Saturday, January 25, 2014

Green Lantern : A Series Recomendation

I have just finished watching Green Lantern: Emerald Knights on Blu ray, which honestly I rated 3 stars, as it was just okay. A lot of dialog, and the fight scenes were what I liked most. It was good for origins of key characters in the GL series, and a good set up for one series that I would recomend reading for super hero fans. I'm not really a DC comics fanboy, but the series Blackest Night, and the follow up The Brightest Day are worth checking out of you are a fan of super hero storylines with intense stories. The Blackest Night is about a prophesy come true involving an ancient evil that wants to consume all of the life in the GL universe. They manage to try this by resurrecting fallen heroes and villains which try to guilt the living into becoming as empty and unforgiving as them.


That storyline immediately leads into the next storyline of The Brightest Day, in which Sinestro is chosen to wield the white ring.  This is sort of a cleaning up period in which the different colors that represent the known DC universe must join forces to fix what the damage that the Blackest night had wrought on the universe. I did not find this one as enjoyable as the previous series, but it was a nice follow up to it.








Green Lantern: In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
Green Lantern: In...

Buy This at Allposters.com

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Streaming Netflix to Your TV

I was watching a netflix film and I happened to glance at the leaflet that is attached to the envelope, and it has an advertisement for a wifi dongle that you plug into the usb port on your HDTV to watch internet related content without having to have internet ready tv. It only costs $35 and seems like a great way for people who cannot afford to buy a Roku type of device to watch streaming content.




Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Daily Deals on Ebooks

I have signed up for a number of daily deal sites for ebook deals. They arrive by email, and everyday there are different offers. So far I have only downloaded one book...I'll admit I'm not a big ebook reader, as I prefer paper books. This is one of the sites I use.

Authors Seeking Reviews :FAQ

I have been approached by a few authors to review their books, and I wanted to make a note of this as to the conditions I accept books under. I do not accept too many books from independent authors anymore. My best advice is to approach NetGalley or Goodreads. Please use your publisher. I have had way too many independent authors be very unprofessional about book reviews to even bother wasting my time. Book reviewers are doing you a favor as we are not being paid to provide you with stunning 5-star reviews if your book is garbage.

 E-Books are fine, but please see if your book is a match for me. But if you want more exposure it is highly recommended that you mail me a hardcopy book so that I can show it on my YouTube channel. If no one else has faith to print your book than it is probably not worth my time to read it.

I will read and review your book at my leisure, and guarantee an honest review.

Noting that I will post a review on my youtube and Goodreads account when I am finished. I'm doing you a favor, so please do not get upset if it is not as fast or the review you want to hear. I'm not getting paid for this remember.

Please browse what I have already read if you are not sure that your book is appropriate for me to review. I won't waste your time and I do not want to waste my own.

I have to add another note to this posting because I recently had this happen to me. If you want me to consider reading your book....please DO NOT use a copy and paste general email to contact me. If you cannot take the time to find out who I am, then why should I do a favor for you???? I had an author send me a request and he had it addressed to a "Miriam". Yeah, check your message before you forward it on. Safe to say I didn't even look at this guy's book because I was majorly insulted that he didn't know who he was addressing.

I can be contacted for reviews at the following sites :


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Earn Free Cash, Fast by Taking Surveys

As the title says you can earn extra money online by participating in surveys, which I have been doing for a number of years now. It is a legit and easy way to get some much needed extra cash. No you cannot make a living off of doing surveys, as sometimes they screen by asking if you have participated in certain survey types. Here are some links to try some out below -

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Crazy Creature Creations ; Frankenstein's Army

An artist friend was talking about watching this movie, so I googled it and was intrigued. Once I saw the basic plot of an undead Nazi army.... I knew I had to see what craziness this film just might entail. Now right off I will tell you that if you are looking for an award winning film than you should not watch this. This is just a pure fucked up and fun type of film to watch. Fun???? Yes. Because it was fun seeing the strange creations made by the Frankenstein villain, such as the Mosquito man, or the Burnt Match man -

Seeing what odd creatures would appear, and the suspence of what was to further happen to the Russian soldiers kept me watching.  I hope that if you like Hellraiser or other films similar to that then you just may like this one.

Blu Ray Film and Toys -

Friday, January 10, 2014

Orange is the New Black : Differences between Netflix Series, and book

I just started reading Orange is the New Black, which is a Netflix original series starring Jason Biggs of American Pie fame. The memoir by Piper Kerman so far is a straight up just the facts book about her time in a women's correctional facility, and it is slightly different from the series. Such as some of the dramatized scenes really happened to someone else, and they were exaggerated for the series. I can't really feel too sorry for this person, because she is white, and from a well to do family. If she had been anyone else that typically gets thrown in prison I'm sure her sentence would have been much longer. She had a strong support group of family, friends, and even a website dedicated to her....hence the title Orange is the New Black, because people wore orange in support of her. She is trying to be helpful to her fellow felons by including a list of resources for those who have found themselves incarcerated. So far it is a fast paced read, and I should finish it very soon.

Book mentioned -

Sunday, January 5, 2014

When Super Villains Become Super Heroes

I recently finished reading Anti-Venom and I was browsing the reviews that people gave this book on goodreads.com A lot of people were dissing it, because he was now a hero instead of the classic villain. But I on the other hand thought that it was a great tale of redemption. I mean Eddie Brock gets cured of his life threatening cancer, and made into the Anti-Venom symbiote. He then sees a chance to make up for all of the bad stuff he had done as a villain and starts by "curing" a junkie named Jenna. He then teams up with the Punisher to get the kidnapped Jenna from the clutches of a Mexican drug cartel. Although the story was a bit short, and kind of fast paced it had beautiful art; and a moral behind the story. I say "so what if he is now a hero" I liked it very much. I am now currently reading Venom: circle of four.

Books mentioned in this post :


Friday, January 3, 2014

New Blu Ray Films Not Playing????

As a comic book fanboy, and a lover of movies I could not wait to see the latest X-men film; The Wolverine. Which unfortunately I could not see, because when I put this in my Philips Blu Ray Player it got as far as the 20th Century intro, and then went black screen. I took it out, and looked for any smudges that may have been the guilty party, but alas it was clean of dirt and scratches.  I immediately called Netflix, and while I waited for over a half an hour to talk to customer service; I found out that Sony the maker and patent holder to Blu Ray technology has now put a copyright protection layer on new blu rays. This now makes any blu ray player that is not a Sony brand or affiliated player one that will not play new films until Sony decides to release the fix for all other manufacturers. I do have a friend who had purchased another blu ray player from a smaller manufacturer, and upon contacting them they refunded his money even without the receipt. He then went and purchased a Sony player.

Perhaps I should also purchase this brand, as they have the winning tech on it, and are not wanting to share with other companies, because they want people to buy their players, and the PS4, which is a rival to the new X box one. But I have since given up on console gaming, but that is not the point of this post.

AT the end of the day my solution is that for now to only rent older blu rays from Netflix until this is fixed and to rent the new released blu rays from Redbox, or any blu ray that is stamped "rental only" because those copies are not copyright protected.

That is my rant, and I hope I solved this problem perhaps for someone else who had to deal with this frustration.

The above mentioned film can also be watched here -

Great Horror Films That Were Based on Books

Great Horror Films That Were Based on Books


Horror Movies and the Books That They Were Based On






this lens' photo
Horror films, scary movies, and stories about things that go bump in the night. While not for everyone some of us just can't get enough. There are countless great horror films out there, but this lens is dedicated to shedding some light on the ones that were books originally. I don't want you to confuse these with books that are released just prior to a film release as book adaptions have become common lately. This is just a list, and I'm sure it will be a work in progress as there are so many. Also these are in no particular order. So read on, and enjoy. Maybe you will learn something you didn't already know. 













The Movies & The Books That Spawned Them


1. Ghost Story - The story of a group of old men who recall how one night a lady they all knew died, and now she haunts them. Released in 1981, and starring Fred Astaire . Was based on a book of the same name by Peter Straub.

2. Rosemary's Baby - The 1968 film by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow was based on a book of the same name by Ira Levin. Satanic neighbors, and devil babies. This cult classic was a book first.

3. The Exorcist - The book is just as scary as the movie. Capt. Howdy, vile imagery, and catholic priests. The 1973 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Linda Blair was also based on a book of the same name by Ira Levin.

4. Hellraiser - The 1987 film about the mysterious puzzle box that brings out Pinhead and all of his friends was based on a novella by Clive Barker called "The Hellbound Heart".

5. Midnight Meat Train - From 2008 is another story from Clive Barker, and can be found in Books of Blood vol 1. A man unwittingly discovers a secret society found under the streets of his city. Someone needs to serve them.


6. Candyman - What happens when you try to track down the truth to an urban legend. Filmed in 1992 another work from Clive Barker can be found in another volume of Books of Blood vol. 5 under the name "The Forbidden"

7. House on Haunted Hill and The Haunting - Both of these films came out in 1999, and an earlier version of The Haunting came out in 1963. All 3 of these films are based on a novel written by Shirley Jackson called The Haunting of Hill House.

8. Psycho - The film made famous by Alfred Hitchcock about a crazed momma's boy killer from 1960, was based on a novel of the same title written a year earlier by Robert Bloch.Also great to read for the fans of the prequel  tv series, Bates Motel.


9. Re- Animator



1985 film about a medical student, named Herbert West who brings back the dead with an experimental chemical process with gruesome consequences. This was based on a novella by H. P. Lovecraft called "Herbert West - Reanimator". For more info on Lovecraft please go to my other lens found here - http://www.squidoo.com/gothic-author-h-p-lovecraft .


Thursday, January 2, 2014

The Walking Dead TV Series : Leaving Behind the Prison

Well it looks like The Walking Dead is going to start following the comics again, as the new poster for the rest of season 4 (found on the shows website) shows the Grimes leaving to destination unknown, and new actors have been hired to fill in the roles of characters from the comic series. I hope they discover the walled in city from the comics. This was a new approach to their survival, and I thought it was a great way to show that they are not alone. If you are wondering what I am talking about I just finished reading The Walking Dead Compendium 2, which I rated 4 stars on goodreads. While the tv series has been slightly different from the comic books it seems to be following the major themes from them. For more info about the rest of the season and quotes from Kirkman check out this story - The Walking Dead Season 4b .



2 New Reviews : Super, IFC film, and Dr. Sleep ( The Shining 2)

SO this past holiday weekend I was pretty busy writing a few reviews. I watched the IFC film, Super on Netflix over the holiday week, and I got an opportunity to write a review of for Squidoo.  I had seen the trailer for this from a movie I had rented from Redbox, and it looked interesting. I am not a fan of The Office, but I noticed that the main character is from that popular show. It also stars a couple of other well know actors, such as Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon (who was rumoured to be a last minute replacement), and Ellen Page. People have compared this to Kick Ass, and it is about a vigilante type of anti-hero who wields a pipe wrench to take out wrong doers.

Another book review of one of my top 5 books from 2013-

I really enjoyed this book and I rated it 5 stars on goodreads.com It really reminded me of the classic King that I remember reading as a teen. If you are looking to either follow up on the The Shining or just looking to read a thrilling book feel free to read this. I will leave a link to where this book can be purchased down below.


NOS4RA2 : One of my Top 5 Books of 2013

Joe Hill is one of my favorite authors, and I even think that he writes much better than his father (Stephen King). So I had the opportunity to read his newest novel NOS4RA2 when it came out. Here is one of my reviews of that book - NOS4RA2.

Below is a link to the special Christmas edition of this book -