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The Nature of Monkey is Irrepressible
Only mildly unhinged Japanese adaptation of the famous Journey to the West stories, which became a cult TV show when exported to the UK, Australia, and South America. Classic 16th century Chinese novel is transformed into something almost indescribable; a mixture of off-the-wall humour, hyperactive martial arts sequences, and cheesy special effects - the English dub may take a few liberties with the original scripts as well.
A representative episode sees our heroes visiting a small village terrorised by a giant catfish monster, which proceeds to eat three of them; they end up going to a disco which is held in the bad guy's stomach, before persuading him to vomit them up so they can fight him and his followers. Frequently silly, and the low budget often shows, but made with relentless energy and cheerfulness; hugely imaginative, often genuinely very funny. A generation of UK viewers grew up able to sing the theme tune 'Monkey Magic' (and misremember the name of the show as a result).
A representative episode sees our heroes visiting a small village terrorised by a giant catfish monster, which proceeds to eat three of them; they end up going to a disco which is held in the bad guy's stomach, before persuading him to vomit them up so they can fight him and his followers. Frequently silly, and the low budget often shows, but made with relentless energy and cheerfulness; hugely imaginative, often genuinely very funny. A generation of UK viewers grew up able to sing the theme tune 'Monkey Magic' (and misremember the name of the show as a result).
Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated All the Summer Girls in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Not the type of thing I normally read, but I've been hearing a lot of good things about it from patrons at the library, as the book largely takes place in Avalon, and even makes mention of many recognizable local establishments. While that is kind of cool, it is not ultimately what made me like the book so much. The characters are interesting and the situations they find themselves dealing with are engaging and relatable. The writing does periodically feel a bit rambling, but more often than not the descriptive nature of the book only helps to pull one into the world being created. My only real complaint is that the climax of what is seemingly the central plot point seems to end a bit too abruptly. Not to say it isn't the ending I wanted, it just seemed like it was the one thing the author sort of glossed over, which seemed slightly disappointing. Still, a great book and perfect for reading on the beach on a warm Summer day.
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Trees in Books
Mar 15, 2018
<i><b>There is no warning. No chance to prepare. The trees arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest.</b></i>
When Adrien wakes to the thundering of trees coming up from the earth and destroying his home, he has no idea what happening, but neither does anybody else. Confused, scared and afraid, Adrien sets out to find some answers, primarily <i>is his wife, in Ireland, still alive?</i> On his journey he comes across nature lover Hannah and her teenage son Seb who group together to tackle what the forest holds.
The reviews plastered all over this book are what got me really excited about picking this up, talking about Hitchcock, Tarantino and McCarthy’s book <i>The Road</i> (which I haven’t read yet but am really looking forward to picking up), all appealed to me so much that I put Room down and bought this one instead (or, rather, my boyfriend bought it)...
Read my full review here: https://bookbumzuky.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/the-trees-by-ali-shaw/
When Adrien wakes to the thundering of trees coming up from the earth and destroying his home, he has no idea what happening, but neither does anybody else. Confused, scared and afraid, Adrien sets out to find some answers, primarily <i>is his wife, in Ireland, still alive?</i> On his journey he comes across nature lover Hannah and her teenage son Seb who group together to tackle what the forest holds.
The reviews plastered all over this book are what got me really excited about picking this up, talking about Hitchcock, Tarantino and McCarthy’s book <i>The Road</i> (which I haven’t read yet but am really looking forward to picking up), all appealed to me so much that I put Room down and bought this one instead (or, rather, my boyfriend bought it)...
Read my full review here: https://bookbumzuky.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/the-trees-by-ali-shaw/
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books
Mar 24, 2018
My kind of fairytales
I really did enjoy The Hazel Wood but I might be a bit biased because I really love Fairytales especially the darker more Twisted original versions of fairy tales and the Hazel Wood really captured the essence of what made me really love those type of stories.
Alice is really one of those characters where you're not quite sure if you like her you don't like but in the end I really did grow to appreciate her Melissa Albert really put a lot of thought into the character and the concept of Nature vs nurture. And one of my favorite things about Alice is that she is really under no illusion that she is a good person she knows she's messed up and owns it pretty well.
The one thing I really wished was explored more were the other fairy tales since we only really get to know two of them The Hazel Wood is a universe I would definitely love to come back to and be able to learn more about
Alice is really one of those characters where you're not quite sure if you like her you don't like but in the end I really did grow to appreciate her Melissa Albert really put a lot of thought into the character and the concept of Nature vs nurture. And one of my favorite things about Alice is that she is really under no illusion that she is a good person she knows she's messed up and owns it pretty well.
The one thing I really wished was explored more were the other fairy tales since we only really get to know two of them The Hazel Wood is a universe I would definitely love to come back to and be able to learn more about
Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla Vs Gigan (1972) in Movies
Jun 13, 2018
Scraping-the-barrel Godzilla movie would be unbelievably silly and weird by the standards of any other franchise, but following Godzilla vs Hedorah it feels relatively restrained. Aliens invade again, monsters show up, blah blah blah. All the stuff that makes it distinctive is mad and inappropriate: Godzilla and Anguirus get dialogue together, for crying out loud, gory fight scenes show an unexpected Sam Peckinpah influence, villains are defeated when hippies carry large boxes clearly labelled TNT into their secret base, 'Everything was going so well!' cries a dying giant cockroach as its plans come undone.
But this is a Godzilla movie, and if you're watching this movie you'd probably expect no less. What is less forgivable than the unbridled strangeness is the cheap-ass nature of the fight scenes - one suspects Anguirus and Ghidorah are only in this film to allow lengthy clips from Destroy All Monsters to be included to pad things out. Probably a bit of a low point when it comes to giant radioactive dinosaurs on film.
But this is a Godzilla movie, and if you're watching this movie you'd probably expect no less. What is less forgivable than the unbridled strangeness is the cheap-ass nature of the fight scenes - one suspects Anguirus and Ghidorah are only in this film to allow lengthy clips from Destroy All Monsters to be included to pad things out. Probably a bit of a low point when it comes to giant radioactive dinosaurs on film.
Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated The Signature of All Things in Books
May 29, 2018
First of all.. this book is loooooooooonnnnng. I feel like I may have read 3 books in 1 binding.
I expected it to be similar to Eat, Pray, Love in style, but boy was I incorrect! Don't get me wrong, the writing is beautiful, the characters are extremely interesting and I loved the first half ... I couldn't get enough of this riveting story, rich historical references and so much beauty in the descriptions of nature and plants and their surroundings. I felt like I was learning so much, as well as being treated to a beautiful story. I was hooked in, and fast....
But then.... I got stuck. Like REALLY stuck. I felt like it just turned into a different writer all together? I couldn't focus, the tone changed, the story faltered as quickly as the characters lives did. It was hard for me to finish this one. I loved the first half of the book. I wish she had stopped it there ... it just went on too long, and I was so sad that it did.
I expected it to be similar to Eat, Pray, Love in style, but boy was I incorrect! Don't get me wrong, the writing is beautiful, the characters are extremely interesting and I loved the first half ... I couldn't get enough of this riveting story, rich historical references and so much beauty in the descriptions of nature and plants and their surroundings. I felt like I was learning so much, as well as being treated to a beautiful story. I was hooked in, and fast....
But then.... I got stuck. Like REALLY stuck. I felt like it just turned into a different writer all together? I couldn't focus, the tone changed, the story faltered as quickly as the characters lives did. It was hard for me to finish this one. I loved the first half of the book. I wish she had stopped it there ... it just went on too long, and I was so sad that it did.
This is just one of those books that stays with you for a long time after reading it as it's so compelling, emotional and so different from other young teen fantasy stories. I remember reading this one in school and very much enjoying it and so when I had the chance to borrow it from a friend and re read it I jumped at the chance as I knew it would take me back to my childhood. The story touches on family issues that may arise in a young persons life that are very difficult to deal with, yet this book explores these issues with a sensitive and caring nature but without distorting the truth about how hard those times may be. It allows a young child to escape into fantasy whilst trying to deal with 'grown up' family problems and unexpected illnesses. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages, even though it is more aimed at younger teens I believe we can all learn something from this book.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Three Identical Strangers (2018) in Movies
Dec 6, 2018 (Updated Dec 6, 2018)
Typically arresting so-weird-it-must-be-true documentary from the distributors of Blackfish, Dinosaur 13 and Life Animated. In 1980 a young man from New York arrives at college to be told he is the spitting image of someone who was there the year before: it turns out they were both adopted and share the same birthday - long lost brothers! The publicity turns up a third identical brother. The triplets instantly become minor celebrities on the NYC scene, but darker questions about their story soon surface...
A remarkable story, told by the surviving participants - lighter moments of uplifting human interest are soon subsumed by the stuff of an X-Files episode (well, close enough). You could very well argue that the film's narrative is rather selectively framed for maximum impact, and its attempts to address wider issues such as the question of nature vs nurture aren't really as effective as the story of the triplets. But still a gripping, thought-provoking, rather unsettling story that deserves to be better known.
A remarkable story, told by the surviving participants - lighter moments of uplifting human interest are soon subsumed by the stuff of an X-Files episode (well, close enough). You could very well argue that the film's narrative is rather selectively framed for maximum impact, and its attempts to address wider issues such as the question of nature vs nurture aren't really as effective as the story of the triplets. But still a gripping, thought-provoking, rather unsettling story that deserves to be better known.
Irene M (130 KP) rated Galaxy of Empires (Merchant Wars, #1) in Books
Dec 7, 2018
"There will be no such thing as lesser evils because they will all be vanquished by the greatest evil... ME," - Evella Noctu
This is a story about a snake-woman merchant in the Reptilian Conglomerate Empire. She has strong telepathic abilities which she uses to dispatch of her enemies, a handy skill when assassination is a commonplace method to move up the corporate ladder.
This is only one book set in a far wider ‘universe’. It is short enough for a quick escapist read, and if you can ignore some minor grammar errors it is very enjoyable. I did think a couple of sections felt a bit rushed, as if the author put the basic idea down and missed expanding them on a rewrite.
Most of the characters are very bloodthirsty and cruel ... but I would guess in a cut-throat reptilian world that could be normal. I would be interested in reading other ‘races’ in the authors universe to see if this is his character style, or the nature he has decided for this race alone.
This is a story about a snake-woman merchant in the Reptilian Conglomerate Empire. She has strong telepathic abilities which she uses to dispatch of her enemies, a handy skill when assassination is a commonplace method to move up the corporate ladder.
This is only one book set in a far wider ‘universe’. It is short enough for a quick escapist read, and if you can ignore some minor grammar errors it is very enjoyable. I did think a couple of sections felt a bit rushed, as if the author put the basic idea down and missed expanding them on a rewrite.
Most of the characters are very bloodthirsty and cruel ... but I would guess in a cut-throat reptilian world that could be normal. I would be interested in reading other ‘races’ in the authors universe to see if this is his character style, or the nature he has decided for this race alone.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated The Blacklist - Season 1 in TV
Jun 17, 2019
FBI action series with a twist
This American crime thriller series focuses on criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington (James Spader) who turns FBI informant; as long as he can work with a particular agent: Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone.)
Initially the series follows a very episodic nature with Reddington providing info on particular bad guy and the FBI team chasing them down, it’s good fun and nice to the more recent trend of series long arcs. However as the series progresses you get a more ongoing underlying story hinting at why he insists on working with relative FBI rookie Keen and it’s engaging enough to keep coming back for the full 22 episodes of this first season. Some of the CGI especially early on is laughable but I've never let that stop me having a good time.
James Spader at times is amazing and others a tad cringe worthy, while Boone is unremarkable I did like Parminder Naga as agent Malik a lot. Overall entertaining diversion, I will be carrying on with the next season.
Initially the series follows a very episodic nature with Reddington providing info on particular bad guy and the FBI team chasing them down, it’s good fun and nice to the more recent trend of series long arcs. However as the series progresses you get a more ongoing underlying story hinting at why he insists on working with relative FBI rookie Keen and it’s engaging enough to keep coming back for the full 22 episodes of this first season. Some of the CGI especially early on is laughable but I've never let that stop me having a good time.
James Spader at times is amazing and others a tad cringe worthy, while Boone is unremarkable I did like Parminder Naga as agent Malik a lot. Overall entertaining diversion, I will be carrying on with the next season.