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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Red Queen in Books

Jan 23, 2020

Red Queen

Victoria Aveyard | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)

8.0

(64 Ratings)

Book Rating

In quick and rapid-fire succession about Victoria Aveyard's <i>Red Queen</i>...

~ Amanda Dolan is a phenomenal narrator. She makes the pages come alive in the ears if you know what I mean. Regal accent for the queen, awesome rambling skills that show Mare is nervous, fabulously "bitchy" voice for Evangeline, etc. Dolan might even top <a title="Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-ruin-and-rising-by-leigh-bardugo/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fontgang.</a> (Don't worry. I still like your skills.)

~ Someone tell me the song title and composer of the music at the beginning and the end of the audiobook because I love it. It has this ominous feeling that I like. Oh, and I admit I'm a music geek.

~ There are some things I question. 1) Why would you use a shield that contains Mare's powers if you're trying to kill her? I mean, you KNOW her power. 2) I don't think I caught how Silver blood became silver. Is it something as simple as, I don't know, putting a bit of silver in Botox before injecting it? *strokes imaginary beard thoughtfully*

~ The end. Any book that actually has an unpredictable ending is instantly music in my ears (not that I'm being biased, but let's just say you get more merit) – when you read so many books, things tend to repeat. But that's a discussion for another day.

~ You're like <i>The Winner's</i> trilogy. I don't need to say anything more, because <a title="The Winner's Crime" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-winners-crime-by-marie-rutkoski/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">this letter explains it all</a>. If I write this one as a letter, I'll plagiarize my own self.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/chibi-views-dare-to-dream-by-carys-jones-and-red-queen-by-victoria-aveyard/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Zoolander 2 (2016) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Zoolander 2 (2016)

2016 | Comedy

5.3

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Zoolander 2” picks up just a couple days after the first film left off. Staying true to the story line, Zoolander and Hansel are as vapid as ever and have retreated to lives in exile after the school for children who couldn’t read good (or whatever) collapsed due to shoddy construction. With their dreams dashed, both models are licking their wounds when they are summoned back into the world of fashion by a disgustingly beautiful fashionista with the Botox of the gods, Alexanya Ato (Kristen Wiig). With a face that can hardly move Ato is unsettlingly inviting.

For Zoolander and Hansel, the world they once knew has been taken over by today’s most annoying pop stars and what is now known as – “mainstream hipster society.”

Reminiscent of the “Austin Powers” series, Penelope Cruz leads a high speed action-spy adventure (cheesy as it may sound, it’s pretty great) as Melanie Valentina, working for Interpol “fashion division.” Cruz sets out to discover who has been killing Hollywood’s famous faces following Bieber’s tragic, and very graphic, death.

Inadvertently, due to Zoolander’s irresistible good looks, Cruz embarks on a mission to help him reunite with his estranged son and defeat Mugatu (Will Ferrell). The film is exactly what you would expect following the first “Zoolander.” It’s short, funny, ridiculous, and yet the sequel is surprisingly relevant.

The incorporation of an androgynous character named All played by Benedict Cumberbatch steps dangerously close to the edge of what is acceptable amongst the film’s own likely audience of hipster pc’rs.

Surprise appearances are actually part of what makes this sequel pretty great, yet they don’t take over and the ridiculous storyline somehow remains a coherent.

The best appearance of all, and most out of place, is that of Neil deGrasse Tyson himself. Of course, as a beautiful person, Zoolander’s journey is one of epic spiritual proportions in his own mind, so somehow a physicist fits in quite nicely.

Delivering exactly what it advertises, I give “Zoolander 2” 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

I really wanted this movie to be epic. I wanted it to be the follow up that so many waited so long to see.

However, it fell just short of that goal in my book.

Anchorman 2 picks up in 1980 where Ron Burgandy (Will Ferrell) and Veronica Corningstone (Christina

Applegate) are married, have a 6-year old son, and are co-anchors for a local news station in New York.

Not long into the movie, something comes between the two, and we see Burgandy hit a new low as an

announcer at Sea World. But he is approached with an opportunity to work at the first 24-hour news

channel, and a chance to get his old team back together. Along with Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Champ

Kind (David Koechner) and Brick Tamland (Steve Carrell), Ron Burgandy takes the world by storm with

a new format, and vastly different “news” stories than what some traditionalists would call news.

As I said, there was so much potential for this movie that it just seemed to miss. It felt like they tried

to force too much of Brick’s “natural charm” that made him so popular in the first, even with the love

interest they brought in for him this go around. You top that off with recycled jokes, not just from

the first movie (which I would have been okay with), but from other movies as well. I immediately

recognized 2 from the Austin Powers franchise alone.

It’s not to say that the movie didn’t have its moments. There were quite a few times where I was caught

off guard by something I was not expecting, or where the joke fell naturally into place. But the rest of

the movie seemed forced. And one cameo in reference to MTV had me downright upset. But hey, not

everyone shares my view.

So my test? Would I pay to see this movie in theaters? No. Wait for it to come to disc/digital

download. I have a feeling it won’t be long before it gets there.