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La Dolce Vita  (1960)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
1960 | Comedy, Drama

"I saw this film when it first came out in the very early ’60s. It’s a chronicle of a decadent society full of Fellini’s incredibly inventive and imaginative imagery. It’s the story of a Roman journalist struggling between producing something meaningful in his life and drifting along a path of total emptiness. I was very young when I saw the film. I was completely inspired by the combination of such beautiful photography and the sad and powerful story."

Source
  
Roman Holiday (1953)
Roman Holiday (1953)
1953 | Classics, Comedy, Drama
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Roman Holiday is another one of those movies: first off, I feel like I’m supposed to go to Rome, like my soul’s supposed to be in Rome, but it’s also one of those movies that I have on my computer for when I’m abroad. It also helps me fall asleep — the older movies, the way they look, for some reason, make me tired. It’s just one of those easy movies to watch and cozy up to and unwind with."

Source
  
Centurion (2010)
Centurion (2010)
2010 | Action, Drama, Mystery
5
6.2 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
2010 historical action/adventure, headlined by Michael Fassbender, that purports to tell what really happened to the Roman IX Legion: a Legion that, supposedly, marched into Scotland and was never seen from or heard of again.

This is basically a 'behind enemy lines' tales, with the survivors of an ambush of the Legion picked off one by one (amongst gallons of fake blood) by the Picts, until an ending that you could see coming a mile off!
  
The Year 2001.

I wondered into a local branch of Eason's, and saw Under the Eagle on offer, sold for an introductory price (which I can't even remember), and with a blurb that sounded interesting. That, and a quote from the king of historical action-adventure fiction Bernard Cornwell that 'I really don't need this kind of competition ... a great read'.

Jump forward just over 20 years, and we're now onto book #20 in the series, and back in the Roman province of Brittania after the intervening books have had us all over the Roman Empire.

The series has also lost the 'Eagle' that was always included somewhere in the earlier titles (Under the Eagle, The Eagle's Conquest, The Eagle and the Wolves etc), with that word last used in the title in entry # 7 (The Eagle in the Sand).

That's not all that has changed: Cato is no longer the scared young man he had been in the first entries; Macro no longer the seasoned Centurion. Now, Macro is retired from active service whilst Cato - who now has a family of his own - has risen in rank above that that Macro ever reached but is still firm friends with the latter.

We've now also reached a pivotal moment in Roman Britain history, with the Boudicean revolt just about to kick off (as it does here) and as the Romans finally capture and raze the Druid stronghold of Mona.

Those two events form the backbone of this novel, with Cato involved in the attack on Mona whilst Macro is charged with the defence of Camulodunum (Colchester) and in charge of the Roman Reserves there whilst the main army is away on campaign, just after the Governor of Britain has further alienated their Icenian allies.

As with all of the Simon Scarrow books I've read, the history is worn lightly enough to make an enjoyable read: this is not a dry, stuffy retelling of events but rather uses the real historical events as the backbone for the story being built around it.

This, I have to say, is also the first in the series that I can remember ending in a definite cliffhanger ...

(I might have to go back and re-read the previous now)
  
Accidentally Perfect
Accidentally Perfect
Elizabeth Stevens | 2018 | Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rom-com love story (1 more)
Relatable
I absolutely LOVED this book!
I absolutely LOVED this book!

Piper and Roman we're perfection, there story was very believable despite the fact that it was a tad cliche, but maybe that's exactly what made it so amazing.

I started reading this book last night around ten and had to literally force myself to close the book and go to sleep at 4 am. Soon as I woke up I picked it up again and finished it and I was not dissapointed.

Piper is a relatable character, the fact she loves rom-coms and John Cusack is her favorite (because he's also mine) made for a connection to her that I rarely get with characters. This story was my high school fantasy and it was written out beautifully.

Honestly, I can't rave about this book enough. I will be re-reading it because this is my new rom-coms read and I can't wait to see Piper and Roman again.

I recieved a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
Second book in "The Forgotten Legion" trilogy, in which Ben Kane follows the same format as the first in following his protaganists chapter about (with a few exceptions), and ending each chapter on a cliff-hanger.

Mostly fairly formulaic stuff, and this book has less of the, ahhh .... shall we say ... purple sections of prose than the first, as Fabiola is now a Roman citizen rather than the prostitute, some of whose actions are explicitely described in the previous volume.
  
R(
Revenge (Roman Arena, #4)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fourth (of five) entries in Simon Scarrow's 'Arena' e-book exclusive series, this one starts with both Macro and Pavo being forced to participate in a beast fight in the Roman Arena

Unlike the previous entries (most of which followed the same format, ending with a gladiatorial bout), the majority of this one is set in and around the circus itself, and also ends with Pavo moving closer to his ultimate goal of gaining revenge for the death of his father.
  
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Kim Newman recommended Rosemary's Baby (1968) in Movies (curated)

 
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
1968 | Classics, Horror, Mystery

"A lullaby for the Antichrist, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Ira Levin’s diabolic best seller has Manhattanite Rosemary (Mia Farrow) slowly coming to believe that her husband (John Cassavetes), nosy neighbor (Ruth Gordon), and almost everyone else in their apartment building are conspiring against her . . . and that the child she is carrying is the prophesied spawn of Satan. The chanting and summoning are solemn yet absurd, but the sense of betrayal and a world turned against a lone woman makes this an enduring nightmare."

Source
  
The Eagle of the Ninth
The Eagle of the Ninth
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, this is history (and told in the foreword of this novel): Sometime about the year AD 117, the Roman Ninth Legion marched north to deal with an uprising among the Caledonian tribes (in what is now Scotland), and were never heard of again. Also, nearly eighteen hundred years later during excavations at Silchester, a wingless Roman Eagle was dug up, buried under the fields.

But how did it come to be there?

While no-one knows for certain, those 2 facts together form the starting point for this story, which sees the son of the last commander of said Legion traveling North 'beyond the [Hadrians] wall' to search for and return said Eagle after his partial recovery from his laming during an attack on his outpost, and after he hears rumours of an Imperial Eagle in the Celts hands.

He is accompanied on this journey by his freed slave, whom he had previously (before the journey, during his recovery) rescued from the Arena.

While I had previously seen the 2011 film of the same name, I'd actually never read the source material before, so was unable to say how truly it stuck to the same.

Now I have, and I have to say: said movie does stick remarkably close, even if not entirely faithfully. the book, I found, could be a bit slow at times, and also tended to gloss over the less pleasant (shall we say) aspects of Roman society, with the Romans largely portrayed as civilized as compared to the uncouth Barbarians.

But then again, this is -supposedly - a children's book, and also a product of its time (first published, remember, in the 1950s).
  
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
Kerrelyn Sparks | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
171 of 200
Audio
How to marry a millionaire Vampire ( love at stake book 1)
By Kerrelyn Sparks

Roman Draganesti is charming, handsome, rich ... he's also a vampire. But this vampire just lost one of his fangs sinking his teeth into something he shouldn't have. Now he has one night to find a dentist before his natural healing abilities close the wound, leaving him a lop-sided eater for all eternity.

Things aren't going well for Shanna Whelan, either. After witnessing a gruesome murder, she's next on the mob's hit list. And her career as a dentist appears to be on a downward spiral because she's afraid of blood. When Roman rescues her from an assassination attempt, she wonders if she's found the one man who can keep her alive. Though the attraction between them is immediate and hot, can Shanna conquer her fear of blood to fix Roman's fang? And if she does, what will prevent Roman from using his fangs on her ... ?





I wanted to like this more than I did! I like some of the ideas in the book and I suppose that’s what kept me listening! Maybe I should have read the book rather than listen as the narrator was just bloody awful with accents and voices!! A lot of the dialog was a bit corny and my go if I heard the word Gods blood one more time my tablet was going up the wall!! I don’t usually leave reviews under 3 stars but I think if people read the book instead of listen too it they may have a better experience!