Watching: RIM OF THE WORLD

Year: 2019
Rating: TV-14
Director: McG
Even after reading a number of other reviews, I don't understand the animosity - even hatred - some people have toward this film. Unsure of what to expect, other than a sci-fi comedy, I went in with little to no expectations and found myself having a pretty decent time with a film that in some ways reminded me of The Goonies. No, nowhere near that classic as far as script, cast or production values - but a fun, even funny misfit-kids-who-band-together-on-a-quest buddy film,with the occasional "holy crap!" moment from the aliens also on board for the ride. Rim of the World follows four loner kids - Alex the nerd (Jack Gore), ZhenZhen the too-serious quiet girl (Miya Cech), Dariush the smart mouth (Benjamin Flores Jr.) and the streetwise Gabriel (Alessio Scalzotto) - who are away at summer camp when an argument drags them all away from their campsite ... just as an alien invasion strikes. Rushing back, the foursome find they have been left behind by the fleeing camp counselors and their fellow students, but they're far from alone when part of a space capsule crashes nearby, the astronaut inside providing them with the key to stopping the invasion - if they can get it to the proper authorities in time. The arrival of a seriously large, pissed, and hungry alien prevents the kids from pondering more than running, and after their initial survival with the other-worldly creature, the rest of the film follows the bickering foursome's more than reluctant quest to save the world. Of course Rim of the World has its hokey moments (and ending), and the inevitable (not to mention unfair) comparisons to "Stranger Things" that have come up definitely haven't painted this film in its best light. But between the four young actors in the leading roles (roles that are, essentially, stereotypes helped tremendously by this cast), along with the film's often snarky and cynical humor, I stand in my shame and admit I really liked this one; going in with zero expectations left me pleasantly surprised.  8/10 stars

Watching: MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN

Year: 2018

Rating: PG-13

Director: Ol Parker

Having been listening to the music of ABBA since 8-track tapes existed and the only way to record songs was off the radio (cursing when the deejay would talk over the intro music), when Mamma Mia! was released in 2008 watching the film was almost two hours of nothing but blissful memories for me. I already knew the lyrics to every song, singing along to myself like a kid, and the presence of Meryl Streep (one of my favorite actors, and perhaps one of the few actors working today still deserving of the moniker "star") was only putting chocolate syrup on the sundae. Engaging, fun, lighthearted and endearingly goofy, Mamma Mia! was the ultimate summer film, and I loved it. Flashing forward nine years, I hadn't read much about the sequel going in - maybe giving a cursory look to the trailer, which appeared to be more of the same cotton candy from the first film, plus Cher (!) - so my disappointment was nothing less than bone-deep to discover a joyless, boring, unoriginal, corny, B-side song-filled mess I found myself barely able to sit through until the end. The sequel, set five years after the first film, follows two timelines: Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), who is frantically prepping for the grand reopening of the Hotel Bella Donna, her mother's pride and joy ... and, in flashback, the story of a young Donna (Meryl Streep's character, here played by Lily James in the past), who - after graduation (and a horribly uninspired musical number revolving around the graduation) - decides to chuck it all and travel. See the world, find her destiny - and of course, boff three guys in a short enough span of time, any of them could be Sophie's daddy. There's very little going on in the present (Sophie and Sky's marriage may be in trouble, yawn), which exists only to frame the story of Donna's past, and how alike she and Sophie supposedly are. The dance/musical numbers, meanwhile, all come off lifeless or as if staged by a high school drama teacher, many of the ABBA songs used being lesser-known or B-side tunes that make the film feel even more off-kilter than it already does. Not even the presence of Cher, brief as it is, saves things, and to keep this post spoiler-free I will just say don't even get me started on what the filmmakers did to Donna/Streep here; let's just say that finding it out early on in the film is what let me know I was on a slippery slope to Disgustedville from scene one. To me, the more you liked the first film - its sense of joy and fun and unashamed cuteness - the more reason to steer very clear of this one, which has little to none of those qualities.  2/10 stars

Watching: OVERLORD

Year: 2018
Rating: R
Director: Julius Avery
On June 5, 1944 - the eve of D-Day - a handful of American paratroopers, after being discovered by the Nazis, barely survive a drop into enemy territory in France. Their mission: to destroy a radio tower the Germans have set up in an old church in a small French town, which they plan to use to communicate with Berlin for the attack on Normandy. The main/point of view character of the film is a young, naive recruit named Boyce (Jovan Adepo, in a terrifically understated performance); it's through his eyes we witness the horror of their plane being shot from the sky (an awesome opening sequence) and the survivors finding each other on the ground (those the Germans don't find first), as the small group of men come across a young Frenchwoman in the village, Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier), who gives them shelter due to her own axes to grind with the Nazis. Already, by the time the soldiers are safely ensconced in the home of Chloe and her kid brother (as well as a grandmother, who has taken ill to her bed upstairs), the film has had several harrowing moments that already make it feel like the opening of a decent war picture. But when Boyce finds a way into the centuries-old church itself, part of the team trying to take down the tower, the film quickly shifts to horror when it's slowly revealed what the Germans are really using the church for - and how it all could drastically change the course of the war in favor of the Nazis. Overlord is a bloody part-war, part-time zombie film that balances (for the most part) both genres well, with a good cast and surprisingly good CGI/special effects. Scary, gory, and a lot of fun, the film's only disappointment is that it does fall into some cliches/tropes of the genre later on, making for an ending that feels less than fresh. But more than worth a watch, well-acted and well-written and with standout performances by Iain De Caestecker ("Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.") and especially Jovan Adepo, heading up an already-strong cast.  7.5/10 stars

Reading: UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE - Lauren Myracle (writer), Isaac Goodhart (illustrator)

Forever my favorite Batman villain, Catwoman - in various incarnations - has remained a woman of hidden depth and mystery. I was anxious to start Under the Moon as it seemed like an origin story not really covered before - Selina Kyle from the age of fourteen, living with her mother and mom's current boyfriend Dernell. Unfortunately, from the beginning this beautifully-illustrated (artist Goodhart really incorporates black, blues and purples to great effect throughout, emphasizing the "moon" theme of the book) graphic novel, the cliches run rampant as Selina is forced to deal with unpopularity at school, verbal and physical abuse by her mother's redneck boyfriend, and a love-hate relationship with fellow classmate Bruce Wayne in which Selina comes off weak and tongue-tied. Selina only becomes interesting as a character, in fact, when she flees her abusive home and, after struggling with life on the streets, meets Ojo, another runaway who teaches her parkour, inadvertently beginning Selina's transformation into Catwoman. Or Catgirl, as Selina dubs herself in this story, before finally agreeing to join Ojo's gang for a big heist - which instead finds Selina's newly-minted, hard-as-nails exterior tested when she comes across one of the gang members in the form of a young girl who refuses to speak. Under the Moon is average at best, presenting (at least for me) a not-very-likable Selina Kyle and a dour, uninteresting origin story more filled with tropes than trauma. Not horrible, but to me Catwoman certainly deserves better.  2.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: ONE OF US IS LYING - Karen M. McManus

Entertainment Weekly's description of "Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club" was enough to get my attention and start reading this YA mystery-drama in which five high school seniors - Bronwyn (the smart girl), Cooper (the athlete), Addy (the looker), Nate (the bad boy), and Simon (the geek) all find themselves in afternoon detention for having been caught with cell phones on their persons (though each of them denies the phone was his/hers). One hour later, one of the five is dead - and suspicion falls to the other four, their lives forever changed, as author McManus spends the rest of the novel casting suspicion in various directions and peeling away the layers of secrets and lies each of the four suspects hides behind. Sometimes the suspense feels like too slow a build, the novel in need of tighter editing, but overall things stay intriguing as the four suspects at first fight the accusations on their own but then band together to try and solve the crime - even as they don't absolutely trust each other. Things pick up though, building nicely to the big reveal, but when that came, while it was still a surprise the solution did feel a bit of a "cheat" to this lifelong mystery fiction reader - though didn't by any means ruin the book for me, as the tension built nicely with a few surprises, and the ending made sense considering the characters and their motivations. Beyond that, McManus even wraps things up nicely in the aftermath of the truth, her characters experiencing growth after of all they've endured. Hard to say too much without giving away spoilers, but for sure worth a read, big-time, if a bit over-hyped overall.  4/5 stars

Reading: QUINCREDIBLE VOL. 1 - Rodney Barnes (writer), Selina Espiritu (illustrator)

Quinton West is a smart high school kid in New Orleans, handy with gadgets and trying to get by without getting beaten up by bullies in a city that's grown tough in the wake of Katrina and its aftermath (including lack of government support), not to mention all that's come since. One of those other disasters - a strange meteor shower - has imbued certain citizens of New Orleans with various superpowers, and now these extraordinary individuals work to make the city a better place ... while Quin has remained silent about his own experience with the meteor shower which, since that night, has left Quin has been invulnerable to pain. No matter what he does or who beats him up, Quinton can feel it but none of it causes him any harm. Problem is, how to turn this into a superpower worthy of him taking his place among those protecting the city? Because Quin loves his city, and hates what it's turning into; the sinister, politically-motivated machinations that oppress the average citizens, making them angry to the point of being oh-so-ready to strike back - often at each other, and in violent ways. Finding a mentor in local superhero Glow, Quin slowly learns how to use his assets with gadgetry, along with his invulnerability power, to help take down those oppressing his city, not realizing that the more visible he is, the more he puts himself in the sights of those with the money, power and lack of compassion to stop his noble quest. Quincredible Vol. 1 weaves important social commentary into the story of a young African-American man wanting to tip the scales back into balance without anyone shedding blood to do it, and while the story and its political leanings sometime overshadow its main character, there is so much to like about Quinton West, one can hope he's allowed to shine even more in future volumes. Having gotten strong Peter Parker/Spider-man vibes while reading this graphic novel, I for one am really hoping Quin gets that chance; have already grown to love the guy.  4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: HOTEL DARE - Terry Blas (writer), Claudia Aguirre (illustrator)

The first thing I noticed upon starting this graphic novel was the artwork worthy of an animated television series. The characters, backgrounds, colors, all vividly come to life on the page - even more so once you are start reading, and realize how inclusive the book is. Race, family, adoption, the LGBTQ+ community, spirituality, ageism, all and more are touched upon in this story of three siblings made a family via adoption - Olive, Darwin, and Charlotte - who are all sent to live for the summer with their estranged grandma who owns and runs the Hotel Dare (and could use their help in cleaning and fixing it up). But chores grow old fast, and one day youngest sister Charlotte gets inquisitive, leading her siblings into a private office while Grandma's out ... a move that leads to each kid, as he or she is cleaning a room that morning, to discover a portal into different worlds where Charlotte finds new purpose, Olive helps a fledgling wizard, and Darwin meets a blob-like friend. But when Charlotte - always the loner, though her outward toughness hides a much softer center - decides to stay behind permanently in her world, Olive and Darwin can only keep things secret from Grandma for so long before learning that the three worlds they've all visited are now on a collision course with each other - and that Grandma has some long-held secrets, herself, that may threaten them all. Hotel Dare is inventive and colorful storytelling (am totally in love with the sassy grandma, who I think deserves her own TV series) that builds to a very busy final battle between good guys and bad - "busy" also being the one negative I could hold against the book. Hotel Dare is very heavy on action, characters and even dialogue that, at times, makes for some convoluted storytelling; a lot of ideas and storylines and people/creatures fill these pages, which works on one level because the characters are well-written and well-drawn, though on another level may make you double back a page or two at times, to remind yourself or where you are and whose story you are on. And though that may occasionally make it feel like a novel's worth of story packed into a graphic novel's page count, Hotel Dare remains a boisterous, exciting tale of family - whether a family by blood or love or circumstance - and how strong those family ties can be.  3.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: GREEN CLASS 1. PANDEMIC - Jérôme Hamon (writer), David Tako (illustrator)

After studying the ecology and nature of the American south for a few weeks, a group of young Canadian students find themselves leaving the Louisiana marshlands only to have their bus stopped on the way to the airport as - in the time they were away - a deadly virus has broken out all over the world in epidemic proportions, highly contagious and turning its victims into hideous, mindless creatures of superhuman strength when angered. With the military already beginning to build a wall around the infected area they are in, the young students are checked and cleared to depart ... until it becomes obvious that one of their own has become infected, and therefore must stay behind. When the infected youth's sister chooses to stay with him, a chain reaction of emotions among the group ends with all of them remaining with them (some more willingly than others), waiting to see how a new treatment works on their friend in the hopes they can then find a way out with him when he's cured. Green Class 1: Pandemic is just the beginning of what happens when this group of friends are shut off from the rest of the world, surrounded by either the infected or the monsters the infected have become, all of whom are their enemies even as they wait to see if one of their own turns on them as well. Beautifully drawn and colored, the characters in this graphic novel come off as individuals with backstories you do care about, trapped in this zombie world surrounded by a wall seemingly without end as they try to find a way out. And while the story itself doesn't bring anything really new to the table, the people who populate it - these young students who risk themselves to try and save a potentially-doomed friend - made me freaking irritated as heck when book one ended on a cliffhanger and I couldn't find out what happened to them next. And that is a sign of a decent ride.  4/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Watching: SKYLINE

Year: 2010

Rating: PG-13

Directors: Colin & Greg Strause ("The Brothers Strause")

Boyfriend/girlfriend Jarrod (Eric Balfour) and Elaine (Scottie Thompson) fly across country to Los Angeles to help celebrate the birthday of Jarrod's buddy Terry (Donald Faison), whose made it big and is living the life with beautiful wife Candice (Brittany Daniel). A night of partying ends in Terry making Jarrod a job offer, something Jarrod has little interest in - especially when he learns that Elaine in no way wants to relocate, and is also pregnant. The couples wind up a late night crashing in Terry's highrise apartment, along with Terry's female secretary and another male friend, and all is peaceful until 4:30 the next morning, when bright blue lights permeating the blinds throughout the apartment wake up the guy friend ... and the secretary, in time to see the guy sucked right out through the closed window. The aliens have landed, they ain't friendly - and this is pretty much the plot of Skyline, the rest of the film concerned with the characters trying to either hide out in the apartment, or find a way out when up against aliens who can practice mind control or just snatch you up whenever they find you. While the special effects and aliens are pretty impressive, sadly the same can't be said for the acting and especially script, and with the film only focusing on the main characters in the apartment, until the military shows up viewers are given no viewpoints of other characters, or even of what's going on throughout Los Angeles itself, outside of the wide-angle views of aliens jacking up the city itself. Even with that, the film focusing on just a handful of characters, you're never given enough time to know anything about them so that they come off as very stock alien-invasion-film characters - and though Jarrod and Elaine evoke a bit of sympathy, it's not enough to work up a sweat as the number of human survivors dwindles around them. The ending, convoluted as it is to try and set up a sequel, remains as run-of-the-mill as the majority of the film itself.  4/10 stars

Watching: PET SEMATARY

Year: 2019

Rating: R

Directors: Kevin Kolsch, Dean Widmyer

In 1989 one of Stephen King's most disturbing horror novels was released as a film, the screenplay written by King himself. While definitely lower in budget, featuring actors in the leading roles who had a stronger TV than film following (Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, and the outstanding Herman Munster himself, Fred Gwynne), all of these points added to the film's gritty, claustrophobic feel that was so prevalent in the book - because while it contains horrific elements, Pet Sematary remains first and foremost a novel about grief, and while not perfect the essence of the book was preserved beautifully in the 1989 film (a fan-favorite to many, to this day). That mood - that grittiness - is hopelessly lost from frame one of the 2019 remake, as the story of Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz), and their two children - pre-teen Ellie and three-year-old Gage - opens with the Creeds relocating from Boston to rural Maine, where Louis is opening a new practice and the family has come for a new start. Their new home - already kind of creepy, even on first sight - borders on a huge forest out back, and almost immediately the family - thanks to across-the-street neighbor Jud (John Lithgow, good but nowhere close to Gwynne) - learns of a pet cemetery that exists in the woods, where kids in the neighborhood gather for a full ceremony whenever they need to bury a beloved dog, cat. etc. (in this version, the kids wearing creepy handmade masks for the burial ceremonies). But when the family cat is struck by a car and killed, Ellie's grief pushes Jud to privately tell Louis of another cemetery, far beyond the pet cemetery, where - if you bury someone, or something - it doesn't stay buried. And things go bananas from there. At first I rejected the idea of seeing this version because the filmmakers chose to change a HUGE plot point from the novel (that the 1989 film retained), and to me (without giving spoilers) this would've completely change the depth of loss and despair in the story. Even worse, with a bigger budget and access to better special effects, 2019's Pet Sematary is still devoid of real scares, the CGI nearly laughable in places, the big plot change does weaken the tone of the story ... and you can't even connect enough to the characters (especially Louis, sadly) to care much about what happens. I tried to approach this update with an open mind, loving the original novel and its themes, but from the family's arrival to one hell of a depressing ending, this remake of Pet Sematary does not disappoint; it was as bad as I was afraid it'd be. (WARNING: The trailer below - no idea why Paramount did this - gives away nearly the entire film, complete with spoilers; watch at your own risk!)  3/10 stars

Watching: THE QUAKE

Year: 2018
Rating: PG-13
Director: John Andreas Andersen
More a companion film than sequel to 2015's The Wave (in which a long-threatening disaster unleashes a tsunami on a small, scenic Norwegian town), The Quake parallels the first film's premise only this time set in big-city Oslo, which in 1904 was struck by a major earthquake that now threatens to happen anew. Kristoffer Joner again stars as geologist Kristian Eikjord, the man whose warnings no one would heed in the first film (until it was too late) - though this film opens with the man only a shell of his former self, still so affected by the events of the first film he's even separated from his wife and children, living alone in isolation in body, mind and spirit. That is, until it all begins to happen again when the death of one of Kristian's old friends - a man who was trying to reach him about something before he was killed - pulls Kristian into the research his friend was doing; research that proves another major earthquake is about to devastate Oslo. True to any sequel, The Quake tries to ratchet up the special effects and terror (especially to Kristian and his family) higher than in the original, only here said terror comes across as almost over-the-top; an escape from a collapsing office tower, in particular, while cool to watch visually, takes so long it strains both patience and any believability the viewer might have left. This is also one of those disaster films where some of the characters do really stupid things, often putting themselves in deeper peril instead of helping them to escape, that no one in real life would do, as you want to yell at the screen for them to get it together. Good, with some great special effects, just not as compelling or heartfelt as its predecessor.  6.5/10 stars

Reading: SMALL SPACES - Katherine Arden

The bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale returns with a middle-grade novel that follows a young girl named Ollie - quiet and withdrawn and consumed with grief since the death of her mother - whose love of books finds her one day rescuing a slim novel from the hands of what appears to be a crazy, babbling lady about to throw it into a river. Escaping with the book, entitled Small Spaces, that night Ollie begins to read the story of a young woman from many years ago, caught in a love triangle between two brothers until one of them makes an ominous deal with someone called The Smiling Man, throwing everything into darkness. The next day, a school field trip to a local farm sends Ollie reeling when she not only finds out the farm's owner is the very woman she rescued Small Spaces from the day before ... but also discovers, in the nearby woods, a tiny makeshift cemetery that includes grave markers featuring the names of the main characters from the book! The adventure is just beginning, however, when the school bus breaks down soon after leaving the farm for the day, the many ominous scarecrows surrounding the property seeming to be taking an interest in the children as darkness grows closer - and their creepy bus driver warns Ollie that, once darkness falls, someone will be coming for them, and it won't be help. When the digital watch Ollie wears on her wrist - her mother's watch, which hasn't run in ages - suddenly starts again with a countdown and the word "RUN" printed below it, Ollie escapes the bus with only two of her classmates freaked out enough to accompany her, the three children running into the woods as Ollie remembers the warning she'd been given earlier, both in her book and by the bus driver: "Avoid large spaces; keep to small." Particularly for a middle-grade novel, Small Spaces is pretty creepy, with more than a couple moments that lay a chill up your spine, Ollie, with her friends Coco and Brian, make a formidable trio who bond over trying to solve this bizarre mystery while trying to escape to just get home alive. And though the ending, to me, felt a bit rushed and anticlimactic, the story itself and what the book has to say about grief and friendship and trust all make this a fun, chilling ghost story that goes deeper than just a great Halloween-time read. 4/5 stars

Watching: COLD PURSUIT

Year: 2019
Rating: R
Director: Hans Petter Moland
The worst thing a person could do, sitting down to watch Cold Pursuit, is to assume this is your average Liam Neeson revenge flick. That may lead to disappointment, as in reality this violent action yarn is more a darkly-comic parody of a Liam Neeson revenge flick, starring the man himself. Think an over-the-top Neeson revenge film, as directed by a snarky Quentin Tarantino wannabe who is a huge fan of the film Fargo, and you've got a better idea of what awaits in this story of Nels Coxman (Neeson), a snowplow driver living just outside a popular resort town in the Rockies, whose sole job is to keep all the roads clear and passable during the winter months. Early in the film Nels's son (barely shown in the film) is killed by local drug dealers who make it appear an overdose, and while the police dismiss the death as an addict's accident, a grieving Nels knows in his heart that his son didn't do drugs - and when confirmation of that ends in the deaths of his boy's killers by Nels, the snowplow driver opens up a can of worms between the two major criminal syndicates in the area, igniting a war as Nels fights his bloody way to the man at the top responsible for the loss of his only child. While Cold Pursuit has its share of cool gangland fight scenes - including a loud, all-consuming final blood bath of sorts - most of its characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, we're never given any time with Nels and his son to bond with either character, and even Laura Dern as Nels's wife is given virtually nothing to do and soon disappears from the film entirely. The touches of dark humor work well to help the film stand out, but overall Cold Pursuit is just a slightly-better-than average, darkly-comedic revenge yarn that works okay viscerally - but lacks fleshed-out characters that make you care enough about what's going on to make the film linger for long in your mind, once the end credits roll.  6/10 stars

 

Watching: ESCAPE ROOM

Year: 2019

Rating: PG-13

Director: Adam Robitel

A mysterious message and promise of a million dollar prize for the winner prompts six strangers - Jason, an anal overachiever in a suit (Jay Ellis); Taylor, a college student with a tragic past (Zoey Davis); slacker Ben, a grocery store stocker with no future (Logan Miller); Amanda, a former soldier struggling with PTSD (Deborah Ann Woll); Danny, the videogame/escape room professional (Nik Dodani); and Mike, everyone's blue collar buddy (Tyler Labine) - to show up to a small, upscale office in a nondescript building for the ultimate, all-immersive escape room experience. Almost immediately the group of strangers learns just how "all-immersive" things are, as the reception area they wait in slowly turns into a gigantic oven that threatens to burn all the contestants to death before they are forced to work together and decipher the clues at hand, barely escaping with their lives. Forced to press on and more forward in what is now obviously a game of life and death, the bickering strangers soon realize that continuing to work together is the only way to survive ... even as, one by one, their numbers dwindle from room to room, those who remain getting closer to the end of the game - and to who's behind it. I was so, SO into this film from the beginning; loved the innovation (at least to me) of the first few escape rooms, and how these characters figured out how to get out of them, but as more and more of the backstory of the characters is revealed both the rooms and the film's plot become less intriguing - the "big reveal" at the end worth the investment yet a bit of a letdown at the same time (with a decidedly corny ending, to boot). Still, overall Escape Room is one of those films that could easily become a guilty favorite; one you put on to watch over and over again when you have company, or when nothing else is on. Entertaining and with some genuinely tense/suspenseful moments, and better than "professional critics" would have you believe. Just. Plain. FUN.  7.5/10 stars

April Wrap-Up (Or, Where the HECK Did the Month GO??)

Swear to God, the month of April lasted about two weeks. Illness and work both changed my daily habits this past month, and I found myself getting next to nothing done during the week because I'd come home so mentally/emotionally wrecked, I just wanted some food and bed. So much time wasted, will try to turn it around in May! The amount of reviews I am behind, alone (even from March) has me disgusted with myself.

The two novels I was determined I would finish in April are still alive and well on my Kindle, as April seemed to be the month for graphic novels. Please check back for individual reviews of the books pictured above (clink on any image to enlarge, as always), but for sure I feel the need to stress that Bloom was one of the sweetest, most heartwarming stories I've read in awhile - maybe my favorite graphic novel of all time - and I am still on the hunt for volume two of My Brother's Husband because wow did book one end in a cliffhanger of sorts (and while I got book one via the library, they don't have book two and manga tends to be pricey)! My love of unicorns - even slightly snarky ones - was reaffirmed via Unicorn Bowling, volume nine of the various collections available about the equally-snarky Phoebe (think a low-key female Calvin, as in Calvin and Hobbes) and her best friend ... my love of potatoes severely diced (get it?) via a young chef named Yasmina and the conspiracy she discovers in part one of Yasmina and the Potato Eaters (another cliffhanger of an ending). Lastly, I'd kill for an executive assistant like Iris, knowing she too would kill for me!

Films? Only five, but from horror to life-affirming dramedy to South Korean horror-comedy, my eclectic tastes were still reflected. And though I've strayed far from TV these day, I have a few to mention in upcoming weeks; ones I'd easily recommend to those actually not living/breathing every day for the next "Game of Thrones" installment.

A few complimentary ARCs in April only added to my TBR Mountain, so best get off here and work on either finishing the creepy kids book I am nearly done with, or getting caught up on a couple reviews here, at least. As always, I hope your reading month of May is nothing short of incredible, with maybe a few worthwhile films tucked into the mix!

Reading: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT: IRIS VOLUME 1 - David Wohl (writer), Eduardo Francisco (illustrator)

Combining volumes #0-#6 of the popular and violent comic series, Executive Assistant: Iris Volume 1 tells the story of the uniquely beautiful and efficient secretary/personal assistant Iris, loyal to the end to her employer Mr. Ching, a notorious global businessman and criminal. Also doubling as Ching's bodyguard and assassin-for-hire, Iris has been groomed since childhood to kill - but when her boss sends her out to take care of some extracurricular "business" to swing negotiations on a big business deal his way, Iris inadvertently starts a chain of events that for the first time, will have her questioning both loyalties and lifestyle. Violent and bloody, the dark, moody artwork of this graphic novel fits the subject matter perfectly, as Iris cuts a bloody swath through her boss's enemies - artwork good enough that the superfluous, almost offensively silly objectification of nearly all the female characters (and what little clothing they wear) is intrusive and unnecessary; even annoying, marring an otherwise seriously juicy revenge tale with a seriously kick-ass heroine.  3/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Reading: YASMINA AND THE POTATO EATERS: PART 1 - Mannaert Wauter

Yasmina is a young girl living in a small apartment with her father in Belgium. She is also, especially for an eleven-year-old, already an accomplished chef with a passion for food, made even better by the fact she chooses to make healthy meals with fresh ingredients ... many of which Yasmina sort of pilfers from the rooftop garden of the top-floor tenant of her building, as Yasmina's dad works a low-wage job barely getting them by. Yasmina is skilled, her dishes unique and flavorful thanks also to the ingredients she gets from a couple of locals, friends, growing fresh produce in their own community gardens. But unbeknownst to the young chef and her friends, an insidious industrialized company plans to flood the market with a variety of addictive, potato-based processed foods, and soon gardens are bulldozed to make room for growing potatoes. When Yasmina's rooftop antics are found out and she's forced to purchase produce from a store, the young girl finds - to her horror - that the town and people she's known and loved aren't the same anymore, thanks to this new product. This wonderful graphic novel ends with quite a cliffhanger for Part 1, leaving the reader wanting more, but with beautifully-detailed art befitting the gritty western-European flavor of the characters and story (not to mention a plucky, engaging heroine in the form of Yasmina), it's still a joy getting there.  4/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. 

Reading: UNICORN BOWLING - Dana Simpson

Who wouldn't want to have a best friend like Marigold Heavenly Nostrils? Just ask her BFF, Phoebe Howell - a nine-year-old with a sharp wit and (often) sharper tongue, who sometimes butts head-to-horn with the unicorn but more often regards the magical, pixie dust-spewing creature as her closest confidante and ally. Unicorn Bowling is the ninth collection of comics featuring the dynamic duo, though this was my first experience with the characters - and while charming and often funny, creator/author Dana Simpson seems to be going for a Calvin & Hobbes kind of vibe that just doesn't come off that potent in the end. Phoebe has her sarcastic side, for sure, and is quick with a funny line or jab - her unicorn buddy all sugar and spice on the outside but able to hold her own when she has to. But whereas Calvin & Hobbes - and the sense of humor the comic series contains - is just as appealing for adults as kids, Phoebe and Marigold skewer decidedly younger in their audience. For that group, I dare you to show this book to any little girl or boy in that age range or younger, and NOT expect that child to want a unicorn of his or her own.  3/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Watching: SECRETS IN THE HOT SPRING

Year: 2018
Rating: N/R
Director: Kuan-Hui Lin (as Guan-Hui Lin)
Xiaogin (Ting-hu Zhang) is a smart young man with all the ambition of a sloth. At his third high school in five years, Xiaogin seems destined to be a lifelong student; a surly, quiet loner living with his grandparents since the death of his parents when he was little, he's made two acquaintances at school that he can almost tolerate - the so-handsome-he's-beautiful Little Princess (so named because he's everyone at school assuming he is gay) and nerdy wannabe-ladies-man Lu Qun - and during winter break from school these three mismatched mates find themselves shuffled off to a rundown hot springs hotel out in the sticks to work. A rundown hotel once owned by Xiaogin's parents, no less, and now run by the young man's other grandparents ... that also, supposedly, happens to be haunted. Sure enough, odd things begin to happen, much of it centered around something weird going on with the hot springs out back, and as the young, scared silly goofballs try to solve the mystery the slapstick moments ratchet up and - though silly - the film becomes a horror comedy that, while not perfect, has its hilarious moments resulting in an unexpectedly touching ending. Much of the film's success is due to the three young male leads, all perfectly cast and with Zhang, as Xiaogin, adding particularly to the film with his own brand of snarky humor. Again, not perfect, but perfectly enjoyable and - at times - laugh-out-loud funny. (In Mandarin with English subtitles) 8/10 stars

 

Watching: FRIDAY THE 13TH

Year: 2009

Rating: R

Director: Marcus Nispel

It boggles the imagination to watch a remake/reboot/re-whatever of what's become one of the most iconic slasher films of all time ... only to have the film come out feeling more like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre riff (only without the massacre, for in truth this is hardly a gory horror film by today's standards) than an update of Friday the 13th. After a mildly interesting opening dropping some hints as to the story of Jason and his mama, viewers are treated to a gaggle of college-aged goofs out hunting for a goldmine of a private marijuana plantation to swipe for their own and monetary benefit. Sadly, Jason finds them too, and dispatches the gang in typical slice-and-dice style ... before we fast-forward a couple weeks and land on another stereotypical bunch of hot, hormonal young adults, this time heading into the woods to spend the weekend at the ritzy-but-isolated cabin belonging to the parents of one of their number. This is when we also meet hunky Clay Miller (Jared Padalecki), a loner on a motorcycle distributing flyers regarding his sister, who went missing in the area (and was part of the original Scooby gang in the film's opening sequence). Clay goes toe to toe with Trent (Travis Van Winkle), the alpha male rich dude whose parents own the cabin - while, meanwhile, Jason Voorhees seems to live a hermetic existence in the woods that some of the local residents seem to be well aware of(!), until he kills a local yokel and dons his hockey mask for the first time, before turning his attention to the townies. Other than in the opening scene, Camp Crystal Lake is but a distant memory here; no camp counselors in sight either, and the filmmakers have even given Jason this creepy labyrinth of underground tunnels to live in, totally stripping Voorhees of his ethereal, supernaturally-evil vibe and bringing him down to The Hills Have Eyes level instead. No surprises and not particularly scary, with wafer-thin stock characters and not very creative killings, this Friday the 13th update is even a bigger dud than expected. 4/10 stars

Watching: "What We Do in the Shadows"

Loosely based on the 2014 film of the same name - a film usually found, I am guessing, on the "all-time favorites" list of anyone who has ever seen it, it's that good/funny - the TV version of "What We Do in the Shadows" keeps the basic mockumentary premise of live cameras that follow the day-to-day lives of housemates who happen to be vampires. Moving the action from Australia to upscale Staten Island, New York, the series features housemates Nandor (Kayvan Novak) - the unspoken leader of the group - as well as married couple Laszlo and Nadja (Matt Berry and the freaking-hilarious Natasia Demetriou), all centuries-old European vampires relocated to the States to ostensibly take over America. Also along for the ride is housemate Colin Robinson (Matt Proksch), an emotional vampire who feeds on human emotion and is so white/vanilla he's practically invisible. Not bound by normal vampire constrictions, Colin has a day job in an office, where he feeds daily on the emotions of his co-workers - either by sucking the life out of them with incredibly long/boring stories, or being so annoying, he feeds on the energy of their white-hot anger. The final house resident is Guillermo (Harvey Guillen); Nandor's human familiar, Guillermo has been in service to his master for over a decade, his only goal to one day have his master turn him into a full-fledged vampire for his loyalty and service (hint: it ain't ever gonna happen, dude). Typical episodes include a lonely Nandor trying to apply for U.S. citizenship when he finds out his home country dissolved in 1401; the visit of The Baron, a scary and ruthless vampire royal come to check on the progress of Nandor, Laszlo and Nadja in taking over America, and a chubby local virgin college girl Nadja takes under her wing (pun intended) as a possible fledgling vamp. The pilot was good, every episode since laugh-out-loud funny, the series proving a more-than-worthy successor to the brilliant film; season two is already on the way. With top-quality effects that will make you believe these vampires can float, turn into bats, or even host a vampire orgy, "What We Do in the Shadows" is a brilliant show with bite (yep, did it again) deserving of the massive love and affection it (and the film) gets from its fans; having seen all ten episodes of season one, my heart already bleeds (okay, I'll stop) for season two. (FOX/TV-MA) 9.5/10 stars

Reading: MY BROTHER'S HUSBAND VOLUME 1 - Gengoroh Tagame (writer), Anne Ishii (translator)

This award-winning, breakthrough manga with a seemingly simple storyline is set in suburban Tokyo, where divorced, work-from-home dad Yaichi has built a strong relationship raising his outspoken grade school-aged daughter Kana. Yaichi's orderly world changes one day, however, when a guest arrives: Mike, a gentle giant of a man from Canada with a big smile and full beard, who happens to be the widow of Yaichi's gay twin brother Ryoji, recently passed away. The death of Ryoji, who was estranged from Yaichi and had been living in Canada for awhile, is something Yaichi is also trying to deal with, but the last thing he expected is his brother's husband come to visit - though custom and Kana's instant love for her uncle make it a done deal that Yaichi must invite Mike to stay with them while in town. To say that Yaichi is uncomfortable - with Mike's relationship to his brother, his brother's death, his own feelings toward his brother's lifestyle - is an understatement, but the longer Mike stays and the more Kana grows to adore him, the more Yaichi starts seeing Mike and all he represents through Kana's unfiltered gaze; the more Yaichi comes to realize his own shortcomings and the traditional prejudices that reside in him. My Brother's Husband Volume 1 shines a light on a Japan that, today, still holds very traditional, closed-minded views on the subject of homosexuality and gay marriage - but more importantly, narrows the perspective down to one man slowly coming to the realization, through his daughter's eyes, that even with all his outward showing of acceptance, deep down he still has so much to learn.  4.5/5 stars

Watching: JUANITA

Year: 2019

Rating: TV-MA

Director: Clark Johnson

Alfre Woodard in anything new is a cause for celebration, and here she breathes life and some fire into Juanita, a single mom of three adult children living in Columbus, Ohio who is about to lose her mind. Whether watching her grand-baby or dealing with her job at a local hospital or trying to help fix every screw up her kids pull, Juanita is close to the breaking point; even her ongoing sexual fantasies featuring hunky Blair Underwood (who plays - and pokes fun at - himself here) aren't going well, and Juanita decides she's had it; she needs to get away, no matter how and no matter where. The solution? Pack a bag, kiss your family goodbye, and board a Greyhound for the first town you find on the map that sounds interesting - in Juanita's case Butte, Montana. She arrives there in the middle of the night, and after getting a ride from an upbeat lady trucker named Peaches (a wonderful Ashlie Atkinson), Juanita lands just after daybreak outside a small French diner in the town of Paper Moon. Frustrated at being unable to get simple eggs and toast at the restaurant (which only has a French breakfast menu), Juanita butts heads with owner/chef Jess (Adam Beach - like Woodard, another actor who brightens up anything he's in) and ends up cooking her own home-grown breakfast. Soon Juanita is cooking full-time at the cafe, bringing in a ton of business, and the woman who wanted a no-strings adventure and never to be tied down again finds herself attracted to not only the small town and its residents, but also the attractive chef who now employs her. Backstory on Jess and a peek at local Native American traditions depicted in the film make Juanita a unique, wonderful experience; certainly these scenes are the most interesting in the film, as otherwise Juanita - with all its good intentions and able execution - simply doesn't have the emotional impact it's going for. Nicely-told, well-acted and with pleasant touches of comedy, the film just never quite reaches out to touch the heart and make you care deeply about the characters. You root for Juanita, but deep-down know that soon as the end credits roll the film itself is largely forgettable. 6/10 stars

Watching: THE SILENCE

Year: 2019
Rating: PG-13
Director: John R. Leonetti
When a couple of idiots, in the name of research, accidentally open up an underground cave filled with ancient, blind winged creatures who hunt by sound, the earth is soon decimated and doomed to silence in this Netflix-produced thriller starring current hot-property Kiernan Shipka ("Chilling Adventures of Sabrina"). Here she plays Ally, a 16-year-old who lost her hearing in a car accident at age 13 and now travels the desolate landscape of what used to be the east coast USA with her family in search of help or a safe place to live. A little too uncomfortably similar to John Krasinski's A Quiet Place, The Silence hauls out every end-of-world trope in its execution, oddly enough not even utilizing Ally's deafness as any real aid in helping to defeat the creatures who hunt by sound; indeed, the device of her hearing loss seems added to provide a reason for why the family can all speak in ASL (American Sign Language). Stanley Tucci is good as Ally's father, but even he seems nearly as bored as Shipka does here, the filmmakers putting their actors through the usual end-of-world movie paces (having to locate medicine for a sick/hurt family member, running across a band of hicks who may be even more dangerous than the creatures themselves, Ally sleeping all alone and defenseless in an upstairs bedroom while the family huddles downstairs to sleep for protection, even though there is strength and numbers and as a group they were all recently attacked), but it's all wooden as the performances themselves. Nothing new or original, and even a so-so fan of A Quiet Place like me would recommend that as the superior film to watch over this retread of stuff we've seen before.  5/10 stars

Watching: TRIANGLE

Year: 2009
Rated: R
Director: Christopher Smith
Jess (Melissa George), a stressed-out single mom to a young boy, barely arrives in time to join some friends for a relaxing day out on a yacht. In fact, Jess looks and seems far from relaxed even as they set sail, and sure enough before long a crazy out-of-the-blue freak storm comes up and capsizes the yacht, its passengers left huddled on the floating, upside-down craft and searching the horizon for help ... which they find in the form of a passing ocean liner. Swiftly climbing aboard, the small band of friends find the ship seemingly deserted, even though fresh food and drinks are laid out, and Jess begins to have an overwhelming sense of deja vu that she - or they - have not only been on the ship before, but are in terrible danger ... and the body count starts to build soon afterward, proving Jess more than right. Triangle has a few good jump scares and very tense moments worthy of a thriller, but we're told what's going on way too early in the plot, the rest of the film a convoluted loop of events that leave you almost more confused, at times, than afraid. And though it has some nice moments and tries its best to be hip and smart, without giving anything away in the end the film becomes a repetitive, unsatisfying downer that may leave more than a few viewers scratching their heads as the end credits roll.  4/10 stars

Reading: BLOOM - Kevin Panetta (writer), Savanna Ganucheau (illustrator)

Ari has wrapped up high school and summer has begun. Having lived in a small coastal tourist town on the east coast all his life, above the small, struggling bakery his parents own that Ari has worked in since childhood, it's now time for Ari's to start his New Life: a move to the big city with his friends and their rock band. One obstacle: his father, who needs Ari's help with the family business and does not want him to move away. But Ari is bored with baking and wants a fresh start, so decides the best thing is to help pave the way by posting flyers around town and finding his own replacement before leaving. Enter Hector, a culinary student with a passion for baking who's in town for the summer, who jumps at the chance of working for the bakery - and as Ari helps to train him, the two guys working side by side every day with Hector's upbeat love for his work in direct opposition to Ari's desire to flee it, the two young men somehow become friends. Maybe closer than friends. Maybe even more. Every bit of my heart loved Bloom, a simple, beautiful love story written by Panetta with the same understated grace - yet impact - also so thoughtfully inked into Ganucheau's artwork of simple black and white drawings awash in shades of blue. The best graphic novel I have read to date, Bloom treats its subject matter with zero spotlight, simply telling a genuinely romantic, realistic love story that just happens to be between two men, with such simple grace ... that somehow still manages to sucker-punch even the hardest of hearts in the end. Even the baking scenes, wonderfully and meticulously illustrated, tell a story as well as make you hungry. Truly a piece of art, Bloom is both a treasure and pleasure I am so glad I found and read. You should, too.  5/5 stars

March Wrap-Up: Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Only five books and two films for March - work and illness both getting in the way - but March also saw this reader do some incredible traveling. From Salem in the days just before witch hysteria took over, to the broiling desert-like wastelands of the Australian Outback where a dead body is found next to a monument grave, to journeying back in time to the day of being a snark-filled kid dealing with bullies and hated teachers, to a young Japanese boy's childhood crush potentially growing into full love as a man, to a Victorian England manor home plagued by witchcraft and demons ... March was the final confirmation I needed that it had been a long, LONG time since I'd read a book that caught me heart and soul. A book that kept pulling me back like a mermaid's song whenever I had to put it down, had me squawking out loud at/to characters while reading - or even force me to set it aside for a day or two because I knew what was coming and didn't want it to happen.

March taught me again, at last, why I love books in the first place. The worlds the right ones can take you away to, the escape from your every day life because you are caught up in the lives of those on paper; those on paper whom, through a writer's hard work and talent, seem as real to you as your best friend or next door neighbor. March reminded me of why I read, and why I feel sad to the point of hurting for those who don't. It's not about escape, it's about adventure. You can travel across worlds, time, and dimensions via a good book. Unlike enjoying a movie, with books you make the commitment to know and hang with the characters for a length of time - something watching a film wouldn't allow. You become invested, even addicted. For the first time in years I have found myself with book hangover, not once but twice in March alone! Even the graphic novel I just finished, my first book for April, resonated with this cynic and left him pining for such a romance as depicted in it.

Please click on the images to enlarge, if you need to see them better. This was my March, which BIG-TIME made up for quality anything lacking in quantity. The Lost Man still haunts my thoughts, hoping Nathan and his family are all okay and staying that way - and even after finishing The Silent Companions maybe ten days ago now, I still check any shadow that so much as flickers out of the corner of my eye.

Reviews to come for those not already on here. Meanwhile, I know if you are even on this blog chances are you are already a reader - just please always encourage your own friends, family, and especially kids to read. If a parent, read to children when they're young and get them hooked. And always keep striving to find books that suck you into their world and won't let go ... because oh, the places you'll go!

Bring it on, April!  

Reading: THE SILENT COMPANIONS - Laura Purcell

It's Victorian England, 1865, and after a rough childhood dealing with the death of her father and her mother's descent into madness, Elsie has finally found happiness and secured her and her brother's futures by marrying the handsome, rich Rupert Bainbridge, who soon after their marriage leaves to set up their estate in the country, The Bridge, for the arrival of his new (and newly-pregnant) bride. Tragedy strikes just weeks after the wedding, however, when Rupert suddenly dies under mysterious circumstances soon after arriving at The Bridge, and a grieving, despondent Elsie soon arrives there herself, discovering quite quickly that the servants have taken an instant dislike to her and the local villagers both hate and fear The Bridge in equal measure. Taking up residence in the decaying old mansion with only Rupert's blander-than-bland spinster cousin for company, from the first night Elsie hears bizarre scratchings coming from somewhere in the house above her, and upon investigating discovers a strange, large piece of wood painted and cut into the very realistic-looking life-size figure of a young girl - a young girl who, oddly. resembles Elsie. This "silent companion" ends up an adornment placed in the downstairs window by the entrance to the house, but as time goes on Elsie comes to find strange things happening; the figure shifts or moves slightly throughout the day, with no one in the house admitting they touched it, or the eyes on the figure don't seem to be in the position Elsie remembered them being in originally. When more silent companions begin popping up around the house, some of the figures taking on a downright sinister appearance, it becomes clear to Elsie that her and her baby are at risk, and what goes bump in the night might actually be wood scraping across the floor, coming for her. The Silent Companions switches from 1865 and 1635 and back again throughout, the earlier segments giving a creepy backstory leading up to what's going on in Elsie's time - the book itself opening at an asylum soon after whatever happens at The Bridge happened, where we learn a present-day, horribly-scarred Elsie, with no memories of what happened, may either be put away or stand trial for murder. For some time I had been looking for a book that would weird me out, and The Silent Companions - though a slow burn at first - soon enough had a line of creepiness crawling up my spine like a caterpillar, every shadow out of the corner of my eye one I'd check to make sure wasn't a life-sized wooden cut-out of a figure with hate-filled eyes. Spooky, well-written, and worth the slightly anti-climactic ending for all that comes before, The Silent Companions will indeed get under your skin a bit ... and try to make a home there.  4/5 stars 

Reading: SERVANT & LORD - Lo (writer), Lorinell Yu (illustrator)

Christian grew up with a love of music, as well as a near-obsession with his piano teacher, the dark and brooding, handsome Daniel. When Daniel - a young adult while Christian is still essentially a kid - is forced to confront a family tragedy, the young pianist moves into the home of his student, at Christian's father's insistence, but as Christian's talent and love for playing grows, Daniel's passion for music seems to all but cease entirely. And as Christian reaches adulthood and for his own dream of having a rock band, he realizes his even bigger dream is to have Daniel by his side. This Japanese manga has some nice, simplistic artwork but the writing feels very amateurish, as if this is an early effort from a newer writer, the romance that may or may not bloom between the two male leads just a straight "will they or won't they?" with no real drama or obstacles thrown in to create conflict. The ending was quirky - in a good way, with a slight twist - but overall this is a disappointing manga that feels more like a first-draft attempt than a finished story. 2.5/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Watching: TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES

Year: 2018
Rated: PG
Director: Aaron Horvath & Peter Rida Michail
It's 2018 and if you're a superhero you know you've arrived when Hollywood makes a movie telling your story; depicting your greatest battles against the world's worst arch-villains, where after nearly being destroyed you manage to come out victorious. For the Teen Titans however, not so much. Sure, they fight crime often with both sarcasm and a song in their hearts, but have remained largely unnoticed because they are a rag-tag band of sidekicks and second-tier heroes who have no ongoing story fighting an arch-villain of their own. But when Robin, particularly tired of being seen only as Batman's sidekick, learns that even Alfred - Bruce Wayne's butler - Batman's utility belt, and even the Batmobile are all getting their own movies(!), the Teen Titans head for Hollywood with plans to catch the eye of the biggest superhero film director working today. There, they will be challenged by their Deadpool-like nemesis Slade, as well as have their friendships tested in a way that may break up the Titans for good! Based on the snarky, funny animated series, the Teen Titans transfer well to the big screen here, with enough pop culture references/humor for the adults while keeping kids equally entertained. For fans of the series especially.  7/10 stars