Kait Gamble's Blog, page 16

Brick Mansions vs Banlieue 13 (aka B13/District 13)

*Major Spoiler Alert*

I watched B13 when it first came out in 2004 and thought the storyline was different and interesting. An uncontrollable ghetto in Paris is walled off and left to fend for itself after the local government has given up on it, calling it Banlieue 13 or B13. Within the walls, Leito (played by David Belle, a founder of parkour) rages a one man war on the drug dealers to keep his building thug and drug free. At the beginning of the movie, he intercepts a huge shipment of drugs which causes the neighbouring drug lord, Taha (Bibi Naceri), to send his thugs in to retrieve them giving Leto a chance to show off his impressive parkour skills. In realiation, Taha kidnaps Leito’s sister, Lola. He rescues his sister and kidnaps Taha in return to deliver him to the police at the perimeter of the city. They are in the middle of abandoning their position by order of the government. Not wanting a confrontation against the overpowering number of Taha’s men, they imprison Leito and give Taha Lola. Leito kills the police captain in his rage.

Several months later undercover cop, Daniel Tomaso (Cyril Rafaelli) has infiltrated an underground casino and attempts to arrest the gangster that owns it. His extraction goes wrong and he has to fight his way in spectacular style. He’s immediately given a new assignment. He’s told that Taha has gotten his hands on an experimental neutron bomb that is set to detonate in 24 hours. He’s to convince Leito, who has been imprisoned for months, to lead him into Taha’s domain to disarm the bomb.

Daniel pretends to be a fellow prisoner and they escape to B13. Leito, however, sees through his rouse and abandons Daniel. Daniel fights his way back to Leito and tells him the truth and the two of them fight their way to the bomb. When they finally reach it, Daniel is texted the disarming code but Leito recognizes it as a reference to their location and deduces that it’s actually a trigger code. Daniel doesn’t believe him and tries to enter the code but Leito and Lola prevent him from doing so. The time runs out and the bomb doesn’t detonate, proving Leito right.

The two take the bomb into the city and get the security chief to admit that it was his plan to rid the city of the problem of the district. He does but doesn’t realize that he’s being filmed and his confession is being broadcasted across all channels. The result is a major scandal that brings in support for B13. The Leito and Damian part as friends.

It was a great movie especially if you’re into martial arts and parkour and can forgive a superficial plot that is just a backdrop for the action. David Belle and Cyril Rafaelli work very well together and the action was just fantastic. What made the film so good for me, besides the ass kicking and wall climbing, was the grittiness of the world the story was set in. It was dark, gloomy, you could almost smell the decay and feel the desperation of the people living in B13. The 2014 remake was a pale comparison that just didn’t live up to its predecessor.

Brick Mansions stars Paul Walker and David Belle reprises his role of Leito, although in this version his name is Lino.

Paul Walker plays cop, Daniel, and while he was good it just wasn’t the same without a partner for David Belle to kick ass with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Paul Walker’s but I don’t think he was right for the role. The story is pretty much the same with a change of location to Detroit and some sanitizing of the plot. RZA plays the gang leader but just didn’t across as scummy as Taha in the original. Even the ending isn’t as satisfying. Where in the original the two men who fought their way through the entire district became the heroes, the RZA’s character, the antagonist throughout the film, suddenly has a change of heart and becomes the hero. To me, this was rather blah. It came across as a last minute edit that no one bothered to make fit into the rest of the story.

Knowing that this is the last film Paul Walker completed before his death just adds to the bad taste the film left in my mouth.

Game of Thrones – Oberyn Martell

*Spoiler Alerts*

Game of Thrones has been in my TBR pile for years. Yes YEARS. I just never seem to have the time I need to devote to a story so vast. I’ve made a few attempts to start but from the moment I read the first paragraph I knew that I had to focus and pay attention if I was going to get anything out of the story. So sadly, the series sits waiting on my reader waiting patiently.

Luckily for me, the TV series started airing and I’ve been hooked ever since. As with the other seasons, this one was packed with new characters, and plots, and schemes, and murders, and of course, breasts.

The highlight of the season for me was the hypersexual, antihero that was Oberyn Martell, as played by the wonderfully talented Pedro Pascal. He was sexy, suave, and number one in the ‘I Hate Lannisters Club’. He shows up for the wedding of Joffrey and Margaery as a replacement for, and more than likely insult from, his ailing brother. From the moment he’s introduced you know that he’s going to be SOMEONE. We soon find out that he’s there to take revenge for the rape and murder of his beloved sister and her children.

Surprisingly, he champions Tyrion Lannister in his trial by combat. His opponent is Gregor ‘The Mountain’ Clegane, the man who perpetrated the crimes against his sister. He takes the opportunity to try and extort a confession from the man. To try and get him to point the finger at who had ordered him to kill his sister. He gets the former just before he’s killed in a very graphic way.

If there’s anything that I’ve learned from watching the series, it’s that everything has consequences. I can’t wait to see what his death brings in the next season!

Season 4 Trailer

Oberyn Meets With Tyrion

The 100

I’m discussing the CW series The 100 based on the book of the same name by Kass Morgan on my YA alter ego’s blog.

Click here to check it out now!

Long Time

Wow it’s been a long time! Things on my end have been hectic, confusing, and just plain crazy. But things seem to have settled down now and that means I can get my head back in the game. So get ready for some new stuff from me!

More Pics

Here are a trio of shots from my latest little adventure. You may notice a running theme with these ones

Stephen Fry Being Awesome as Always

I had to share this vid where Stephen Fry discusses language.

On My Wanderings

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I know I’ve been a bit negligent about blogging but my life’s gone through a huge upheaval over the past month. To the point where nothing in it is the same as it was just a week ago.

I won’t bore you with the details.

I do have a few pics of the beach I wandered along a couple of nights ago to share though.

Vid: Thoughts on the Creative Career

Because this was too good not to share From zefrankenfriends

Can’t Stop the Serenity

You may have noticed a new logo gracing the right side of the blog. That’s right, I and several authors from Contact – Infinite Futures have joined forces with Felicia Day, Tim Daly, Dark Horse Comics, Think Geek, Joss Whedon and many others to support Can’t Stop the Serenity.

Check out the books we’re donating!

Alien Revealed by Lilly Cain is an erotic alien romance set against the backdrop of a greater galactic war that’s arrived on Earth’s doorstep.

Blue Galaxy by Diane Dooley is a futuristic romance about a space captain who gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to transport a high-ranking and beautiful passenger.

Liar’s Game by Kait Gamble is the story of a ragtag crew of prison escapees led by “deceased” captain Aurelia Popkiss, who finds a mysterious stowaway on board her ship.

Rulebreaker by Cathy Pegau is a sci-fi F/F romance – but when you’re a liar and a thief, falling in love means risking more than just your heart.

Sparks in Cosmic Dust by Robert Appleton is about four strangers – whores, criminals and outcasts – who are offered the treasure of a lifetime.If they can survive to claim it.

Stellarnet Rebel by J.L. Hilton is the post-cyberpunk sci-fi story of interstellar bloggers, alien freedom fighters, sex, violence and video games. EPIC Award finalist for best sci-fi ebook of 2012. SFR Galaxy Award winner for Best Non-Traditional Romance.

Winter Fusion by Anna Hackett is a science fiction romance released as part of the anthology, A Galactic Holiday.

What is Can’t Stop the Serenity that you ask? CSTS is where fans of Firefly gather for charity viewings of Serenity and other events to raise funds for Equality Now and other worthy causes.

Global Donation Tally:

2012: $110,465.98

Equality Now: $95,512.34

Other Charities: $14,593.64

Interested in joining the fun and helping out some great causes? Check the site for a local event!

Caprica

Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. - Wikipedia

First episode: January 22, 2010

Final episode: November 30, 2010

Network: Syfy

Why on earth did it take me so long to watch Caprica? Oh, I know. Because like most awesome sci-fi TV shows it was cut down before it got a real chance. So I put it off, like so many other things, in favour of stuff that won’t end up disappointing me. Like work.

So this Easter I decided to sit down and watch all nineteen episodes. It’s more impressive than it sounds, believe me. I barely have time to read and write as much as I’d like let alone watch an entire series. Currently, I’m eleven eps in and it hasn’t been half bad. The writing is good. The story is intriguing. The acting good enough to keep me interested.

The world building is wonderful and builds up toward the conflicts that are prevalent in Battlestar Galactica. It explains the origins of the Cylons and the human struggles that lead up to their creation.

I can see how fans of Battlestar could have been less enthused about Caprica. The former was more about space battles and all-out war between humans and cylons where the latter is about the people and their clashes with race, religion and family.

I’m dreading it ending. I know it’s going to be yet another series that I’ll want more of.