EroRevue
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Review of Dynasty of Deceit: Hypocrisy and Self-Deception
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Review of Fast and Furious 8
For a fan of Vin Diesel, there is little better than another instalment of a franchise closely associated with him. The pace of the movie was quite consistent and even if you could see certain plot twists coming from way off, it's still entertaining.
What worked:
The humour and the stunts. While the Statham and Johnson matchup was entertaining, two supporting actors stole the show in terms of humour : Helen Mirren's matriarch of the Shaw family and the baby.
What didn't work:
Theron's villain was an extreme left (?) leaning sociopath who seemed too caught up in the complexity of her plots. The occasional intensity radiating from her just classes with the overall easy feel. It was the stranger counterpart to Eastwood's earnest rookie. Yet the latter managed to make the connection that Theron didn't. Also, though most audiences aren't watching such action franchises for the plot, the disposal of Elena was too convenient a move. Consider this: any potential angst and character conflict that may have arisen in the Elena-Letty-Dom triangle with the baby at the centre of the tensionmight have meant difficulty for Dom but bumping her off so the baby naturally becomes part of the legit Lettie-Dom marriage is a little too conveniently chauvinist a move, even for this movie.
The Unexpected:
The reintroduction of the Shaws as good guys was just a tad disconcerting. And while Statham with the baby was quite funny and entertaining, for this fan, it kinda/sorta smacked a little of borrowing from an early Vin Diesel vehicle, The Nanny.
Conclusion:
An easy film to watch and like for the majority of us Philistines (yours truly being an unabashed card carrying member of the club). Everyone else, there are other choices, non-action ones mostly but hey, to each their own.
An Unintended Lesson:
The plot of FF8 surprisingly teaches audiences an unintended lesson. I'd be surprised if Tesla or, indeed, any of the motor companies in the driverless camp would sponsor the FF8 because a key scene and message is basically a question everyone of these companies are hardly eager to answer: what happens if some group of hackers hacks your car(s)? The answer is captured in Cipher's line: Let it rain.
So imagine what if you're living in a world where there's nothing but the internet of things??
Friday, March 17, 2017
Review of Eve Langlais' Princess of Hell series and Hell's Bells
Overview: Series made reviewer a fan of paranormal romance
What worked: Humour and hot sex
What didn't quite gell: Muriel's transformation from principled virgin to threesome enthusiast in a month. And from there on, she starts constructing her harem. Hmm...
The rant/review:
Ok, some perspective first. A confession (thoroughly appropriate since yours truly hadn't read any of Ms Langlais' books till tripping over Lucifer's Daughter, book 1 of the Princess of Hell series. Loved Muriel, aforesaid princess of Hell, for her humour, sass and sexy kickass attitude. Loved Auric even more. Which probably made my reaction to books 2-4, particularly book 4, predictable. Auric gives up the chance of returning to Heaven to be with Muriel, even makes a bargain with Lucifer himself to save Muriel from certain death. Yet, by the next month/novel, she's barely resisting her nympho side and "reluctantly" agrees to a permanent threesome with his best friend, panther shifter, David, who readers find out later apparently owns her heart.
Of course, there were signs even in book 1 that she had lusty thoughts about the panther shifter, but to seal her commitment with Auric and then boink his best friend in pretty much the next breath makes this reader wonder just where did the original Muriel go? Yet more heartbreak awaits Auric fans in books 3-4 since Muriel needs power boosts for her magic (her magic is nympho-based, in other words, she needs sex, lots of it to conjure up wicked spells) and by Vacation Hell, she's actively hunting, with nary a sliver of guilt or remorse at the pain she causes Auric. The poor fallen angel has become so broadminded and stoic that only a flash of pain escapes him when he hears of her latest dalliance with merman Tristan.
I agree with readers who have said somehow, the more Muriel flexes her sexy, the less endearing she gets. Even the cuteness of the child she has with David and Auric seems forced and by Hell's Bells which helps provide a more rounded conclusion to the cliffhanger that was Vacation Hell, the news of another pregnancy of Muriel's and the need for her to control the petty power struggles in her harem are a little too meh. Which is a pity since this reader loved the series.
Saving grace: (haha, how could anyone resist the corny joke?) Humour is Ms Langlais' forte and even in the worst of times, (eg Muriel's lack of compunction in increasing her evergrowing harem)serves to soothe the bristling reader.
And in this vein, Hell's Bells was a much nicer read not just because of the outlandish premise of Lucifer turning nice and freaking out his prospective bride Gaia (aka Earth and Muriel's mother), but also because the lascivious Lucifer manages to becomes a one-woman man, erm, demon, erm, fallen angel. And that from a father who bemoaned Muriel's principled ways and virgin status.
Just for the hell of it:(again, can anyone blame this writer for being inspired by what she reads?)
Why not have an ultimate sequel with Muriel's new brother causing havoc (he's foretold to be an eater of worlds) and Muriel's life getting more complicated because of her latest child. In the midst of it all, Auric decides he's had enough of being Muriel's number one of xxx number and walks away. What would Muriel do? Is power more important than the fallen angel she's always claimed as her number one and her soul mate? It would be nice to have Muriel imbibe just a little of her own medicine - just saying ya know!
Blog rating: 3.9*
Amazon rating 4*
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Hot Jock-Brainy Tutor Romance Review
Title: Tackled
Author: Sabrina Paige
Plot in a snap:
Colton, the hottest tight end, has a problem. He's in danger of being kept off the team because he's not meeting grade requirements. That problem is to be solved with a tutor working with him over summer.
Cassie, a graduate student on the same university campus, can't stand jocks. Particularly not the arrogant, seemingly sex-crazed legend that is Colton King. Yet there's just something about him that makes her wanna break the rules. Yes, the same uptight goody-two-shoes who's not supposed to fraternize with her student.
Through various trials and tribulations, Cassie and Colton get together and try to figure if the brains-and-brawn combo do work.
What works:
Humour, which one might think is easy peasy for sports romances but is surprisingly absent from most, is in abundance here. It's nice that steam and cracks can coexist!
What didn't quite work:
The cause of contention - why would Colton get all huffy over the project/thesis? And how does he not get noticed by Cassie at the party before misunderstandings can develop.
What I look forward to:
A separate novella for Tank and Sable. Aww, c'mon, the dirty roommates need their own story!
Overall: A fun and steamy read!
Blog rating: 3.75*
Amazon rating: 4.5*:
And just in case anyone needs some images to help fill in what tight end bods look like LOL
Monday, October 3, 2016
Review of 'Ultimate Vengeance' by Nancy Haviland
Title: Ultimate Vengeance
Author: Nancy Haviland
Plot in a flash:
Heroine of the story, Sacha Urusski, has left her Russian mobster prince, Alekzander Tarasov, for almost a year after a terrible betrayal. Hurt and in fear of what he might do if he discovers her secret, she's ready to run with her secret when a chance meeting brings them together again. Alek is determined to bring the woman he's never forgotten back to his side. Will turmoil and a terrible plot to start a war between the various powerful triads in NY destroy their chance at happiness?
What worked:
Hot Russian mobsters, that don't look like something from Nightmare on Elm Street, are always a selling point. Add the blonde and pale blue eyes plus a tendency to dominate and you've got Alek!
Throw into the mix various other hot mobsters who are easy on the eyes (ok, in prose anyway) and it's bad boy central. Yums!
Love the little secret who manages to scare (yes, scare) male mobsters in a great scene which blends humour and obvious "Aww" baits!
What didn't work:
Have to agree with a Goodreads reviewer who pointed out that the conversation seems a little too trendy for serious mobsters. Ok, they don't all have to sound like the Sopranos or the Godfather, but the "sitch" references are a little disconcerting.
Ok, this is a mobster romance but the violence is quite constant and sometimes way detailed. Especially the violence directed at the family members of the villain, Sergei. It was almost a rework of "Seven" when Brad Pitt's character receives a parcel at a climactic moment in the movie. I leave readers to imagine or read the narrative. In a way, the novel switches up between humanising and dehumanising the villain.
The frenzied pace of the novel is also a little distracting. There may be tiny problems with the timeline but it's pretty ok overall. The really tight sequence could however turn the emotional moments into OTT emo though.
Overall:
A decent read and as plots go, it's pretty much mobster soap but I'm not above sudsy reads occasionally!
Amazon rating: 4 *
Blog rating: 3.3*
Here's the Amazon link for the book! https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Vengeance-Wanted-Men-Book-ebook/dp/B01D5HMHLY
Review posted by VReads
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Movie Review: Train to Busan
I was pleasantly surprised to see some familiar actors appearing in the film. Having heard about the movie and seen the trailers, I was fully expecting a horror zombie flick. Which it partly was. Yet it was also so much more. The interaction between the two elderly sisters reminds the audience of the human background against which this horror fest is taking place. That is reinforced by the incongruous sight of a brusque blue collar worker who is full of bluster to everyone else but really is a caring husband who is sweet to his pregnant wife. Think bear with caramel centre LOL
The audience is prepared from the first to be cynical about the main character, Seok Woo, who is a cold fund manager dealing with life almost as an automaton. He flounders dealing with work, hierarchy(an important element both in understanding more subtle aspects of the movie as well as Korean society itself) and family. For an Asian society apparently built on notions of prioritising collective good above that of the individual and whose values are based on respect for the elderly, the slice of Korean society that is on display in the film speaks of cynicism, selfishness and a disintegration of values when survival is at stake. It also speaks of the dire consequences of that which is at stake when the ugliness of humans emerges: basic human decency.
Where the main character seems to advocate everyone for themselves initially, his character undergoes transformation, a positive one where he cooperates with the blue collar worker and a high school student in battling entire train cars of zombies to reach and rescue their loved ones. There's poignant humour and straight sentimentalism in many of the scenes between battling zombies and these are the scenes which remind the audience that this is more than a cringe-and-scream fest. The redemptive process that Seok Woo's character undergoes is set up as a parallel to what other characters, especially the CEO of Stallion Express who is a clear douchebag from the moment the zombie infection spreads, undergo. Their human veneer betrays a callousness that is inhuman, leaving them on par with the infected zombies. The act of the grieving elderly woman who is disgusted by the selfishness of her fellow passengers and stunned by her sister's sacrifice is final condemnation of the extremes to which selfish humans, practising a perverse version of the collective good principle in expelling suspected infected members from a safe community, go when survival is threatened.
That the CEO's actions virtually end in infecting everyone else apart from the pregnant lady and the child speaks volumes of how the social elite behave when individualism and selfish self-preservation trump the last dregs of humanity. Fortunately, that cynical bitterness is counteracted by the blooming of Seok Woo's humanism and act of self sacrifice at the very edge of his zombie transformation.
Is it trite? Yes. Is it sentimental? Yes. Is it good for a scare? Yes. Yet, for all the fluff, this movie still moves on levels unexpected.
Rating: 4 stars - go watch, what are you waiting for?
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Shifter Romance Review: Shifters in the Spring
Title: Shifters in the Spring - Sixteen New Paranormal Romances of Secret Babies, Frisky Shifters, and Fertile Surprises
Authors: J.K. Harper, Jacqueline Sweet, Ariana Hawkes, J.M. Klaire, Anya Nowlan, Liv Brywood, Olivia Arran, Edith Hawkes, Elianne Adams, Ellis Leigh, Auriella Skye, Cynthia Fox, Gen Géricault
What it's about:
This is a collection of 16 shifter romance short stories covering everything from secret babies to second chances and confrontations.
What worked:
What can I say? Loved this collection on the whole and this comes from ole me who didn't read shifter romance before this. Having said that, there are three stories that stand out.
The first is Forces of Nature by Gen Géricault whose writing made me wish I could walk out and get a taste of Louisiana. Very tight plot and writing. Loved the dynamics between lead characters Alder Thorne, alpha wolf of the Sweetwater pack, and witch-wolf loner Wren Thistle, whose father used to be alpha wolf of Sweetwater pack. Had wondered how the secret baby angle would be played and was not disappointed by Géricault's use of the compulsion twist. There's violence in the confrontation scenes and of course hot sexually-charged interaction between the leads. And for good measure Géricault throws in the cuddly scenes with the wolf cub - too cute for words!
Second is His Secret Dragon by Elianne Adams which mixes insta-lust with power struggles in a political unstable shifter tribe landscape. Spunky Meadow Brighton meets alpha Kade Trenton when he rescues her from a conflict arising from her rejection of a forced mating. While the story is quite fast-paced and I would hope there's more development of characters and plot, it's a pretty smooth short read. Grab your dragon shifter indulgence here!
Last but not least (regardless of how trite that sounds, it's true here!) is Something Weasel this Way Comes by Cynthia Fox. A refreshing combination of hot shifter romance and comedy, I'm not sure which I liked better. Fox's humour is spot on and smacks of jazzed up fairytales and Aesop's fables with a more earthy feel and greater appeal! Linden the weasel is pretty effective as the de facto villain while Sally and Nikolai are one of the funniest shifter couples! Of course, the language barrier is always an effective device. Look away my Russian friends, there's too much that will be offensive though funny here! The opinion implied in the following video is not that of this writer!
What didn't work:
The uneven feel of the book. Then again, this is a collection of stories so some level of unevenness is to be expected.
Overall impression:
I'm impressed by the collection overall. Recommending it for readers new to the shifter romance genre - it doesn't have to be intense and dramatic all the time.
Blog rating: 3.5*
Amazon rating: 4.5*
Get your copy! http://amzn.to/2cutTYR