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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Birth of a Nation (2016) in Movies
Jul 15, 2019
America was not born with the landing of the Mayflower. It was not born at Jamestown. It was not born with the Declaration of Independence or Treaty of Paris. It wasn’t born on the battlefields of the Civil War, nor was it born with D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation in 1915. America was born in the fire and spilt blood from the institution of slavery and revolts by slaves seeking to break free. Nat Turner’s revolt was an omen to America signifying that human beings would no longer tolerate being subjugated, dehumanized, brutalized, and degraded without some form of pushback.
Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation tells a full story of Nat Turner and does not simply rely on the revolt to convey his message of a call for equality and fighting injustice. It is emblematic of resistance to the many sins this nation has committed. The film and story are a punch to the gut reminding Americans that there is much left unfinished with respect to telling the full story of slavery and American history as a whole. There is much of our past that we must reconcile with no matter how uncomfortable. Parker’s film demonstrates the power film has as historical record and permitting audiences to have a greater idea and picture of the past.
The Birth of A Nation allows audiences to become consumed with the horrors of slavery, but it is not limited to that aspect. It humanizes the slaves and demonstrates cultural aspects and relationships that have often gone ignored or overlooked with previous films. It does not rely on sensationalizing events in order to drive the points home. There is subtlety and honesty in the portrayal of the events and circumstances.
This is a film that will have audiences speechless at the end as the come to terms with their emotions about events as they unfold and coming to terms with what the witnessed onscreen. There is nothing that can prepare audiences for this film. It is a work of art that you cannot help but feel compelled to reflect on what you witnessed.
There are those who will not see the film due to the subject matter. There are others who won’t see it because of the sexual assault allegations against Nate Parker. There are many who won’t see it out of a pure lack of interest. Regardless of your stance, this is a film that needs to be seen. It is essential to telling a more complete story about America.
Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation tells a full story of Nat Turner and does not simply rely on the revolt to convey his message of a call for equality and fighting injustice. It is emblematic of resistance to the many sins this nation has committed. The film and story are a punch to the gut reminding Americans that there is much left unfinished with respect to telling the full story of slavery and American history as a whole. There is much of our past that we must reconcile with no matter how uncomfortable. Parker’s film demonstrates the power film has as historical record and permitting audiences to have a greater idea and picture of the past.
The Birth of A Nation allows audiences to become consumed with the horrors of slavery, but it is not limited to that aspect. It humanizes the slaves and demonstrates cultural aspects and relationships that have often gone ignored or overlooked with previous films. It does not rely on sensationalizing events in order to drive the points home. There is subtlety and honesty in the portrayal of the events and circumstances.
This is a film that will have audiences speechless at the end as the come to terms with their emotions about events as they unfold and coming to terms with what the witnessed onscreen. There is nothing that can prepare audiences for this film. It is a work of art that you cannot help but feel compelled to reflect on what you witnessed.
There are those who will not see the film due to the subject matter. There are others who won’t see it because of the sexual assault allegations against Nate Parker. There are many who won’t see it out of a pure lack of interest. Regardless of your stance, this is a film that needs to be seen. It is essential to telling a more complete story about America.
tapestry100 (306 KP) rated Extraordinary X-Men, Vol 1: X-Haven in Books
Aug 2, 2017
Originally reviewed on http://www.frommybookshelf.com
I won't lie, I miss the X-Men of my younger years (late 80s/early 90s). I've been trying to reconcile their fall from popularity and the direction their stories have been taking in light of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (don't get me started on the X-Men movie franchise **shudders**), but I've been sticking with it. This book, my first post-Secret Wars X-Men experience, has left me torn: even tho every aspect of this book has already been done before (mutants being hated for being different; mutants needing to go into hiding; mutants being on the edge of extinction for about the third time in a decade now; Sinister conducting his weird experiments and playing around with famous mutant's DNA), it did leave me wondering what was going to happen next, so that's at least somewhat good storytelling, right? Right?! Sigh.
There are things I don't understand in this post-Terrigen bomb/Secret Wars world: what exactly is the difference between being an Inhuman or mutant and why is one seen as seemly being acceptable by the populace at large? Other than needing to push the Inhuman as the new version of being a mutant in the MCU, I see no distinction. What does it matter if the Terrigen mists are making mutants sterile? Don't normal humans give birth to mutants, as well? Maybe it's changing the structure of the entire world's DNA? What if a human with dormant Inhuman genes gives birth to a mutant? What would the Terrigen mists do to the mutant? How long does the Terrigen mist linger in the atmosphere? I'm hoping some of this is addressed at some point.
I won't lie, I miss the X-Men of my younger years (late 80s/early 90s). I've been trying to reconcile their fall from popularity and the direction their stories have been taking in light of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (don't get me started on the X-Men movie franchise **shudders**), but I've been sticking with it. This book, my first post-Secret Wars X-Men experience, has left me torn: even tho every aspect of this book has already been done before (mutants being hated for being different; mutants needing to go into hiding; mutants being on the edge of extinction for about the third time in a decade now; Sinister conducting his weird experiments and playing around with famous mutant's DNA), it did leave me wondering what was going to happen next, so that's at least somewhat good storytelling, right? Right?! Sigh.
There are things I don't understand in this post-Terrigen bomb/Secret Wars world: what exactly is the difference between being an Inhuman or mutant and why is one seen as seemly being acceptable by the populace at large? Other than needing to push the Inhuman as the new version of being a mutant in the MCU, I see no distinction. What does it matter if the Terrigen mists are making mutants sterile? Don't normal humans give birth to mutants, as well? Maybe it's changing the structure of the entire world's DNA? What if a human with dormant Inhuman genes gives birth to a mutant? What would the Terrigen mists do to the mutant? How long does the Terrigen mist linger in the atmosphere? I'm hoping some of this is addressed at some point.
Lenard (726 KP) rated The Lion King (2019) in Movies
Jul 28, 2019
The short review: This film is a crowd pleasing movie for fans of the original animated film. This hits all the highlights you love about the first version.
The longer version: It does bring up an interesting point. Mufasa teaches Simba about the Circle of Life where the death of the lions replenishes the savanna with nutrients. The movie shows a circle of life by beginning with the birth of a lion prince cub and ends with the birth of the cub prince of the original cub. In the middle of the movie, the pride of African prey, meerkat, warthog, galago (one of my favorite animals), aardvark, etc., talk about how they only see food and predator. This illustrates that the animals in the middle of a food web can only see the linear relations that affect their life. Only the apex predator have any perspective of the complete circle, the prey/secondary predators have a more limited view of life.
Secondly, the soundtrack is so iconic that when "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" started, I had completely forgotten that oh yeah this is the song that actually won the Academy Award. However, I never once believed this part of the film. It seemed that the filmmakers had to put it here, but they had not earned the major plot point. I did not believe that Simba and Nala were starting to fall into love with each other. Maybe I had started to drift off into a timeline of the songs that had won Best Original Song, but still this is a major moment in the film and it needs to cohere. Unfortunately, though the film is beautiful and has great cinematography from Caleb Deschanel, it needed a much better story to work in "live action."
The longer version: It does bring up an interesting point. Mufasa teaches Simba about the Circle of Life where the death of the lions replenishes the savanna with nutrients. The movie shows a circle of life by beginning with the birth of a lion prince cub and ends with the birth of the cub prince of the original cub. In the middle of the movie, the pride of African prey, meerkat, warthog, galago (one of my favorite animals), aardvark, etc., talk about how they only see food and predator. This illustrates that the animals in the middle of a food web can only see the linear relations that affect their life. Only the apex predator have any perspective of the complete circle, the prey/secondary predators have a more limited view of life.
Secondly, the soundtrack is so iconic that when "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" started, I had completely forgotten that oh yeah this is the song that actually won the Academy Award. However, I never once believed this part of the film. It seemed that the filmmakers had to put it here, but they had not earned the major plot point. I did not believe that Simba and Nala were starting to fall into love with each other. Maybe I had started to drift off into a timeline of the songs that had won Best Original Song, but still this is a major moment in the film and it needs to cohere. Unfortunately, though the film is beautiful and has great cinematography from Caleb Deschanel, it needed a much better story to work in "live action."
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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Omens (Cainsville, #1) in Books
Aug 18, 2019 (Updated Jun 15, 2021)
Loved it
Contains spoilers, click to show
Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.
But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.
Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.
Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.
This is a reread for me I first read this a couple of years ago. Kelley Armstrong is one of my favourite authors and I've read pretty much everything she has written! So I decided to start Cainsville from the beginning.
I remember how I was rooting for Gabrielle from his first appearance. Although Ricky is so hot Gabe has always held my heart. The beginning of their relationship was so rocky but I just loved reliving how great they are working together.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.
Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.
Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.
This is a reread for me I first read this a couple of years ago. Kelley Armstrong is one of my favourite authors and I've read pretty much everything she has written! So I decided to start Cainsville from the beginning.
I remember how I was rooting for Gabrielle from his first appearance. Although Ricky is so hot Gabe has always held my heart. The beginning of their relationship was so rocky but I just loved reliving how great they are working together.
⭐⭐⭐⭐