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All posts for the month November, 2023

Grand Guignol Orchestra

Posted by cat2002116 on November 29, 2023
Posted in: Books, Horror, Manga, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


I really love manga books. I haven’t read any in a while, but after I got sent three out of five books in a series as part of a Yuletide book exchance, I was immediately excited to read them…and I have to say that these books did not disappoint.

The idea of zombies and a zombie virus being spread through the infected biting/consuming healthy people isn’t a new one, but I thought the idea of them becoming like dolls was a really interesting one…as was the fact that there’s an orchestra who travels around the country, playing music and fighting the zombies.

The first book did a really good job of introducing me to the world and the main characters. I have to be honest, I also assumed Lucille was a woman at first as well! I enjoyed seeing the relationship that developed through the first three books in this series, although by the time I finished book three, I really didn’t know what to make of Lucille or Gwindel. Kohaku actually felt like the character with the least to hide…although I’m sure there’ll be more revealed in the last two books about his past, especially as it’s made clear that the orchestra is made up of criminals.

I found it really interesting to learn more about Lucille’s past and see hints of his relationships with his sister and his cousin. Compared to her original appearance, I was really surprised by how Cordy looked and acted when she was the Queen. I’m not really sure what kind of thing could have changed her personality so drastically, but it definitely seemed like she had no care or compassion left, even for her brother or her cousin.

When I saw the covers for the first time, I was immediately struck by how gorgeous the artwork was, and while the artwork in the book wasn’t coloured, I still thought it looked really pretty…especially when it came to the design of characters like Lucille.

The first book had a really emotional scene right at the end of the first chapter, where the guignols received their minds back…however temporarily. It was really sad to see the temporary reunion between the children and their parents, as well as between Vivian and Sid, since it was made very clear that the guignols would still end up dying.

In book three, I liked learning about Gwindel’s past…although it was kind of sad to see. After all, his daughter fell victim to the disease…and it definitely gave him more depth as a character.

On the whole, I did enjoy reading these three books in the series. And I’d be interested in reading the next two books in this series in the future.

The Malevolent Seven

Posted by cat2002116 on November 27, 2023
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I read the first book of the Greatcoats series…and most of the second one…and really enjoyed the writing, so when I went to the Forbidden Planet store and saw this book, I was immediately intrigued. After all, antiheroes and reformed villains are among my favourite things (hence why I love Loki so much).

I did enjoy reading this book, though I can’t really say that it was as easy to read as some others. For instance, there was a lot of information dumping and repetitiveness…especially with Cade reiterating, over and over again, how he wasn’t one of the good guys. Despite that whole ‘the lady doth protest too much’, though, I did find him to be an interesting, engaging character…and I especially liked how the wonderists shown at the beginning of the book weren’t actually those who ended up being what the book was about, even though two of them were.

I found it interesting to see the relationship between Cade and Corrigan, even though I really didn’t like Corrigan for most of the book. Cade put on a really good front of being a bad guy, but being able to see events from his POV made it easier to see that he was a better person than he would have had the reader believe. Corrigan, I spent most of the book expecting him to betray everyone else…and even if I had a stronger respect for him by the end of the book, I could never quite shake that feeling that he would eventually turn on the rest of them.

As for the other wonderists in this book, I found Galass and Shame to both be really interesting, well-rounded characters. The whole concept of someone being awakened to an attunement to blood magic and having to figure out how to control something that sends most people insane was a really intriguing one. And I really enjoyed Shame’s interactions with Cade on her first appearance…and how he helped her, knowing that it was right, even if the whole reason he did so was because of Aradeus. And speaking of Aradeus…he was definitely more like the swashbuckling hero that Cade claimed so vehemently that the rest of them weren’t. He was someone who could have come across as really creepy and a lech…but by the end of the book, I felt that he was one of the better characters.

All told, I really did enjoy reading this book. While it wasn’t as good as the Greatcoats series, the main character was engaging enough to make me want to see more of him in future books…and I’m especially keen to see more of the history of characters like Corrigan, since there was a scene earlier that indicated there was something more tragic that had happened in his past. I definitely would have liked to see more details about that.

Thanksgiving

Posted by cat2002116 on November 22, 2023
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

So, yeah, when I saw this movie advertised, I was immediately interested in watching it…probably to no one’s surprise, since I watch so many horror movies. I knew it was going to be a slasher movie and that a killer would be picking off victims…but the trailer made me think that there might be more going on than just a masked killer picking off a group of teenagers.

Sadly, I was disappointed by this movie.

I’ll start with the opening scenes, which pretty much guaranteed I wasn’t going to care about any of the characters. From the crowd gathered outside the store for the Black Friday sale, to the owner of the store sitting at home enjoying Thanksgiving dinner and not caring enough to be at the store (complete with evil stepmother), to the teens who got let into the store before every other customer and proceeded to flaunt the fact they were there…there was only one character who really seemed to feel bad about the utter carnage that had been caused. Bobby tried to help a man who was bleeding out (after a consumer snatched a product from the wounded guy), only to get hurt himself…but did anyone else make even a token effort to help those who’d been trampled/crushed/hurt? Well…no. Maybe if they’d shown a shred of decency and compassion, they wouldn’t have been picked off by a murderer. And maybe I wouldn’t have been watching the movie waiting for each of these awful people to get their comeuppance. The killer actually showed more compassion than any of their victims ever had, considering they fed the cat after killing one of their victims.

There was a lot of gore…a lot of violent deaths…in this movie. Here in the UK, it was given an 18 rating and it definitely deserved that. Not sure that amount of gore was really that necessary, though! Less is more, filmmakers. At a certain point, I just get desensitized to the gore and violent deaths.

While there were attempts to provide red herrings in this movie, they didn’t really go anywhere; and, in fact, my oldest nibling correctly identified the killer when they saw the trailer. So the mystery/thriller/big reveal just…fell flat. And the killer was a better, more sympathetic character than the victims they were killing. And it’s really not necessary for the killer to explain an earlier comment they made about a victim making a good dinner as having a double meaning! Subtlety, you don’t exist in this movie.

So, to be quite honest, this movie was disappointing. None of the characters were particularly likable, and I really only kept watching to see them all get their comeuppance. I felt character development was dropped in favour of making the deaths as gory and gruesome as possible.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Posted by cat2002116 on November 18, 2023
Posted in: Dystopian, Movies, Reviews, Young Adult. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I read the book this movie is based on back when it first came out, so I was immediately excited to watch the movie when it came out this year…and I spent a few months looking forward to it, right from the first trailer I saw of the movie.

From almost the very first scene of this movie, I was drawn into this movie. The original Hunger Games trilogy (books and movies) cemented President Snow as one of the main villainous characters, but in this movie, Coriolanus comes across as a bit more of a sympathetic character. One of the most interesting parts of this movie was the friendship between Coriolanus and Sejanus. While it could have been a case of Coriolanus using Sejanus to get to his family’s wealth, I never really got that impression…and their closeness was one of the good parts of this movie, at least for me.

Obviously, the movie was violent, given that the whole concept of the Hunger Games was that children from each of the twelve districts were sent into an arena to kill each other. Dr. Gaul was a suitably disturbing character, given that she was the designer of the arenas. I think someone has to be disturbed to send children into those arenas to die. Dean Highbottom was much more interesting than I was expecting him to be, as he was very clearly affected by the games and had obviously turned to morphling to dull the emotions brought about by being one of those responsible for implementing the idea of the Hunger Games…although as revealed by the end of the movie, he had never expected his idea to be taken up and it had in fact been Coriolanus’ father who had officially put forward the proposal for the Hunger Games.

In the original trilogy, the Capitol seems to just be this luxurious, fun, fancy place…and I thought it was really good that this movie showed that there were much darker parts to that place, even outside of the Hunger Games. After all, the Snow family had no money at all…were facing eviction and hunger. And Coriolanus kept faking that they still had plenty in both money and food, putting on a front for his fellow classmates. As Lucy Gray put it, “I thought everyone in the Capitol had plenty to eat.” Or words to that effect, since I don’t recall the exact quote.

Speaking of Lucy Gray…she didn’t seem to come across quite as manipulative and strong as she did in the book. In the book, I was never quite sure if she had real feelings for Coriolanus, or if she was just using him. In the movie, the romance seemed to feel more ‘real’, almost.

There was a lot that went on in this movie…a lot that happened both in the Hunger Games and outside of them. I would definitely recommend this movie as one to watch, as I found it really good and entertaining. Even though I knew how things would end, it didn’t stop me from caring about the characters and the storyline as if I didn’t know how things were going to end. If you enjoyed the original trilogy, books or movies, I think you’ll probably enjoy this movie.

The Marvels

Posted by cat2002116 on November 13, 2023
Posted in: Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Probably to no one’s surprise…I decided to go and see this movie on its opening weekend. I was a bit hesitant, because while I do like superhero movies, Marvel has kind of gone a little bit downhill for me. I can’t really say why that’s the case, though, because I’ve been into Marvel ever since I saw the first Thor movie…and haven’t missed a movie since then, though the same cannot be said for the TV series.

I did enjoy the fact that this movie was focused around Carol, Monica and Kamala. I hadn’t seen much of Monica since WandaVision (one of the few Marvel TV series I have watched all the way through) and I was really keen to see her in action, after she got powers and then went to join Fury.

I have not seen Ms. Marvel, to be honest, but I found Kamala a really easy character to empathise with…not least because she was drawing comics and really liked writing fan fiction/fantasising, which is something I can really get behind. Her hero worship of Captain Marvel was really cute…and I loved the fact that she actually got to meet her hero and fight alongside her.

I loved the whole concept of Carol, Monica and Kamala switching places each time they used their powers. It was such a unique idea, and a really great way of getting Kamala involved when her age really should have meant she stayed behind. I also really enjoyed seeing the conflicts between Carol and Monica, especially as I’d wondered what had happened between them after Captain Marvel and then Monica being blipped away and returning.

There were definitely Disney elements involved in this movie, such as the planet where everyone communicated through singing. It was an interesting concept, but I honestly couldn’t see any company outside of Disney actually putting that idea into practice. I actually really liked Yan’s character, especially as he seemed to have a lot of respect for them. I really liked how he told Kamala how to use what she had to fight, but didn’t try to baby her or protect her.

I also really loved seeing Goose again. I loved her so much in Captain Marvel and getting to see her in this movie, actually playing quite a big role, was awesome. I also thought that Dar-Benn was a really interesting character…and someone I would have liked to learn more about.

I did feel like there was a lot going on in this movie that worked really well and I really enjoyed watching it. I did laugh at various points and I did care a lot about the characters. One thing Marvel does well is give their villains a sympathetic backstory…and I thought they did that really well in this movie.

I would definitely recommend seeing this if you enjoy Marvel. And there is a mid-credits scene…but only a soundbite at the end, so you might not want to stick around for that.

Dream Scenario

Posted by cat2002116 on November 13, 2023
Posted in: Comedy, Horror, Movies, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Okay, so I was interested when I saw this movie advertised, due to always having a strong interest in dreams and how the subconscious works, at least in fiction. And the idea of a whole lot of people randomly dreaming about a completely random person (a completely average person, in the words of many characters) was a really intriguing one.

I do have to say that I found Paul to be quite a bland, uninteresting character. The most interesting part of him was the fact that he kept on appearing in random people’s dreams…and it was especially interesting to see just how weird people’s dreams were, although a lot of them were still real-world based. I don’t know about other people, but I personally have had a lot of dreams that are far more fantastical in nature. This movie could have done a lot with the strange and fantastical, instead of having dreams that drew a lot from the real world. The only time the confusion you sometimes experience in dreams came through was when Paul himself had a dream! Other than that, all of the dreams just seemed written by people who were basing everything off of the real world. Where were the dreams where people are superheroes, or can fly?

One thing that I did think this movie did quite well was in showcasing how quickly someone can not only lose fame…but become a disliked figure in the public eye. While I did find Paul to be bland and uninteresting, since he seemed to have very little interest in changing his life (he talked a lot about his book he was writing, but made no attempt to actively do anything with it for most of the movie), I did feel some empathy for him. After all, even when the dreams turned to nightmares, he wasn’t responsible for that…though it quite clearly had something to do with his mental state, given the dreams did change as a result of his life getting worse.

I would have liked to see Paul take more of an active role in his own life. I really didn’t feel like he was that interested in changing things for himself, which was part of what made this film not as entertaining as it could have been.

On the whole, I felt that this movie was kind of entertaining…but there was a lot more that could have been done with it. And I would have liked to see a main character who actually did something, instead of just…well, stading there and watching like an awkward observer. I wouldn’t watch this film again, to be honest.

Anatomy of a Fall

Posted by cat2002116 on November 6, 2023
Posted in: Drama, Movies, Mystery, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This wasn’t actually a movie I would have chosen to see on my own, but I occasionally choose to go to the secret showings at Cineworld…because sometimes I like to be surprised by a film that’s showing. I was really happy when I saw one secret showing and it turned out to be Dungeons and Dragons! (I did guess that, but only because I was asked what movie I thought would be showing. I 100% didn’t think it would actually be that movie).

Anyway…I wasn’t especially taken with the movie. I think part of it was due to not being able to connect emotionally with the main character, Sandra, who was accused of killing her husband. Most of the movie involved the court case where evidence was presented and unfolded to reveal secrets and lies to the jury who were to decide if she was innocent or not. Unfortunately, while that could have been done really well, this movie just…did not.

There was no real mystery in the movie…or perhaps I should say, I didn’t care about the mystery. I didn’t care about finding out if Sandra had killed her husband or not. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but there’s one point where she’s getting food from the fridge and she says, ‘I’m so tired of crying!’ and…she doesn’t cry. She’s never shown to cry, even when she complains that she’s tired of doing so.

I kind of wish that this movie had stuck to the French language, rather than constantly slipping into English, because I think that ruined the effects of the movie. I’m fine with subtitles, but it wasn’t really necessary to keep having the English language forced into the movie. It might have contributed to my lack of connection to Sandra, as it was made clear that she didn’t enjoy the French language and made little attempt to speak it even when she was in the country.

I felt like the best character in this movie was Daniel. I wasn’t sure if he was saying things because he was trying to save the parent he had left, or if he really believed them…and that ambiguity was one thing I did feel that the movie got right.

I think this movie did far too much telling rather than showing, particularly when it came to insisting that Sandra was bisexual, or that she had affairs. There was actually nothing in this movie to show that she was bisexual, or that she’d had affairs…and I actually rolled my eyes when she said, ‘I didn’t have an affair, because I told him exactly what I’d done!’, because…for someone who was supposed to be intelligent (as a writer), that was just so stupid.

I don’t think this is a movie I would recommend watching. I felt that the main character just didn’t carry the plot of the movie…which is my own opinion, of course. She was just really difficult to empathise with, which is important for a main character of a movie. But if you’ve seen the film and have your own opinions, I’d love to hear those!

Alice in Borderland Volume 1

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Books, Manga, Reviews, Science Fiction. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


All right, so…I watched the TV series of Alice in Borderland. I binge-watched it, actually, because it was so good. So when I went into the Forbidden Planet store in Southampton, I didn’t really have a choice but to buy the first in the manga series. (That’s not exactly true. I did have a choice. I just ended up giving into that part of me that really just wanted to buy the book).

So, obviously, I was already aware of what was going to happen in Borderland, when Arisu, Chota and Karube found themselves in that world. But I still found it interesting to see the manga’s version of them appearing there. The fireworks held a much higher significance than they seemed to in the TV series…and it made me wonder just what the fireworks signified in the manga version.

I found the first game they ended up playing to be quite interesting. I didn’t quite understand the whole fortune reading thing, but it was obvious that the worse fortune they drew, the harder a question they would receive. And, of course, the final question required an almost impossible answer of how big is the Earth’s population. Considering that burning arrows had been shot at the group every time a question was answered wrongly, that threat made the game feel so much more intense. And Arisu figuring out the answer to the actual game, even if he didn’t know the answer to his question, worked really well, as the clues he picked up on made sense as soon as he put voice to what he’d realised.

I did find that the artwork for Chota’s character made him seem very juvenile…almost childishly so. He also fit a stereotype that I often see in Japanese manga: that of a perverted man (though it’s normally an older man) more interested in chasing after women than anything else. Honestly, out of the three of them (Arisu, Chota and Karube), I felt he did come across as the weaker character (sorry, Chota).

The second part of this manga was the game of Tag…which the TV series had clearly followed from this book. I enjoyed the inclusion of a familiar character, who was my favourite in the series. And it was particularly interesting to see his gameplan, in comparison to the rest of those caught in the game. And it was great to see Usagi appear in the book, too, even though she and Arisu didn’t have that much interaction.

I would like to read the next books in this series, as I’m really interesting to see how the characters were first written and how they compare to their TV counterparts. Plus, the different medium will probably allow me to learn more about the characters than I was able to see in the series.

A Taste of Gold and Iron

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This book did take me a long time to read…and if I’m completely honest, that wasn’t because I didn’t enjoy this book, or didn’t want to read it. In fact, the book was really great and it hit all of my wants in a fantasy book. However, it took me a couple of months to read…which I think might have been more to do with outside things going on than anything else.

When I originally found this book, I was really excited. Why? Because it was an LGBTQ+ book…but it wasn’t put in its own section. It was just included in a shelf that only had fiction books. So finding this book felt like I’d made a huge discovery (it’s the little things that make life fun).

There was a lot that was going on in this book and I have to say, I really liked that there was so much detail. I didn’t really feel like the book was weighed down with the politics and mystery going on…although the counterfeit money was only a really small part of what was going on.

I really loved the slow burn of this book, in the relationship that formed between Kadou and Evemer. While it was a little bit of a cliche that one person doesn’t like the other and then they eventually become friends and then fall in love, I felt this book handled that in a much different way to the same plot I’ve seen in so many other romance books. For one thing, Evemer was appointed to Kadou as his servant, or armsman/guardsman…his exact role seems to be much closer than either of those, as there’s a different term used for them than any of those. In any case, Evemer actually liked Kadou when he first met him; it was just that Kadou made a mistake that unfortunately got some other people killed, which was the main source of the conflict.

Having said that, I really liked being able to see what both of them thought. And as their feelings for each other began to change, I really liked seeing how those thoughts and their perceptions evolved. And I especially liked that Evemer actually did have a sense of humour, even if it was dry. For instance acknowledging that he wouldn’t deal with someone treating his prince badly just by talking to and insulting him, instead acknowledging that he’d pick him up and throw him bodily away. Or words to that effect.

There is a lot more to this book than the romance, and I really liked that there was such a variety of characters. There was one incredibly powerful scene where Evemer’s loyalty is shown so clearly and that scene just…made me feel so much. And I have to say that the rest of the book did the same. I definitely recommend reading it! Because it’s such a good book…and I’m hoping there will be a sequel, as I really want to see more of Kadou and Evemer. And Tadek grew on me quite a bit, so I’d like to see more of him too!

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Posted by cat2002116 on November 5, 2023
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

So, I’ve never actually played Five Nights at Freddy’s…well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve played some of the game. A couple of minutes, before I ended up dying. But my oldest nibling really likes the game and the lore…and when I realised they were making a movie of it, I was immediately interested in seeing that. No one should find my desire a surprise if they know me, considering that horror is my bread and butter movie genre.

I did find it really easy to relate to Mike almost straight away. While it wasn’t clear what had happened to his parents and what resulted in him having to be the guardian of his little sister Abby, it was immediately clear that he was struggling with the guilt from his brother’s disappearance, and the fact that his life was now spent trying to find out what had happened to Garrett made him a really sympathetic character.

I really didn’t like Aunt Jane, which was probably supposed to happen in the movie. She was quite obviously meant to be a villain…and her lawyer’s actions made me stretch my suspension of disbelief, especially when he stayed and listened to her hiring people to try and mess up Mike’s life. Yes, I find ghost kids possessing anatromic robots more realistic than a lawyer ignoring his client breaking the law by hiring a group of young people to vandalise her nephew’s place of work.

For a lot of the movie, I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Vanessa’s character. At first, I thought she was a police officer who just happened to have Freddy’s on her patrol route. As the movie went on, however, it became obvious that she knew a lot more than she was saying. And I did enjoy her interactions with Mike, especially as she was clearly quite sympathetic to his problems and attempts to figure out what had happened to his brother.

I thought there were some really good elements of foreshadowing in this movie…and one thing that I thought worked really well was the fact that, although there were elements of horror and violence, there wasn’t a lot of gore shown. I’ve mentioned before that I think a lot of horror movies are made by people who forget that less is more…and I was really happy to see that was utilised in this movie.

I mentioned above that I haven’t actually played much of the games this movie is based on, but my oldest nibling did tell me there were a lot of good easter eggs included…and they enjoyed the movie. So did I, despite being less familiar with the games. So if you’re on the fence about seeing this movie, whether you’ve played the games or not, I would definitely recommend seeing this if you enjoy horror movies!