Month: March 2019

Awesome Movies 5/5 Stars: Unplanned – Haunting and Powerful

Julie Gilbert Based on True Story, drama, women's fiction , , , ,
General promo image, found on Google.

*Spoilers coming in discussion; more after ads*

Summary:

If you read the synopsis or saw the trailer for this movie, you know what’s going to happen. In that sense, it’s like the Titanic. I tend not to like those kinds of stories. Abby Johnson’s journey from clinic director and champion of Planned Parenthood to Pro-Life Crusader is both powerful and haunting, regardless of which side of the debate you fall on.

Additional Comments:

  • Not sure which details changed and how, but they at least told a coherent story. 
  • They definitely pulled some film making stunts I am not a fan of. Started with a point from 3/4 of the way in then backed up to tell the rest of the story as flashback…8 yrs ago sort of thing.
  • Music was mostly tasteful and excellently paired with scenes. But the discordant, painful to hear violin notes during the part where she had the chemical abortion falls in the cheap-tricks-I-don’t-appreciate category. I get it, but it still stunk.
  • Lady who played Abby certainly had to cry a lot. She pulled off the performance pretty well. Some of the others were a tad less polished, but overall the acting earned 4/5 stars.
  • Opening weekend and probably for awhile there will be only pro-lifers seeing this. That’s fine. It can still do good. Love it or hate it, a LOT of people are going to have an opinion of it. Funniest sad review was 1/2 star saying they refused to see this rubbish. Do people not realize they only put their ignorance on display when they do stuff like that?
  • Definitely going to be a polarizing movie. Cliche as it might be, yes, they are preaching to the choir here, but I am not sure that has ever been done on this topic. My favorite review was by a pro-choice lady challenging others to go see this and test their beliefs. Don’t blindly pick a side because it feels right in the moment. Know what you believe and why

Who should see this?

Youth groups, high school students, college Christian fellowships, anyone ever considering an abortion, die-hard pro-choicers, etc.

It’s only in “select” theaters, but they’re definitely there. I saw it in an AMC. I know there are several other AMC’s that also have it, though it might not be all of them.

Why is it Rated R?

It’s rated R because there is definitely disturbing content. That’s probably the most blood I have seen in a movie ever (because I don’t do stupid slasher movies). It’s all tastefully handled but the details about abortion alone are enlightening and disturbing. I think there is one curse word.

Is it approved for teens?

Definitely.

Conclusion:

Go see this movie. Then, go find a friend and see it again.

Associate links to follow…

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 Alert*
Where did I cry?

I have never cried so much at a movie. First off, I’m a sympathetic crier, so if somebody is crying, I tend to tear up too. Second, wow, this is powerful stuff.

I don’t remember the 5-7 times I cried during this movie, but here’s what I recall:

  • When they are praying over the canisters of medical waste (all the aborted fetuses)
  • When Rhonda’s mother was pleading with her not to abort her baby … and Rhonda was striding into the clinic with her 4-5 year old.
  • When Abby wrestled with the 22,000 abortions she helped with/felt responsible for during the course of her career.
  • When they portrayed the abortion itself. That scene is essentially in the movie twice. Once at the beginning and once where it should be in the timeline.

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 Stars: Vanished by Christer Tholin

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, mystery , , ,
got pic from Amazon

Summary:

Looking to reset his life, Martin takes a vacation to Sweden and gets more than he bargained for. He makes plans to meet up with a nice lady and winds up searching for her. He’s not kin, so the police won’t listen to him, but he can’t just forget about her either.

Additional Comments:

– Characters 3.5/5 stars: Martin’s a decent chap. He really wants to save Liz, even though he just met her. Liz is gorgeous and in trouble. She’s got the perfect life, unless you count the people kidnapping her. Elin and Lars step in as private detectives at Martin’s behest.

– Plot 3.5/5 stars: It would have been a tad more believable if Liz and Martin knew each other a little bit longer. Quite a few other things happen after that, but I won’t say much more to avoid spoilers.

– Narration 4/5 stars: The characters aren’t super distinguishable, but the performance is solid and males/females are distinct.

– Potential 3.5/5 stars: There’s decent potential for the series as a whole. Lars and Elin don’t have great chemistry as partners, but the type of detective work they do here is believable.

– Content Warnings: some violence, some language, fade to black type adult scenes, same sex couple

Conclusion:

There’s definite potential for the series to go somewhere great. I’d say this is a fair introduction to a mystery series. It’s a little hard to tell who the main characters are though. Martin gets a LOT of page time, but I think the rest of the series is going to focus on the detectives.

Associate links to follow…

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

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 stars: Beneath the Roots by W.K. Greyling

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Fantasy, romance, Young Adult , ,

Summary:

Mer doesn’t like Avry, but she might have to marry him. Rather than succumb to that fate, she runs away, setting off a chain of events that will alter her life—and his—forever.

Additional Comments:

– Characters 3.5/5: Mer and Avry are likable enough eventually. However, at first, I distinctly remember a few moments of wanting to reach in and smack sense into this girl. Gandel, the Fae Prince, had more potential than he lived up to, but he might be back in a later book.

– Plot 3.5/5 stars: The beginning third of the book started out very slowly. I think most of the events there could have been summed up in a more pointed prologue. Some scenes came off as completely superfluous. The scenes that matter are awesome.

– World-building 3.5/5 stars: This is a double-edged sword. Some people are going to love the rich details. Others are going to be annoyed that the detail bogs down the flow of the story. In the audiobook, I think there’s about 5-7 minutes devoted to the mechanics of how a ball worked and who got to dance with whom. While this provides a lot of background and makes the world more real, it detracts from flow, which isn’t always a great tradeoff.

– Closure 2/5: It’s pretty much set up to run you into the sequel.

Conclusion:

If you like fantasy worlds with intriguing takes on the fae, this is the first half of a duology that you might enjoy.

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 3/5 Stars: Captive State

Julie Gilbert dystopia, Movie Reviews, scifi , , , , ,
Upon looking back… this is as confusing as the movie

Summary:

Two brothers get orphaned when the world’s suddenly taken over by aliens. One supposedly dies a hero in the early days of resistance. The other, just goes about his business in a factory sorting old pictures from data cards. He wants out of Chicago, but he’s trapped, like everybody else. John Goodman plays a cop (the partner of the detective who died leaving two pre-teen sons). He’s trying to keep the surviving kid safe, in his own way.

Additional Comments:

– Was my intro summary confusing? Well, it ain’t gonna get much better if you see the movie.

– Plot 3/5 stars: It’s very disjointed. Things make sense in the end, and there’s a bit of satisfaction in knowing that. Still, the first half of the movie hardly seems related to each other.

– Film choices 3/5: I’m certain there’s a better word than that, but some of the angles they chose to employ were stupid. For large sections, there was a complete top-down view. That made sense in some cases and not in others. Also, several spots featured closeups to the actors. I mean, you should see this dude’s pores and nose hairs close. Finally, shaky cam. There is no reason to have the man/woman with the camera following some poor actor at a jog. I get that it’s supposed to induce a sense of urgency. I got mild nausea and sweeping irritation as a result.

– Characters 3.5/5: Besides not really knowing most of these people’s names, you do get to follow quite a few people on both sides of the “conflict” – those who help the alien invaders and those who want to fight for freedom.

– Comments on the aliens: I might have taken them more seriously if they didn’t resemble ticked off porcupines. The tracking bugs were devious, gross, and kinda cool. The alien ship looked like a runaway anthill. Ender’s Game this is not.

– End twist 4/5: I enjoyed the end twist. Yes, you can see it coming, but it’s still satisfying and finally ties up at least some of the crazy random threads that permeate this movie.

Conclusion:

Weird movie. Not necessarily an emotional lift, but I guess it’s okay. To be fair, I’m not a huge fan of dystopia. This is billed as scifi, but it’s more dystopia (world’s gone to the aliens).

Associate links to follow…

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

Audiobook Reviews 3.45/5 Stars: The Loudest Meow

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, children's, Fantasy, ghosts , , ,

3.45/5 Fun Fluff for Cat Fans

*will try to keep this spoiler free until after ads

Summary:

Jem’s dead. She’s also a cat. She ends up in a weird cat heaven of sorts. Her sole goal is to make it back to Molly and Nick. In the afterlife, she meets several of Molly and Nick’s old cats.

Additional Comments:

  • It’s cute. It’s unique.
  • Characters 4/5: Jem’s cute. The rest of the eclectic ghost cast is sort of forgettable, but there are some really great dynamics of love and hate and jealousy. It’s like middle school.
  • World-building 4/5: The world created is fine fantasy in that it’s plausible and well-described.
  • Plot 2/5: It’s pretty much one random event after another meandering to nowhere. I guess you could say it’s about Jem’s emotional journey, but I’m used to more action in stories.
  • Audiobook version is fun, though I will say that Marmalade’s voice got very old, very quickly. Thankfully, she’s really only prominent in the first third of the book.
  • Can’t make heads or tails of what the title has to do with the story.

Conclusion:

Although clearly kid-friendly, I’m not exactly buying into the idea of this book actually being aimed at kids in grades 4-7. I’d broaden the general appeal to “people who love cats.”

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 talk:

  • Continued thoughts on plot: When they were meeting to help Rusty, did they actually do anything? I got the feeling they met and sort of sent him positive vibes.
  • The whole check in process, training process, etc was cool, but it never went anywhere.
  • They’re already dead, so there wasn’t much sense of danger or suspense.
  • The story doesn’t have much closure except that Jem seems to have accepted her fate.

Movie Reviews 4/5 Stars: Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

Julie Gilbert Family, Movie Reviews, mystery , ,
Not my image… but it’s essentially same stuff as the general promo posters

*spoilers and more discussion after ads

Summary:

The latest in a long series of reboots of a character classic. Sophia Lillis plays a particularly young version of the plucky amateur detective. Having read over 500 books that were either Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys related, I can safely say, I’m a fan of the franchise. That said, this movie’s a decent addition, but I’m not entirely pleased with every choice they made in bringing her into his century. Most of that might have to do with the fact that I didn’t like the latest turn the books took either.

Additional Comments:

  • When I watch a movie, I judge it based on one question: “was I entertained?”. Answer for this movie, yes. Further though, I think about replay value. Answer this round: meh.
  • I know it can’t be the old school classic books many people fell in love with ages ago. That said, they changed quite a few details.
  • Cool changes: It’s modern. There are cell phones and the internet and greed as the center point for the mystery.
  • Weird changes (classic book series to 2019 movie): Carson Drew and Hannah are siblings. George is African American. (Don’t get me wrong, the actress, Zoe Renee, did a great job with the role. It just seemed like the casting move came more from a need to stay politically correct than to stay true to source material.) Bess isn’t blond. According to this, Bess is not the brainy one.
  • Not sure who they aimed at in making this movie. If it’s for kids, it’s probably a fail. If it’s for the millions of adults who loved Nancy Drew growing up, it’s a maybe.
  • Plot 3.5/5: There was at least one point where I was like “wait, what? How the heck would you conclude that?” (Rant later on some plot points.)

Conclusion:

Whether this is the right movie for you depends mainly on your expectations. If you’re looking for a decent movie very loosely based off a beloved classic character, go for it. If you’re looking for inklings of the actual Nancy Drew you grew up imagining, brace for disappointment.

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:

  • Minirant: At one point, they break into the high school and work overnight in the chemistry lab. As a chemistry teacher, I cannot condone that sort of behavior, ever. If this is a movie for kids, it’s setting an absolutely terrible precedent. No, I don’t think kids are likely gonna be like “she did it. Cool. I’m gonna do that,” but it’s still irresponsible to put that sort of behavior in a positive spin, even in a fluff movie.
  • Minirant 2 Characterization: Not sure I entirely like the characterization of Nancy here. She’s always been brave and bold, but this version starts out by pranking a cyberbully so that he turns blue. Amusing, yes. And she gets into trouble. Her father says she committed like 5 felonies, and she replies that they’re only felonies if you’re 18. BTW, in the books, she was 18. The old Nancy Drew was polite to a fault, always loved her father and the housekeeper who raised her. This new kid “borrowed” Hannah’s car to go save her father.
  • Besides making Nancy probably 16, they changed the plot point about her mother dying when she was three. Since I haven’t kept super close tabs on the many iterations of the series, I don’t know when that happened.
  • The Mystery itself: There’s a town feud going on about whether or not they should run a train through. While on community service for the prank she pulled to avenge Bess’s humiliation, Nancy hears an old lady speaking to the Sheriff about her hunted house. Naturally, she wants to investigate. Grounded or not, she gets permission to sleep over and experience the hauntings. Turns out they were dosed with a chemical in nutmeg and hallucinated. Nancy’s father is trying to keep the train out. When he fails to check in, she tracks him to a motel and sees him get kidnapped. She then concludes he must be taken to the haunted house with the hidden staircase and goes save the day.

 

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 Stars: Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Nonfiction , ,

By Matthew O’Brien

Narrated by Alan Carlson

Summary:

Matthew O’Brien chronicles his experiences exploring the depths of the underground society that exists in the flood drains beneath Las Vegas.

Additional Comments:

  • To be honest, not sure why anybody would want to explore the tunnels beneath Las Vegas for the heck of it, but it makes for an interesting audiobook.
  • We get a good mix of personal life tales. They sort of blend together after a while.
  • The people there are like the homeless anywhere else. They have hopes, dreams, and often, addictions to deal with. Some have fought in wars. Some get visits from their families. Some are downright crazy.
  • Nonfiction’s not really my thing, but since I’d mentioned the tunnel people in a book, I gave this one a shot. Overall, I’m glad I did, even though I can’t in good conscience include the book on my promo list of clean works.
  • Content warnings: Very strong language. To be fair, in many cases, it fits as part of the recorded conversations this guy had with real people.
  • Descriptions of life inside the tunnels are good. It’s interesting to see how people make it by hustling credits or selling their bodies for food or drugs. Besides the fact that you’re one strong rain from drowning, it’s a pretty nice place to be homeless in terms of temperature being steady.

Conclusion:

An honest look at a harsh reality. The book doesn’t offer many answers to the problem of homelessness, nor should it. What it offers is a chance to give a voice to those who for one reason or another call the storm drains beneath Las Vegas home. If you can deal with strong language, I highly recommend it.

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: Fighting with My Family

Julie Gilbert comedy, drama, Family, Movie Reviews , ,
standard movie poster

Summary:

An unusually touching look at WWE’s Paige’s (Florence Pugh) journey from obscurity to superstardom. We don’t get to control our families, but sometimes, their obsessions take control of our futures. That’s sort of what happened for Paige.

Additional Comments:

  • Pretty sure they changed some stuff for the movie, but it still worked.
  • Saraya Knight had quite the upbringing. She ended up filling in for her dad in one of their wrestling events and fell in love with the whole thing. She then grew up doing regular bouts with her brother and parents. That part’s glossed over, but they only have so much time to tell a film.
  • It was interesting to see the lady who played Cersi play Saraya’s mother (Lena Headey). She did a decent job with the performance, but I’m probably forever gonna type cast her in my head.
  • Rest of the cast did a nice job too. (Nick Frost played Ricky Knight – her father; Jack Lowden played Zak Knight – her brother; Vince Vaughn played Coach Hutch) Had to read it on a cast list, but it’s cool that Zak Knight got to play a bit part in the movie.
  • The movie covers a pretty wide range of emotions from the mixed elation/agony of winning a slot to go to Florida to train but not having her brother make it too to the public bullying that’s only part “showbiz” to the final battle and triumph.
  • The parts with the Rock were amusing. It’s only mildly disappointing that they didn’t actually happen.
  • Content warnings: crude humor.

Conclusion:

A surprisingly moving film that follows a young woman and her family through the journey to WWE fame.

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: Captain Marvel

Julie Gilbert Action Adventure, Fantasy, Movie Reviews, superhero , , ,
Generic, very flashy movie poster

*Will be spoiler free-ish until the end*

4.5/5 Captain Marvel

Summary:

Vers can’t remember who she is or where she came from. Guess she has classic heroine amnesia. Nevertheless, this plays a big role in her journey from chick with cool powers to full-blown hero who can give a good smack down to the evildoers.

Additional Comments:

– Story (4.5/5 stars) – Don’t know how the story compares to the comics as I’ve never read them. But I think they did a nice job taking what was probably a long, long list of comics and beating it into a coherent tale. It’s classic hero’s journey, but it still works.

– Pacing (3.5/5 stars) – There’s a lot of backstory to cover. It works overall, but led to some sections that felt sluggish compared to the rest.

– Humor (4/5 stars) – It’s light on humor, but the bits of it included work very well. Specifics in spoiler section.

– I missed several very key lines because of audience reactions, but I suppose that’s part of the experience too.

– Twists (5/5 stars) – Even if you saw them coming from a million miles away, they still worked.

– Fury’s eyepatch story is epic. That is all.

Conclusion:

Definitely worth seeing on the big screen, and definitely worth watching at least twice.

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:
– Funny parts: This is where I think there will be good replay value.
– Goose basically eating some of the bad guys. Okay, so essentially it went all rathtar on them. Still a Disney property I guess.
– Our girl punching out the little old lady.
– Goose hacking up the tesseract. (End credit scene)
– Powerful moments:
– The beginning “Thank you Stan” darn near made me cry. Also, it was kind of funny that they made every face his on the beginning marvel intro.
– Carol letting Lieutenant Trouble pick her colors. The resulting uniform alone got some cheers. Ah, fanboys (and girls). Got to love ’em. Even when you wanna throw popcorn at them and tell them “shut up and watch the movie already.”
– They actually did a very good job with her mental journey to break free of the Supreme Intelligence. The flashback getting up scenes were probably overdone, but I’ll let it slide because the overall mission got accomplished.

Alita: Battle Angel – Worth Seeing Twice

Julie Gilbert dystopia, Movie Reviews, scifi , ,

*Will likely contain spoilers
Introduction:

A friend wanted to see Alita in Dolby. Since I have A-List and I’m currently between books, I decided to tag along. It was a great idea. Alita has some serious replay value.

Additional Comments:

– As my friend pointed out, the dialogue has a lot of foreshadowing. I definitely did not pick up on that first time around.
– Once you know the plot, you can focus on more of the story and characterization.
– I tend not to agree with most critics, but it’s a little surprising that it’s getting quite a few meh responses. It’s highly entertaining.
– Things I noticed:
– More of Chiren’s development. I think she changed the most throughout the story.
– Tanji really isn’t an Alita fan. I mean it was obvious the first time but moreso the second time.
– The reason she walks into the bar and picks a fight.
– Everybody in this world holds some serious grudges, especially most of the hunter warriors.
– Things I missed:
– Quite a few characters are only named like once. I missed it the first time. I missed it the second time.

Conclusion:

If you get the chance to see Alita twice. Take it.

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