Movie Review - Illegal

I'm a big fan of black and white classic films. And I think Edward G. Robinson is a great actor. So when my aunt recommended a film with him I'd never heard of, I had to check it out.

Illegal is a 1955 legal drama film. It is unrated and is appropriate for most ages.

The Good

Story. The story was very strong. A prosecuting attorney finds out a man he sent to the death house was actually innocent, so he becomes a defense attorney.

Took a Different Route. The movie too a few turns I wasn't expecting that were very interesting and helped keep the film interesting.

Humor.While this is a series drama with several deaths, there were some pretty good humorous scenes that were very unexpected but helped add to the film.

The Bad

Ending. I like how the film end, but the final scene was a little too melodramatic for an otherwise serious film.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

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Overall

Illegal is an entertaining legal thriller with a great mix of serious drama and unexpected humor. A prosecuting attorney finds out a man he sent to the death house was actually innocent, so he becomes a defense attorney. The story is strong and the film moves at a good pace. This film is an underappreciated gem. I give it 4 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.

   

 

TV Show Review - The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Season 1

I'm a big Jonny Quest fan from his original series in the 60s to his latest exploits with Tom & Jerry. I even have most of his comics.

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Season 1 is a 1996 26-episode season of a 2-season series based on the 1964 series Jonny Quest. It is rated TV-PG and is appropriate for most ages.

The Good

The Darkest Fathoms. This is a pirate story with a supernatural feel. It's very intense for an afternoon cartoon.

In the Realm of the Condor. This is a lost city story that has a good idea and good scenes, but is ultimately slow and a little underwhelming.

Rage's Burning Wheel. This is a space mission story that needed to be two parts to fully develop. The story is exciting with real peril.

Manhattan Maneater. This is probably the strongest and most exciting story. It's a dangerous animal hunt story in New York that is very intense. 

East of Zanzibar. This is a natural disaster story where Hadji and Jonny get lost in a big storm that has a great setup but not as much development as it needs.

Ezekiel Rage. This is an origin story of one of the major new villains and is very exciting and intense with a story in the past and one in the present.

Alien in Washington. This is a bit silly but really fun and clever. It involves real aliens and their involvement in the government.

Return of the Anasazi. This is an ancient alien story that has a great set up but needed more work to flesh out.

The Alchemist. This is a story about alchemy that again has a great idea and great set up but needed a little more development.

AMOK. This is a cryptid story that is pretty good but a little slow.

The Spectre of the Pine Barrens. This is  cryptid meets civilization lost in time story about the Declaration of Independence. The idea is really good. The execution a little slow.

Expedition to Khumbu. This is a story about the yeti that is fairly clever and well done. The surprise at the end isn't very surprising. 

Future Rage. This is a really interesting doomsday meets the supernatural story that is really entertaining.

Alligators and Okeechobee Vikings. This story easily ties for the best episode. Vikings live in the Everglades, dress as Alligators, and stop an evil businessman trying to destroy the Everglades.

The Bad

Escape to Questworld. This is a revenge story mixed with virtual reality. The story is weak as is the VR.

Ndovu's Last Journey. This is a story about a dying elephant that is just as boring as it sounds. There is a supernatural element that is a little interesting but predictable. 

Assault on Questworld. This is another revenge story in VR that is better than the first one but still needs more work.

Trouble on the Colorado. This is a sequel to Return of the Anasazi that should have been great,but didn't have enough meat to the story.

In the Wake of the Mary Celeste. This is a ghost ship story that should have been a lot better given the interesting premise.

Besieged in Paradises. This story concerns using whale songs to form and Internet and control them. It's as strange and disappointing as it sounds.   

Heroes. This is a Greek mythology in VR story. It's very boring.  

The Ballad of Belle Bonnet. This is a ghost story that is very predicable and prosaic.  

In the Darkness of the Moon. This a warewolf story that gets too preachy and needs more meat and originality. 

The Secret of the Moai. This is a clever ancient alien story that gets way too silly. 

Ice Will Burn. This is a lost civilization under the ice story that isn't very interesting.

To Bardo and Back. This is a miraculous cure to a paralyzing injury story that is boring and contrived.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I would like to see longer episodes, maybe having some of the stories take two episodes. Several of the stories felt rushed.

Overall

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Season 1 is a fun re-imagining of a classic cartoon. Many of the episodes are well thought out showing real danger, real peril, and realistic action and equipment. There are a lot of aliens, cryptids, and supernatural elements to keep it fun, but all are handled mostly in a believable manner. Several episodes are brilliant while most are entertaining but need work, and a few are real duds. I highly recommend this show and give it 4 out of 5 remotes.

    

  

 

Audiobook Review - Medieval Myths & Mysteries by Dorsey Armstrong

 

I love history. I love mythology and folk tales. I love learning new things. And I love to find books that bring all of these interests together

Medieval Myths & Mysteries by Dorsey Armstrong is a series of lectures about British history, King Arthur, Robin Hood, mythical creatures, and their connections. It is available as an audio book from Audible.

The Good

Lots of Information Packed into a Brief Read. Reading the description and seeing the runtime of this audio book, I wasn't expecting all that much. Boy was I wrong! This book covers so many topics and covers it in an amazing amount of depth and detail I couldn't stop listening.

Conversational Tone. While this book is very scholarly and informative from a content point of view, the presentation feels like a casual conversation with a friend. It's very easy to follow and understand, and very enjoyable.

Relevant Information. I really appreciated how the author picked the most interesting topics to cover and answered common questions that haven't been satisfactorily answered.

The Bad

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What I Would Like to Have Seen

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Overall

Medieval Myths & Mysteries by Dorsey Armstrong is a fascinating series of lectures about British history, King Arthur, Robin Hood, the Holy Grail, mythical creatures, and the connections between them. This book covers so many topics and covers it in a surprising amount of depth. While this book is very scholarly and informative from a content point of view, the presentation feels like a casual conversation with a friend. It's very easy to follow and understand, and very enjoyable. I highly recommend this audio book and give it 5 out of 5 eReaders.

    

 

Audiobook Review - Listen To The Signal: Short Stories Volume 1 by

I love short stories and radio dramas! And I love stories that focus on concepts. And I love original stories that take a different angle on stories.

Listen To The Signal: Short Stories Volume 1 by Rob Dircks is a science fiction short story anthology. It is available as an eBook, audio book, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Today I Invented Time Travel. 3.5/5 This was a fun idea that needed more development.

End Game. 5/5 Video game addiction and its effects on society. Even without this twist, the story is really entertaining and fun.

November 8, 2016. 4/5 A look at people's inherent worth vs. the perception of their worth.


Horatio Breathed His Last. 4/5 An author and his creator. A story I've heard before, but well told.

Purgatory. 5/5 Suicide and alien abductions that don't go how you think they'll go.

Out of the Blue. 4/5 Reality is a giant computer simulation which explains why things that have happen happened.


Rose. 2/5 Miracle plant that can bring the dead back to life and a disappointing romance.

Red Parka. 4.5/5 A new take on psychics that can see the future. Fun story.

Mister Personality. 4/5 This is a story about AI. It takes a different twist on what it means to be human.

Christmas in Silver Peak. 4/5 This is a first contact story at Christmas. While the ending isn't original, I didn't expect that twist with this particular story.

The Bad

Dakō. 1/5 One person looks for a deceased loved one. The "twist" is obvious and been done too often.

Quick Fix. 2/5 Science opera engineering that had potential but didn't go far enough with it.

Tick Tick Tick. 2/5 Man gets a tick which transform him. Okay, unoriginal, and doesn't really go anywhere.

Bloop. 2/5 An alien contact gone wrong, almost as wrong as this story went. Clever approach.

Their DNA Was No Longer the Same. 2/5 This is an exploration of a recent discovery about time in space changing DNA.

The Last One. 2/5 The apocalypse and inborn talent that goes nowhere interesting.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I loved the originality of the stories, but I wish they had been more developed and thought out.

Overall

Listen To The Signal: Short Stories Volume 1 by Rob Dircks is a great science fiction short story anthology. I loved the originality of the stories, but I wish they had been more developed and thought out. This collection has more good than bad and covers a wide range of science fiction and science fantasy with several commenting on society. I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.

     

 

Book Review - The Unknown by Brett Battles (Jonathan Quinn, Book 14)

I accidentally stumbled upon the Jonathan Quinn series and have loved each and every one of them. The past few books seemed to have lost a little magic with so many major characters having been killed in previous books, that I was afraid the series was on an unchangeable path downward. Then the 14th book was published.

The Unknown (Jonathan Quinn, Book 14) by Brett Battles is a spy thriller. It is available as an eBook, audio book, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Shift of Direction. The main ideas of this series is Jonathan Quinn is hired to clean up bodies after an assassination. That was interesting for about three books, and then the author realized he needed to go in a different direction. The last few books have focused on dealing with the aftermath of several main characters dying. While those deaths made for shocking endings, the series didn't seem to know where to go from there. But this book put it back on a great path with a different type of mission that fits in the world Brett Battles created.

Story. The story is solid. The characters are well developed. The adventure is well constructed. Nothing felt like it was coming out of left field or was a cheat. It is well paced and held my attention the whole time. I'm excited to read the next book.

Action. The action was really exciting and didn't feel like a repeat of what's come before.

SciFi Element. These stories are fairly grounded and realistic. The scifi element introduced is something very far into the future, and yet the way it was introduced and handled made it feel like it fit.

The Bad

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What I Would Like to Have Seen

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Overall

The Unknown (Jonathan Quinn, Book 14) by Brett Battles is a spy thriller that pulls you in from the first page and doesn't let go until the last. All my favorite characters (minus the ones who've died in previous books) were back as was The Office, the black ops government agency involved in questionable cloak and dagger required for every spy thriller. The action is exciting, the scifi element was used in a believable way for this otherwise realistic world, and the story was very enjoyable and well structured. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 eReaders.

     

 

Audible Original Review - The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel by Erin Macdonald

One of the many fun things about science fiction is its ability to explore and inspire. So many of the common, everyday technologies we use today were dreamt of and explored in science fiction of the past.

The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel by Erin Macdonald is a look at the science behind popular science fiction. It is available as an Audible exclusive Audiobook and is appropriate for most ages.

The Good

Explanations. The author does a great job breaking down concepts in an understandable way without sacrificing the science.

Scope. This book covers some of the more useful and popular subjects of science fiction such as transporters, warp drive, and time travel. She uses more up-to-date scientific theories than most books on this topic and covers several experiments that have actually been performed that may lead to making this science fiction science reality.

The Bad

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What I Would Like to Have Seen

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Overall

The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel by Erin Macdonald is a great look at the science behind science fiction: what fits current theories and what doesn't; where science is in its progress to achieve science fiction dreams; and what science fiction shows provide the best examples of new and old theories. The author also narrates this book and does a really good job. She's fun to listen to and breaks down concepts in an understandable way without sacrificing the science. She uses more up-to-date scientific theories than most books on this topic and covers several experiments that have actually been performed that may lead to making this science fiction science reality. I highly recommend this audiobook and give it 5 out of 5 eReaders.

  

 

Book Review - Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford

While I'm not a fan of legal shows and movies, I really enjoy legal thriller books. Most are about lawyers and their criminal cases. To read one about a judge and family law was refreshing.

Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford is a legal thriller about a judge and family law. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Concept. The idea of exploring family law and the way it is handled in the courts is something not usually done in fiction without a lot of heavy handiness. This book treated it as a fact of life acknowledging both good and bad and not trying to force a certain position down the readers' throats. Also dealing with it from a judge's perspective and the twist about innocence and guilt made for a story I haven't read or heard a dozen times.

Story. The story is very solid. The characters are well developed. The mystery is well constructed. Nothing felt like it was coming out of left field or was a cheat. It is well paced and held my attention the whole time. I'm excited to read more by this author.

Twists. This book took several twists I wasn't expecting but that made perfect sense. It was nice not knowing the ending of the book before I even reached the middle.

The Bad

Consequences. The author made several unusual choices about plot points taking unexpected turns, people not being as clear cut as TV tends to make them, and being more honest about situations, that the resolution at the very end where the judge learns the consequences of his actions seemed untrue to the tone of the rest of the book.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the very end where the judge learns the consequences for his actions was handled with as much thought and realism as the rest of the story.

Overall

Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford is a legal thriller about a judge and family law, something really unusual for a legal thriller. The story is very solid. The characters are well developed. The mystery is well constructed. Nothing feels like it was coming out of left field or is a cheat. It is well paced and held my attention the whole time. This book took several twists I wasn't expecting but that made perfect sense. It was nice not knowing the ending of the book before I even reached the middle.
I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.