The Introverted Detective

  Return Of The King blew me out of the water. This is the best book in the trilogy, picking up with Gondor and what happens to Pippin and Gandalf. Let's get into it.  Half this book is war, another tenth is Sam and Frodo's journey to destroy the ring, and the rest of it is the aftermath of coming home - including liberating the Shire from Saruman. A lot happens in this book. I couldn't sum it up in one sentence if I tried.  Review The first thing I made notes about was Denethor, the "charming" father of Boromir and Faramir. There are memes explaining that Denethor loves Boromir more than Faramir for good reason. Later he burns himself alive, after trying to burn Faramir (ill from battle) with him. Denethor was convinced there was no hope of Gondor being saved, thus he decided to end himself. Gondor was saved. Denethor also was a steward of the throne and refused to give it up before lighting himself on fire. He makes Boromir makes sense. Next we come to "I a...

I'm reviewing another 1930 Laurel and Hardy, a talkie titled Murder Case. Let's get into it.  This talkie starts with Laurel and Hardy fishing, then has them at the home of a murdered man in hopes of claiming money, as they are out of work since 1921 according to title cards. At the end you find out all the hijinks were in their head and they fist fight into the water they were fishing in.  We got a hilariously creepy butler, a bunch of great practical effects, and a lot of silly moments. As usual, I loved it. Also, for 1930 the sound was pretty dang good. I also watched a refurbished version, so that might also be it. If you want the worst "woman passing out in shock" you'll find it here - used for comedic and dramatic effect. You might think I'm going to give this five stars, but I give it four stars. I rate these out of enjoyment and this was a great one, but not my favorite. It had great hijinks and comedy, but I like others more. So, for all the good soun...

 Let's get into Book/Chapter 2 of The Odyssey. Once again, I have watched a video by MoAn Inc before I got into the poetry. I highly suggest doing that for The Odyssey so you don't get lost in the poetic language. You'll see the link to that video right before the review section. Time to dive in.  Book 2 is really Chapter 2 in The Odyssey. If you want to read my review of Book 1,  here it is.  The review has two parts. One is plot and general enjoyment. The other is readability (how easy it is to understand). I'll have two five-star ratings here, just so you can know how difficult the poetry is to understand.  Here is the YouTube video by MoAn Inc.  MoAn Inc. Book 2 Summary The Review I'm starting with enjoyability. This was five stars. I liked the banter and storyline here. Right now Telemachus is calling a council meeting and then going to Pyle to inquire about Ulysses/Odysseus. He calls on Jove/Zeus and Minerva/Athena for help, which they give in omens ...

 Do you want to hear about George Remus, a lawyer turned bootlegger? Then you'll love this book. Let's dive in.  This book is about a bootlegger named George Remus, who started as a lawyer and then turned his legal hand to bootlegging, then got ruined by a woman named Imogene. This is the story of a bootlegger who had the intelligence to run an empire for a short time, but not the intelligence to know he was being played like a fiddle by his second wife. This is also the story of Mabel Walker Willebrandt, who took down Remus and bootlegging operations while battling a hearing impairment and sexism. Oh, and let's not forget that this story ends in murder.  The Review This is narrative nonfiction, which means it is written like a fiction story but entirely true. It is telling a story with facts behind it. This makes nonfiction much easier to read. Combining a thrilling story of bootlegging, betrayal, and murder with narrative nonfiction made this book an easy read.  I ...

 Here is book two of Lord Of The Rings. Without any Adieu, let's get into it.  We pick up with the rest of the fellowship, starting with Aragorn finding Boromir. Peter Jackson put some of this in the first movie and not the second. Knowing that, you have to read The Fellowship Of The Ring before you read The Two Towers.  The Overview We turn the camera back to the rest of the fellowship. After focusing on Frodo, we now know Boromir died to protect the last two hobbits (Merry and Pippin). You have to read the previous book to understand what is going on. They don't know where Frodo and Sam are until they see the boats. The remaining fellowship go after Merry and Pippin. The fellowship all end up at Rohan. From here, we take down Saruman and the trees go to battle (The Ents, you'll understand when you read it). Close to the end we tune back in to see where Sam and Frodo are. They tame Gollum/Smeagol to get a guide across the swamp. That lasts only so long before Gollum/Smea...

 I just read the book The Fellowship Of The Ring. Today we compare it to the Peter Jackson film - the extended edition. Let's go! Today I'm highlighting the differences between the movie and the book. This is because books don't directly translate to film. You have to convert the dialogue into a script, film stuff (not as easy as they make it look), and edit the result. Some scenes didn't work, or some set piece doesn't work (like Jaws), and you get a different result than the book. It is never exact.  With all that in mind, we dive into the film itself. The main plot is intact, minus Tom Bombadil's role. He was cut from the film.  The  comparison The shire and the birthday party are pretty close. The only real differences between the book and movie in the first part are these: you are missing the other black rider encounters between the first and last one before Buckleberry Ferry. Oh, and Tom Bombadil. It skipped the months of planning that went along with Frod...