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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Sixteen Candles (1984) in Movies
Apr 26, 2019
Dated, but fun back in the day.
I grew up with Sixteen Candles. Every girl I knew either wanted to be Sam and wear awesome clothes and hats or the Uber cool best friend Randi. I have lost track of how many times I've watched this movie. I've probably seen in a few times a year ever since it was first released. I have so many scenes and lines committed to memory. If I just watch it with my thoughts on what the times were like back then, it's a funny, lighthearted romantic comedy. Plus, one of the sweetest movie dads in history. I can relate to this movie because like Sam, I was a white girl growing up in the suburbs. I had older siblings who got all the attention and felt left out, even in my own family. I had a crazy, chaotic family. I had a crush on an older guy who was dating the perfect girl and I felt invisible. And like Sam, I thought Jake Ryan was just dreamy and I loathed taking the bus to and from school.
The situations with her family, especially her dork of a brother, passing notes in class, going to the high school dance, feeling like a fool, being embarrassed by my family, crushing on guys, and generally not fitting in and wishing I was someone else, were all relatable.
The movie was so much fun back in the day but it has not aged well for today's sociological and political climate.
Problematic plot points: shock at the thought of interracial dating, a lot of racially-insensitive jokes at the expense of the Asian character (including the sound of a going whenever he is mentioned or shown), racially-insensitive jokes at the expense of Italians, making light of taking advantage of a drunken female, use of the word retarded, and more things that I can think of right now.
I can ignore all the problematic points and still enjoy the film. It isn't one I'd recommend to younger people today but for those of us who lived through it, it's an enjoyable flick.
The situations with her family, especially her dork of a brother, passing notes in class, going to the high school dance, feeling like a fool, being embarrassed by my family, crushing on guys, and generally not fitting in and wishing I was someone else, were all relatable.
The movie was so much fun back in the day but it has not aged well for today's sociological and political climate.
Problematic plot points: shock at the thought of interracial dating, a lot of racially-insensitive jokes at the expense of the Asian character (including the sound of a going whenever he is mentioned or shown), racially-insensitive jokes at the expense of Italians, making light of taking advantage of a drunken female, use of the word retarded, and more things that I can think of right now.
I can ignore all the problematic points and still enjoy the film. It isn't one I'd recommend to younger people today but for those of us who lived through it, it's an enjoyable flick.
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Finding Esme in Books
Jan 25, 2020
I love reading middle grade fiction, so when the chance to read and review Finding Esme by Suzanne Crowley came up, I jumped at the chance! I was really glad I got a chance to read Finding Esme because it was such an amazing book!
Esme is a 12 year old girl growing up in the 1970's. Her home life isn't very traditional. Her dad is out somewhere being a wanderer, and her mom is too busy worrying about her dad to look after Esme. The only person that really looks after Esme is her grandma Bee. When Esme finds dinosaur bones (which she'd like to keep secret) on a hill by her house, things start changing for Esme.
I really loved the plot of Finding Esme. There is a touch of magical realism within this book that written very well. Esme and her grandmother have certain gifts. They can find lost things and/or people usually. There's also sightings of ghosts although not spooky ghostly sightings. Suzanne Crowley does such a fantastic job of making the magical realism element seem like it's an every day happening in real life. She also does a fantastic job with Esme's dealing of loss and just with the whole plot overall. Although Finding Esme does start out a bit slow, as well as a bit confusing with a bunch of different names, it quickly picks up the pacing. Also, it because clear which character is which quickly. The wording may be confusing for some as it's written in semi-heavy Texas twang and slang throughout. However, context clues help. It was easyish for me to understand being as I was born and raised in Texas.
I must gush now on the characters found in Finding Esme! They were all so fleshed out and felt like they were actual people I was reading about instead of just being fictitious characters. Bee, Esme's grandmother, was probably my favorite character because I loved her no-nonsense approach to things. June Rain was always in la la land since her husband was always up and missing. My heart ached for her, but at the same time, I was angry with her for not paying more attention to her children, Esme and Bo. Sweetmaw was another great character, and I loved her for watching out for Esme when Esme felt she had no one. Finch, Esme's best friend, cared for Esme very much, and it was obvious throughout the novel. He only wanted what was best for Esme even if she had a hard time figuring that out. I loved little Bo, Esme's younger brother. I can't remember if Bo's age is ever mentioned in Finding Esme. I guessed Bo to be around 7 or so based on how he acted. Esme was a fantastically written main character. I could relate to her on so many levels especially when it came to not feeling loved or wanted. I'm sure we've all felt like this at some point in our lives. Esme was wanting to keep her dinosaur bones (which she endearingly refers to as Louella Goodbones) secret just so she could have at least one thing that was just hers. I was angered when her secret bones were no longer her secret (not a spoiler). I just wanted to hug Esme to let her know that she wasn't alone. She seemed like such a sweet girl who had already had to put up with more things than most children her age.
One main thing I feel that I must mention is this is Finding Esme is listed as being a middle grade book. I guess this is because the main character is 12 years old. I felt like this wasn't a typical middle grade read as it lacks a middle grade feel. The wording and narrative seemed to be written towards more of an older audience especially with mentions of things that happened in the past that a middle grade audience may not know about or understand. I feel like Finding Esme would probably go over most middle grader's head with the language and events that happened. Even though Esme is only 12, I feel like adults would enjoy this more or at least a young adult audience.
Trigger warnings for Finding Esme include death, depression, gun violence (although not graphic), an absent father, and profanity (although it was just the word damnation used once).
Overall, Finding Esme is a fantastical read which will tug at your heartstrings and leave you breathless. It's a quick read that you won't want to put down. At least, I didn't! I never wanted it to end if I'm being honest. I would definitely recommend Finding Esme by Suzanne Crowley to those aged 15+. Yes, it's supposed to be a middle grade read, but as I mentioned before, I really think adults and possibly teens would enjoy it more.
--
(A special thank you to Suzanne Crowley for sending me a hardback of Finding Esme in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Esme is a 12 year old girl growing up in the 1970's. Her home life isn't very traditional. Her dad is out somewhere being a wanderer, and her mom is too busy worrying about her dad to look after Esme. The only person that really looks after Esme is her grandma Bee. When Esme finds dinosaur bones (which she'd like to keep secret) on a hill by her house, things start changing for Esme.
I really loved the plot of Finding Esme. There is a touch of magical realism within this book that written very well. Esme and her grandmother have certain gifts. They can find lost things and/or people usually. There's also sightings of ghosts although not spooky ghostly sightings. Suzanne Crowley does such a fantastic job of making the magical realism element seem like it's an every day happening in real life. She also does a fantastic job with Esme's dealing of loss and just with the whole plot overall. Although Finding Esme does start out a bit slow, as well as a bit confusing with a bunch of different names, it quickly picks up the pacing. Also, it because clear which character is which quickly. The wording may be confusing for some as it's written in semi-heavy Texas twang and slang throughout. However, context clues help. It was easyish for me to understand being as I was born and raised in Texas.
I must gush now on the characters found in Finding Esme! They were all so fleshed out and felt like they were actual people I was reading about instead of just being fictitious characters. Bee, Esme's grandmother, was probably my favorite character because I loved her no-nonsense approach to things. June Rain was always in la la land since her husband was always up and missing. My heart ached for her, but at the same time, I was angry with her for not paying more attention to her children, Esme and Bo. Sweetmaw was another great character, and I loved her for watching out for Esme when Esme felt she had no one. Finch, Esme's best friend, cared for Esme very much, and it was obvious throughout the novel. He only wanted what was best for Esme even if she had a hard time figuring that out. I loved little Bo, Esme's younger brother. I can't remember if Bo's age is ever mentioned in Finding Esme. I guessed Bo to be around 7 or so based on how he acted. Esme was a fantastically written main character. I could relate to her on so many levels especially when it came to not feeling loved or wanted. I'm sure we've all felt like this at some point in our lives. Esme was wanting to keep her dinosaur bones (which she endearingly refers to as Louella Goodbones) secret just so she could have at least one thing that was just hers. I was angered when her secret bones were no longer her secret (not a spoiler). I just wanted to hug Esme to let her know that she wasn't alone. She seemed like such a sweet girl who had already had to put up with more things than most children her age.
One main thing I feel that I must mention is this is Finding Esme is listed as being a middle grade book. I guess this is because the main character is 12 years old. I felt like this wasn't a typical middle grade read as it lacks a middle grade feel. The wording and narrative seemed to be written towards more of an older audience especially with mentions of things that happened in the past that a middle grade audience may not know about or understand. I feel like Finding Esme would probably go over most middle grader's head with the language and events that happened. Even though Esme is only 12, I feel like adults would enjoy this more or at least a young adult audience.
Trigger warnings for Finding Esme include death, depression, gun violence (although not graphic), an absent father, and profanity (although it was just the word damnation used once).
Overall, Finding Esme is a fantastical read which will tug at your heartstrings and leave you breathless. It's a quick read that you won't want to put down. At least, I didn't! I never wanted it to end if I'm being honest. I would definitely recommend Finding Esme by Suzanne Crowley to those aged 15+. Yes, it's supposed to be a middle grade read, but as I mentioned before, I really think adults and possibly teens would enjoy it more.
--
(A special thank you to Suzanne Crowley for sending me a hardback of Finding Esme in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
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خطوات تحويل جهازك الآي فون إلي عداد خطى بسيط. لا أجهزة...
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Timothy Mean and the Time Machine in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Contains spoilers, click to show
Timothy Mean and the Time Machine by William A. E. Ford was a wonderful little children's book. Marcelo Simonetti also created some amazing artwork for the book. The rhymes on just about every line would hold a child's attention and the interesting locations would inspire their imagination. The book is very short, with only about ten pages with text on them. This makes it great to prevent young readers from being intimidated by the size of the book. The book also goes through the days of the week, helping to teach children the names of the days in a fun way.
Being bored one day, a young boy by the name of Timothy Mean decides to build a time machine. He visits Vikings and Pirates on their ships, causing them trouble. He visits his parents while they are children and in school themselves. At one point he even pulls the pants down on am astronaut. No trip in time would be complete without a trip into the future so that is exactly what he does. Timothy also likes playing pranks and being a trouble-maker at each location he visits.
The locations visited and Timothy's pranks open up chances for discussion with parents and slightly older children. Parents could ask their children all kinds of things about the book. They could ask about if their child would want to walk on the moon, or what they think the future will be like. Parents could ask about what their child would do if they were a pirate or maybe what they think life was like in mid-evil times. Almost any children's book that encourages children to think and use their imagination is a good one.
I loved the book. What I liked most were the fun rhymes and locations. If I absolutely had to pick something I did not like it would have to be the few lines that did not rhyme as they almost upset the flow of the passage. Though in all honesty, it is not a big issue and for a children's book writers are somewhat limited on their options to ensure a child would understand.
Target readers for this book are anyone. As a mother, I would feel comfortable reading this book to my children no matter how young. I also feel like this would be a good book for a beginning reader, maybe a page a dag. For even more fun and value, parents could have their new readers read the page that goes with the current weekday. Slightly older children and more experienced readers could sit down and read the entire book on their own.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 and plan on getting a physical copy for my own children (I reviewed a digital copy of the book). The book was wonderful and I hope it gains enough popularly that William A. E. Ford creates an entire line of rhyming Timothy Mean books
https://facebook.com/nightreaderreviews
Being bored one day, a young boy by the name of Timothy Mean decides to build a time machine. He visits Vikings and Pirates on their ships, causing them trouble. He visits his parents while they are children and in school themselves. At one point he even pulls the pants down on am astronaut. No trip in time would be complete without a trip into the future so that is exactly what he does. Timothy also likes playing pranks and being a trouble-maker at each location he visits.
The locations visited and Timothy's pranks open up chances for discussion with parents and slightly older children. Parents could ask their children all kinds of things about the book. They could ask about if their child would want to walk on the moon, or what they think the future will be like. Parents could ask about what their child would do if they were a pirate or maybe what they think life was like in mid-evil times. Almost any children's book that encourages children to think and use their imagination is a good one.
I loved the book. What I liked most were the fun rhymes and locations. If I absolutely had to pick something I did not like it would have to be the few lines that did not rhyme as they almost upset the flow of the passage. Though in all honesty, it is not a big issue and for a children's book writers are somewhat limited on their options to ensure a child would understand.
Target readers for this book are anyone. As a mother, I would feel comfortable reading this book to my children no matter how young. I also feel like this would be a good book for a beginning reader, maybe a page a dag. For even more fun and value, parents could have their new readers read the page that goes with the current weekday. Slightly older children and more experienced readers could sit down and read the entire book on their own.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 and plan on getting a physical copy for my own children (I reviewed a digital copy of the book). The book was wonderful and I hope it gains enough popularly that William A. E. Ford creates an entire line of rhyming Timothy Mean books
https://facebook.com/nightreaderreviews
Darren (1599 KP) rated Iceman (2014) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Story: Iceman starts when Ho Ying (Yen) gets awoken from a frozen sleep of 400-years in the modern time, he must look to adapt fast to a world different from his own. Ying isn’t the only one to make it to the modern time, his brothers Sao (Wang) and Niehu (Yu) arrive as they look to hunt him down after all these years after he is meant to of betrayed his emperor.
Ying must use the people willing to help him in May (Huang) to locate the Golden Wheel of Time, to prove that he is innocent to stop his brother’s from hunting him down.
Thoughts on Iceman
Characters – Ying was once one of the emperor’s most trusted imperial guards, he is betrayed and framed for treason before getting frozen in time. He gets defrosted in the modern time, where he must go in search for the Golden Wheel of Time to prove his true innocence and protect the world from his own brothers. Sao and San Ko are the two brothers that have also, they are causing more havoc in their hunt for Ying which has drawn more police presence. May is the young lady that takes Ying in, teaches him about the modern day unaware of the true danger that could come their direction. Cheung is running a military chase for Ying, he has learnt the power of the Golden Wheel of Time and believes that he can use it for his own good.
Performances – Donnie Yen is the main attraction to this film, we know he can handle the action which is does with ease, it is when it needs to work on the comedy side of things when his performance goes downhill. Baoqiang Wang and Kang Yu are both entertaining enough in their roles, while Simon Yam brings much needed seriousness to the film. Shengyi Huang is the strongest part of the comedy in the film.
Story – The story follows three brothers and former imperial guards in ancient China, find themselves waking up in the modern time, still at battle for the action that happened in the ancient times. This story is an ambitious idea and it does work for the idea of having the fish out of water situation created for the imperial guards. We do go through the idea of needing to figure out how survive in the new surrounding, which does work too and seeing the twists along the way with the flashbacks does fill in moments of blanks in the storyline. Parts of the storyline can come off confusing though because we do seem to have a lot going on and it does feel like if you blink you might miss something.
Action/Comedy – The action in this film is easily the highlight of it, we get to see Donnie Yen doing his fighting sequences which are always entertaining to watch. The comedy however falls flat resorting to fart jokes, May is the only one that gets proper laughs.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the ancient men must adapt to the modern world with the different type of locations they visit.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good in places, but weak if others, when it comes to the roaring faces they particular look weak.
Scene of the Movie – Bridge fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Fart Jokes.
Final Thoughts – This is an easy watch action sci-fi film, if you want martial arts entertainment this will give you what you need.
Overall: Enjoyable action film.
Ying must use the people willing to help him in May (Huang) to locate the Golden Wheel of Time, to prove that he is innocent to stop his brother’s from hunting him down.
Thoughts on Iceman
Characters – Ying was once one of the emperor’s most trusted imperial guards, he is betrayed and framed for treason before getting frozen in time. He gets defrosted in the modern time, where he must go in search for the Golden Wheel of Time to prove his true innocence and protect the world from his own brothers. Sao and San Ko are the two brothers that have also, they are causing more havoc in their hunt for Ying which has drawn more police presence. May is the young lady that takes Ying in, teaches him about the modern day unaware of the true danger that could come their direction. Cheung is running a military chase for Ying, he has learnt the power of the Golden Wheel of Time and believes that he can use it for his own good.
Performances – Donnie Yen is the main attraction to this film, we know he can handle the action which is does with ease, it is when it needs to work on the comedy side of things when his performance goes downhill. Baoqiang Wang and Kang Yu are both entertaining enough in their roles, while Simon Yam brings much needed seriousness to the film. Shengyi Huang is the strongest part of the comedy in the film.
Story – The story follows three brothers and former imperial guards in ancient China, find themselves waking up in the modern time, still at battle for the action that happened in the ancient times. This story is an ambitious idea and it does work for the idea of having the fish out of water situation created for the imperial guards. We do go through the idea of needing to figure out how survive in the new surrounding, which does work too and seeing the twists along the way with the flashbacks does fill in moments of blanks in the storyline. Parts of the storyline can come off confusing though because we do seem to have a lot going on and it does feel like if you blink you might miss something.
Action/Comedy – The action in this film is easily the highlight of it, we get to see Donnie Yen doing his fighting sequences which are always entertaining to watch. The comedy however falls flat resorting to fart jokes, May is the only one that gets proper laughs.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the ancient men must adapt to the modern world with the different type of locations they visit.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are good in places, but weak if others, when it comes to the roaring faces they particular look weak.
Scene of the Movie – Bridge fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Fart Jokes.
Final Thoughts – This is an easy watch action sci-fi film, if you want martial arts entertainment this will give you what you need.
Overall: Enjoyable action film.
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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Corridor (The Corridor Duology, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
It seems, that <b>books relating to parallel universes are like mermaid books and contemporary books</b>: I either get along with them, or I don't get along with them.
It's no brainer that <b>a book involving parallel universes as <i><a title="A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-a-thousand-pieces-of-you-by-claudia-gray/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Thousand Pieces of You</a></i> and <i>The Corridor</i> have would be extremely scientific in its explanation</b>. An information dump is (or maybe just a dumbing down of information) bound to happen if the authors want me to make sense of their parallel universes.
But somehow, <b>I enjoyed a story concocted by A.N. Willis far more than a story concocted by Claudia Gray</b> (parallel universes related I DO like Claudia Gray's other works), even if my first thoughts reading the first chapter was, "Oh, no. Parallel universes. Please don't disappoint me, A.N. Willis."
I find that I'm actually not disappointed I really enjoyed the first book in the <i>Corridor</i> series, and <b>I was pretty engrossed with Willis' writing. I wanted to know more than what the author actually wrote</b> Estele's power, Dr. Taber's betrayal years ago. <b>I even found myself interested in the science of the universes that the scientists were seeing and the different "Earths" Estele visits using her power.</b> And I am not generally a science person, regardless of the fact I think Chemistry is easy and passed it with a fabulous A-.
(Maybe I'm a chemistry kid rather than a physical science or biology kid. I guess I can't run away from math after all. What if I'm an accountant one day?!?!?! I won't complain, of course, since it's baby math...)
<b>There were moments that I found myself confused on which Earth the characters were talking about each world has different names for each of the other Earth</b>. The original Earth simply went with First Earth, Second Earth, and possibly so and so forth if they found any more. Estele went with calling First Earth and Second Earth whatever the scientists called them, and came up with names that were significant to that Earth when she first visits. Another version of Earth was further advanced and found more twelve Earths in total, and went with the zodiac in naming each of them. I found that <b>while the more advanced Earth was far more complicated, Estele's version seemed to make things a lot more clearer in matching up the Earths.</b>
Possibly <b>the biggest difference between <i>A Thousand Pieces of You</i> and <i>The Corridor</i> was how Marguerite actually uses a device while Estele somehow has a power to travel across worlds.</b> I personally found that really cool and interesting, and as mentioned earlier, I wanted to know more about that power as much as Estele did.
By the time I actually got to the end of the book, I was pretty disappointed... in a good way. I suppose Willis did disappoint me after all. <b>I honestly have no clue where the author is going with the series</b>, but I'm hoping the sequel will be just as good as the first one is.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-the-corridor-by-an-willis/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
It seems, that <b>books relating to parallel universes are like mermaid books and contemporary books</b>: I either get along with them, or I don't get along with them.
It's no brainer that <b>a book involving parallel universes as <i><a title="A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-a-thousand-pieces-of-you-by-claudia-gray/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Thousand Pieces of You</a></i> and <i>The Corridor</i> have would be extremely scientific in its explanation</b>. An information dump is (or maybe just a dumbing down of information) bound to happen if the authors want me to make sense of their parallel universes.
But somehow, <b>I enjoyed a story concocted by A.N. Willis far more than a story concocted by Claudia Gray</b> (parallel universes related I DO like Claudia Gray's other works), even if my first thoughts reading the first chapter was, "Oh, no. Parallel universes. Please don't disappoint me, A.N. Willis."
I find that I'm actually not disappointed I really enjoyed the first book in the <i>Corridor</i> series, and <b>I was pretty engrossed with Willis' writing. I wanted to know more than what the author actually wrote</b> Estele's power, Dr. Taber's betrayal years ago. <b>I even found myself interested in the science of the universes that the scientists were seeing and the different "Earths" Estele visits using her power.</b> And I am not generally a science person, regardless of the fact I think Chemistry is easy and passed it with a fabulous A-.
(Maybe I'm a chemistry kid rather than a physical science or biology kid. I guess I can't run away from math after all. What if I'm an accountant one day?!?!?! I won't complain, of course, since it's baby math...)
<b>There were moments that I found myself confused on which Earth the characters were talking about each world has different names for each of the other Earth</b>. The original Earth simply went with First Earth, Second Earth, and possibly so and so forth if they found any more. Estele went with calling First Earth and Second Earth whatever the scientists called them, and came up with names that were significant to that Earth when she first visits. Another version of Earth was further advanced and found more twelve Earths in total, and went with the zodiac in naming each of them. I found that <b>while the more advanced Earth was far more complicated, Estele's version seemed to make things a lot more clearer in matching up the Earths.</b>
Possibly <b>the biggest difference between <i>A Thousand Pieces of You</i> and <i>The Corridor</i> was how Marguerite actually uses a device while Estele somehow has a power to travel across worlds.</b> I personally found that really cool and interesting, and as mentioned earlier, I wanted to know more about that power as much as Estele did.
By the time I actually got to the end of the book, I was pretty disappointed... in a good way. I suppose Willis did disappoint me after all. <b>I honestly have no clue where the author is going with the series</b>, but I'm hoping the sequel will be just as good as the first one is.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-the-corridor-by-an-willis/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>