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Book Review: Skip Beat! Vol 19 by Yoshiki Nakamura

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Skip Beat! Vol 19     

Author: Yoshiki Nakamura

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date:  May 5,  2009

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/shojo manga/200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Lory and Koo’s scheming has paid off, but the results are coming sooner than expected, with Ren agreeing to go to the hotel where Koo is staying. While Koo is surprised, Lory isn’t. What else could happen when Kyoko showed up at the studio looking for clothes for a teenaged boy? Koo continues to mentor Kyoko, calling her her own worst enemy because she tends to only take roles she likes. He tells her she’ll never become a great actress unless she can overcome that weakness. She realizes she has a lot to think about.

When Ren arrives, he demands to know what Koo was thinking when he had Kyoko act like his son? Koo explains that wasn’t the case, he was training her and then compares her to Ren/Kuon, pointing out how well she played the part. Koo also has a favor to ask of his son. Ren has a lot to think about. To fulfill Koo’s request would also require the assistance of his personal hair/make-up assistant, who is currently on vacation.

Ren and Mr. Yashiro run into Kyoko, and she is in a very dark mood. Upset over what happened during their last meeting, she requests that she be allowed to finish shooting Dark Moon before she commits harakiri. Of course Ren reassures her there is no need for that.

Kyoko is dismayed that her time with Koo is ending, as she feels she has so much to learn. But as she talks to him, she unwittingly reveals information pertaining to Ren and his relationship to Koo that leaves the other man happily surprised. Kyoko goes to see Koo off and finds Ren there too.  She accepts his explanation of why he is there, and between the two of them, they manage to convey what each wants to say to Koo but can’t.

This is a very intense volume. We see so much about Ren’s relationship with his parents, and the circumstances under which he came to Japan. Sometimes I think we tend to forget that he is a young man still, he’s only twenty, so just out of his teens. He became famous at a young age and carries so much weight on his shoulders. Kyoko does too, and she is only 16. The conversation where Koo tells her that she’ll make a good mother shows just how deeply her own mother has scarred Kyoko. I have a deeper appreciation for Loy, for what he has done and for what he is trying to do. He has surprising insights into Ren and Kyoko both, although at other times he is quite oblivious and out-of-this world.

Kyoko’s growth from the beginning of the series is tremendous, both as an actress and as a person. Now she wants to be the best she can be at her craft, and revenge is no longer her motive for what she does. Sho never seems to enter her mind. Unless, of course, he is standing right in front of her. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again, but I’m afraid it will. Looking forward to the next volume!

Wednesday Briefs: December 13, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #96 (20.5) by Julie Lynn Hayes

“You want to talk to me about your engagement? How sweet.” His eyebrows raised in an affectation of surprise even as he glanced back and forth between us. “So, I take it you’d like some advice? Color schemes? Menu choices? What font to use on your invitations? Ask away. Mayvbe you’d like me to give the bride away?” This was said with a wink at me.

As if.

Ethan’s response was to laugh, a deep, rich sound that showed me he wasn’t in the least intimidated by this lowlife scum sitting before us. I wish I could have said the same.

“If we wanted or needed that

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Saturday is Horror Day #142 – Insidious: The Red Door

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Insidious: The Red Door

Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) and his family have been through a lot, especially Josh and his son Dalton, who both experience astral projection. They decide to put everything aside. Josh and Dalton are hypnotized into forgetting everything that took that year, and all knowledge of the Further.

Nine years go by, life goes on. Josh and Renai (Rose Byrne) are divorced, and there is a strain in the relationship between Josh and his kids. When Josh’s mother dies, the family assembles for the funeral, just before Dalton is set to leave for college. Renai urges Josh to offer to drive Dalton, which he does, and Dalton reluctantly accepts. Upon arrival at the university, Josh tries to help Dalton be more social by giving him a flyer/invitation to a frat party, although Dalton insists that isn’t his scene. They find his dorm room and then when his roommate enters, he finds it’s a girl named Chris (Sinclair Daniel).

Dalton is taking an art class, and the teacher tells the students to reach deep inside of them for a memory, but when he does, he doesn’t understand what the red door means. But he is starting to see things he can’t explain. He and Chris decide to get to the bottom of things, but at what cost?

I love the Insidious movies, especially Patrick Wilson, and I don’t think this one disappoints. There is a definite creep factor, and the way the tension builds is wonderful. I think that beneath the surface story of the father and son getting back the time that was lost, it’s about healing and letting go and moving on. Look for a surprise appearance at the end of the film! All in all a satisfactory watch. I believe this will be the last of the series.I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Wednesday Briefs: December 6, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #95 (20.4) by Julie Lynn Hayes

I bit back the witty rejoinder that surely lurked on the tip of my tongue. No sense in antagonizing him right off the bat. As the saying goes, you can catch more flies with sugar. Or is it honey? Maybe once we’d gotten all the information we needed, I could tell Chip what I really thought of him. I forced a smile I was far from feeling.

“Not long enough,” Ethan quickly countered on my behalf.

“Aw, and here I thought maybe you missed me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Ethan said. “It

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Book Review: Love Mode, Vol 5 by Yuki Shimizu

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Love Mode, Vol 5     

Author: Yuki Shimizu

Publisher: Blu

American release date:  May 8, 2007

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Yaoi Manga/216 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

After moving in with Reiji, Naoya’s life has changed for the better, including a new school. On the first day of school, Reiji and his brother Kiichi pick up Naoya to celebrate. As usual, Reiji seems irritated by the close relationship between Kiichi and Naoya, and his brother accuses him of being jealous. Naoya keeps his part-time job, intending to reimburse Reiji for at least some of the money the man has spent on him.

The relationship between Naoya and Reiji is beginning to subtly shift, with each man thinking of the other a lot, even if neither one admits to it. However, forces are at work that threaten to tear them apart. On his way to school, Naoya is stopped by a man who asks if he is Shirakawa Naoya. Upon learning that he is, the man says he has orders to bring him to the mansion where his grandfather awaits. Grandfather? Seriously? Meanwhile, Reiji learns that one of his clients is being blackmailed.

Naoya opts to live with his grandfather, but for altruistic reasons, believing himself to be a burden to Reiji. Reiji accepts his decision, although he leaves him with something to remember him by before he goes. Life with his grandfather isn’t always easy either. All of Naoya’s stuff is disposed of, anything which connected him to his former life, including the keys to Reiji’s apartment, which is thrown out into the enormous garden. Try though he might, Naoya can’t locate them. On top of that, young Wataru, who was supposed to be the heir to Naoya’s grandfather, is angry at Naoya’s arrival and jealous that he has been supplanted in his adopted father’s affections.

Reiji pretends to be unaffected by Naoya’s absence, but even Kiichi can see the truth about Reji’s feelings for Naoya. He and Naoya reconcile, but an unexpected crisis threatens to tear them apart permanently.

This volume of Love Mode brings the love story of Naoya and Reiji to a dramatic climax – literally and figuratively. Naoya does a lot of maturing, and learns to be his own man and make his own decisions. The scene we’ve all been waiting for between Naoya and Reiji finally happens, so yay for that! There’s a lot of drama between Naoya and Wataru, who not surpriisingly feels abandoned in favor of the “true” heir. Reiji is forced to examine his own feelings for once and not hide everything away beneath his oh so cool exterior. Things should be smoother from here on out.

Another great volume, look forward to the next!

Saturday is Horror Day #141 – I Spit on Your Grave (1978), Violent Night

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

I Spit on Your Grave (1978)

Jennifer (Camille Keaton) heads to the Connecticut woods in order to write her first novel, having previously only written short stories. Fresh air, solitude, and country living should do it, right? But she quickly learns that all things in the country aren’t good or healthy.

On arrival in town, Jennifer gets gas at the local station, where she shares her excitement over the coming summer with the owner/attendant, Johnny (Eron Tabor). Later she meets Stanley (Anthony Nichols), who delivers her groceries. He is friendly and sweet, if a little slow. Seems like a good place. But she learns otherwise when she is laying out in her bikini in a boat and Johnny and a couple of his friends come upon her and decide to have some fun, in a brutal attack which they continue even after she thinks she has escaped from them. When they send Stanley in to finish the job, he can’t do it, and lets them think he has. So now it’s time for revenge.

I’m not going to lie, the rape scenes are brutal and hard to watch.  The poor actress also spends most of the film naked. I read that the actors asked to be naked as well in order to help make her feel more comfortable. This is a revenge film, pure and simple, and as such it succeeds, although certainly not a great film in any way. But the brutality of the rape makes the revenge that much more satisfying. I am going to watch the sequel, which was made like 40 years later, and hope it’s a better film. There is also a remake of the series, which I may or may not watch. But for now, I’ll give this film 3 Stars for succeeding in its primary goal.

Violent Night

Santa Claus (David Harbour) is jaded and weary, tired of the commercialism and cynicism of the modern world. He feels as if the spirit of Christmas has been lost, and he drinks to dull the pain. Trudy (Leah Brady) is a very bright little girl with only one wish for Christmas – that Dad (Alex Hassell) and Mom (Alexis Louder) make up and get back together again. They are all meeting at her Grandma Gertrude’s (Beverly D’Angelo) house, along with her aunt and uncle and their brat, Bertrude. The latter are all in a tizzy to make sure they stay in good with the wealthy grandma. But a criminal who calls himself Scrooge (John Leguizamo) has other ideas. This is a Christmas they won’t soon forget.

You’d think with a cast like this, and an interesting premise, this movie would be a shoe-in. I like David Harbour from Stranger Things and Hell Boy, and I have loved John Leguizamo for a long time, both for his stand-up and for such movie roles as Toulouse Lautrec in Moulin Rouge (we can forget his Mario Brothers Stint). But if you believe this, you will be sadly disappointed. The film doesn’t lack of looks, and it clearly had a decent budget. But there is nothing interesting or original about it. As my son son, it’s bland. It reminds me of a wanna-be copy of Die Hard. I was not just disappointed, I was bored, and I could imagine how everything was going to play out. I gave up after about thirty minutes. I suggest you just pass on this one.

Wednesday Briefs: November 29, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #94 (20.3) by Julie Lynn Hayes

We were shown into a private room off the main hallway. The only furniture in the room was a table and three chairs. And in the single chair across from us, sitting there with the smuggest expression on his smarmy face, was… you know who.

The Florida Mangler himself. The man who’d killed our late partner, Eva June, among others. The man who’s kidnapped me and held me hostage for reasons I still didn’t comprehend. I won’t add injury to insult by referring to him as the alleged Florida Mangler, even though he hadn’t been to trial yet and wasn’t everyone innocent until proven guilty, because we knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the Mangler. Despite whatever his lawyer might or might not plead when the time came, up to and including insanity. But I didn’t believe for one moment that Chip was crazy, just very evil.

If I’d expected Chip

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Saturday is Horror Day #141 – A Monster Calls, Silent Night, Deadly Night 2

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

A Monster Calls

Twelve-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) i8s having a rough life.  His mother (Felicity Jones) is dying, and the thought of living with his strict grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) is more than he can bear. On top of that, he is being bullied at school, and no one will come to his assistance. His dad (Toby Kebbell) lives in America now, and he has a new family, and he has no room for Conor. What’s a boy to do?

But then he encounter a monster in the form of a giant tree (Liam Neeson). While frightening at first, he helps Conor to cope with the reality of his existence. He tells Conor that he shall tell him three stories and then Conor will tell him his own story. Conor protests that he has no story to tell, but the Monster proceeds anyway with his tales.

I honestly did not know what to expect from this movie, but I was most pleasantly surprised. Twelve is

very young to have to deal with the impending death of one parent and the seeming indifference of the other, along with a grandmother he barely knows and doesn’t like. It’s a tale of bravery and imagination that will warm the coldest of hearts. It’s well written, acted, and directed. I really enjoyed it. I’ll give this film 4.5 Stars.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 2

Ricky Caldwell (Eric Freeman) was just a baby and his brother Billy only 7 when their family was attacked by a man in a Santa suit by the side of the road. Dad was shot and killed, and Mom was assaulted and murdered in front of her children. The two boys were sent to live in an orphanage run by Mother Superior (Jean Miller). Billy grew up haunted by what he had seen, and the nun was brutal in her punishments. He became a serial killer in a Santa suit himself.

Fast forward a number of years. Ricky is in a mental institution, being interviewed by the new psychiatrist.  He tells of his past family trauma, but he has plans of his own. Will history repeat itself?

Silent Night Deadly Night 2 picks up where the last one left off. But if you haven’t seen the first one,  no worries – this one recaps all of the highlights of that film, and that takes up about two-thirds of this movie. So you might as well skip the first one completely.

Let there be no doubt this movie is all about shock and gore and senseless violence. And women with bare breasts. The writing is horrible, the acting atrocious. It’s like watching a train wreck. And yet you find you can’t look away. If you don’t take it seriously, and just accept it for it is, you might not be sorry you watched it. I didn’t realize I’d already seen one of the scenes  in another video. Now I’ll never forget Garbage Day. All things considered, I’ll give this movie 2.5 Stars. I hear there are sequels. Might have to check them out.

Saturday is Horror Day #140 – M3gan

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Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

M3gan

Gemma (Allison Williams) is a robotics engineer at a toy company. She is frustrated to learn that the project she has been working on to produce a lifelike AI doll is not being greenlit. Despite that, she continues to work on it, confident that this will take the toy world by storm and be a major seller. When she unexpectedly becomes the guardian for her orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw), she finishes the prototype and gives it to Cady, so the company will see what the doll, M3gan, can do.

Cady, devastated by the loss of her parents and having her life uprooted, takes to M3gan immediately. The AI becomes everything to her, and they become inseparable. Everything seems to be going well…until M3gan develops a mind of her own. And she won’t let anybody keep her down.

I’ve been wanting to see this for some time, so was glad of the opportunity to see it. I thought it was

interesting to watch, and the AI M3gan was quite chilling, and she had some interesting moves. I certainly wouldn’t want to cross her. Makes you think about the possible pitfalls of creating such an AI. But overall, it was a decent film, and I am looking forward to the sequel.  I’ll give this film 4 Stars.

Wednesday Briefs: November 15, 2023

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Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

Bad Karma and the Family Plan #93 (20.1) by Julie Lynn Hayes

The Clay County Detention Center/ was a more imposing structure than I had imagined it would be for such a small town. It probably housed inmates from many areas of northern Florida, I surmised. We’d received instructions from Anderson on what was expected of us, and left everything inside the vehicle, including our weapons. Neither Ethan nor I cared for that idea, but we had no choice. The rules applied to law enforcement visitors as well as others. I supposed it would be different if we were dropping off or picking up. But as Chip was already there, and I had no intention of taking him with us (the very thought made me shudder), we followed their instructions before we made our approach to the edifice.

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