Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France
Book
The rise of Modernism, from the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, was played...
Draw it, Print it, Ink it: Templates, Tips & Techniques for Temporary Tattoos: Templates, Tips & Techniques to Ink Yourself at Home
Book
Spotted on the biceps of Paris catwalk models and style maven Beyonce, temporary tattoos are being...
Splash 16 - The Best of Watercolor: Exploring Texture: 16
Book
100 top artists share the tricks behind their textures! Have you ever stood fascinated before a...
Halo Wars 2
Book
After decades adrift, Captain James Cutter is mysteriously awakened from cryosleep above the ancient...
The Little Black Book of Writers' Wisdom
Book
Author and journalist Gene Fowler put it best: "Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a...
What She Knew
Book
***Previously published as BURNT PAPER SKY*** THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In her enthralling...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2204 KP) rated Dead Body Language in Books
Jul 24, 2020
What I haven’t mentioned so far is that Connor is deaf. I found this character trait to be an interesting addition to the mystery, and it really added suspense to the climax. Connor is an all-around strong character, and I enjoyed getting to meet her friends here as well. The plot is strong, although I have a couple niggles about who the killer turned out to be. Even so, I have to admire the strong plotting; I missed several major clues. I did find there to be a few more four-letter words than I was expecting, and I think there were timeline issues, although I might have added an extra day in there somewhere as I was reading. I originally read this book close to when it was originally released in 1997, but I never read the rest of the series. I’m looking forward to fixing that soon.
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.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2204 KP) rated Puzzling Ink in Books
Nov 4, 2020
This book sets the stage for a fun new mystery series. Quinn is a bit unusual in that she has recently been diagnosed with OCD, something we don’t usually see in the books I read. It was handled well. I also loved Quinn’s relationship with her parents. The mystery got sidelined at times with Quinn trying to run the diner. I was interested in both stories, but I do prefer strong mysteries in the books I read. There is a good mystery here, with plenty of suspects and motives. A few key pieces of information were introduced a bit abruptly, and one key element of the plot was never quite resolved, but the majority of our questions are answered, including the who and the why. Fans of crossword puzzles will enjoy the one that Quinn creates over the course of the book. Additionally, there are two fun sounding recipes at the end of the book.