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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Kill or Bee Killed in Books

Jun 5, 2024  
Kill or Bee Killed
Kill or Bee Killed
Jennie Marts | 2024 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bailey Must Bee Careful
It’s time for the annual Bee Festival in Humble Hills, Colorado. Since Bailey’s Granny Bee is in charge, that means that Bailey will be busy with the week-long festival helping make sure that it runs smoothly. One of the events is a local-restaurant cooking contest, and morning show host Rex Rafferty is coming to town, with a film crew, to host the event. However, Rex is a horrible man, and it isn’t long before Bailey and her best friend, Evie, who is a contestant, are doing all they can to avoid him. Before the contest is over, he’s been murdered. The crew he brought with him seem like obvious suspects, but the evidence seems to point to the event’s contestants. Can Bailey free her friend?

The book starts out a bit slowly, but with a very funny scene. It isn’t long before the plot kicks in and we are meeting the victim and prime suspects. I enjoyed following Bailey as she looked for the killer. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it did answer all of my questions and kept me turning pages. Over the course of the book, we get laughs from characters and other slapstick situations. A few of the characters still don’t get enough page time to develop, but I enjoyed seeing the series regulars again and watching their relationships grow. The suspects are good, but a couple could have used a little more page time. Overall, this is a fun second entry in what is quickly becoming a sweet series.
  
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Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated Wildfire in Books

Jan 12, 2018  
W
Wildfire
Mary Pauline Lowry | 2014
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
[Wildfire] is a story of a young woman trying to escape her past and what is expected of her and finding where she belongs. It is a true coming of age novel of love, loss and discovery. [Mary Pauline Lowry] catches the true feeling of rebellion of the main character Julie as she tries to overcome the pain of her past with the Pikers, a hot shot crew, forest fire fighters who often hike or fly into the heart of fires all through fire season. This book kept me reading and was finished off in a day. It was a very well told story.
  
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Bostonian916 (449 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) in Movies

Aug 18, 2020  
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
2015 | Action, Sci-Fi
8
8.1 (97 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
The cast and crew of this movie was tasked with the impossible job of living up to a fandom that has thrived (sometimes rabidly and maniacally, sometimes even toxicly) for almost forty years at the time of release.

Adam Driver, Daisy Riddle, John Boyega and company did an admirable job of continuing the saga that was started all those years ago. There was also some heartache to go around for those invested in the saga.

All in all, a good entry for a new generation of fans while also mostly satisfying fans of old without alienation (except for those toxic folks I spoke of earlier.)
  
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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Expendables 3 (2014) in Movies

Jun 19, 2019  
The Expendables 3 (2014)
The Expendables 3 (2014)
2014 | Action
6
6.6 (15 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Many times when a film series reaches it”s third installment, it is out of ideas and running on fumes. The idea that if a film has spawned a successful sequel it must have a trilogy is nothing new in Hollywood, but far too many times the third films loses momentum and goes through the motions for one last payday for the cast and studio.

In “The Expendables 3” Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and company lead the all star cast with a mix of old and new in order to provide a more diverse yet not entirely satisfying third act of the retro action series.

Barney (Sylvester Stallone), leads the remains of his crew on a daring raid as the film opens to free one of his former members played by Wesley Snipes. The action is as intense as ever, but thanks to a PG-13 rating, is much more subdued than we have come to expect from the series.

As Barney and crew contend with age and injuries, it is leaned that a person long thought dead has become one of the biggest arms dealers in the world and has his own private army. What makes matters worse is that said dealer (Mel Gibson), has a very complicated history with Barney and The Expendables and as such this mission is very personal when he is hired to bring him to justice.

With a new crew in place, Barney sets out to settle the score, but soon finds out that complications arise, forcing the old and new crew to unite in a battle against overwhelming odds.

If this seems to be a fairly simplistic overview your right, as this is about as complex as this film gets. There is some effort to show chemistry between the players but backstories and character development are for the most part left out. Gibson on the other hand brings a great new dimension to the film as the backstory to his character as well as his motivations were very interesting and kept my attention in what otherwise could come off as a cartoony villain role.

Harrison Ford replaces Bruce Willis as their C.I.A. contact and brings gruff charm to the role of Drummer and seems to delight in being in on the action as do the new and returning cast.

The biggest issue was that it seemed more retrained than what we expect from the series. Part 2 had the epic airport battle and a great fistacuff finale. Part 3 lacks the intensity and urgency of previous films and the cast appears to be going through the motions, just happy for one more ride.

Stallone reportedly mentioned he had ideas for a 4th film which would be fine with me, but they need to get away from this PG 13 lite version and bring the swaggering, over the top action of the previous films back and fast as with an aging cast, this film seemed very out of date and lacking the retro nostalgia.

That being said, if you want some no-brainer fun, it is worthy of checking out.

http://sknr.net/2014/08/15/expendables-3/