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Merissa (11612 KP) created a post

Jul 6, 2022  
"An evocative, compelling read, “The Girl from Bologna” is a story of love lost, daring exploits, and heart-wrenching redemption."

Tour: The Girl from Bologna (Girls from the Italian Resistance #3) by Siobhan Daiko - @Archaeolibrary, @maryanneyarde, @siobhandaiko, #CoffeePotBookClub, #BlogTour, #WWII, #ItalianHistorical, #HistoricalFiction, #WomensFiction, #HistoricalRomance,

https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/thegirlfrombologna-girlsfromtheitalianresistance-3-bysiobhandaiko
     
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Merissa (11612 KP) created a post

Jan 10, 2022  
"A hauntingly epic read that will sweep you away to the beauty of the Italian Riviera and the rugged mountains of its hinterland."

Tour: The Girl from Portofino (Girls from the Italian Resistance #2) by Siobhan Daiko - @Archaeolibrary, @maryanneyarde, #CoffeePotBookClub, #BlogTour, #HistoricalFiction, #WomensLiterature, #WorldWarII,

https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/thegirlfromportofino-girlsfromtheitalianresistance-2-bysiobhandaiko
     
Captive State (2019)
Captive State (2019)
2019 | Sci-Fi, Thriller
John Goodman delivers a solid performance, visually appealing, (0 more)
Too grounded in reality, lacked originality, didn't feel satisfying in the end (0 more)
Not Captivating Enough - 6/10
Captive State is a 2019 sci-fi/thriller movie directed by Rupert Wyatt and co-written by Rupert Wyatt and Erica Beeney. It was produced by Amblin Partners and Participant Media with producers Rupert Wyatt and David Crockett. The film stars John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, and Vera Farmiga.


In 2019, Chicago is placed under Martial Law as extraterrestrials invade Earth. Attempting to flee the city, the Drummond family, breaks through a barricade to a tunnel exit. Before they can back up and reverse, the aliens attack, vaporizing both parents, with the children having survived in the backseat. Nine years later, 2028, the world has surrendered to the conquering alien forces, who have now become the governing authority. They are called "The Legislators" because all rules of governance and subsequent laws come from them. Walled off from the rest of the city and deep beneath the ground, they've had conscripted humans build them suitable habitats called "Closed Zones" where only high government officials are granted access. Gabriel Drummond (Ashton Sanders), the younger son of the Drummond family is confronted by Chicago Police Commander William Mulligan (John Goodman) who believes he is a part of the resistance. Gabriel's brother Rafe Drummond (Jonathan Majors) was part of the resistance but died on a mission and murals are painted of him in Pilsen, the poor part of town, where Gabriel lives. Mulligan however is not convinced the resistance group, called Phoenix has been neutralized as believed and continues to work towards bringing them down.


This movie was not at all what I expected. I thought it was going to be better than what it was and that's because I didn't even have high expectations going into it. So from the previews/trailers it looked like it was going to be a bigger scale resistance. When I hear resistance fighting, I guess I picture more like fighting like Fallen Skies or like the resistance fighters in Star Wars. This was more of a political/spy thriller going back and forth between the point of view from members of the resistance and those tasked with bringing them down. It had sprinkling of sci-fi and aliens but was too grounded in reality to make it entertaining. It seemed very "done before" and lacked originality. John Goodman did a good job and so did Ashton Sanders but I feel this movie suffered from a bad plot to begin with. Or maybe it sounds good on paper but the delivery failed. Visually it was appealing, the aliens and ships and things looked wonderful but after watching seemed like it wasn't enough to leave the audience satisfied. I give it a 6/10.
  
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
1991 | Action, Sci-Fi
"Ah'll be back ..." (to rewatch this)
For may people the best film in The Terminator series, with big Arnie again reprising his most iconic role and with Linda Hamilton returning to her role as Sarah Connor, the mother of the future leader of the Resistance against Skynet, John Connor.

For reason that are never fully explained, after the failure of the first Terminator to kill Sarah Connor in the 1980s, a second Terminator is sent back in time, this time to the early 1990s, in an effort to track down and kill John Connor (played, here, by a then unknown Edward Furlong).

As before, the Resistance are able to send back a lone protector through time ...

And, I have to say, now nearly 30 years after they were first seen, the 'liquid metal' T-1000 effects still hold up pretty well!
  
Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems
Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems
Danez Smith | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"The level of craft at work in each of the poems in “Don’t Call Us Dead” is exceptional. These are poems about black men and their imperiled, impassioned bodies, what it means to live with HIV, and so much more. There is pain here but there is so much joy, so much fierce resistance to anything that dares to temper the stories being told here."

Source
  
Spark of the Resistance (Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)
Spark of the Resistance (Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)
Phil Noto, Justina Ireland | 2019 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
This middle-grade novel is the first released as part of the 'Journey to the Rise of Skywalker' series of books.
The story features Poe, BB-8, Rey, and Rose. Rose, by far, was the worst part IMO, but, I can't stand her useless character at ALL. I wish the character would have been Finn instead.
This crew is gathering supplies for the fledgling Resistance, when they receive a distress call from a remote planet. They have short adventure, thwarting the First Order, and, of course, recruiting more people to the Resistance. Time will tell if this was a necessary read after seeing the film.
The best part of the book was how thirsty the First Order is for Poe. At one point, a First Order officer remarks that they'd know that magnificent Poe Dameron hair anywhere. It was hilarious, and my favorite part of the entire book.
  
Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres) (1969)
Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres) (1969)
1969 | International, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"And that suggests another favorite film of mine, Army of Shadows, which in a way uses film not for a psychological study of a political question but really for a philosophical study of a basic human (as well as basic political) question: the question of killing. At any rate, I think Army of Shadows upset me more than any film I’ve ever seen. This one also deals, like Au revoir les enfants and Lacombe, Lucien with World War II. A leader of the French Resistance has been betrayed to the authorities by a young informer. The leader was arrested but has escaped, and now he has the young informer in custody in a small house. According to the rules of the Resistance, he and the three men working with him have to kill the young informer. I’m still upset when I think about that movie. It’s profound."

Source
  
Music was full of fury, confusion and resistance in our first post-election year. Albums came with titles like American Dream (LCD Soundsystem), American Teen (Khalid) and All American Made (Margo Price).

But music in 2017 was also about a more slippery sense of self, as genre lines fall away and artists searched for identity and purpose in weird times.



So here's the best of a tumultuous year:

Taylor Swift clapped back, Kendrick Lamar went back to basics, Lorde threw a high-concept party and more:


Songs of Experience by U2

Songs of Experience by U2

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Album Watch

U2 return with their hotly anticipated new studio album ‘Songs of Experience’. The Island...


pop
Rainbow by Kesha

Rainbow by Kesha

8.4 (22 Ratings) Rate It

Album Watch

Kesha brings the power with this amazing new album that recognizes her rise from a bumpy past. A...

American Dream by LCD Soundsystem

American Dream by LCD Soundsystem

8.6 (7 Ratings) Rate It

Album Watch

American Dream is the fourth studio album by LCD Soundsystem, released on September 1, 2017, by DFA...

and 46 other items
     
     
The Resistance
The Resistance
2018 | Bluff, Card Game, Deduction, Science Fiction, Spies / Espionage
Classes add additional layers of difficulty (0 more)
The theme isn't all that great (0 more)
Not The Best Social Deduction
The Resistance suffers, not because of any inherent flaw in the game, but because other games do social deduction better.

If you are looking for simplicity, and a fun theme, then Secret Hitler is a great intro into social deduction.

If you are looking for complexity, then the classes in Avalon are much better.
  
The struggle of Centauri Prime continues as Vir begins to form a resistance to the Keepers and their hold on his home planet. A good story, but it does fall victim to the middle book syndrome with no real climax just a set up for the final in the series.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/02/book-review-babylon-5-armies-of-light.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.