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Hitler: Volume I: Ascent 1889-1939
Volker Ullrich and Jefferson S. Chase
Book
Selected as a Book of the Year by the New York Times, Times Literary Supplement and The Times...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated A Brutal Tenderness (A Terrible Love, #2) in Books
Jan 11, 2021
3.5 stars.
I think this is the first time I have ever read the second book in a series that tells it from another’s POV. If you don’t know what I mean here’s an example: Hopeless (girl’s POV) and Losing Hope (guy’s POV) by Colleen Hoover… but I have to asmit it was very interesting seeing everything from Cas’ POV.
Well, there’s something about a guy who talks dirty when your in bed with him that I like. And Cas with Jess/Jewell is no exception. I think it’s his dominance that I like so much. He wont take no crap, at all, and he uses his body as a weapon in this; both in a seductive and a fighting way.
The bits we read from the crazy psychopath also know as Jess’/Jewell’s step-brother are weirdly creepy but insightful. We never saw anything from his POV in the first book so that was an interesting change between the two stories.
As was reading about the FBI team who were sent out to keep a watchful eye on her. Seeing the interaction between them when they were at FBI headquarters and how they acted when in close confines with Jess was quite fun. Friends one minute, beating each other up the next.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever read another duet like this, if I’m honest, because it is basically just another version of the first book but from another’s POV (although I do have Walking Disaster in paperback, yet-to-read) with added bits when they disappear from the pages of the other.
But if you like New Adult books then this duet are not to be missed. Sure they’re a little darker compared to others but they are compelling reading. I highly recommend them.
I think this is the first time I have ever read the second book in a series that tells it from another’s POV. If you don’t know what I mean here’s an example: Hopeless (girl’s POV) and Losing Hope (guy’s POV) by Colleen Hoover… but I have to asmit it was very interesting seeing everything from Cas’ POV.
Well, there’s something about a guy who talks dirty when your in bed with him that I like. And Cas with Jess/Jewell is no exception. I think it’s his dominance that I like so much. He wont take no crap, at all, and he uses his body as a weapon in this; both in a seductive and a fighting way.
The bits we read from the crazy psychopath also know as Jess’/Jewell’s step-brother are weirdly creepy but insightful. We never saw anything from his POV in the first book so that was an interesting change between the two stories.
As was reading about the FBI team who were sent out to keep a watchful eye on her. Seeing the interaction between them when they were at FBI headquarters and how they acted when in close confines with Jess was quite fun. Friends one minute, beating each other up the next.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever read another duet like this, if I’m honest, because it is basically just another version of the first book but from another’s POV (although I do have Walking Disaster in paperback, yet-to-read) with added bits when they disappear from the pages of the other.
But if you like New Adult books then this duet are not to be missed. Sure they’re a little darker compared to others but they are compelling reading. I highly recommend them.
Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-tale Heart - A Hidden Object Mystery (Full)
Games and Entertainment
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Unlock the complete adventure with a single purchase! No in-app purchases! Travel to a little...
Happy Hour in Hell (Bobby Dollar #2)
9.0
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I've been told to go to Hell more times than I can count. But this time I'm actually going. My...
Hell Bound
8.0
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FBI Special Agent Riley Mathews works alone and for good reason. She’s gone to great lengths for...
Contemporary Romance Romantic Suspense
David McK (3495 KP) rated The Dark Knight (2008) in Movies
Jun 23, 2019 (Updated Jul 23, 2024)
Summmer 2008: at the time of writing this, now 11 years ago (edit: now 16), and the cinematic landscape was rather different - the MCU was only just starting off (with Iron Man), and superheroes in the cinema were not as commonplace as they are today ( to the best of my memory).
While Christopher No.an had effectively rebooted perhaps DCs most famous character in Batman Begins, that film had (deliberately, IMO) kept the focus pretty much on Bruce Wayne/Batman rather than on his mos famous foes, ending with a deliberate tease of the introduction of the Joker.
And what an introduction he gets in this.
As portrayed by Heath Ledger (whose untimely death no doubt helped stoke the interest for this movie: his last full screen role), this Joker is very different than Jack Nicholson's 1989 portrayal. It's a definite magnetic tour de force from the actor, sure, although (personally) I've never really viewed the character as a Joker so much as as a genius psychopath.
"I'm an agent of chaos" he says at one point. "I'm a dog chasing a car. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it". And that, to me, is what is missing from the character-as-written.
Alongside Ledger, Aaron Eckhart also puts in a brilliant turn as Harvey Dent, completely blowing Tommy Lee Jones portrayal of the same character (in Batman Forever) out of the water. It's a far more realistic interpretation of what drives Dent to become Two-face, with some frightenly realistic effects.
And, finally, it may be a small thing: but in this Batman gets and operates (briefly) out of Gotham city, making his world seem more 'real' as a result.
While Christopher No.an had effectively rebooted perhaps DCs most famous character in Batman Begins, that film had (deliberately, IMO) kept the focus pretty much on Bruce Wayne/Batman rather than on his mos famous foes, ending with a deliberate tease of the introduction of the Joker.
And what an introduction he gets in this.
As portrayed by Heath Ledger (whose untimely death no doubt helped stoke the interest for this movie: his last full screen role), this Joker is very different than Jack Nicholson's 1989 portrayal. It's a definite magnetic tour de force from the actor, sure, although (personally) I've never really viewed the character as a Joker so much as as a genius psychopath.
"I'm an agent of chaos" he says at one point. "I'm a dog chasing a car. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it". And that, to me, is what is missing from the character-as-written.
Alongside Ledger, Aaron Eckhart also puts in a brilliant turn as Harvey Dent, completely blowing Tommy Lee Jones portrayal of the same character (in Batman Forever) out of the water. It's a far more realistic interpretation of what drives Dent to become Two-face, with some frightenly realistic effects.
And, finally, it may be a small thing: but in this Batman gets and operates (briefly) out of Gotham city, making his world seem more 'real' as a result.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Criminal (2016) in Movies
Jul 21, 2017
Bad dialogue (2 more)
Rubbish Ending
Poorly written script
How To Waste A Great Cast
The trailers for this movie had me sold, as did the top class cast and the plot also sounded interesting, even if it is very similar to something that Ryan Reynolds was involved in previously. Last year he was in a film with Ben Kingsley called Selfless, in which Kingsley played an old millionaire who wanted his brain to be transferred into a young man’s body, and so he took over the body of Reynolds’ character. In this movie Reynolds plays a government agent who gets killed in action, but before he died, he had information that no one else knew and that the government needed. So the head of his team, played by Gary Oldman, recruits a scientist, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to use pioneering biology to transfer the memories of Reynolds’ character into Kevin Costner’s character, who is a psychopath with a child’s mind and has spent the majority of his life in prison. Predictably, Costner’s character starts developing symptoms of multiple personality disorder and having memories of Reynold’s character and from this point on, the film is kind of a mess. A poorly written script results in the audience struggling to find anyone to root with and this lack of a protagonist causes the movie to feel aimless from the start. The closest thing we get to a good guy is Ryan Reynolds and he dies at the very start of the movie, but then the filmmaker expects you to suddenly root for Kevin Costner’s character, even though he is a murderous psycho with absolutely no morals. Gary Oldman certainly isn’t a good guy, since he’s willing to go to whatever measures necessary to get this information that Reynolds’ character had when he died, no matter how extreme or morally ambiguous. Honestly this is one to skip, there isn’t even any payoff at the end of the movie and most of the dialogue throughout is pure cliché nonsense, go see something else instead.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies
May 19, 2019 (Updated Jun 8, 2019)
A by the numbers origin story, with some great performances that elevate
Black Panther was introduced into the MCU during Civil War, with little time for much backstory. And Ryan Cooglers efforts to illustrate said back story works for the most part.
This film is filled to the brim with vibrant colours, and an extremely likable cast.
Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira (literally throwing wigs at one point), Daniel Kaluuya, and Lulita Nyong'o are all great, and really paint a picture of the tribal togetherness that is Wakanda.
The two villains are where the cast really shines however, and of course, mainly Michael B. Jordan.
Here we have a layered Marvel villain, someone who you can truly sympathise with, whose backstory is fleshed out enough to almost side with him. Almost.
Jordan does a great job of bringing Killmonger to life.
Similar props to Andy Serkis. After a tiny roll in Age of Ultron, he gets a chance here to play Klaue like and absolute psychopath, and it's clear just how much fun he has in to roll.
A few negatives.... The way that Klaue's story arc is concluded is hugely unsatisfying.
The CGI is dodgy in parts, especially during then climatic battle.
The last battle itself is fun for the most part, but the fight between Black Panther and Killmonger falls into the age old MCU trope of 'the-hero-fighting-an-evil-version-of-themselves-in-a-similar-oufit' (see Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Ant-Man for reference)
Martin Freeman's character seems and largely unnecessary addition here, but it's always fun to see characters from other MCU movies.
All in all, Black Panther can be bland in places, but it's done the important part of finally establishing Wakanda in the MCU, and I for one am looking forward to what other stories will occur there (fingers crossed for a Sub-Mariner story line in a sequel!)
This film is filled to the brim with vibrant colours, and an extremely likable cast.
Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira (literally throwing wigs at one point), Daniel Kaluuya, and Lulita Nyong'o are all great, and really paint a picture of the tribal togetherness that is Wakanda.
The two villains are where the cast really shines however, and of course, mainly Michael B. Jordan.
Here we have a layered Marvel villain, someone who you can truly sympathise with, whose backstory is fleshed out enough to almost side with him. Almost.
Jordan does a great job of bringing Killmonger to life.
Similar props to Andy Serkis. After a tiny roll in Age of Ultron, he gets a chance here to play Klaue like and absolute psychopath, and it's clear just how much fun he has in to roll.
A few negatives.... The way that Klaue's story arc is concluded is hugely unsatisfying.
The CGI is dodgy in parts, especially during then climatic battle.
The last battle itself is fun for the most part, but the fight between Black Panther and Killmonger falls into the age old MCU trope of 'the-hero-fighting-an-evil-version-of-themselves-in-a-similar-oufit' (see Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Ant-Man for reference)
Martin Freeman's character seems and largely unnecessary addition here, but it's always fun to see characters from other MCU movies.
All in all, Black Panther can be bland in places, but it's done the important part of finally establishing Wakanda in the MCU, and I for one am looking forward to what other stories will occur there (fingers crossed for a Sub-Mariner story line in a sequel!)
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: The Extraordinary Exploits of the British and European Aristocracy
Book
The alarming history of the British, and European, aristocracy - from Argyll to Wellington and from...
The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive
Book
"The Most Human Human" by Brian Christian is a mind-blowing piece of reportage that will appeal to...