Would you like a free book? I know what a silly question. Of course you do.
So whether you are an old fan or a new reader, you’re welcome to order an ebook of your choice from our store and enjoy it FOR FREE. Here’s the link: http://www.mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com
Just go there and use the code: FREEBOOK at check out.
The deal is as follows, 1 free ebook, per person. We’re hoping that if you like what you find and it helps you to escape to another world, just for a little while, then you might come back for more. And when you do, we’ll be here.
Thanks for reading and keep your chin up. We’ll get through this.
So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a free book.
At first, I thought Ujjio Cosplay was dressed as The Invisible Woman from Fantastic Four, but after scouring her cosplay page on Facebook, it turns out that this is from Metroid. Samus Aran, after googling it. 🙂
I’m frankly shocked and surprised that it took this long for someone to combine the slasher and the Groundhog Day concepts. It’s a beautiful mashup that works because these two sub-genres and surprisingly compatible. They both traditionally have horrible stuff happen to the main characters, they both usually involve death, and they usual end happily for at least one character.
This story works, not because of the twist, but because of how heavily it leans into the tropes.
Now that being said the first two loops are set up really slowly, however anyone who’s seen the trailer knows by the second day that the tension isn’t from the slashing but the loop.
Score: 0.5
Characters
The characters are mostly stereotypes with a few little tweaks. This is a weakness of both sub-genres. Because you live the same day over and over again, only one character develops, leaving the entire emotional outcome of the movie on the shoulders of the main character and their massive development.
Tree’s the heart of the film and without her and us feeling for her, this movie would fall flat. Thankfully it didn’t and she is awesome.
A lot of the characters are superfluous and feel like unused threads. The Vietnamese girl who sits outside the sorority house is a good example of an unused character.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue was quick, quip-y, and felt right for the characters. It’s fun but not poetry or super memorable.
You’ll laugh, but you won’t be quoting this one in twenty years.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
The music is very much from a slasher but it’s unobtrusive and works really well. Visually this movie doesn’t need to be anything beyond a B horror style but doesn’t rest on expectations. The compositions, cuts, and references to other movies is fantastic. The transition where Tree gets hit by a baseball bat and falls into the next day is beautiful on it’s own, but the fact that it’s directly referencing a similar transition in Groundhog Day makes it ever so much better.
Score: 1
Fun
I love slashers and I love Groundhog Day style stories. This movie delivers exactly what I wanted from all of it and has a nice little twist. I’m very glad they changed the ending to what we see in the theatrical version.
Once it got going I didn’t even consider looking at my phone. High praise, considering it was my second viewing.
Score: 1
Overall
This is a movie that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and it certainly isn’t high cinema but it is exciting, smart, fun, and funny. If you like slashers or Groundhog Day stories, you’ll love this movie.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5
We reviewed the movie on Silver Stag Entertainment‘s Aurora Nominated show Nights at the Round Table.
It’s the beginning of what would have been convention season. We should have had 2 or 3 under our belts already, but fate had other ideas. My publisher is filling the gap and running a virtual conference.
Here’s the information from their site:
Image description: Logo of a computer screen; on it are eye glasses over an open book. Left text says: Renaissance Virtual Conference, May 30-31, 2020
Renaissance Press is organizing an entirely FREE, entirely online convention!
With everyone and everything being shut down, a lot of conventions and fairs have cancelled, and a lot of authors and publishers have lost precious revenue. Renaissance has also been affected, so we thought:
Why not do something online, make a weekend of it, and get as many people involved as possible?
So today, we are reaching out to everyone we know who writes and sells books to see if they want to be part of our big event!
What will it look like?
An online convention/book fair, completely free for everyone involved. Authors will be able to promote themselves and their work through panels, readings, and workshops. We would offer 2-3 days of programming. When you mention your book in the panel, there will be an accessible link right there! Panels will also be recorded and later posted to YouTube, along with the links.
There will also be a virtual vendors room where we will link everyone’s books, and your books, along with whatever sale or flash deal you or your publisher are currently having, will be promoted before and after each event.
When?
Our big online book fair will happen on the weekend of May 30-31. We plan to have programming from 10 AM to 8 PM on the Saturday, and from 10 AM to 6 PM on the Sunday. We might have programming on the Friday evening if we have enough content/demand. The hours can be expanded, and a second weekend is possible, depending on demand.
Who can participate?
We would like to invite as many authors, publishers and associations as possible. Basically, if you write and/or sell books, and want visibility, you’re whom this is for! And since this is online, anyone from anywhere in the world can participate!
What if my book is from another publisher?
Your publisher is welcome to have a free, virtual “stand” in our online dealers’ room. Or, you can participate and have us link back to your publisher’s page without your publisher having to be there if they don’t want to. To be in our virtual vendors’ room, there is no other requirement than for us to have a link to their shop, a logo, and be informed of any sale or flash deal they are having. All we ask in return is that you and/or your publisher help promote the event by posting about it on social media.
What kind of ideas are you looking for?
We’re up for anything! We have a selection of panels that have already been pitched to us that you’ll find here, that you can simply apply to be on, or you can pitch us your own idea. If you have a workshop to present, it’s always best if it’s closely related to your books (for example, if your aliens eat delicious desserts, you could always teach people how to cook your favorite dessert). Or, you might want to read from your recent new release. We are looking for content that can appeal to a wide public! We are also looking for some programming geared towards children for the mornings.
After our last event we had a little money left over that we kept to cover website costs and advertising for future events. We had some plans of working with local organizers and a new space but nothing concrete had been decided.
With events unlikely to happen in the near future, C.O.N. has decided to close its books and donate any funds we have left to the Ottawa Food Bank.
It’ll mean starting back from nothing when we hold our next event, but money can always be raised for an event and right now there are people who need it more than the event does.
We were able to donate just over $400.
If you are lucky enough to have some extra funds, they could make a world of difference for those that need it.
It’s a difficult time especially for parents and babies. The Ottawa Food Bank is doing some great work.
This year, Mother’s Day is happening at a time of uncertainty. The coronavirus pandemic is affecting our lives in ways we never thought it would. You have been incredibly generous with your outpouring of support to meet the urgent food needs. But Ottawa’s youngest need your support today. The Baby Basics program needs your support.
You can make a difference for mothers and babies in our community. More than ever in these uncertain times. Thank you.
Today we’re talking about the 2001 movie Legally Blonde.
Story
This movie takes the usual narrative of the blonde rich girl being a bitch and turns it on its head. Elle is a genuinely sweet person. It has an interesting mix of awkward college movie and legal drama.
The story is great if a little simplistic. It gets its messages across and aged relatively well.
One of the main messages is that you need to love yourself and be with someone who loves the real you. But there’s one scene where Elle pretends to have had a one night stand to make her friend look like he’s good in bed and didn’t call her after. It makes the mean girl the guy was talking to give him a second chance, but feels contrary to everything else in the movie. If she wouldn’t date him and even went as far as insulting him in public, maybe she’s not worth it.
The legal plot was laughably simple with nice coincidences.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Elle, her sorority friends, and most of the characters are really sweet. The “mean” girl and professor guy are the only ones to do much evolution other than Elle.
The characters are mostly good people and that’s great. However that movie is overwhelmingly white and straight. The few LGBTQI+ or POC characters are dated and disturbingly tone death stereotypes, even for 2001.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
The dialogue is very exaggerated for each of the stereotypes and other than a few adorable valley-girl sayings from Elle, it’s all pretty meh. However the body language, especially the amused bemusement of Luke Wilson, is pure awesome.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
I really liked the contrast between the gaudy LA style versus the stuffy Boston law school style. It really made the fish out of water story believable. I also love the evolution of Elle’s wardrobe and how it matches her own character development.
I honestly can’t remember the music at all. I know it was there but I can’t remember it. That means it did it’s job.
Score: 0.5
Fun
This movie rolls together mystery, college, romance, humour, and characters that want to genuinely do good in the world. It’s fun to watch.
Score: 1
Overall
This movie is about empowerment and being yourself, even if it doesn’t fit into the stereotype everyone has for you. It’s about doing something you love for yourself.
It’s got a few cringy scenes (Bend and Snap?) but overall it’s a feel good movie that made me feel better about my current stresses and worries.
When Dragon gets enough days with no toilet accidents she gets a reward. We started in July and one of her rewards has been “Video Games with Papa”.
We’ve done 3 or 4 sessions now and she’s starting to get the hang of it. We’ve mostly played in the toybox of Disney Infinity and the PS3 Phineas and Ferb Game.
I’ve noticed huge changes in her abilities every time we’ve played. She started the first time no understanding that the remote controlled her character to actually participating in the combat and knowing what buttons to press.
Her hands are still a little small for the controllers, but she’s doing great. Saturday we played hide and seek in the toybox and she started to understand how to find me. Once she’s good enough, we’ll start playing the playsets.
She still gets stuck in corners now, but she’ll get there. She seems to like it and that’s the important thing.
