Search
Search results
Awesome Christmas Songs & Music
Music and Lifestyle
App
** The BEST Christmas Music & Radio app on the AppStore! ** It's the app to have this Christmas!...
Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service
Book
The moving, entertaining, never-before-told story of how one man found his calling. "The book is...
Cynthia Armistead (17 KP) rated Grave Secret (Harper Connelly, #4) in Books
Mar 1, 2018
I'd say that wraps it up for this series. No, I won't tell you why I'm saying that, or it'll ruin the book for you.
The Harper Connelly series hasn't ever been as strong as the Southern Vampire series, in my opinion, but it wasn't too bad in comparison to some of her earlier work, like the Aurora Teagarden and Shakespeare mysteries. She seemed to be experimenting with something darker this time around. I haven't looked at the Amazon rank or any other figures for the series, but it's my gut feeling that they never took off in comparison to the Sookie Stackhouse series, especially since True Blood has gotten so much attention with the television series. I have to wonder what that feels like for Ms. Harris, as this really was a decent concept with some promise, and it doesn't seem to have been given that much of a chance to blossom.
In any case, Harper and her brother are prickly characters and not very easy to relate to, and they don't get any easier in this book. They are back in their home town, and we get to now a lot more about their origins this time around. We finally get the whole story about their missing sister, and we meet the two little sisters who live with an aunt and uncle.
The portrayal of the devout blue-collar people with their working-man's faith is absolutely smack on. I came from those people, and I could taste the sweet tea and see the linoleum and the absolutely clean Formica dinette, feel the cracked chairs the characters sat on and look around at the carefully kept house. Harris did a great job with that town and those people, so much so that I'm sure she either came from a similar place or has spent plenty of time in one.
There isn't as much new magic/plot stuff as there are answers this time. The sexy gypsy boy-almost-man is back, to my delight. Harper's love interest is still a bit of a squick, but I suppose it makes sense for the characters. I have to wonder how many authors would stick with that kind of decision, knowing the backlash they'd get from their readers?
If you've read the other Harper Connelly books, read this one for closure. If you haven't, this isn't the place to start!
The Harper Connelly series hasn't ever been as strong as the Southern Vampire series, in my opinion, but it wasn't too bad in comparison to some of her earlier work, like the Aurora Teagarden and Shakespeare mysteries. She seemed to be experimenting with something darker this time around. I haven't looked at the Amazon rank or any other figures for the series, but it's my gut feeling that they never took off in comparison to the Sookie Stackhouse series, especially since True Blood has gotten so much attention with the television series. I have to wonder what that feels like for Ms. Harris, as this really was a decent concept with some promise, and it doesn't seem to have been given that much of a chance to blossom.
In any case, Harper and her brother are prickly characters and not very easy to relate to, and they don't get any easier in this book. They are back in their home town, and we get to now a lot more about their origins this time around. We finally get the whole story about their missing sister, and we meet the two little sisters who live with an aunt and uncle.
The portrayal of the devout blue-collar people with their working-man's faith is absolutely smack on. I came from those people, and I could taste the sweet tea and see the linoleum and the absolutely clean Formica dinette, feel the cracked chairs the characters sat on and look around at the carefully kept house. Harris did a great job with that town and those people, so much so that I'm sure she either came from a similar place or has spent plenty of time in one.
There isn't as much new magic/plot stuff as there are answers this time. The sexy gypsy boy-almost-man is back, to my delight. Harper's love interest is still a bit of a squick, but I suppose it makes sense for the characters. I have to wonder how many authors would stick with that kind of decision, knowing the backlash they'd get from their readers?
If you've read the other Harper Connelly books, read this one for closure. If you haven't, this isn't the place to start!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Broken City (2013) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
In Broken City, Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg wade into the streets of a
fictional New York, portraying its mayor and a tormented cop, respectively. This film is very political, and it drives to the heart of an issue found all around our country: corruption at every level, especially the highest.
The story starts with a shooting. As one might imagine, officers are easily found innocent in shootings because of the nature of their job, and thus Billy Taggart(Wahlberg) is found innocent after facing accusations of murder. Unfortunately, Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Crowe) has damning evidence that would cause considerable harm to the officer — who’s earned a reputation as a hero — as well
as the city leaders, if it were brought to light. He decides to let Taggart go, and allow everyone to save face, with a handshake and a promise of future remembrance.
Seven years later the tides turn, as Private Eye Taggart is asked by Mayor
Hostetler to investigate his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) for a hefty sum of money.
The cash-strapped Taggart takes the job, but finds himself diving headfirst into a political feeding frenzy two weeks prior to the election. Naturally, drama ensues.
Broken City is not a bad film. The problem is: it’s also not a great film. It has many of the elements of a good movie, but something is missing. It’s hard to blame the writing, as there was well-balanced humor and drama. It’s hard to blame
the cinematography, because the key shots are there. (But some awkward shots are there, too. For example, there’s an odd, segmented spinning shot of Crowe and Wahlberg in the mayor’s office.) It’s hard to blame the acting; everyone does a great job in that regard. But there was just something missing. I wasn’t drawn in.
The movie felt rushed in certain areas, and too long in others. It had major plot holes, like when (spoiler alert) Taggart’s girlfriend disappears, but never resurfaces. The main character never gets a true, deep, passionate call-to-action, which all heroes are supposed to have.
I enjoyed the role of Taggart’s assistant. Even the ending was a fresh take (though somewhat expected, because the main character wasn’t conflicted and chaotic enough to merit an unknown response).
All in all, Broken City is a good movie, but not a great one. You would be well-served to rent or stream it, and save your theater dollars.
fictional New York, portraying its mayor and a tormented cop, respectively. This film is very political, and it drives to the heart of an issue found all around our country: corruption at every level, especially the highest.
The story starts with a shooting. As one might imagine, officers are easily found innocent in shootings because of the nature of their job, and thus Billy Taggart(Wahlberg) is found innocent after facing accusations of murder. Unfortunately, Mayor Nicholas Hostetler (Crowe) has damning evidence that would cause considerable harm to the officer — who’s earned a reputation as a hero — as well
as the city leaders, if it were brought to light. He decides to let Taggart go, and allow everyone to save face, with a handshake and a promise of future remembrance.
Seven years later the tides turn, as Private Eye Taggart is asked by Mayor
Hostetler to investigate his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) for a hefty sum of money.
The cash-strapped Taggart takes the job, but finds himself diving headfirst into a political feeding frenzy two weeks prior to the election. Naturally, drama ensues.
Broken City is not a bad film. The problem is: it’s also not a great film. It has many of the elements of a good movie, but something is missing. It’s hard to blame the writing, as there was well-balanced humor and drama. It’s hard to blame
the cinematography, because the key shots are there. (But some awkward shots are there, too. For example, there’s an odd, segmented spinning shot of Crowe and Wahlberg in the mayor’s office.) It’s hard to blame the acting; everyone does a great job in that regard. But there was just something missing. I wasn’t drawn in.
The movie felt rushed in certain areas, and too long in others. It had major plot holes, like when (spoiler alert) Taggart’s girlfriend disappears, but never resurfaces. The main character never gets a true, deep, passionate call-to-action, which all heroes are supposed to have.
I enjoyed the role of Taggart’s assistant. Even the ending was a fresh take (though somewhat expected, because the main character wasn’t conflicted and chaotic enough to merit an unknown response).
All in all, Broken City is a good movie, but not a great one. You would be well-served to rent or stream it, and save your theater dollars.
Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years
Book
New York Times Bestseller (Humor) "The book everyone is laughing about!"--Joe Scarborough, Morning...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Water for Elephants (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
The future is bright with promise for Jacob, a Cornell veterinary sciences student, ready to graduate and follow in his father’s footsteps. But after a series of unfortunate events, Jacob finds himself a college dropout, homeless and penniless. He sets out to find work and stows away on a passing train which turns out to be the Benzini Brothers Circus train.
Jacob appeals to the vanity of the heartless circus owner and ringmaster, August, convincing him to keep him on as the circus veterinary doctor. One of his first patients is the horse of the circus’ star attraction, Marlena, who also happens to be August’s wife. When Marlena’s horse is replaced by an elephant, Jacob is made responsible for the elephant’s care and training. This gives Marlena and Jacob a common ally in Rosie, the elephant, and a common enemy in an increasingly violent August. Cue the furtive glances, the stilted conversations and awkward moments that signal the start of the mutual attraction between Marlena and Jacob.
While Jacob, Marlena and August form the romantic triangle that drives the story, it’s Rosie and the circus backdrop that provide the more entertaining aspects of the movie. Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine and I Am Legend) pays decent attention to period detail, highlighting the desperation and brutality of The Great Depression while romanticizing the ephemeral circus life and the subversive lifestyles enjoyed in defiance of The Prohibition. Sadly they were just quick peeks into a curious world.
Based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants is a sweet tale told in retrospect by a 90-something-year old Jacob, played by a wistful Hal Holbrook. Robert Pattinson plays young Jacob capably, and I have no doubt his fans will swoon at the many close ups of his brooding stare, pained grimaces and the occasional delighted smile. While this character gives him a few more lines than his more well-known role as Edward, the tortured vampire of the Twilight saga, it was difficult to watch him and not see the similarities in how he portrays Jacob and Edward. Reese Witherspoon’s Marlena was in turns adequately fragile and sufficiently steely. With negligible chemistry, Pattinson and Witherspoon’s performances paled in comparison to that of Christoph Waltz whose sadistic August was played with cunning zeal.
A carefully told story, Water for Elephants is however too carefully told, in a predictable, pedantic pace. However, fans of Pattinson will not be disappointed.
Jacob appeals to the vanity of the heartless circus owner and ringmaster, August, convincing him to keep him on as the circus veterinary doctor. One of his first patients is the horse of the circus’ star attraction, Marlena, who also happens to be August’s wife. When Marlena’s horse is replaced by an elephant, Jacob is made responsible for the elephant’s care and training. This gives Marlena and Jacob a common ally in Rosie, the elephant, and a common enemy in an increasingly violent August. Cue the furtive glances, the stilted conversations and awkward moments that signal the start of the mutual attraction between Marlena and Jacob.
While Jacob, Marlena and August form the romantic triangle that drives the story, it’s Rosie and the circus backdrop that provide the more entertaining aspects of the movie. Director Francis Lawrence (Constantine and I Am Legend) pays decent attention to period detail, highlighting the desperation and brutality of The Great Depression while romanticizing the ephemeral circus life and the subversive lifestyles enjoyed in defiance of The Prohibition. Sadly they were just quick peeks into a curious world.
Based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants is a sweet tale told in retrospect by a 90-something-year old Jacob, played by a wistful Hal Holbrook. Robert Pattinson plays young Jacob capably, and I have no doubt his fans will swoon at the many close ups of his brooding stare, pained grimaces and the occasional delighted smile. While this character gives him a few more lines than his more well-known role as Edward, the tortured vampire of the Twilight saga, it was difficult to watch him and not see the similarities in how he portrays Jacob and Edward. Reese Witherspoon’s Marlena was in turns adequately fragile and sufficiently steely. With negligible chemistry, Pattinson and Witherspoon’s performances paled in comparison to that of Christoph Waltz whose sadistic August was played with cunning zeal.
A carefully told story, Water for Elephants is however too carefully told, in a predictable, pedantic pace. However, fans of Pattinson will not be disappointed.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Doors: Twilight in Books
Mar 24, 2021
Great idea, poorly executed
The idea behind the Doors books is that of three different versions of a story with a shared beginning, but the stories diverge when the characters go through one of three (actually five but two are ignored as far as I'm aware!) doors. A team of people, each hired for their own area of expertise, are tasked with rescuing a rich German man's daughter who has wandered down into the mysterious cellar of their former family home, where a series of doors are believed to lead to strange new places.
The first quarter of these books is identical, with the damsel in distress being introduced and the team coming together and being given their tasks. At this stage, there is next to no organisation around their approach, it really is simply a bunch of people heading into the unknown and being drastically under-prepared. When the team quickly find the missing and take her back to the surface, the reader is left somewhat taken aback at the speed with which it was resolved. This is nothing compared to how the reader feels when the team go back looking for the real missing woman, simply based on their employer's assistant's momentary mistake that the woman's eyes were the wrong colour. This is not challenged by anyone in the team, who head back downstairs. It's a bigger WTF moment than the Batman vs Superman 'Martha' fiasco.
As with some of Heitz's Dwarves books, I think this suffered from fairly poor translation, as a number of phrases and words just are not clear. At no point did i really know where the team were heading, forwards or backwards, which door they went through etc.
And the promise of heading into the future was very much an empty one. Some members of the team briefly find themselves in near-future Frankfurt and there is a short section of the book which adds no value and has no connection to the rest of the book whatsoever. Thereafter, there is just some cliched mysterious dark maze adventures, with some unexplained conspiracy around the use and beginnings of the doors and their purpose. (I am currently around 80% of the way through the 'Colony' book, having mercifully skipped the first, repeated, quarter, and am starting to realise that there is likely to be an overall story arch that only becomes clear once the reader has read all three books).
This book, and the series as a whole, offered so much potential and teased so much, but this one at least completely failed to deliver for me.
Advance copy received from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
The first quarter of these books is identical, with the damsel in distress being introduced and the team coming together and being given their tasks. At this stage, there is next to no organisation around their approach, it really is simply a bunch of people heading into the unknown and being drastically under-prepared. When the team quickly find the missing and take her back to the surface, the reader is left somewhat taken aback at the speed with which it was resolved. This is nothing compared to how the reader feels when the team go back looking for the real missing woman, simply based on their employer's assistant's momentary mistake that the woman's eyes were the wrong colour. This is not challenged by anyone in the team, who head back downstairs. It's a bigger WTF moment than the Batman vs Superman 'Martha' fiasco.
As with some of Heitz's Dwarves books, I think this suffered from fairly poor translation, as a number of phrases and words just are not clear. At no point did i really know where the team were heading, forwards or backwards, which door they went through etc.
And the promise of heading into the future was very much an empty one. Some members of the team briefly find themselves in near-future Frankfurt and there is a short section of the book which adds no value and has no connection to the rest of the book whatsoever. Thereafter, there is just some cliched mysterious dark maze adventures, with some unexplained conspiracy around the use and beginnings of the doors and their purpose. (I am currently around 80% of the way through the 'Colony' book, having mercifully skipped the first, repeated, quarter, and am starting to realise that there is likely to be an overall story arch that only becomes clear once the reader has read all three books).
This book, and the series as a whole, offered so much potential and teased so much, but this one at least completely failed to deliver for me.
Advance copy received from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
The Last Ballad
Book
The author of the celebrated bestseller A Land More Kind Than Home returns with this eagerly awaited...
Historical fiction
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Men in Black International (2019) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
As a young girl Molly (Tessa Thompson) comes into contact with an alien in her back yard. When mysterious men show up and erase her parents memory of the incident it sparks a twenty year quest to find out the truth and find the Men in Black. She is smart and persistent and she becomes the first person to infiltrate the clandestine agency. After convincing Agent O (Emma Thompson) that she is worth taking a chance on, she becomes a probationary agent and sent to London. There she is tasked with helping Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) on a mission to stop some mysterious alien twins (Laurent Bourgeois and Larry Bourgeois) from getting their hands on a world destroying weapon. But they have no idea that a mole within the Men in Black could be their biggest obstacle in protecting the Earth from a destruction.
The Men in Black franchise returns with an international spin with very few familiar faces, Emma Thompson being on of very few, and a lot of new faces. F. Gary Gary (Straight Outta Compton, The Fate of the Furious) helms the fourth installment of the series as director. Tessa Thompson and Hemsworth reunite on screen after the successful Thor: Ragnarok, to head a large cast, including Kumail Nanjiani, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson and more.
If you are a fan of the previous three MiB films you are going to get the gun battles, cool new aliens and plenty of lasers. Also there are some really funny lines, most of them delivered by Nanjiani. The characters are really interesting and you get all of the action that you expect from a summer “blockbuster.” I really liked some of the CGI especially the stuff that had to do with the Alien Twins. The story really is predictable. From the start you can really tell how the entire movie will play out, for the most part. The previous films also had plenty of cheesy moments but it seems like they really ramped it up for this installment. I thought that Will Smith had really taken the Men in Black series about as far as he could and was excited for the new blood, but left feeling let down but this film. The promise of the characters washed away with the predictability and choppiness of the story.
I think this film will appeal to a younger audience and would be a good matinee watch for a family. Enough funny lines to keep the adults engaged and it moves at a fast enough pace to keep kids engaged. If you have never seen the other Men in Black films this might be a good introduction and get you to watch the first three movies. But I think fans of the previous three films may feel let down, as I did.
The Men in Black franchise returns with an international spin with very few familiar faces, Emma Thompson being on of very few, and a lot of new faces. F. Gary Gary (Straight Outta Compton, The Fate of the Furious) helms the fourth installment of the series as director. Tessa Thompson and Hemsworth reunite on screen after the successful Thor: Ragnarok, to head a large cast, including Kumail Nanjiani, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson and more.
If you are a fan of the previous three MiB films you are going to get the gun battles, cool new aliens and plenty of lasers. Also there are some really funny lines, most of them delivered by Nanjiani. The characters are really interesting and you get all of the action that you expect from a summer “blockbuster.” I really liked some of the CGI especially the stuff that had to do with the Alien Twins. The story really is predictable. From the start you can really tell how the entire movie will play out, for the most part. The previous films also had plenty of cheesy moments but it seems like they really ramped it up for this installment. I thought that Will Smith had really taken the Men in Black series about as far as he could and was excited for the new blood, but left feeling let down but this film. The promise of the characters washed away with the predictability and choppiness of the story.
I think this film will appeal to a younger audience and would be a good matinee watch for a family. Enough funny lines to keep the adults engaged and it moves at a fast enough pace to keep kids engaged. If you have never seen the other Men in Black films this might be a good introduction and get you to watch the first three movies. But I think fans of the previous three films may feel let down, as I did.
