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graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Slightly Married (Bedwyn Saga, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
I don't have too much to say about this first (actual) entry into the Bedwyn/Slightly series. The pacing was good, the hero and heroine were nice and likable characters, and their romance was sweet and charming. The only thing I had a problem with were the loves scenes, they just felt 'off' and didn't quite fit into or with the flow of the storyline. Especially the second one, which struck me as odd. Otherwise it was a nice and easy story to read.
I don't dislike Freyja as much in this book, but for setting a series on a whole family of six, why did Ms. Balogh write them so unlikable? Or at least, they don't make me want to read the next book immediately, as I feel it should be. I am interested in Wulfric's intended and how she is able to break through to him. <i>That</i> ought to be something! :P
Now that I've read three in a row in the series (this and the two 'prequels'), I think I'll take a break. I've heard that there is a bit of repetition and it's better to break them up. :)
I don't dislike Freyja as much in this book, but for setting a series on a whole family of six, why did Ms. Balogh write them so unlikable? Or at least, they don't make me want to read the next book immediately, as I feel it should be. I am interested in Wulfric's intended and how she is able to break through to him. <i>That</i> ought to be something! :P
Now that I've read three in a row in the series (this and the two 'prequels'), I think I'll take a break. I've heard that there is a bit of repetition and it's better to break them up. :)
Ross (3284 KP) rated Dumbo (2019) in Movies
Apr 1, 2019
Once again, a remake that didn't need to be made
Another "live action version" of a Disney classic; another waste of effort. I can't see anyone watching this and thinking it was in any way an improvement over the original. Timothy Mouse is replaced by children, they try to explain why Dumbo needs a feather, the pink elephant scene is a nice attempt at homage but implausible.
I had no idea until the credits rolled that Tim Burton had directed - his touch is completely absent. I suppose in hindsight Micheal Keaton's hairpiece was pure Burton but otherwise any director could have been involved.
There is an odd feel about the scenes in the theme park, as if a Disney film is itself suggesting theme parks are money-grabbing, exploitative tat-mongers.
While there were some nice nods to the original film (DeVito singing Casey Jr's theme, Timothy Mouse's cameo and "baby of mine", the whole plot adaptation just failed.
It may have been a half-decent film in its own right, but as a remake of a classic it has to do it justice and it just plain did not.
I had no idea until the credits rolled that Tim Burton had directed - his touch is completely absent. I suppose in hindsight Micheal Keaton's hairpiece was pure Burton but otherwise any director could have been involved.
There is an odd feel about the scenes in the theme park, as if a Disney film is itself suggesting theme parks are money-grabbing, exploitative tat-mongers.
While there were some nice nods to the original film (DeVito singing Casey Jr's theme, Timothy Mouse's cameo and "baby of mine", the whole plot adaptation just failed.
It may have been a half-decent film in its own right, but as a remake of a classic it has to do it justice and it just plain did not.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2615 KP) rated Bitter Harvest (A Greenhouse Mystery #2) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
This October is proving to be a busy one for Megan Sawyer. Not only is it harvest season on her farm, but the town of Winsome is putting on an Oktoberfest celebration, and her restaurant is one of the major sponsors. Things take a deadly turn when one of the local pub owners is killed in a freak accident. Only Megan doesn’t think it was an accident. When the police are quick to rule out the possibility of murder, it’s up to Megan to figure out what is really happening.
I loved the first book in the series and was anxious to return to Winsome and the characters. This book didn’t disappoint in the least. The characters continue to be strong, and the growth between books as well as the growth here was nice to see. The new characters were just as strong. Megan’s personal life provided a nice sub-plot while leaving plenty of time for the murder investigation, which included some great twists and turns.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/03/book-review-bitter-harvest-by-wendy.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
I loved the first book in the series and was anxious to return to Winsome and the characters. This book didn’t disappoint in the least. The characters continue to be strong, and the growth between books as well as the growth here was nice to see. The new characters were just as strong. Megan’s personal life provided a nice sub-plot while leaving plenty of time for the murder investigation, which included some great twists and turns.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/03/book-review-bitter-harvest-by-wendy.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
LynetteMcC (0 KP) rated Trickery (Curse of the Gods, #1) in Books
Nov 17, 2018
Character development (2 more)
Good female protagonist
World development
What a refreshing take on the reverse harem genre
Well this was a nice surprise. I’ve only recently started enjoying reading reverse harem novels and find they can be a bit on the cringe side of things. Either there’s too much mushy sentiments or it’s straight into the sex talk right off the bat. While there is some of this here, there’s actually some nice development of both Willa, the gods, sols and worlds.
The abcurses are well fleshed out as individuals even without having full knowledge about them straight away. You don’t grind your teeth or blush everytime they appear on the page, which is a plus.
I’d say if you liked hearing about the Greek gods when you were younger (or now even) and enjoy a kind of hunger games type world then this could be the book for you.
It’s a book I felt comfortable reading in public and I’d say to an extant older teens would be fine reading this as it’s not overtly sexual, at least in this first book ?
The abcurses are well fleshed out as individuals even without having full knowledge about them straight away. You don’t grind your teeth or blush everytime they appear on the page, which is a plus.
I’d say if you liked hearing about the Greek gods when you were younger (or now even) and enjoy a kind of hunger games type world then this could be the book for you.
It’s a book I felt comfortable reading in public and I’d say to an extant older teens would be fine reading this as it’s not overtly sexual, at least in this first book ?
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Castlevania - Season 1 in TV
Mar 20, 2020
The first season of Castlevania could be more accurately described as a 'teaser-season'. It's four episodes acts as a set up for what is to come, introducing us to the key players in the war between man and vampire.
The episodes run for around 25 minutes, meaning that the season has a limited time to establish what it needs to, and it does this pretty effectively. A decent script ensures that the three main protagonists Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage), Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) and Alucard (James Callis) are all immediately likable, and even gives an incredibly sympathetic villain in Dracula. There's also a nice sense of humour running underneath all of the dramatics.
The animation style shows signs of budget restriction on occasion, but for the most part is easy to take in. A lot of close ups on characters show off some nice detail, long shots of locations look great, as do the combat scenes. To darker colour choices work well with the gothic setting, and the frequent strong violence.
Above all, this short but sweet season leaves the viewer wanting more, which was surely the aim in the first place!
The episodes run for around 25 minutes, meaning that the season has a limited time to establish what it needs to, and it does this pretty effectively. A decent script ensures that the three main protagonists Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage), Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) and Alucard (James Callis) are all immediately likable, and even gives an incredibly sympathetic villain in Dracula. There's also a nice sense of humour running underneath all of the dramatics.
The animation style shows signs of budget restriction on occasion, but for the most part is easy to take in. A lot of close ups on characters show off some nice detail, long shots of locations look great, as do the combat scenes. To darker colour choices work well with the gothic setting, and the frequent strong violence.
Above all, this short but sweet season leaves the viewer wanting more, which was surely the aim in the first place!
Darren Fisher (2474 KP) rated Profoundly Disturbing: Shocking Movies That Changed History! in Books
Dec 21, 2020
Profoundly Interesting
Joe Bob Brigg certainly knows his stuff. He delivers an intelligent and fascinating view on the films covered here. Especially interesting was the chapter concerning Kroger Babb, a name I wasn't familiar with until now. Joe covers the films Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919), Mom And Dad (1947), Creature Front The Black Lagoon (1954), And God Created Woman (1956), Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Blood Feast (1963), The Wild Bunch (1969), Shaft (1971), Deep Throat (1972), The Exorcist (1973), Isla, She-Wolf of the SS (1974), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Drunken Master (1978), Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Crash (1996). Although it is a very good read my only gripes are that the essays on some films are way too short and the summary pages after each chapter "For Further Disturbance" are basically an edited rehash of the previous pages. Also no matter how I try to look at it, Shaft (as good a film as it is) really doesn't fall under the 'profoundly disturbing' category. Nevertheless it's a good read and has some nice double page poster art for each film. A nice book to have but nonetheless not that essential
Fred (860 KP) rated X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) in Movies
Sep 2, 2019
A nice change from the over-rated Marvel powerhouse
So when this came out, reviews were either positive or negative across the board. You can put me in the positive column. It's not great, but it's good. It's just so nice of a change from the Marvel "got to see them all, even though they're not as good as we say" universe. It's so good to see a comic book movie that's under 2 hours, that moves along at a good pace & is not in the least boring. Let's get the negatives out of the way. Sophie Tucker is a terrible actress. She's terrible as Jean Grey. And although I did find the movie to move along at a good pace, I found the story lacking. They did cram one of comic's greatest stories into a short (for a superhero) film. Aside from Tucker, the acting was very good in the film. And let's just say, the X-Men, along with Magneto's gang, kick some serious ass in one of the best scenes I've seen in a hero flick. Like I said, the film is good, not great. Is it enjoyable? Definitely. Would I watch it again, yes.
Becs (244 KP) rated I Do Not Trust You in Books
Oct 2, 2019
I Do Not Trust You caught my attention right away. I was drawn in by the whole history and archaeology aspect. Which is weird cause history is usually boring to me. I did find some parts to be a bore, but a majority of the novel made up for it.
It would have been nice to have a chart with the correct pronunciation of all the different character/ city names, as I stumbled over them a lot and that causes the reading to become slow and honestly a bit of a bore. The nice thing to see within the story was all of the character and story background/ development.
Throughout the novel, I did find a few grammatical/ sentence structure errors. But overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and the sassiness between Ash and M.
Reasons why I rated it 4 stars:
1. The story was captivating.
2. There were a few sentence structure/ grammatical errors.
3. There was a ton of background on not only the story but also the characters.
4. There’s magic!
5. Sassiness between MC’s was top notch.
6. It was fast-paced.
“He who hesitates is lost.”
It would have been nice to have a chart with the correct pronunciation of all the different character/ city names, as I stumbled over them a lot and that causes the reading to become slow and honestly a bit of a bore. The nice thing to see within the story was all of the character and story background/ development.
Throughout the novel, I did find a few grammatical/ sentence structure errors. But overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and the sassiness between Ash and M.
Reasons why I rated it 4 stars:
1. The story was captivating.
2. There were a few sentence structure/ grammatical errors.
3. There was a ton of background on not only the story but also the characters.
4. There’s magic!
5. Sassiness between MC’s was top notch.
6. It was fast-paced.
“He who hesitates is lost.”
Beard In Mind
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All is fair in love and auto maintenance. Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in...