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Precinct, Temple and Altar in Roman Spain: Studies on the Imperial Monuments at Merida and Tarragona
Book
The studies included in this volume supplement the work already published by the author on the...
Holocaust Memory Reframed: Museums and the Challenges of Representation
Book
Holocaust memorials and museums face a difficult task as their staff strive to commemorate and...
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated X-Men: Second Coming in Books
Nov 30, 2020
This was a re-read for me, as I remember reading the actual issues when when came out in 2011. I can recall liking it overall. After this return to it, I have to rephrase my opinion.
The story is about Hope Summers, but it is also about Cable, and it is about sacrifice. It is also about taking responsibility for our actions, and the consequences of those actions. And, it is about the end of Christoper Yost's and Craig Kyle's X-Force run.
There was some top writers assigned to this x-over, but it just felt inconsistent. I love Matt Fraction's HAWKEYE run (still one of my favorite Marvel series runs EVER), but here, it just was missing something, like when someone gives you a recipe, you try re-creating it, and the end result is as far from the recipe as the tool in the White House posing as the President! Even Yost and Kyle, who I have a great deal of regard, felt like they were glad to be done and having nothing more to offering.
Then there is the art. There was really great pages in the beginning. The art by David Finch (he was the only reason I gave this book three Stars) in the first chapter is brilliant and totally suits the theme(s) of the story. However, after his issue, everything goes from derpy (re: Greg Land, "Mr. Lighbox" himself) to just not-as-good-as-I-remember (re: Terry Dodson). And don't even get me started on the inconsistency of which costume Wolverine would be wearing in the issues he would be appearing!
I thought that NECROSHA was as bad as it could get, but this one definitely took care of that bad taste!
Instead of reading SECOND COMING, there are slew of older X-books out there, with better art, better stories, and better direction. Save your money!
The story is about Hope Summers, but it is also about Cable, and it is about sacrifice. It is also about taking responsibility for our actions, and the consequences of those actions. And, it is about the end of Christoper Yost's and Craig Kyle's X-Force run.
There was some top writers assigned to this x-over, but it just felt inconsistent. I love Matt Fraction's HAWKEYE run (still one of my favorite Marvel series runs EVER), but here, it just was missing something, like when someone gives you a recipe, you try re-creating it, and the end result is as far from the recipe as the tool in the White House posing as the President! Even Yost and Kyle, who I have a great deal of regard, felt like they were glad to be done and having nothing more to offering.
Then there is the art. There was really great pages in the beginning. The art by David Finch (he was the only reason I gave this book three Stars) in the first chapter is brilliant and totally suits the theme(s) of the story. However, after his issue, everything goes from derpy (re: Greg Land, "Mr. Lighbox" himself) to just not-as-good-as-I-remember (re: Terry Dodson). And don't even get me started on the inconsistency of which costume Wolverine would be wearing in the issues he would be appearing!
I thought that NECROSHA was as bad as it could get, but this one definitely took care of that bad taste!
Instead of reading SECOND COMING, there are slew of older X-books out there, with better art, better stories, and better direction. Save your money!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Last Flag Flying (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
The true cost of war goes beyond the numbers of the dead and wounded that we see in textbooks, lectures, and in news reports. Each number represents a person who either perished or was injured. We overlook the extended impact that this loss of life or experience has on their families and friends. Even more, we often overlook the lasting impact that warfare has on the men and women exposed to it.
In Last Flag Flying Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin), Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) play veterans who reunite thirty years after serving together in Vietnam to bury one of their sons who has been killed in Iraq. Doc (Steve Carell) tracks down his friends in order to find some closure as to events they faced in their past and to find some sanity and clarity in the death of his son.
The film brings home the horror of war and demonstrates how men and women, out of a sense of duty, find themselves in the same situation as previous generations as they left home to serve their nation. The film is uncomfortable, with good reason, as it makes audiences reflect on the meaning of sacrifice, duty, and honor. The three characters offer the film the opportunity to demonstrate the contrast between youth and experience. It demonstrates how people can have the same experiences but are changed by it to varying degrees. Nothing is uniform about how they adapt to their experiences or in how they cope with the horrors they witnessed.
Last Flag Flying offers a much-needed, sobering perspective about war and how the experiences of war never quite leave those who survived. Carell, Cranston, and Fishburne offer up performances that demonstrate the power of friendship and brotherhood that forms for those who serve together. For those who served and those who haven’t, the film offers audiences the ability to gain a greater understanding of what life is like for those men and women once they take off the uniform.
In Last Flag Flying Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin), Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) play veterans who reunite thirty years after serving together in Vietnam to bury one of their sons who has been killed in Iraq. Doc (Steve Carell) tracks down his friends in order to find some closure as to events they faced in their past and to find some sanity and clarity in the death of his son.
The film brings home the horror of war and demonstrates how men and women, out of a sense of duty, find themselves in the same situation as previous generations as they left home to serve their nation. The film is uncomfortable, with good reason, as it makes audiences reflect on the meaning of sacrifice, duty, and honor. The three characters offer the film the opportunity to demonstrate the contrast between youth and experience. It demonstrates how people can have the same experiences but are changed by it to varying degrees. Nothing is uniform about how they adapt to their experiences or in how they cope with the horrors they witnessed.
Last Flag Flying offers a much-needed, sobering perspective about war and how the experiences of war never quite leave those who survived. Carell, Cranston, and Fishburne offer up performances that demonstrate the power of friendship and brotherhood that forms for those who serve together. For those who served and those who haven’t, the film offers audiences the ability to gain a greater understanding of what life is like for those men and women once they take off the uniform.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Rings (2017) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
Going in I have to admit I had the lowest expectations for this movie. And indeed it starts off seeming like a complete joke with a scene on a plane that is reminiscent of “Snakes on Plane” but with an evil spirit, flies, and black sludge instead of snakes. The theater filled with laughter for the first five minutes.
A plot about a film that kills people who watch it is in itself offputtingly hokey. Previously I was never a fan of “The Ring” or “The Ring 2,” and I did not find either of them memorable to say the least. But, this sequel starts off in such a comedic fashion that most people will no longer have expectations to be scared. But this may not be a bad thing at all.
After the first few scenes something happens, and the film begins to be more artsy rather than hokey. Trippy effects like rain flowing upward or weird black liquid that almost looks like melted latex flowing out each time the evil spirit is coming, make this a surreal piece of entertainment. This film is actually best described as a modern day dark fairy tale and not a horror film.
Parts of the plot are very dark as you learn the complete story of Samara. Themes of captivity, murder, infanticide, and child molestation subtly peak into the plot. But it does not delve too far into these aspects which could have been truly twisted, instead it veers off into a more modern theme.
A college professor, Gabriel (Johnny Galecki), who teaches an experimental biology course and studies the afterlife, discovers the deadly film when he buys an old VCR. After watching it himself he comes up with a creative way of keeping himself and others who watch it alive. Hint – it involves a selfish pattern of sacrifice, which is a bit darkly comedic but also a realistic and shadowy reflection of human nature.
“Rings” is no horror masterpiece, but it is entertaining, unique, and a tad bit creepy.
A plot about a film that kills people who watch it is in itself offputtingly hokey. Previously I was never a fan of “The Ring” or “The Ring 2,” and I did not find either of them memorable to say the least. But, this sequel starts off in such a comedic fashion that most people will no longer have expectations to be scared. But this may not be a bad thing at all.
After the first few scenes something happens, and the film begins to be more artsy rather than hokey. Trippy effects like rain flowing upward or weird black liquid that almost looks like melted latex flowing out each time the evil spirit is coming, make this a surreal piece of entertainment. This film is actually best described as a modern day dark fairy tale and not a horror film.
Parts of the plot are very dark as you learn the complete story of Samara. Themes of captivity, murder, infanticide, and child molestation subtly peak into the plot. But it does not delve too far into these aspects which could have been truly twisted, instead it veers off into a more modern theme.
A college professor, Gabriel (Johnny Galecki), who teaches an experimental biology course and studies the afterlife, discovers the deadly film when he buys an old VCR. After watching it himself he comes up with a creative way of keeping himself and others who watch it alive. Hint – it involves a selfish pattern of sacrifice, which is a bit darkly comedic but also a realistic and shadowy reflection of human nature.
“Rings” is no horror masterpiece, but it is entertaining, unique, and a tad bit creepy.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Monster Trucks (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
It’s safe to say that movies nowadays are either remakes of beloved classic movies, based off a book, or are a sequel. Original ideas and story lines are few and far between. When I first heard about this so-called movie Monster Trucks, I thought it was going to be about those hug trucks you see at Monster Jam shows driving over cars with their loud engines entertaining crowds. This film is far from anything of the sort. It’s based off the idea from a 4 year old about monster trucks actually having monsters in the trucks.
Set in a small oil drilling town in North Dakota, Tripp (Lucas Till), a troubled high school student, befriends an extraterrestrial squid-like creature that takes up residence in the hood of Tripp’s truck. After an accident occurs at a nearby drilling site displacing this creature, it doesn’t take long for the oil company to realize if they don’t locate this creature, they will have to cease drilling which affects their bottom line. With the help of his friend Meredith (Jane Levy), Tripp realizes he must take his new friend back to his home before the villainous oil company CEO ( Rob Lowe) catches them.
If you take the movie for what it is: trucks, monsters, friends, and good guy/bad guys-it’s an entertaining film with some great laugh out loud moments that also attempts to tug at the heartstrings from a pair of unlikely friends. Dig deeper and try to analyze every piece of the movie, you’ll only see the outlandish, unrealistic, and far fetch concept with underdeveloped character relationships. All in all, I enjoyed the film. The friendship between Tripp and the creature he named Creech was similar to that of Elliott and E.T. with less drama. It brought me back to my childhood. It taught my son the meaning of friendship, sacrifice, and loyalty.
Set in a small oil drilling town in North Dakota, Tripp (Lucas Till), a troubled high school student, befriends an extraterrestrial squid-like creature that takes up residence in the hood of Tripp’s truck. After an accident occurs at a nearby drilling site displacing this creature, it doesn’t take long for the oil company to realize if they don’t locate this creature, they will have to cease drilling which affects their bottom line. With the help of his friend Meredith (Jane Levy), Tripp realizes he must take his new friend back to his home before the villainous oil company CEO ( Rob Lowe) catches them.
If you take the movie for what it is: trucks, monsters, friends, and good guy/bad guys-it’s an entertaining film with some great laugh out loud moments that also attempts to tug at the heartstrings from a pair of unlikely friends. Dig deeper and try to analyze every piece of the movie, you’ll only see the outlandish, unrealistic, and far fetch concept with underdeveloped character relationships. All in all, I enjoyed the film. The friendship between Tripp and the creature he named Creech was similar to that of Elliott and E.T. with less drama. It brought me back to my childhood. It taught my son the meaning of friendship, sacrifice, and loyalty.
The Warmth of Other Suns
Book
From the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this is one of the great untold stories of American history:...
Dungeon Survival
Games
App
[*] Game Features ·Randomly generated cave levels provide a different game experience every time! ...
As Dust Dances
10.0
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Book
The New York Times Bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series and PLAY ON returns to the...
Romance Contemporary Fiction Rockstar
The Heart of a Hussar (The Winged Warrior #1)
Book
Poland is at war. He must choose between his lifelong ambition and his heart. Exploiting...
Historical Fiction Polish Winged Hussars