Search
Search results
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Unhinged (2020) in Movies
Jul 31, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
After a confrontation at a set of traffic lights, Rachel finds herself in a race for the survival of her family, friends and herself.
Russell Crowe plays a man who has had enough, imagine if a film like 'Falling Down' had continued (or had a sequel) where the main character had gone completely off the rails and you'd have Crowe's character. After being honked by Rachel at a set of traffic lights the Man decides to teach her what a bad day is really like. After terrorising Rachel as she drives around the Man moves on to attacking and killing her friends and family, blaming Rachel for her actions.
There is a lot driving in Unhinged, Rachel spends most of the time in her car either avoiding the man or trying to plan what to next and the man switches between chasing Rachel or terrorising her family.
The moral of the film is that road rage is everywhere, be polite to people because you don't know who you're talking to and that you can use 'Fortnight' tactics in real life.
Once it gets going, Unhinged doesn't give up, there's violence, torture and threat interspersed with car chases that also contain threat.
Unhinged also tries to comment on society, as the man kills one of Rachel's friends, people look on, film the event or walk away but no one tries to help, some people do call the police but no one tries to stop the man.
Unhinged is fast paced, and violent, I found it a bit predictable but still enjoyable.
Russell Crowe plays a man who has had enough, imagine if a film like 'Falling Down' had continued (or had a sequel) where the main character had gone completely off the rails and you'd have Crowe's character. After being honked by Rachel at a set of traffic lights the Man decides to teach her what a bad day is really like. After terrorising Rachel as she drives around the Man moves on to attacking and killing her friends and family, blaming Rachel for her actions.
There is a lot driving in Unhinged, Rachel spends most of the time in her car either avoiding the man or trying to plan what to next and the man switches between chasing Rachel or terrorising her family.
The moral of the film is that road rage is everywhere, be polite to people because you don't know who you're talking to and that you can use 'Fortnight' tactics in real life.
Once it gets going, Unhinged doesn't give up, there's violence, torture and threat interspersed with car chases that also contain threat.
Unhinged also tries to comment on society, as the man kills one of Rachel's friends, people look on, film the event or walk away but no one tries to help, some people do call the police but no one tries to stop the man.
Unhinged is fast paced, and violent, I found it a bit predictable but still enjoyable.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Dead Air in Books
Aug 6, 2020
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.
It is no secret I am proud to be from Philly. I love the people, the sports, the arts, and the energy. Philadelphia is not perfect, but if you want to get my attention, set a novel in my city. I will read it. Michael Bradley, a southern Jersey native, set his third novel in Philly and combined his knowledge of the area and radio broadcasting to write Dead Air: A Novel of Suspense.
Kaitlyn Ashe, a radio DJ in Philadelphia, receives anonymous letters that threaten the life she built for herself. That life hides secrets she does not want to be revealed but, when the letters escalate, her fiance insists on calling the police. Kaitlyn needs to figure out who knows about the Shallows before her life crashes down around her, and her secrets revealed.
Rachel Fulginiti, an Audie-nominated narrator and veteran of the stage, skillfully narrates the audiobook, allowing us to hear Kaitlyn's "radio voice" and her normal voice. You can imagine Rachel is Kaitlyn conveying the story to us.
I found the audiobook a little slow to listen to at 1.0 speed. Philadelphians do not talk slowly so I played it at a more comfortable, higher rate.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/5/20.
It is no secret I am proud to be from Philly. I love the people, the sports, the arts, and the energy. Philadelphia is not perfect, but if you want to get my attention, set a novel in my city. I will read it. Michael Bradley, a southern Jersey native, set his third novel in Philly and combined his knowledge of the area and radio broadcasting to write Dead Air: A Novel of Suspense.
Kaitlyn Ashe, a radio DJ in Philadelphia, receives anonymous letters that threaten the life she built for herself. That life hides secrets she does not want to be revealed but, when the letters escalate, her fiance insists on calling the police. Kaitlyn needs to figure out who knows about the Shallows before her life crashes down around her, and her secrets revealed.
Rachel Fulginiti, an Audie-nominated narrator and veteran of the stage, skillfully narrates the audiobook, allowing us to hear Kaitlyn's "radio voice" and her normal voice. You can imagine Rachel is Kaitlyn conveying the story to us.
I found the audiobook a little slow to listen to at 1.0 speed. Philadelphians do not talk slowly so I played it at a more comfortable, higher rate.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/5/20.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2273 KP) rated Killer Chardonnay in Books
Aug 7, 2020
Poisoned Opening
Parker Valentine’s dream is coming true today with the opening of Vino Valentine in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. However, her joy turns to worry when renowned local food and wine blogger Gaskel Brown shows up. He is notoriously hard to please, and his blog can make or break local restaurants. After sampling her chardonnay, Gaskel dies, and the police are quick to label it poison. Everyone is blaming Parker for the crime, and no one is coming to her store for fear they will be next. In order to save her dream, she has to find the killer. Can she do it?
Since I don’t drink wine, I almost passed on this debut, but I’m glad I picked it up. The book starts quickly, introducing us to characters while also setting the murder in motion. The pace continues to be strong with plenty of secrets and motives before we reach the climax, where everything fell into place. All the characters were also fantastic, with some good growth thanks to the subplots. The book is written in first person present tense, which is a bit unusual, but I quickly got used to it as I read. There are a handful of four-letter words, but they are worth noting mostly in passing. If the food descriptions make your mouth water, you’ll welcome the three recipes and wine pairings at the end. This book was aged to perfection, and I’m already looking forward to Parker’s next case.
Since I don’t drink wine, I almost passed on this debut, but I’m glad I picked it up. The book starts quickly, introducing us to characters while also setting the murder in motion. The pace continues to be strong with plenty of secrets and motives before we reach the climax, where everything fell into place. All the characters were also fantastic, with some good growth thanks to the subplots. The book is written in first person present tense, which is a bit unusual, but I quickly got used to it as I read. There are a handful of four-letter words, but they are worth noting mostly in passing. If the food descriptions make your mouth water, you’ll welcome the three recipes and wine pairings at the end. This book was aged to perfection, and I’m already looking forward to Parker’s next case.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2273 KP) rated Murder Most Fermented in Books
May 23, 2020
Halsey Discovers Where the Bodies are Buried
Annie “Halsey” Hall is enjoying her new life in Mar Vista, California, although she’s not so sure about her birthday present from the women in the Rose Avenue Wine Club – a plot of dirt in the community garden. She’s hoping to turn it into a small vineyard, but her first day digging in it turns up the body of a missing elderly neighbor. With the police again looking at Halsey as a suspect, she and her friends begin to try to find the killer. Will they succeed?
I had a mixed reaction to the first book in the series when I read it last year, but since I already had book two, I decided to give this one a chance. The plotting is better and more focused here with sub-plots that stay in the background. I enjoyed the story and trying to figure out what was going on, although one part of the plot was dropped. The rest reached a logical conclusion. Once again, the story takes place over several weeks, but I was expecting that, so I wasn’t nearly as confused by the timeline. Unfortunately, the characters are still thin outside of Halsey and one or two others. I love the Southern California setting; those always appeal to me. If you enjoy wine, you’ll enjoy the wine list and pairings at the end of the book. I wanted to like this book more than I did, although there were definitely things that appealed to me, and it does show the author is improving.
I had a mixed reaction to the first book in the series when I read it last year, but since I already had book two, I decided to give this one a chance. The plotting is better and more focused here with sub-plots that stay in the background. I enjoyed the story and trying to figure out what was going on, although one part of the plot was dropped. The rest reached a logical conclusion. Once again, the story takes place over several weeks, but I was expecting that, so I wasn’t nearly as confused by the timeline. Unfortunately, the characters are still thin outside of Halsey and one or two others. I love the Southern California setting; those always appeal to me. If you enjoy wine, you’ll enjoy the wine list and pairings at the end of the book. I wanted to like this book more than I did, although there were definitely things that appealed to me, and it does show the author is improving.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Pontypool (2009) in Movies
Jun 7, 2020
Shock Jock Grant Mazzy starts a new job as the morning DJ for the small-town radio station of Pontypool in Ontario, Canada. Struggling with the change of pace Grant and the rest of the stations staff are unprepared for the reports of rioting that start to flood into the show.
Pontypool takes ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Zombie’ movies and adds a nice little twist. The majority of the movie is set in the confines of a small radio station and the three leads are fed information via phone calls and police broadcasts which means that they and therefore the viewer doesn’t see what is happening in the town. The film handles this restricted setting well, slowly building up the atmosphere and tension felt by the three main cast members and playing on Grant’s lack of ‘Small town experience’.
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, Pontypool doesn’t have a lot of visible blood and gore, having most of the violence described instead of shown. This makes the one or two violent scenes even more meaningful as they aren’t just there for the sake of the gore but do actually add something to the atmosphere and story, this is also helped by the fact that we don’t knowingly see a zombie until past the half way point.
Pontypool is an interesting, atmospheric film that relies on story over the need for effect, not only due to any budget restrictions but also because that is what the type of story it is trying to tell.
Pontypool takes ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Zombie’ movies and adds a nice little twist. The majority of the movie is set in the confines of a small radio station and the three leads are fed information via phone calls and police broadcasts which means that they and therefore the viewer doesn’t see what is happening in the town. The film handles this restricted setting well, slowly building up the atmosphere and tension felt by the three main cast members and playing on Grant’s lack of ‘Small town experience’.
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, Pontypool doesn’t have a lot of visible blood and gore, having most of the violence described instead of shown. This makes the one or two violent scenes even more meaningful as they aren’t just there for the sake of the gore but do actually add something to the atmosphere and story, this is also helped by the fact that we don’t knowingly see a zombie until past the half way point.
Pontypool is an interesting, atmospheric film that relies on story over the need for effect, not only due to any budget restrictions but also because that is what the type of story it is trying to tell.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2273 KP) rated With a Vengeance in Books
May 9, 2020
Target: First Responders
Paramedic Zoe Chambers is shocked to hear that two of her co-workers were ambushed when out on a call. One of them is dead, and the other is in critical condition. The sniper got away without a trace, leaving Zoe and police chief Pete Adams scrambling to understand what is going on. Was it a random attack? Or was someone out to settle a score with these two paramedics? Will the shooter be caught before Zoe goes back on duty?
If you aren’t familiar with this series, you should probably back up to the earlier books first. This one contains some spoilers to earlier books as Zoe deals with the aftermath of events from them. Once you get here, you’ll b hooked on this entry. The story is fast moving and, because of the personal nature of the plot, it becomes a thriller the further we go into the book. That personal nature also makes it a bit more somber. In fact, I classify this series as a traditional mystery because of that, as well as the smattering of foul language and violence we don’t see in the cozies I typically read. The characters are sharp, both the main characters and supporting characters. Zoe and Pete spend almost equal time as our point of view characters, and the transitions are always easy to follow. This technique is used perfectly to ramp up the suspense as we neared the climax. This is another excellent book in a fantastic series.
If you aren’t familiar with this series, you should probably back up to the earlier books first. This one contains some spoilers to earlier books as Zoe deals with the aftermath of events from them. Once you get here, you’ll b hooked on this entry. The story is fast moving and, because of the personal nature of the plot, it becomes a thriller the further we go into the book. That personal nature also makes it a bit more somber. In fact, I classify this series as a traditional mystery because of that, as well as the smattering of foul language and violence we don’t see in the cozies I typically read. The characters are sharp, both the main characters and supporting characters. Zoe and Pete spend almost equal time as our point of view characters, and the transitions are always easy to follow. This technique is used perfectly to ramp up the suspense as we neared the climax. This is another excellent book in a fantastic series.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
May 11, 2020 (Updated May 11, 2020)
Alternative War
Book
In Alternative War, former police officer turned investigative journalist James Patrick tackles...
Politics International Relations
The Brotherhood of the Wheel
6.5
Rate It
Book
R.S. Belcher, the acclaimed author of The Six-Gun Tarot and The Shotgun Arcana launches a gritty new...
Horror fantasy
Billionaire Capitalist Tycoon
Games and Entertainment
App
Make money in the most awesome way possible- raking in billions at a time! Welcome to the world of...