Joseph Baneth Allen's Blog, page 64
April 21, 2023
The Way Home
Just finished reading "The Way Home" by Peter S. Beagle, released by ACE Books.
Should a beloved fantasy classic have a sequel? It was a question I found myself asking when I started reading "The Way Home. Not too many people are aware that J.R.R. Tolkien actually started writing, but abandoned, wisely some would say a sequel trilogy to "The Lord of The Rings," which was actually a sequel and/or continuation of "The Hobbit." And while William Goldman has never actually written a sequel to "The Princess Bride," he spoofed an unwritten sequel to his classic work called "Buttercup's Baby," which is rarely mentioned these days.
"The Way Home" features two novellas set decades after the events of "The Last Unicorn" - "Two Hearts" which is the direct sequel to Beagle's beloved fantasy classic in which he introduces nine-year old Sooz, who when her village is terrorized by a Griffin who has started snatching and eating her friends, goes off to seek help from the distant king. On her journey to the king, she runs into Schmendrick and Molly Grue who take her in and accompany her on her quest to see the king, who is their old friend Prince Lir.
It's Molly who tells Sooz that Schmendrick gets time wrong - suggesting that both have the ability to move to past, present, and future. Schmendrick himself makes the odd comment about wanting to be able to feel his mortality - suggesting that both he and Molly are immortal. Yet it is Sooz who rushes in to face the griffin when it kills her beloved dog Malka, who gives Schmendrick the finial impetus he needs to sing out to the unicorn.
"Two Hearts," while a compelling tale of courage, hope, and acceptance of time and passing, just doesn't have the same magic as "The Last Unicorn." It's more of a here's what happened to our heroes years later kind of tale that is as unfinished as life itself.
Now at the end of "Two Hearts" Molly gives Sooz a gift, a tune she can whistle on her 17th birthday that will allow her to call out to someone special to her and sets up the jumping off point for the next novella - "Sooz."
Hoping to see Molly, or Schemdrick, or even the Unicorn again, Sooz goes out to a place special to her and whistles the tune that Molly had taught her. Only she doesn't see her old friends, she instead sees a girl and finds out that it's her sister who had been taken by the dreamies, fairies. Sooz also finds out that she is a changeling left in place of her stolen sister. So like she did so many years ago, Sooz sets off an a quest to rescue her lost sister and return her home to their parents.
Now if I'm remembering correctly, Beagle had resisted the temptation to write a sequel to "The Last Unicorn," and it would be unfair not to point out that "Two Hearts" did win the Hugo and Nebula awards back in 2006. But was it a necessary story? He's never to my knowledge written a sequel to his classic story "Come, Lady Death." Sometimes ever after is left to a reader's own imagination.
Both novellas are well written, and it's "Two Hearts" that has the most magic. But necessary? Only each reader can answer that question for himself.
Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Home-Novel...
Should a beloved fantasy classic have a sequel? It was a question I found myself asking when I started reading "The Way Home. Not too many people are aware that J.R.R. Tolkien actually started writing, but abandoned, wisely some would say a sequel trilogy to "The Lord of The Rings," which was actually a sequel and/or continuation of "The Hobbit." And while William Goldman has never actually written a sequel to "The Princess Bride," he spoofed an unwritten sequel to his classic work called "Buttercup's Baby," which is rarely mentioned these days.
"The Way Home" features two novellas set decades after the events of "The Last Unicorn" - "Two Hearts" which is the direct sequel to Beagle's beloved fantasy classic in which he introduces nine-year old Sooz, who when her village is terrorized by a Griffin who has started snatching and eating her friends, goes off to seek help from the distant king. On her journey to the king, she runs into Schmendrick and Molly Grue who take her in and accompany her on her quest to see the king, who is their old friend Prince Lir.
It's Molly who tells Sooz that Schmendrick gets time wrong - suggesting that both have the ability to move to past, present, and future. Schmendrick himself makes the odd comment about wanting to be able to feel his mortality - suggesting that both he and Molly are immortal. Yet it is Sooz who rushes in to face the griffin when it kills her beloved dog Malka, who gives Schmendrick the finial impetus he needs to sing out to the unicorn.
"Two Hearts," while a compelling tale of courage, hope, and acceptance of time and passing, just doesn't have the same magic as "The Last Unicorn." It's more of a here's what happened to our heroes years later kind of tale that is as unfinished as life itself.
Now at the end of "Two Hearts" Molly gives Sooz a gift, a tune she can whistle on her 17th birthday that will allow her to call out to someone special to her and sets up the jumping off point for the next novella - "Sooz."
Hoping to see Molly, or Schemdrick, or even the Unicorn again, Sooz goes out to a place special to her and whistles the tune that Molly had taught her. Only she doesn't see her old friends, she instead sees a girl and finds out that it's her sister who had been taken by the dreamies, fairies. Sooz also finds out that she is a changeling left in place of her stolen sister. So like she did so many years ago, Sooz sets off an a quest to rescue her lost sister and return her home to their parents.
Now if I'm remembering correctly, Beagle had resisted the temptation to write a sequel to "The Last Unicorn," and it would be unfair not to point out that "Two Hearts" did win the Hugo and Nebula awards back in 2006. But was it a necessary story? He's never to my knowledge written a sequel to his classic story "Come, Lady Death." Sometimes ever after is left to a reader's own imagination.
Both novellas are well written, and it's "Two Hearts" that has the most magic. But necessary? Only each reader can answer that question for himself.
Recommended.
Four Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Home-Novel...
The Taking Of Jemima Boone - Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and The Kidnap That Shaped America
Just finished reading "The Taking Of Jemima Boone - Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and The Kidnap That Shaped America" by Matthew Pearl, published by Harper Books.
While Daniel Boone is best known as the first explorer who opened up the American frontier to Colonial settlers and then to the new United States of America, it was actually the strong father and daughter bond between Boone and his daughter Jemima that withstood the harshest of circumstances of both being taken at separate times hostage by Cherokee-Shawnee Indians. Both Boone and Jemima never lost faith in the other and it served both of them well and the stories of their individual triumphs over their captivity and the betrayal of Boone by his comrades that led to him being acquitted in a dramatic courtroom trail that cleared him completely of charges of treason brought about his survival and escape from his Indian captors.
What is perhaps most tragic, is that due to the time when few people of the American Colonial Frontier could actually read and/or write is that the story of Jemima's kidnapping and rescue in her own words has been lost to time, though there are strong oral traditions and stories that have been passed down through her surviving family. Also most people of letters don't realize that when James Fenimore Cooper wrote "The Last of the Mohicans" that he was actually giving a fictional retelling of the kidnapping of Jemima Boone.
Perhaps most intriguing is how Daniel Boone's actual height became exaggerated during his life, making himself taller than what he was.
Pearl's non-fictional account of Jemima's kidnapping is a fascinating slice of American history.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Jemima-...
While Daniel Boone is best known as the first explorer who opened up the American frontier to Colonial settlers and then to the new United States of America, it was actually the strong father and daughter bond between Boone and his daughter Jemima that withstood the harshest of circumstances of both being taken at separate times hostage by Cherokee-Shawnee Indians. Both Boone and Jemima never lost faith in the other and it served both of them well and the stories of their individual triumphs over their captivity and the betrayal of Boone by his comrades that led to him being acquitted in a dramatic courtroom trail that cleared him completely of charges of treason brought about his survival and escape from his Indian captors.
What is perhaps most tragic, is that due to the time when few people of the American Colonial Frontier could actually read and/or write is that the story of Jemima's kidnapping and rescue in her own words has been lost to time, though there are strong oral traditions and stories that have been passed down through her surviving family. Also most people of letters don't realize that when James Fenimore Cooper wrote "The Last of the Mohicans" that he was actually giving a fictional retelling of the kidnapping of Jemima Boone.
Perhaps most intriguing is how Daniel Boone's actual height became exaggerated during his life, making himself taller than what he was.
Pearl's non-fictional account of Jemima's kidnapping is a fascinating slice of American history.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Jemima-...
Time Trials
Just finished reading "Time Trials" by M.A. Rothman and D.J. Butler published by Baen Books.
I first became aware of "Time Trials" when it popped up on a feed here in Facebook and it looked intriguing enough for me to take a look on Amazon and decide that although I had never read anything by M.A. Rothman and D.J. Butler before that I decided to add it to the shopping cart and buy it.
"Time Trials" is the first entry in a time-travel, save-the-world adventure series that has echoes of the original "Stargate" movie, and several novels by Andre Norton, Murray Leinster, Robert Adams, and others, while paying homage to classic science-fiction/fantasy adventure movies.
Former academic Marty Cohen finds himself reluctantly accepting a gig at a privately-funded dig in Egypt and suddenly finds himself in the midst of an incredible discovery when he finds himself swept back into the past along with his fellow team members. Unless they can solve the mystery of why they have been brought back to the past and save the live of the first king of Egypt who united both Egyptian Kingdoms.
A fast paced adventure.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Trials-M-...
I first became aware of "Time Trials" when it popped up on a feed here in Facebook and it looked intriguing enough for me to take a look on Amazon and decide that although I had never read anything by M.A. Rothman and D.J. Butler before that I decided to add it to the shopping cart and buy it.
"Time Trials" is the first entry in a time-travel, save-the-world adventure series that has echoes of the original "Stargate" movie, and several novels by Andre Norton, Murray Leinster, Robert Adams, and others, while paying homage to classic science-fiction/fantasy adventure movies.
Former academic Marty Cohen finds himself reluctantly accepting a gig at a privately-funded dig in Egypt and suddenly finds himself in the midst of an incredible discovery when he finds himself swept back into the past along with his fellow team members. Unless they can solve the mystery of why they have been brought back to the past and save the live of the first king of Egypt who united both Egyptian Kingdoms.
A fast paced adventure.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Trials-M-...
April 20, 2023
"Jack Benny - A Man And His Bear"
Just finished listening to "Jack Benny - A Man And His Bear" released by Radio Spirits.
What makes Jack Benny a pioneering comedian that continues to entertain generations decades after his passing was his ability and willingness to embrace change and run with the most silliest of surreal situations - such as the unexpected gift he received of Carmichael, his pet polar bear. And who else would confuse an ostrich as a Thanksgiving Day Turkey, and adopt it to his growing pet menagerie.
"Jack Benny - A Man And His Bear" collects the initial radio programs from 1939 through 1941 that introduced Carmichael and Trudy to the general listening public. It also contains the episodes that originally introduced Dennis Day and his mother - one of the few characters who was capable of intimidating Jack.
Jack and his crew excelled at bring the most absurd predicaments to life.
My favorite episodes in this collection are: "Carmichael, The Polar Bear," "Carmichael Is Sick," "Ostrich For Thanksgiving Dinner," "Buck Benny At The Paramount Theater," "7th Anniversary On The Radio," "April Fool's Gags," "Jack Has A Cold," and "The Sponsor Likes Herbert Marshall.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://store.radiospirits.com/jack-b...
What makes Jack Benny a pioneering comedian that continues to entertain generations decades after his passing was his ability and willingness to embrace change and run with the most silliest of surreal situations - such as the unexpected gift he received of Carmichael, his pet polar bear. And who else would confuse an ostrich as a Thanksgiving Day Turkey, and adopt it to his growing pet menagerie.
"Jack Benny - A Man And His Bear" collects the initial radio programs from 1939 through 1941 that introduced Carmichael and Trudy to the general listening public. It also contains the episodes that originally introduced Dennis Day and his mother - one of the few characters who was capable of intimidating Jack.
Jack and his crew excelled at bring the most absurd predicaments to life.
My favorite episodes in this collection are: "Carmichael, The Polar Bear," "Carmichael Is Sick," "Ostrich For Thanksgiving Dinner," "Buck Benny At The Paramount Theater," "7th Anniversary On The Radio," "April Fool's Gags," "Jack Has A Cold," and "The Sponsor Likes Herbert Marshall.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://store.radiospirits.com/jack-b...
April 9, 2023
Dying In The Wool
Just finished reading "Dying In The Wool" by Frances Brody, published by Minotaur Books.
Writing under her pen name of Frances Brody, playwright and novelist Frances McNeil, who is best known for her radio tele-dramas, launched the first novel of her Kate Shackleton historical mystery series back in 2009.
Like so many other Englishwomen in the 1920s, 31-year-old Kate Shackleton is a war widow. She is living on her own and has had some success in tracking down missing men for friends - sometimes the men died in the War, sometimes they just left their former life to start anew. She is excited, if nervous, to take her first paying case - a fellow Voluntary Aid Detachment woman, Tabitha, asks her to see if she can locate her father, who went missing in 1916, so that he can walk her down the aisle at her upcoming wedding. The family owns a wool mill and is very prominent in their region, but the general consensus is that the man, distraught over the death of his son, killed himself; Kate, however, soon finds that nothing is quite as it appears and that the gap of six years since his disappearance has only served to further muddy the waters.
Now "Dying In The Wool" does start off slowly in introducing Kate and builds up to the mystery slowly, yet it is very enjoyable historical mystery cozy.
Highly Recommended!
Four-and-a-half Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Dying-Wool-Kat...
Writing under her pen name of Frances Brody, playwright and novelist Frances McNeil, who is best known for her radio tele-dramas, launched the first novel of her Kate Shackleton historical mystery series back in 2009.
Like so many other Englishwomen in the 1920s, 31-year-old Kate Shackleton is a war widow. She is living on her own and has had some success in tracking down missing men for friends - sometimes the men died in the War, sometimes they just left their former life to start anew. She is excited, if nervous, to take her first paying case - a fellow Voluntary Aid Detachment woman, Tabitha, asks her to see if she can locate her father, who went missing in 1916, so that he can walk her down the aisle at her upcoming wedding. The family owns a wool mill and is very prominent in their region, but the general consensus is that the man, distraught over the death of his son, killed himself; Kate, however, soon finds that nothing is quite as it appears and that the gap of six years since his disappearance has only served to further muddy the waters.
Now "Dying In The Wool" does start off slowly in introducing Kate and builds up to the mystery slowly, yet it is very enjoyable historical mystery cozy.
Highly Recommended!
Four-and-a-half Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Dying-Wool-Kat...
The Brambly Hedge Pop-Up Book
Just finished reading "The Brambly Hedge Pop-Up Book" by Jill Barklem, published by Harper Collins.
Now fans of pop-up books are going to probably be more than a bit disappointed with "The Brambly Hedge Pop-Up Book" because it's not a true pop-up book in the traditional sense of the word.
When I was a very young boy, I had pop-up books that would transform into spectacular vistas, scenery, castles, dragons, and other fantastical places and creatures that rose up and out from the page once you had turned it.
Not here. It's more of a modern take on the pop-up concept, meaning you get a boxy page with an attempt at making the scene appear three-dimensional with depth and raised up images. Not the same thing as yesteryear, but what ever is? Traditional pop-up book are a lost and expensive art.
Created by artist Jill Barklem, and told through the diary of Mrs. Apple, the lives of the Brambly Hedge Mice are seen and put on display for everyone to take part in. A rather delightful stroll.
Highly Recommended!
Five Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Brambly-Hedge-...
Now fans of pop-up books are going to probably be more than a bit disappointed with "The Brambly Hedge Pop-Up Book" because it's not a true pop-up book in the traditional sense of the word.
When I was a very young boy, I had pop-up books that would transform into spectacular vistas, scenery, castles, dragons, and other fantastical places and creatures that rose up and out from the page once you had turned it.
Not here. It's more of a modern take on the pop-up concept, meaning you get a boxy page with an attempt at making the scene appear three-dimensional with depth and raised up images. Not the same thing as yesteryear, but what ever is? Traditional pop-up book are a lost and expensive art.
Created by artist Jill Barklem, and told through the diary of Mrs. Apple, the lives of the Brambly Hedge Mice are seen and put on display for everyone to take part in. A rather delightful stroll.
Highly Recommended!
Five Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Brambly-Hedge-...
The Maltese Falcon
Just finished watching "The Maltese Falcon" released by Warner Brothers.
Now I'm about to make a confession that will completely shock my Number One Minion and Second Best Friend Zack - dramatic drum roll please - this is the first time that I had seen "The Maltese Falcon."
I, of course had heard the classic line over the decades, "The stuff that dreams are made of" and I of course knew that Dashiell Hammett - who himself was a Pinkerton Detective for a while in his life - wrote the original story which had been serialized in a weekly magazine. I had also known that "The Maltese Falcon" is considered by many to be the first "Film Noir" movie, though there are arguments to made in favor of other earlier movies. Perhaps it would be a fair compromise to say that "The Maltese Falcon" is perhaps one of the greatest movies in the Film Noir genre.
Now I was a bit surprised that "The Maltese Falcon" introduced Hammett fictional private investigator Sam Spade - who I was familiar with through the classic radio series from Radio's Golden Age.
Humphrey Bogart infuses Spade with a worldly grittiness that makes him skeptical of just about everyone around him, but gives Spade the confidence to go about finding out the real reasons why his partner Archer was killed.
Bogart's Spade is a likable rouge. Sure he's a suspect in his partner's murder because he was sleeping with his wife, but he has his own code of honor that he follows and strictly adheres to.
"The Maltese Falcon" definitely set the standard that all movies following it in the Film Noir genre did their best to emulate.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Falcon...
Now I'm about to make a confession that will completely shock my Number One Minion and Second Best Friend Zack - dramatic drum roll please - this is the first time that I had seen "The Maltese Falcon."
I, of course had heard the classic line over the decades, "The stuff that dreams are made of" and I of course knew that Dashiell Hammett - who himself was a Pinkerton Detective for a while in his life - wrote the original story which had been serialized in a weekly magazine. I had also known that "The Maltese Falcon" is considered by many to be the first "Film Noir" movie, though there are arguments to made in favor of other earlier movies. Perhaps it would be a fair compromise to say that "The Maltese Falcon" is perhaps one of the greatest movies in the Film Noir genre.
Now I was a bit surprised that "The Maltese Falcon" introduced Hammett fictional private investigator Sam Spade - who I was familiar with through the classic radio series from Radio's Golden Age.
Humphrey Bogart infuses Spade with a worldly grittiness that makes him skeptical of just about everyone around him, but gives Spade the confidence to go about finding out the real reasons why his partner Archer was killed.
Bogart's Spade is a likable rouge. Sure he's a suspect in his partner's murder because he was sleeping with his wife, but he has his own code of honor that he follows and strictly adheres to.
"The Maltese Falcon" definitely set the standard that all movies following it in the Film Noir genre did their best to emulate.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Falcon...
April 7, 2023
"Tiny Time Machine" by John E. Stith
Just finished reading "Tiny Time Machine" by John E. Stith, released by Amazing Stories Selects.
Now as frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media platforms know, I always believe in being open, honest, and forthcoming when I have a connection to a writer, musician, and/or artist. Now, although we have never met in person, and to the best of my knowledge never exchanged emails, or met at a science-fiction convention - John E. Stith and I are friends here on Facebook.
Now I've always enjoyed John E. Stith's books and I always look forward to each new release. And having also lost my parents unexpectedly - though I have never been married, so I also never lost a spouse too - I do know and understand why there was a long time between his last novel and his most recent novel, "Pushback."
"Tiny Time Machine" is Stith's first novella for young adults, and if I'm remembering correctly, he first wrote it as an original screenplay before he wrote it as a novella.
Meg, who is angry with life and her father after the death of her mother, meets and is arrested alongside fellow eco-activist Josh, when they attempt to break into pest control company to sabotage the chemical production facility. Upon being released from police custody, Meg discovers that her father has been murdered and she and Josh have been framed for his murdered. But before he dies, Meg's father gives her a cell phone, which contains an app that allows it's users to travel back and forth in time.
Stith accurately predicts what happens when geo-engineering is attempted with no real thought given to the consequences - even if the intention is a good one.
A thoroughly enjoyable short novel. I'm looking forward to the promised two sequels.
Highly Recommended!
Five Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Time-Mach...
Now as frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media platforms know, I always believe in being open, honest, and forthcoming when I have a connection to a writer, musician, and/or artist. Now, although we have never met in person, and to the best of my knowledge never exchanged emails, or met at a science-fiction convention - John E. Stith and I are friends here on Facebook.
Now I've always enjoyed John E. Stith's books and I always look forward to each new release. And having also lost my parents unexpectedly - though I have never been married, so I also never lost a spouse too - I do know and understand why there was a long time between his last novel and his most recent novel, "Pushback."
"Tiny Time Machine" is Stith's first novella for young adults, and if I'm remembering correctly, he first wrote it as an original screenplay before he wrote it as a novella.
Meg, who is angry with life and her father after the death of her mother, meets and is arrested alongside fellow eco-activist Josh, when they attempt to break into pest control company to sabotage the chemical production facility. Upon being released from police custody, Meg discovers that her father has been murdered and she and Josh have been framed for his murdered. But before he dies, Meg's father gives her a cell phone, which contains an app that allows it's users to travel back and forth in time.
Stith accurately predicts what happens when geo-engineering is attempted with no real thought given to the consequences - even if the intention is a good one.
A thoroughly enjoyable short novel. I'm looking forward to the promised two sequels.
Highly Recommended!
Five Stars!
https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Time-Mach...
The Super Mario Brothers Movie
Just finished watching "The Super Mario Brothers Movie" released by Nintendo and Illuminations.
One of the ways that you can tell if a movie is actually going to be great fun to watch is to consider the actual criticism against it, and when a good number of "professional" film critics spend a good part of their review reminding readers of and actually reviewing the live action Super Mario Brothers Movie that was first released in 1993 and has gained cult status because it is a really bad and outright rather bizarre science-fiction/action/comedy movie that badly bombed at the box office when it first hit the silver screen 30 years ago.
"The Super Mario Brothers Movie" by Nintendo and Illuminations is a great animated movie that succeeds because it stays faithful to the original characters of the game and resoundingly rejects the nonsensical Woke principals of diversity and inclusion.
Mario's and Luigi's backstories are fleshed out and they are shown as being risk takers, willing to take the chance and follow their shared dream of opening up their own plumbing business, despite being ridiculed and put down even by their own family for going out on their own.
And perhaps as a wink and a nod to the original live action Popeye movie where he hated eating spinach, Mario dislikes and hates eating mushrooms.
Desperate to prove themselves, Mario and Luigi rush out save Brooklyn from flooding when the city's sewer system breaks, and the two brothers find themselves transported and separated a world of separate kingdoms. Luigi finds himself in Bowser's dark kingdom, while Mario finds himself the Mushroom Kingdom, and perhaps in another wink and a nod, this time to "The Wizard of Oz," he's taken on the road to meet Princess Peach, the only one who can help him reunite with his lost brother.
But it's not an easy road for Mario. The Mushroom Kingdom is facing a terrible threat from Bowser's army and Princess Peach must travel to the Jungle Kingdom of the Donkey Kongs in an attempt to form an alliance. Before Princess Peach will allow Mario to accompany her, he must prove that he can handle himself.
And he fails, but he doesn't give up and keeps on trying, despite falling short on multiple attempts until he finally manages to overcome the obstacle course that Princess Peach tasked him with completing.
Princess Peach's back story is also developed. She was a baby when she arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom, so she doesn't know her family. She's no damsel in distress though and is quite capable of saving herself, which she does when she believes that Mario was killed.
I suspect the main reason why "professional" critics hate this movie is that it has heart, and shows that the greatest strength is the ability to cast aside the doubts of others, believe in yourself, and succeed, even if you fail the first few times out. In other words, traditional American values that are embraced by all the characters of this movie.
It also simply tells a great story and has you rooting for Mario and Luigi, while staying true to the source material. Something Disney should remember with it's current crop of big-screen animated failures "Lightyear" and "Strange World."
With "The Super Mario Brothers Movie," Illumination has rightfully secured it's hold as one of the top animation studios in the world and has knocked Disney further down the pedestal it once was on.
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/SUPER-MARIO-BR...
One of the ways that you can tell if a movie is actually going to be great fun to watch is to consider the actual criticism against it, and when a good number of "professional" film critics spend a good part of their review reminding readers of and actually reviewing the live action Super Mario Brothers Movie that was first released in 1993 and has gained cult status because it is a really bad and outright rather bizarre science-fiction/action/comedy movie that badly bombed at the box office when it first hit the silver screen 30 years ago.
"The Super Mario Brothers Movie" by Nintendo and Illuminations is a great animated movie that succeeds because it stays faithful to the original characters of the game and resoundingly rejects the nonsensical Woke principals of diversity and inclusion.
Mario's and Luigi's backstories are fleshed out and they are shown as being risk takers, willing to take the chance and follow their shared dream of opening up their own plumbing business, despite being ridiculed and put down even by their own family for going out on their own.
And perhaps as a wink and a nod to the original live action Popeye movie where he hated eating spinach, Mario dislikes and hates eating mushrooms.
Desperate to prove themselves, Mario and Luigi rush out save Brooklyn from flooding when the city's sewer system breaks, and the two brothers find themselves transported and separated a world of separate kingdoms. Luigi finds himself in Bowser's dark kingdom, while Mario finds himself the Mushroom Kingdom, and perhaps in another wink and a nod, this time to "The Wizard of Oz," he's taken on the road to meet Princess Peach, the only one who can help him reunite with his lost brother.
But it's not an easy road for Mario. The Mushroom Kingdom is facing a terrible threat from Bowser's army and Princess Peach must travel to the Jungle Kingdom of the Donkey Kongs in an attempt to form an alliance. Before Princess Peach will allow Mario to accompany her, he must prove that he can handle himself.
And he fails, but he doesn't give up and keeps on trying, despite falling short on multiple attempts until he finally manages to overcome the obstacle course that Princess Peach tasked him with completing.
Princess Peach's back story is also developed. She was a baby when she arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom, so she doesn't know her family. She's no damsel in distress though and is quite capable of saving herself, which she does when she believes that Mario was killed.
I suspect the main reason why "professional" critics hate this movie is that it has heart, and shows that the greatest strength is the ability to cast aside the doubts of others, believe in yourself, and succeed, even if you fail the first few times out. In other words, traditional American values that are embraced by all the characters of this movie.
It also simply tells a great story and has you rooting for Mario and Luigi, while staying true to the source material. Something Disney should remember with it's current crop of big-screen animated failures "Lightyear" and "Strange World."
With "The Super Mario Brothers Movie," Illumination has rightfully secured it's hold as one of the top animation studios in the world and has knocked Disney further down the pedestal it once was on.
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/SUPER-MARIO-BR...
April 6, 2023
"For Sunny Days" by Steve Orchard
Just finished listening to "For Sunny Days" by Steve Orchard, released by AD Music.
Now as frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media platforms know, I always am forthcoming when I have a connection to an artist. Although we have never met in person, Steve and I have been friends for nearly 13 years now - my how time has flown since I first emailed Steve back in 2011. Since then Steve has released many outstanding CDs.
Now also in the interest of full disclosure, I had the great privilege of being asked by Steve to be a guest "vocalist" recently on the track "Space Travel Expands The Mind" from his newest album. "The Third Alien" because he needed someone who has an "American" accent.
"For Sunny Days" is a reflective album that captures the contemplative calm of a summer day. While Steve's excellent guitar work is very much present throughout this album, he mixes his strong string work with keys and synths.
My favorite tracks on this album are: "Paper Dragons," "Copper Leaf," "Drift Away," Southerly Breeze," and "Beach Life."
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.admusicshop.com/product/s...
Now as frequent readers of my reviews here on Facebook, Goodreads, and other social media platforms know, I always am forthcoming when I have a connection to an artist. Although we have never met in person, Steve and I have been friends for nearly 13 years now - my how time has flown since I first emailed Steve back in 2011. Since then Steve has released many outstanding CDs.
Now also in the interest of full disclosure, I had the great privilege of being asked by Steve to be a guest "vocalist" recently on the track "Space Travel Expands The Mind" from his newest album. "The Third Alien" because he needed someone who has an "American" accent.
"For Sunny Days" is a reflective album that captures the contemplative calm of a summer day. While Steve's excellent guitar work is very much present throughout this album, he mixes his strong string work with keys and synths.
My favorite tracks on this album are: "Paper Dragons," "Copper Leaf," "Drift Away," Southerly Breeze," and "Beach Life."
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.admusicshop.com/product/s...
