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RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) in Movies

Feb 19, 2019 (Updated Feb 19, 2019)  
Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
1939 | Action
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
I think that this must be the most heart warming of the lot, so far at least. Tarzan and Jane discover a boy who is the lone survivor of a plane crash. They adopt him as there own and five years pass as Tarzan and his son, which he has named “Boy” have become inseparable.

But his family, the heirs to the Greystoke estate come searching for him and Tarzan will not give him up. Though Jane, whilst heart broken, is prepared too, though unaware that the Boy is just a pawn to gain an Their inheritance.

The relationship between Tarzan and his son are played out beautifully, as is the betrayal of Jane as she must take the boy against Tarzan’s will.

Though Jane’s character is starting feel frumpy and and bit two dimensional by this point in the series, the trio still manage to play this out really well and this one does deliver more of an emotional punch than I was expecting.

This is no small part due to Jane’s death scene, which is resolved by one the most outrageous Ex-machina moments which I have ever seen, but still, after test audiences did not want Jane to die, she miraculously, well, doesn’t!

But this was clearly where the plot was heading throughout and even though the pay off is smothered in fantasy, it still packed a punch. But on a lighter note, the humour also feels better and less forced in this one.
  
Death is but a Dream
Death is but a Dream
Erin Hayes | 2013 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
*contains spoilers*

A police detective -- Callista, Callie for short -- saves a little girl from getting hit by a bus. She, herself, is then hit instead. She wakes up to find herself in the Underworld where she is taken before Hades and offered a deal. Protect his son, Plutus, and find out who wants him dead, and Hades will restore her to life. However, if Callie fails in her objective or dies while in the Underworld, she will die an eternal death, and her soul will never be allowed to have an afterlife.

It doesn't seem like a super great choice, but when a god offers you a deal, the "offering" part is really just a polite term to cover up the fact that you are going to do what that god wants you to do or your screwed. And so Callie has little choice but to accept Hades' offer. She meets several interesting characters along the way, including one of the Furies, Tisiphone, who becomes Callie's friend and ally in the Underworld.

Callie's job is complicated, however, by the fact that Hades forbids her to interview, interrogate, or even outwardly suspect any of his royal family of trying to kill his son, and even FURTHER complicated by the fact that Hades lies to her and manipulates her at every turn.

"Death is but a Dream" is a beautiful and original story of the Olympian gods, and it is quite unique in its view of Greek mythology. Perhaps the closest comparison I can make to a book/series already out there in the market is with Amber Benson's series that starts with "Death's Daughter." (I'm sorry. I can't actually remember what the series is called as a whole.) It has the same tone. Both feature strong, independent female protagonists who are thrown into a fantastical world that they want no part of, so yes, fans of Amber Benson's work will really enjoy this book, I think.

The only complaint I have is that the book could have benefited from some series editing. I had an e-book copy of the novel, and there were quite a few more errors than I would expect a published, completed book to have. Most of the errors were inconsequential -- missing commas, wrong words, etc. -- and could be easily overlooked or fixed by the reader simply inserting the correct word while reading, but still, a polished book should be as free of errors as is possible, and this book had a good number.

I still really, really enjoyed the book, though. I highly recommend it.
  
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
I don't know why, but for some reason Asia (and Japan in particular) seems to have a thing for Giant Monsters (think Godzilla) and for Giant Robots (think BattleTech).

Or, as they're called in this series (and elsewhere? I don't know) Kaiju and Jaegers respectively.

This is a sequel to the best non-Godzilla Godzilla movie (in all but name), this time starring Star Wars own John Boyega as its reluctant hero, as the son of the "we're cancelling the apocalypse" hero from the first move, and who gets drawn back into the whole military training around the Jaegers 10 years after the events of that last movie.

Just in time, then, for him to be in place as the undersea breaches reopen and more of those Kaiju to come through ...

Dumb fun, but seemingly lacking something (although you can actually see what's happening in the battles this time around!) compared to the original, or to the various 'official' Godzilla/King Kong/etc movies.
  
Going Nowhere Fast
Going Nowhere Fast
Gar Anthony Haywood | 1994 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Corpse in the Airstream Bathroom
When Joe Loudermilk took his retirement from the Los Angeles police department, he and his wife, Dottie, bought an Airstream trailer and hit the road, enjoying the sights and sounds of wherever they decide to visit. They also left their grown kids behind, so returning to their trailer one day, they are surprised to find their youngest son inside. Even more surprising is their son’s announcement that there is a dead body in the bathroom. None of them recognize the corpse. Who is he? Why is their son there?

I grew up camping, so this is one of several series I’ve wanted to try that involve camping. The plot is fun, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. I did find a couple of the characters – Joe especially – annoying. I’m sure he was supposed to be funny, but the fact that he seemed to always be mad at others didn’t make me laugh. Still, this is a minor complaint, and I loved Dottie, our main character. The book was originally released in the mid-90’s, so it provides a fun reminder of just how much our life has changed since then. At least the physical book I read does; I don’t know if anything was updated before the ebook was released. This book has been sitting on my to be read pile for years, and I’m glad I finally pulled it out and read it.
  
Set in the early years of the 20th century, this is the eighth entry in [a:Elizabeth Peters|16549|Elizabeth Peters|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1232144920p2/16549.jpg] Amelia Peabody series, and sees the interprid archaelogist and her extended family returning to Egypt, with Emerson hoping for an uneventful season.

Fat chance!

It's not long before they become embroiled in yet another mystery following the appearance (and subsequent disapperance of) a mysterious stranger, who claims to be able to lead them to an Egyptian Queen's lost tomb.

Told, as before, thorugh Amelia's eyes, this also (eventually) brings Emerson's brother Walter and his wife Evelyn - who are going through a rough patch - back to Egypt where they first met and fell in love, as well as depicting the teenaged interactions/arguments/jealousies between Amelia's precocious son Ramses and their just-as-precocious ward Nefret.