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Gail (4 KP) rated One Hell of a Ride in Books
Jun 4, 2018
One Hell of A Ride by Ju Epraime
Four stars
I love historical romance stories. This one was different but good. Cas has been living as a young lad all her life. Her grandfather thought it would be a good idea sense she loved working on the ranch. It was funny how the author had Joe falling when he thought Cas was a lad. It was a rough time to be a woman and I can see why Cassie preferred to be thought of as a lad. The freedom to just be you and not worry that you won’t be accepted. As a woman she wouldn’t have been able to run her grandfather’s ranches or live alone. Joe was super sweet and handsome. He didn’t want to take advantage of Cassie so he kept away doing what he could to keep the ranch going. They don’t have many men like Joe walking around anymore. If they’re some can they be pointed in my direction lol. The author could've put more detail in the landscape but the book was well written. The characters were a little dry but I somewhat expected that with the time the story was written in. Would’ve like more details about Joe and where he came from and what he really did before visiting the ranch. There were parts that could’ve been left out. Overall the story was a good one.
Four stars
I love historical romance stories. This one was different but good. Cas has been living as a young lad all her life. Her grandfather thought it would be a good idea sense she loved working on the ranch. It was funny how the author had Joe falling when he thought Cas was a lad. It was a rough time to be a woman and I can see why Cassie preferred to be thought of as a lad. The freedom to just be you and not worry that you won’t be accepted. As a woman she wouldn’t have been able to run her grandfather’s ranches or live alone. Joe was super sweet and handsome. He didn’t want to take advantage of Cassie so he kept away doing what he could to keep the ranch going. They don’t have many men like Joe walking around anymore. If they’re some can they be pointed in my direction lol. The author could've put more detail in the landscape but the book was well written. The characters were a little dry but I somewhat expected that with the time the story was written in. Would’ve like more details about Joe and where he came from and what he really did before visiting the ranch. There were parts that could’ve been left out. Overall the story was a good one.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Little Joe (2019) in Movies
Feb 6, 2020
I managed to get a ticket to see this at the London Film Festival, it had made my long shortlist, the premise looked interesting and the graphics were extremely appealing. I was very excited to see what Little Joe had in store.
Alice is developing a new breed of flower, a beautiful crimson flower that has an incredible therapeutic value to its owner. Look after it properly, speak to it nicely, and it will make you happy.
After Alice sneaks one home to her son she soon notices that rather than a happy demeanour he starts acting strangely, and he's not the only one showing odd behaviour after being around Little Joe.
Little Joe has some very strong style choices. The colour palette is beautiful, and I wish I could find the notes I made about it from the Q&A after the film. The vibrant pastels are homely and comforting while at the same time unsettling around the normal tones of life.
That's what a lot of the film is made to do though, the music is something I noted frequently. The oriental music works directly against what's happening in the story, an intentional choice by the composer. I also wrote down the word "whistling" a lot with regards to sound. While I can understand (sort of) why the composer went that way with the music I didn't feel like it worked. I didn't dislike the music itself, but my comments were mainly exclaiming that it stuck out and felt too different from everything around it that it became distracting.
Another piece of the film that didn't sit well with me was camera work. There are some very well shot scenes, when we first encounter Little Joe in Alice's home and a scene later on inside the greenhouse (that I won't go into because of spoilers), that draw the viewer in with intrigue. But then... you know when you're doing something and you get bored and realise you've drifted off looking at a point in the distance? The camera appears to get bored too and it'll zoom to the gaps between characters. Maybe I'm just programmed to expect this sort of shot to reveal something secret to the audience that the characters haven't noticed... I found it more distracting and annoying than having any artistic benefit.
Alice (Emily Beecham) has a dual mother role, firstly with her son Joe and secondly with her plants. Little Joe appears to be more like a son to her than her own flesh and blood, her scientific mind perhaps finding it easier to interact with an inanimate object that begins to defy what she knows to be possible. The film gets across her struggle quite well with her therapy sessions and the interactions with those around her as we get deeper into the story. Beecham's performance is... relaxed? Even when there's urgency nothing ever seems to be very urgent.
That's something that is common throughout, the pace plods. You would expect a somewhat subdued pace in this sort of invasion storyline, but there are no real points of climax and that makes it more of a meander... perhaps those exciting moments happened when the camera zoned out.
There are touches here and there that do make you hopeful for the film, but overall it feels like Little Joe went for subtle and took it slightly too far. Everything felt too calm, the only one that seemed to react as you'd expect was Bella, but the nature of her part of the story meant that this was over the top because it was so far from everything else.
I like the idea behind this and we know from many different films that this sort of thing can work, but the lack of a real punch anywhere made this a struggle to watch. Oddly, I think this would have worked as a limited series without a lot of changes. The slow pace wouldn't have been so evident if it was broken down into episodes, there are small peaks in there that would give just enough intrigue to hold over to the next episode, I even feel like the ending as it is would have worked more in this style. Sadly, as it was I don't feel like there was enough reward for the time invested in watching it as a film, there's a different expectation between and film and a TV series but it's very difficult to explain it here without revealing spoilers.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/02/little-joe-movie-review.html
Alice is developing a new breed of flower, a beautiful crimson flower that has an incredible therapeutic value to its owner. Look after it properly, speak to it nicely, and it will make you happy.
After Alice sneaks one home to her son she soon notices that rather than a happy demeanour he starts acting strangely, and he's not the only one showing odd behaviour after being around Little Joe.
Little Joe has some very strong style choices. The colour palette is beautiful, and I wish I could find the notes I made about it from the Q&A after the film. The vibrant pastels are homely and comforting while at the same time unsettling around the normal tones of life.
That's what a lot of the film is made to do though, the music is something I noted frequently. The oriental music works directly against what's happening in the story, an intentional choice by the composer. I also wrote down the word "whistling" a lot with regards to sound. While I can understand (sort of) why the composer went that way with the music I didn't feel like it worked. I didn't dislike the music itself, but my comments were mainly exclaiming that it stuck out and felt too different from everything around it that it became distracting.
Another piece of the film that didn't sit well with me was camera work. There are some very well shot scenes, when we first encounter Little Joe in Alice's home and a scene later on inside the greenhouse (that I won't go into because of spoilers), that draw the viewer in with intrigue. But then... you know when you're doing something and you get bored and realise you've drifted off looking at a point in the distance? The camera appears to get bored too and it'll zoom to the gaps between characters. Maybe I'm just programmed to expect this sort of shot to reveal something secret to the audience that the characters haven't noticed... I found it more distracting and annoying than having any artistic benefit.
Alice (Emily Beecham) has a dual mother role, firstly with her son Joe and secondly with her plants. Little Joe appears to be more like a son to her than her own flesh and blood, her scientific mind perhaps finding it easier to interact with an inanimate object that begins to defy what she knows to be possible. The film gets across her struggle quite well with her therapy sessions and the interactions with those around her as we get deeper into the story. Beecham's performance is... relaxed? Even when there's urgency nothing ever seems to be very urgent.
That's something that is common throughout, the pace plods. You would expect a somewhat subdued pace in this sort of invasion storyline, but there are no real points of climax and that makes it more of a meander... perhaps those exciting moments happened when the camera zoned out.
There are touches here and there that do make you hopeful for the film, but overall it feels like Little Joe went for subtle and took it slightly too far. Everything felt too calm, the only one that seemed to react as you'd expect was Bella, but the nature of her part of the story meant that this was over the top because it was so far from everything else.
I like the idea behind this and we know from many different films that this sort of thing can work, but the lack of a real punch anywhere made this a struggle to watch. Oddly, I think this would have worked as a limited series without a lot of changes. The slow pace wouldn't have been so evident if it was broken down into episodes, there are small peaks in there that would give just enough intrigue to hold over to the next episode, I even feel like the ending as it is would have worked more in this style. Sadly, as it was I don't feel like there was enough reward for the time invested in watching it as a film, there's a different expectation between and film and a TV series but it's very difficult to explain it here without revealing spoilers.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/02/little-joe-movie-review.html
TC
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2099 KP) rated Bad News Travels Fast in Books
Aug 19, 2020
Capital Crimes
When Joe and Dottie Loudermilk sold everything to enjoy their retirement on the road, one advantage was that it would make it hard for their kids to drag them into difficult situations. However, when they arrive in Washington DC, Dottie arranges for them to have dinner with their son Eddie. The next morning, Eddie is arrested for killing his former roommate. The murder weapon is Eddie’s knife, and the victim was killed after Eddie had a very public fight with him. Despite all of this, Joe and Dottie believe Eddie when he claims to be innocent. But can they prove it?
I’m glad I got to revisit these characters this year because this was a delightful mystery. It was a fast read, but there wasn’t a wasted word as Joe and Dottie track down one lead after another. The twists and turns kept me engaged the entire way through. Joe’s temper is toned down a bit from the first book, and Dottie is a strong narrator of the events. The rest of the cast is just as sharp. While travel is a theme of the series, the little bit of sightseeing that Joe and Dottie do always also serves the plot. I could have done without the smattering of foul language scattered throughout the book, but that is worth nothing mainly in passing. Everything is mixed together with a dash of humor that I enjoyed. If you’ve missed this book, I’ve got great news – you’ll enjoy it.
I’m glad I got to revisit these characters this year because this was a delightful mystery. It was a fast read, but there wasn’t a wasted word as Joe and Dottie track down one lead after another. The twists and turns kept me engaged the entire way through. Joe’s temper is toned down a bit from the first book, and Dottie is a strong narrator of the events. The rest of the cast is just as sharp. While travel is a theme of the series, the little bit of sightseeing that Joe and Dottie do always also serves the plot. I could have done without the smattering of foul language scattered throughout the book, but that is worth nothing mainly in passing. Everything is mixed together with a dash of humor that I enjoyed. If you’ve missed this book, I’ve got great news – you’ll enjoy it.
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6.0
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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated One Perfect Summer (One Perfect #1) in Books
Sep 6, 2019
This is my first 2 star rating for a Paige Toon book. I'm a big fan but I struggled to get into this one, it was only about the 75% mark that it started to really grab my attention and then it was full steam ahead.
Joe was great--I've noticed that she likes to write books about first loves and meeting them again years later. This must be the 3rd/4th I've read with that sort of storyline--and I liked the beginning where they spent a lot of time together. It was a little dark in places--Joe's brother--but also sweet at times.
I have to say that I think this book dragged a lot in the middle. There was a lot of bits that were irrelevant as far as I'm concerned, and that was probably why it's taken me so long to read.
Then we meet Lukas. He seems pretty normal to start with but the more of him we see the more controlling and demanding he became and I just wanted to scream at Alice. What was she doing?!
The ending was a little vague of names but it had to be Joe that she met. It had to be!
Joe was great--I've noticed that she likes to write books about first loves and meeting them again years later. This must be the 3rd/4th I've read with that sort of storyline--and I liked the beginning where they spent a lot of time together. It was a little dark in places--Joe's brother--but also sweet at times.
I have to say that I think this book dragged a lot in the middle. There was a lot of bits that were irrelevant as far as I'm concerned, and that was probably why it's taken me so long to read.
Then we meet Lukas. He seems pretty normal to start with but the more of him we see the more controlling and demanding he became and I just wanted to scream at Alice. What was she doing?!
The ending was a little vague of names but it had to be Joe that she met. It had to be!
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