Kingsman: The Secret Service Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Summary: Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class), Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius

This isn’t a full-on spoof movie but Kingsman does make entertaining use of the spy genre clichés. Its packed full of “wait, what?…” moments while maintaining impressive fight scenes. Sofia Boutella’s (Gazelle) scenes were especially impressive along with Firth’s scenes.

Colin Firth excelled in his role as the proper English gentleman and it was a pleasure to see him kicking some serious ass. Egerton livened up the pace and pulled of the street kid persona perfectly. My only issue was Jackson’s character Valentine, he was obviously designed as a spoof of the typical james bond villain but every scene he was involved in felt overly ridiculous and spoiled it slightly for me.

Overall a good laugh – Decent plot filled with plenty of laughs and lovely fight scenes. Definitely a movie worth watching

Check out the trailer here

View the full details including cast list here on IMDB

NoisyGeek Rating: 4 out of 5

Kickstarter Projects – A Note

Kickstarter Projects – A Note

For those of you who haven’t heard of Kickstarter it’s a website where people/companies can advertise for funding. Backers pick the amount they want to contribute and in return can receive various rewards. The pledges are only taken if the full funding target is reached so there is very little risk involved. There are several categories ranging from performing arts to Comics and each category has lots of different projects to pick from.

I wont lie, there are some crazy projects on Kickstarter but a lot of them are brilliant ideas that just need a little bit of help.

In the few months I’ve been signed up to Kickstarter two of the independent comics i backed have been successfully funded, you can read my review of Church and Dime here.

If you are interested in supporting Indie Publications and Manufacturers why not consider pledging and help get more indie comics and products into production.

Please Note – I am sharing these projects because i believe they are worth funding, i do not receive any rewards or money from these companies in return for sharing these projects

Living With Death: Murder At Oxford – a critically acclaimed mystery crime comic by writer Glenn Matchett and artist Antonio Brandao

Check them out here

Deathgift by OverDark Comics – A story of an immortal lost soul whose life won’t let him go. Packed with dark humour, violence, stunning visuals and gripping stories

Check them out here

The Official website is here

Chunks by Matt Garvey – a Sitcom in comic form following the misadventures of a Punk rock bank called The Pineapple Chunks

Check them out here

The Official Website is here

Madam Butterscotch Book 3 by Lisa Cummins – Madam Butterscotch is an ongoing thriller/drama black and white webcomic series about a hitman that just wants to run a tea room.

I have the first two books in the series and I love them. Really looking forward to book 3

Check them out here

The Official Website is here

Bearback Grooming- Beard Oils & Balms for Better Beards by Norman Cassidy

Affordable beard oils, balms, moustache wax and grooming products for the hairier amongst us.

Shocker! I know this isn’t a comic but hey I have other interests. I’m a firm believer in Beards on men (or women if that’s how they want to roll). Beards need TLC and Bearback want to help.

Check them out here

The Church and The Dime Review

The Church and the Dime

By Bryn G Jones (Eleven to the Wire)

The Church and the Dime is a psychological thriller about a head trauma patient who wakes in hospital to find out that his wife has been murdered.

I was delighted to receive my copy in the post today (and an art print thank you very much). The quality of the material used and the overall finish of the comic is very high quality. The creator is obviously passionate about this project and I’m looking forward to more issues.

As usual it was the artwork that made me want to back this project, the colours are fantastic and i really liked that the cover is grey and muted colours while the inside uses a lot of different pastel colours. It’s a really stylish piece of work.

I was a bit confused with the dialogue initially but it cleared up a few pages in. The storyline is intriguing and left me wanting to move straight on to the next issue. I’ll be keeping an eye out for issue 2

Check out the twitter page here to keep up to date on the series

NoisyGeek Rating 4.5 out of 5

John Wick Review

John Wick

Genre: Action

Summary (IMDB): An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.

***SPOILERS***

John Wick was an unexpected hit featuring lots of violence and fast paced action. I won’t lie, the initial scenes with the puppy were awful but it gave a sense of purpose and built a need to see revenge fulfilled. I’ve never watched a movie where I hated all the bad guys so much.

I was delighted to see Reeves on fine form as a badass. He brings John to life, giving the character a Dark James Bond feel. Reeves suits the unshaven, longer haired appearane.

The thing I liked most about John was that he wasn’t perfect, he is very good at what he does but does find himself getting banged up frequently. This gave the movie an edge of realism over movies such as the matrix.

I liked the idea that the Continental was neutral ground – a safe haven where people could relax without worrying about business. Although not a completely new idea it was handled very well.

Despite the heavy violence John Wick still has plenty of laughs which kept it from feeling overly heavy

I’ll definitely be watching this again, ill just make sure I skip the awful Puppy scene this time around

You can view the trailer here

NoisyGeek Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Caliber Issue 1 Review

Caliber (First Canon of Justice) Issue 1

by Sam Sarkar, Garrie Gastonny (illustrator)

Summary (Goodreads): The Arthurian legend as retold in the American Northwest, with all of its great symbolism, magic, and spirit of adventure! The legend begins with the Indian shaman, Whitefeather, when he discovers a tattooed six-gun imbued with supernatural power. This mystic has seen both the signs of the apocalypse and a vision of the one who can prevent it. His search for the lawgiver is a quest that is not without mishap and death. Caliber, the mystically emblazoned gun, to be fired by only one man, will never miss. When aimed it brings down the heavens, firing lightning itself from its barrel. Arthur has returned to Telacoma looking to regain what is rightfully his. Has he come for justice or revenge? His future lies in the choice between the two

By far the best part of this book was the artwork. Muted colours gave the impression of an old school western painting. The only niggle in the artwork was that it was hard to distinguish some of the characters as they looked a lot alike but overall a good job.

The story seemed pretty straightforward if not a bit stunted. I have only read Issue 1 but it was easy to tell where the plot was leading without the other issues.

Overall Caliber is an interesting take on the Arthurian legend but lacks the magic that would have kept me reading further issues

NoisyGeek Rating 2 out of 5

Corrupted Hearts Review

Corrupted Hearts

by J.E. Keep, M. Keep

Summary (Goodreads): After all, even demons deserve a chance at love: With her angelic wings and his demonic horns they were never meant to come together. But his red eyes trap her and her seductive wings lure him. Their hot demon blood clashes. What starts as one night of carnal pleasure turns into an adventure of epic portions.
Shades of Dungeons and Dragons twisted in wicked ways: Within days of meeting Lilah and Glaurakos fall across the path of an evil sorceress who traps them in a strange and dangerous “other world” The threats in the new world are perilous, yet their lust for each other is far more frightening. Will their bond be strong enough to make it out alive?
Against all odds of the damned, can love grow between two half demons?

I really liked this book – It’s a steamy tale of adventure and attraction between two very different beings. I was hooked from the first couple of pages and read through the entire thing in one sitting.

The sex scenes were delicious and really well written – I could picture exactly what was happening. An obviously big plus when reading erotic stories. I’ll definitely be looking up more from these authors

NoisyGeek Rating 5 out of 5

Pretty Deadly Vol. 1: The Shrike Review

Pretty Deadly Volume 1

by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Author)

Summary (Amazon): Death’s daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father. Her origin story is a tale of retribution as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.

This is a horror/western which explores the concept of death.

The artwork is what made this for me, the colours worked especially well for the type of story involved. The pinks and apricot tones really brought the western scenes to life while the darker greens and blacks made the supernatural scenes pop.

I thought it was an interesting take on Death and the rules and although you can clearly see influence from the older mythologies its not cliched

The characters are interesting and cover the evil to good and the middle of the road. I would have liked to discover more of the characters pasts but hopefully these will be uncovered in future issues

Overall a decent read, I’m looking forward to continuing with the series

NoisyGeek Rating: 4 out of 5

Sex Criminals Vol 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky

Sex Criminal Vol 1 (Collects Issues 1-5)

By Matt Fraction (Satellite Sam, Hawkeye) and Chip Zdarsky (Prison Funnies, Monster Cops).

Genre: Graphic Novel / Humour

Summary (Goodreads): Suzie’s just a regular gal with an irregular gift: when she has sex, she stops time. One day she meets Jon and it turns out he has the same ability. And sooner or later they get around to using their gifts to do what we’d ALL do: rob a couple banks. A bawdy and brazen sex comedy for comics begins here!
Sex Criminal – Let me start by saying its not what you think. Well it kind of is I guess. Don’t read this if you cant handle descriptive sex talk, its graphic but appropriately (and hilariously) so.

I knew as soon as I started that this was going to be a hilarious read – Matt Fraction has dedicated this series to anyone who’s ever rubbed one out for the first time. Hands down the best dedication I’ve ever seen.

The hilarity continues right through the volume and actually had me laughing out loud a few times. That was a bit awkward when my work colleagues asked me what was so funny but that’s the beauty with Sex Criminals. It’s a genuine deep dive into the weirder part of human personalities without dragging the reader down into the nasty stuff.

The artwork itself is beautiful and I loved the colours used in “the Quiet” scenes, I can’t see anyone picking a better colour set for this story.

This is one of the best graphic novels I’ve ever read, EVER. I feel like I’m gushing but there it is. I really enjoyed this, a unique idea written and drawn beautifully. These guys are awesome, looking forward to carrying on with the series and ill definitely be checking out their other work.

NoisyGeek Rating: 5++ out of 5

Seal Wolf Christmas by Terry Spears Review

A Seal Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

Genre: Supernatural Romance

Summary (Publishers Weekly): Spear takes readers on a pulse-pounding ride from the Amazon to a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. Bjornolf Jorgenson and his team of SEAL werewolves (last seen in A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing) are on a rescue mission to Colombia when they discover the family they’ve been sent to rescue might not be innocent victims. After a successful extraction, Bjornolf and fellow agent Anna Johnson agree to pose as a newlywed couple, uncle and aunt to a recently orphaned teenage wolf, while the team searches for answers. They discover a suspicious connection between the tree farm owner and the pharmaceutical executive they rescued—and from there, the pieces begin to form a grim picture, involving several murdered DEA agents and a young wolf who is unaware of her status. In between red-hot love scenes, Bjornolf and Anna race to find the truth before one of them—or someone they love—is killed. Christmas elements are scant, but there’s plenty of action. (Oct.)

I was really looking forward to reading this as the reviews id seen were over 4 stars. I’m a bit concerned that I’ve downloaded the wrong book there wasn’t anything I liked in this.

The sex scenes didn’t touch an entry level of heat and the murder plot was ridiculous. The plot lines are full of holes and tangled with convenient outcomes that just did not seem believable

My main problem with this book was the whole “have sex wolf to wolf and you are mated” – What the hell. That’s a pretty serious consequence just from getting a little action. I’ve read plenty of books where wolf shifters mate for life but that’s a choice not a genetic rule built into them. The idea itself wasn’t even treated well in this book –For example, Anna wasn’t sure she wanted to have sex the first time and then suddenly decided what the hell it’s happening. That was a ridiculous attitude to take considering it would apparently bind them as mates.

I really hate doing reviews like this but unfortunately there wasn’t anything I enjoyed about this book – I’m just glad I didn’t buy it in paperback form

NoisyGeek Rating: 0 out of 5

Radiance by Grace Draven

Radiance (Wraith Kings Book One) by Grace Draven

Genre: Paranormal / Romance

Summary (Amazon): THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE: Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.
THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE: Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.
Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

Grace Draven has created a wonderful new fantasy romance novel. Radiance brings together two people from different species who are being used to forge alliances for their respective families.

The main characters Ildiko and Brishen do not follow the standard love at first sight cliché. Their story was one of slow building trust, humour and love, bridging the gap between their different cultures. Ildiko was a good strong female character and Brishen was a clever match to her personality.

There were sections which made me smile and some which made me tear up. Mixed in with decent world building and a handful of nice sex scenes and I was a happy reader.

I’m a sucker for a believable romance and look forward to reading the next book in the series

No downsides with this!
NoisyGeek Rating: 5 out of 5