May 9 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: Classical Mythology

Classical Mythology
Written by: Elizabeth Vandiver
Read by: Elizabeth Vandiver

mythology

(questions from Audible’s reviews form)

What did you love best about Classical Mythology?
I seriously loved everything about this course. I’ve always been interested in the ancients’ myths, but I’ve never really read anything describing them in detail. They were much more bloody (and depressing) than I ever remember seeing on tv…

What was one of the most memorable moments of Classical Mythology?
I particularly loved the lectures that were about the specific gods, their origins and stories, and especially, from those, the stories of Heracles and Aphrodite.

Have you listened to any of Professor Elizabeth Vandiver’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Nope, this was the first of her courses that I’ve ever listened to. She’s a great lecturer, very clear and easy to listen to. She runs out of breath frequently, and at first I thought it might bother me in the long run, but it thankfully never did.

Any additional comments?
This course is an absoulte gem for anyone interested in classical myths. It mostly covers the Greeks, but Dr V put aside the last few lectures to talk about how the Romans basically took over the Greek’s myths wholesale and made them their own, changing names and not much else (so much for copyright infringement…) I’d definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in ancient myth. It gets a wonderful 9.5/10 from me.

May 4 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Solstice

Solstice
(2008) Elisabeth Harnois, Shawn Ashmore, Amanda Seyfried, Hilarie Burton, Matt O’Leary, Tyler Hoechlin, R Lee Ermey, Jenna Hildebrand

solstice

SPOILERS AHEAD

Sigh… so it was the boyfriend. Just as I figured it would be from the beginning. They really need to move away from this cliché. It’s worn out its welcome. Years ago, it would have been the creepy old guy, but that’s changed too. Now the creepy old guy is invariably a nice guy who just had something awful happen to him to explain his weird behaviour. Case in point, this weird guy had a grand daughter go missing. Besides the warily predictable plot, the film isn’t bad. The acting is generally pretty good, the cast is pretty, and the location is beautiful. Although if I have to see Amanda Seyfried silently over-enunciate a word again I might have to punch her. Seriously, she did it no less than 6 times, “ohhkaayy”, “thaaank youu”, “reaaally?”. If I had a friend who constantly did that, we’d be having a few words :-p On the whole it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. It gets a decent 6.5/10 from me.

This film is currently streaming on Netflix UK.

M.

May 2 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: The Martian

The Martian
Written by: Andy Weir
Read by: RC Bray

The-Martian

“If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m fucked.”

(Questions from Audible’s reviews form)

Would you listen to The Martian again? Why?
I probably wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s very, very rare that I’ll ever re-read a book. It’s happened only a small handful of times in my adult life. I have so much in my to-read list that I don’t spend time re-reading books, no matter how awesome they were (and this one was awesome).

Who was your favorite character and why?
Definitely the main character, Mark Watney. Along with the obvious heroic stuff, he’s got a killer sense of humour that just brings the character to a whole other level. Venket Kapour, a NASA administrator, is also a wonderful character.

What about RC Bray’s performance did you like?
Everything! He’s an awesome reader! Every character has his own unique voice and accent, even the women, without sounding silly. His voice is pretty much perfect. He was born to read audiobooks.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed out loud a good few times. I never cried, but I did get really tense a few times. Near the end, I actually had trouble sitting still while listening!

Any additional comments?
This is a practically perfect sci-fi story. And it’s not so out there that I couldn’t picture something like this actually happening. It’s futuristic, but not very far into the future. 50, 100 years, tops. The writing was simple, but very good, and all the characters were engaging. I’d recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in sci-fi. It gets a perfect score from me, 10/10.

Apr 30 2015

Mel’s 5 Second TV Review: Wildest Series

wildest-africawildest indiawildest latin americawildest arcticwildest islandswildest indochinawildest middle east

All narrated by Paul McGann, except Africa, narrated by Andrew Lincoln

I loved this whole series. Andrew Lincoln was alright as narrator, but I’m so glad that they decided to go with Paul McGann afterwards, his voice is perfect. He was the 8th Doctor! So I get a little more geekiness added as a bonus, hehe. The camera work is absolutely stunning, second only to David Attenborough’s work. The animal content was all amazing, but the human stuff was sometimes a little boring, and downright infuriating in some parts. Watching a human knock a baby baboon off a cliff with a rock while it’s family looks on with obvious grief is NOT my idea of a good time. And it’s scenes like this one that made me give all the series except one a score of 8/10. Islands gets a 10/10. It was the first one I watched, and still the best. If you’re a fan of nature documentaries, I highly recommend this series of shows. Absolutely wonderful!

The whole series is currently streaming on Netflix US. Enjoy!

M.

ps, The pictures are in order of release date, though they really don’t need to be watched in order.

Apr 30 2015

Review Club Movie Choices

Allo my fellow movie lovers! Here’s this week’s list o movies:

Stonehearst Asylum
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Stake Land
Horsemen
Silent House

I’ll be taking votes till saturday, the one with the most votes is the one we’ll watch!

I’ll post my email once the film will be decided, so you can send your reviews for me to put together! Can’t wait to get started! 😀

M.

Apr 27 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: The World’s Most Bizarre Murders, True Stories That Will Shock and Amaze You

The World’s Most Bizarre Murders: True Stories That Will Shock and Amaze You
Written by: James Marrison
Read by: Drew Campbell

bizarre murders

(Questions from Audible’s reviews page)

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I’d recommend it to anyone who likes true crime stuff, with a cautionary word about the reader. I was able to get used to his voice, but it is rather strange.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The World’s Most Bizarre Murders?
It wasn’t a fiction book, so it’s really hard to answer this question. Audible should differentiate the questions for fiction and non-fiction, really :-p

Have you listened to any of Drew Campbell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This was the first book I bought of his, and it’ll probably be the last (save the one I already bought, I got two at once). It’s not as horrible as some other reviewers have said, but it is weird. His accent is very weird, like it’s not real or something. That’s really all that’s wrong, though. He does a good job with the reading part.

Any additional comments?
All in all, it was a pretty great book. A few cases I already knew, but mostly stuff that I haven’t, which is getting rarer and rarer with all the true crime stuff I read about and watch on TV. It gets a very good 8/10 from me.

M.

Apr 26 2015

Review Club, Anyone?

So I’ve been thinking of starting a small review club. For anything, really, but I imagine it’ll be mostly movies, since that really is the easiest thing to review quickly.

I was thinking something like this: You’ve got saturday to friday to watch and review a film. Send me the draft on or before friday at midnight, and I’ll have the post out by the following wednesday (so it’ll always be the film of last week on wednesday). And then maybe once a month, or 6 weeks we can do a book review? How does that sound?

The only rule I’d have is to not make the reviews too long, so people wouldn’t have a 10,000 word post to read every week. Maybe try for between 3 to 6 hundred words, max? I think that could work. Other than that, everything goes. I’ll take suggestions for our weekly film and monthly book all the time, and I’ll pick one at random. Or maybe I could post a list of ten films or so, then have you all vote? Yeah, I kinda like that one better.

So here are a few personal invitations: Eric, Vinnie, Abbi, Zoë, Samm, Emma, Matthew, Katherine, and Frankish.

But of course, everyone and anyone is free to join. Even if they aren’t following me, you can ask friends to join if you like. The more the merrier 🙂

M.

Apr 26 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: The Exorcist

The Exorcist (1971)
Written by: William Peter Blatty
Read by: William Peter Blatty

exorcist

(Questions from Audible’s reviews form)

What made the experience of listening to The Exorcist the most enjoyable?
I’d read the book already, years ago, so I already knew the story. What made this so special was the fact that it was an audiobook, so I got treated to demonic voices and stuff right in my ears, and not just as writing. It was scary enough to read, it got cranked all the way to 11 as an audiobook.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Exorcist?
The part that really stays with me is the part when Karras is listening to the tape of Regan’s voice played backwards and realizes that the gibberish she was speaking wasn’t gibberish at all, but english, spoken perfectly backwards. So very, very creepy.

Have you listened to any of William Peter Blatty and Eliana Shaskan ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Nope, never have. I was rather impressed with Blatty’s performance, too. He really gave it his all.

If you could rename The Exorcist, what would you call it?
I wouldn’t dream of it. It’s such an iconic title, there’s no way I’d change it, even if I could.

Any additional comments?
There’s really not much else to say. It’s perfect. Just the right amount of thrills and even some gore, but still manages to not go over the top, as is so easy to do with this type of story. 10/10.

M.