A Turn of Tides (A Shade of Vampire, #13)
Book
"Annora is going to rue the day she ever messed with a Novak..." If Annora goes through with her...
Levity (Gay Fairy Tales #1)
Book
Cursed as an infant with a lack of physical and emotional gravity, Prince Efrosin can’t keep his...
MM Fairy tale Retelling Fantasy Romance
Journey Man (Knights of Black Swan #9)
Book
For five years Glendennon Catch had knocked around the globe as a floater, filling in wherever a...
Adult Paranormal Romance
A Vampire Possessed (Deathless Night #3)
Book
Sacrifices had to be made for the greater, bloody good. At least that’s what vampire Aiden...
Paranormal Romance
Lee (2222 KP) rated Blair Witch (2016) in Movies
Aug 14, 2017
James Donahue is the brother of Heather, who was one of the central characters in the first film. We join him 22 years after the original, as he prepares to lead a new bunch of characters into the Burkittsville woods. They meet up with a couple of young locals, who offer to be their guide, and off they head, into the woods where their video footage will later be discovered. This time round, the array of cameras capturing the footage has vastly improved. As well as the standard handhelds, we’ve got ear piece cams, drone cams, night cams. All offering new and interesting ways to capture the action.
Things mostly follow a similar path to the original – strange noises, weird stuff happening with time, thinking you’re heading in one direction when you’re going around in circles, juddery camera movements where it’s difficult to tell what the hell is going on. But… you do actually see things this time, the noises that you hear are terrifying, the characters are far more interesting and believable than those in the original. And the final act when we find ourselves back in the house from the first movie is seriously the stuff of nightmares.
Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, both have an excellent recent track record (see You’re Next and The Guest) and their influence on this movie has taken this story to another level. This is a far superior movie to the original and yes, it is truly terrifying.
Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
The Legend of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is 3-D animated musical follow up that begins shortly after Dorothy (Lea Michele) returns home from the Land of Oz. The aftermath of the tornado has left her hometown in shambles. Dorothy fights to try to convince everyone that this is their home and it can all be repaired despite the government demanding everyone to vacate the town and seek refuge elsewhere. Back in Oz, the Jester (Martin Short) who happens to be the brother of the Wicked Witch of the West, has sought to rule the World of Oz. He and his band of flying monkeys (same ones from the original movie), begin their reign of terror turning the leaders from all corners of the land into marionettes. The beloved trio of Scarecrow (Dan Akroyd), the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer) and the Cowardly Lion (James Belushi) believe the only person who can stop the Jester’s tirade is Dorothy. With the help of Scarecrow’s new invention, a machine that can bring Dorothy back over the rainbow and to the land of Oz, they summon for Dorothy. Instead of arriving to the Emerald City, Dorothy arrives in a far off land where she tries to locate the yellow brick road, knowing it will lead her to the Emerald City. On her journey we are introduced to new lands, new people and creatures, new songs, and a new adventure and obstacles that she must overcome before it’s too late.
As a standalone movie, this is a great kids film, one the whole family can enjoy. Lots of fun musical numbers, a mediocre storyline, engaging characters, and beautiful scenery. I would recommend watching this movie with zero expectations and do not attempt to compare it to the original movie, it doesn’t hold a torch!
Silver Wood Coven: The Complete Series
Book
What if you had no memory, not even of being a witch? Rescued (Silver Wood Coven #1) Templar...
Adult Paranormal Romance Ménage
Mekkin B. (122 KP) rated Howl's Moving Castle (2004) in Movies
Sep 17, 2017
fundamental changes it has made to the source material that serves to remove so much agency and power from the protagonist, Sophie, for reasons that continue to baffle me.
That said, if you like Miyazaki films, you will like this one.
The following is a rant replete with spoilers for both the movie and the book.
OKAY SO
1. In the book, Sophie is not cursed because of the witch's jealousy over seeing her with Howl, but because unbeknownst to Sophie, SHE IS AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL WITCH IN HER OWN RIGHT, and the Witch of the Waste is incredibly aware of this.
2. In fact, she is successful as a hat-maker because she's subconsciously ENCHANTING THE HATS THAT SHE MAKES.
3. The reason that Howl cannot uncurse her and make her young again is because Sophie is secretly quite comfortable in her guise as an old woman and is keeping the curse in place because she is ACTUALLY MORE POWERFUL THAN HOWL.
4. She is able to save Howl at the end only because she is finally willing to come to terms with her own incredible power. It's not the power of love. It's HER OWN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL WITCHCRAFT.
In the book, Sophie is a magical equal to Howl in every way. Her journey is about unlearning the idea that she is a plain nobody and cannot be destined for greatness in the way that Howl is, and seizing control of the magic she has always had.
The entire war plot was shoved in, and I could have gotten behind it if it didn't involve stripping Sophie of her witchcraft. Made me so angry I couldn't really enjoy the movie, although I do recognize its objective merits.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Beastly in Books
Feb 11, 2019
The plot wraps around the character of Kyle Kingsbury, who becomes the Beast. The book mainly felt like a character study as he progressed from a conceited, self-involved boy to a self-sacrificing, repentant young man. This is certainly a change from most retellings of this tale, since it is usually from the viewpoint of the character who plays the role of "Beauty." Many of the side characters were also just as fascinating, such as the blind tutor who comes to live with Kyle. I love the fascination that Kyle adopted for roses and the details of their care that were included in the book, it gave the book more depth. Probably the most exciting part of the book was his frantic race through New York City and the way that he handled the reactions that he created during this foray.
I know that this book was turned into a movie recently. I have not seen it as of yet, other than the previews, but I do look forward to it. But I already know of one major difference that the movie has from the book, and that is Kyle's beastly appearance is changed to resemble extravagant and disfiguring tattoos. I'll reserve opinion on this until after I've seen the movie.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Bad Magic and the Big Top (Blackwood Bay Witches Paranormal Cozy Mystery) in Books
Mar 16, 2019
This is the second book in the Blackwood Bay Witches series. For those of you who like story lines with witches, ghosts, talking animals, wizards and covens, then this book is for you!
In this story Dru is starting to get used to being a witch, seeing ghosts and talking to animals and running the bookshop.
Just when Dru thinks her life is really starting to settle in Blackwood Bay, she opens her door and finds a dead clown on her doorstep.
The circus is in town and murder is afoot.
Come get to know this lovely set of characters. They are wisecracking and lovely bunch; well developed and will make you smile.
This has a good plot, twists abound to make you guess. Loaded with the humor and wise cracks. There are no cliff hangers just really good writing.
I absolutely loved this book and couldn't put it down! I can't wait for more!!!!
Highly recommend reading!
I received this book free and chose to make a voluntary, unbiased review.