Erika (17788 KP) rated The Hangover Part II (2011) in Movies
May 12, 2018
The funniest thing that I remember from this movie is when Alan calls Thailand 'Thi-land'. Other than that, blah. Bradley Cooper was nice to look at throughout, which is the only reason I'm rating it as high as I did.
I did not see the third one, and I'm content with never seeing it.
J. L. Stowers (136 KP) rated Blindspot - Season 3 in TV
May 23, 2018 (Updated May 23, 2018)
Trianimal: Colour Me Dog
Book
Trianimal: Colour Me Dog, part of the Trianimals series, is a unique animal colouring-by-numbers...
The Midwife of Auschwitz
Book
Auschwitz, 1943: As I held the tiny baby in my arms, my fingers traced the black tattoo etched...
Dean (6926 KP) rated The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) in Movies
Nov 26, 2018 (Updated Nov 26, 2018)
This feels very different. From the Bond like opening credits and plot about a programme that can hack any nuclear missile world wide. It's very broad in scope... Without actually having a big plot feel to it. It's not a bad film, it's an ok Thriller. After the high standards set by the other films though this is a step down. Check out the the Swedish ones if you haven't seen them.
Sketching Type: Create Your Own Hand-Drawn Type
Book
Inside you'll find a series of inspirational exercises to help you start creating your own...
Lasers and Lights: Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology Series
Jeffrey S. Dover, Murad Alam and George J. Hruza
Book
Part of the practical and dynamic Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology Series, Lasers and Lights, 4th...
Transnational Film Remakes
Iain Robert Smith and Constantine Verevis
Book
Bringing together a range of international scholars, Transnational Film Remakes is the first edited...
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in Books
May 16, 2018
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an utterly enthralling crime thriller, centered around Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist convicted of libel, Lisbeth Salander, a ward of the government with a penchant for hacking, and the age-old mystery of what happened to Harriet Vanger: a daughter of the prominent Vanger family that went missing in 1966 and is presumed to have been murdered. Filled to the brim with corporate corruption, misogynistic views, and sharp twists that could not be done justice by the films, Larsson has undoubtedly woven a masterpiece - one that I was unable to put down until the last page was read. I mean that quite literally, as I didn't go to bed until after five this morning.
It's not very often that a book snares me so strongly that I cannot stop myself from turning its pages, and the way in which this one sunk its claws into me has not happened in a very, very long time. The plot is complicated and filled with dead ends, but every single bit of information is also vital to the progression of the story. At first read, that might sound a bit contradictory, and in a way it truly is. When Blomkvist is hired by the aging Henrik Vanger to look into Harriet's disappearance, he is given a cold case with no open leads. Each and every time he finds something promising, it fails to work out. In many cases, this is not an easy style to pull off. Other books that have created this sense of hopelessness have largely succeeded in boring me half to death, and in some cases I've dropped them.
When it comes to the characters in a book, the way in which they are written can easily make or break the story. Extreme distaste, in some cases, can lead to difficulty in finishing a book for some readers, while others loath the so-called "Mary Sue" character. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Larsson's characters are part of relationships that are largely unconventional, especially to the mind of a girl raised in the conservative Southern United States and. The interaction that results from these relationships help to drive the story forward by not only introducing the reader to a wide range of characters, but by also providing those characters, some of which are deeply flawed, with an impressive amount of depth.
While some of the content is, without a doubt, sensitive material for some readers, Larsson also uses The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as an opportunity to highlight statistics on sexual assault in Sweden, and for that I must give him props. Even in America, there is a lack of seriousness when it comes to allegations of rape and, more recently, things tend to get brushed under the rug, for lack of a better term, if the perpetrator of the crime has any reputation that could be deemed worthwhile. It is a disgusting, dehumanizing way of treating a very real issue, and Larsson hones in on this while simultaneously creating a very strong, independent heroine that readers like myself can relate to, sometimes unfortunately so.
The next book is definitely on my to-read list, but I don't know when I'll get around to it. Hopefully, I'll be fortunate enough to cross it on one of my thrift-shopping trips. It was most definitely worth my sleepless night.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo in Books
Sep 18, 2018
This is another fabulous book in the series. The plot introduces us to a couple of solid suspects before the murder takes place, and it then gives us a few more once things really get going. We get plenty of twists and turns before Mel figures everything out. And we also get plenty of humor. I was grinning and chuckling when I wasn't laughing. The characters can be a bit broad as a result as they serve the dual purpose of suspect and provider of laughs, but it works for the series. It helps that Mel is very real, and her concern comes through. The result is lots of fun.