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David McK (3372 KP) rated The Last Samurai (2003) in Movies

Feb 6, 2021  
The Last Samurai (2003)
The Last Samurai (2003)
2003 | Action, Drama, War
8
7.2 (33 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Who is The Last Samurai?
In the early noughties, following the success of Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator', there was a rash of historical epic films - 'Alexander', 'Troy', 'Kingdom of Heaven'.

And this.


Which is a strong contender for one of the best of those films.

The film stars Tom Cruise (who, for once, is not playing Tom Cruise) and Ken Wattanabe, with the former a world weary US Civil War veteran (suffering from PTSD?) who is hired to train the modernising Japanese army, and the latter a Samurai leader who thinks Japan is losing its identity; moving too fast into the future.

Captured by that Samurai leader following an early battle, Algren (Cruise's character) soon finds himself beginning to wonder is he fighting in the right side...

Yes, the plot is somewhat akin to 'Dances with Wolves' (or even 'Avatar'), and I've heard the charge of the film being a White Saviour story - a charge, I have to say, that I do NOT find any merit in: indeed, I would argue the opposite (that Cruise's character is saved rather than the one doing the saving) is more true.
  
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Cori June (3033 KP) rated The Outsiders in Books

Jun 20, 2021  
The Outsiders
The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton | 1988 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.7 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
A great read about a kid in Oklahoma who is just trying to understand life. Written in 1967 it follows Ponyboy, yes that's his real name, his two brothers, and thier 'gang' of greasers as they try to navigate a world where they are labeled little better than hoods and have to avoid getting jumped by the socs from the rich side of town.
It's a coming of age story that I have mixed feelings about waiting so long to have read. It talks about class structure and how the way you present yourself to the world isn't always a reflection of self.

There is a lot of heavy stuff in it that translates well even decades later. And yeah, there will be people who say there's a little more than friendship between a few of the characters and whether or not that's true is up to the reader.

The book is told by a 14 year olds pov. An old (kind of) soul. But even if he thinks he's in the know he's still 14.
There is triggering things with violence, abuse, alcohol, and smoking, it's worth the discussion (in my opinion).
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Sep 22, 2020  
Sneak a peek at the Christian historical fiction novel SOMETHING WORTH DOING: A Novel of an Early Suffragist by Jane Kirkpatrick on my blog. There's also a GIVEAWAY to win a $25 or $10 Barnes & Noble gift card, a copy of the book, and/or an Oregon map bag - THREE WINNERS!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/09/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-something.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Some things are worth doing—even when the cost is great.

In 1853, Abigail Scott was a nineteen-year-old schoolteacher in Oregon Territory when she married Ben Duniway. Marriage meant giving up on teaching, but Abigail always believed she was meant to be more than a good wife and mother. When Abigail becomes the primary breadwinner for her growing family, what she sees as a working woman appalls her—and prompts her to devote her life to fighting for the rights of women, including the right to vote.

Based on a true story, Something Worth Doing will resonate with modern women who still grapple with the pull between career and family, finding their place in the public sphere, and dealing with frustrations and prejudices when competing in male-dominated spaces.
      
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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Seduce (Beautiful Rose, #1) in Books

Jan 11, 2021  
Seduce (Beautiful Rose, #1)
Seduce (Beautiful Rose, #1)
Missy Johnson | 2013
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I can't say I felt anything towards the characters in this. Jack was a man-whore and Belle was...experienced. I didn't get attached to anyone of them really, and the sex scenes were starting to annoy me (that's becoming a habit in some of these NA stories, lately)

I wasn't quite expected the ending, well, the bit near the end anyway. I thought that A Beautiful Rose would have continued their story but obviously I was wrong.

As a Brit, there were a few things that didn't ring true:
One thing I didn't get was how if they were all British, they didn't know the legal ages for sex. In my experience, everyone knows it. And considering what a man-whore Jack is/was how did he not know? I'm sure he had a posh schooling but even then I'm sure he started early, so by rights, he should have known. And another is Belle saying she was in her last year of college; in Britain it would have made her seventeen, not twenty-one, unless she'd had to do several extra years.