Month: February 2019

4.5/5 stars (rounded): The Freedman: Tales From a Revolution by Lars D. H. Hedbor

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, historical , , ,

Narrated by Shaaman Casey

Summary:

Jupiter/Calabar is a slave whose master dies. He has a particular skill for judging indigo, but his master’s son sees no value in that because he plans to turn the land into tobacco farmland. Thus, he sets the man free and kicks him off the property.

Additional Comments:

  • I’ve heard 2 of the other Tales of a Revolution series. While I’d give the series as a whole a solid 4, this particular story is fantastic. (The NJ one was okay – way too much period specific language – and the West FL one was a tad boring.) The rating I gave this book is not just me judging being politically correct. Of the series, I found it the most interesting in terms of plot and characters and inclusion of history.
  • The point about the owner immediately freeing Calabar instead of trying to sell him first seems a stretch. I suppose it was necessary to the plot, but even a sentence or two about him trying and failing would have made that a tad more realistic. The master (Young Green) is described as a penny pincher, so letting money walk off in the form of a healthy slave doesn’t seem true to his character.
  • Race relations are a tricky topic to tackle, especially when depicting the dark time in American history where slavery ruled a large section of the country.
  • Calabar’s journey from slavery to freedman is largely blessed by a fairy god-mother in the form of a kind merchant who sort of takes him under his wing, stands up for him, and defends him whenever he can.
  • There’s a happy ending of sorts, but it’s still somewhat realistic in that not everything goes Calabar’s way. He and his family face some very tough things headon.
  • Narration: Well done. I love the narrator’s voice and it’s absolutely perfect for the book. He handles different voices well.
  • Side Note: Every audiobook, the author reads the thank you personally. While he’s a fantastic writer, he also works with an excellent narrator and should probably just let the man read that part. It’s jarring to hear a completely different voice suddenly break in with a historical note or whatnot.

Conclusion:

Great entry in a good series.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Movie Reviews 4/5 Stars: Cold Pursuit

Julie Gilbert Movie Reviews, suspense, thriller , , , ,
neat movie teaser poster

*Spoilers will be after the Ads

Summary:

Liam Neeson plays Nels Coxman whose son Kyle gets killed because of a drug thing he probably wasn’t even involved in.

Additional Comments:

– It reminded me of Bad Times at the El Royale. (More on that later.)

– Liam Neeson often plays these sorts of characters. One man vs. the world sorts of tales.

– Random – I feel like I’ve seen Tom Bateman (Trevor “Viking” Calcote) before, but I totally can’t remember where. I checked his Rotten Tomatoes page and still come up blank. Weird.

– Emmy Rosum plays Kim Dash, a young, idealistic cop in the small town.

– Humor 4/5 stars: Their humor is dark but hilarious at times.

– Story 4/5 stars: It’s a pretty straightforward story, but they manage to throw in a few twists and heart-tuggy moments.

– I enjoyed the fact that it didn’t rely on curse words to carry the dialogue. Little moments mattered to the plot too. That was cool to see.

Conclusion:

It’s worth seeing eventually. Not sure it’s a “must see in theaters” type flick, but if you like twisty tales of revenge with murder and mayhem as part of the package deal, this is for you.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Spoiler Section:

– What made it feel like Bad Times at the El Royale? Well, they weren’t afraid to kill off characters. I also think they made some of the same directing choices in terms of how they told the story.

– The way they chose to show who died was awesome. It’s a little cross or symbol that represents them well with their name and nickname on a black screen. I laughed out loud when the credits page rolled up with “In order of disappearance.”

– This is definitely a movie where you’re going to lose track of the body count.

– Viking’s obsession with health and correcting the dude’s grammar was kind of funny.

Awesome Movies Review 4.5/5 Stars: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, children's, Family, Fantasy, Movie Reviews , , , , , ,
Not my pic – standard poster

*Spoilers after ads

Summary:

Hiccup, Toothless, and the How to Train Your Dragon crew returns for a final adventure to the trilogy. (Though let’s be honest, if it makes money, they’ll find a way to get a 4th story and make it a cycle.) Hiccup and company have fought hard to create a dragon-human utopia. And it works, sort of. It also draws a lot of unwanted attention.

Additional Comments:

– Dragon based stories generally fall into the “dragons are adorable” or “dragons are terrifying” sides. Though they’re definitely mostly on the “adorable” side, the makers of this movie managed to include some super scary dragons as well.

– Story 4/5: Hiccup’s way of life is threatened, so he tries to move on. His clan faces big trials. Toothless meets a lightfury and falls in love (not a spoiler since that’s pretty much all the trailer and the posters focus on). There’s good balance between the two halves of the story.

– Fight Scenes 4/5: Most reminded me of the Battle for Naboo (plains side), where Jar Jar Binks is fighting off droids and succeeding despite complete ineptness. There is an exception to that noted below. Hiccup’s sword is pretty awesome though and there are some pretty sweet moves here and there.

– Flashbacks 4/5: Not usually a fan, but I think it worked well here.

– Conflict 4.5/5: Toothless and Hiccup are at an interesting point in their relationship and in life. They handled the themes with care.

– Humor 3/5: The comic relief characters had way too much screentime, and they weren’t particularly funny. On the other hand, the awkward scenes with Toothless and the Lightfury were downright hilarious.

– Epilogue 4.5/5: Not really a huge fan of epilogues, but this one worked for me. More on that later…

– Visuals 4.5/5: comments below.

Random trailer comment: I’m such a sucker for Nancy Drew, I’ll probably watch the reboot.

Conclusion:

Excellent movie worth seeing a few times. One of the rare movies where I think it matters to have it in 3D. Entertaining and fun as well as pretty (if you can get past the overdone sections of stupid humor.)

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Spoiler Section:

– Music 4.5/5: Favorite score was the one playing while Toothless and the lightfury weave in and out of the campsite.

– Visuals 4.5/5: It’s a very pretty movie when they’re not focusing on stupid humor. The Hidden World piece is only like 5 minutes long, but it’s beautiful and majestic. I think you see the best part in the theatrical trailer.

– Best fight scene: The escape from Grimmel’s trap.

– Most of Ruffnut’s dialogue was stupid but the part where she annoyed the heck out of Gimmel was quite impressive. (Even though the evil mastermind planned for it.)

– Epilogue comments: Baby dragons! Awwwwww. They’re so flippin’ cute.

4/5 Stars: Heart of Ikchani by Craig A. Price, Jr.

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Fantasy , , ,

Narrated by Anne Marie Lewis

Summary:

Women from several backgrounds have had it with the incompetent, cruel, or corrupt rule of men. So, they decide to form their own society.

Additional Comments:

  • Intriguing concepts. I’ve heard other books by this author from this world. It’s pretty well fleshed out.
  • If you’re looking for stories with strong female leads, you’ve definitely found one. Everyone from the duke’s daughter to the bread-maker’s daughter who can control magic has a story and a reason for seeking a society free of men.
  • Humor: There are a few lighthearted moments, like the times one of the women turns her foes into toads.
  • Not exactly a kid-friendly fantasy, but a fun one nonetheless. The solution these women have to their troubles probably wouldn’t work, but it’s interesting to read. I can see this sparking some interesting conversations in a college lit class.
  • Narration was handled well. The audio didn’t have any weird background noise or anything distracting like that. The narrator kept distinct voices. I wasn’t in love with the voice for every character, but that’s neither here nor there, just personal preference. If you get a story like this with a lot of voices, there’s bound to be some that just don’t resonate with you.
  • Warnings: Contains fantasy violence and adult concepts.  This author doesn’t pull punches when it comes to describing violence. The sex scenes aren’t described in great detail but there are several references to rape.

Conclusion:

Not kid-friendly! But a well-written, fun, female character driven short fantasy novel. If you’re a Crimson Claymore fan, you should check this book out.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Movie Reviews 3.75 Stars: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, children's, Family , , , , ,
Random movie poster found for this one.

Summary:

Picking up a few years after the last Lego movie ending, this one has our heroes facing a bleak existence in a post-apocalyptic world. Nevertheless, dear Emmet is still just his happy-go-lucky self. Lucy would like him to grow up and face reality.

Additional Comments:

  • So corny, it hurts.
  • You have to expect that it’s going to have the same oddball brand of humor that the first did. There’s an entire song about credits as the credit roll.
  • There are a few intriguing twists.
  • Most of the humor is aimed at adults.
  • Character development is decent.
  • I loved the building scenes and enjoyed the little references to which set numbers applied to each unique piece.
  • I enjoyed how they wove the people and the Lego stories together again.
  • Kid-friendly movie.
  • Songs as a whole here kind of stink.
  • I pretty much knew from the trailer what to expect.
  • Totally jealous of the Lego collection these people have. Literally thousands of dollars in the little building toys.

Conclusion:

Not going down as my favorite movie this year, but I’m glad I saw it once.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Awesome Movie Reviews 4.5/5 Stars: Alita: Battle Angel

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, dystopia, scifi , ,
One of the movie posters for the movie.

*I will attempt to put spoilers at the end

Summary:

A damaged cyborg (destroyed body, intact core and brain) is discovered in the trash heap by Doc Ido, a man who repairs machine parts in people. She doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or what she was supposed to be doing. Doc puts her in a new body and so Alita comes into being.

Additional Comments:

  • Character development 4.5/5: I think Dr. Chiren (Jennifer Connelly) had the most character development. Doc’s stubborn but has a heart of gold at the beginning and the end. Alita (Rosa Salazar) develops a bit too.
  • Plot 4.5/5 stars: Surprisingly complex for an action movie of this sort. It’s more than just a teenage girl cyborg discovering herself, it’s about a battle angel remembering her identity and deciding to fight for those she loves.  
  • Action/Fight scenes 5/5 stars: CGI like crazy, but still cool to watch. Not sure it’s worth extra to see in 3D, but I did end up seeing it in 3D/Imax and the experience was pretty neat. There were a few chase scenes, but they didn’t seem like random action movie write-ins for the sake of including a chase scene.
  • Music 4/5: Wasn’t impressed in the beginning, but the first credits song and most of the music throughout fit well.
  • Humor 4/5 stars: It had its moments between the dark ones. Will include some highlights below.
  • Ending 4/5 stars: They’re certainly gunning for a sequel. Box office scores will determine whether or not they get their wish. At the same time, I believe they had enough closure to make this feel like a completed story.
  • Warnings: High level of violence. But that was apparent even in the trailer.

Conclusion:

One of those movies that is better on a big screen. Jury’s still out on whether the normal digital experience is just as good, but seeing things in 3D was cool.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.


OR

Spoiler Section:

Humorous points:

  • Alita discovering a favorite food – chocolate or eating an orange for the first time.
  • When the dog-loving hunter warrior goes after the guy beating on Alita and comments “He wasn’t a dog-lover. I hate that.”
  • When Alita’s body gets destroyed and Doc finally puts her in the Beserker shell and the nanotech fashions her to what she thinks her body is … and the nurse comments that Alita’s a bit older than Doc had originally imagined.
  • Alita and Hugo (Keenan Johnson) share a touching but intense moment and she breaks it by finally apologizing and acknowledging that it was indeed an intense moment.
  • When Zapan gets his face cut off. He catches it and is just standing there like “you cut off my beautiful face.”

Daring point:

  • They weren’t shy about offing characters. Technically, Hugo could still be alive. Alita fell from the sky city too and her brain was intact, so who knows. Didn’t think they’d kill Hugo’s friend. It’s depicted as a violent, largely lawless world, so it makes sense.