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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
Don’t let the “big anime eyes” or unusual title fool you into thinking this will be a lame film. Yes, this movie is based off a manga you’ve probably never heard of. Yes, it is easy to dismiss this film as something that will bomb like last year’s Mortal Engines. But if you place your faith in director Robert Rodriguez and writer/producer James Cameron, you will be treated to a surprisingly solid narrative and fast paced visual spectacle that is worth the price of admission to view in the theater.
The biggest praise I can give to Alita: Battle Angel is that the visually stunning world they create on screen feels “lived in” and real. I found it easy to accept and understand the rules of that world they built and explained throughout film. And while we are not given a full history of their world, we are given enough explanation to understand how or why something existed in their world. This gives us the opportunity to focus on the story of “self-discovery” that Alita ultimately is.
Rosa Salazar motion capture performance of Alita is excellent. Not only in movement but in emotionally delivery. You get the real sense of discovery with this amazing world that Alita is being exposed to. Additionally, as she begins to become more self-aware of who she is, you can understand the emotion and she struggles with love, trust and obligation. Furthermore, from a technical standpoint, by the end of the movie, I was not thinking of Alita being something that is motion captured and instead just accepted her as part of this onscreen world they delivered. This is really something that becomes make or break with this film for some people and it’s easy to dismiss it based on the trailers. However in context of the film, it works and does a good job drawing you in.
In addition to Alita, we are given strong performances from the ensemble cast of characters in the film. Christoph Waltz play’s Alita surrogate father Dr. Dyson Ido, Keean Johnson as the street smart and resourceful Hugo, Mahershala Ali as the gangster type gate keeper Vector, Jennifer Connelly as the morally ambiguous goal focused scientist and Ed Skrein as the cocky bounty hunter. Each of these characters play their roles well and help usher in the different levels of the society they live in. Perhaps the once complaint I have of this film is that the pacing of this film is so fast that we miss an opportunity to obtain a bit more backstory from some of these characters. It is not a big loss, but it makes you wonder if this film would have been better served as a 10 episode Netflix series or something of that nature.
In the end, I found myself enjoying this film more than I expected I would. Is it a perfect film? No. Nor does it invoke emotionally deep existential thought that the manga it is based on provides. But it does tell a sold story of self-discovery in a visually stunning and fully realized world. It is fun, fast paced and something that should be seen in the theaters. And if possible, do yourself a favor and watch it in 3D. This film has some of the best 3D effects since Avatar. The 3D doesn’t feel like an afterthought or gimmicky, but instead works to enhance the on screen world.
The biggest praise I can give to Alita: Battle Angel is that the visually stunning world they create on screen feels “lived in” and real. I found it easy to accept and understand the rules of that world they built and explained throughout film. And while we are not given a full history of their world, we are given enough explanation to understand how or why something existed in their world. This gives us the opportunity to focus on the story of “self-discovery” that Alita ultimately is.
Rosa Salazar motion capture performance of Alita is excellent. Not only in movement but in emotionally delivery. You get the real sense of discovery with this amazing world that Alita is being exposed to. Additionally, as she begins to become more self-aware of who she is, you can understand the emotion and she struggles with love, trust and obligation. Furthermore, from a technical standpoint, by the end of the movie, I was not thinking of Alita being something that is motion captured and instead just accepted her as part of this onscreen world they delivered. This is really something that becomes make or break with this film for some people and it’s easy to dismiss it based on the trailers. However in context of the film, it works and does a good job drawing you in.
In addition to Alita, we are given strong performances from the ensemble cast of characters in the film. Christoph Waltz play’s Alita surrogate father Dr. Dyson Ido, Keean Johnson as the street smart and resourceful Hugo, Mahershala Ali as the gangster type gate keeper Vector, Jennifer Connelly as the morally ambiguous goal focused scientist and Ed Skrein as the cocky bounty hunter. Each of these characters play their roles well and help usher in the different levels of the society they live in. Perhaps the once complaint I have of this film is that the pacing of this film is so fast that we miss an opportunity to obtain a bit more backstory from some of these characters. It is not a big loss, but it makes you wonder if this film would have been better served as a 10 episode Netflix series or something of that nature.
In the end, I found myself enjoying this film more than I expected I would. Is it a perfect film? No. Nor does it invoke emotionally deep existential thought that the manga it is based on provides. But it does tell a sold story of self-discovery in a visually stunning and fully realized world. It is fun, fast paced and something that should be seen in the theaters. And if possible, do yourself a favor and watch it in 3D. This film has some of the best 3D effects since Avatar. The 3D doesn’t feel like an afterthought or gimmicky, but instead works to enhance the on screen world.
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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
If it’s not one of the most anticipated movies of all time, it is certainly way up there. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the thing that every Star Wars fanboy, including myself, fears. Will it be as good as the original trilogy, or will Disney and Bad Robot drop a deuce like many believe Lucas did with the prequel trilogy. Well, here is a spoiler free look from someone who has these fears.
Fret not, everyone. Abrams has done a magnificent job of continuing the Skywalker saga in Episode VII. And great news, there are no lens flares, at least none that I noticed. As I mentioned, this is spoiler free, but I will give you an idea of the overall plot.
Episode VII picks up 30 years after the end of Episode VI. The Emperor is dead, and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) began training a new generation of Jedi. But something went wrong and one of his students turned against him and destroyed the school. Blaming himself, Skywalker went into isolation. With Luke out of the picture, risen from the ashes of the Empire, the First Order, led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), is trying to reclaim the power of the Empire. Knowing that Skywalker is their only threat, they are attempting to find him to eliminate him before he can join the Resistance’s fight against them. Daring Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is attempting to find a map to Luke’s location, but is quickly interrupted by the First Order. He hides the map on his droid, BB-8, before being captured by the menacing force. And so sets off a chain of events to find Luke Skywalker by the Resistance and the First Order alike.
It’s no secret that many of the main cast is returning, including Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), See-Threepio (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker). We also have a slew of new characters such as the aforementioned Poe Dameron, Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), General Hux (Domnall Gleeson), and Supreme Leader Snoke. The cast, both returning and new, blended really well together and had a great amount of charisma on the screen. There was the right amount of comedy, drama, and action in this movie, and the interaction between the characters just felt genuine. This movie definitely felt more like the original trilogy than the prequels did.
The soundtrack and effects were amazing. Right in line with what you would expect from a Star Wars movie, but as I mentioned to the studio rep as I was leaving the theater, the film didn’t try to go overboard with everything. So there was no feeling of over production as some felt from the prequels. And with John Williams doing the score again, you know it will have the same sound. He did a great job of blending in little melodies, or snipits of songs, that made reference to the previous movies at just the right moments.
All-in-all, it was a fantastic film that did not leave me disappointed. It shouldn’t leave you disappointed either. Now, it’s not without a few plot holes, and suspension of belief will help, but they are, for me any way, forgivable and I will leave it for you to discover them. At the end of the day, this is definitely the Star Wars film you are looking for. Go see it. See it multiple times. Give Disney and Bad Robot more reason to continue not only with the Skywalker saga, but also the other stories like next year’s Rogue One, young Han Solo and Chewie, or, one can only hope, the story of everyone’s favorite bounty hunter/orphan, Boba Fett.
Fret not, everyone. Abrams has done a magnificent job of continuing the Skywalker saga in Episode VII. And great news, there are no lens flares, at least none that I noticed. As I mentioned, this is spoiler free, but I will give you an idea of the overall plot.
Episode VII picks up 30 years after the end of Episode VI. The Emperor is dead, and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) began training a new generation of Jedi. But something went wrong and one of his students turned against him and destroyed the school. Blaming himself, Skywalker went into isolation. With Luke out of the picture, risen from the ashes of the Empire, the First Order, led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), is trying to reclaim the power of the Empire. Knowing that Skywalker is their only threat, they are attempting to find him to eliminate him before he can join the Resistance’s fight against them. Daring Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is attempting to find a map to Luke’s location, but is quickly interrupted by the First Order. He hides the map on his droid, BB-8, before being captured by the menacing force. And so sets off a chain of events to find Luke Skywalker by the Resistance and the First Order alike.
It’s no secret that many of the main cast is returning, including Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), See-Threepio (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker). We also have a slew of new characters such as the aforementioned Poe Dameron, Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), General Hux (Domnall Gleeson), and Supreme Leader Snoke. The cast, both returning and new, blended really well together and had a great amount of charisma on the screen. There was the right amount of comedy, drama, and action in this movie, and the interaction between the characters just felt genuine. This movie definitely felt more like the original trilogy than the prequels did.
The soundtrack and effects were amazing. Right in line with what you would expect from a Star Wars movie, but as I mentioned to the studio rep as I was leaving the theater, the film didn’t try to go overboard with everything. So there was no feeling of over production as some felt from the prequels. And with John Williams doing the score again, you know it will have the same sound. He did a great job of blending in little melodies, or snipits of songs, that made reference to the previous movies at just the right moments.
All-in-all, it was a fantastic film that did not leave me disappointed. It shouldn’t leave you disappointed either. Now, it’s not without a few plot holes, and suspension of belief will help, but they are, for me any way, forgivable and I will leave it for you to discover them. At the end of the day, this is definitely the Star Wars film you are looking for. Go see it. See it multiple times. Give Disney and Bad Robot more reason to continue not only with the Skywalker saga, but also the other stories like next year’s Rogue One, young Han Solo and Chewie, or, one can only hope, the story of everyone’s favorite bounty hunter/orphan, Boba Fett.
A Bibliophagist (113 KP) rated Warcross in Books
Jan 27, 2020
Decent characters (2 more)
Plot
Pacing
YA formula (2 more)
Predictable
Not enough of the game
YA VR fun
I really enjoyed this book, as VR stories are some of my favorite types and rarely done well. This one was done well enough but suffered the large YA pitfall of there would be no story had people actually communicated with each other.
The story follows Emika, a scrappy teen living in the slums of (I think New York). As YA books tend to do, she is a normal, poor, orphan girl, who happens to be able to afford to dye her hair rainbow, and oh, I forgot to mention, very good at hacking. The world is fully submerged into the Nuerolink, which are AR/VR glasses almost everyone has, that handle the internet, gaming worlds, infrastructure etc etc. The most popular aspect is a game on the Nuerolink called Warcross, a rather simple Team vs Team capture the flag with power-ups and battling. Football move over, Warcross is where it's at. Because the nuerolink is so ingrained into society, a seedy underbelly of gambling and dark web has cropped up, and Emika makes her pennies as a bounty hunter for people who gamble in Warcross games. On the eve of the Opening of the biggest Warcross Tournament of the year (which takes up like... 6 months of the year...) Emika is being threatened with eviction, failed to get a bounty that would have fixed her situation. So as far as YA tropes go we can check off "ordinary, but special girl of poor circumstances".
Emika and her roommate, even though they are facing a looming eviction, log into the neurolink to experience the opening day ceremony. This is where Lu really introduces the ability of the nuerolink and where we can underline the "special" aspect of our tropey lead, as she somehow hacks herself into the opening game ceremony, revealing herself to the world. This is probably a good place to point out that hacking in this book is pretty much just Emika saying "I hacked into this thing" and little more than that. She runs a program here and there, that always does what she wants. Honestly as the story progresses I forget that she hacks, but the book doesn't let you forget that she's "super good at it".
Now fearing more than just eviction, but fearing for her freedom as she just did something very illegal, Emika is surprised when her world is turned upside down and she's spirited away by the Nuerolink creator to Tokyo. The creator being hot boy Hideo, whom she has been just ever so obsessed with since she was a kid, and much to her fantasies, he thinks she is special and needs her hacker expertise to track down someone that's been messing with the code in the game. BUT she needs to do it from within the game. So now she's going to be in the big game of the year as a player, a spy, and a hacker. Somehow juggling the investigation and playing a game professionally that she's the only kind of dabbled in (as far as we know, YA spoiler alert, she's super good at it).
I know I sound snarky, and like I didn't like the book, but I did. once you just accept the YA formula and that this book will be full of it, you can just lean back an enjoy the ride. Emika finds herself in a deep plot that involves other players, the dark web, and the ghosts of Hideo's past. Of course because YA Hideo is just smitten with Emika from the get go. She's great at the game, everyone acknowledges how special she is, but the big YA factor I struggled with over looking was the utter lack of communication. This whole book could've ended in a few chapters had the characters just communicated with each other. But there was always some kind of personal justification for why they couldn't just talk to each other.
I found the game world to be well thought out and interesting, just unfortunately it didn't get nearly as much page time as I'd like. I get that the story is about the scheme around the game, and not the game, but Lu introduced her as a player so I wanted more. I wanted more intereaction with her teammates, more development. She never felt like she was part of the group to me, which made it harder to believe in the second book when they all go out of their way to help her. The romance with Hideo was heavy-handed but cute, so I didn't mind it. But I kept finding myself wanting more gameplay. It's called Warcross for goodness sake.
One thing I have to commend Lu on is that it has a decent number of legitimate twists. Twists that made me actually gasp once or twice. That kept me intrigued and made me read it in a day. But unfortunately, while a fun little romp, the story's reliance on bad communication and YA tropes to advance the plot made the book lack a soul that really could take the story to the next level. I didn't care too much about anyone. I just wanted answers more than anything. But instead, we get a mysterious bad guy being cryptic, even though if he wasn't cryptic we could have avoided a lot and Emika always winning cause she's special. Though most of the information she gets is freely given to her and had nothing to do with her skills as a hacker.
When my boyfriend asked me if I liked it, I shrugged and said "yea it was fun, can we go get the second book". But I didn't have the overwhelming desire to tell him the plot or anything else as I do with books that truly resonate with me. To be fair when I did attempt to describe it the soap opera YA aspect seemed glaring and he just rolled his eyes.
Absolutely worth a read, especially if you enjoy this genre. But just don't go in expecting it to be special, it follows the YA formula to a T.
The story follows Emika, a scrappy teen living in the slums of (I think New York). As YA books tend to do, she is a normal, poor, orphan girl, who happens to be able to afford to dye her hair rainbow, and oh, I forgot to mention, very good at hacking. The world is fully submerged into the Nuerolink, which are AR/VR glasses almost everyone has, that handle the internet, gaming worlds, infrastructure etc etc. The most popular aspect is a game on the Nuerolink called Warcross, a rather simple Team vs Team capture the flag with power-ups and battling. Football move over, Warcross is where it's at. Because the nuerolink is so ingrained into society, a seedy underbelly of gambling and dark web has cropped up, and Emika makes her pennies as a bounty hunter for people who gamble in Warcross games. On the eve of the Opening of the biggest Warcross Tournament of the year (which takes up like... 6 months of the year...) Emika is being threatened with eviction, failed to get a bounty that would have fixed her situation. So as far as YA tropes go we can check off "ordinary, but special girl of poor circumstances".
Emika and her roommate, even though they are facing a looming eviction, log into the neurolink to experience the opening day ceremony. This is where Lu really introduces the ability of the nuerolink and where we can underline the "special" aspect of our tropey lead, as she somehow hacks herself into the opening game ceremony, revealing herself to the world. This is probably a good place to point out that hacking in this book is pretty much just Emika saying "I hacked into this thing" and little more than that. She runs a program here and there, that always does what she wants. Honestly as the story progresses I forget that she hacks, but the book doesn't let you forget that she's "super good at it".
Now fearing more than just eviction, but fearing for her freedom as she just did something very illegal, Emika is surprised when her world is turned upside down and she's spirited away by the Nuerolink creator to Tokyo. The creator being hot boy Hideo, whom she has been just ever so obsessed with since she was a kid, and much to her fantasies, he thinks she is special and needs her hacker expertise to track down someone that's been messing with the code in the game. BUT she needs to do it from within the game. So now she's going to be in the big game of the year as a player, a spy, and a hacker. Somehow juggling the investigation and playing a game professionally that she's the only kind of dabbled in (as far as we know, YA spoiler alert, she's super good at it).
I know I sound snarky, and like I didn't like the book, but I did. once you just accept the YA formula and that this book will be full of it, you can just lean back an enjoy the ride. Emika finds herself in a deep plot that involves other players, the dark web, and the ghosts of Hideo's past. Of course because YA Hideo is just smitten with Emika from the get go. She's great at the game, everyone acknowledges how special she is, but the big YA factor I struggled with over looking was the utter lack of communication. This whole book could've ended in a few chapters had the characters just communicated with each other. But there was always some kind of personal justification for why they couldn't just talk to each other.
I found the game world to be well thought out and interesting, just unfortunately it didn't get nearly as much page time as I'd like. I get that the story is about the scheme around the game, and not the game, but Lu introduced her as a player so I wanted more. I wanted more intereaction with her teammates, more development. She never felt like she was part of the group to me, which made it harder to believe in the second book when they all go out of their way to help her. The romance with Hideo was heavy-handed but cute, so I didn't mind it. But I kept finding myself wanting more gameplay. It's called Warcross for goodness sake.
One thing I have to commend Lu on is that it has a decent number of legitimate twists. Twists that made me actually gasp once or twice. That kept me intrigued and made me read it in a day. But unfortunately, while a fun little romp, the story's reliance on bad communication and YA tropes to advance the plot made the book lack a soul that really could take the story to the next level. I didn't care too much about anyone. I just wanted answers more than anything. But instead, we get a mysterious bad guy being cryptic, even though if he wasn't cryptic we could have avoided a lot and Emika always winning cause she's special. Though most of the information she gets is freely given to her and had nothing to do with her skills as a hacker.
When my boyfriend asked me if I liked it, I shrugged and said "yea it was fun, can we go get the second book". But I didn't have the overwhelming desire to tell him the plot or anything else as I do with books that truly resonate with me. To be fair when I did attempt to describe it the soap opera YA aspect seemed glaring and he just rolled his eyes.
Absolutely worth a read, especially if you enjoy this genre. But just don't go in expecting it to be special, it follows the YA formula to a T.
Ben Howkins (7 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Feb 17, 2019
Muddled plot (1 more)
Forced ending
Alita's more mortal than angel
The basic plot of the film is: about 300 years after a large war called “The Fall” a cyborg repairer/ doctor called Dr Dyson Ido finds the dismembered but still functioning body of a young girl in the scrapheap of rubbish dumped from Zalem, the last remaining sky city from before “The Fall”. After Ido is able to connect the remains to a cyborg body he had made for his late daughter, the girl awakes with no memories of who or what she is. To help her, Ido decides to look after, treating her as if she had a new start in life, even giving her a new name, Alita, after his late daughter whose body she had. Unfortunately though whilst creating her new life in Iron City, Alita starts to remember things about her past and who she truly is, learns that some of the people who she thinks she knows aren’t quite what they seem and most worryingly starting to attract the attention of some bad people.
If I am going, to be honest, both the movie and performances are on a hit and miss scale. Rosa Salazar who is the face and performance of the leading lady is quite good. She portrays Alita’s emotional and mental journey/ life cycle throughout the film to a high standard, evolving from the naive young girl at the very start when she knows and is nothing, through her lovesick and difficult middle period (teenage years if you will) and finishing with starts to truly knowing who she is and what she must do. Christoph Waltz is like always very good as Dr Dyson Ido. The different sides he showed of his character, sometimes switching and showing multiple in a single scene, is quite impressive. These include lighter ones like the loving father figure towards Alita and the doctor who is willing to help everyone sometimes for nothing in return, to his darker side like his secret “night job” and his hatred and disdain towards Zalem and their murderous entertainment “Motorball”. I will also give an honourable mention to Ed Skrein who plays bounty hunter Zapan. Out of the multiple known names who have middle to lower importance parts he was definitely the best as his (what I would say) known style of emotionless bad guy fits perfectly to his character.
But as I said there were definite misses to these hits, biggest one being Keean Johnson who plays Alita’s first friend turned love interest Hugo. The problem with Hugo isn’t all Johnson’s performance, though that is quite flat and unengaging, but that Hugo was unfortunately terribly written and just doesn’t really have anything about him. Another miss, performance wise, was the fact that there were a few big well-known actors and actresses who they didn’t use to their potential, again due to poor writing. An example is Mahershala Ali who plays Vector, an entrepreneur linked into “Motorball”. Though he is what I would regard as a “B Level Character”, nothing is done with him to use or explore his story, which I believe could have helped a bit with the story.
Like the performances, the film itself is also hit and miss, unfortunately with the later are bigger in weight than the former. Start with the good, Visually this movie is as stunning as it is billed. Though you can tell it’s mostly CGI, Alita still looks absolutely beautiful and some of the other cyborg/ robotic characters look just as good, particularly Zapan. Also, the performances I said were good were very good.
For all the lovely visuals and good performances, the biggest problem for the movie is the script. It is incredibly muddled up, jumping from one thing to the next at such a quick rate that it is hard to follow and even sometimes see the link between scenes. The movie also, in my opinion, finishes without a true ending. It is clear it was set up for a sequel but I feel there could have been at least another 10-20 minutes more to tie it up/ tide us properly over.
Overall I was really disappointed with Alita. With the team involved, I believed it had potential to be this decade “Avatar” but instead just ended up being another mediocre futuristic action drama.
If I am going, to be honest, both the movie and performances are on a hit and miss scale. Rosa Salazar who is the face and performance of the leading lady is quite good. She portrays Alita’s emotional and mental journey/ life cycle throughout the film to a high standard, evolving from the naive young girl at the very start when she knows and is nothing, through her lovesick and difficult middle period (teenage years if you will) and finishing with starts to truly knowing who she is and what she must do. Christoph Waltz is like always very good as Dr Dyson Ido. The different sides he showed of his character, sometimes switching and showing multiple in a single scene, is quite impressive. These include lighter ones like the loving father figure towards Alita and the doctor who is willing to help everyone sometimes for nothing in return, to his darker side like his secret “night job” and his hatred and disdain towards Zalem and their murderous entertainment “Motorball”. I will also give an honourable mention to Ed Skrein who plays bounty hunter Zapan. Out of the multiple known names who have middle to lower importance parts he was definitely the best as his (what I would say) known style of emotionless bad guy fits perfectly to his character.
But as I said there were definite misses to these hits, biggest one being Keean Johnson who plays Alita’s first friend turned love interest Hugo. The problem with Hugo isn’t all Johnson’s performance, though that is quite flat and unengaging, but that Hugo was unfortunately terribly written and just doesn’t really have anything about him. Another miss, performance wise, was the fact that there were a few big well-known actors and actresses who they didn’t use to their potential, again due to poor writing. An example is Mahershala Ali who plays Vector, an entrepreneur linked into “Motorball”. Though he is what I would regard as a “B Level Character”, nothing is done with him to use or explore his story, which I believe could have helped a bit with the story.
Like the performances, the film itself is also hit and miss, unfortunately with the later are bigger in weight than the former. Start with the good, Visually this movie is as stunning as it is billed. Though you can tell it’s mostly CGI, Alita still looks absolutely beautiful and some of the other cyborg/ robotic characters look just as good, particularly Zapan. Also, the performances I said were good were very good.
For all the lovely visuals and good performances, the biggest problem for the movie is the script. It is incredibly muddled up, jumping from one thing to the next at such a quick rate that it is hard to follow and even sometimes see the link between scenes. The movie also, in my opinion, finishes without a true ending. It is clear it was set up for a sequel but I feel there could have been at least another 10-20 minutes more to tie it up/ tide us properly over.
Overall I was really disappointed with Alita. With the team involved, I believed it had potential to be this decade “Avatar” but instead just ended up being another mediocre futuristic action drama.
Becs (244 KP) rated The Bone Roses in Books
Apr 5, 2019
the writing (4 more)
the protaganists
the antagonists
the plot and background
the development of the story and characters
Fast-paced, page-turner that will leave you wanting more!
You can read more of this review on my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com and Goodreads!
I received a copy to read and review for my honest opinion from The Parliament Press.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, Gore, Oppression, Discrimination
I don't generally like Western stories but this is also considered Young Adult/ Fantasy so I figured I would give it a try, especially after reading the very intriguing synopsis. But be warned, this story is geared more towards a mature audience as there are a lot of scenes that are more NA then YA. This is book one(1) of the Snow Spark Saga.
Set in a post-apocalyptic West, thirty years into the future after Yellowstone erupts, the United States is reformed. A cruel king named Hyperion has taken control of the entire region and has cut multiple of small settlements off from the trade routes due to those settlements not bowing to him. All because they believe in God and Hyperion wants everyone to worship him. The main settlement that takes place within The Bone Roses is Rondo. In order to survive, the settlements have to have outlaws that are known as rustlers. These outlaws risk their own lives to steal from the capital city, Adonis. If caught, the punishment is torture and death. The main character, Rags, is a rustler with an extremely large bounty on her head.
But Rags runs into a problem when on a raid, the Kingdom Corps (K.C. for short) start chasing her. She manages to slip away with her adopted father Tracker and what neither of them realizes, is that they are being followed. This leads to a whole bunch of other problems down the road.
This fast-paced, page-turner will leave you on your toes until the very end.
Characters:
Rags - the protagonist of the story. Rondo's rustler, she is feared and the best at her role. But she does have a realistic sense to her that allows the reader to really get a feel on her.
Tracker - Rags' mentor and "adopted" father. Very mysterious and seems to have a hidden past.
Matthew - Rags' best friend, the preacher's son. I thought he was going to be a love interest, but he was only seen as a brother/friend to Rags.
Jericho - the preacher. He's seen as Rondo's town leader.
Sadie - a mother figure to Rags and soon-to-be-mother. No major role in the story but does seem to be hiding a past.
Frank - husband of Sadie and soon-to-be-father. No major role in the story.
Hyperion - the wicked king that thinks he's the almighty God.
Henny - Hyperion's second in command, he's to seek out all the rustlers and take care of them. One thing I really love about his character is that you hate but like him. Like he's the antagonist that does things that make you question why you ever put him into the antagonist category and then turns around and does the things that make him a bad guy. (if that makes any sense at all lol)
Hunter Lawrence - the sheriff of Rondo and discriminates against Rags because she isn't a true citizen of Rondo.
Colton - a luresman (someone who's good at negotiating with settlements), but he's an overall mysterious guy that leaves you wondering the same thing as Henny. Is he really bad? Is he really good? Can you trust him? Possible love interest to Rags??
Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. Very intriguing from the beginning - the plot was amazing!
2. No grammatical or spelling errors - the writing was phenomenal!
3. There was not only character development but also story development! The only character that lacked any background was Rags, but she doesn't remember much of anything from before her arrival into Rondo.
4. With the development and plot, the overall story came together rather nicely and it left me wanting more.
5. This is a series that I can't wait to read more of!
"Deny all knowledge - but leave no one behind. Never"
I received a copy to read and review for my honest opinion from The Parliament Press.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, Gore, Oppression, Discrimination
I don't generally like Western stories but this is also considered Young Adult/ Fantasy so I figured I would give it a try, especially after reading the very intriguing synopsis. But be warned, this story is geared more towards a mature audience as there are a lot of scenes that are more NA then YA. This is book one(1) of the Snow Spark Saga.
Set in a post-apocalyptic West, thirty years into the future after Yellowstone erupts, the United States is reformed. A cruel king named Hyperion has taken control of the entire region and has cut multiple of small settlements off from the trade routes due to those settlements not bowing to him. All because they believe in God and Hyperion wants everyone to worship him. The main settlement that takes place within The Bone Roses is Rondo. In order to survive, the settlements have to have outlaws that are known as rustlers. These outlaws risk their own lives to steal from the capital city, Adonis. If caught, the punishment is torture and death. The main character, Rags, is a rustler with an extremely large bounty on her head.
But Rags runs into a problem when on a raid, the Kingdom Corps (K.C. for short) start chasing her. She manages to slip away with her adopted father Tracker and what neither of them realizes, is that they are being followed. This leads to a whole bunch of other problems down the road.
This fast-paced, page-turner will leave you on your toes until the very end.
Characters:
Rags - the protagonist of the story. Rondo's rustler, she is feared and the best at her role. But she does have a realistic sense to her that allows the reader to really get a feel on her.
Tracker - Rags' mentor and "adopted" father. Very mysterious and seems to have a hidden past.
Matthew - Rags' best friend, the preacher's son. I thought he was going to be a love interest, but he was only seen as a brother/friend to Rags.
Jericho - the preacher. He's seen as Rondo's town leader.
Sadie - a mother figure to Rags and soon-to-be-mother. No major role in the story but does seem to be hiding a past.
Frank - husband of Sadie and soon-to-be-father. No major role in the story.
Hyperion - the wicked king that thinks he's the almighty God.
Henny - Hyperion's second in command, he's to seek out all the rustlers and take care of them. One thing I really love about his character is that you hate but like him. Like he's the antagonist that does things that make you question why you ever put him into the antagonist category and then turns around and does the things that make him a bad guy. (if that makes any sense at all lol)
Hunter Lawrence - the sheriff of Rondo and discriminates against Rags because she isn't a true citizen of Rondo.
Colton - a luresman (someone who's good at negotiating with settlements), but he's an overall mysterious guy that leaves you wondering the same thing as Henny. Is he really bad? Is he really good? Can you trust him? Possible love interest to Rags??
Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. Very intriguing from the beginning - the plot was amazing!
2. No grammatical or spelling errors - the writing was phenomenal!
3. There was not only character development but also story development! The only character that lacked any background was Rags, but she doesn't remember much of anything from before her arrival into Rondo.
4. With the development and plot, the overall story came together rather nicely and it left me wanting more.
5. This is a series that I can't wait to read more of!
"Deny all knowledge - but leave no one behind. Never"
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
A visual spectacle
It’s always a worry when a production company feels the need to force feed you the fact that a big-name is in a relatively minor role. In the case of Alita: Battle Angel, 20th Century Fox have been hammering home the fact that James Cameron is involved in a Producer capacity.
You have to feel a little sorry for director Robert Rodriguez as his name has been almost usurped by Cameron’s in the marketing push for this live-action adaptation of the classic manga. Of course, Cameron is too busy making the four Avatar sequels no-one actually cares about anymore and instead, entrusted his vision for Alita: Battle Angel to Rodriguez. He’s certainly an intriguing choice of director, but does the finished product work?
Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens, she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.
After spending nearly $200million on Alita, Fox clearly think they’ve got another massive hit on their hands and to an extent, they deserve one. Battle Angel is a majestic film, filled with visual presence not dissimilar to the spectacle of watching Avatar for the first time in 2009. The bustling world of Iron City feels as if it’s living and breathing right before our eyes and that’s a testament to both Cameron and Rodriguez as well as the visual effects people down at Weta Digital.
This thriving metropolis is populated by practical and CGI effects of varying qualities, but as a movie world, it works much better than Wakanda did in Black Panther and is leagues ahead of the empty, soulless Asgard from Thor.
It is reminiscent of Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok however, with its narrow streets and market stalls. The difference here is that Iron City is a much darker, eerier place than Sakarr ever was, save for Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster towering above everything.
The casting is also very good and features some household names that were clearly intrigued by the project. Waltz is excellent as the compassionate Ido and Jennifer Connelly works well as his ex-wife, though she is underused throughout.
Alita: Battle Angel is a pleasant surprise from a director who has needed a hit for quite some time.
Ed Skrein turns up every now and then as Zapan, a cyborg bounty hunter and provides some light comic relief in a film that has more than its fair share of darker moments. TV actor Keann Johnson makes his big-budget film debut here and he is excellent as Hugo, Alita’s love interest.
Unfortunately, the initial optimism fades somewhat when you realise that Alita: Battle Angel struggles under the weight of its own script. Plot points in the first 45 minutes feel ridiculously rushed and then the film hurtles towards its climax without stopping for breath.
You get the feeling there was much more that had to be cut to trim the runtime down to a more family friendly 2 hours. The dialogue too isn’t a strong point. Overly expositional and riddled in cliché, Alita is not a film you watch because of its sparkling and witty one-liners.
Niggles aside though and Alita: Battle Angel is much better than I thought it was going to be. The plot, while unoriginal, is sweet and easy enough to swallow, making it a great family film. True, it has its darker moments, but the strong visuals and vibrant environment will make it enjoyable for older children and adults alike.
Overall, Alita: Battle Angel is a pleasant surprise from a director who has needed a hit for quite some time. It’s a flawed film that struggles to cope with its many ideas that continuously pull it in hundreds of different directions, but it’s worth a watch just for the visual spectacle and emotionally arresting story. Whether or not it recoups that colossal $200million budget remains to be seen.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/02/09/alita-battle-angel-review-a-visual-spectacle/
You have to feel a little sorry for director Robert Rodriguez as his name has been almost usurped by Cameron’s in the marketing push for this live-action adaptation of the classic manga. Of course, Cameron is too busy making the four Avatar sequels no-one actually cares about anymore and instead, entrusted his vision for Alita: Battle Angel to Rodriguez. He’s certainly an intriguing choice of director, but does the finished product work?
Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens, she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.
After spending nearly $200million on Alita, Fox clearly think they’ve got another massive hit on their hands and to an extent, they deserve one. Battle Angel is a majestic film, filled with visual presence not dissimilar to the spectacle of watching Avatar for the first time in 2009. The bustling world of Iron City feels as if it’s living and breathing right before our eyes and that’s a testament to both Cameron and Rodriguez as well as the visual effects people down at Weta Digital.
This thriving metropolis is populated by practical and CGI effects of varying qualities, but as a movie world, it works much better than Wakanda did in Black Panther and is leagues ahead of the empty, soulless Asgard from Thor.
It is reminiscent of Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok however, with its narrow streets and market stalls. The difference here is that Iron City is a much darker, eerier place than Sakarr ever was, save for Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster towering above everything.
The casting is also very good and features some household names that were clearly intrigued by the project. Waltz is excellent as the compassionate Ido and Jennifer Connelly works well as his ex-wife, though she is underused throughout.
Alita: Battle Angel is a pleasant surprise from a director who has needed a hit for quite some time.
Ed Skrein turns up every now and then as Zapan, a cyborg bounty hunter and provides some light comic relief in a film that has more than its fair share of darker moments. TV actor Keann Johnson makes his big-budget film debut here and he is excellent as Hugo, Alita’s love interest.
Unfortunately, the initial optimism fades somewhat when you realise that Alita: Battle Angel struggles under the weight of its own script. Plot points in the first 45 minutes feel ridiculously rushed and then the film hurtles towards its climax without stopping for breath.
You get the feeling there was much more that had to be cut to trim the runtime down to a more family friendly 2 hours. The dialogue too isn’t a strong point. Overly expositional and riddled in cliché, Alita is not a film you watch because of its sparkling and witty one-liners.
Niggles aside though and Alita: Battle Angel is much better than I thought it was going to be. The plot, while unoriginal, is sweet and easy enough to swallow, making it a great family film. True, it has its darker moments, but the strong visuals and vibrant environment will make it enjoyable for older children and adults alike.
Overall, Alita: Battle Angel is a pleasant surprise from a director who has needed a hit for quite some time. It’s a flawed film that struggles to cope with its many ideas that continuously pull it in hundreds of different directions, but it’s worth a watch just for the visual spectacle and emotionally arresting story. Whether or not it recoups that colossal $200million budget remains to be seen.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/02/09/alita-battle-angel-review-a-visual-spectacle/
Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated Star Wars, Vol. 2: Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon in Books
Aug 9, 2019
Note: this review is transposted from my personal review blog, and so was originally written several years ago. I figured if I reposted it here, someone might actually read it….
I very much enjoyed the first volume of Marvel’s ongoing Star Wars series, but many other reviewers took issue with it for playing things safe and giving us a story like many we’d seen before. These criticisms are not completely unfounded, I’ll admit, but neither are they completely fair. Either way, this is not a problem the series has going forward…. This second volume also includes the one-off flashback story THE LAST OF HIS BREED, featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi adjusting to his exile on Tatooine, which is discussed separately below.
Luke Skywalker has successfully escaped the clutches of the bounty hunter Boba Fett, but all he got for his troubles was the journal of Obi-Wan Kenobi–no small prize, but probably not all that helpful in furthering his Jedi training. So what’s the next logical step in learning about the Jedi? Try and sneak onto Coruscant to infiltrate the old Jedi Temple, of course! But when his attempt to find a discreet ship and pilot in a seedy bar on Nar Shaddaa goes horribly awry, Luke finds himself the prisoner of Grakkus the Hutt. In addition to the traditional crime and vice, Grakkus has made a name for himself as one of the foremost collectors of Jedi artifacts. Now Luke faces the battle of his life in Grakkus’ arena, billed as “the last Jedi” and pitted against a fearsome creature for the amusement of Grakkus’ fellow crime lords….Meanwhile, Han and Leia are out scouting potential locations for a new Rebel base when they run across a figure from Han’s past. Her name is Sana, and she claims to be his wife….
As with the previous volume, this was some stellar work. Jason Aaron nails the banter between Han & Leia, to the point where you can almost hear Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford delivering the lines, and Luke’s mix of cockiness and self-doubt is spot-on for his character and situation. Also of note is Stuart Immonen’s spectacular artwork. From the character closeups to the panoramic vistas, this was pure Star Wars. Also amusing was watching our entire cast wade into battle wielding lightsabers. Did Luke manage to salvage anything of value from Grakkus’ stash on his way out? I guess we’ll have to wait and see….
Then there’s the Obi-Wan backup story. It’s been seven years since the rise of the Empire, seven years since the death of the Jedi and the Republic. Formerly one of the greatest Jedi of his generation, now Obi-Wan Kenobi lives a life of obscurity on the desert planet of Tatooine. Where once he protected the innocent of the galaxy, now “Old Ben” forces himself to look the other way lest he draw the Empire’s notice as Jabba’s thugs extort water from the locals. All that matters is protecting the boy, Luke Skywalker, on whose unknowing shoulders rest the fate of the galaxy. But there are limits to the patience of even the greatest of Jedi….
This was a good one. The story was solid, and it’s always interesting to see Obi-Wan’s state of mind during his exile. Was this done better in John Jackson Miller’s KENOBI? Yes. That goes without saying, if only because he had more than twenty-four pages to tell his story. At any rate, KENOBI isn’t canon anymore, so we’ll not dwell on it. Simone Bianchi’s art here was stellar, I must say, and his Kenobi managed to blend Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness superbly. I would very much like to see more of these one-off excerpts from Obi-Wan’s journal appear in future issues of the comic.
CONTENT: Moderate violence, not too gruesome most of the time. Mild profanity. Mild sexual innuendo and flirting.
Original posts: Main story (https://jordanbinkerd.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/review-star-wars-showdown-on-the-smugglers-moon-by-jason-aaron-stuart-immonen/) & Obi-Wan Flashback (https://jordanbinkerd.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/review-star-wars-the-last-of-his-breed-by-jason-aaron-simone-bianchi/)
I very much enjoyed the first volume of Marvel’s ongoing Star Wars series, but many other reviewers took issue with it for playing things safe and giving us a story like many we’d seen before. These criticisms are not completely unfounded, I’ll admit, but neither are they completely fair. Either way, this is not a problem the series has going forward…. This second volume also includes the one-off flashback story THE LAST OF HIS BREED, featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi adjusting to his exile on Tatooine, which is discussed separately below.
Luke Skywalker has successfully escaped the clutches of the bounty hunter Boba Fett, but all he got for his troubles was the journal of Obi-Wan Kenobi–no small prize, but probably not all that helpful in furthering his Jedi training. So what’s the next logical step in learning about the Jedi? Try and sneak onto Coruscant to infiltrate the old Jedi Temple, of course! But when his attempt to find a discreet ship and pilot in a seedy bar on Nar Shaddaa goes horribly awry, Luke finds himself the prisoner of Grakkus the Hutt. In addition to the traditional crime and vice, Grakkus has made a name for himself as one of the foremost collectors of Jedi artifacts. Now Luke faces the battle of his life in Grakkus’ arena, billed as “the last Jedi” and pitted against a fearsome creature for the amusement of Grakkus’ fellow crime lords….Meanwhile, Han and Leia are out scouting potential locations for a new Rebel base when they run across a figure from Han’s past. Her name is Sana, and she claims to be his wife….
As with the previous volume, this was some stellar work. Jason Aaron nails the banter between Han & Leia, to the point where you can almost hear Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford delivering the lines, and Luke’s mix of cockiness and self-doubt is spot-on for his character and situation. Also of note is Stuart Immonen’s spectacular artwork. From the character closeups to the panoramic vistas, this was pure Star Wars. Also amusing was watching our entire cast wade into battle wielding lightsabers. Did Luke manage to salvage anything of value from Grakkus’ stash on his way out? I guess we’ll have to wait and see….
Then there’s the Obi-Wan backup story. It’s been seven years since the rise of the Empire, seven years since the death of the Jedi and the Republic. Formerly one of the greatest Jedi of his generation, now Obi-Wan Kenobi lives a life of obscurity on the desert planet of Tatooine. Where once he protected the innocent of the galaxy, now “Old Ben” forces himself to look the other way lest he draw the Empire’s notice as Jabba’s thugs extort water from the locals. All that matters is protecting the boy, Luke Skywalker, on whose unknowing shoulders rest the fate of the galaxy. But there are limits to the patience of even the greatest of Jedi….
This was a good one. The story was solid, and it’s always interesting to see Obi-Wan’s state of mind during his exile. Was this done better in John Jackson Miller’s KENOBI? Yes. That goes without saying, if only because he had more than twenty-four pages to tell his story. At any rate, KENOBI isn’t canon anymore, so we’ll not dwell on it. Simone Bianchi’s art here was stellar, I must say, and his Kenobi managed to blend Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness superbly. I would very much like to see more of these one-off excerpts from Obi-Wan’s journal appear in future issues of the comic.
CONTENT: Moderate violence, not too gruesome most of the time. Mild profanity. Mild sexual innuendo and flirting.
Original posts: Main story (https://jordanbinkerd.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/review-star-wars-showdown-on-the-smugglers-moon-by-jason-aaron-stuart-immonen/) & Obi-Wan Flashback (https://jordanbinkerd.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/review-star-wars-the-last-of-his-breed-by-jason-aaron-simone-bianchi/)
Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated American Vampire, Vol. 6 in Books
Jul 21, 2019 (Updated Jul 21, 2019)
Not all the art works (for me) (1 more)
Adult content.... but if you made it this far in the series, that's not a surprise
Filler Anthology, but still fun...
Note: this review is transposted from my personal review blog, and so was originally written several years ago.
So, it has come to this. The sixth and latest collection of American Vampire comics. Now it’s not just my library’s slow acquisition policies holding me back, but the fact that there haven’t been any more published yet! Apparently the creators put the book on hiatus for a while, but they’ve at least started publishing again. I just have to wait for it to hit the collections….This particular collection is a couple of one-shots they put out in the meantime to keep our appetites whetted–one from the main American Vampire team, one with them letting a whole bunch of other comics creators play in their sandbox. Obviously, this review could spoil events from the previous collections.
First off, we have THE LONG ROAD TO HELL. Snyder and Albuquerque set out the story for this one together, with Albuquerque taking over to script and draw the story. Billy Bob and Jo are the Bonnie and Clyde of petty thieves, picking pockets by night to add to their stash. They’re hoping to have enough soon to cover the cost of renting a chapel, but one fateful encounter with a vampire coven recruitment team and everything changes…not for the better, I’m afraid. Jasper Miller is a young orphan, favorite target of a group of bullies. It seems that young Jasper is a very insightful young man, and some of what he knows makes these bullies very nervous, and he decides that the open road would be safer for him than the old orphanage. Vampire hunter Travis Kidd we’ve already met back in Vol. IV, and it’s good to see that he survived the ambush he willingly dove into at the end of that book. Seems to have picked up a katana somewhere in the interim too, which is always cool. Fate has these four on a collision course, and blood will be spilled by the time they reach the end of the road….
Moving on to the American Vampire Anthology, we open with the frame story by Snyder and Albuquerque. THE MAN COMES AROUND is set in 1967 as Skinner Sweet hides out in the middle of nowhere, hoping to avoid the major events he can sense just over the horizon. Seems there’s always someone trying to kill him, though…. Jason Aaron and Declan Shalvey then enlighten us as to what really happened on Roanoke Island in THE LOST COLONY. Here’s a hint, vampires were involved. We then move on to BLEEDING KANSAS, where Albuquerque puts down his pencil and takes a shot at writing the story, leaving the art to Ivo Milazzo. Set against that tumultuous time and place, Albuquerque and Milazzo set down for us a tale of what I can only assume are Henry Jones’ grandparents. Next up, Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes serve up a tale of terror in the frozen north with CANADIAN VAMPIRE as ex-Mountie-turned-bounty-hunter Jack Warhammer is hired to find out what happened to a German fur trading expedition missing in the wild. Becky Cloonan handles both the writing and art for GREED, starring Skinner Sweet and featuring his first encounter with those crazy folks who hail from a place called “Hollywood….” Francesco Francavilla then pulls the same trick for THE PRODUCERS, detailing the birth of a star as he makes a shady deal in exchange for fame and fortune. Gail Simone and Tula Lotay treat us to Hattie Hargrove’s origin story in ESSENCE OF LIFE, showing us just what happened to her that made her willing to screw over her best friend in the world. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon share both the writing and artist credits for LAST NIGHT, as a lounge singer describes to a reporter the events leading up to the previous evening’s massacre at the club. Finally, Greg Rucka and JP Leon tell the tale of a dying drunk and the lowlifes who try and shanghai him in PORTLAND, 1940.
On the whole, I really enjoyed this as per the usual for this series. The writing was stellar, and the anthology format really served well for the world being depicted. As with any comics anthology, there’s a wide variety of artistic styles represented, and some of those styles I’m not really a fan of, but that’s largely a matter of taste. I could sit here and tell you that I really wasn’t a fan of Ivo Milazzo’s art on BLEEDING KANSAS (which is true), but the next guy might have loved it. I could laud Tula Lotay’s work on ESSENCE OF LIFE (also true), but the next guy may not have been a fan. That’s kind of how it works–peoples’ tastes are pretty subjective. I did enjoy getting into Hattie’s head a bit more than we were able to back when she was introduced, and Skinner Sweet’s adventures are always fun–I’ve mentioned before my weakness for antiheroes. As a historian, Roanoke’s lost colony is always a fascinating topic, and a number of the plot twists contained here were very satisfying if not always surprising. I really can’t wait for the next volume to come out so I can see the payoff to some of the plot threads being set up both here and in the teaser from the end of volume V….
CONTENT: R-rated language. Brutal, bloody vampire violence–these aren’t sparkly, angst-ridden pretty boys, these are monsters through and through. Some explicit and implicit sexual content, including what more or less constitutes a rape. No real occult content, as there isn’t a spiritual element to this version of vampirism.
Original review link: https://jordanbinkerd.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/review-american-vampire-volume-vi-by-scott-snyder-rafael-albuquerque/
So, it has come to this. The sixth and latest collection of American Vampire comics. Now it’s not just my library’s slow acquisition policies holding me back, but the fact that there haven’t been any more published yet! Apparently the creators put the book on hiatus for a while, but they’ve at least started publishing again. I just have to wait for it to hit the collections….This particular collection is a couple of one-shots they put out in the meantime to keep our appetites whetted–one from the main American Vampire team, one with them letting a whole bunch of other comics creators play in their sandbox. Obviously, this review could spoil events from the previous collections.
First off, we have THE LONG ROAD TO HELL. Snyder and Albuquerque set out the story for this one together, with Albuquerque taking over to script and draw the story. Billy Bob and Jo are the Bonnie and Clyde of petty thieves, picking pockets by night to add to their stash. They’re hoping to have enough soon to cover the cost of renting a chapel, but one fateful encounter with a vampire coven recruitment team and everything changes…not for the better, I’m afraid. Jasper Miller is a young orphan, favorite target of a group of bullies. It seems that young Jasper is a very insightful young man, and some of what he knows makes these bullies very nervous, and he decides that the open road would be safer for him than the old orphanage. Vampire hunter Travis Kidd we’ve already met back in Vol. IV, and it’s good to see that he survived the ambush he willingly dove into at the end of that book. Seems to have picked up a katana somewhere in the interim too, which is always cool. Fate has these four on a collision course, and blood will be spilled by the time they reach the end of the road….
Moving on to the American Vampire Anthology, we open with the frame story by Snyder and Albuquerque. THE MAN COMES AROUND is set in 1967 as Skinner Sweet hides out in the middle of nowhere, hoping to avoid the major events he can sense just over the horizon. Seems there’s always someone trying to kill him, though…. Jason Aaron and Declan Shalvey then enlighten us as to what really happened on Roanoke Island in THE LOST COLONY. Here’s a hint, vampires were involved. We then move on to BLEEDING KANSAS, where Albuquerque puts down his pencil and takes a shot at writing the story, leaving the art to Ivo Milazzo. Set against that tumultuous time and place, Albuquerque and Milazzo set down for us a tale of what I can only assume are Henry Jones’ grandparents. Next up, Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes serve up a tale of terror in the frozen north with CANADIAN VAMPIRE as ex-Mountie-turned-bounty-hunter Jack Warhammer is hired to find out what happened to a German fur trading expedition missing in the wild. Becky Cloonan handles both the writing and art for GREED, starring Skinner Sweet and featuring his first encounter with those crazy folks who hail from a place called “Hollywood….” Francesco Francavilla then pulls the same trick for THE PRODUCERS, detailing the birth of a star as he makes a shady deal in exchange for fame and fortune. Gail Simone and Tula Lotay treat us to Hattie Hargrove’s origin story in ESSENCE OF LIFE, showing us just what happened to her that made her willing to screw over her best friend in the world. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon share both the writing and artist credits for LAST NIGHT, as a lounge singer describes to a reporter the events leading up to the previous evening’s massacre at the club. Finally, Greg Rucka and JP Leon tell the tale of a dying drunk and the lowlifes who try and shanghai him in PORTLAND, 1940.
On the whole, I really enjoyed this as per the usual for this series. The writing was stellar, and the anthology format really served well for the world being depicted. As with any comics anthology, there’s a wide variety of artistic styles represented, and some of those styles I’m not really a fan of, but that’s largely a matter of taste. I could sit here and tell you that I really wasn’t a fan of Ivo Milazzo’s art on BLEEDING KANSAS (which is true), but the next guy might have loved it. I could laud Tula Lotay’s work on ESSENCE OF LIFE (also true), but the next guy may not have been a fan. That’s kind of how it works–peoples’ tastes are pretty subjective. I did enjoy getting into Hattie’s head a bit more than we were able to back when she was introduced, and Skinner Sweet’s adventures are always fun–I’ve mentioned before my weakness for antiheroes. As a historian, Roanoke’s lost colony is always a fascinating topic, and a number of the plot twists contained here were very satisfying if not always surprising. I really can’t wait for the next volume to come out so I can see the payoff to some of the plot threads being set up both here and in the teaser from the end of volume V….
CONTENT: R-rated language. Brutal, bloody vampire violence–these aren’t sparkly, angst-ridden pretty boys, these are monsters through and through. Some explicit and implicit sexual content, including what more or less constitutes a rape. No real occult content, as there isn’t a spiritual element to this version of vampirism.
Original review link: https://jordanbinkerd.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/review-american-vampire-volume-vi-by-scott-snyder-rafael-albuquerque/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Django Unchained (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino has returned in a big way with “Django Unchained” his homage to spaghetti Westerns. The film stars Jamie Foxx as a slave named Django who is part of a convoy of slaves being transported through Texas two years before the start of the Civil War. Django is unaware that his life is about to take a monumental turn when his caravan encounters Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) one dark evening. Schultz wishes to purchase Django, and when his current owners make the mistake of threatening the good doctor, he quickly turns the table on them and sets Django and his fellow slaves free. Schultz reveals to Django that he is in fact a bounty hunter and needs him to help identify three potential targets. Since Django last lived at the plantation where the three targets worked as overseers, he is essential to Schultz’s hunt. Schultz offers to free Django and pay him $75.00 for his assistance and the duo set off on their mission.
Some truly action-packed and hysterical scenes later, Schultz realizes that Django is an absolute natural for the business and decides to take him on for the winter as an assistant, even going so far as to offer to share one third of his bounties with them. In return, Schultz also offers to help Django reclaim his wife who was sold to a plantation somewhere in Tennessee. Schultz rationalizes that to show up now would be extremely dangerous, therefore the duo must wait out the winter earning money before embarking on their rescue mission.
The hard work of the team pays off and they learn that Django’s wife has been sold to one of the largest plantations under the ownership of Calvin Candie (Leonardo di Caprio), a despotic plantation owner who is as greedy as he is cruel. Despite having more money than he could ever use, Calvin likes to force certain members of his slaves to fight to the death. Schultz and Django decide to use this angle as their chance to get close to Calvin so they can verify that Django’s wife is indeed at the plantation and determine what it will take to buy or obtain her freedom. This proves to be no easy task as not only is Calvin surrounded by an army hired guns, but he also has a very surly and suspicious head of a household named Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), eyeing every move that the strangers make and questioning their actions.
What follows is a hyperkinetic storm of violence, fury, music, and color in the true Tarantino style. The director is never one to shy away from blood and violence and there are tons of it in the film. The amazing thing about it is despite being graphic and, in some cases, borderline gratuitous, it does not distract from the enjoyment of the film and its characters. The performances were absolutely amazing, especially the work of Waltz, Foxx, and diCaprio. Jackson also does very solid supporting work as does Don Johnson in his appearance as an uber-racist plantation owner. Waltz worked previously with Tarantino on “Inglorious Bastards”, and this is where the Austrian actor really gained notice by Hollywood. This time out he gives a captivating performance as the complex killer with a heart of gold.
While I understand Tarantino’s style is not for everybody, it’s hard not to be impressed with the way he is able to paint a picture, fill it with interesting and quirky characters, and quickly tear it all apart as things descend into utter chaos and destruction. You alternate between laughing, cheering, and being shocked all the way through the film’s nearly three-hour runtime. Yet rarely did the film ever seem to drag on unnecessarily. There was some loss of pacing as the characters converged on Calvin’s plantation, and some may question some of the character changes or gaps in logic in the film’s finale.
I believe this film is one of the best films of the year. It captured so much of what an action film and drama should have: interesting, complex and well-acted characters, a good story, and plenty of action. Those who are easily offended will want to take note that the language in the film is extremely rough and there is frequent uses of racials lurs, as well is derogatory comments made about the black characters in the film. While this is intended to show the mindset and lifestyle of the 1860s in which the film is set, some may find it unsettling if they go in unprepared.
That being said I can honestly say that this was the most enjoyable Tarantino film I have ever seen and could be his best work to date.
Some truly action-packed and hysterical scenes later, Schultz realizes that Django is an absolute natural for the business and decides to take him on for the winter as an assistant, even going so far as to offer to share one third of his bounties with them. In return, Schultz also offers to help Django reclaim his wife who was sold to a plantation somewhere in Tennessee. Schultz rationalizes that to show up now would be extremely dangerous, therefore the duo must wait out the winter earning money before embarking on their rescue mission.
The hard work of the team pays off and they learn that Django’s wife has been sold to one of the largest plantations under the ownership of Calvin Candie (Leonardo di Caprio), a despotic plantation owner who is as greedy as he is cruel. Despite having more money than he could ever use, Calvin likes to force certain members of his slaves to fight to the death. Schultz and Django decide to use this angle as their chance to get close to Calvin so they can verify that Django’s wife is indeed at the plantation and determine what it will take to buy or obtain her freedom. This proves to be no easy task as not only is Calvin surrounded by an army hired guns, but he also has a very surly and suspicious head of a household named Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), eyeing every move that the strangers make and questioning their actions.
What follows is a hyperkinetic storm of violence, fury, music, and color in the true Tarantino style. The director is never one to shy away from blood and violence and there are tons of it in the film. The amazing thing about it is despite being graphic and, in some cases, borderline gratuitous, it does not distract from the enjoyment of the film and its characters. The performances were absolutely amazing, especially the work of Waltz, Foxx, and diCaprio. Jackson also does very solid supporting work as does Don Johnson in his appearance as an uber-racist plantation owner. Waltz worked previously with Tarantino on “Inglorious Bastards”, and this is where the Austrian actor really gained notice by Hollywood. This time out he gives a captivating performance as the complex killer with a heart of gold.
While I understand Tarantino’s style is not for everybody, it’s hard not to be impressed with the way he is able to paint a picture, fill it with interesting and quirky characters, and quickly tear it all apart as things descend into utter chaos and destruction. You alternate between laughing, cheering, and being shocked all the way through the film’s nearly three-hour runtime. Yet rarely did the film ever seem to drag on unnecessarily. There was some loss of pacing as the characters converged on Calvin’s plantation, and some may question some of the character changes or gaps in logic in the film’s finale.
I believe this film is one of the best films of the year. It captured so much of what an action film and drama should have: interesting, complex and well-acted characters, a good story, and plenty of action. Those who are easily offended will want to take note that the language in the film is extremely rough and there is frequent uses of racials lurs, as well is derogatory comments made about the black characters in the film. While this is intended to show the mindset and lifestyle of the 1860s in which the film is set, some may find it unsettling if they go in unprepared.
That being said I can honestly say that this was the most enjoyable Tarantino film I have ever seen and could be his best work to date.