Category: Reviews
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Review of Beauty Rising from I AM, INDEED!
Gaele Hince from I Am, Indeed gave a nice four-star review of my novel Beauty Rising. It’s starts like this: Strong and solid prose highlight the character driven story and bring the beauty that is Vietnam and her people to light. Tragedies make strange bedfellows, as the two main characters in this story, Martin and…
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Mini-Review: Iron Man 3 vs. Star Trek – Into Darkness
No contest. I had an opportunity to see both movies this past week, but if you can only see one, here’s my advice: make it Star Trek. First off, if you know me, I’m not a big sci-fi or superhero fan. I have become somewhat numb by both genres as the endless flow of big…
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“This book was messed up.”
This is the first line in the latest review of my novel Beauty Rising from a book blogger on DealSharingAunt. Fortunately, here was the second line in the review: “In a good way.” Whew! If you want to read the rest of her 5 out of 5 star review, check it out HERE!
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Review: Shakespeare Demystified – The Merry Wives of Windsor
The drama troupe Shakespeare Demystified made their second appearance at PenangPAC this past weekend by bringing their latest endeavor, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, to our fair island. I first saw this group last year as they demystified “The Merchant of Venice.” I thoroughly enjoyed their 2012 performance, so I was hoping for more magic…
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Review: Songs for a New World Musical @ PenangPAC
I attended the second performance of “Songs for a New World” last night at Penang Performing Arts Centre. “Songs for a New World” is not a musical which is set with a standard story line. It consists of a dozen or so songs, from upbeat to gospel to ballad, which highlight different aspects of life.…
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Film Review: Magic of Belle Isle – Predictability not always bad!
I watched the Morgan Freeman 2012 film “The Magic of Belle Isle” the other day and a few things stuck out to me. Freeman is not nearly the crotchety old man that Clint Eastwood is, (see Gran Torino for a most exemplary display of crotchetyness) but that’s not a bad thing. Freeman plays an aged, disabled…
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Review: Charles Dickens presents A Christmas Carol
As I mentioned in my last post, I was off to see actor Phil Zachariah portray Charles Dickens in a faithful portrayal of the intimate readings that Dickens gave in his lifetime. Bottom Line: Highly recommended! Zachariah was not only convincing as Dickens, he transformed the empty, black-box stage into a visual wonderland featuring the…
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Review: Philadelphia Here I Come @ PenangPAC
I attended the Penang opening of “Philadelphia, Here I Come” last night at the Penang Performing Arts Centre. The play was written by Irish playwright Brian Friel but adapted to the local Malaysian culture by the professionals at The Actor’s Studio. This is a production I really wanted to to like, but unfortunately I was…
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Who’s Romantic, and Who’s the Fool?
Let’s talk about romance. A while back, I went to the theater to see a play called “Romantic Fools.” It was a local production of an off-Broadway hit (perhaps it was on Broadway at some point – I don’t know.) From the promotional material, I thought it would be a nice evening out for my…
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Thank God for “Les Mis”
Thank God for “Les Mis” (& Victor Hugo) I’ve become so critical of movies over the years that even though movies are inexpensive here in Malaysia ($3 – $4 per release), I find myself darkening the doors of the cinema less and less. And there is good reason for that – the nature of Hollywood’s…
Author Mark W Sasse 