity in some of the shots. One in particular that stood out to me was a shot that gradually panned out from behind a solitary soldiers shield to show the intensity and scale of the battle that was taking place. It's just unfortunate that in so many other places in the movie, all we get is lazy, generic camera angles that add nothing to the scene taking place.

Overall, this is an okay action romp. Don't go in expecting anything of substance or you will most definitely come away disappointed. Though, if all that you are looking for is something to stick on in the background while you do other things or if you are just after an easy, straightforward action adventure popcorn flick, then you could probably do worse than this.
  
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Andrew Sinclair (25 KP) Nov 25, 2019

That's a very detailed, occasionally amusing, enjoyable review. I've not seen the film but I may check it out one day just for the fun of it.

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Paul John (5 KP) Nov 25, 2019

Another Hollywood take on a mythical character.. Bored from start to finish.. Felt like a 90s boy and pop video..

Queen and Country (2015)
Queen and Country (2015)
2015 | Comedy, Drama
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Thoughts on Queen & Country

 

Characters – Bill lives on an island in the middle of the Thames, he is drafted the army which gets him to see more of the world, meet a mysterious woman and learn to stand up for himself. Percy is the loud best friend of Bill, who has done everything, he is the one that wants to get ahead of Bradley. Ophelia is the mysterious woman that comes into Bill’s life, she draws him but is keeping her secrets safe.

Performances – Callum Turner is fine in this leading role but just doesn’t capture the levels to make us want to see his character too often. Caleb Landry Jones is the one we want to see the most, he is fun to watch but not the most interesting. The cast are fine but they just come off like posh Brits in roles.

Story – The story is a sequel to a movie, I have never heard off, which is guess doesn’t help too much. We get to see a young man that goes into the armed forces that challenges his superiors while dealing with his own personal problems when it comes to tracking down a mysterious woman that can’t be with him. Nothing that interesting happens in this movie in the way you care enough to see where things go.

Settings – The film takes us from the basic location which show the training camp, but it has our characters coming from the posh backgrounds.


Scene of the Movie – Hard to find one.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – That clock storyline.

Final Thoughts – This is a boring movie that the more I think about things, the more I get bored about what I am thinking about it.

 

Overall: Nothing interesting happening here.
  
Watchmen (2009)
Watchmen (2009)
2009 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
**I've seen Tales of the Black Freighter, but I'm not sure I've ever seen the Ultimate Cut of this.**


A comedian died in New York. Someone threw him out of a window and when he hit the sidewalk his head was driven into his stomach. The only person that seems to care is Rorschach, the one superhero who refuses to take off his mask. The Keene Act was passed in 1977 banning all forms of costumed crimefighting. Rorschach continues to do so as he feels his mask is his true face. His theory is that someone is out to kill costumed heroes and that it's his responsibility to inform his former colleagues. There's Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II whom Rorschach used to be partners with before Dan retired, Adrian Veidt/Ozymondias, one of two costumed heroes to make his identity public who's also a self-made millionaire and considered to be the smartest man in the world, Dr. Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan, the only one of the group who has genuine super powers thanks to an accident that nearly killed him who is now commissioned by the government, Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II, her mother was in the Minutemen along with The Comedian and wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps, and finally Edward Blake/The Comedian, another superhero commissioned by the government that knows more than he should while his knowledge takes its toll on him and whoever is around him at the time thanks to his reckless and sadistic behavior. What any of them fail to realize is that there's a conspiracy going on that's bigger than any of them could have ever imagined.
I had watched the motion comic in its entirety earlier in the week to get myself ready for this and it had really gotten me excited for this film. The first time I read Watchmen, I thought it was good but not great. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it the second time through. My biggest question going into the film is how I would feel about the altered ending since I already knew about that going into it. Turns out that the ending in question wasn't so bad, but I wasn't happy with some of the other things that were changed or left out to lead up to said ending.

The film is pretty much right on the money the majority of the time. Zack Snyder continues his trend of pulling panels directly from the source material and making them a cinematic reality. The dialogue is often times word for word from the graphic novel and doesn't feel forced or out of place when something new is used. The cast left nothing to be complained about as they all did a great job. Jackie Earle Haley was a fantastic Rorschach. He sounded just the way I expected Rorschach to sound and just looked like a splitting image of Walter Kovacs. Billy Crudup's emotionless Dr. Manhattan was also pretty much just as I envisioned. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian was the one I seemed to be most pleased with. He did a great job making you care about this costumed superhero who did brutally sadistic things to people yet somehow still made you care about his character. Snyder's use of slow motion seems to be used more efficiently this time around. It felt like it was used only when needed rather than just to be eye candy. The effects used with Dr. Manhattan are worth a mention. Even if he's just standing there, you can tell how much time and effort was put into making him look spectacular. Let alone cost quite a bit of money. Rorschach's mask was also an interesting special effect that is sure to catch anyone's eye. The effects are pretty flawless and should please most moviegoers.

There was a lot of material left out of the film or changed that I wasn't particularly happy with. I don't want to seem too nitpicky, so I'll only touch base on a few of them. I view most of the stuff that was left out as character development that was important to the overall story. Most of the material in question concerns Rorschach; he visited Adrian Veidt to warn him of his mask killer theory not Dan, his response to The Keene Act, Walter Kovac's landlady, anything concerning his apartment, and his drop box, where he hides his mask during the day, everything about his psychiatrist's relationship bending and breaking during the course of the Rorschach case, how and where he got the mask, how he disposed of the man who kidnapped that little girl, and it just keeps going. Most of that was left out of the theatrical version of the film. Around the halfway point to the end of the film, I felt like it just strayed further and further away from the source material. In the novel, Dr. Manhattan is the only superhero with superpowers. The film kind of leaves that up in the air since other characters are seen punching stone off of walls and jumping to inhuman heights into the air. It was just kind of a, "Wait...what?" kind of moment for me. I realize it was probably just the wirework used that I'm questioning, but it didn't sit well with me.

I'm hoping the final cut of the film that's rumored to be three hours to three and a half hours long puts some of these important bits (including Hollis' death and The Black Freighter storyline among other things) back into the story. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, but it wound up just not meeting my expectations. My recommendation is don't read the graphic novel before viewing the film. The film is worthwhile for Zack Snyder enthusiasts, comic book fans, and pretty much anyone looking for a good action film. I would recommend it to just about anyone, but I think that ultimate version of the DVD is going to be what fans will really be excited over and for good reason. As a film, it's incredibly entertaining. In comparison to the graphic novel, it comes up a bit short. For now, I just see it as a good film that could have been a lot better.
  
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Kyera (8 KP) rated Legend in Books

Jan 31, 2018  
Legend
Legend
Marie Lu | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
8
7.8 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
While the idea of Legend is in no way unique, with the recent influx of post-apocalyptic/dystopian storylines in YA fiction, it is still an enjoyable read. It was nice to have the two varied perspectives - the boy from the street and the girl of means. Their story is full of highs and lows, deception, hurt, betrayal and death. Each deals with events in their own way and comes out of the series as a very different person. (Series-wise) <spoiler>I was not entirely satisfied with the ending. It left the reader with the temptation of promise and a what-if, but felt like an afterthought. The epilogue didn't seem as pulled together as the rest of the novel. It felt more like the readers raged against the conclusion of the book and the author tacked this story on at the end to appease them. Remember what tragic things, what relationships, what changes happened at the end that you didn't like? Just kidding, I take it back. Here's a glimpse of the storyline you actually wanted. </spoiler> Other than that I really enjoyed the series and would recommend it.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Triangle (2009) in Movies

Jun 21, 2018  
Triangle (2009)
Triangle (2009)
2009 | Mystery
8
7.6 (15 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Intriguing, disturbing & original
I watched this entirely based on the review from @Lee and I'm pretty glad I did.

I probably wouldn't class this as a horror as it's not nearly gory or scary enough, but its a very thought provoking and disturbing thriller. It's one of those films that has you wondering "WTF" right from the start - may not appeal to everyone but I love films like this. I love the confusion and the intrigue, but there is a lot of pressure on films like this to get the ending and explanation just right otherwise you wind up unsatisfied and confused. Triangle does very well as the twist ending wraps up a lot of the earlier queries, but it does still leave a slightly ambiguous ending.

If I'm being honest, maybe slightly too ambiguous an ending as I had to look up fan theories online afterwards. And my only disappointment is that halfway through the film i said "this is going to turn out like Lost isn't it?" and on reading the online theories, I wasn't far off!

Slightly dodgy cgi aside, this is a pretty good film and definitely worth the watch. Thanks for the recommendation @Lee
  
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Dean (6927 KP) Jun 22, 2018

I think the biggest clue, if I remember right, is the picture of a boat named after a character in Greek mythology. Love the film.

Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
2019 | Horror, Mystery
Missing the slasher element
Watching this sequel has really made me want to reevaluate & appreciate the first film more than I did originally, as it was actually pretty good. And I dont think the sequel quite matches up to it.

This film takes on a mainly sci-fi theme and whilst this is a smart move to do something different to the first film, I found myself missing the slasher horror. I don't think we really needed this sci-fi based explanation of the events in the first film, like many sequels this definitely suffers from a case of less is more. It's funny though like the original, and there's another fun montage of death scenes to bring in the laughs. There are parts of this story though that are a lot more serious than you'd expect or want, which brings the film down a little. There's no place for seriousness in a film like this!

Overall it's not bad and a refreshing change to a lot of other films that take themselves far too seriously, but it just doesn't quite meet up to the first.
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) Dec 7, 2019

Forgot that this came out this year.

Dear Aaron
Dear Aaron
Mariana Zapata | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I feel pretty bad for giving this 3 stars. I normally love this author's books but the first 54% or whatever amount it was with the letters/emails/IM's/text messages I was not a fan of at all. This is the third book I've read with them in, and the first I've actually finished. It just all seems so impersonal. I like to read about the body language and facial features after things get said so I can see how the characters react.

From 54-99% I enjoyed it, that first phone call was so good after so long, and then when they first met at the airport? Sigh... that was so sweet, if I did have a few tears in my eyes like Ruby at the time. Then the slow progression from friends to more...it was cute!

But then came the ending. I wanted more. It was like we didn't really get to see them end happily. And then we were back to the IMing... Ugh.

I think I've pretty much read all the author's books now apart from the Malykhin one, which is next on my list.