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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) created a post

Feb 8, 2021  
https://www.facebook.com/258615317586441/posts/3639201409527798/

Hey folks,

So I am finally back to writing reviews on a regular basis and it is all thanks to an awesome site called BGCP.

The site formerly organised comic cons up in Scotland, but more recently are looking to expand and establish their online reputation.

And if you would like to take advantage of a fantastic opportunity, they are currently looking for more writers to join up.

Please note that this is not a paid gig initially, but if you are looking for more exposure for your reviews and like the idea of working with a bunch of talented, like-minded people then this is for you.

The reviews will all be comic book based, this includes MCU and DCEU movies as well as reviewing graphic novels and comic books themselves.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, please follow the Facebook link above to apply.

Cheers,
Dan
     
Wonder (2017)
Wonder (2017)
2017 | Drama
acting (2 more)
storyline
underlying message
Cute messages tugging at your heart strings
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Wonder, directed by Stephen Chbosky, is a wonderfully endearing and uplifting story about a boy, Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), who was born with Treacher Collins syndrome and has had several surgeries leaving him with facial deformities.

The movie starts as he is entering into fifth-grade, and actually going to school for the first time as he has previously been home schooled by his mother (Julia Roberts). He is understandably scared about not making friends, or being ridiculed by his classmates, but with the help of his Mum and Dad (Owen Wilson) he braves going to school and meets new people.

There are many moments of sadness, as you would expect, but there are also moments of great joy. I found myself crying from start to finish, riding on a rollercoaster of emotions.

There are a few mini storylines about other characters that get given the spotlight at different times as well, which is a nice change to when some films focus on just the one person, because we get to see other characters backgrounds, and why they act how they do.

The casting is brilliant, Tremblay plays Auggie excellently, bringing both emotion and sass to the character. He has been in a fair few things before, such as Before I Wake, but this role will definitely boost him into the spotlight.

Roberts and Wilson as the parents is also an excellent choice, Roberts gives an emotive performance, and it’s great to see Wilson in a serious role, whilst still bringing some light comic relief.

The cast has a lot of young actors, but there isn’t one that stands out as being stiff or unnatural, they are all brilliant and help to bring the feel of the movie together. The relationships between all the characters is brought to life really well by the actors.

The writing is brilliant, although it is based on a book so the story is there already, but the screenwriters, Chbosky, Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne, put it together for the screen really well.

There are some stand out quotes, that also come from the book, that make you stop and think, and the teacher, Mr Browne (Daveed Diggs), teaches the class about precepts such as ‘When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind’.

Overall, it’s a well-rounded family movie, that may change your outlook on some things in life. With such great casting, writing and direction, I’d be very surprised if it didn’t do well during awards season.
  
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, #1)
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, #1)
A.N. Roquelaure | 1999 | Erotica, Fiction & Poetry
6
7.5 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
Anne Rice wrote a trilogy of books under the pen name A. N. Roquelaure, based on the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. These books were titled The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment (Sleeping Beauty), and Beauty's Release: The Conclusion of the Classic Erotic Trilogy of Sleeping Beauty. Yep, you read it right - erotica. The set is the only thing I have ever read by Anne Rice, and the only erotica books I have ever read. I have told maybe one or two other people that I have read the series, because it just does not match up with my "good girl" persona, and it resulted in the shocked expression I was expecting. Why would I read such an abomination? One part boredom, one part fairy tale superfan, and three parts secret naughty indulgence/curiousity (one for each book) - I found the books at a slow point while working at a bookstore, and sneakily read them at the customer service desk when I had nothing else to do.


In the first book, Beauty is awakened from her hundred-year sleep with a deflowering by the Prince. He takes her to his kingdom, where she is trained as a sexual slave and plaything, but she fails to be obedient, so is sent to brutal slavery in the neighboring village. In the second book, she is sold at auction and a power struggle ensues as she refuses to be completely broken by her various punishments. Actual plotline wanes in this one until towards the end some of the psychological aspects of sexual slavery are explored before Beauty is kidnapped for a Sultan. In the third book, the various characters all reach closure in varying forms as the sexual aspects of the plot take on a more religious and philosophical tone, as opposed to the crudity of the European castle and village. By the end of the series, it felt more like I was reading a study of a lifestyle for the education and not so much for the indulgence.

The sexual scenes are extremely explicit and graphic with the theme of sado-masochism replete throughout the text, but amazingly, there is still a plotline and decent character development. The first book was my favorite of the three, simply because that is the only book of the three that actually uses the fairy tale in its plotline, and by the third book much of the sex seemed vaguely repetitive and did not affect me as intensely as it did in the beginning. I would even dare to recommend it to those who are of the appropriate age.

I likely have A. N. Roquelaure's influence to thank for my unquestioning devotion to the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey, now that I think about it...