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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Six of Crows in Books
Jan 23, 2020
I know. I KNOW. I SLACK A LOT LATELY. 😳
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I’ve finally read <em>Six of Crows,</em> the book that everyone keeps talking about and won’t stop talking about (now everyone keeps talking about <i>Crooked Kingdom</i>, among other books), and <i>hellooo </i>this is better than the <i>Grisha </i>trilogy. I didn’t even like Alina or Mal from the first series - if anything, I liked the Darkling (bless his dark heart) and Stormhound (I keep wondering if he’ll appear and he doesn’t seem to have despite the fact there might be mentions of him 🤔).
Yet with <i>Six of Crows</i>… I like maybe 85% of the main characters. I say maybe because my math might actually be off and I’m too lazy to actually pull out a calculator and punch in some numbers to get what might be 0.84999. And it’s 85% because I might hate them later. That’s more than who I liked from the <i>Grisha </i>trilogy. 😱
<i>Six of Crows</i> technically has six main characters: Kaz, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, and Wylan (the odd little bean with no spotlight and therefore no prowling in his mind). All of whom are outcasts sent on a suicidal mission to rescue the creator of a drug that increases a Grisha’s power exponentially yet kills them in the end.
Five of which all have POVs switching around every chapter. I’m not a <i>huge </i>fan of multiple POVs because it can easily get confusing, but Bardugo wrote all five in a way that I’m not confused and running around like a little hamster who lost hold of how to stop its wheel.
The group of six are <i>fantastic </i>as a group - despite their differences, they get along pretty well and have a great dynamic together. They’re even better as pairs: Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, Jesper and Wylan. I am all for witty and snark and just great dialogue. 😍
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”
Brekker’s lips quirked. “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.”
“My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly.</blockquote>
In case anyone wonders…. I ship Kaz and Inej. They are, simply out, badass and go well together perfectly (apparently my ship doesn’t sail in the sequel, which I’m extremely disappointed about). Kaz is a brilliant leader leading the Dregs with all kinds of tricks and plans up his cane and never backs down from a mission no matter how impossible it may be. Inej is a highly skilled assassin who has a knack for sneaking up on people without them ever knowing. Have I mentioned under their tough exteriors, they’re occasionally softies and it’s cute?
Onto ze world… <i>Six of Crows</i> brings us back to the world of Grisha, onto a small little island off the coast of Ravka and Shu Han, and into a little area called Ketterdam where criminals and misfits of society lurk together. I really loved the drastic change from palaces to a complete polar opposite where one has to constantly watch their back. Throughout the duration of the book, I really liked Bardugo’s descriptions of each place the six travel on their way, especially with how Fjerda has this ice court with a palace virtually impossible to break into with all the top notch security that they have.
<i>Six of Crows</i> can be read regardless of whether or not the <i>Grisha </i>trilogy has been read - there’s excellent character dynamics, great dialogue that might cause a laugh or two, and a cast that come from all kinds of backgrounds.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/six-of-crows-by-leigh-bardugo-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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I’ve finally read <em>Six of Crows,</em> the book that everyone keeps talking about and won’t stop talking about (now everyone keeps talking about <i>Crooked Kingdom</i>, among other books), and <i>hellooo </i>this is better than the <i>Grisha </i>trilogy. I didn’t even like Alina or Mal from the first series - if anything, I liked the Darkling (bless his dark heart) and Stormhound (I keep wondering if he’ll appear and he doesn’t seem to have despite the fact there might be mentions of him 🤔).
Yet with <i>Six of Crows</i>… I like maybe 85% of the main characters. I say maybe because my math might actually be off and I’m too lazy to actually pull out a calculator and punch in some numbers to get what might be 0.84999. And it’s 85% because I might hate them later. That’s more than who I liked from the <i>Grisha </i>trilogy. 😱
<i>Six of Crows</i> technically has six main characters: Kaz, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, and Wylan (the odd little bean with no spotlight and therefore no prowling in his mind). All of whom are outcasts sent on a suicidal mission to rescue the creator of a drug that increases a Grisha’s power exponentially yet kills them in the end.
Five of which all have POVs switching around every chapter. I’m not a <i>huge </i>fan of multiple POVs because it can easily get confusing, but Bardugo wrote all five in a way that I’m not confused and running around like a little hamster who lost hold of how to stop its wheel.
The group of six are <i>fantastic </i>as a group - despite their differences, they get along pretty well and have a great dynamic together. They’re even better as pairs: Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, Jesper and Wylan. I am all for witty and snark and just great dialogue. 😍
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”
Brekker’s lips quirked. “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.”
“My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly.</blockquote>
In case anyone wonders…. I ship Kaz and Inej. They are, simply out, badass and go well together perfectly (apparently my ship doesn’t sail in the sequel, which I’m extremely disappointed about). Kaz is a brilliant leader leading the Dregs with all kinds of tricks and plans up his cane and never backs down from a mission no matter how impossible it may be. Inej is a highly skilled assassin who has a knack for sneaking up on people without them ever knowing. Have I mentioned under their tough exteriors, they’re occasionally softies and it’s cute?
Onto ze world… <i>Six of Crows</i> brings us back to the world of Grisha, onto a small little island off the coast of Ravka and Shu Han, and into a little area called Ketterdam where criminals and misfits of society lurk together. I really loved the drastic change from palaces to a complete polar opposite where one has to constantly watch their back. Throughout the duration of the book, I really liked Bardugo’s descriptions of each place the six travel on their way, especially with how Fjerda has this ice court with a palace virtually impossible to break into with all the top notch security that they have.
<i>Six of Crows</i> can be read regardless of whether or not the <i>Grisha </i>trilogy has been read - there’s excellent character dynamics, great dialogue that might cause a laugh or two, and a cast that come from all kinds of backgrounds.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/six-of-crows-by-leigh-bardugo-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Dear Edward in Books
Feb 3, 2020
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<b><i>Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is one of the few books that instantly captures your heart, then shatters it into hundred pieces and teaches you many life lessons at the same time.</i></b>
"A reporter holds up a copy of The New York Times to a camera, to show a huge block headline, the kind normally reserved for presidential elections and moonwalks. It reads:
191 DIE IN PLANE CRASH; 1 SURVIVOR
The relatives have only one question when the press briefing comes to close; they all lean toward it like a window in a dark room:
"How is the boy?"</i>
Dear Edward features a boy called Edward, who is flying with his family to move across states. This is their chance of a new life, a brand new start. When the plane crashes, he is the only survivor.
The author tells the story through two different timelines; during the flight and after the plane crash. We follow Edward's life and how he is coping with the loss of everything he knew. We also see how he is struggling to cope with the unwanted celebrity title he has now.
I have always been intrigued by planes and plane crashes. I used to watch every single episode of the documentary on Discovery Channel back in the days. And today, I like to listen to the Plane Crash Podcast by Michael Bauer. I have had some bad experiences while flying, and have always wanted to understand what exactly happens when a plane crashes, and what aviation does to prevent this from happening in the future. This book contains amazing details about the crash, and my hidden mystery person inside me was deeply satisfied by all those pilot dialogues and explanations.
Edward's grief and growing up journey is so painful. He survived, but everyone he loved and cared about in his life died. He is lucky to have survived, but why does he then feel guilty? Why did he swap places with his brother on the flight? If they didn't - his brother would still be alive now. The brother relationship was written so perfectly. The love and the bond they shared for each other was so strong.
Despite the fact that Edward is the main character in this story, we also get to meet so many other characters, the people who lost their lives in the crash. Through flashbacks and "during flight" scenes, as well as encounters from their families, we get to see all the wishes that will never come through, all the hopes and dreams buried under the plane ash.
And that is why Edward's journey is so difficult. He doesn't have to only carry to guilt for his own family, but all those other lives as well. Edward receives letters from the families asking him to do all these things that these people would do. He is asked to become a musician, a doctor, a teacher, to travel around the world, learn knitting, etc, and Edward feels obligated to do all of these things, to give peace to the families.
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5QrV56gmZi/">View this post on Instagram</a>
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<b><i>I knew this book would stay with me forever from the moment I started reading the first few pages. It is so harshly real and painful, but what it does it remind us how every day is special and we should be thankful for it! We may not get a tomorrow, but that's why we have today. Let's make the best of it!</i></b>
Thank you to the team at Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Also thank you to the team at LoveReading UK, for allowing me to be their Super Ambassador of this book for the month of November.
<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
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<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Book-Review-Banner-28.png"/>;
<b><i>Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is one of the few books that instantly captures your heart, then shatters it into hundred pieces and teaches you many life lessons at the same time.</i></b>
"A reporter holds up a copy of The New York Times to a camera, to show a huge block headline, the kind normally reserved for presidential elections and moonwalks. It reads:
191 DIE IN PLANE CRASH; 1 SURVIVOR
The relatives have only one question when the press briefing comes to close; they all lean toward it like a window in a dark room:
"How is the boy?"</i>
Dear Edward features a boy called Edward, who is flying with his family to move across states. This is their chance of a new life, a brand new start. When the plane crashes, he is the only survivor.
The author tells the story through two different timelines; during the flight and after the plane crash. We follow Edward's life and how he is coping with the loss of everything he knew. We also see how he is struggling to cope with the unwanted celebrity title he has now.
I have always been intrigued by planes and plane crashes. I used to watch every single episode of the documentary on Discovery Channel back in the days. And today, I like to listen to the Plane Crash Podcast by Michael Bauer. I have had some bad experiences while flying, and have always wanted to understand what exactly happens when a plane crashes, and what aviation does to prevent this from happening in the future. This book contains amazing details about the crash, and my hidden mystery person inside me was deeply satisfied by all those pilot dialogues and explanations.
Edward's grief and growing up journey is so painful. He survived, but everyone he loved and cared about in his life died. He is lucky to have survived, but why does he then feel guilty? Why did he swap places with his brother on the flight? If they didn't - his brother would still be alive now. The brother relationship was written so perfectly. The love and the bond they shared for each other was so strong.
Despite the fact that Edward is the main character in this story, we also get to meet so many other characters, the people who lost their lives in the crash. Through flashbacks and "during flight" scenes, as well as encounters from their families, we get to see all the wishes that will never come through, all the hopes and dreams buried under the plane ash.
And that is why Edward's journey is so difficult. He doesn't have to only carry to guilt for his own family, but all those other lives as well. Edward receives letters from the families asking him to do all these things that these people would do. He is asked to become a musician, a doctor, a teacher, to travel around the world, learn knitting, etc, and Edward feels obligated to do all of these things, to give peace to the families.
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5QrV56gmZi/">View this post on Instagram</a>
<img src="https://scontent.flhr4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/78070730_2837573906254210_1110262175731023872_o.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ohc=i_DJ97h122QAQkKa2ZjxLPKo29PJKCSylYSTgWVXCvjS6YCTQzZ35Wt8g&_nc_ht=scontent.flhr4-1.fna&oh=baa75c6360fd9a085bce261040b8a027&oe=5E836DB6"/>;
<b><i>I knew this book would stay with me forever from the moment I started reading the first few pages. It is so harshly real and painful, but what it does it remind us how every day is special and we should be thankful for it! We may not get a tomorrow, but that's why we have today. Let's make the best of it!</i></b>
Thank you to the team at Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Also thank you to the team at LoveReading UK, for allowing me to be their Super Ambassador of this book for the month of November.
<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Freiyon Fables: Hooked on Power in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
WARNING: PLEASE NOTE THE CONTENTS IN THIS REVIEW MY NOT BE COMPLETELY ACCURATE. THIS REVIEW WAS DONE ON THE BOOK BEFORE IT WAS COMPLEATED FOR RELEASE AND THE AUTHOR MAY CHANGE THINGS BETWEEN NOW AND THEN. KEEP THIS IN MIND AS YOU READ ON.
Freiyon Fables: Hooked on Power by Justin Hunt is the third and I believe the final book in the Freiyon Fables series. Right from the start, the book promises to answer some questions that I had from the start of the series. I have noticed some inconsistencies in formatting or writing style, such as the first book being broken into three separate parts, the first book being one whole book, and now the third being broken apart again. However, I did not notice any problems with the timeline between the three books.
The story starts out with a letter to the reader from an unnamed author (that is until the very end). This author claims that the reader would not recognize him or her from previous stories about Freiyon but intends to “explain the many different mysteries of the World of Freiyon”. It then starts with the story of some pirates who find themselves in Freiyon by mistake. These pirates then capture and torture poor Quasapoor (who you may remember was evil in a previous book) until he goes insane. They then run into Sybil and Helen Rochester and the creation of the Rochester Runes is explained as well.
Adam, a young boy who heard of Freiyon from his mother then and his battle with Captain Liberty (an evil power-hungry pirate) becomes the main focus of the story. He soon finds that time runs differently in Freiyon from the human world and the events his mother told him about are yet to happen. Adam is even present for the creation of Lord Libertas, but I am not going to ruin how that happened for the curious reader. As Adam travels Freiyon and the surrounding lands the reader also learns about how Freiyon itself came to be along with the Wise One and Lightning Tail Island. Will Adam with the help of some new friends and some well-known favorites be able to protect Freiyon from Captain Liberty or will Freiyon be destroyed once and for all?
What I liked best was how the book answered major questions that arose during the first two books, even if some of the explanations seem a bit far fetched. I really enjoyed the appearance of Adam as I had been looking forward to finding out his identity for quite some time. My main problem was with the time difference between Freiyon and the human world because it made things really confusing. I don’t really understand how Adam could even be in Freiyon before his mother and the events she tells him about, even if it was because of a spell gone wrong. Time travel always gets me confused. Also Adam frequently reminds himself that he is in Freiyon’s past and if every time he dose that is mixed with all the times the story backtracks over what a character just did or what happened in a previous book about a third of this book could be completely removed.
The target readers for this book changed a bit from the previous two books in this series. This third edition to the Freiyon Fables is directed more towards middle school readers. While previous Freiyon Fable books may have been appropriate for even some elementary students I feel as if they would get bored after the first one hundred pages or so of this one. Staying consistent with the first two books I rate this one as a 2 out of 4. Originally this final book was going to be given a three for explaining some of the strange things that happened in the first two. However, because of all the repetition (entire paragraphs and pages seemed directly taken from one of the first two books) and how it felt like it was dragging for the final third of the book, I felt like a two was better deserved once again.
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Freiyon Fables: Hooked on Power by Justin Hunt is the third and I believe the final book in the Freiyon Fables series. Right from the start, the book promises to answer some questions that I had from the start of the series. I have noticed some inconsistencies in formatting or writing style, such as the first book being broken into three separate parts, the first book being one whole book, and now the third being broken apart again. However, I did not notice any problems with the timeline between the three books.
The story starts out with a letter to the reader from an unnamed author (that is until the very end). This author claims that the reader would not recognize him or her from previous stories about Freiyon but intends to “explain the many different mysteries of the World of Freiyon”. It then starts with the story of some pirates who find themselves in Freiyon by mistake. These pirates then capture and torture poor Quasapoor (who you may remember was evil in a previous book) until he goes insane. They then run into Sybil and Helen Rochester and the creation of the Rochester Runes is explained as well.
Adam, a young boy who heard of Freiyon from his mother then and his battle with Captain Liberty (an evil power-hungry pirate) becomes the main focus of the story. He soon finds that time runs differently in Freiyon from the human world and the events his mother told him about are yet to happen. Adam is even present for the creation of Lord Libertas, but I am not going to ruin how that happened for the curious reader. As Adam travels Freiyon and the surrounding lands the reader also learns about how Freiyon itself came to be along with the Wise One and Lightning Tail Island. Will Adam with the help of some new friends and some well-known favorites be able to protect Freiyon from Captain Liberty or will Freiyon be destroyed once and for all?
What I liked best was how the book answered major questions that arose during the first two books, even if some of the explanations seem a bit far fetched. I really enjoyed the appearance of Adam as I had been looking forward to finding out his identity for quite some time. My main problem was with the time difference between Freiyon and the human world because it made things really confusing. I don’t really understand how Adam could even be in Freiyon before his mother and the events she tells him about, even if it was because of a spell gone wrong. Time travel always gets me confused. Also Adam frequently reminds himself that he is in Freiyon’s past and if every time he dose that is mixed with all the times the story backtracks over what a character just did or what happened in a previous book about a third of this book could be completely removed.
The target readers for this book changed a bit from the previous two books in this series. This third edition to the Freiyon Fables is directed more towards middle school readers. While previous Freiyon Fable books may have been appropriate for even some elementary students I feel as if they would get bored after the first one hundred pages or so of this one. Staying consistent with the first two books I rate this one as a 2 out of 4. Originally this final book was going to be given a three for explaining some of the strange things that happened in the first two. However, because of all the repetition (entire paragraphs and pages seemed directly taken from one of the first two books) and how it felt like it was dragging for the final third of the book, I felt like a two was better deserved once again.
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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Cave Man in Books
Jan 10, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Cave Man by Aedon Sayla is classified as an Erotic Christian Fiction. That being said this is not for anyone under 18 years old. Erotica and Christian Fiction are two genres that are not generally mixed. Readers should be aware that the events in this book are from biblical times and modern rules do not apply.
Alon is a captive of the King of Babel, Nimrod. He is set to be killed on the very next night when an angel shows up. The angel has come to save Alon before God comes down and destroys Babel. Alon escapes and goes to start a new civilization that honors God. Early on in his journey Alon comes across Ayangla who speaks a different language from him. Frustrated at not being able to speak to her the voice of God tells Alon that once his seed is deep in Ayangla she will begin to understand his language. He immediately takes her there on the ground and makes her travel with him as his wife. Over time Ayangla notices that Alon cares for her and comes to love him in return as he takes the time to pleasure her unlike those who had her while she was a slave under Nimrod’s rule.
During their journey, they meet up with Enais and his wife who had the same message about making a new civilization. The two couples decide to be a tribe and call themselves Alonai. The Alonai tribe ultimately end up in a land of plenty and set up a well-guarded home there for themselves and all of their children (there is a lot). The two men end up saving two women from a shipwreck one day while out fishing and bring them back to their home. Each man takes one of the two to become their second wives to share with the first and expand their families while making the new women a part of their struggle for survival. Through it all Alon constantly thanks The Creator for all of his blessings and all the things The Creator has worked for him and within him.
What I liked best was that the time and location of the story is well thought out. Taking place right after the fall of the tower of Babel was a great idea as many people are at least somewhat familiar with that story. The need for the main character to create a new civilization explained all the sex besides just plane lust. Being a modern woman there were multiple things that I did not like about the story. The first of which being Alon attacking and raping Ayangla, made all the worse by God indirectly suggesting it. Ayangla appears to have Stockholm syndrome as she falls in love with Alon who she calls master and husband interchangeably through the book. She seems to stay with him because she learns to enjoy the sex and because being with him helps ensure her survival. I also had a major problem with Alon purposely triggering Ayangla’s milk production for his enjoyment. This may be because I approve of public breastfeeding of children and seeing the production of breast-milk as a sexual act and a grown man breastfeeding from a woman as an orgasmic experience goes against the movement to normalize breastfeeding as a non-sexual act.
Target readers for this book are adults ages 18 and older. As this is considered erotic Christian fiction Christians may have more appreciation for this book than others. Readers should be ready for and expecting heavy sexual content. I ended up giving this book a rating of 2 out of 4. While trying to stay in the mindset of the target audience I still can not put aside my personal feelings about this book completely. It is not the rough sex scenes that was a problem as much as it was how they came about. If it wasn’t for taking the period the book was written in into consideration and how things would have been done then I would have failed this book completely. Content aside it was well written so an even half score of two is appropriate in my eyes.
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Alon is a captive of the King of Babel, Nimrod. He is set to be killed on the very next night when an angel shows up. The angel has come to save Alon before God comes down and destroys Babel. Alon escapes and goes to start a new civilization that honors God. Early on in his journey Alon comes across Ayangla who speaks a different language from him. Frustrated at not being able to speak to her the voice of God tells Alon that once his seed is deep in Ayangla she will begin to understand his language. He immediately takes her there on the ground and makes her travel with him as his wife. Over time Ayangla notices that Alon cares for her and comes to love him in return as he takes the time to pleasure her unlike those who had her while she was a slave under Nimrod’s rule.
During their journey, they meet up with Enais and his wife who had the same message about making a new civilization. The two couples decide to be a tribe and call themselves Alonai. The Alonai tribe ultimately end up in a land of plenty and set up a well-guarded home there for themselves and all of their children (there is a lot). The two men end up saving two women from a shipwreck one day while out fishing and bring them back to their home. Each man takes one of the two to become their second wives to share with the first and expand their families while making the new women a part of their struggle for survival. Through it all Alon constantly thanks The Creator for all of his blessings and all the things The Creator has worked for him and within him.
What I liked best was that the time and location of the story is well thought out. Taking place right after the fall of the tower of Babel was a great idea as many people are at least somewhat familiar with that story. The need for the main character to create a new civilization explained all the sex besides just plane lust. Being a modern woman there were multiple things that I did not like about the story. The first of which being Alon attacking and raping Ayangla, made all the worse by God indirectly suggesting it. Ayangla appears to have Stockholm syndrome as she falls in love with Alon who she calls master and husband interchangeably through the book. She seems to stay with him because she learns to enjoy the sex and because being with him helps ensure her survival. I also had a major problem with Alon purposely triggering Ayangla’s milk production for his enjoyment. This may be because I approve of public breastfeeding of children and seeing the production of breast-milk as a sexual act and a grown man breastfeeding from a woman as an orgasmic experience goes against the movement to normalize breastfeeding as a non-sexual act.
Target readers for this book are adults ages 18 and older. As this is considered erotic Christian fiction Christians may have more appreciation for this book than others. Readers should be ready for and expecting heavy sexual content. I ended up giving this book a rating of 2 out of 4. While trying to stay in the mindset of the target audience I still can not put aside my personal feelings about this book completely. It is not the rough sex scenes that was a problem as much as it was how they came about. If it wasn’t for taking the period the book was written in into consideration and how things would have been done then I would have failed this book completely. Content aside it was well written so an even half score of two is appropriate in my eyes.
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Witches (2020) in Movies
Mar 6, 2021
Not a patch on the original
The Witches is a 2020 retelling of the Roald Dahl children’s story, from director Robert Zemeckis. Remakes and reboots have been commonplace in the movies for quite some time, so it’s no surprise that The Witches has been given a Hollywood makeover, especially as it has been 30 years since the original film adaptation was released in 1990. I will readily admit that the original film is a childhood favourite, so this remake has very big shows to fill.
This time round, the story has been transported to late 1960s Alabama. It follows a unnamed boy (named in the credits as simply ‘Hero Boy’), played by Jahzir Bruno, and his grandma (Octavia Spencer) as they encounter a witch in their home town, prompting her to whisk him away to a seaside resort. Unbeknownst to them, this seaside resort is also where the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway) is due to unveil her dastardly plans to transform the world’s children. In his bids to thwart the witches plans, Hero Boy bumps into some familiar names, greedy English boy Bruno Jenkins (Codie-Lei Eastick) and put-upon hotel manager Mr Stringer (Stanley Tucci).
I was very sceptical about this in general, and while I think my scepticism was most definitely warranted, I was at least pleasantly surprised that moving the action from England to 60s America worked. It gives the film a different vibe with a new setting (with some very good costume and set design too), yet still keeping the same base story. However I’m afraid that’s the only good change that they’ve made in this entire remake. The 60s setting works, but the hotel itself lacks the beauty and grandeur of the hotel in the original. Gone are the imposing shots of a beautiful old hotel set on top of a cliff with its gorgeous landscapes (which incidentally is a real life hotel called The Headland which is on my travel wish list), and instead replaced with something that looks good on the surface, but is sadly lacking in realism and has obviously been entirely computer generated.
And this is the major problem with The Witches (2020), it’s over reliance and overuse of CGI. Everything in this, from the mice to the hotel exteriors to the witches true appearance, are all computer generated, and not particularly well at that. The mice look pretty bad and unrealistic, but the worst of all is what they’ve done to the witches. The changes themselves may have worked had this used practical effects, but sadly the CGI only serves to highlight how ridiculous the changes are. From the missing two fingers on each hand to the elongated mouths with demon like tongues, the witches to begin with seem creepy but after this initial shock, you see how absurd and laughable they really are.
Unfortunately even the performances can’t save this adaptation. Octavia Spencer is as reliable as always and Jazhir Bruno and Codie-Lei Eastick are quite adorable, but the rest of the fairly decent cast are sadly misplaced. The usually loveable Stanley Tucci is given absolutely nothing to work with, not even giving him a chance to try and match up to Rowan Atkinson’s original Mr Stringer, and Chris Rock is sadly out of place as the voice of older Hero Mouse. However the worst offender here is Anne Hathaway. Admittedly she isn’t helped much by the poor transformations to the witches appearance, but all the CGI in the world couldn’t fix her questionable Eastern European accent and hammy performance. The fact that Angelica Huston put in a more sinister and believable performance with 90s facial prosthetics and practical effects is a credit to her and only highlights how bad a choice Hathaway was for this role.
While parts of this remake aren’t entirely condemnable, as some aspects do stick closer to Dahl’s original source material, overall it is a far inferior adaptation that loses everything that made the 1990 film such a classic. Gone are the sinister witches and the dark stories of missing children (the girl stuck in the picture is an image that has always stuck with me), instead replaced with a far too lighthearted story with an over reliance on CGI. The most worrying thing of all is that even Robert Zemeckis and Guillermo Del Toro being involved couldn’t save this.
This time round, the story has been transported to late 1960s Alabama. It follows a unnamed boy (named in the credits as simply ‘Hero Boy’), played by Jahzir Bruno, and his grandma (Octavia Spencer) as they encounter a witch in their home town, prompting her to whisk him away to a seaside resort. Unbeknownst to them, this seaside resort is also where the Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway) is due to unveil her dastardly plans to transform the world’s children. In his bids to thwart the witches plans, Hero Boy bumps into some familiar names, greedy English boy Bruno Jenkins (Codie-Lei Eastick) and put-upon hotel manager Mr Stringer (Stanley Tucci).
I was very sceptical about this in general, and while I think my scepticism was most definitely warranted, I was at least pleasantly surprised that moving the action from England to 60s America worked. It gives the film a different vibe with a new setting (with some very good costume and set design too), yet still keeping the same base story. However I’m afraid that’s the only good change that they’ve made in this entire remake. The 60s setting works, but the hotel itself lacks the beauty and grandeur of the hotel in the original. Gone are the imposing shots of a beautiful old hotel set on top of a cliff with its gorgeous landscapes (which incidentally is a real life hotel called The Headland which is on my travel wish list), and instead replaced with something that looks good on the surface, but is sadly lacking in realism and has obviously been entirely computer generated.
And this is the major problem with The Witches (2020), it’s over reliance and overuse of CGI. Everything in this, from the mice to the hotel exteriors to the witches true appearance, are all computer generated, and not particularly well at that. The mice look pretty bad and unrealistic, but the worst of all is what they’ve done to the witches. The changes themselves may have worked had this used practical effects, but sadly the CGI only serves to highlight how ridiculous the changes are. From the missing two fingers on each hand to the elongated mouths with demon like tongues, the witches to begin with seem creepy but after this initial shock, you see how absurd and laughable they really are.
Unfortunately even the performances can’t save this adaptation. Octavia Spencer is as reliable as always and Jazhir Bruno and Codie-Lei Eastick are quite adorable, but the rest of the fairly decent cast are sadly misplaced. The usually loveable Stanley Tucci is given absolutely nothing to work with, not even giving him a chance to try and match up to Rowan Atkinson’s original Mr Stringer, and Chris Rock is sadly out of place as the voice of older Hero Mouse. However the worst offender here is Anne Hathaway. Admittedly she isn’t helped much by the poor transformations to the witches appearance, but all the CGI in the world couldn’t fix her questionable Eastern European accent and hammy performance. The fact that Angelica Huston put in a more sinister and believable performance with 90s facial prosthetics and practical effects is a credit to her and only highlights how bad a choice Hathaway was for this role.
While parts of this remake aren’t entirely condemnable, as some aspects do stick closer to Dahl’s original source material, overall it is a far inferior adaptation that loses everything that made the 1990 film such a classic. Gone are the sinister witches and the dark stories of missing children (the girl stuck in the picture is an image that has always stuck with me), instead replaced with a far too lighthearted story with an over reliance on CGI. The most worrying thing of all is that even Robert Zemeckis and Guillermo Del Toro being involved couldn’t save this.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Chronicles of Crime in Tabletop Games
Jul 1, 2021
Find the murderer, the weapon, and the location. That’s Clue/Cluedo right? Yes. Find the priceless artifact that was stolen from the museum while other complications arise is Chronicles of Crime, and specifically the Curse of the Pharaohs case. Do you have what it takes to solve this crime, and more importantly, do you have a cell phone or tablet??
Chronicles of Crime is an app-driven storytelling, deduction, adventure board game that can be played solo or cooperatively. Players will be assuming the mantles of London detectives attempting to solve difficult cases at Scotland Yard. As it is a cooperative game players will win or lose together, but the game itself will be helping players along the way.
To setup, place the Evidence Board on the table and surround it with these components: Location Boards in a stack, but Scotland Yard attached to the bottom of the Evidence Board, Character and Special Items cards in face-down stacks, Evidence Category cards face-up, and the four Forensic Contact cards nearby as well. Open the app, choose the scenario to play, and let the app guide you through the introduction to the game.
As there are no real “turns” Chronicles of Crime allows freedom for players to essentially roam around London’s sectors looking for clues to whatever crime has taken place, interrogating suspects, asking the Forensics Contacts team for support when encountering people or items, and finally attempting the solve the case. I cannot really go into much more detail in word or photo, as I wish to avoid all spoilers, but the app will guide players and assist in gentle nudges along the way. The app will be heavily used as players will need to scan the QR codes on several components in order to interact with them, and scannable components may not always be assigned the same roles in other scenarios. Once players have explored as much as they deem necessary, they may claim the group is ready to connect the dots and win the game. Players win or lose by visiting Scotland Yard to solve the case successfully or otherwise.
Components. All of the physical components included in the box are incredible. The cards feature great artwork, the components are wonderful quality, and everything has unique QR codes to scan in the app. The box insert is cleverly-designed and certainly ready to accept expansion materials. The greatest component, however, is the Chronicles of Crime companion app. This app is simply amazing. It is absolutely necessary for play, but once downloaded it requires no Internet access (unless you decide to download additional materials or scenarios). The app is so well-designed and engaging, and the music is minimal but certainly mood-setting. I can clearly see why using an app is essential here, and allows the team to add more and more content without having to alter the physical components at all. A stroke of genius, in my mind!
All in all I was, and still am, blown away by Chronicles of Crime. The marriage of board game and digital app is something I was leery of at first because I much prefer board games, but this simply works. And works quite well. I love being able to travel to a location, check it out, interrogate any persons of interest there, and try to assemble the story in my mind. I want to play all of the scenarios with different groups of people to see if that will change anything, but currently during COVID it’s a no-go.
Chronicles of Crime may never break into my Top 10 Games of All Time, but I will not be moving it out of my collection ever. Well, unless Lucky Duck Games decides to remove the app or something weird like that. I don’t have many board/digital hybrid games in my collection, and if I never add another I will still be happy with this one (ahem, keep your eyes peeled for the Chronicles of Crime: 1400 preview I will be doing soon – or will have done depending on when you read this review). Purple Phoenix Games gives Chronicles of Crime an enthusiastically shifty-eyed 11 / 12. I think you might get bonus VPs at the end of the game for putting on a British accent when you play. I’ll have to scour the rules for that one…
Chronicles of Crime is an app-driven storytelling, deduction, adventure board game that can be played solo or cooperatively. Players will be assuming the mantles of London detectives attempting to solve difficult cases at Scotland Yard. As it is a cooperative game players will win or lose together, but the game itself will be helping players along the way.
To setup, place the Evidence Board on the table and surround it with these components: Location Boards in a stack, but Scotland Yard attached to the bottom of the Evidence Board, Character and Special Items cards in face-down stacks, Evidence Category cards face-up, and the four Forensic Contact cards nearby as well. Open the app, choose the scenario to play, and let the app guide you through the introduction to the game.
As there are no real “turns” Chronicles of Crime allows freedom for players to essentially roam around London’s sectors looking for clues to whatever crime has taken place, interrogating suspects, asking the Forensics Contacts team for support when encountering people or items, and finally attempting the solve the case. I cannot really go into much more detail in word or photo, as I wish to avoid all spoilers, but the app will guide players and assist in gentle nudges along the way. The app will be heavily used as players will need to scan the QR codes on several components in order to interact with them, and scannable components may not always be assigned the same roles in other scenarios. Once players have explored as much as they deem necessary, they may claim the group is ready to connect the dots and win the game. Players win or lose by visiting Scotland Yard to solve the case successfully or otherwise.
Components. All of the physical components included in the box are incredible. The cards feature great artwork, the components are wonderful quality, and everything has unique QR codes to scan in the app. The box insert is cleverly-designed and certainly ready to accept expansion materials. The greatest component, however, is the Chronicles of Crime companion app. This app is simply amazing. It is absolutely necessary for play, but once downloaded it requires no Internet access (unless you decide to download additional materials or scenarios). The app is so well-designed and engaging, and the music is minimal but certainly mood-setting. I can clearly see why using an app is essential here, and allows the team to add more and more content without having to alter the physical components at all. A stroke of genius, in my mind!
All in all I was, and still am, blown away by Chronicles of Crime. The marriage of board game and digital app is something I was leery of at first because I much prefer board games, but this simply works. And works quite well. I love being able to travel to a location, check it out, interrogate any persons of interest there, and try to assemble the story in my mind. I want to play all of the scenarios with different groups of people to see if that will change anything, but currently during COVID it’s a no-go.
Chronicles of Crime may never break into my Top 10 Games of All Time, but I will not be moving it out of my collection ever. Well, unless Lucky Duck Games decides to remove the app or something weird like that. I don’t have many board/digital hybrid games in my collection, and if I never add another I will still be happy with this one (ahem, keep your eyes peeled for the Chronicles of Crime: 1400 preview I will be doing soon – or will have done depending on when you read this review). Purple Phoenix Games gives Chronicles of Crime an enthusiastically shifty-eyed 11 / 12. I think you might get bonus VPs at the end of the game for putting on a British accent when you play. I’ll have to scour the rules for that one…
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Jojo Rabbit (2019) in Movies
Oct 8, 2019
Roman Griffin Davis stars as Jojo Betzler in Taika Waititi’s black comedy Jojo Rabbit. Along with his second best friend Yorki (Archie Yates), Jojo is a part of a Nazi training camp for young boys and girls to become the men and women suited for Hitler supporting soldiers. Meanwhile, Jojo’s mom Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is secretly hiding a young Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) within the walls of their home. Jojo, who is incredibly adamant about Hitler becoming his first best friend, has Hitler as an imaginary friend (portrayed by Taika Waititi) who shows up whenever Jojo seems to need a pep talk.
Based on the 2008 novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, Jojo Rabbit is a bonkers twist on one of the most devastating wars and tyrannical madmen in history. On the surface, the film is about a child attempting to become a Nazi because he views HItler as this great leader. He has to attempt to learn to kill, hate Jews, and essentially ignore all of his morals in order to just fit in with an army who believes they are the superior race. The intriguing aspect is that Waititi injects this unexpected tenderness and has concocted a film that has a heartbeat that is entirely too human and too genuine for any sort of project involving the likes of Adolf Hitler.
The Jojo/Hitler dynamic is an incredibly playful one. Hitler only seems to show up when something doesn’t go according to plan for Jojo or he needs some words of encouragement when times get tough. Hitler is a figment of Jojo’s imagination and is completely reactionary to Jojo’s world. If Jojo gets scared, Hitler shows up to remind him why he’s risking his own self comfort. While Waititi is funny and awkwardly charming as Hitler, which is an odd thing to say in itself, don’t overlook Archie Yates. Roman Griffin Davis encapsulates this innocence that even Elsa describes as something along the lines of a ten year old playing dress up with his friends in order to join a club. But Yates often plays off of Davis humorously and amusingly and will likely be forgotten about by some by the time they leave the theater.
Seemingly tapping into his inspiration for Gentlemen Broncos, Sam Rockwell portrays Captain Klenzendorf - a former war veteran who lost an eye and is now forced to teach children how to be soldiers. He has this strange tension on the verge of romance thing going on with his right hand man Finkel (Alfie Allen) and has extravagant taste with intricate ideas for his new uniform. Rockwell and Allen are hilarious and outshine Rebel Wilson’s Fräulein Rahm who never seems to serve much purpose before or after her line about, “having 18 kids for Germany.”
The sweet nature of Jojo Rabbit is expanded upon with the mother/son relationship between Rosie and Jojo. They have completely different viewpoints of a world on the verge of total annihilation where Jojo is slowly nudged into his mother’s mindset. It’s not so much a brainwashing as it is Jojo coming to terms with how he feels about people. Jojo Rabbit defines who we all are on the inside and simply explores the path anyone with an everyday beating heart (not rooted by a tiny mustache) would travel down over the course of their youth.
It’s kind of extraordinary that Jojo Rabbit has been released during a time when Fox Searchlight Pictures is owned by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures where a guy directing two of the biggest Thor movies did a side project where he plays Hitler and never had to attempt to keep that a secret. Waititi puts Jojo Betzler through the ringer by blowing him up repeatedly and throwing him down a flight of stairs all while being bullied and pushed around the entire time. But dammit if Jojo Rabbit isn’t one of the most heartfelt and imaginative fairy tales of the year.
This is a film where storytelling, embellishing and elongating false reputations, and glorifying urban myths is the driving force of entertainment. Underneath its layers of SS uniforms, dangerous pistols, and knives you should never leave home without, Jojo Rabbit is a touching film about human compassion with an intimacy that is absolutely unparalleled. Categorized somewhere between Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and an imaginative concept that is an obvious homage to Calvin and Hobbes, love feels like it’s the only thing spreading across the world more powerful than war and Jojo Rabbit is more than happy to hype you up and throw you in love’s way without remorse.
Based on the 2008 novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, Jojo Rabbit is a bonkers twist on one of the most devastating wars and tyrannical madmen in history. On the surface, the film is about a child attempting to become a Nazi because he views HItler as this great leader. He has to attempt to learn to kill, hate Jews, and essentially ignore all of his morals in order to just fit in with an army who believes they are the superior race. The intriguing aspect is that Waititi injects this unexpected tenderness and has concocted a film that has a heartbeat that is entirely too human and too genuine for any sort of project involving the likes of Adolf Hitler.
The Jojo/Hitler dynamic is an incredibly playful one. Hitler only seems to show up when something doesn’t go according to plan for Jojo or he needs some words of encouragement when times get tough. Hitler is a figment of Jojo’s imagination and is completely reactionary to Jojo’s world. If Jojo gets scared, Hitler shows up to remind him why he’s risking his own self comfort. While Waititi is funny and awkwardly charming as Hitler, which is an odd thing to say in itself, don’t overlook Archie Yates. Roman Griffin Davis encapsulates this innocence that even Elsa describes as something along the lines of a ten year old playing dress up with his friends in order to join a club. But Yates often plays off of Davis humorously and amusingly and will likely be forgotten about by some by the time they leave the theater.
Seemingly tapping into his inspiration for Gentlemen Broncos, Sam Rockwell portrays Captain Klenzendorf - a former war veteran who lost an eye and is now forced to teach children how to be soldiers. He has this strange tension on the verge of romance thing going on with his right hand man Finkel (Alfie Allen) and has extravagant taste with intricate ideas for his new uniform. Rockwell and Allen are hilarious and outshine Rebel Wilson’s Fräulein Rahm who never seems to serve much purpose before or after her line about, “having 18 kids for Germany.”
The sweet nature of Jojo Rabbit is expanded upon with the mother/son relationship between Rosie and Jojo. They have completely different viewpoints of a world on the verge of total annihilation where Jojo is slowly nudged into his mother’s mindset. It’s not so much a brainwashing as it is Jojo coming to terms with how he feels about people. Jojo Rabbit defines who we all are on the inside and simply explores the path anyone with an everyday beating heart (not rooted by a tiny mustache) would travel down over the course of their youth.
It’s kind of extraordinary that Jojo Rabbit has been released during a time when Fox Searchlight Pictures is owned by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures where a guy directing two of the biggest Thor movies did a side project where he plays Hitler and never had to attempt to keep that a secret. Waititi puts Jojo Betzler through the ringer by blowing him up repeatedly and throwing him down a flight of stairs all while being bullied and pushed around the entire time. But dammit if Jojo Rabbit isn’t one of the most heartfelt and imaginative fairy tales of the year.
This is a film where storytelling, embellishing and elongating false reputations, and glorifying urban myths is the driving force of entertainment. Underneath its layers of SS uniforms, dangerous pistols, and knives you should never leave home without, Jojo Rabbit is a touching film about human compassion with an intimacy that is absolutely unparalleled. Categorized somewhere between Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and an imaginative concept that is an obvious homage to Calvin and Hobbes, love feels like it’s the only thing spreading across the world more powerful than war and Jojo Rabbit is more than happy to hype you up and throw you in love’s way without remorse.
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Ad Astra (2019) in Movies
Sep 16, 2019
My first experience in IMAX was at the IMAX theater at the Grand Canyon. This was before IMAX theaters could easily be found within easy driving distance in most large cities. The movie, which interestingly still is showing today from those early years took viewers on the magical journey through the Grand Canyon. Throwing in a bit of history, with incredible visages, viewers could experience the canyon without ever hiking within its depths. It may seem odd to compare a big budget title like Ad Astra written and directed by James Gray (The Immigrant / The Lost City of Z) to a short thirty-minute experience film about the Grand Canyon, but both are equally awe inspiring and beautiful if experienced in the same way.
Ad Astra features Brad Pitt as Astronaut Roy McBride, a film that takes place in the not so distant future where the moon has become a commercialized tourist destination. A place where outside the safe tourist zones corporations fight for control of resources, and convoys are regularly ransacked by pirates looking to make a quick buck off the wares they are able to obtain. Mars has become a staging location for deep exploration ships hoping to discover if intelligent life exists outside our solar system.
Strange power surges begin to emanate deep within the galaxy, threatening to destroy everything in their path (Earth not excluded) and the top scientist are brought together to identify the threat and propose a theory to stop it. Roy McBride after suffering a near fatal fall from aboard a space station is brought into a top-secret meeting to discuss these surges. It is in this meeting that Roy is informed that the surges appear to be manifesting near Neptune and even more interestingly they are identified as anti-matter surges that are being generated from a ship that Roy’s father Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones) was in charge of nearly 29 years ago. The mission was a search for extra terrestrial life that Clifford was overseeing and presumed dead after Earth had lost contact with his ship. Roy must put his personal feelings aside regarding his father and must travel to the outer reaches of our solar system to put a stop to the surges, in any way possible.
Ad Astra is an incredible achievement in cinematography. The visions of the moon, mars and the numerous rockets taken to get there are spectacular. Much like the Grand Canyon film I spoke of earlier, in IMAX Ad Astra gives you a front row seat exploring the solar system as we know it. It takes a realistic approach while not bogging the viewers in all the technical details that would be necessary to achieve this flight. You would be doing yourself a disservice to see this film on any but the largest of movie screens. While it might be an acceptable experience in a normal theater, much of the grandiose vistas and beautiful sets would be wasted. This is not a movie to wait for on Netflix if you have any interest in seeing it at all.
From a story perspective, there isn’t a whole lot to tell. Brad Pitt brings his amazing acting abilities to a film that features more inner dialogue to himself, then to others on the screen. It is reminiscent to the original Dune movie from the 80s combined with 2001: A space odyssey. For a movie that literally is about a voyage to deep space, there are some scenes sprinkled throughout that provide some action and even a bit of suspense. Supporting characters such as Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland provide outstanding performances, even if their screen time is extremely limited. Liv Tyler once again reprises a role similar to the one from Armageddon as the reluctant wife of a man who is tasked with saving the world.
Ad Astra is a cinematic experience, the story alone is passable if not particularly quick moving and at time rarely engaging. However, when you combine this with the technological wizardry used to bring the Solar System to life it makes for an adventure that certainly lives up to the hype and will delight your visual senses. If you’ve ever dreamed of what it would be like to live on the moon or adventure into the stars, then Ad Astra might just be the closest we ever get in our lifetime. It’s beautiful, deadly and overall an achievement to behold, just make sure you see it on the biggest screen you can.
4 out of 5 stars
Ad Astra features Brad Pitt as Astronaut Roy McBride, a film that takes place in the not so distant future where the moon has become a commercialized tourist destination. A place where outside the safe tourist zones corporations fight for control of resources, and convoys are regularly ransacked by pirates looking to make a quick buck off the wares they are able to obtain. Mars has become a staging location for deep exploration ships hoping to discover if intelligent life exists outside our solar system.
Strange power surges begin to emanate deep within the galaxy, threatening to destroy everything in their path (Earth not excluded) and the top scientist are brought together to identify the threat and propose a theory to stop it. Roy McBride after suffering a near fatal fall from aboard a space station is brought into a top-secret meeting to discuss these surges. It is in this meeting that Roy is informed that the surges appear to be manifesting near Neptune and even more interestingly they are identified as anti-matter surges that are being generated from a ship that Roy’s father Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones) was in charge of nearly 29 years ago. The mission was a search for extra terrestrial life that Clifford was overseeing and presumed dead after Earth had lost contact with his ship. Roy must put his personal feelings aside regarding his father and must travel to the outer reaches of our solar system to put a stop to the surges, in any way possible.
Ad Astra is an incredible achievement in cinematography. The visions of the moon, mars and the numerous rockets taken to get there are spectacular. Much like the Grand Canyon film I spoke of earlier, in IMAX Ad Astra gives you a front row seat exploring the solar system as we know it. It takes a realistic approach while not bogging the viewers in all the technical details that would be necessary to achieve this flight. You would be doing yourself a disservice to see this film on any but the largest of movie screens. While it might be an acceptable experience in a normal theater, much of the grandiose vistas and beautiful sets would be wasted. This is not a movie to wait for on Netflix if you have any interest in seeing it at all.
From a story perspective, there isn’t a whole lot to tell. Brad Pitt brings his amazing acting abilities to a film that features more inner dialogue to himself, then to others on the screen. It is reminiscent to the original Dune movie from the 80s combined with 2001: A space odyssey. For a movie that literally is about a voyage to deep space, there are some scenes sprinkled throughout that provide some action and even a bit of suspense. Supporting characters such as Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland provide outstanding performances, even if their screen time is extremely limited. Liv Tyler once again reprises a role similar to the one from Armageddon as the reluctant wife of a man who is tasked with saving the world.
Ad Astra is a cinematic experience, the story alone is passable if not particularly quick moving and at time rarely engaging. However, when you combine this with the technological wizardry used to bring the Solar System to life it makes for an adventure that certainly lives up to the hype and will delight your visual senses. If you’ve ever dreamed of what it would be like to live on the moon or adventure into the stars, then Ad Astra might just be the closest we ever get in our lifetime. It’s beautiful, deadly and overall an achievement to behold, just make sure you see it on the biggest screen you can.
4 out of 5 stars
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Dune (2021) in Movies
Oct 28, 2021
“He’s Not The Messiah – He’s a Very Naughty Boy!”
Certain works of fiction have been labelled with the tag of “unfilmable”, and Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel “Dune” is one of those. It’s full of exposition done as internal monologues – which screams “movie voiceover”. And regular readers will know my hatred of those!
Amazingly, Denis Villeneuve manages to pull off the impossible with his version of Dune (part 1), which I saw last night as part of a Cineworld Unlimited preview event. It’s close to being a movie masterpiece.
Plot Summary:
The desert planet of Arrakis is home to the Freman tribe but is a political battleground since it is the only known source of ‘Spice’: a substance that enables interplanetary travel.
Paul (Timothée Chalamet) is the heir to the throne of the House of Atreides, headed by his father Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac). His mother (Rebecca Ferguson) is Leto’s concubine and possessed with hereditary gifts: mystical powers that make her part of a sect of galactic ‘witches’ with mystical powers. But the House of Atreides is gaining in power, and the Emperor throws a political spanner into the works by evicting the vicious House of Harkonnen from Arrakis and giving it to Atreides. This puts both Houses on the path of war.
Certification:
US: PG-13. UK: 12A.
Talent:
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling.
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve.
Written by: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth. (Based on the novel by Frank Herbert).
“Dune” Review: Positives:
My 5*’s for this one goes for the overall vision, which is grandiose with scenes that stick in the brain. As he demonstrated in “Arrival“, Villeneuve likes to go for huge spacecraft that hang “in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t”*. And the ships in this vision are just HUGE.
The ensemble cast does a great job, with Chalamet, Isaac and Ferguson being particularly impressive. Stellan Skarsgård (looking like he is about to tell “a very amusing story about a goat”, if you get that movie reference!) looks to have the most gruelling acting job, having to emerge from, and descend into, a bath of black goo!
Much like Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049“, this movie has cinematography that is worthy of framing and sticking on your wall. (Greig Fraser is the man behind the camera here).
Hans Zimmer‘s music is phenomenal. I’m not sure it’s a good ‘sit down and listen to’ sort of soundtrack, but it fits the movie beautifully.
* I used this Douglas Adams quote for my “Arrival” review, and then Mark Kermode used the same quote: I like to think he read my review!
Negatives:
It wasn’t a problem for me, but I expect some will consider the movie to be too much mood and not enough action. I’ve seen some comment that the film was “emotionally empty”: but I really didn’t feel that, and am well-invested in the story ready for “Part 2”.
This is probably faithful to the books, but given all of the advanced spacecraft technology on show, and laser/blaster technology, it seems bonkers that when we get to hand-to-hand combat between the armies that we get into “swords and sandals” territory.
Observation:
There’s nothing new under the Tatooine suns. And so much of this film has you linking the concepts back to “Star Wars”:
“The Force” is now “The Way”
The Jedi are the ‘Ben and Jerry Set’. (Well, that’s what it sounded like to me… and I don’t even like Ice Cream!)
Both films centre on a Messiah-like “chosen one”, foretold by legend
“Spice” also features in “Star Wars” with “spice runners” (as in the Millenium Falcon doing the ‘Kessel Run’)
There’s even a ‘pit of sarlaac’ moment in “Dune”.
Of course, since Frank Herbert wrote “Dune” in 1965, there’s a significant question as to who is plagiarising who here!
Summary Thoughts on “Dune”
At 2 hours 35 minutes, it’s YET ANOTHER long movie: cementing October 2021 as the month of long movies. (I just did a quick tally, and of the six films I’ve seen this month they average 139 minutes in length: and that’s with “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” dragging the average down!)
But this is a movie that MUST be seen on the big screen. It’s a memorable movie experience and highly recommended.
I can’t wait for Villeneuve’s “Part 2”, currently in pre-production.
Amazingly, Denis Villeneuve manages to pull off the impossible with his version of Dune (part 1), which I saw last night as part of a Cineworld Unlimited preview event. It’s close to being a movie masterpiece.
Plot Summary:
The desert planet of Arrakis is home to the Freman tribe but is a political battleground since it is the only known source of ‘Spice’: a substance that enables interplanetary travel.
Paul (Timothée Chalamet) is the heir to the throne of the House of Atreides, headed by his father Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac). His mother (Rebecca Ferguson) is Leto’s concubine and possessed with hereditary gifts: mystical powers that make her part of a sect of galactic ‘witches’ with mystical powers. But the House of Atreides is gaining in power, and the Emperor throws a political spanner into the works by evicting the vicious House of Harkonnen from Arrakis and giving it to Atreides. This puts both Houses on the path of war.
Certification:
US: PG-13. UK: 12A.
Talent:
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling.
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve.
Written by: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth. (Based on the novel by Frank Herbert).
“Dune” Review: Positives:
My 5*’s for this one goes for the overall vision, which is grandiose with scenes that stick in the brain. As he demonstrated in “Arrival“, Villeneuve likes to go for huge spacecraft that hang “in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t”*. And the ships in this vision are just HUGE.
The ensemble cast does a great job, with Chalamet, Isaac and Ferguson being particularly impressive. Stellan Skarsgård (looking like he is about to tell “a very amusing story about a goat”, if you get that movie reference!) looks to have the most gruelling acting job, having to emerge from, and descend into, a bath of black goo!
Much like Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049“, this movie has cinematography that is worthy of framing and sticking on your wall. (Greig Fraser is the man behind the camera here).
Hans Zimmer‘s music is phenomenal. I’m not sure it’s a good ‘sit down and listen to’ sort of soundtrack, but it fits the movie beautifully.
* I used this Douglas Adams quote for my “Arrival” review, and then Mark Kermode used the same quote: I like to think he read my review!
Negatives:
It wasn’t a problem for me, but I expect some will consider the movie to be too much mood and not enough action. I’ve seen some comment that the film was “emotionally empty”: but I really didn’t feel that, and am well-invested in the story ready for “Part 2”.
This is probably faithful to the books, but given all of the advanced spacecraft technology on show, and laser/blaster technology, it seems bonkers that when we get to hand-to-hand combat between the armies that we get into “swords and sandals” territory.
Observation:
There’s nothing new under the Tatooine suns. And so much of this film has you linking the concepts back to “Star Wars”:
“The Force” is now “The Way”
The Jedi are the ‘Ben and Jerry Set’. (Well, that’s what it sounded like to me… and I don’t even like Ice Cream!)
Both films centre on a Messiah-like “chosen one”, foretold by legend
“Spice” also features in “Star Wars” with “spice runners” (as in the Millenium Falcon doing the ‘Kessel Run’)
There’s even a ‘pit of sarlaac’ moment in “Dune”.
Of course, since Frank Herbert wrote “Dune” in 1965, there’s a significant question as to who is plagiarising who here!
Summary Thoughts on “Dune”
At 2 hours 35 minutes, it’s YET ANOTHER long movie: cementing October 2021 as the month of long movies. (I just did a quick tally, and of the six films I’ve seen this month they average 139 minutes in length: and that’s with “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” dragging the average down!)
But this is a movie that MUST be seen on the big screen. It’s a memorable movie experience and highly recommended.
I can’t wait for Villeneuve’s “Part 2”, currently in pre-production.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Promenade (The Dark Nocturne #3) in Books
Aug 30, 2022
After reading and loving the first two books in the Dark Nocturne series by Morgan Shamy, Serenade and Etude, I jumped right into reading the final book in the trilogy, Promenade. Promenade was the best book in the series which is saying a lot since I loved the first two! I was just sad that the trilogy was ending.
In Promenade, November and Vincent are in two separate eras in time. After an attack on November's life that lives others she cares about dead, she enlists the help of the Fae to help her get back in time to help stop Vincent's death in the present time. However, there's the shadow wraith that keeps coming after her to send her back to her time. November must convince Vincent, who's a totally different person than his present self, to somehow change the future to prevent his death in her time. However, things don't go as planned. More lives are lost, and November's plan is left in shambles.
I very much loved the plot of Promenade! I was hooked right from the start. Yes, the first two books in the series are fantastic, but Promenade really blew me away! There's so much action and adventure packed in each and every page throughout this book. It's hard not to get sucked right back into November's world. There was a few time where the pacing took off without me, and I was left confused, but that was not very often. Other than those few times, the pacing was perfect, and I found myself fully immersed in the story. I loved the setting of early 20th century London, England. With Shamy's great descriptions of everything that was around, I was easily transported back with November. It was easy to imagine everything going on around November. The world building was so good! The time travel aspect was written superbly, and it was done in a way that wasn't extremely confusing. In Promenade, we still had some mentions of blood walkers, shifters, and witches, but now November was also dealing with the Fae, the Shadow Fae, and a shadow wraith. I loved all the new types of fantasy beings in this book. There were a few plot twist throughout the book, and I loved how the whole trilogy was tied up nicely by the end of the book.
Where do I start with the characters in Promenade? Just like in the previous two books in the trilogy, Shamy does an amazing job at breathing life into each and every one of her characters no matter how big or small of a role they play. November redeemed herself in Promenade after annoying me in Etude. I admired her love and strong bond with Vincent. I loved how she'd risk everything just to try to make sure he and her friends would be alright (even if it would sometimes have the opposite effect). The depth of November's emotions felt very realistic, and I felt myself having the same feelings as November. I enjoyed reading about the Vincent of 1901. He was much different from the present day Vincent, and it was interesting to read how different they were. I liked how we got to know Quincey a little better in this book as well. I enjoyed learning more about him. Cam was also heavily featured, and I was thrilled! I've always had a soft spot for Cam after the first book in the trilogy when he turns over a new leaf. We are also introduced to the characters of Rowan and Hazel. Although they weren't featured a lot, they were still awesome characters. We also get to meet Vincent's father. Let's just say he is definitely a piece of work! Shamy does a fantastic job of making us kind of sympathize with him for wanting to protect his land and people but at the same time, hating him for what he's done to the people he thinks disobey him.
Trigger warnings for Promenade include murder, attempted murder, torture, violence, and blackmail.
Overall, Promenade is one of the best books I've read in awhile. With it's exciting plot and well developed characters, you'd be hard pressed not to like this book. I would definitely recommend Promenade by Morgan Shamy to those aged 14+ who are willing to stay up all night to finish a book due to how great it is!
In Promenade, November and Vincent are in two separate eras in time. After an attack on November's life that lives others she cares about dead, she enlists the help of the Fae to help her get back in time to help stop Vincent's death in the present time. However, there's the shadow wraith that keeps coming after her to send her back to her time. November must convince Vincent, who's a totally different person than his present self, to somehow change the future to prevent his death in her time. However, things don't go as planned. More lives are lost, and November's plan is left in shambles.
I very much loved the plot of Promenade! I was hooked right from the start. Yes, the first two books in the series are fantastic, but Promenade really blew me away! There's so much action and adventure packed in each and every page throughout this book. It's hard not to get sucked right back into November's world. There was a few time where the pacing took off without me, and I was left confused, but that was not very often. Other than those few times, the pacing was perfect, and I found myself fully immersed in the story. I loved the setting of early 20th century London, England. With Shamy's great descriptions of everything that was around, I was easily transported back with November. It was easy to imagine everything going on around November. The world building was so good! The time travel aspect was written superbly, and it was done in a way that wasn't extremely confusing. In Promenade, we still had some mentions of blood walkers, shifters, and witches, but now November was also dealing with the Fae, the Shadow Fae, and a shadow wraith. I loved all the new types of fantasy beings in this book. There were a few plot twist throughout the book, and I loved how the whole trilogy was tied up nicely by the end of the book.
Where do I start with the characters in Promenade? Just like in the previous two books in the trilogy, Shamy does an amazing job at breathing life into each and every one of her characters no matter how big or small of a role they play. November redeemed herself in Promenade after annoying me in Etude. I admired her love and strong bond with Vincent. I loved how she'd risk everything just to try to make sure he and her friends would be alright (even if it would sometimes have the opposite effect). The depth of November's emotions felt very realistic, and I felt myself having the same feelings as November. I enjoyed reading about the Vincent of 1901. He was much different from the present day Vincent, and it was interesting to read how different they were. I liked how we got to know Quincey a little better in this book as well. I enjoyed learning more about him. Cam was also heavily featured, and I was thrilled! I've always had a soft spot for Cam after the first book in the trilogy when he turns over a new leaf. We are also introduced to the characters of Rowan and Hazel. Although they weren't featured a lot, they were still awesome characters. We also get to meet Vincent's father. Let's just say he is definitely a piece of work! Shamy does a fantastic job of making us kind of sympathize with him for wanting to protect his land and people but at the same time, hating him for what he's done to the people he thinks disobey him.
Trigger warnings for Promenade include murder, attempted murder, torture, violence, and blackmail.
Overall, Promenade is one of the best books I've read in awhile. With it's exciting plot and well developed characters, you'd be hard pressed not to like this book. I would definitely recommend Promenade by Morgan Shamy to those aged 14+ who are willing to stay up all night to finish a book due to how great it is!