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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.



Honestly I think I'm still recovering from the midnight screening, but it was well worth going to. Lots of fans showed up. A real mix across the board, had a lot of banter with them. Slightly disappointed with some that left before the end of the credits... seriously... you should know by now.

I don't want to really give spoilers so this is going to be brief.


I was basically in shock from about minute three of the film right through to the end.
One bit really made me cry, and that annoyed me.
I laughed a lot.
Everyone loves a pirate angel baby.
The atmosphere in the cinema was incredible and it really upped the enjoyment of the film for me. Yes, that is fairly tricky to do as it was already right up there, but there's no denying that it was way better with all those reactions. I was buzzing when I left the cinema at 3am, as was everyone else.

The only thing I would say is that I'm not really sure why people were coming out and acting so shocked... they know what films are in the pipeline and who is signed up for more films... and there's still part two to come... yes, I died a little bit inside by the end of the movie, but you know the outcome for some of the characters. Take a breath and enjoy everything.

Minor off topic (sort of) annoyance... another film with a trailer full of things that you don't see, or don't see quite the same, in the film.
  
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) in Movies

Jul 4, 2019 (Updated Jul 30, 2019)  
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
2006 | Action, Sci-Fi
5
6.2 (36 Ratings)
Movie Rating
It's all just a bit...meh
The Last Stand is not completely awful, but there is an absolutely huge setback here - the writers tried to cram the epic Dark Phoenix saga into one film.
Couple this with an interrupted production and you have a messy result.

A fair amount of what is likable about the first two is still intact - the strongest asset here being the strong cast, doing their absolute best with a sub par script and story.
As for newcomers - Kelsey Grammer is a welcome addition as Beast, as is Ellen Page as Shadowcat - unfortunately Angel is pretty wasted here, as are characters like Psylocke, who is relegated to an extended cameo. Whoever decided to cast Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut deserves a good slapping.

The Dark Phoenix storyline in the comics is pretty epic, a lot of it takes place in space, and the tragedy of the X-Men fighting one of their own is fleshed out very well - something that the movie adaption practically ignores. After being hinted at the end of X2, Jean Grey is promptly bought back, and turns to the dark side very quickly, without any real build up.
Some character story arcs are concluded abruptly and in emotionless ways, as the film just sort of limps along to a pretty underwhelming conclusion.

Bryan Singer left production midway through to helm Superman Returns, and it shows.
The slickness and solid narrative of X2 is replaced by a choppy mess, full of quips that don't land ("I'm the Juggernaut bitch" anyone!?), and Brett Ratners involvement was just a misfire.

This particular comic arc deserves so much better (and judging by what I've heard about the 2019 effort, this is still the case!)
  
SB
Shadow Bound (Wraith, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Original Review Posted on <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/03/review-shadow-bound-by-angel-lawson.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Original Rating: 4.5

<i><b>Disclaimer:</b> I received this book from the author for free in exchange for an honest review. The review is not influenced in any way.</i>

     It's another one of those stories with a minor to majorly strange title in which the meanings of it are figured out with the following ways: a) woven throughout the pages and only reading will enlighten you, b) it's in the dictionary and it has a double meaning, which definitely isn't the typical definition you generally hear, or c) you simply never find out why.
 
     Well, it's been a while since the situation with Evan and his family has passed. It's now summer vacation and it's been ghost-free for Jane and Connor for some time. At least for awhile. It's not along until another ghost comes along, and it's worse than Evan's situation.
 
     I like how Shadow Bound is a different situation to both Jane and Connor than what they're used to. It's a bit more challenging for them, and we find out more about Jane's ability, which is different than what she thought it was. I'm surprised that Ruth was willing to help and warn Jane later; she seemed too lost to help, much less warn.
 
     I'm confused a few times, especially a bit at the beginning, but overall, I found Shadow Bound better than Wraith in a way. I am hoping, however, that if there's ever a *insert one word spoiler*-sized ghost, both Jane and Connor have better luck, despite the tedious situation they'll be in.
  
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Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated Shazam! (2019) in Movies

Jan 7, 2020 (Updated Jan 7, 2020)  
Shazam! (2019)
Shazam! (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
DC has a fun side...
Shazam! is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a story about a boy with the ability to turn in to a fully grown adult superhero (with a very questionable muscle suit, it has to be said). As they are famously renowned for their dark content and moody superheroes, it is nice to see that DC has a fun side.

The movie itself reminded me of a lesser version of Big and a PG version of Kick Ass. The cast do a good job, in particular Asher Angel who plays young Billy Baston with confidence and a lots of swagger. Zachary Levi who plays the adult superhero version of Billy seemed to be having a blast.

However a couple of slight negatives for me was the fact that the two actors mentioned above are supposed to be playing the same person and adult Billy has literally none of the characteristics that young Billy has. Also the movie doesn't seem to be quite sure of it's target audience, as some scenes are really dark and creepy for kids, but the overall humour and jokes seem to be aimed more at children than adults.

I would say that the first half of Shazam! is better than the second half, as I felt I wasn't into the movie as much by the end. A long running time could have contributed to that though, as they could have easily cut twenty minutes or so from the film.

Still after all is said and done Shazam! is a fun movie and if you are wanting a superhero movie that doesn't take itself seriously, then this one is probably for you.
  
Mellow Gold by Beck
Mellow Gold by Beck
1994 | Indie, Rock, Singer-Songwriter

"The thing about Beck was that he felt like a well-kept secret for a while. I can’t actually remember how I stumbled upon him, but it was way back around the time of his second album Stereopathetic Soulmanure, that was before he had his big breakout, crossover albums. This track is from Mellow Gold, which was his third album and had ‘Loser’ on it, so other people were starting to pick up on him, finally. I couldn’t believe that nobody else had heard of this amazing talent; he was completely doing his own thing and you could tell he had real soul. The fact that this was around the time of Britpop just made him stand out all the more to me, I couldn’t stop listening to his early stuff. ’Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)’ sums up what I loved about him in those days and why I still do now. It crystallised the appeal of those records, it’s got such an amazing narrative and it was obvious that it was a true story, that he really had lived above or below that truck driver who was on weird speed or angel dust. He just encapsulates that sort of nightmarishness of having problems with the neighbours and the pitched-down vocals make it sound totally ominous. There’s such an experimental flavour to it musically and lyrically and you can hear how he would cut and paste ideas. That’s how those early albums were - every track different to the last. I love everything he’s done really and that experimental flavour has never really left him, all the way up to making a pop record with Colors. I absolutely battered his first few albums though and for a while I felt like I was the only one. The guy’s a real one-off."

Source
  
Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)
Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)
Jaymin Eve | 2021 | Paranormal
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I picked this up from the Kindle Unlimited library on its release day because i was curious.

So it literally picks up where the last left off with Mera in a crazy going-to-kill-someone mood believing her friend had been murdered with the consent of Shadow. In her anger she once again draws from the Shadow World, bringing hundreds of shadow creatures across before panicking and trying to send them back. Shadow helps her cage them and then they have their argument, coming to an understanding before Angel rushes in, telling them the Shadow World's lock has been broken and they can now head inside so Shadow can claim his powers and his world.

So, yeah. I read it. I felt more interested in the romance between Mera and Shadow in this one. Their feelings grew a lot - or maybe i should say; they grew more comfortable around each other, enough to admit things when shit got bad at times. I will admit that I got invested in them. Without the pack and other distractions like the library, we focused more on Mera and what was happening in her head. She did grow on me quite a lot.

There were quite a few surprises thrown in towards the end involving Dannie and a few other things that I didn't entirely see coming and then the last chapter? Not a fan of what the author did with that but I guess she had to end it in a way that left the third book with a strong starter since the plotline from the start of this series was getting into Shadows World and him getting his powers back and that's all sorted now. I will probably read it when it comes out.
  
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
2019 | Action, Drama, Thriller
My attention span has fallen
Angel Has Fallen is a dumb, exhausting, joyless & over long experience that proves old isn't always bold. When this first started I won't lie I felt engaged, it felt like the team behind this series had finally matured/evolved past the blatant racism, painful dialog, woeful storytelling & overall silliness of the last movies. Essssh was I wrong. First thing on this downward spiral was Gerard Buttler not only is his accent always halfway between Scottish & American but theres something distracting about his face & how he constantly seems like he's chewing on something he's not enjoying most of the film (maybe the apauling script). Second they seemed to blow all the budget on these big slow motion action scenes at the start as my god do the production values take a complete nose dive half way in. Green screen & cgi go from quite cool/believable to worse than sharknado quality, its ghastly, distracting & im shocked this film got a cinema release looking how it does. I get the film is going for 90s nostalgia but honestly it fails on almost every level ending on such a cliched boss fight that is so unexciting & half arsed its plain embarrassing (I mean who wants to watch two old men fumble around on a boring roof looking more like they are about kiss than stab each other to death). One big brain dead mess & its stupidity/constant Trump praising became tiresome very quickly. Not even so good its bad its just plain lazy film making at its best & it only caters to people that need their movie plots spelt out in spaghetti shapes for them. Pure childish crap that rips parts from all the great action movies of the 90s & destroys your good memories of them. Avoid at all costs.
  
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)
Sarah J. Maas | 2020 | Film & TV, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
112 of 230
Book
House of Earth and Blood ( Crescent City book 1)
By Sarah J Maas
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom-and the power of love.

I absolutely loved it from start to finish! It was one emotional journey and yes I had a tear escape! For me the book flowed well it kept me interested and I loved the characters. I’m totally in love with Ruhn. I was expecting the slaughter so soon in the book it was definitely a deep breath moment! I do love Sarah J Maas.
  
TT
The Taken (Celestial Blues, #1)
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Even though I'm not especially fond of angels, I decided to try out this new series based on my previous experiences with Vicki Pettersson's work. Sadly, after an intriguing first chapter, any enjoyment I may have expected never came knocking (guess it was too busy knockin' on heaven's door).

Meet one of the two main characters, rockabilly girl Katherine "Kit" Craig. She's an eternally optimistic and peppy reporter whose best friend and co-worker, Nicole, was just murdered while following a lead. Our other MC is a haunted Centurion angel named Griffin Shaw who ushers the newly murdered into the afterlife, otherwise known as the Everlast, while bemoaning the murders of both himself and his wife Evie back in 1960. After making a mistake concerning Nicole, he's been sent back to earth as a human with some angelic senses still intact. Kit and Grif soon meet up and begin investigating the circumstances around Nicole's death, whilst Griffin seeks out any details involving his own.

Problem Number One:
The Cardboard Characters
Character development is supposed to unfold over the course of a book, in this case it actually appeared to deteriorate as the book went on. Kit never developed into anything but one of those annoyingly chipper people you just want to hit with a sledgehammer, while Grif started promisingly enough but then stagnated. They were both very shallow characterizations, and on top of that, I never understood Kit's actions or reactions to just about anything. I never felt her sadness about her best friend's death, whom she rarely gave a passing thought, believed she was smart (by the end, I thought her a dolt), or seem in any way human with nary a rational thought in her head. About mid-way through the book, Grif tells her he's an angel after they kiss, so what does she do? Does she a) run away screaming, b) think he's a few feathers short of a goose and tell him to get hell out of her house and life, or c) have a calm Q&A session followed by giving him a whatfor that consists of "I won't kiss you again" and "you're watching me walk out that door (in her own house) because you can't handle any emotion blah, blah, blah by pretending you're an angel" and then proceed to attend a charity event wherein she acts and converses normally, like nothing happened? If you picked "c" *ding ding ding*, you're a winner! Because as we all know, any sensible guy will pull out the "I'm an angel" trick and expect a woman to believe him. *rolls eyes* Never was it ever crystal clear if Kit thought Grif was either crazy or a liar. It was all a bit hazy, but what can you expect from someone we're never allowed to know? All we discern is she dresses and lives (somewhat) rockabilly, but it's all a veneer to her hollowness inside, which led me to dub her Rockabilly Barbie.
<img src="http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj183/piscesrain/reviews/RockabillyBarbie.jpg">;
Because that's all she is and nothing more. The only character that I found a little more well-rounded was the secondary character Bridget Moore and the two Centurions introduced close to the end. Everyone else was either forgettably two-dimensional or they were a caricature, a la Caleb Chambers and Paul Raggio.

Problem Number Two:
The Relationship(s)
I'm expected to believe in a possible relationship between Grif and Rockabilly Barbie, err I mean Kit, but there's not much there to believe in. Like the characters, it was shallow with the same descriptions reiterated over and over again. Basically it's a case of telling instead of showing. I felt no love, maybe some attraction, but that's all she wrote. Likewise I never bought that Kit and Paul could ever have gotten far enough to be married, they were just too different. Most people don't do a 180 after they get married, the seed of who Paul really was deep down inside would have already been there and if Kit was even a fraction astute, she should have caught that. All this served was to be a plot point in the book.

Problem Number Three:
The Plot(s)
The main plot involving Nicole's death and Chambers had a "been there, done that" quality to it. The plot didn't shock me or seem like anything new, I've come across the same before or at least plots that were very close, and it wasn't even told in a fresh way. So I wasn't as affected by anything in the book as I probably should have been, partially due to the indifference I felt and the fact that I figured out everything long before the author dropped, what I guess she thought, were informational bombshells.
The book had three major plotlines: Grif and Evie's deaths, Nicole's death/prostitution ring, and Grif and the Pure Anas' philosophical moments. They weren't juggled well at all. Ms. Pettersson should have picked only one and paid more attention to developing that specific plot and the characters. The scenes with Anas (or Anne) especially didn't mesh with the other stories and felt as if the author was overreaching the boundaries set up by the book. One scene in particular was extremely bizarre and pointless to the book as a whole.
Where was the noir? I've seen enough film noirs to know it ain't here.

Problem Number Four:
The Ending
What happened at the end is what I'd expect in a book that's exclusively romance and not in a mystery/urban fantasy hybrid, which made the rushed ending seem even more ridiculous and sappy. It was incredibly unbelievable to the story and didn't seem to set up the next book in any way. Also, one of the plotlines was all but left dangling with no foreshadowing or anything. Poor, poor, poor execution. Don't expound on a storyline if you're not going to finish it up or at least leave it dangling in a way that makes the reader want to come back. All that boring set-up for a completely stupid and cheesy ending. I expected rainbows and unicorns to pop out at any moment.

Overall the book felt more like a rough copy than a finished one and definitely could have used a few more goings over. Several descriptions were rushed and chaotic or simply poorly done so that I was scrambling to picture what was going on. The book is almost 400 pages and it is simply too long. With so many storylines, I'm not sure how they managed to both crawl and have very little action at the same time. I was going to give this two stars because I didn't hate the book, that would imply that it elicited any feelings what-so-ever, but the truth of the matter is that there isn't one thing I really liked about the book either. The only way I'd read a sequel to the bafflingly-named Celestial Blues series is if it featured different leads like the aforementioned Centurions, and even then I'd cautiously dip my toes into the book.

Originally reviewed: June 29
Received: Amazon Vine
  
I received an uncorrected proof of a true-crime book about female serial killers by Tori Telfer called Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History to peruse and review on Goodreads and Amazon. The book won’t released until October 10, 2017, by Harper Perennial, and I am so thrilled to be one of the few who get to read it first.

Some of the murderers/murderesses have been discussed on My Favorite Murder by Georgia and Karen but some are brand new to me.

From the back cover:
When you think of serial killers throughout history the names that come to mind are ones like Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy but what about Tilly Klimek, Moulay Hassen and Kate Bender? The narrative we’re comfortable with is the one where women are the victims of violent crime, not the perpetrators, in fact, serial killers are thought to be so universally, overwhelmingly male that in 1998, FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood infamously declared in a homicide conference that, “There are no female serial killers.”

Lady Killers, based on the popular online series that appeared on Jezebel and The Hairpin, disputes that claim and offers 14 gruesome examples as evidence. Though largely forgotten by history, female serial killers such as Erzsebet Bathory, Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotton, and Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova rival their male counterparts and cunning, cruelty, and appetite for destruction.

Each chapter explores the crimes and history of a different subject and then proceeds to unpack her legacy and her portrayal in the media, as well as the stereotypes and sexist clichés that inevitably surround her. The first book to examine female serial killers through a feminist lens with a witty and dryly humorous tone lady killers dismisses explanations (she was hormonal, she did it for love, a man made her do it) and tired tropes (she was a femme fatale, a black widow, a witch) delving into the complex reality of a female aggression and predation. Featuring 14 illustrations from Dame Darcy, Lady Killers is a blood curdling, insightful, and irresistible journey into the heart of darkness.

Tori Telfer is a full-time freelance writer whose work has appeared in Salon, Vice, Jezebel, The Hairpin, Good Magazine, Bustle, barnesandnoble.com, Chicago Magazine, and elsewhere. She is a Pushcart nominee and the recipient of the Edwin L. Shuman Fiction Award. She has written, directed, and produced independent plays on both Chicago and Los Angeles.

The author’s official website is http://www.toridotgov.com.
The illustrator’s website is http://www.damedarcy.com

Table of Contents
The Blood Countess: Erzsebet Bathory
The Giggling Grandma: Nannie Doss
The Worst Woman on Earth: Lizzie Halliday
Devil in the Shape of a Saint: Elizabeth Ridgeway
Vipers: Raya and Sakina
The Wretched Woman: Mary Ann Cotton
The Tormentor: Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova
Iceberg Anna: Anna Marie Hahn
The Nightingale: Oum-El-Hassen
High Priestess of the Bluebeard Clique: Tillie Klimek
Sorceress of Kilkenny: Alice Kyteler
Beautiful Throat Cutter: Kate Bender
The Angel Makers of Nagyrev
Queen of Poisoners: Marie-Madeleine, the Marquis de Brinvilliers

It looked as if The Angel Makers of Nagyrev wasn’t included in the texts, though it is listed in the contents and notes. However, they are on the pages following the chapter and heading Beautiful Throat Cutter. I had mistakenly thought it wasn't included before. Hopefully, that oversight and will be corrected in the final copy. There were a few punctuation errors in the book and I had intended to leave them in the copy above but allowed Grammarly to correct them without thinking. But that's why they pay the editors the big bucks.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to delve deep in this book and read my little Murderino heart out. I am nearly through the book and will update with a review once I have completed it.

#SSDGM
#Stay Sexy Don't Get Murdered

#myfavoritemurder #murderino #toritelfer #harperperennial #harpercollins #damedarcy
#books #bookstagram #mfmpodcast #georgiahardstark #karenkilgariff #serialkiller #truecrime #murder #killers #ladykiller #ladykillers #serialkillers