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Kyera (8 KP) rated Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3) in Books
Jan 31, 2018
Whether I agree or not, many people find that Scarlet is their least favorite book in the series. As a result, I worry that they may not continue with the series at that point which would be a major mistake. Cress is an absolutely fantastic book and will hit you in the feels more times than I can count.
While they may not be my OTP, Cresswell is probably in my top five or 10 favorite ships. I've never really sat down and tried to figure it out. It's like trying to figure out which puppies in an entire room full of puppies are the cutest. Impossible. As much as I love Wolflet and Kaider, there is just that extra something that Cress and Thorne have.
For those familiar with the Disney movie, Tangled, their relationship is very similar (in my opinion). I absolutely adore the two of them together. While Thorne is a bit of a player, confident, a wanted criminal... he goes on this major character arc over the course of the series. Cress has this romanticized, hero view of him and he realizes that he wants to live up to that image.
I laughed so hard when Thorne barreled into the hallway yelling Cress and then ran right past the room. It both tugged at my heartstrings so much and made me roll my eyes. One of my favourite lines was "You came for me" because it just shows the new, unsure feelings between them while simultaneously showing that they're much deeper than either truly realizes yet. My heart melted.
It is fantastic to see how the characters grow and evolve over the course of the series. Kai starts out as a prince and completely unprepared for his responsibilities. He is thrust into his role much sooner than anticipated and he has to grow up really quickly. He has the weight of an entire people on his shoulders.
All Cinder ever wanted was to be a normal person and she finds out that her life is even more abnormal than she realized. Not only is she a cyborg, but she's Lunar. Not only is she a Lunar, but she's royalty. She has just as much if not more on her shoulders than Kai does. She is the one that people have been putting all of their hopes and dreams on for over a decade.
Cress has been stuck in a satellite by herself with no human interaction for a large portion of her life. Her whole life she had to escape into fictional stories in her own head because of her real life. She never learned to stand up for herself and she's not used to the real world. It was nice to see little elements of her bravery throughout the story despite the fact that that is not her nature.
Sadly, we don't really get to see any development from Scarlet or Wolf. Their stories in Cress are relatively non-existent. Despite the fact that they were the focus of the second book, I do think that it was a negative for me that one of the main pairs was essentially completely overlooked in this book. At the same time, I also have that feeling for Winter and Jacin in regards to the first two books and most of the third. We get little glimpses of them and spend a small amount of time with Jacin, but overall I don't feel like I know their characters whatsoever.
The author does continue the world building but the writing is predominantly focused on the characters and the plot. There are some really nice glimpses into small villages or communities in other places than we're used to. I think it is a nice blend between story and world so that these books are very accessible. It's not heavy world building that might make readers hesitant to dive into such rich, dense worlds (like high fantasy might be).
Overall, I think this is a fabulous novel and I would highly recommend the entire series to people even if science-fiction is not normally what you gravitate towards.
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated You're Next (2013) in Movies
Oct 11, 2017
First things first, let me get the blowing the writer put of the way... Simon Barrett is a God amongst horror writers. He brings you to the edge, makes you think you know what's going on and then drives a stake through you beliefs like Van Helsing...
Your typical home invasion movie turns into a sinister and diabolical insurance scam that deflates the typical nature of this formerly typical plotline... I know, I'm saying typical alot...fuckin bite me.
Adam Wingard is an absolutely kick-ass director who I personally have watched grow in the genre, and who I have come to trust when it comes to picking a film out... Regardless of what people say, had Death Note not been a successful anime series before he took the helm of the movie, it would've been glorified as a work or horror/fantasy art.
Take your (that word again) typical upper class family, stick them in a deserted home for a family get together. Add another horror director, Ti West, and Wingard and Barrett's favorite actors... Joe Swanberg, A.J. Bowen and Amy Seimetz... Dash in some Australian hottie, Sharni Vinson. And add one of the most amazing Scream Queens to ever grace the screen, Barbara Crampton. And chuck in some relative nobodies for fodder and you have the ingredients for a wild ride.
You're Next appeals to me because home invasions happen. It has a reality to it that can be matched by 2008's The Strangers and a more recent addition, Hush.
This movie delivers on all fronts.
The Killers are a band of ex Marines who are contracted but an unlikely source to carry out the deaths of rich mom and dad.
The children in the family are the height of dysfunctional, thus proving money can't buy you sanity.
And the twist in this movie proves that secrets can be hidden well in a script if the proper distractions are in place.
One thing I'd like to add before I end this is the masks work by the Killers are straight creepy. Whoever thought to put them in those is genius. And they made for some great marketing posters and internet spots.
Simple flat white masks that have not scared me to death since I was a child and seen the iconic Michael Myers for the first time.
Barrett and Wingard make movies that are more reality based and that scare the bejesus out of you.
Check out A Horrible Way to Die if you don't believe me. It will not disappoint.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Redemption's Blade: After the War in Books
Jun 15, 2018
Over the last few months I have been lucky to read three new Tchaikovsky books. As this was the first fantasy book of those three (the other two being war sci-fi) I had fingers crossed for a return to the heights of the Shadows of the Apt series. I was sadly disappointed.
The scope of this book is truly epic in every sense. The world we are thrown into has a diverse range of beings, species, cities, religions and beliefs and a rich history. The events follow on from the end of a tyrannical reign of the Kinslayer, a power-mad demi-god who tried to break the spirit of those races he didn't just wipe out. We see the Kinslayer-slayer Celestaine's attempts to do good in the aftermath of this war, and try to make one species whole again. This aim leads her on a journey across the world where we are introduced to a range of new peoples and places. The journey goes on from place to place, the company increasing all the while.
I have real respect for Tchaikovsky trying to do something new - tell the story that follows on from a somewhat typical fantasy tale. Sadly for me, the story that went before sounds so much more interesting and engaging - the besting of a truly despicable being. This story is instead something of an empty, largely pointless journey. The ending leads us to believe someone had been luring people with the promise of magical items, to come to him and ultimately their doom - however, the trail leading to him was not exactly clear and the chances of anyone following it would be minimal (let alone someone following it at exactly the right pace to witness certain key events!). The world-building is epic and yet completely forgettable. I found myself forgetting who people were, why they were doing things and I completely missed one major reveal in the final chapters, only to re-read and find that there pretty much was no reveal.
I am a fan of Tchaikovsky's writing style but for me this book was a struggle to get through. I had no feelings towards any of the characters and couldn't remember or care where they had been or why, or what had happened. Not a worthwhile investment of my time.
JT (287 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Arthur Fleck is a clown for hire. Scraping to make ends meet while looking after his ailing mother (Frances Conroy) he has ambitions of making it as a stand-up comedian. Sadly his narcissistic personality and uncontrollable fits of laughter (through no fault of his own) make him a target for society. Gotham City is an unforgiving place and for Arthur, it is a constant struggle of acceptance. He’s belittled and beaten down at every turn and he’s not strong enough to fight back. The bruises on his skeletal frame are a testament to this. He’s an awkward character not least because his quiet personality simmers beneath someone ready to explode – and explode he does.
A comic book adaptation like no other it’s thought-provoking and difficult to watch
But Arthur is sick. That much is clear. Society no longer wants to help. As a result, his social worker explains that the city has cut all funding and the facility and access to his medication he relies on will stop – “All I have are negative thoughts,” he says. When the brutality takes a serious turn he unwittingly becomes a figurehead for Gotham’s society. The clown is a symbol of defiance. Fighting against the rich, of all people Thomas Wayne, who is running for Mayor. Wayne becomes wrapped up in a storyline that brings Arthur together with a familiar young face.
The strong comparisons to Taxi Driver are unavoidable, but there is a definite Scorsese feel to the film. The casting of Robert De Niro as talk show host Murray Franklin is almost a direct nod to King of Comedy in which De Niro stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself. Here it’s Arthur who lovingly worships Murray. The build up to the clown prince of crime is worth the wait as the transformation builds up to a frenetic and gruesome final act.
One of the biggest takeaways from Joker is its focus on mental illness. Arthur’s battered notebook is not only a journal for his jokes but for his dark thoughts. This is a topic that will hit close to home for many people who might experience similar, with an outward animosity to society.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Conan the Barbarian (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
The name either evokes pictures of half naked body builders, and topless wenches, or a very tall man with red, quaffed hair. Well, hopefully the former is what you are all thinking about, because that is what you are going to get. Nobody goes to a Conan movie for the tall, red haired guy. Right?
Jason Momoa, who is not awful to look at for a couple of hours, plays Conan. Physically, he is much truer to the character in the original source material, than the former governor of California. He also has this interesting gravity that makes you sit up and pay attention. Or maybe that was because he was shirtless for most of the movie.
Conan’s story begins as a baby, who is “battle born” and whose first taste, a familiar narrator states, “is not his mother’s milk, but her blood.” He is better then many of his village’s best warrior candidates and joins in a test that ends up being a battle against savages. While the other candidates run back to camp; Conan stay and fights. Not only does he return to the camp having passed the test, but he carries three of the savage’s heads with him. His father (Ron Pearlman) decides it is time to forge a sword and begin to train, with the father imparting sage words like, “You cannot yield the sword until you understand it.”
Conan’s training is interrupted by the arrival of Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang), a ruthless warlord who brings death and destruction to Conan’s village. Zym’s on a a quest to to claim the final piece of a mask that will give him control of the magic of Asheron. Conan is left the sole survivor of his Cimmarian people, growing up to become a fierce warrior intent on avenging his father’s death. All the while, Zym and his daughter Marique continue on Zym’s quest to become a powerful god, in search of a “pureblood” – the one person whose blood will make the mask work. Inevitably, Zym and Conan’s paths cross again and swordfights ensue.
The best thing about this movie, for me, were the female leads. Rose McGowan as Marique and Rachel Nichols as Tamara (the pureblood) are both warriors. It was also excellent to have Conan acknowledge this in Tamara; even saying, “Cimmarian women are warriors, give her the leather and armor.” We would have never heard 1982’s Conan say anything like this.
Listening to people while leaving the movie I heard grumblings about how the Conan character never really had an origin story. This movie provides that, and because of this it also provides something that the original movies lacked: plot. Not that the plot is very rich, but again, nobody goes to a Conan movie for the story or the plot. Right?
Ross (3284 KP) rated Doors: Twilight in Books
Mar 24, 2021
The first quarter of these books is identical, with the damsel in distress being introduced and the team coming together and being given their tasks. At this stage, there is next to no organisation around their approach, it really is simply a bunch of people heading into the unknown and being drastically under-prepared. When the team quickly find the missing and take her back to the surface, the reader is left somewhat taken aback at the speed with which it was resolved. This is nothing compared to how the reader feels when the team go back looking for the real missing woman, simply based on their employer's assistant's momentary mistake that the woman's eyes were the wrong colour. This is not challenged by anyone in the team, who head back downstairs. It's a bigger WTF moment than the Batman vs Superman 'Martha' fiasco.
As with some of Heitz's Dwarves books, I think this suffered from fairly poor translation, as a number of phrases and words just are not clear. At no point did i really know where the team were heading, forwards or backwards, which door they went through etc.
And the promise of heading into the future was very much an empty one. Some members of the team briefly find themselves in near-future Frankfurt and there is a short section of the book which adds no value and has no connection to the rest of the book whatsoever. Thereafter, there is just some cliched mysterious dark maze adventures, with some unexplained conspiracy around the use and beginnings of the doors and their purpose. (I am currently around 80% of the way through the 'Colony' book, having mercifully skipped the first, repeated, quarter, and am starting to realise that there is likely to be an overall story arch that only becomes clear once the reader has read all three books).
This book, and the series as a whole, offered so much potential and teased so much, but this one at least completely failed to deliver for me.
Advance copy received from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
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