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Sexted by Santa (Thrust Into Love #4)
10.0
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Christian Kringle: College professor, reluctant Santa, and...fake dating my neighbor? I'm a...
Contemporary MM Romance Seasonal Single Dad Age Gap
TacoDave (3904 KP) rated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) in Movies
May 7, 2022
Technically well-made (1 more)
Acting
What a disappointment.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Spoilers below!!!
I'll say this: Sam Raimi used to be one of my favorite directors, but with this movie he has officially turned me off the Marvel universe. It is nonsense.
Example A: dreams are actually real events happening in alternate universes, so if you dream about showing up naked to work, a version of you really did that.
Example B: reading the book of evil allows a witch or sorcerer to "dream walk" and inhabit the body of an alternate version of themselves. It never explains how this works, but apparently you can "aim" your dream-self because Doctor Strange is able to intentionally dream walk into a dead body and use it. He can't move between universes, but somehow he can do this.
Example C: the city of Kamar-Taj is destroyed and everyone killed except for Wong and Strange. Yet in the last scene the city is full of warriors practicing. Where did they come from?
Example D: Cool cameos! Mr. Fantastic! Professor X! But they all die. Every single one.
Example E: Wanda's whole motivation is to go to a different universe to be with her kids. But why not go to a universe where Vision is still alive? Wouldn't that be her goal? NEVER EXPLAINED.
It doesn't stop there, but that's a good sampling of how nonsensical the plot is. Nothing is explained, nothing make sense, and rules are made up out of whole cloth. Doctor Strange as a zombie? Sure. How? We don't know.
I'll never watch this again and might not watch future Marvel movies, especially considering you have to watch WandaVision on Disney+ to fully understand this movie.
I'll say this: Sam Raimi used to be one of my favorite directors, but with this movie he has officially turned me off the Marvel universe. It is nonsense.
Example A: dreams are actually real events happening in alternate universes, so if you dream about showing up naked to work, a version of you really did that.
Example B: reading the book of evil allows a witch or sorcerer to "dream walk" and inhabit the body of an alternate version of themselves. It never explains how this works, but apparently you can "aim" your dream-self because Doctor Strange is able to intentionally dream walk into a dead body and use it. He can't move between universes, but somehow he can do this.
Example C: the city of Kamar-Taj is destroyed and everyone killed except for Wong and Strange. Yet in the last scene the city is full of warriors practicing. Where did they come from?
Example D: Cool cameos! Mr. Fantastic! Professor X! But they all die. Every single one.
Example E: Wanda's whole motivation is to go to a different universe to be with her kids. But why not go to a universe where Vision is still alive? Wouldn't that be her goal? NEVER EXPLAINED.
It doesn't stop there, but that's a good sampling of how nonsensical the plot is. Nothing is explained, nothing make sense, and rules are made up out of whole cloth. Doctor Strange as a zombie? Sure. How? We don't know.
I'll never watch this again and might not watch future Marvel movies, especially considering you have to watch WandaVision on Disney+ to fully understand this movie.
New Nebraska Lessons
10.0
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She’s the only human on campus. Four paranormal guys all want a taste. But now a killer might beat...
Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance
Dream a Little Dream (To Love a Psycho #1)
9.0
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His student. His obsession. His undoing. “Aaron Jones was a spark in the dark. Beautiful....
Dark MM Romance Contemporary Psychological Thriller
Killing Me Softly (To Love a Psycho #3)
10.0
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Their love was forged in shadows. Now the darkness wants to tear them apart. Aaron Jones was...
Dark Age Gap Forbidden Romance Psychological Thriller MM
Interstate: Express Highway Politics, 1939-2009
Book
This new, expanded edition brings the story of the Interstates into the twenty-first century. It...
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated After the Dark (2014) in Movies
Jan 13, 2018
Nope
Ever drank an open soda that's been sitting in the fridge too long? That's kind of like what happens to the premise of After the Dark. Due to its lack of reality (will expand on that in a moment), there are no real stakes and we all know what happens to Phillip McSween when he watches a film with no stakes. I turn green...
Despite a premise that falls flat, I can appreciate the message that the film was trying to get across. Everyone is important and has value. You can never understand that true value of a person or a thing until you give that person or a thing a try. The true value behind this message actually saved this film from getting a worse score.
I also give credit, as I did with I Declare War, for the film daring to try such an interesting premise. On paper it seems like it just might work and, perhaps with a bit more development, it could have. Or perhaps the film was just doomed from the start. One can never be sure.
I'll let you decide for yourself: On their last day of classes, a professor challenges a high school class to imagine different scenarios in which they would have to survive an apocalypse. While this is all happening inside of a classroom, the film takes us into the imaginary world of these different apocalyptic scenarios so what we're seeing is never actual reality, but the scenarios themselves. Ready to drop everything and watch yet?
With me watching 365 movies and having to randomly choose some from my list of all-time Rotten Tomato films, I expect some duds to slip through. Not only was the source material not enough to make me care, but the ending was so ridiculous that it destroyed any hopes of After the Dark being worth anyone's time. I give it a 61.
Despite a premise that falls flat, I can appreciate the message that the film was trying to get across. Everyone is important and has value. You can never understand that true value of a person or a thing until you give that person or a thing a try. The true value behind this message actually saved this film from getting a worse score.
I also give credit, as I did with I Declare War, for the film daring to try such an interesting premise. On paper it seems like it just might work and, perhaps with a bit more development, it could have. Or perhaps the film was just doomed from the start. One can never be sure.
I'll let you decide for yourself: On their last day of classes, a professor challenges a high school class to imagine different scenarios in which they would have to survive an apocalypse. While this is all happening inside of a classroom, the film takes us into the imaginary world of these different apocalyptic scenarios so what we're seeing is never actual reality, but the scenarios themselves. Ready to drop everything and watch yet?
With me watching 365 movies and having to randomly choose some from my list of all-time Rotten Tomato films, I expect some duds to slip through. Not only was the source material not enough to make me care, but the ending was so ridiculous that it destroyed any hopes of After the Dark being worth anyone's time. I give it a 61.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Feast of Fools (The Morganville Vampires, #4) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
This book picks up right where the previous one left off, right in the middle of the action. I love when books do that. I flew through this book as quickly as the previous three, barely taking time to eat or sleep. I would compare the infamous Mr. Bishop to Dracula - minus the romantic leanings. Nothing about him is remotely appealing, and he has no interest in making himself appealing, unlike the other two power players in town, Oliver and Amelie. Lots of subplots are developed, but this one felt like more time could have been devoted to these other elements and lengthened the novel a bit without sacrificing the quality of the text, such as exploring how Claire could wield the power of Glass House, the effect that Michael had on others when he performed, Claire's problem with her professor, or even Claire's parents reaction to the truth about Morganville. It feels as if there are too many characters in the script and not enough pages to give them all adequate time in the spotlight. I find the character of Myrnin even more fascinating in this book - he seems sort of like the dark town jester. I was also disappointed in Claire's lack of interest in her classes, given that she was so happy about her schedule change in the last book. The funeral of Eve's father seemed forced, like it was inserted in the plot as an afterthought, especially since we did not see her mother at the ball at the end of the book, even though it seems logical that Mrs. Rosser would try to use the occasion to make a specticle of herself, not unlike Monica Morrell. Wow, so I had alot of nit-picky things to say about this book, but I still really enjoyed it and I really like this series, especially the character of Claire, who has more courage and daring than anyone in the book. I look forward to the next one, Lord of Misrule.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Insatiable (Insatiable, #1) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
I normally try to avoid Meg Cabot, simply because I've found some of her writing too teeny-bopper for me, but this book was written for adults and features an all-adult cast list. Now this is a book that could be made into a movie.
The book starts out as an anti-vampire book, and makes fun of the over-saturation in pop culture through Meena Harper's character. I love Meena's character right away, with her writing skills and passion for a decades-old soap opera, she is someone I can relate to. Her ability to predict others' deaths only makes her more intriguing. I also find it fittingly ironic when more and more of the people around Meena turn out to be vampires, as she eventually acknowledges herself.
Even though the book is written for adults, Meg Cabot still keeps the writing clean, skipping through the intimate bedroom scenes with only the smallest of hints at the sordid details. She also leaves many of the gruesome aspects of the plot up to the imagination of the readers, which I prefer.
Because this book is all about tongue-in-cheek irony, it is only fitting that the state of Meena's mind -- the jumbled mess of a writer -- attracts the prince of all vampires, Lucien, who happens to be a Romanian history professor when he isn't attending to his princely duties. I get the feeling that there is more to Lucien and Meena's attraction to each other than what Meg Cabot is telling the reader, but by the end of the book, this is still a mystery. Plus, a good-looking vampire slayer suffering from too much micromanagement and even less communication skills causes some interesting conflicts and obstacles for Meena and Lucien. His attraction to Meena is like water to a sponge, but Meena is less drawn to Alaric.
I wasn't crazy by how the book ended, but it made sense for Meena's independence. Still, I'm hoping Meena's choices will change in the next book, Overbite.
The book starts out as an anti-vampire book, and makes fun of the over-saturation in pop culture through Meena Harper's character. I love Meena's character right away, with her writing skills and passion for a decades-old soap opera, she is someone I can relate to. Her ability to predict others' deaths only makes her more intriguing. I also find it fittingly ironic when more and more of the people around Meena turn out to be vampires, as she eventually acknowledges herself.
Even though the book is written for adults, Meg Cabot still keeps the writing clean, skipping through the intimate bedroom scenes with only the smallest of hints at the sordid details. She also leaves many of the gruesome aspects of the plot up to the imagination of the readers, which I prefer.
Because this book is all about tongue-in-cheek irony, it is only fitting that the state of Meena's mind -- the jumbled mess of a writer -- attracts the prince of all vampires, Lucien, who happens to be a Romanian history professor when he isn't attending to his princely duties. I get the feeling that there is more to Lucien and Meena's attraction to each other than what Meg Cabot is telling the reader, but by the end of the book, this is still a mystery. Plus, a good-looking vampire slayer suffering from too much micromanagement and even less communication skills causes some interesting conflicts and obstacles for Meena and Lucien. His attraction to Meena is like water to a sponge, but Meena is less drawn to Alaric.
I wasn't crazy by how the book ended, but it made sense for Meena's independence. Still, I'm hoping Meena's choices will change in the next book, Overbite.
ClareR (5991 KP) rated The Parisian in Books
May 30, 2019
Compelling historical fiction
Midhat Kamal arrives in Montpellier in 1914 to study at the University to become a doctor. He falls in love with his University professor landlords daughter, Jeanette, but he becomes disillusioned with the family, and leaves to continue studying in Paris. He lives here during the war, and becomes friends with other Arabic men during a tumultuous time in the Middle East.
When Midhat returns home to Nablus, he is expected to conform to his fathers wishes, marry a woman from a good Muslim family, and work for the family business. He is thereafter known as The Parisian to those who don’t really know him, because of his style of dress and his outlook on life.
Politics soon begin to affect every part of his life, as the colonial powers of Britain and France flex their muscles. Their unwillingness to learn histories and the way people actually want to live cause untold problems, which actually we still see the consequences of today.
I can see that some may struggle with the French and Arabic peppered through the dialogue (I don’t speak Arabic), but I do think it was used in such a way that I didn’t lose track of what was happening, and it lent some credibility to the story. Midhat slips in french words to his speech when something surprises him, or he feels strongly about something. His second language has become a part of him. Endearments are usually in Arabic as well (it took a little while for me to realise what they were, and there are other words used that aren’t just endearments, I’m sure!).
This is a beautifully told story. It’s hard to read in places - history isn’t always very pretty. But I think it’s important to learn about the past in order to understand the present and hopefully learn from past mistakes.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
When Midhat returns home to Nablus, he is expected to conform to his fathers wishes, marry a woman from a good Muslim family, and work for the family business. He is thereafter known as The Parisian to those who don’t really know him, because of his style of dress and his outlook on life.
Politics soon begin to affect every part of his life, as the colonial powers of Britain and France flex their muscles. Their unwillingness to learn histories and the way people actually want to live cause untold problems, which actually we still see the consequences of today.
I can see that some may struggle with the French and Arabic peppered through the dialogue (I don’t speak Arabic), but I do think it was used in such a way that I didn’t lose track of what was happening, and it lent some credibility to the story. Midhat slips in french words to his speech when something surprises him, or he feels strongly about something. His second language has become a part of him. Endearments are usually in Arabic as well (it took a little while for me to realise what they were, and there are other words used that aren’t just endearments, I’m sure!).
This is a beautifully told story. It’s hard to read in places - history isn’t always very pretty. But I think it’s important to learn about the past in order to understand the present and hopefully learn from past mistakes.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.