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No Pucks Lost Between Us (Rush Hockey #6)
No Pucks Lost Between Us (Rush Hockey #6)
Elise Faber | 2023 | Contemporary, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
NO PUCKS LOST BETWEEN US is the last in the Rosie & joel trilogy in the Rush Hockey series.

Rosie and Joel have had a rocky path to walk, with plenty of bumps and turns in the road. And so much - so much - is by them not talking. Not all of it, no, but enough. Joel is having a hockey crisis, and Rosie is trying to clear her name and figure out just what she wants to do with her life.

This was a great conclusion to their story, whilst still leaving parts of it wide open to be answered in the next trilogy (I presume.) Hot and steamy throughout, it's a brilliant addition to the Rush Hockey series.

For me, though, I think this is the end of the line for this series. It's just not holding my attention the way the rest of Elise Faber's books do.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 7, 2023
  
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
2016 | Animation, Family
5
6.2 (13 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I remember watching the first Ice Age film, way back not long after it came out, in about 2002 or thereabouts.

While it was enjoyable enough, it was also - I felt - nothing special (with Scrat the sabre-toothed squirrel stealing the show).

The franchise itself, as a whole, is proof of the old truism that sequels are never as good as the original, with each instalment struggling to match its predecessor.

This is the fifth movie in said franchise, and the core cast of characters has grown to almost unwieldy proportions: no longer just Sid, Manny and Diego but now also grown to encompass (both literally and metaphorically) their families.

The plot? With a meteor hurtling towards Earth (blame Scrat) an din danger of causing another mass-extinction event, Syd, Manny and co have to find a way of saving their way of life while also coming to terms with the fact that their daughter (wait? When did she appear gain?) is now all grown up and can make her own decisions.

The result? It's a pleasant enough way to spend about an hour and a half or so, but not a film I'd be rushing back to see.
  
40x40

LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies

May 26, 2020 (Updated Jun 18, 2020)  
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
2019 | Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Alita: Battle Angel is great. Is there a good helping of sci-fi dumbfuckery to be found? Of course. But the positives far outweigh any negatives in this instance.

Based on a Manga series and subsequent Anime from the early nineties, Alita brings the signature Japanese comic style to life in style, as a whole heap of (mostly) decent digital effects collides with real-life.
The world of A:BA is really well realised, with the film taking place in the 26th Century, a future that sees man and cyborg live side by side. The plot takes place in The Iron City on the ground, eclipsed by the floating city of Zalem above. It's a striking aesthetic that reminded me of something from a Final Fantasy game. The main narrative follows Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) who finds the remains of a deactivated cyborg in a trash heap. He gives the cyborg a new body and a new life, and gives her the name Alita. She has no memory of who she was before, but as she begins to explore the world, her memories slowly return. Alita (Rosa Salazar) is a stupidly likable protagonist. She's a fiery, lethal weapon who has a child like innocence. The motion capture combined with Salazar's performance work really well. In fact, the whole cast is great. Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earl-Hailey - it's a stellar line up. The only cast member I couldn't get on with was Hugo (Keean Johnson) who mainly serves as Alita's love interest. I didn't particularly like his character and as a result didn't fully buy their romance side plot.
 
The main issue I had was the pacing. The plot is trying to pack so much into 2 hours, that it moved forward at breakneck speed at times. Some plot points become a bit lost in the whole thing, and a few of the characters seemed inconsequential as a result.
It does go a bit CGI overload at times but that's to be expected by the very nature of what A:BA is. The effects on some of the other cyborg characters are ropey as well, but honestly, these are small gripes against a film that I found myself really enjoying.

I sincerely hope a sequel gets green lit as I for one want more of this world to be explored.
  
The After Wife
The After Wife
Gigi Levangie Grazer | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's a typical Saturday morning in the Bernal home. After some early morning love making, Hannah returns to sleep as her husband, John heads off to the farmer's market. Since John is a chef, he does all of the cooking. Hannah is awakened shortly after by the phone ringing. The person on the other end is saying words, but Hannah can not believe the words that she is saying. Her husband is dead. She can still she the indent from his head on the pillow, this can't be true. But it is, and as Hannah comes to grip with this, her life gets turned upside down. Left to raise their three year old daughter, Ellie, which was also John's job since he was home during the day, Hannah is unsure of how to take the next steps. When she looses her job, her house and her mind, it all her friends can do to keep her together.

This was a cute story about a widow who turns into a medium. After the death of her husband,Hannah starts to see dead people showing up around every corner. Because of this, she puts her job in jeopardy. But with her job is also the job of her best friend Jay. They are producers for a reality show, and without this job, Hannah will not make it. Then she finds out that John had not kept up on his life insurance payments, another blow. And the dead people who won't go away.

All in all, this story was good. A bit long, but otherwise I enjoyed it.