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In Search of the Essence of Place
Petr Kral and Christopher Moncrieff
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A moving and reflective memoir, In Search of the Essence of Place is a Remembrance of Things Past...
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Merissa (11961 KP) rated The Complete Love Mark Box Set by Linda Kage in Books
Jul 7, 2022
This is a review for The COMPLETE Love Mark Boxset, which features stories about Erick and Ianna, Urban and Vienne, Nicolette and Farrow, Indigo and Quilla, Olivander and Unity, and Dori and Xavier. You also get Allera and Brentley's story thrown in for good measure.
This boxset/world shines a whole new light on the insta-love/lust trope as those from High Cliff have a tattoo near one of their eyes that tells them when they have found their true love. When that happens, all reason and rational behaviour go out of the window, leaving only burning lust. Along the way, we get the stories from the couples and the overall story arc that links them all together.
I enjoyed all the stories, some more so than others but the one character I absolutely loathe is Nicolette. I coped with her in Urban and Vienne's story as she was only a teenager. I had to force myself to finish her book, although I loved Farrow, and despised her in Dori's story. And she's not in it for long! Just long enough to remind me why I disliked her so much.
To be perfectly honest, I would not recommend reading this as a boxset but as more individual stories. So long as you can remember the overall story arc you should be okay, but there is a lot of repetition about just what the love mark means, how it makes you behave, plus other things, that become obvious when you read them back-to-back.
This was a new-to-me author and I am intrigued enough to look for other books by her. I have no hesitation in recommending this series but with the caveat already mentioned.
** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This boxset/world shines a whole new light on the insta-love/lust trope as those from High Cliff have a tattoo near one of their eyes that tells them when they have found their true love. When that happens, all reason and rational behaviour go out of the window, leaving only burning lust. Along the way, we get the stories from the couples and the overall story arc that links them all together.
I enjoyed all the stories, some more so than others but the one character I absolutely loathe is Nicolette. I coped with her in Urban and Vienne's story as she was only a teenager. I had to force myself to finish her book, although I loved Farrow, and despised her in Dori's story. And she's not in it for long! Just long enough to remind me why I disliked her so much.
To be perfectly honest, I would not recommend reading this as a boxset but as more individual stories. So long as you can remember the overall story arc you should be okay, but there is a lot of repetition about just what the love mark means, how it makes you behave, plus other things, that become obvious when you read them back-to-back.
This was a new-to-me author and I am intrigued enough to look for other books by her. I have no hesitation in recommending this series but with the caveat already mentioned.
** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Awix (3310 KP) rated Dredd (2012) in Movies
Feb 25, 2018 (Updated Feb 25, 2018)
Stripped-down, intensely violent adaptation of the classic British comic strip. More faithful in many ways than the reviled 1995 version with Stallone. Ruthless lawman Judge Dredd and trainee Judge Anderson find themselves trapped inside a vast tower block with a bunch of bad guys; community policing ensues.
Still doesn't quite achieve the humour, satire, or general SF weirdness of the comic strip at its best, and to be honest the sheer brutality of the film is a little off-putting in places, but Urban is about as good as Dredd as you can imagine a major film star being, and everyone else does serviceable work (Thirlby's character is essentially Judge Anderson in only the broadest possible sense). Stylish and well-made, even if it struggles with the facts that a) the best Judge Dredd film ever made is still Robocop and b) it has (coincidentally) exactly the same premise as The Raid, which came out the same year.
Still doesn't quite achieve the humour, satire, or general SF weirdness of the comic strip at its best, and to be honest the sheer brutality of the film is a little off-putting in places, but Urban is about as good as Dredd as you can imagine a major film star being, and everyone else does serviceable work (Thirlby's character is essentially Judge Anderson in only the broadest possible sense). Stylish and well-made, even if it struggles with the facts that a) the best Judge Dredd film ever made is still Robocop and b) it has (coincidentally) exactly the same premise as The Raid, which came out the same year.
KerrChung (46 KP) rated Robocop (1987) in Movies
Jun 13, 2018
story (2 more)
action
explosions
Cyborgpunk?
Contains spoilers, click to show
One of my favorite films. Awesome story, good actors, stunts, puppetry, models, and good Special Effects. This is Paul Verhoeven and Peter Weller's best movie. $50 million budget (in 1987!), with multiple huge explosions, with hundreds of bullets fired, and scores of stuntmen used.
A cop loses his humanity and is brought back to life, he is resurrected as a cyborg super cop who once again regains his humanity and has to learn how to navigate being robot and deal with his past human memories. ED-209 has all the fire power and is just a cool design for a robot/urban tank. The costume and the suit for RoboCop was beautifully designed. Themes include media influence, gentrification, corruption, authoritarianism, greed, privatization, capitalism, identity, dystopia, and human nature. It is a movie well deserved of it's R rating. In one scene RoboCop prevents a rape when he shoots the rapist in the dick. VIOLENT and amazingly poetic.
A cop loses his humanity and is brought back to life, he is resurrected as a cyborg super cop who once again regains his humanity and has to learn how to navigate being robot and deal with his past human memories. ED-209 has all the fire power and is just a cool design for a robot/urban tank. The costume and the suit for RoboCop was beautifully designed. Themes include media influence, gentrification, corruption, authoritarianism, greed, privatization, capitalism, identity, dystopia, and human nature. It is a movie well deserved of it's R rating. In one scene RoboCop prevents a rape when he shoots the rapist in the dick. VIOLENT and amazingly poetic.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2015) in Movies
Jun 6, 2018
Indie drama (with occasional mildly comic overtones) with a rather convoluted genesis (I'm not going through that again). Lonely Japanese woman believes she can change her life by locating the lost ransom money from the (wholly fictional) movie Fargo, sets off for Minnesota.
Brilliant, vanity-free performance by Rinko Kikuchi, who draws you in as a troubled but still engaging character; there are many moving moments. Much of the film is set in urban Tokyo and captures a real sense of the alienation which has such a negative impact on many people in Kumiko's situation. The US end of the film is slightly lighter in tone, equally well written, directed and performed.
Still, even if you've seen Fargo, I imagine this is a rather different and unsettling film, particularly the conclusion. It's ultimately about isolation, delusion, madness and death, and cheerful writing and polished production can only mitigate that so much. But still a very watchable oddity.
Brilliant, vanity-free performance by Rinko Kikuchi, who draws you in as a troubled but still engaging character; there are many moving moments. Much of the film is set in urban Tokyo and captures a real sense of the alienation which has such a negative impact on many people in Kumiko's situation. The US end of the film is slightly lighter in tone, equally well written, directed and performed.
Still, even if you've seen Fargo, I imagine this is a rather different and unsettling film, particularly the conclusion. It's ultimately about isolation, delusion, madness and death, and cheerful writing and polished production can only mitigate that so much. But still a very watchable oddity.
Mikey H. (24 KP) rated The Raid (2011) in Movies
May 26, 2018
Best Fight choreography ever (1 more)
100 minutes of non-stop action, it's beautiful in the way the violence is done. Amazing.
Wow, just wow
Lots of movies get described as "an adrenaline rush, from start to finish" and rarely do they deliver. The Raid does exactly that. The best fight choreography, its more of a violent dance than fighting...stunning in its visceral display. The story is simple, yet goes deeper than just "get the bad guy". It's survival behind enemy lines, at all cost...but manages to preserve the hero's humanity as well. There are mine.t's of little action, but they are filled with nail-biting tension...and with the rate of the body count, there isn't a guarantee even the hero makes it out alive.
Sidenote: while a different movie altogether, yet with the same feel, if you like The Raid then give Dredd (with Karl Urban) a watch. Also a great film, and highly underrated.
Sidenote: while a different movie altogether, yet with the same feel, if you like The Raid then give Dredd (with Karl Urban) a watch. Also a great film, and highly underrated.
Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated Smiley (2012) in Movies
Jul 23, 2018
The ending couldn't save the rest of the movie (3 more)
Cliche plot you have seen before
Bad acting
Annoying characters
The internet's bloody mary
This was a terrible movie
Bloody mary meets unfriended? It feels like a typical supernatural slasher you have seen plenty of times.
None of the characters are likeable, if anything they are actually annoying right from the first start especially the main girl. Again there is no logic, it's not creepy or gory and I found it just boring.
Don't get me wrong I love urban legends when it is done right.
The killer was not designed well, not shown enough and not creepy enough. Only a few deaths that were not scary or gory.
I couldn't wait for this movie to end but I'm happy I watched it so that you don't have to. It was paced horribly and even a good twist at the end couldn't save this movie.
Bloody mary meets unfriended? It feels like a typical supernatural slasher you have seen plenty of times.
None of the characters are likeable, if anything they are actually annoying right from the first start especially the main girl. Again there is no logic, it's not creepy or gory and I found it just boring.
Don't get me wrong I love urban legends when it is done right.
The killer was not designed well, not shown enough and not creepy enough. Only a few deaths that were not scary or gory.
I couldn't wait for this movie to end but I'm happy I watched it so that you don't have to. It was paced horribly and even a good twist at the end couldn't save this movie.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) in Movies
Oct 11, 2018
One of the best slasher films
Like Scream, this is by far one of the best slasher films and is one of my all time favourites. I grew up watching films like this - I may have only been 10 when it first came out in 1997, but my parents weren’t too fussy about renting me these sorts of films - and it was almost mandatory to watch this at every teenage sleepover at high school.
It has a great young and popular cast (back when Jennifer Love Hewitt was good) with a fantastic soundtrack. And not only that, the plot is actually pretty intriguing and even now some of the scenes are pretty scary and creepy - the one in the deserted department store still creeps me out. I’ve always loved the fact that this film plays on the classic urban legend of the man with a hook for a hand, as that was always one of my favourites. They really don’t make slasher films like this anymore.
It has a great young and popular cast (back when Jennifer Love Hewitt was good) with a fantastic soundtrack. And not only that, the plot is actually pretty intriguing and even now some of the scenes are pretty scary and creepy - the one in the deserted department store still creeps me out. I’ve always loved the fact that this film plays on the classic urban legend of the man with a hook for a hand, as that was always one of my favourites. They really don’t make slasher films like this anymore.
David McK (3372 KP) rated The Painted Man (the Demon Cycle, Book 1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
First in "The Demon Cycle", this is very much what I would term a dark fantasy novel: not urban fantasy (like The Dresden Files), not heroic fantasy (David Gemmell) and not high fantasy (Lord of the Rings).
This is set in a world where Demons rise through the ground every night to terrorise/slowly cull the few remaining humans, the novel follows three seperate survivors of such attacks. It's pretty obvious that they are, eventually, going to meet up, which only happens in the latter porion of the book, by which stage one of the survivors has become The Painted Man (i.e. covered in magical wards, which the demons can't stand) of the title.
An enjoyable enough read, but I did find this to be occassionally hard going. I also picked it up when Waterstones had it on sale for about £3: for that price, I'm happy enough, but I also wouldn't be looking for the sequels at full price either.
This is set in a world where Demons rise through the ground every night to terrorise/slowly cull the few remaining humans, the novel follows three seperate survivors of such attacks. It's pretty obvious that they are, eventually, going to meet up, which only happens in the latter porion of the book, by which stage one of the survivors has become The Painted Man (i.e. covered in magical wards, which the demons can't stand) of the title.
An enjoyable enough read, but I did find this to be occassionally hard going. I also picked it up when Waterstones had it on sale for about £3: for that price, I'm happy enough, but I also wouldn't be looking for the sequels at full price either.