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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<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>
In a few words and sentences, The Glittering Court feels like a complete mashup of the Bachelor and the Bachelorette with a disguise and a bit of sass involved. I adore sassy countesses, but unfortunately, the sass didn’t really last long. Once Adelaide and Cedric finally get together, it seems like a happily ever after despite the not so great circumstances (all I could do was internally scream, “Where is your sass Adelaide?!?!?!”), and The Glittering Court slowly went down a boring avenue.
Overall, I have mixed feelings in regards to Richelle Mead’s latest book. It is definitely much different than her other books – I just feel like something might have fallen a bit of short. Maybe I’ve read way too many of Mead’s books, but The Glittering Court felt a little too predictable – each plot twist that was meant to be unexpected and surprised came across as something completely expected.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/mini-reviews-part-1-emily-skrutskie-marie-lu-and-others/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
In a few words and sentences, The Glittering Court feels like a complete mashup of the Bachelor and the Bachelorette with a disguise and a bit of sass involved. I adore sassy countesses, but unfortunately, the sass didn’t really last long. Once Adelaide and Cedric finally get together, it seems like a happily ever after despite the not so great circumstances (all I could do was internally scream, “Where is your sass Adelaide?!?!?!”), and The Glittering Court slowly went down a boring avenue.
Overall, I have mixed feelings in regards to Richelle Mead’s latest book. It is definitely much different than her other books – I just feel like something might have fallen a bit of short. Maybe I’ve read way too many of Mead’s books, but The Glittering Court felt a little too predictable – each plot twist that was meant to be unexpected and surprised came across as something completely expected.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/mini-reviews-part-1-emily-skrutskie-marie-lu-and-others/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Beckman (2020) in Movies
Mar 17, 2021 (Updated Mar 17, 2021)
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘥?"
When I say Pure Flix's superbly silly Christian 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘤𝘬 + Holy Bible mashup with 𝘎𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥's Pastor Dave in the Keanu Reeves role and William Baldwin as a twisted desert sex cult leader where a drill goes into some dude's eye at one point - I want you to know that not only is that as righteously (no pun intended) entertaining as that sounds... it's better. Shocking what good acting, minimal preaching, and a budget that costs more than a Happy Meal can do for these things even as there's still no real characterization. Made by people who aren't just trying to cash-in on the success of Wick, but people who clearly love and respect the franchise: this has the delicious wide-angle comically over-the-top fight sequences, bumping screechsynth score, general nasty brutality, portentous monologues, and weaponized masculinity in all their respective glories. Never thought I'd see the day where one of these is executed with actual competency, especially when they aren't afraid to get down and dirty. I haven't seen a film which instantly made me demand cult status in forever - but this one absolutely deserves it.
When I say Pure Flix's superbly silly Christian 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘤𝘬 + Holy Bible mashup with 𝘎𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥's Pastor Dave in the Keanu Reeves role and William Baldwin as a twisted desert sex cult leader where a drill goes into some dude's eye at one point - I want you to know that not only is that as righteously (no pun intended) entertaining as that sounds... it's better. Shocking what good acting, minimal preaching, and a budget that costs more than a Happy Meal can do for these things even as there's still no real characterization. Made by people who aren't just trying to cash-in on the success of Wick, but people who clearly love and respect the franchise: this has the delicious wide-angle comically over-the-top fight sequences, bumping screechsynth score, general nasty brutality, portentous monologues, and weaponized masculinity in all their respective glories. Never thought I'd see the day where one of these is executed with actual competency, especially when they aren't afraid to get down and dirty. I haven't seen a film which instantly made me demand cult status in forever - but this one absolutely deserves it.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Happy Death Day (2017) in Movies
Oct 26, 2017
Plenty of humour (1 more)
Jessica Rothe is great
Enjoable Groundhog Day/Scream Mashup
It's not that scary, and there's no real blood or gore for die hard horror fans to enjoy, but Happy Death Day - the latest offering from Blumhouse Productions - still manages to deliver a wildly entertaining mashup of Groundhog Day and Scream.
College girl Tree Gelbman wakes up in the dorm of a boy she doesn't remember spending the night with. She has a pounding headache and can't wait to get out of there as quickly as possible. Sneering at the goth on her way out, avoiding the clipboard wielding tree hugger and blanking the less popular girl that smiles at her as she returns to her sorority house. Back in her room, her room mate has a birthday cupcake for Tree in honour of her special day, which she dumps in the bin on her way out to the class she's late for. Later on, we discover that she's sleeping with one of her college teachers, whose wife nearly catches them together. There certainly do seem to be a lot of people who have every right to be pissed at Tree. And, later that evening on her way to a party, Tree is approached by someone wearing a black hoodie and a baby mask. As the mysterious figure murders her, she wakes up, back in the boys dorm from that morning, and she finds herself having to endure her birth/death day once more.
Tree is understandably confused, as the days events begin to play out exactly as they did before, right up until the point where she's murdered again by the mask wearing killer. From there she goes through stages of anger, despair and acceptance, eventually coming to the conclusion that no matter what she does or where she hides, the Baby Faced killer is always going to find her and kill her, triggering the reset button on the day in the process. It's up to her to try and whittle down that big list of suspects, and take out the killer before they get chance to kill her. The only trouble is, each time that Tree dies the injuries she sustained leave a negative impact on her body, so she only has a limited number of days to find the killer and break the loop before she is gone forever.
So much of this movie rests on Jessica Rothe as Tree, and she just nails it, successfully moving Tree from victim to full-on bad-ass and becoming more and more likeable as she sets about changing her ways in order to get close to those potential suspects. There's a lot of humour throughout, and a pretty decent twist towards the end, just to keep you on your toes. Overall I really liked this. There's even a nice, last minute mention of Groundhog Day, the classic movie that this owes so much to.
College girl Tree Gelbman wakes up in the dorm of a boy she doesn't remember spending the night with. She has a pounding headache and can't wait to get out of there as quickly as possible. Sneering at the goth on her way out, avoiding the clipboard wielding tree hugger and blanking the less popular girl that smiles at her as she returns to her sorority house. Back in her room, her room mate has a birthday cupcake for Tree in honour of her special day, which she dumps in the bin on her way out to the class she's late for. Later on, we discover that she's sleeping with one of her college teachers, whose wife nearly catches them together. There certainly do seem to be a lot of people who have every right to be pissed at Tree. And, later that evening on her way to a party, Tree is approached by someone wearing a black hoodie and a baby mask. As the mysterious figure murders her, she wakes up, back in the boys dorm from that morning, and she finds herself having to endure her birth/death day once more.
Tree is understandably confused, as the days events begin to play out exactly as they did before, right up until the point where she's murdered again by the mask wearing killer. From there she goes through stages of anger, despair and acceptance, eventually coming to the conclusion that no matter what she does or where she hides, the Baby Faced killer is always going to find her and kill her, triggering the reset button on the day in the process. It's up to her to try and whittle down that big list of suspects, and take out the killer before they get chance to kill her. The only trouble is, each time that Tree dies the injuries she sustained leave a negative impact on her body, so she only has a limited number of days to find the killer and break the loop before she is gone forever.
So much of this movie rests on Jessica Rothe as Tree, and she just nails it, successfully moving Tree from victim to full-on bad-ass and becoming more and more likeable as she sets about changing her ways in order to get close to those potential suspects. There's a lot of humour throughout, and a pretty decent twist towards the end, just to keep you on your toes. Overall I really liked this. There's even a nice, last minute mention of Groundhog Day, the classic movie that this owes so much to.
Lirahlu (37 KP) rated Dread Nation in Books
Mar 1, 2019
Amazing Alternative History Horror
In a post-Civil War America where neither side won because of the Zombie Apocalypse, Jane McKeene studies to become an Attendant – part body guard, part chaperone – as part of the Native and Negro Reeducation Act due to the breakdown of institutionalized slavery. While she excels at the fighting and weaponry, Jane continually fails her etiquette lessons despite being the daughter of a wealthy, white plantation owner. While other girls at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore County, Maryland desire an Attendant’s life with a wealthy family, Jane’s one goal is to return home to Rose Hill Plantation in Kentucky. Just weeks shy of graduation, Jane, her ex-beau Red Jack, and her light-skinned “frenemy” are sent West to a “Survivalist” pioneer town where blacks are still very much treated as slaves and forced to fight “shamblers” on the front lines with rusty, ineffective weapons. Though segregated with the rest of the blacks, Jane refuses to accept the town’s ingrained injustice – even when the price of resistance is death.
Dread Nation is a fantastic mashup of the alternate history and horror genres. Ireland’s characters are intricate and flawed, and therefore believable. Ireland does not shy away from the horrific history of slavery and racism in the United States and the characters and world she’s built around them are stronger for facing these issues head-on. An absolute must-read for anyone who is not shy about gore and loves a strong female character who can hold her own in a fight.
Dread Nation is a fantastic mashup of the alternate history and horror genres. Ireland’s characters are intricate and flawed, and therefore believable. Ireland does not shy away from the horrific history of slavery and racism in the United States and the characters and world she’s built around them are stronger for facing these issues head-on. An absolute must-read for anyone who is not shy about gore and loves a strong female character who can hold her own in a fight.
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