Search
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Into the Badlands - Season 1 in TV
Jun 19, 2019
In a distant future following a devastating series of wars, the survivors have banned all firearms and have set up a feudal system where various Barons control needed resources and via for power.
This is the setting of the hit AMC Network series Into the Badlands which has arrived on home video from Anchor Bay Entertainment.
The complete first season set contains all of the episodes and loads of bonus features which go into the backstory, filming, characters, and action sequences of the show.
Daniel Wu stars as an elite Clipper named Sunny who has served for years under a Baron named Quinn and has risen through the ranks to become the deadliest and most elite at his profession.
When the arrival of a young boy with a mysterious past and abilities to boot arrives, the delicate and volatile Badlands soon sees Baron against Baron as political scheming, alliances, and betrayal are the name of the game in this world.
The show is filled with great characters and a captivating plot that will keep you entertained but the thrilling action is what really sets the show apart. It has some of the most original, intense, and amazingly staged fight sequences you will find anywhere as there is truly nothing else like it on television. If you did not get a chance to catch the show, I strongly encourage you to pick up this collection so you will be up to date when season two arrives.
http://sknr.net/2016/11/08/badlands-season-one/
This is the setting of the hit AMC Network series Into the Badlands which has arrived on home video from Anchor Bay Entertainment.
The complete first season set contains all of the episodes and loads of bonus features which go into the backstory, filming, characters, and action sequences of the show.
Daniel Wu stars as an elite Clipper named Sunny who has served for years under a Baron named Quinn and has risen through the ranks to become the deadliest and most elite at his profession.
When the arrival of a young boy with a mysterious past and abilities to boot arrives, the delicate and volatile Badlands soon sees Baron against Baron as political scheming, alliances, and betrayal are the name of the game in this world.
The show is filled with great characters and a captivating plot that will keep you entertained but the thrilling action is what really sets the show apart. It has some of the most original, intense, and amazingly staged fight sequences you will find anywhere as there is truly nothing else like it on television. If you did not get a chance to catch the show, I strongly encourage you to pick up this collection so you will be up to date when season two arrives.
http://sknr.net/2016/11/08/badlands-season-one/
RW
Reporter Who Knew Too Much
Book
Was What's My Line TV Star, media icon, and crack investigative reporter and journalist Dorothy...
The Infiltrator: Undercover in the World of Drug Barons and Dirty Banks
Book
Robert Mazur spent five years undercover infiltrating the criminal hierarchy of Colombia's drug...
Baseball's Power Shift: How the Players Union, the Fans, and the Media Changed American Sports Culture
Book
Baseball fans and the media pinch hit for the players. From Major League Baseball's inception in the...
TN
Time, Narrative, and Emotion in Early Modern England
Book
Exploiting a link between early modern concepts of the medical and the literary, David Houston Wood...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2318 KP) rated Dead Body Language in Books
Jul 24, 2020
Unexpected Body in the Cemetery
Connor Westphal has moved from San Francisco to the town of Flat Skunk in California’s gold country, where she is running the weekly paper she inherited from her grandparents. When Lacy Penzance comes in to place an ad to track down her long-lost sister, Connor readily agrees. Then Lacy takes back her ad. The next morning, Lacy is found dead. The sheriff doesn’t think it is the suicide it was staged to look like. Under the guise of writing an article about Lacy, Connor begins to investigate. Will she find the killer?
What I haven’t mentioned so far is that Connor is deaf. I found this character trait to be an interesting addition to the mystery, and it really added suspense to the climax. Connor is an all-around strong character, and I enjoyed getting to meet her friends here as well. The plot is strong, although I have a couple niggles about who the killer turned out to be. Even so, I have to admire the strong plotting; I missed several major clues. I did find there to be a few more four-letter words than I was expecting, and I think there were timeline issues, although I might have added an extra day in there somewhere as I was reading. I originally read this book close to when it was originally released in 1997, but I never read the rest of the series. I’m looking forward to fixing that soon.
What I haven’t mentioned so far is that Connor is deaf. I found this character trait to be an interesting addition to the mystery, and it really added suspense to the climax. Connor is an all-around strong character, and I enjoyed getting to meet her friends here as well. The plot is strong, although I have a couple niggles about who the killer turned out to be. Even so, I have to admire the strong plotting; I missed several major clues. I did find there to be a few more four-letter words than I was expecting, and I think there were timeline issues, although I might have added an extra day in there somewhere as I was reading. I originally read this book close to when it was originally released in 1997, but I never read the rest of the series. I’m looking forward to fixing that soon.
Lee Ronaldo recommended The Ascension by Glenn Branca in Music (curated)
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated The Battle of Algiers (1966) in Movies
Jan 28, 2021
This film-maker was unknown to me entirely before I decided to watch this film. In fact, I had only heard of the film itself quite recently from seeing it mentioned as one of the best films in the genre as a commentary on political insurgency and civil unrest. It is so well regarded that even the US military used it to prepare troops for entering Iraq. The main actors are largely unknown and many of the supporting cast and extras are not actors at all. The camera is allowed to wander and wobble, and such is the feel of random chaos at times you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a documentary. Nominated for 3 Oscars, and faultless in achieving its goal of humanising both sides of an argument, you can see the influence on Oliver Stone and Paul Greengrass, to name but two better known directors with a political edge.
It’s not a film I would feel the need to go back to, unless demonstrating to someone how to make something staged feel entirely real. I admire this film very much, but wouldn’t exactly call it entertaining or even rewarding as a story. Its purpose is to reinforce the tragedy of a people facing oppression and to realise the lengths both sides will go to in protecting their ideals and relative freedoms. The excellent hand held photography and score by the always inspirational Ennio Moricone are other reasons to watch it. As a history lesson of North Africa post WWII it also has a lot to offer.
It’s not a film I would feel the need to go back to, unless demonstrating to someone how to make something staged feel entirely real. I admire this film very much, but wouldn’t exactly call it entertaining or even rewarding as a story. Its purpose is to reinforce the tragedy of a people facing oppression and to realise the lengths both sides will go to in protecting their ideals and relative freedoms. The excellent hand held photography and score by the always inspirational Ennio Moricone are other reasons to watch it. As a history lesson of North Africa post WWII it also has a lot to offer.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Split (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
M. Night Shyamalan once again has audiences very excited for absolutely no reason. The trailer portrays an interesting psychological thriller of a man (James McAvoy) subjected to many different forms of consciousness, as the plot tells he is one of the first to openly portray over twenty different personalities.
He even takes on different physical characteristics down to a metabolic level as he switches from persona to persona. This combined with the character of a doctor (Betty Buckley) who is thrilled to perhaps have discovered the missing link to understanding the unused portion of the human mind, sounds like it makes for a great sci-fi thriller.
Unfortunately rather quickly the plot devolves after the disturbed man’s abduction of three teenage girls turns over the top hokey and stereotypical. Nothing can be said that will make up for the impending disappointment of viewers as yet again Mr. Shyamalan has an idea that sounds quite intriguing, yet falls completely flat and leaves viewers feeling as if they are the brunt of the joke.
As the psychotic killer develops into a character audiences could really be scared of, a turn for the worst happens when he is transformed by his own mind into an animal. Reaching beyond anything physically possible in a much staged way, he becomes a superhuman creature who rampages until he is caught.
Even with skilled acting at his disposal Shyamalan has managed to make another very poor quality film. At each step of the way, the suspense almost grabs you but is completely predictable. It’s too bad but this one earns
He even takes on different physical characteristics down to a metabolic level as he switches from persona to persona. This combined with the character of a doctor (Betty Buckley) who is thrilled to perhaps have discovered the missing link to understanding the unused portion of the human mind, sounds like it makes for a great sci-fi thriller.
Unfortunately rather quickly the plot devolves after the disturbed man’s abduction of three teenage girls turns over the top hokey and stereotypical. Nothing can be said that will make up for the impending disappointment of viewers as yet again Mr. Shyamalan has an idea that sounds quite intriguing, yet falls completely flat and leaves viewers feeling as if they are the brunt of the joke.
As the psychotic killer develops into a character audiences could really be scared of, a turn for the worst happens when he is transformed by his own mind into an animal. Reaching beyond anything physically possible in a much staged way, he becomes a superhuman creature who rampages until he is caught.
Even with skilled acting at his disposal Shyamalan has managed to make another very poor quality film. At each step of the way, the suspense almost grabs you but is completely predictable. It’s too bad but this one earns
Super Fantasy Brawl
Tabletop Game
In the land of Fabulosa, powerful magics have rendered war obsolete. With nothing else to compete...