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Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
2013 | Drama
So I have been putting off seeing this movie since it was released. Well, not really. I just never made it a priority. There was always something else to watch or capture my time. I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to see it.

I was under the false impression that Joel Edgerton and Chris Pratt would be primary characters in the story line. They played their roles, but the true ownership of the script has to go to Jessica Chastain (whom I have a newfound respect for) with a side of Jason Clarke. To be honest, I hadn't read much about the movie either. Mainly just had an idea of it being about the assault on Bin Laden.

There is a level of mental anguish during the movie that I didn't expect. You come to terms with the reality that these people are living trying to fulfill their duty while being able to sleep at night and having a need to protect their families and loved ones.

Zero Dark Thirty isn't an outright action movie as expected. There are some action sequences and those are done well, but the real strength of the movie is the mental gymnastics endured by all involved.
  
Pretending to Wed (Frontier Vows, #2)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, let us just start with the cover, shall we? I am in love with everything about it, from the moody colors to the sassy pose and the eye-grabbing name this cover has it all. Pretending to Wed is the first book by Melissa Jagears that I have read, and the second book in her Frontier Vows series. I picked it up on the recommendation of Nicole over on Nicole and the unending TBR. I am so glad I did.

Both the characters in this story were fun with fantastic senses of humor that struck me just right. They also were thrown into some very tough situations and managed to come out the other side all the better for it, which I liked. I loved watching both of them fall in love while learning to work together, a true glimpse of what marriage is really like.

From the sigh-worthy moments to the themes and overall plot of the book I highly recommend this book if you want something to read that is fun, sweet, and full of real-life challenges. 5 out of 5 stars.


*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
  
SAS: Red Notice (2021)
SAS: Red Notice (2021)
2021 | Action
The *potential* of the cast (0 more)
The script is dire: awful dialogue (1 more)
A truly wasted cast
Psycho vs Psycho: but poorly delivered
Oh my word, SAS: Red Notice is disappointing.

A really interesting cast, and the opportunity to do a mix of "Die Hard", "Daylight" and the finale of "Mission Impossible". And a novel take of 'good psychopath' vs 'bad psychopath'. But it's just so poorly delivered.

True that some of the McNab-guided action scenes feel refreshingly authentic. But the script is clunkingly bad (a discussion with a French girl on top of the train... #shudder) and there are story segues that shock (in a bad way): at one point our hero (Sam Huegen - most recently very good as Paul Newman in "For Olivia") walks out of a French vineyard into a winter wonderland with 6 inches of snow! Did I miss the wardrobe???!

After "Twist" this is yet another dire Sky Original movie, this time with a wasted cast. In particular, BAFTA Rising Star Noel Clarke needs to start making better film choices before getting a reputation for being in duffers.

(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/03/13/sas-red-notice-another-sky-original-duffer/ ).
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Mar 15, 2021  
Sneak a peek at the Western historical fiction novel ALL THE COWBOYS AIN'T GONE by John J. Jacobson on my blog, and enter the giveaway to win your own print copy of the book - five winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/03/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-all-cowboys.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone is the rollicking adventure story of Lincoln Smith, a young Texan living at the beginning of the twentieth century, who thinks of himself as the last true cowboy. He longs for the days of the Old West, when men like his father, a famous Texas Ranger, lived by the chivalric code. Lincoln finds himself hopelessly out of time and place in the fast-changing United States of the new century. When he gets his heart broken by a sweetheart who doesn’t appreciate his anachronistic tendencies, he does what any sensible young romantic would do: he joins the French Foreign Legion.

On his way to an ancient and exotic country at the edge of the Sahara, Lincoln encounters a number of curious characters and strange adventures, from a desert hermit who can slow up time to a battle with a crocodile cult that worships the god of death. He meets them all with his own charming brand of courage and resourcefulness.
     
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Frank Black recommended Franks Wild Years by Tom Waits in Music (curated)

 
Franks Wild Years by Tom Waits
Franks Wild Years by Tom Waits
1987 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Tom Waits really brings a lot of showbiz into his records. It’s in there in the actual songwriting. He knows how to strip things down and get to some skeletal place that’s really strong. He’s trying to be true to his Jazz and his Blues. That is to be admired. There’s a lot of the textures you don’t hear so much. All that vocabulary is really seductive. I think that he’s a good songwriter whatever record you talk about of his. It’s not because there’s some fucking guy playing a saw. It’s like the Bruce Springsteen thing. It’s stripped down, universal, folky bluesy stuff. He’s trying to say: “You guys think you can change things overnight. Forget the new thing. What about Django Reinhart? Son House?” It’s like the Grand Duchy thing. People get obsessed with our production like, “What’s the new story?” It’s admirable when people say: “What about 1949, man?!” At first, I heard a cool White Stripes record and thought: “Who do you think you are, Robert Johnson?” And I get jealous. Fucking A! man. It’s like primal Led Zeppelin or something. But at the end of the day, I always end up respecting Jack White. [Black does an impression of the 'Seven Nation Army' riff.] Jack White has some believability."

Source
  
Girl in the Walls
Girl in the Walls
Katy Michelle Quinn | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Vernon has just moved to a quiet new little town, the type of town where different really stands out like a christmas tree in the desert! Vernon is used to standing out but not this much and its making him feel very uncomfortable especially with the skin hes in.

oh my this is one of the most gorgeous stories ive read! my heart well and truely went out to Vernon/Violet and the internal struggles their dealing with. with the self harming section i felt like somebody had stepped into my head and put my fellings on paper, when i was alot younger i used to cut because i felt like it released what i couldnt say. I felt every raw emotion going, the doubt the fear the hope the love and the warmth from finally being able to find her true being.
Its nice to be able to have a bit of an understanding of the internal struggle a transgender can go through and how much pain they can deal with and the importance of having a good support network.
i wish there were more understanding and willingness to learn in this world

An absolutly gorgeous story, heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time 4/5