The Companion
8.0
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They say she’s a murderess. She claims she’s innocent. But Lucy has been known to tell lies… ...
Historical fiction Unreliable narrator New Hampshire 1855
Knife (Harry Hole #12) (Oslo Sequence #10)
6.5
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Brilliant, audaciously rogue police officer, Harry Hole from The Snowman and The Thirst, is back and...
With Malice
9.5
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It was the perfect trip…until it wasn’t. Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a...
A Little Hatred
8.0
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War. Politics. Revolution. The Age of Madness has arrived . . . The chimneys of industry rise...
The Hemlock Cure
8.0
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It is 1665 and the women of Eyam keep many secrets. Isabel Frith, the village midwife, walks a...
Historical fiction The Black Death Bubonic Plague 1665-1666 Eyam
Learwife
9.0
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‘I am the queen of two crowns, banished fifteen years, the famed and gilded woman, bad-luck...
Historical Fiction Retellings Shakespeare Literary Fiction
David McK (3496 KP) rated The Fires of Vengeance in Books
Jun 5, 2022
And I don't mean that pejoratively - I like me a bit of fantasy every now and then!
Anyway, this follows on almost directly from the ending of the previous novel, with Tau Solarin now having risen to the rank of Queen's Campion, still out for revenge against the Royal noble who killed his father, and now wit the added, umm ... shall we say complications? ... that arise from his feelings towards the Omehian Queen Tsiora who is facing a civil war over her actions (including elevating a Common like Tau to be her champion).
For some reason, however, I didn't connect with this one so much as with the previous - I'm not sure whether that was because this seemingly focused more on the grand sweep of the ongoing war than on the personal stakes involved?
Anyway, it also ends with a definite cliff-hanger setup for book #3 - I'll probably continue reading the series when that comes out.
Stone Blind
10.0
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'So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call...
Greek Mythology Historical fiction Retellings Feminism
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Young Frankenstein (1974) in Movies
Apr 20, 2020
Such is the case with Mel Brooks' Universal Horror film spoof/satire YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN from 1974. It is a work of comedic genius and features some of the most memorable characters in motion picture comedy history.
Co-Writen by Brooks and Gene Wilder, Directed by Brooks and starring Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman and the great Madeline Kahn, this film sends up the black and white Universal Horror films of the 1930's not by making fun of them, but by lovingly recreating them and then exaggerating the scenes/circumstances.
Wilder is at his manic best as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein - the grandson of the original Frankenstein - who is brought to Transylvania and soon takes up his grandfather's work. He works through a controlled rage throughout the film until such times where the rage (and his hair) comes bursting forth in maniacal energy that is a comic tour-de-force.
He is surrounded by an outstanding collection of misfits, most notably Marty Feldman's servant/assistant Igor who is game for just about anything. Under-rated is the comedic performance of Teri Garr as Frankenstein's lab assistant Inga who not only has good looks ("what knockers") but can hold her own with Wilder and Feldman in a scene. Peter Boyle is earnest and scary and vulnerable (all at the same time) in his portrayal of "the Monster" who just wants to be understood - the "Puttin' on the Ritz" scene shows some fine comedic chops in an actor that up to this point had not really done comedy (his Emmy nominated work in EVERYONE LOVES RAYMOND is years in the future).
But it is the work of 2 female comediennes that drives this film to another level. Madeline Kahn as Frederick's fiance, Elizabeth, commands (and steals) every scene she is in while the inscrutable Cloris Leachman is deadpan perfection as castle housekeeper Frau Bleucher (horse whinny).
Director Brooks keeps the jokes coming at a fast a furious pace, but keeps the pace and the story going as well. This is much more than "just a collection of jokes" - it is a very good movie.
This film falls squarely in my "Top 10 All Time Favorite Films" - and my #1 comedy of all time.
Letter Grade: A+
10 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)