Red Country

Red Country is the third of the standalone First Law series novels and it is a western. I loved it from beginning to end and the reader Steven Pacey is the perfect match for Joe Abercrombie's prose. And Mr. Abercrombie is one of the few men who manages to make me laugh out loud. I'm so happy that I was able to finish these novels. Now on to the Shattered Sea trilogy (and funnily enough I have ordered all three but only received the last two in different envelopes. So I'm still patiently waiting for Half A King but getting kind of worried that it got lost in the post.

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice is a novel I got from a second hand book store on line. I like the plot of it and as I get older, I'm more interested in old people romance. Despite the battered condition I was instantly into it and loved it more and more as I went on reading. By the time it ended I was in happy tears and I'll seek more novels from this writer. 

The Lies of Locke Lamora

The Lies of Locke Lamora This novel has good reviews on youtube, goodreads etc. and comes recommended when and where ever I chose a book from this genre. Knowing very little about it, I didn't hesiste to pick it up when I saw this second hand copy in great condition at a bookstore (The Last Bookstore, LA - oh the good old days). Well this one didn't work for me. It has great world building and the story telling is good but I just couldn't like any of the characters. They are a team of con men called Gentlemen Bastards. I'm they are good guys but they still rob and decieve people and despite the fact that I had no trouble liking a torturer as a character in another (in my opinion, better, fantasy series) I just couldn't like these guys. They don't even feed the poor with their earnings. They just keep them all at a vault. Anyway the main problem for me was the revenge aspect. This is one of my favorite tropes. But this time it made it harder to get into the story since the main villain is a man after revenge and he has good enough reasons too. Anyway, despite the fact that I liked the action, the con plots and the characters didn't work for me. I'm not thinking of purchasing the second novel of this series.  

We Are What We Are (USA Remake)

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We Are What We Are is a remake of a Mexican film. I have not seen the original but this one was decent enough. I liked the cast and the scene before last was horrible (which is a good thing in this case). 

The Dressmaker

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The Dressmaker worked for me. This one is more like a surreal story, couture aspectes used to enhance the effect (small town women wearing runway quality gowns under the merciless sun and dust of rural landscape). Kate Winslet is dynamite as usual the rest of the cast are also very good. However do not expect this film to make sense in a realistic way. The message and the human characteristics are all there but somehow do not quite fit the setting. I recommend Pricilla The Queen of the Desert if you'd like to see a better application to this sort of story telling.  

Una Pistola En Cada Mano (Gun In Each Hand)

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Una Pistola En Cada Mano (A Gun In  Each Hand) I only watched it because it was Spanish but I actually liked it a lot. It is a collection of short films with each character having a connection of some sort to each other. Each male and going through something. 

Insecure (Qui Vive)

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Insecure (Qui Vive) is a film I chose to watch because of two things, a) the plot, b) Adele Exarchopoulos. The plot at Digiturk was listed as "a security guard likes a girl he met on the bus but he is too shy". This had nothing to do with the plot. Yes there is a security guard at a mall, yes there is a girl he met on the bus but that is about it. The film is about the security guard and an incident that changed his life and others. He is being bullied by a group of middle school age kids. They harass him constantly. He actually wants to be a nurse and has finally won the written exam at this fourth try. Meanwhile he meets this nice girl at the bus and they connect immediately and start to date. He really likes her too. He has a shady friend who he has grown up together in the same neighbourhood. This guy always asks him some tips regarding the mall schedule and he is up to no good. Our protagonist always refuses him, however one day he goes to a rap concert and there are the mall rats who harass him again with his girlfriend right next to him. And it appears that they look up and listen to his shady friend. So he agrees to tip him in exchange for the brats to leave him alone. He gives him the date and time of a delivery. He is also in the security team who'll meet the delivery to the shopping mall. Things then go really bad. The robbers produce a gun and one of them is caught (by an angry and big security guard) and is killed. Of course we were annoyed and at the same time kind of scared of these group of kids but after his death we understand that they really are kids and it is such a waste. The film is of the artsy European type I like. The actors look like real people, the locations and costumes look authentic and there isn't a certain resolution or redemption. 

Pretty Girls

Pretty Girls is the first novel I have read (well, listened to??)  by Karin Slaughter. I liked it a lot. More the charactarisation rather than the plot (which was a bit farfetched). There is what I assume a story called Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes as a bonus in which we see the absentee character (she has disappeared when our two main characters were teenagers) and what I think are her last moments. I didn't continue with it though not only because the novel has already ended and I knew what happened to her but also because I was not as interested in her as I was with her two sisters. 

Under Siege 2: The Dark Territory

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Under Siege 2: The Dark Territory is not as good as the first one. It got old (with lots of silly special effects) And I kind of fell asleep during some of the scenes but I had watched it all the first and liked it better then. 

Mad Max:Fury Road

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This guy is a great actor.

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But this woman is the real star of the film.

Mad Max: Fury Road is just my type of film. There is simply nothing wrong with it. I wouldn't change a single thing in it. And I could watch it over and over again. It doesn't get old.

Shameless Season V

Shameless Season V is the one we know and love. I liked it but not as much as season four. The main problem I suppose is that I don't really like Debbie that much. 

Undersiege

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Undersiege is a classic. Deservedly so. The action films then were more concise I guess. It was still entertaining and despite not being a fan of Steven Seagal, I liked it once again. 

Master Of The Game

Master Of The Game  I remember this from my youth. I liked it a lot then and I still do (with reservations  - mainly due to the plot holes) but not as much as I did when I was in my teens (with not that many novels read then) 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid surprised me in that I actually enjoyed it and watched it to the end.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is dull film that had nothing to do with the wonderful novel. 

Stuart:A Life Backwards

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Stuart: A Life Backwards is a book adaptation. I have never heard of it until it showed up on TV. And I have only watched it because Tom Hardy is in it (and it is a great performance). So it ended up being the story of a man who was abused as a child. It was really sad and a decent film.

Also I hate it that the paid TV channel cencores films. 

A Little Life

A Little Life kind of broke my heart. It is a great novel and I'm happy to have read it. It has that certain prose style that I like. Clean and uncluttered. I love the characters and Jude St Francis made me cry so many times (sometimes at inappropriate times such as when in staff shuttle, or on treadmill). 

Shameless US IV

Shameless Season IV was so far the best as far as I'm concerned. Fiona has finally snapped and it was bad. Still she is my favorite character on the show and then I like Ian next. That should say something about me I suppose but what I don't know. 

Pet Sematary

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Pet Sematary was not as entertaining this second time. My sister liked it better this time too. The only thing the film made me want to do was to actually read the novel again. 

Beauty Shop

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Beauty Shop is a film I have only watched because I like Queen Latifah. And she was fun as usual and I had a good time. But it is not that good a film.