Tag: reviews
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Breathers by S.G. Browne – A Book Review
With all due respect to Mr. Browne, I simply couldn’t finish this book. After the first fifty pages, I knew it was a lost cause, but out of professional courtesy, I tried to press on. I trudged through half of it and simply had to call it quits. Breathers, a story about zombies trying find…
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Fables: War and Pieces – A Graphic Novel Review
In this presupposed crucial volume of Fables, Bill Willingham and company finally bring about the “final” battle between the Adversary and his Empire … but first, we have to muddle through a clichéd and by-the-book tale featuring the unlikely super-spy, Cinderella, and even her two-issue story was preceded by an issue focusing upon Boy Blue…
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Watchmen – A (Very Long) Movie Review
When Watchmen came out in the mid-Eighties, it revolutionized the comic book industry. It gave us an angle on “super heroes” that had practically never before been investigated. It had nuance, complexity, characterization, pacing, and, most of all, it utilized the comic book format and played to the strengths such a genre allows. After hearing…
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Oh, Alchemy: Diplomat – A Music Review
I’m proud to claim Oh, Alchemy as a local area band made up of very innovative musicians, and Diplomat – a fast-paced, eclectic, fun album that is enormously engaging – perfectly displays their talents. Oh, Alchemy’s songs are comprised of charming, quirky lyrics and really convey a strong sense of joy on the part of…
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The Rocker – A Movie Review
Within the first ten minutes, the creators of The Rocker make it readily apparent after Rainn Wilson punctures the top of a van with his drumsticks that you better relax and take this movie for what it is – a nonsensical farce attacking rock band cliché after cliché and offering a few catchy songs in…
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The Easter Parade by Richard Yates – A Book Review
In The Easter Parade, Richard Yates delivers a well-crafted and well-written novel with the bluntness and mercy of a rusty scalpel. Yates allows us to follow the life of Emily Grimes all the way from childhood into her fifties. Her mother is a reckless, distracted woman who divorced Emily’s father when Emily was just a…
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Y: The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores by Brian K. Vaughan – A Graphic Novel Review
This final installment to the Y: The Last Man series left me both unsatisfied and disappointed. Y: The Last Man started out as a fantastic series. It was a high concept with excellent characterization and an epic, fascinating plot. But, as the series wore on, it lost steam. I assumed this was the lull before…
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Peter and the Wolf by Chris Raschka – A Book Review
This children’s book is based upon the original work of Sergei Prokofiev. In it, Raschka creates three-dimensional images placed upon a miniature stage to illustrate the events of the story. If you are unfamiliar with Prokofiev’s original version, I don’t see you enjoying this book.
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You Remind Me of Me by Dan Chaon – A Book Review
You Remind Me of Me is a novel that slowly worms its way into the very fabric of your being. Chaon’s characters are so flawed and utterly human that the reader can’t help but accept them as part of everyday reality. Chaon also plays with chronology and perspective to the point that the book almost…