Life in the UK Test: Study Guide: The Essential Study Guide for the British Citizenship Test: 2017
Henry Dillon and George Sandison
Book
The 2017 edition of the best-selling series includes the complete testable materials from Life in...
Digital Giza: Visualizing the Pyramids
Book
The Pyramids on the Giza Plateau represent perhaps the most famous archaeological site in the world,...
War is Here: The Vietnam War and Canadian Literature
Book
Canada did not fight in the Vietnam War, but the conflict seized the Canadian imagination with an...
The Flame Bearer
10.0
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Book
The brand new novel in Bernard Cornwell's number one bestselling series on the making of England and...
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Mr. Vampire (1985) in Movies
Jul 24, 2020
Mr vampire is a Chinese horror/comedy and a breakthrough 'Jiangshi' (Rotting Copse) movie due it's mixing of slapstick comedy, kung-fu, Chinese folklore and western vampire myth and has a number of sequels.
The humour is very slapstick, with people getting hit with furniture or getting their head stuck in prison cell bars and the horror level is quite low and most of the effects are quite cheesy.
The Kung-Fu aspect makes the fight scenes entertaining and both the vampire and the ghost have to be dealt with slightly differently..
The image of the living corpse, be it vampire or zombie, being controlled by a yellow paper talisman stuck to it's head is though to have come from Mr Vampire and has been used in many subsequent Jiangshi film as well as many other shows, including the recent Netflix show 'Kingdom' where we see a scene of villagers selling the talismans when the zombies are threatening their village.
Mr Vampire manages to pull off Horror comedy in a way that is watchable by almost anyone. The film has a 15 (UK) rating and does contain vampires and ghosts but neither are overly frighting, partly due to the effects of the time.
God's Wolf: The Life of the Most Notorious of All Crusaders: Reynald de Chatillon
Book
In 2010, a parcel bomb was sent from Yemen by an al-Qaeda operative with the intention of blowing up...
Vegetable Literacy
Book
For over three decades, Deborah Madison has been at the vanguard of the vegetarian cooking movement,...
ClareR (6256 KP) rated Sistersong in Books
Aug 9, 2021
Cadors three daughters do still have that magical connection. The story is told from their perspective. The eldest, Riva, has been badly burnt in the past, and whilst she can heal others, she can’t heal herself.
Keyne, although born female, has never felt female and longs to be recognised as a man.
Sinne, the youngest, lives for love and flirtation.
When an emissary from another kingdom arrives, he drives a wedge between Riva and Sinne. They see their chance at escape from the Hold. Whilst this is happening, Keyne trains with Myrdin, in the hope that he’ll be recognised as next in line to the throne.
I loved this book - it has all of my favourite elements in a story: mythology, history, magic, lies, deceit, the love of family and siblings, along with the themes of duty and identity. It really packs a punch. The world building is fantastic, and thoroughly immersive. Highly recommended!
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch (Villains #5) in Books
Jul 21, 2021
We follow Gothel, of Tangled fame, a lifetime before she becomes Rapunzel’s guardian and mother. We learn about her life and what drove her to kidnap the princess when she was a baby.
We learn that Gothel had two sisters, sisters that she would do anything for as they were triplets. But their mother doesn’t seem keen to teach Gothel and her sisters her magic, which frustrates Gothel more than her sisters. Their mother dies one night, leaving Gothel to take on her duties as Queen of the Dead and rule over their “kingdom” otherwise known as the Dead Woods. Gothel thrives, while her sister do not and she becomes concerned for them, attracting the attention of the three Odd Sisters.
We follow them as they try to help Gothel help her sisters and learn her magic, whilst trying to get their hands on her mother’s spell books.
In the last part of the book, we discover why she kidnapped Rapunzel and what happens before she ends up in the tower and then follow her quickly (through the use of mirrors) through what happens in the film.
I really do love these different views on the Disney villains and the thought that goes into giving them a back story, so that they aren’t just “evil”. I can’t wait to continue on with the series and hope there are many more to come.