Polish Wings 20: Yakovlev Yak-1, Yak-3, Yak-7, Yak-9
Wojciech Zmyslony and Wojciech Sankowski
Book
This new book in the popular Polish Wings series tells the story of the most famous family of Soviet...
DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 2: Allies
8.0
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The shadow of WWII looms ever larger as the Bombshells battle the Axis Powers across the globe. In...
Adventures of a British Master Spy: The Memoirs of Sidney Reilly
Book
The autobiography of the so-called 'Ace of Spies', the master of deception Ian Fleming would later...
Kafka on the Shore
9.5
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Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from...
Keep Smiling Through by Vera Lynn
Album
Brand-new, never heard before versions of re-orchestrated classic Vera Lynn songs with her...
The Longest Ride
8.0
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Book
Two couples. Two love stories. One epic tale. Ninety-one-year-old Ira Levinson is in trouble....
The Birthday of Eternity (Comfort & Company, #2)
Book
L.A. private investigators Kit and Henry become entangled in the city's robust post-WWII occult...
Historical Mystery Private Dectectve Series
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Greyhound (2020) in Movies
Mar 11, 2021
Add his latest film GREYHOUND, to the list of films that brings a face to a heretofore unknown (at least to me) group of heroes.
Based on the book THE GOOD SHEPHERD by C.S. Forester and adapted for the screen by Hanks himself, GREYHOUND tells the story of a Commander of a U.S. Navy escort ship, helping cargo ships cross the Atlantic Ocean - an Ocean filled with enemy submarines.
Hanks, of course, plays Commander Ernest Krause, Captain of the USS Keeling, code named “Greyhound”, who is on his first mission. As one might imagine, Hanks imbues Krause with a common decency and you inherently trust Krause’s instincts as he makes split second decision after split second decision. What surprised me about Hanks in this role is his “steely resolve” in dealing with the problems. You can see his brain working as he makes pragmatic decision after pragmatic decision - sometimes not the most “human” decisions - but the right decisions after all.
This is both the strength and the problem with this film - Hanks’ character is NEVER wrong, so after awhile, the tension on the Bridge with Capt. Krause being questioned on his decisions, is never really there.
But, that is a “nit” in this film for Director Aaron Schneider has constructed a taunt and tight thriller that is non-stop action from start to finish. He wisely decided to keep the film at a tight 90 minutes and keep the action flying (versus putting in a couple of “character building scenes” that could have stretched the runtime). He does shoehorn in a flashback scene between Krause and his lady love (played by Elisabeth Shue), a scene that is not really needed, but besides this he focuses his attention on the Greyhound and it’s mission and this is a smart move that the film benefits from.
Director Schneider relies, heavily, on the Special F/X recreating the Atlantic sea battles and, for the most part, it succeeds. BUT…from time-to-time I felt like I was watching a video game - and not a film. The F/X (at times) was just not feature film quality that drew me away from the emotion and the action on the screen.
With the Global Pandemic, this film’s theatrical release was cancelled and it was put on Apple TV+(where you can find it today), so I can forgive the lower F/X results…but just a little.
All-in-all a fun thrill ride, with a terrific central performance, in a film that shows an aspect of WWII I had not previously scene portrayed on film before.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated Not by Sight in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Grace Mabry is full of patriotic ideals. She believes there is no excuse for fit and able young men to stay home and drink champagne and attend fancy parties. Grace sneaks into a masquerade ball to hand out white feathers of cowardice in her efforts to aide the war. She slips a feather into the hands of Jack Benningham, heir to the Earl of Stonebrook. Unbeknownst to her the events that are set into motion by that one act. Both Jack and Grace are soon forced to learn the true meaning of walking by faith, not by sight.
"She taught me to never back down and to always stand up for what I believed in."
Not by Sight has to be one of the most spellbinding books that I have read. On multiple occasions I had to remind myself to breathe. I couldn't even put the book down to walk from point A to point B. And my eyes kept sliding to the end of each page, and therefore causing me to reread the whole page again. The depth of feeling and emotion between the characters is very real. I found the personalities very developed and would love it if Grace were to ring me up and we could discuss her whole adventure. The story line changes perspectives between more characters than I had expected, but it gave valuable insight into the circumstances that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. I was constantly reminded of the BBC show Land Girls (Netflix) which is set during WWII. There is another show called Bomb Girls (Netflix), also WWII, that is similar but set in a munitions factory rather than on a farm. Both are excellent, and I highly recommend them. Pick up a copy of Not by Sight and be transported to the middle of WWI. Say goodbye to housework and sleep, because this intriguing story will completely pull you in. I am on my way to re-watch both shows now!
I received a free copy of Not by Sight from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.
Lindsay (1760 KP) rated The Last Plane out of Paris in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Things to got from bad to worse but how are the German getting the information Though things are getting more execting has the book goes on. Their original mission is failed though they get a new mission. The new mission is to save a person that is to land in England. I am so in to this book for it give you sence of what happening before the United States enter the WWII.
I am looking forward to find out more about this even though it part fiction and part fact. I am waitting to see if there another book to follow.