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500 Portraits: 25 Years of the BP Portrait Award
Book
The National Portrait Gallerys painted portrait Award, one of Britain's most prestigious art prizes,...
An Amish Christmas Love: Four Novellas
Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston, Ruth Reid and Kelly Irvin
10.0
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Book
Winter Kisses by Beth Wiseman Three generations of Stoltzfus women are all living under the same...
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Titans - Season 1 in TV
Sep 26, 2019 (Updated Jan 7, 2020)
A silly good surprise
Contains spoilers, click to show
In a world awash with CW shows based on DC comics (don't get me wrong, I have a small space in my heart for the 'Arrowverse'), who would have thought that a live action series based on Teen Titans would absolutely smash it out of the park!?
When the trailers dropped for Titans, I was intrigued, slightly worried that it would be linked to the sub par DCEU - it's not by the way, and it's also seperate from CW universe, allowing Titans to do its own thing, and do it well.
Titans is both gritty and colourful, both humourous and emotional, and hugely enjoyable.
The main cast are introduced slowly, but it doesn't take long for the group to matter to you.
Brenton Thwaites (Robin), Teegan Croft (Raven), Anna Diop (Starfire), and Ryan Potter (Beast Boy) form the core team and are all extremely likable.
Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly (Hawk and Dove respectively) drop in from time to time to flesh out the team, and provide some of the series more emotional moments. In fact, one episode is dedicated entirely to their origins and how they met, and it's one of the seasons strong points.
Another great episode early on introduced us to the Doom Patrol (who includes bloody Brendan Fraser!) providing the jump off episode for the Doom Patrol spin off show. This episode is probably the funniest episode in the series.
Elsewhere we are introduced to other DC characters such as Jason Todd, Wonder Girl, Trigon, Superboy, and the Nuclear Family, and it shows that Titans has been able to establish a far reaching universe in the space of 11 episodes.
The season finale is a real treat, which is sort of based in Gotham. We are treated to Batman references galore, given glimpses of his rogues gallery, and absolutely crazy climatic action scene involving the Bat himself.
Titans is drenched in bad language, and moments of nasty violence, flexing itself as an adult show from the get go, and it's a huge strength.
I can't wait to see where it goes in the future!
When the trailers dropped for Titans, I was intrigued, slightly worried that it would be linked to the sub par DCEU - it's not by the way, and it's also seperate from CW universe, allowing Titans to do its own thing, and do it well.
Titans is both gritty and colourful, both humourous and emotional, and hugely enjoyable.
The main cast are introduced slowly, but it doesn't take long for the group to matter to you.
Brenton Thwaites (Robin), Teegan Croft (Raven), Anna Diop (Starfire), and Ryan Potter (Beast Boy) form the core team and are all extremely likable.
Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly (Hawk and Dove respectively) drop in from time to time to flesh out the team, and provide some of the series more emotional moments. In fact, one episode is dedicated entirely to their origins and how they met, and it's one of the seasons strong points.
Another great episode early on introduced us to the Doom Patrol (who includes bloody Brendan Fraser!) providing the jump off episode for the Doom Patrol spin off show. This episode is probably the funniest episode in the series.
Elsewhere we are introduced to other DC characters such as Jason Todd, Wonder Girl, Trigon, Superboy, and the Nuclear Family, and it shows that Titans has been able to establish a far reaching universe in the space of 11 episodes.
The season finale is a real treat, which is sort of based in Gotham. We are treated to Batman references galore, given glimpses of his rogues gallery, and absolutely crazy climatic action scene involving the Bat himself.
Titans is drenched in bad language, and moments of nasty violence, flexing itself as an adult show from the get go, and it's a huge strength.
I can't wait to see where it goes in the future!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated La La Land (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
Truth be told, I didn’t know what “La La Land” directed by Damien Chazelle; and starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and featuring John Legend would be about. As soon as I was given the opportunity to see it I watched the trailer to prepare and the moment I finished that trailer I knew I needed to see the entire film. Emma Stone plays Mia, an aspiring actress just trying to make it in the world. While Ryan Gosling Plays Sebastian, a jazz musician who aspires to open his own club and keep jazz alive.
After running into each other multiple time the two fall in love but as their dreams take them in different paths, they fight to stay together. While the story could be considered a love story, it is so much more. The film is captivating through its combination of wardrobe and scenery. The choreography is impeccable and the music stunning. The opening scene really sets up the quality of the film and gets the viewer excited for the other musical numbers, which are equally just as stunning.
I was hesitant when I first saw Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in a musical, but they did phenomenal. The chemistry and humor on the screen is endearing and captivating, it pulled me into the story of Mia and Sebastian and made me wonder what was going to happen next.
Back to the music, the songs fit the characters and the story so well. They are woven into the scenes making them important to the story line. Also just in case I have not made myself clear already, the music is amazing. The score composed by Justin Hurwitz is a piece of art, and I know I will be buying the soundtrack. Watching this film made me think back to watching Gene Kelly, Ginger Rodgers, and Fred Astaire sing and dance in films. Quite honestly I have not seen this quality of musical film yet, and “La La Land” excites me with the idea of more films being made of this quality. I know I’ll be seeing this film again once it hit’s theatres!
After running into each other multiple time the two fall in love but as their dreams take them in different paths, they fight to stay together. While the story could be considered a love story, it is so much more. The film is captivating through its combination of wardrobe and scenery. The choreography is impeccable and the music stunning. The opening scene really sets up the quality of the film and gets the viewer excited for the other musical numbers, which are equally just as stunning.
I was hesitant when I first saw Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in a musical, but they did phenomenal. The chemistry and humor on the screen is endearing and captivating, it pulled me into the story of Mia and Sebastian and made me wonder what was going to happen next.
Back to the music, the songs fit the characters and the story so well. They are woven into the scenes making them important to the story line. Also just in case I have not made myself clear already, the music is amazing. The score composed by Justin Hurwitz is a piece of art, and I know I will be buying the soundtrack. Watching this film made me think back to watching Gene Kelly, Ginger Rodgers, and Fred Astaire sing and dance in films. Quite honestly I have not seen this quality of musical film yet, and “La La Land” excites me with the idea of more films being made of this quality. I know I’ll be seeing this film again once it hit’s theatres!
The Story of Us by Quinn XCII
Album
The Story Of Us is the debut album from Detroit-bred vocalist/songwriter Quinn XCII. The album if...
HotelTonight
Travel
App
Book last minute hotel deals up to a week in advance! HotelTonight makes it *incredibly* easy &...
Murders and Metaphors
9.0
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Book
USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower is back with the third in her more-charming-than-ever...
Mystery Fiction Cozy Mystery Fantasy
The Last House on the Street
8.0
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Book
A small town divided by prejudice. A secret that won't remain silent... The stunning new novel...
KittyMiku (138 KP) rated World, Incorporated in Books
May 23, 2019
World, Incorporated by Tom Gariffo is a sci-fi novel set in the near future where the world is run by businesses instead of government officials like we have today. I found this book to be rough the first half, but entertaining in the second half. I had felt like the story had been lackluster in the beginning but picked up towards the end. Although the ending was fairly decent, I still can’t say that this is an amazing read.
In World, Incorporated the reader is mainly following around Agent Silver, who is just a complete dissident. He ends up acquiring some travel companions who had tried to kill him in one way or another without his boss knowing while his aircraft is keeping information from him. You learn the history of the world through weblogs and news articles that the Agent had acquired in his own personal research. He used them to try to inform one of his companions, Kelly, about the world around her. Kelly lived in the country side where her parents kept her from the new world that existed around her. As you follow the main characters around, you are able to witness battles, suspense and plain human emotion as they grow into better people. Towards the end you find Agent Silver’s real goals and how he changes from the beginning of the novel.
At first, I had found the book boring and hard to stick it out. The articles on the history on how the world had become to be what it was just didn’t hold my interest. I understand their purpose; I just wish Tom Gariffo had chosen another way to convey the information to the reader. Even though that information had help shaped some of the way the reader was able to understand that way the supercorporations had been able to take over the and control areas and such and why it was so, it still left quite a few questions about certain topics revolving around the supercorporations. However, for the few things that had been left without answers at the beginning, I found some answers were revealed in the last chapter of the book.
The last chapter of the book, you got to really see how friendships of all kinds can really help a person grow and change their own ways. Although Agent Silver had been a loner, seeing how his perspective changed over time was a very realistic touch to a character that I personally believed was just a cold killer beginning to grow soft. I found that World, Incorporated was fairly interesting in how the world and how society could change in just a few short decades due to how corporations merge and became bigger and ultimately supercorporations who would end up ruling over areas and zones of the world that they would have agreements with the other supercorporations to have control of. This brought up the idea that money and businesses are what our world is slowing turning towards for power. Though, it is already a topic among some people around us now, to see how that could easily be a reality if we keep up with the way things are going now.
I would rate World, Incorporated 3 stars out of 4 stars. As I had stated earlier, I had some troubles getting through the first half of the novel, but found the second half to hold my interest. Though the novel wasn’t a real page turner in my opinion, I still found the story line very good, if you make it past the history lessons. I would probably recommend this to a few of my friends and family, but only to the ones who I know would stick it out to get to the amazing parts of the story.
Though I don’t believe this is a must read, I found World, Incorporated to be a fairly decent book with a lot of thought on how our world will turn out to be in the fairly near future. Though some of it seems unlikely to ever come to pass, it does cause the reader to think deeply on the said issues and what they would do should something similar come to pass for real. It does follow its sci-fi genre requirements and causes a lot of questioning to happen within the reader’s mind. Once again, I enjoyed most of the book and the thoughts it provoked in me, and I hope that you will as well.
In World, Incorporated the reader is mainly following around Agent Silver, who is just a complete dissident. He ends up acquiring some travel companions who had tried to kill him in one way or another without his boss knowing while his aircraft is keeping information from him. You learn the history of the world through weblogs and news articles that the Agent had acquired in his own personal research. He used them to try to inform one of his companions, Kelly, about the world around her. Kelly lived in the country side where her parents kept her from the new world that existed around her. As you follow the main characters around, you are able to witness battles, suspense and plain human emotion as they grow into better people. Towards the end you find Agent Silver’s real goals and how he changes from the beginning of the novel.
At first, I had found the book boring and hard to stick it out. The articles on the history on how the world had become to be what it was just didn’t hold my interest. I understand their purpose; I just wish Tom Gariffo had chosen another way to convey the information to the reader. Even though that information had help shaped some of the way the reader was able to understand that way the supercorporations had been able to take over the and control areas and such and why it was so, it still left quite a few questions about certain topics revolving around the supercorporations. However, for the few things that had been left without answers at the beginning, I found some answers were revealed in the last chapter of the book.
The last chapter of the book, you got to really see how friendships of all kinds can really help a person grow and change their own ways. Although Agent Silver had been a loner, seeing how his perspective changed over time was a very realistic touch to a character that I personally believed was just a cold killer beginning to grow soft. I found that World, Incorporated was fairly interesting in how the world and how society could change in just a few short decades due to how corporations merge and became bigger and ultimately supercorporations who would end up ruling over areas and zones of the world that they would have agreements with the other supercorporations to have control of. This brought up the idea that money and businesses are what our world is slowing turning towards for power. Though, it is already a topic among some people around us now, to see how that could easily be a reality if we keep up with the way things are going now.
I would rate World, Incorporated 3 stars out of 4 stars. As I had stated earlier, I had some troubles getting through the first half of the novel, but found the second half to hold my interest. Though the novel wasn’t a real page turner in my opinion, I still found the story line very good, if you make it past the history lessons. I would probably recommend this to a few of my friends and family, but only to the ones who I know would stick it out to get to the amazing parts of the story.
Though I don’t believe this is a must read, I found World, Incorporated to be a fairly decent book with a lot of thought on how our world will turn out to be in the fairly near future. Though some of it seems unlikely to ever come to pass, it does cause the reader to think deeply on the said issues and what they would do should something similar come to pass for real. It does follow its sci-fi genre requirements and causes a lot of questioning to happen within the reader’s mind. Once again, I enjoyed most of the book and the thoughts it provoked in me, and I hope that you will as well.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Bombshell (2019) in Movies
Dec 19, 2019
It was an event that sent shockwaves throughout the News industry as allegations of harassment brought down Roger Ailes and fueled the growing “Me Too” movement.
In the new film “Bombshell” we learn how Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), had so much power and influence that he helped elect several politicians and rose to the head of Fox News. He ran Media Empire to great success and made those around him celebrities.
The film follows Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) who opts to fight her ouster from the company claiming that her career was marked by frequent harassment often by Aisles himself.
At the same time; Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), is dealing with backlash from Candidate Donald Trump and is being forced to endure what she sees as verbal attacks for the good of their audience and ratings.
As this story unfolds, the audience is introduced to Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), a young journalist eager to make her way up the corporate ladder. She is introduced to Aisles who asks her to “model” for him claiming that since they work in a visual medium; he cannot just let anyone on the air and needs to ensure “loyalty” amongst his staff.
Carlson eventually files a lawsuit but due to the power that Aisles and the Network holds; nobody is willing to come forward to back her and she is faced with taking on the media giant alone. The movie then centers on the key players and their day to day lives which enables them to find the strength to come forward and do what they believe is right.
The film is powerful and all of the leads do amazing work. Lithgow is especially good in his role as he is as captivating as his is loathsome in the part.
The film is sure to spark some discussion as despite the events portrayed in the film it appears that many of those who acted improperly managed to financially win from their downfall but it at least set a precedent for those looking to come forward knowing they are not alone.
My only issue was that knowing how the story came out and that fact that it was very recent undermined any real drama but the performances and engaging and topical subject matter held my attention throughout.
4 stars out of 5
In the new film “Bombshell” we learn how Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), had so much power and influence that he helped elect several politicians and rose to the head of Fox News. He ran Media Empire to great success and made those around him celebrities.
The film follows Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) who opts to fight her ouster from the company claiming that her career was marked by frequent harassment often by Aisles himself.
At the same time; Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), is dealing with backlash from Candidate Donald Trump and is being forced to endure what she sees as verbal attacks for the good of their audience and ratings.
As this story unfolds, the audience is introduced to Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), a young journalist eager to make her way up the corporate ladder. She is introduced to Aisles who asks her to “model” for him claiming that since they work in a visual medium; he cannot just let anyone on the air and needs to ensure “loyalty” amongst his staff.
Carlson eventually files a lawsuit but due to the power that Aisles and the Network holds; nobody is willing to come forward to back her and she is faced with taking on the media giant alone. The movie then centers on the key players and their day to day lives which enables them to find the strength to come forward and do what they believe is right.
The film is powerful and all of the leads do amazing work. Lithgow is especially good in his role as he is as captivating as his is loathsome in the part.
The film is sure to spark some discussion as despite the events portrayed in the film it appears that many of those who acted improperly managed to financially win from their downfall but it at least set a precedent for those looking to come forward knowing they are not alone.
My only issue was that knowing how the story came out and that fact that it was very recent undermined any real drama but the performances and engaging and topical subject matter held my attention throughout.
4 stars out of 5