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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Rango (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Y’all want to know what Rango is about? Have a seat by the camp fire and I’ll tell ya. The chameleon that would one day be known as Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) begins the movie as a pet, traveling across the desert with a human family in their SUV. However, fate or perhaps the Spirit of the West (voiced by Timothy Olyphant) has other plans for him. Soon he is separated from his human family and he meets a wise armadillo named Roadkill (voiced by Alfred Molina) who tells him about the Spirit of the West, fate and, more importantly to him, where to find water.
Fans of Johnny Depp will recognize an amazing reference, tribute if you will, to the 1998 movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that starred the actor. On his way to the nearest town where he can get some water, he meets one of the locals, a young lady lizard named Beans (voiced by Isla Fisher) who offers him a ride to the edge of town, a town aptly named Dirt. As he tries to fit in with the locals he realizes that he can reinvent himself here, so he gives himself the name Rango but thanks to a lie that he told to the guys in the saloon he soon finds himself in a showdown with one of the meanest gangs in town. Through a very funny turn of events he not only survives but becomes the town hero. In honor of his victory the Mayor (voiced by Ned Beatty) offers him the job of sheriff which Rango gladly accepts.
Soon after, the limited water supply in town disappears and it is up to Rango (along with some quirky townfolk) to solve the mystery and save Dirt. Along his journey, Rango eventually comes to a point where he must decide what kind of lizard he wants to be, a hero of the people or a person who just plays one. Will he make the right choices? Will he find the water? Will he save the town? See the movie to find out the answers to these questions and more.
I have seen many family movies that were very entertaining for the kids but extremely boring for the adults. Luckily Rangois not one of those movies. Not only does the movie have a very talented voice cast, it also has entertaining action that enhances the story instead of over-powering or taking away from it. The visuals were so realistic that at times I almost forgot it was an animated film and it has plenty of humor to make the audience laugh, regardless of age.
At the end of the movie as we all were heading towards the exit I overhead a person saying to their friends how the movie actually felt like the old westerns that they had watched growing up and I found myself agreeing. The story unfolded with a natural flow, beautiful scenery and wild west action that kept the audience engaged from start to finish.
Fans of Johnny Depp will recognize an amazing reference, tribute if you will, to the 1998 movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that starred the actor. On his way to the nearest town where he can get some water, he meets one of the locals, a young lady lizard named Beans (voiced by Isla Fisher) who offers him a ride to the edge of town, a town aptly named Dirt. As he tries to fit in with the locals he realizes that he can reinvent himself here, so he gives himself the name Rango but thanks to a lie that he told to the guys in the saloon he soon finds himself in a showdown with one of the meanest gangs in town. Through a very funny turn of events he not only survives but becomes the town hero. In honor of his victory the Mayor (voiced by Ned Beatty) offers him the job of sheriff which Rango gladly accepts.
Soon after, the limited water supply in town disappears and it is up to Rango (along with some quirky townfolk) to solve the mystery and save Dirt. Along his journey, Rango eventually comes to a point where he must decide what kind of lizard he wants to be, a hero of the people or a person who just plays one. Will he make the right choices? Will he find the water? Will he save the town? See the movie to find out the answers to these questions and more.
I have seen many family movies that were very entertaining for the kids but extremely boring for the adults. Luckily Rangois not one of those movies. Not only does the movie have a very talented voice cast, it also has entertaining action that enhances the story instead of over-powering or taking away from it. The visuals were so realistic that at times I almost forgot it was an animated film and it has plenty of humor to make the audience laugh, regardless of age.
At the end of the movie as we all were heading towards the exit I overhead a person saying to their friends how the movie actually felt like the old westerns that they had watched growing up and I found myself agreeing. The story unfolded with a natural flow, beautiful scenery and wild west action that kept the audience engaged from start to finish.
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Domino Strays in Books
Sep 3, 2020 (Updated Sep 3, 2020)
Great comic novel
I received an advance copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit to being a little disappointed when I realised this was an actual novel rather than a graphic novel. It had been filed as a graphic novel on netgalley and I was looking forward to my first reading of a Domino comic. However, once I started this disappointment evaporated. This is a wonderfully told and thrilling, charming book.
The story switches from different times through Domino's life so is very much an origin story. We have when Domino was growing up in a variation of Wolverine's Weapon X programme, as Project Armageddon sought to create the perfect soldier. Domino was one output from that programme, as she developed the mutant ability to have luck on her side. Then we have her time in an orphanage, having escaped the programme. Then her mission to track down the person who might have been responsible for her upbringing and finally her present mission, to rescue two adolescents who have been brainwashed by a cult leader. These different time periods are covered throughout the book, layering up her back story as we follow her on her current mission. This is superbly woven together, and we have almost parallel storylines near the end, her infiltrating Project Armageddon and her sneaking into the cult's base. A few times this got a little muddled in my head, but served to wonderfully draw a parallel between her upbringing and that of the non-mutant, more traditional cult.
Domino is accompanied on her later mission by Black Widow amongst others (the characters' real names are generally used, so it was fun to try and track down which Marvel characters they actually were), but she is very much the leader of her merc crew.
The storyline is good, combining plenty of backstory and exciting missions, with excellently narrated action sequences. I don't tend to like first person books as much as third person, but this angle gave Domino a much more likable personality, having a fair chunk of her friend Deadpool's humour, mixed with Rogue's childhood trauma and Wolverine's anger at experimentation.
As noted in Deadpool 2, having luck on your side isn't a superpower, and it isn't very cinematic. Domino's power is not overly laboured in the book, and it isn't used to make her seen completely invulnerable to injury. She uses it sparingly because luck going her way in a fight (bullets being deflected etc) can have adverse consequences for those around her. It was used when absolutely needed, but she has so many capabilities that she barely did.
This is a really great book that gives so much more backstory to a lesser-known Marvel character than could have been achieved in a graphic novel. A very strong female cast of role models.
The only downside was the overuse of footnotes which didn't tend to add much to the story, other than witty asides, and are quite frustrating on a kindle.
I have to admit to being a little disappointed when I realised this was an actual novel rather than a graphic novel. It had been filed as a graphic novel on netgalley and I was looking forward to my first reading of a Domino comic. However, once I started this disappointment evaporated. This is a wonderfully told and thrilling, charming book.
The story switches from different times through Domino's life so is very much an origin story. We have when Domino was growing up in a variation of Wolverine's Weapon X programme, as Project Armageddon sought to create the perfect soldier. Domino was one output from that programme, as she developed the mutant ability to have luck on her side. Then we have her time in an orphanage, having escaped the programme. Then her mission to track down the person who might have been responsible for her upbringing and finally her present mission, to rescue two adolescents who have been brainwashed by a cult leader. These different time periods are covered throughout the book, layering up her back story as we follow her on her current mission. This is superbly woven together, and we have almost parallel storylines near the end, her infiltrating Project Armageddon and her sneaking into the cult's base. A few times this got a little muddled in my head, but served to wonderfully draw a parallel between her upbringing and that of the non-mutant, more traditional cult.
Domino is accompanied on her later mission by Black Widow amongst others (the characters' real names are generally used, so it was fun to try and track down which Marvel characters they actually were), but she is very much the leader of her merc crew.
The storyline is good, combining plenty of backstory and exciting missions, with excellently narrated action sequences. I don't tend to like first person books as much as third person, but this angle gave Domino a much more likable personality, having a fair chunk of her friend Deadpool's humour, mixed with Rogue's childhood trauma and Wolverine's anger at experimentation.
As noted in Deadpool 2, having luck on your side isn't a superpower, and it isn't very cinematic. Domino's power is not overly laboured in the book, and it isn't used to make her seen completely invulnerable to injury. She uses it sparingly because luck going her way in a fight (bullets being deflected etc) can have adverse consequences for those around her. It was used when absolutely needed, but she has so many capabilities that she barely did.
This is a really great book that gives so much more backstory to a lesser-known Marvel character than could have been achieved in a graphic novel. A very strong female cast of role models.
The only downside was the overuse of footnotes which didn't tend to add much to the story, other than witty asides, and are quite frustrating on a kindle.
KittyMiku (138 KP) rated Resurrection: A Zombie Novel in Books
May 23, 2019
Resurrection: A Zombie Novel by Michael J. Totten is a marvelous book about a post-apocalyptic world in which a virus leaves millions of humans in a crazed state that makes them only wish to eat the flesh of their fellow mankind. With so many twists and turns, you are able to develop ideas on how the characters were before the virus spread, how they have changed, and different things that could easily affect how you would view another human. It was delightful to be able to read about some of the history leading up to the outbreak on each character, while being able to learn what made them tick. The way the characters interact had me laughing from time to time as they are so different and stubborn in their own ways that it makes it hard for them to agree on things. I loved how it brought up a lot of different ideas and thoughts one might have before an outbreak like this happens as well as how it could change the way one might feel or think once they realize they may be the last alive to help set up a new society. Not to mention, how some things we know can go out the window when your life is depending on you being super careful and cautious out the window.
Watching the characters deal with issues with their first major problem, other survivors definitely gave me the impression that in a world with no rules, people no longer try to make friends or even help each other out. I had felt completely anxious and sad that other healthy humans couldn’t be bothered to be kind to our main group of characters. I understand they had their reason, but it did remind me how in real life, without a zombie outbreak, the majority of the human race will only look out for themselves and what they believe belongs to them. It was refreshing to see how even though sometimes you don’t get along with your team, how a common enemy can pull you together, even if the enemy is survivors who could be potential assets to your group. I also found that the idea of us, humans, and thinking we know a ton, to be quite lacking.
Totten had brought a valuable point up in the book, whether he meant to or not. If something should happen, where we needed to live off the earth and a huge portion of our population is dead, or heavily diseased and dangerous to be near, how would be survive? A lot of people take for granted the fact they have heat, running water, electricity, and food, so without out being able to just purchase it and having to resort to growing it and such, our survivors would need to learn a lot of information. I enjoyed the idea of the characters going to look for books on farming, building, and anything else they would need to learn how to do, but it got me thinking about how everything today is slowly becoming that of a digital world. Yes there are still libraries out there with millions of books, but most libraries are in areas that could easily be surrounded by the infected. Even in Resurrection, that could be an issue and yet when Kyle brings up they could just obtain the books to teach them how to do things, the other characters didn’t seem as concerned about the idea, as I was upon reading that. After all, reading how they have to be careful just going to a sporting goods store and all the concerns they have when doing things, makes the idea of going into a library very worrisome.
However, it wasn’t just the knowledge most people don’t have that brought this story to my mind in some serious thought, it was seeing how something as simple as knowing your blood type and how blood transfusion work, seems to leave you in times of panic. We all know that certain blood types just can’t be mixed with others and often this knowledge isn’t needed. Most of us don’t even know our blood types, myself included, because we just don’t always see the need to know such information, or we just simply forget it. So I wasn’t surprised that the characters didn’t know their blood types off the back of their hand, but I found how simple things we have learned since grade school about other people’s blood containing diseases and even allergic reactions if placed in your own body without proper care could just disappear until after doing just that. I can’t say I would have thought of it either, but at the same time I would like to think that it’s something I wouldn’t feel right about. Though, how could any of us be sure we would do something different?
Totten seemed to be able to use the characters to remind us of how important some of the things we take for granted are. I enjoyed seeing how friendships can be broken or made easily, how teamwork is important in the matter of survival, and how people would truly act in a post-apocalyptic world. To see common sense that we have go out the window in some situations and in other situations seem create stealthy humans with common sense and the ability to have sound judgement. Not everyone would have been able to write about such a world, and have characters make mistakes that leave you shaking your head. To be able to see the characters as imperfect humans doing their best to get by in the world, definitely makes this novel a delightful read. I would rate Resurrection: A Zombie Novel 5 stars out of 5 stars. Definitely a must read for the zombie lover. I would say if you love zombie movies and shows, you would find this book right up your alley. With characters you could relate to, and situations that aren’t impossible to imagine, you will fall in love with the writing style and story that Michael Totten gave to us in this short, page turner.
Watching the characters deal with issues with their first major problem, other survivors definitely gave me the impression that in a world with no rules, people no longer try to make friends or even help each other out. I had felt completely anxious and sad that other healthy humans couldn’t be bothered to be kind to our main group of characters. I understand they had their reason, but it did remind me how in real life, without a zombie outbreak, the majority of the human race will only look out for themselves and what they believe belongs to them. It was refreshing to see how even though sometimes you don’t get along with your team, how a common enemy can pull you together, even if the enemy is survivors who could be potential assets to your group. I also found that the idea of us, humans, and thinking we know a ton, to be quite lacking.
Totten had brought a valuable point up in the book, whether he meant to or not. If something should happen, where we needed to live off the earth and a huge portion of our population is dead, or heavily diseased and dangerous to be near, how would be survive? A lot of people take for granted the fact they have heat, running water, electricity, and food, so without out being able to just purchase it and having to resort to growing it and such, our survivors would need to learn a lot of information. I enjoyed the idea of the characters going to look for books on farming, building, and anything else they would need to learn how to do, but it got me thinking about how everything today is slowly becoming that of a digital world. Yes there are still libraries out there with millions of books, but most libraries are in areas that could easily be surrounded by the infected. Even in Resurrection, that could be an issue and yet when Kyle brings up they could just obtain the books to teach them how to do things, the other characters didn’t seem as concerned about the idea, as I was upon reading that. After all, reading how they have to be careful just going to a sporting goods store and all the concerns they have when doing things, makes the idea of going into a library very worrisome.
However, it wasn’t just the knowledge most people don’t have that brought this story to my mind in some serious thought, it was seeing how something as simple as knowing your blood type and how blood transfusion work, seems to leave you in times of panic. We all know that certain blood types just can’t be mixed with others and often this knowledge isn’t needed. Most of us don’t even know our blood types, myself included, because we just don’t always see the need to know such information, or we just simply forget it. So I wasn’t surprised that the characters didn’t know their blood types off the back of their hand, but I found how simple things we have learned since grade school about other people’s blood containing diseases and even allergic reactions if placed in your own body without proper care could just disappear until after doing just that. I can’t say I would have thought of it either, but at the same time I would like to think that it’s something I wouldn’t feel right about. Though, how could any of us be sure we would do something different?
Totten seemed to be able to use the characters to remind us of how important some of the things we take for granted are. I enjoyed seeing how friendships can be broken or made easily, how teamwork is important in the matter of survival, and how people would truly act in a post-apocalyptic world. To see common sense that we have go out the window in some situations and in other situations seem create stealthy humans with common sense and the ability to have sound judgement. Not everyone would have been able to write about such a world, and have characters make mistakes that leave you shaking your head. To be able to see the characters as imperfect humans doing their best to get by in the world, definitely makes this novel a delightful read. I would rate Resurrection: A Zombie Novel 5 stars out of 5 stars. Definitely a must read for the zombie lover. I would say if you love zombie movies and shows, you would find this book right up your alley. With characters you could relate to, and situations that aren’t impossible to imagine, you will fall in love with the writing style and story that Michael Totten gave to us in this short, page turner.
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Marsh King's Daughter in Books
Mar 15, 2018
The Marsh Kings Daughter was huge before and around the time of its release. People were raving about the novel for a long time and they still are, so I was really excited to read it. While I did love it, I think all the hype made me expect something different to what I got, hence a 4 star rating, not a 5.
What I loved about this book was that it didnt hold back on some more contraversial opinions and thoughts that came from Helena. For instance, that she still adored her father even after everything, and that she had trouble caring about her mother at times. I think it was nice Dionne didnt write things that would please all readers. There were definitely some uncomfortable moments for me.
The writing in this book is stuff of dark fairytales. Its so dark and disturbing but you cant stop reading becasue the way in which its written is beautiful and flows perfectly. Dionnes writing takes you away, whether its into the marsh or trekking through the forest, you are planted directly into the scene, you lose your real surroundings.
One thing that I found disappointing about this novel was that most of it is set in the past, not in the present. From the way the synopsis writes the story, I was expecting this to be a lot more about a life and death chase between daughter and father. And OK, while it is technically about a life and death chase, its far more about Helenas life growing up in the marsh, all that she was taught and all that she learnt. While this is essential to the way the plot plays out, I think the book could have been marketed differently so I didnt have such a clear idea on how I expected the story to go.
This novel is a gripping, sometimes shocking, sometimes emotional fast paced action thriller with a lot to offer any reader. If youre not so much a thriller fan, this one could still be a terrifc read for you, as at times this novels feels more literary fiction than anything else.
Will I read Karen Dionnes work again? Oh sure, most definitely. I just wish this book was the one Id imagined in my head.
What I loved about this book was that it didnt hold back on some more contraversial opinions and thoughts that came from Helena. For instance, that she still adored her father even after everything, and that she had trouble caring about her mother at times. I think it was nice Dionne didnt write things that would please all readers. There were definitely some uncomfortable moments for me.
The writing in this book is stuff of dark fairytales. Its so dark and disturbing but you cant stop reading becasue the way in which its written is beautiful and flows perfectly. Dionnes writing takes you away, whether its into the marsh or trekking through the forest, you are planted directly into the scene, you lose your real surroundings.
One thing that I found disappointing about this novel was that most of it is set in the past, not in the present. From the way the synopsis writes the story, I was expecting this to be a lot more about a life and death chase between daughter and father. And OK, while it is technically about a life and death chase, its far more about Helenas life growing up in the marsh, all that she was taught and all that she learnt. While this is essential to the way the plot plays out, I think the book could have been marketed differently so I didnt have such a clear idea on how I expected the story to go.
This novel is a gripping, sometimes shocking, sometimes emotional fast paced action thriller with a lot to offer any reader. If youre not so much a thriller fan, this one could still be a terrifc read for you, as at times this novels feels more literary fiction than anything else.
Will I read Karen Dionnes work again? Oh sure, most definitely. I just wish this book was the one Id imagined in my head.