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Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in Books
Sep 17, 2020
A great edition to the saga
Here we have a great prequel to a saga I love and it was done well. In this book we are taken back to the early days of the Hunget Games, with the turmoil of the war still felt. Instead of seeing the Games from the perspective of not some District reble, but the Capital born Cornelious Snow.
A little inside into his early and transformative years was refreshing and made me want to dive right back into the trilogy.
One thing Susan Collins does so well is write protagonists who are far from perfect and borderline unlikeable, yet from Katniss to Snow, somehow, we still end up routing for them.
Well worth a read, but it is definitely better read after The Hunger Games, when it will be truly apriciated.
Get ready to gasp!
A little inside into his early and transformative years was refreshing and made me want to dive right back into the trilogy.
One thing Susan Collins does so well is write protagonists who are far from perfect and borderline unlikeable, yet from Katniss to Snow, somehow, we still end up routing for them.
Well worth a read, but it is definitely better read after The Hunger Games, when it will be truly apriciated.
Get ready to gasp!
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Baby Driver (2017) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
I went to see Baby Driver this evening at an Unlimited Screening, the cinema was a great choice as the temperature was beyond ridiculous outside and at home. Evidently this is a prequel to Drive, or so I've been told. But I don't really know how that works when the idea supposedly came from a music video Wright did that was in 2003 and Drive was out in 2011... but anyway. As is always the way, the first big advert for the film was good, and honestly, I didn't feel like I was watching the same film when it started. Never the less, I enjoyed it. There are some quirks that I recognise from other Edgar Wright films, and I enjoyed the way the music was incorporated into the action... although him prancing down the street to get coffee... not so much.
David McK (3425 KP) rated Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains in Books
Sep 8, 2019
While the Star Wars Extended Universe has been (unofficially) doing this for years now, Disney has finally come out and given each of the current 3 distinct eras in the films their own 'name's: 'Age of Republic' (The Prequel Trilogy), 'Age of Rebellion' (Original Trilogy) and 'Age of Resistance' (Sequel Trilogy)
This, therefore, is set during the middle - arguably best - of those three, and is really a collection of short stories, each focusing on a given villain from that era: Grand Moff Tarkin, Boba Fett, IG-88, Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader himself. As such, the stories are a bit hit and miss, with some forgettable while others adding nuance and depth to the characters. I may pick up the 'Age of Rebellion: Heroes' companion when it comes out, but probably won't be rushing out to buy it.
This, therefore, is set during the middle - arguably best - of those three, and is really a collection of short stories, each focusing on a given villain from that era: Grand Moff Tarkin, Boba Fett, IG-88, Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader himself. As such, the stories are a bit hit and miss, with some forgettable while others adding nuance and depth to the characters. I may pick up the 'Age of Rebellion: Heroes' companion when it comes out, but probably won't be rushing out to buy it.
The Bone Queen (The Books of Pellinor #0.5)
9.0
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Perfect for readers of Tolkien and Garth Nix, The Bone Queen is the highly anticipated prequel to...
Alice (12 KP) rated Cruel Crown: Two Red Queen Short Stories in Books
Jul 3, 2018
Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
I went into Cruel Crown with an open mind - I haven't read Red Queen yet so I hoped that reading the prequel novellas to the best-seller would reveal quite a bit on the inner workings of Red's and Silver's.
In respect of Queen Song it was a pretty dark novella - a lot darker than I expected for a YA prequel. Coriane begins as a impoverished Silver with a hatred of the mundane and a love of the inner workings of machines.
Queen Song follows Coriane's rise from impoverished Silver to Queen of the Kingdom via her diary entries. The entries start off pretty mundane and childlike in their layout but over the course of her growth as a character they become much darker and they reveal that even royalty has flaws.
She comes across - as a teenager - as a bit of a spoiled brat even though she doesn't actually appear to be spoiled. She gives me the vibe of spoiled and irritating child for most of the beginning but after meeting Elara I'll give Coriane her due she's way more laid back.
As previously mentioned I haven't read Red Queen and hoped that the prequels would shed some light on certain things - what a Silver and a Red is, what a singer and a whisper is etc. I found that it didn't, without reading Red Queen first the prequel doesn't really make a whole lot of sense but it does shed light on what happens with royalty etc.
A couple of the characters (Elara I'm looking at you) were a hell of a lot more evil than I expected. Particularly at the end.
But there is a difference between a single candle in darkness, and a sunrise.
That is, without doubt, the best line in the novella. It's strikingly beautiful in contrast to the darkness of the novella.
Steel Scars on the other hand is a nice change of pace from Queen Song. Steel Scars follows a Red soldier - a member of The Scarlet Guard -as she aquires assets for the SG. It contains far more action and drama than Queen Song and it provides a better basis for certain aspects of the Red and Silver world.
It also sets up the introduction to Mare quite nicely as well.
As prequels go, they're good if a little bare of some details. The writing style flowed pretty well and most of the characters were not overly annoying or filler.
What an ending though. The Queenstrial sets Red Queen up incredibly well.
I went into Cruel Crown with an open mind - I haven't read Red Queen yet so I hoped that reading the prequel novellas to the best-seller would reveal quite a bit on the inner workings of Red's and Silver's.
In respect of Queen Song it was a pretty dark novella - a lot darker than I expected for a YA prequel. Coriane begins as a impoverished Silver with a hatred of the mundane and a love of the inner workings of machines.
Queen Song follows Coriane's rise from impoverished Silver to Queen of the Kingdom via her diary entries. The entries start off pretty mundane and childlike in their layout but over the course of her growth as a character they become much darker and they reveal that even royalty has flaws.
She comes across - as a teenager - as a bit of a spoiled brat even though she doesn't actually appear to be spoiled. She gives me the vibe of spoiled and irritating child for most of the beginning but after meeting Elara I'll give Coriane her due she's way more laid back.
As previously mentioned I haven't read Red Queen and hoped that the prequels would shed some light on certain things - what a Silver and a Red is, what a singer and a whisper is etc. I found that it didn't, without reading Red Queen first the prequel doesn't really make a whole lot of sense but it does shed light on what happens with royalty etc.
A couple of the characters (Elara I'm looking at you) were a hell of a lot more evil than I expected. Particularly at the end.
But there is a difference between a single candle in darkness, and a sunrise.
That is, without doubt, the best line in the novella. It's strikingly beautiful in contrast to the darkness of the novella.
Steel Scars on the other hand is a nice change of pace from Queen Song. Steel Scars follows a Red soldier - a member of The Scarlet Guard -as she aquires assets for the SG. It contains far more action and drama than Queen Song and it provides a better basis for certain aspects of the Red and Silver world.
It also sets up the introduction to Mare quite nicely as well.
As prequels go, they're good if a little bare of some details. The writing style flowed pretty well and most of the characters were not overly annoying or filler.
What an ending though. The Queenstrial sets Red Queen up incredibly well.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Many Saints of Newark (2021) in Movies
Oct 5, 2021
Production design (1 more)
Great cast
Sopranos prequel that failed to hit the high note with this Sopranos virgin.
With Bond showing on virtually every screen of my local Cineworld, there were few other choices for movies to go see this week. So even though I've never seen "The Sopranos" TV series, I decided to give this movie prequel a shot.
Positives:
- Like any good mafia story, there's a nicely developed sense of place for the action. The film is set in the late 60's / early 70's, and the score and the production design nicely portray the period. The rise of black factions to challenge the white status quo, even in the crime world, make this a nice companion piece to "Judas and the Black Messiah" .
- Although he's been in films like "American Hustle" and "Selma", I wouldn't have been able to pick Alessandro Nivola out of a line-up. But he did a great job portraying the different sides of Dickie: both caring uncle and psychopathic gangster. And Odom Jnr is again impressive: I've not yet seen him deliver any role that's been sub-par.
- It's also impressive that they had Michael Gandolfini to play the younger self of his late father's role. Although I kept being distracted by how much he looks and acts like a young John Cusack!
Negatives:
- The story is told over many years and the script came across as quite uneven. There are regular cut-aways to Dickie visiting his uncle "Hollywood Dick" (Ray Liotta) in prison, which a lot of the time, to me, felt disconnected from the main plot.
- Whilst most of the ensemble cast do a good job, some of the portrayals felt like forced caricatures of "Goodfellas" characters.
- As a "Sopranos" virgin, I could tell that there were lots of Easter Eggs and in-jokes in the movie (e.g. The baby Christopher crying whenever Anthony talked to him). WIth "Sopranos" regulars Alan Taylor and David Chase in charge, that's not surprising. But I'm afraid all of these went right over my head.
Summary Thoughts on "The Many Saints of Newark": This wasn't a complete bust for me, which it might have been if it had been a sequel rather than a prequel. Indeed there are the occasional flashes of brilliance with certain scenes. But neither did I find it so engrossing that it's going to trouble my top 20 for the year.
I guess is that if you are a "Sopranos" fan, then you would get a lot more out of this than I did. But it's still an interesting way to spend a couple of hours.
(For the full graphical review, please check out #oemannsmovies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks.)
Positives:
- Like any good mafia story, there's a nicely developed sense of place for the action. The film is set in the late 60's / early 70's, and the score and the production design nicely portray the period. The rise of black factions to challenge the white status quo, even in the crime world, make this a nice companion piece to "Judas and the Black Messiah" .
- Although he's been in films like "American Hustle" and "Selma", I wouldn't have been able to pick Alessandro Nivola out of a line-up. But he did a great job portraying the different sides of Dickie: both caring uncle and psychopathic gangster. And Odom Jnr is again impressive: I've not yet seen him deliver any role that's been sub-par.
- It's also impressive that they had Michael Gandolfini to play the younger self of his late father's role. Although I kept being distracted by how much he looks and acts like a young John Cusack!
Negatives:
- The story is told over many years and the script came across as quite uneven. There are regular cut-aways to Dickie visiting his uncle "Hollywood Dick" (Ray Liotta) in prison, which a lot of the time, to me, felt disconnected from the main plot.
- Whilst most of the ensemble cast do a good job, some of the portrayals felt like forced caricatures of "Goodfellas" characters.
- As a "Sopranos" virgin, I could tell that there were lots of Easter Eggs and in-jokes in the movie (e.g. The baby Christopher crying whenever Anthony talked to him). WIth "Sopranos" regulars Alan Taylor and David Chase in charge, that's not surprising. But I'm afraid all of these went right over my head.
Summary Thoughts on "The Many Saints of Newark": This wasn't a complete bust for me, which it might have been if it had been a sequel rather than a prequel. Indeed there are the occasional flashes of brilliance with certain scenes. But neither did I find it so engrossing that it's going to trouble my top 20 for the year.
I guess is that if you are a "Sopranos" fan, then you would get a lot more out of this than I did. But it's still an interesting way to spend a couple of hours.
(For the full graphical review, please check out #oemannsmovies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks.)
All the King's Men: The Beginning (All The King's Men #6)
8.0
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NOTE: This book is a prequel. Reading the first five books of the series will greatly enhance your...
Paranormal Romance Vampires
ClareR (5721 KP) rated Practical Magic in Books
Dec 31, 2017
I'm pretty sure the film was nothing like the book....
Firstly, this isn't at all like the film. I'm really glad that I had a sizeable gap between watching the film and reading the book, because I'm sure I would be picking holes in either one or the other. I really enjoyed this though. The relationships between the three sets of sisters resonated with me in some ways (closeness vs wanting to get away!). I thought it interesting that they clearly had witchcraft knowledge/ ability, but didn't seem to want to use it! Why?! I'd be out there being my best Witch! I have to say that I actually preferred The Rules of Magic: the writing just seemed better. I suppose the author has written a lot of books between this book and its follow up=prequel. The story though is a great one.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust in Books
Jan 15, 2018
A great new addition
I'm not entirely convinced that we really need any more Dark Materials books, especially not a prequel, but this is still a very good book.
It's very well written and is an interesting tale, although it is a little bit far fetched. Malcolm is a good new character and is a bit of fresh air in comparison with Lyra as he's a lot less brash and overconfident. It's nice to see Lord Asriel potrayed in a better light than he is in the other books and there are some interesting new characters too. I felt the ending was a little abrupt and a bit of a let down, and I'm also not entirely sure that this is how I would've pictured Lyra ending up in Jordan college. Still it's an entertaining story and has left me dying to read the next one.
It's very well written and is an interesting tale, although it is a little bit far fetched. Malcolm is a good new character and is a bit of fresh air in comparison with Lyra as he's a lot less brash and overconfident. It's nice to see Lord Asriel potrayed in a better light than he is in the other books and there are some interesting new characters too. I felt the ending was a little abrupt and a bit of a let down, and I'm also not entirely sure that this is how I would've pictured Lyra ending up in Jordan college. Still it's an entertaining story and has left me dying to read the next one.