Book Review: The Jungle

Book Review: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Jurgis Rudkos is a Lithuanian immigrant who has come to America with his fiancee Ona and their families to seek the good jobs advertised in his poverty-stricken homeland.  It’s tricky for people who don’t know English or the local customs to get around, but finally they make it… Continue reading Book Review: The Jungle

Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012)

Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012) Fahai (Jet Li) is a Buddhist monk and abbot of a monastery who goes about the countryside with his bumbling apprentice  Neng Ren (Wen Zhang) defeating demons who harm humans and imprisoning them until they reform.  (Effectively forever for most of them.) Meanwhile, white snake demon… Continue reading Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012)

Anime Review: Elfen Lied

Anime Review: Elfen Lied There is a secret laboratory off the coast of Kamakura, Japan.  There a naked woman wearing an eyeless helmet, codenamed “Lucy”, is undergoing experimentation.   When the helmet is damaged, allowing Lucy to see, she sets about freeing herself, slaughtering many of the lab’s personnel in the process.  Yes, even the… Continue reading Anime Review: Elfen Lied

Movie Review: Cleopatra (1934)

Movie Review: Cleopatra (1934) It is 48 B.C., and Egypt is having a bit of a civil war.  Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert) and her brother Ptolemy both want to be the ruler.  The regent Pothinos (Leonard Mudie), who finds Ptolemy easier to control, exiles Cleopatra to the desert, then negotiates with Julius Caesar (Warren William),  representative… Continue reading Movie Review: Cleopatra (1934)

Book Review: Strangers of Different Ink

Book Review: Strangers of Different Ink edited by Richard & Allen Okewole Disclaimer:  I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This anthology of short stories appears to be primarily by authors in the Philadelphia area.  Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be a particular theme,… Continue reading Book Review: Strangers of Different Ink