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graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, #2) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Wow, another great book by Ms. Harrison! I loved <i>The Good, the Bad, and the Undead</i> and had a hard time putting it down. The only reason I'm not giving it a ten is for editing; there were mistakes using tenses (or it just could be possible missing letters) and a major forgotten character (not a major character, just part of this particular plot) that may be missing/dead/or who knows what. Also, since it has been awhile since I read <i>Dead Witch Walking</i>, I don't remember who Francis is and there's no mini-recap for him. Oh well, now I need to get the first book so I can re-read it! :)
As for the rest of the story, I really like Rachel, although I don't know about the direction the author is taking (or had taken) with Ivy; it just seems too much like the Anita Blake thing with what's-his-name, at least a tad bit. The way Nick was written in this book detracted from the little bit readers got out of the first book, and frankly, he could be a major pain-in-the-@$$! I'm a bit disappointed in how he's portrayed, but the other two males in this series are way more exciting and intriguing than he is. I'm sorry to say that, but it's the truth, and maybe Kim Harrison plans on phasing him out of future books. Luckily I have the next two books handy!
4.5 stars
As for the rest of the story, I really like Rachel, although I don't know about the direction the author is taking (or had taken) with Ivy; it just seems too much like the Anita Blake thing with what's-his-name, at least a tad bit. The way Nick was written in this book detracted from the little bit readers got out of the first book, and frankly, he could be a major pain-in-the-@$$! I'm a bit disappointed in how he's portrayed, but the other two males in this series are way more exciting and intriguing than he is. I'm sorry to say that, but it's the truth, and maybe Kim Harrison plans on phasing him out of future books. Luckily I have the next two books handy!
4.5 stars
Merissa (12698 KP) rated Magic Born (The Guardian #2) in Books
Jul 6, 2018
Magic Born (The Guardian #2) by Rayanne Haines
Magic Born is the second book in The Guardian series, and it does follow on from the first, so you do need to read this in order. We met both Neeren and Mar in the first book. Neeren is Alex's brother whilst Maria is her BFF, and a kick ass witch too.
In book one it became obvious that these two would end up together, although they would both fight it too. And they do, although it changes very quickly. Now, you may consider the circumstances extenuating and say that there was simply no place for games. For me though, it just felt a bit fast, all or nothing!
The pace is fast in this book, and it is excellently written. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep your attention, plus lots of steamy action. If I was being really picky I would say that I wish we had had more of the 'big bad' before we found out who it was. There wasn't really much of a shock involved, simply because a) we didn't really know the character, and b) it made sense!
This was a great continuation of this series, and I am really looking forward to Quinn's book. I really want to see if Lochan has forgiven her for how she left him in book one.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
In book one it became obvious that these two would end up together, although they would both fight it too. And they do, although it changes very quickly. Now, you may consider the circumstances extenuating and say that there was simply no place for games. For me though, it just felt a bit fast, all or nothing!
The pace is fast in this book, and it is excellently written. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep your attention, plus lots of steamy action. If I was being really picky I would say that I wish we had had more of the 'big bad' before we found out who it was. There wasn't really much of a shock involved, simply because a) we didn't really know the character, and b) it made sense!
This was a great continuation of this series, and I am really looking forward to Quinn's book. I really want to see if Lochan has forgiven her for how she left him in book one.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated Gretel & Hansel (2020) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
Grim not Grimm
396. Gretel & Hansel. Do you remember the tale of Hansel and Gretel by the the Grimm Brothers? Well throw it away, because it's 2020 and Girls Rule so Gretel's name is first! Hell, Hansel didn't even make the movie poster! And maybe because its her fault for getting kicked out of their mother's house for not getting a damn job cause times are tough, so get out, and take your brother with you. Thanks mom! At this point, it seems instead of going towards civilization they go further into the woods, tripping on shrooms at one point. After walking for a bit, hunger kicks in, so they break into a house, nice, cause there's a table with a bunch of food to be seen. They get busted of course by the owner, Holda, who takes pity on them and invites them in and feeds em. Too fatten em up to eat them right? Like I said this is 2020, not 1812!! This time Gretel learns the ways of the witch, there's creepy figures in black roaming the woods at night Hansel learns to chop down trees, he's in a trance, whats going on?? In the end, I think it's an arthouse movie about a young girl coming of age, equipped with first period and all, shot like those old Christopher Lee horror movies of the 70's. Also suffers from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves curse, everyone has the same accent, except the freaking star of the movie Gretel! HaHa! Filmbufftim on FB
Email from Ngeti: An Ethnography of Sorcery, Redemption, and Friendship in Global Africa
James H. Smith and Ngeti Mwadime
Book
Email from Ngeti is a captivating story of sorcery, redemption, and transnational friendship in the...
HD
His Dark Materials: BBC Radio Drama Collection: Northern Lights; the Subtle Knife; the Amber Spyglass
Terence Stamp, Philip Pullman, Full Cast and Kenneth Cranham
8.0
Rate It
Book
With a cast including Terence Stamp, Bill Paterson and Kenneth Cranham, these BBC Radio 4 full-cast...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Delayed Admission (Shadow Veil Academy #1) in Books
May 14, 2021
Contains spoilers, click to show
65 of 250
Kindle
Delayed Admission ( Shadow Veil Academy book 1)
By Heather Renee
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Some secrets are better kept.
To Raegan Keyes, she's the only one of her kind, but has no idea what she is. Until, one night, she finds out her unexplainable abilities aren't the only thing she needs to worry about. Suddenly, her world becomes much bigger than she ever could have dreamed.
When a mysterious man named Enzo arrives, too striking to be human, Raegan learns she's not as alone as she believed. As more secrets are revealed, she's swept off to an academy for others like her, thousands of miles away from home, by a complete stranger whom she'd rather stab than travel with.
As tension builds between Raegan and Enzo, she begins to find her purpose as she settles into her new existence, alongside elves, witches, vampires, and shifters. With a group of new friends, she's finally feeling alive again. That is, until something sinister comes along, once more throwing her life into mayhem.
I didn’t really know what to expect but I really ended up enjoying it! I love that Reagan is a dragon with Elf and witch magic it’s something for everyone. I wondered if it would be to YA and it is in parts but still a decent adult read too especially if you’re looking for something light!
Looking forward to more from Heather Renee.
Kindle
Delayed Admission ( Shadow Veil Academy book 1)
By Heather Renee
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Some secrets are better kept.
To Raegan Keyes, she's the only one of her kind, but has no idea what she is. Until, one night, she finds out her unexplainable abilities aren't the only thing she needs to worry about. Suddenly, her world becomes much bigger than she ever could have dreamed.
When a mysterious man named Enzo arrives, too striking to be human, Raegan learns she's not as alone as she believed. As more secrets are revealed, she's swept off to an academy for others like her, thousands of miles away from home, by a complete stranger whom she'd rather stab than travel with.
As tension builds between Raegan and Enzo, she begins to find her purpose as she settles into her new existence, alongside elves, witches, vampires, and shifters. With a group of new friends, she's finally feeling alive again. That is, until something sinister comes along, once more throwing her life into mayhem.
I didn’t really know what to expect but I really ended up enjoying it! I love that Reagan is a dragon with Elf and witch magic it’s something for everyone. I wondered if it would be to YA and it is in parts but still a decent adult read too especially if you’re looking for something light!
Looking forward to more from Heather Renee.
Duff McKagan recommended Raw Power by The Stooges in Music (curated)
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) in Movies
Sep 16, 2020
Dont Bury Me Im Not Dead
The Serpent and The Rainbow- is a excellent voodoo horrror flick. Bill pullman does a fantasic job in this. The visuals are great, the horror is great.
The Plot: In a time of social and political unrest in Haiti, anthropologist Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) travels to the torn country to study a Voodoo drug used in religious practices to turn victims into living zombies. With the help of a witch doctor (Brent Jennings) and a fellow researcher (Cathy Tyson), Dennis pieces together the deadly mystery. But as Dennis uncovers the secrets behind the mysterious powder, he must evade the Haitian authorities who view his research as a potential threat.
During production in Haiti, the local government informed the cast and crew that they could not guarantee their safety for the remainder of the film's shoot because of the political strife and civil turmoil that was occurring during that time; as a result, production was relocated to the Dominican Republic for the remainder of the shoot.
In an interview, Craven stated that unlike his previous films that had problems with the Motion Picture Association of America, the first cut got an R rating without any problems. According to an article from Fangoria #71, the original cut was three hours long but Craven felt that it was too long and talky so it was cut down to 98 minutes. It was then test screened to the audience and their reactions were favorable.
Its a excellent film.
The Plot: In a time of social and political unrest in Haiti, anthropologist Dennis Alan (Bill Pullman) travels to the torn country to study a Voodoo drug used in religious practices to turn victims into living zombies. With the help of a witch doctor (Brent Jennings) and a fellow researcher (Cathy Tyson), Dennis pieces together the deadly mystery. But as Dennis uncovers the secrets behind the mysterious powder, he must evade the Haitian authorities who view his research as a potential threat.
During production in Haiti, the local government informed the cast and crew that they could not guarantee their safety for the remainder of the film's shoot because of the political strife and civil turmoil that was occurring during that time; as a result, production was relocated to the Dominican Republic for the remainder of the shoot.
In an interview, Craven stated that unlike his previous films that had problems with the Motion Picture Association of America, the first cut got an R rating without any problems. According to an article from Fangoria #71, the original cut was three hours long but Craven felt that it was too long and talky so it was cut down to 98 minutes. It was then test screened to the audience and their reactions were favorable.
Its a excellent film.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) in Movies
Nov 27, 2020
This second outing for the full Avengers ensemble is a bit messier than the confident and tight first film, but still manages to be fun and exciting in spite of its flaws.
Once again, the huge positive is the great cast, and the chemistry they all share. The core six Avengers return, and provide the films humour (rightfully scaled back from the all out comedy tone of Guardians) and generally remind everyone why they're the solid backbone of this mammoth franchise.
There are plenty of new faces joining them, most notably Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and all integrate smoothly.
The villain is the titular Ultron (voiced by James Spader), a classic Marvel Comics villain that unfortunately ends up being another one-and-done MCU antagonist. This films main focus is the relationships between the Avengers, and sewing seeds for Civil War, and sadly, Ultron sort of gets pushed aside for this. It's a shame because Spader does a great job of making Ultron a sinister presence, but he ends up being little more than a CGI commander, of a CGI robot army.
Some of the set pieces are great though, particularly the Hulk vs Hulkbuster scene, and the climactic finale, and the child me who grew up reading these comics was nothing short of thrilled to see Vision in action.
Age of Ultron is somewhat underwhelming for a full blown Avengers entry, but still manages to be entertaining. Hopefully, we will see Ultron return in a future installment that has some more depth to it.
Once again, the huge positive is the great cast, and the chemistry they all share. The core six Avengers return, and provide the films humour (rightfully scaled back from the all out comedy tone of Guardians) and generally remind everyone why they're the solid backbone of this mammoth franchise.
There are plenty of new faces joining them, most notably Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and all integrate smoothly.
The villain is the titular Ultron (voiced by James Spader), a classic Marvel Comics villain that unfortunately ends up being another one-and-done MCU antagonist. This films main focus is the relationships between the Avengers, and sewing seeds for Civil War, and sadly, Ultron sort of gets pushed aside for this. It's a shame because Spader does a great job of making Ultron a sinister presence, but he ends up being little more than a CGI commander, of a CGI robot army.
Some of the set pieces are great though, particularly the Hulk vs Hulkbuster scene, and the climactic finale, and the child me who grew up reading these comics was nothing short of thrilled to see Vision in action.
Age of Ultron is somewhat underwhelming for a full blown Avengers entry, but still manages to be entertaining. Hopefully, we will see Ultron return in a future installment that has some more depth to it.
