Search

Search only in certain items:

    New Star Soccer G-Story

    New Star Soccer G-Story

    Games and Book

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    ***Please note this is an interactive Story Book which contains gameplay snippets from New Star...

    METAL SLUG ATTACK

    METAL SLUG ATTACK

    Games and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    ◆New 8 Million Download Record Broken!◆ The sequel to the worldwide hit "METAL SLUG DEFENSE"...

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
1982 | Action, Sci-Fi
Wowee! From the ridiculous to the sublime. This is how to make a Star Trek movie! If you were trying to bring back the action and fun of the original TV series, then what better than to bring back one of the original villains in a sequel to that story? And being able to cast the original actor (Ricardo Montalban) is just perfect.

Nicholas Meyer also clearly had the same frustrations about that first movie. The film barely pauses for breath. Interestingly, it clearly reuses footage from the original movie in travelling to the Enterprise in space dock, but cuts that 6 minute special-effects-porn-fest to about 20 seconds! It’s a striking comparison!

The movie “introduces” Kirstie (“Cheers”) Alley as Vulcan officer Saavik (although she was in a student-made feature the year before). She makes quite an impression. Also new to the series is Merritt Buttrick, playing Kirk’s son David. Sadly, like Khambatta from the last film, his Trek-voyage was to be short lived. Although he appeared in Star Trek III, he died of Aids just three years later.

The movie is also notable for launching the late James Horner onto the world stage as a leading film composer. Horner cleverly associates the “ship” in starship with a roistering seafaring motif that would be equally at home in a Hornblower movie as it is here. I remember leaving the cinema when this was released and heading STRAIGHT into HMV to buy the vinyl soundtrack!

There are very few things I can find to critique in this movie. It all holds up pretty well, even after nearly 40 years (MAN, I FEEL OLD NOW!) The only scene that perhaps grates with modern sensitivities is in the (supposedly comic) “lady driver” reactions from Kirk.
  
Lady MacBethad
Lady MacBethad
Isabelle Schuler | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I studied Macbeth at school (pre-GCSE), and I don’t think I was told that it was based on a real historical figure - at least I’ve forgotten in the intervening 30-odd years. All I can remember , is that my English teacher at the time, Mr Jones, asked me to read Lady Macbeth’s part, because he thought I suited it! I’m sure I should have been more insulted than I was, but then I always thought that she had the good part…

Lady MacBethad is the story pre-Macbeth and probably closer to the truth. Shakespeare had his reasons for writing his play the way he did (keeping in with the royals and the fee-paying public, perhaps?), but it seems in reality MacBethad had more of a claim to the throne than Duncan.

This novel is of course from Lady MacBethad’s point of view - but she hasn’t got there yet. In this, she’s Gruoch, or as her grandmother says: “Groa, daughter of Boedhe, son of Coinneach, the rightful King of Alba…You will be the greatest of us all”

Gruoch is brought up in a household where her mother remembers her picti and ancient Druid heritage, but her father, Boedhe, follows the new Christian faith. Gruoch is conflicted. But she does know that she wants to be queen, and will stop at nothing to get there.

She’s so young though, and that does come across in some of her attitude, temper tantrums and opinions. She’s certainly undertaking quite some learning curve.

This was such a readable, immersive story, and I found myself backing Gruoch and wanting to actually help her (she would never have listened). I’ve no doubt this will be one of my favourite books this year - and I do wonder if there will be a sequel? I’d read it!
  
40x40

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Mint Chocolate Murder in Books

Jul 30, 2022 (Updated Jul 30, 2022)  
Mint Chocolate Murder
Mint Chocolate Murder
Meri Allen | 2022 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Was the Photographer’s Death Picture Perfect?
September has fallen, and the crowds have dropped off from their summer peak at Udder Delicious, but manager Riley Rhodes is finding life isn’t slowing down yet thanks to the art festival that former supermodel Maude Monico is hosting at the castle she’s purchased just outside of town. Riley is catering the opening night ice cream social, and that allows her to observe the weekend’s guest of honor, Adam Blasco, a controversial photographer. He fails to show up for his talk the next day, and he is soon found dead, locked in the castle’s former dungeon. Now Riley has to figure out not only how he came to be there, but who wanted him dead.

Yes, there is a reason that this castle (and a Scottish castle at that) is in the middle of Connecticut. That adds a fun layer to this mystery, but it does require a bit of set up at the beginning. Between that and meeting the victim and suspects, we are able to ease into the story. Since we have a locked room puzzle and in addition to figuring out who the killer is, there is plenty to keep us engaged, and the pages flew by until I reached the end. I enjoyed meeting the characters last year, and they were just as charming here. Meanwhile, the suspects were strong. While there actually isn’t much mention of mint chocolate here (a favorite flavor of mine), pumpkin spice proves to be a popular ice cream flavor in the story, and we get a recipe for it in the end. Whether you love ice cream or not, you’ll find this book a delicious sequel that you’ll enjoy.
  
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
1994 | Horror, Mystery
Off the bat, New Nightmare is a veritable treat for fans of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Six films deep, the cold hard fact is that this series had become so far removed from what it once was, for better or for worse, and this 7th entry into the franchise provided the shake up so sorely needed. It's meta as hell, taking place in the "real world" where ANOES is just a movie. It's a fun slasher that sees the beloved series bleeding over into reality, when an evil entity begins to terrorize the actual Heather Langenkamp, posing as the ever popular Freddy Krueger.
This whole premise is just great. The dialogue can be a bit on the nose sometimes, but it's honestly forgivable, considering that Wes Craven was trying to out-Scream himself before Scream even existed. Craven himself appears alongside the likes of Robert Englund and producer Rob Shaye as themselves. Krueger himself is thankfully a scary bastard once again. This version doesn't have time for quips or shenanigans, instead opting for general terrorising and murder (a particular highlight riffs on the infamous ceiling kill from the original, but adds to it in the best way) and is probably the scariest version of Freddy since the first two movies.
The plot is clever in its way that it connects back to the original 84 story, and deserves all the credit for having the balls to take the series in a new direction. It deserves bonus points for the commitment to using practical effects

New Nightmare is a wonderful example of what a somewhat stale series should do next, and further cements just how important Wes Craven was to the genre. It's an ambitious sequel that earns it status as a fan favourite.