Ghosts of Honolulu Book Review

 
   

As I have written in previous blog posts, I stated that I will be discussing about various media dealings with American History since this is the 250th birthday year of the United States. I will talk about movies I think deal with that history or Americana as some people call it. I also said that I will try to find books that go into important historical significances of what has made America great, ways it can learn from its mistakes and the foundational structure from the government to the military and the business of how we have gone about existing as a great and most important Nation of all the world in my opinion.

Before I go into the review of Ghosts of Honolulu written by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll Jr.,  I want to say that if you watch “NCIS” t.v. shows where Leroy Jethro Gibbs played by Mark Harmon or a military / police drama show watchers then this book is not that fast. This book is not wrapped up in a bow and given a final conclusion in one hour. Leon Carroll Jr. not to be confused with Rocky Carroll that played Leon Vance on the NCIS t.v. show is actually a real retired NCIS agent and consultant. Also, I have personally been to Honolulu and more of Hawaii on multiple occasions. I have had the honor of going to Pearl Harbor and seeing the incredibly moving and impressive historical pieces and heard people tell the story that happened on December 7, 1941. “A date which will live in infamy” President Franklin D Roosevelt said after the attack. It is also moving to see the watery grave of the USS Arizona. When you go over it and know that sailors are buried in his sunken ship, it is a powerful solemn moment.

What can I now say about the Ghosts of Honolulu book? I was not sure what I was going to read. A history book used for a college classroom? A novel type approach to the stories you would find for your favorite fiction or historical fiction book? A diary unveiling like Gibbs does on the spinoff show “NCIS Origins?” Well, I believe its got a lot of all three except this is all true. It is a book that fillets open all of the known historical facts and stories known about the untold story of Pearl Harbor. It tells about Japanese spies and the beginnings of the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service and how the US Government and all the military branches dealings before, during and after the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor. The islands of Hawaii were not yet a state of the United States. It was a territory not unlike Puerto Rico today. Honolulu was a big place that America had their ships and planes stationed in the Pacific. Honolulu had a big Japanese population back in the 1930s and 1940s.

I took the seriousness of the book and the subject matter to really digest the information introduced and discussed very thoroughly. It’s detailed accounts of the Japanese spies like Douglas Wada and tells about the important places and events that unfolded to trick, deceive and manipulate both sides of Japan and the USA. This leads to all that is discussed in this deeply powerful and well written telling of this whole event. I thought I knew everything about it from studying it in school, watching movies like Pearl Harbor that came out in 2001 starring Ben Affleck and Josh Harnett and interviews and documentaries. I have to say that this book is the most detailed account I have ever read about the events and the deceptions of the spies to steal all the important information and catch America off guard to make it the deadliest attack on the American military at that time.

This book is very well done and a definite MUST read for the history buffs and those wanting to understand better of what happened from successes to failures. I was also impressed that the authors put the whole speech, word for word, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in the book. It fits to what they were presenting about it to give a clear complete picture of the aftermath even years later. I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. Very well done and loved all the pictures included and all the prologues and epilogue to this American history event.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Movie Review

 

When you watch a movie, do you care if it is a prequel, sequel or ending of a series of films when watching it? Is it important to watch a previous film or films if it is a continuation and a previous story? In the case of the eighth installment in the Mission Impossible universe, I believe it to be the final installment of the Mission Impossible nine part saga. I would say yes you definitely need to see the previous movie called The Dead Reckoning that came out in 2023 to fully understand the conclusions and plots for this film. This movie made its screen debut on May 23, 2025 in the theaters to a moderate level of success in the United States. A few months later in December 2025, it made its streaming debut. So why has it taken me so long to finally see this movie you might ask? While I am not a fan of Tom Cruise, I do appreciate the movies that he acts in and also that he performs his own stunts. I watched the first movie called Mission Impossible in the theaters in May 1996. The date of the first movie release was May 22, 1996. There is an important moment using that date for The Final Reckoning. With the movie theaters not providing a lot of consistent good options to watch and streaming prices going up and up, I am finding more and more great quality movies I can watch on whatever streaming service I subscribe to with movie theater quality using Dolby Atmos, IMAX, 4K, all of them in my house. For this week’s pick of The Final Reckoning is on most streaming services. I have Prime Video and Paramount+ and through it I decided I wanted to see the conclusion to this saga. I am really glad that I finally have watched it and really liked it. The film is just under 3 hours at 2:50. The story is dealing with Ethan Hunt and his team who yet again save the world literally. The villain this time is believed to be A.I. also called “The Entity”. 

 A.I. is discussed a whole lot these days from movies, novels, news and other outlets. I felt this movie and my last movie review of Mercy gives us all a good look as to why we should never consider AI in the future to dictate our lives. It can be a poison pill in the wrong hands.

While the film felt a little long, I didn’t feel it was necessary to wrap up the two part film and overall saga’s epic quicker. There were flashbacks to the first film and other movies in this series. To help with explaining the plots throughout there were several foreshadowing moments to help the audience along with flash images and videos of the future and how it could all play out. I was happy to see all of the same beloved cast reappear in both The Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning. I will miss seeing Benji, Luther, Kittredge and of course Ethan Hunt in the future but this was a good sentimental sendoff to the series. What is my rating for this final installment? A 8.5 out of 10 stars. It was a satisfying conclusion and happy that I finally saw this and maybe you can as well if you have not taken the time. If you have seen it, what are your thoughts on this movie? Leave them in the comments or what you thought of my review to this one.

Mercy Movie Review starring Chris Pratt

 

Mercy is a film that is set not very far in the future. It is a glimpse into what it would be like if the court system was run by an A.I. judicial program designed to make the defendants that appear before the AI judges to be guilty unless they can prove their innocence in 90 minutes or less. Chris Pratt plays a police detective Chris Raven that was a part of the group helping create this new AI system called Mercy.

As the film opens up, we find Raven strapped to a seat ready for a potential execution if he can not prove his innocence having being charged with the murder of his wife Nicole Raven played by Annabelle Wallis. The A.I. judge is portrayed by Rebecca Ferguson. She has no feelings or emotions but only logical infer and determines all crimes on a fact driven basis.

Chris Raven spends the next 90 minutes using a wide range of sources from his and other cell phone data and videos to whatever is necessary to show the not guilty evidence. Yes, a phone a friend option is used so to speak.

We find out the crime happened on one day, with the trial occurring on the next since there are no humans used for the judiciary and humans defendants. Chris Raven is essentially both his own attorney and defendant at the same time and always on the “stand” until the clock’s ticking completes with a final verdict. Raven’s daughter, Britt, played by Kylie Rogers is an essential part to the story plots and the actress played her well.

The movie’s plot lines are 100% believable and the concept ideas are scary imaginative scenarios that can be a reality in our U.S. court systems one day. At the time of this review there are a lot of discussions about the building of data centers and expansions to the use of A.I. in the near future as a reality. Can we as a humanity really put our heads in the sand and not believe anything like this is possible?

In the movie industry’s past we have had movies like Back to the Future that have discussed life events that have jumped off the screens becoming realities as recently as in the last few years. I realize that movies are fictional accounts and escape from our current reality but we cannot live our lives in fear nor 100% accepted things discussed as facts. We all need to be aware of everything we do and fight for humanity to always stand up and win over computers and technologies. Yes even A.I. as one example.

What do I rate the Mercy movie? I give it an 8 out of a 10 stars. Good stories and plot lines.

There were CGI glitches in a few places throughout but felt the overall movie was good from the beginning to a satisfying and surprising end. I didn’t see the movie’s conclusion coming at all. The way it was written and filmed by the director made this a very well done performance by all cast and crew members. I probably will watch this film again in the future.

Movie Review for Enola Holmes 3

 

For this week’s movie review I chose Enola Holmes 3 that can be found on Netflix. While this is the 3rd movie in the series for Enola Holmes, I felt while watching it, I could do so without knowing anything about the previous two movies. The entertainment and excitement with the fast paced mysteries that are unveiled in Sherlock Holmes movies of the past or other movies that have sneaky clues throughout the story presented is present for this one. The way all great mystery movies we have watched will give us an ability to solve the film’s plot and storyline with the big reveals at the end is extremely important. While I watched this third movie and second sequel, I believe the Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes) led project was definitely a home run this time. Brown is also one of the movie’s producers.

Enola Holmes 3 starts out with the idea of Enola trying to get to an impending wedding with Tewksberry played by Louis Partridge who was also in the previous film playing her rich heir husband to be is in this film. Not long into this movie we find out that Sherlock Holmes played by Henry Cavill who was also in the two previous movies is kidnapped. Just like Sherlock, Enola has the same gifts to be able to solve / decipher clues and puzzles to find the killer or whatever the mystery needs in the cases.

Without giving away the plot lines of this project, this story like all of the Sherlock Holmes series of adventures and mysteries has the same characters showing up in this series of Enola Holmes movies like those. If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, have seen the previous Enola Holmes movies, read any of the books for either character, then you need to see this potential finale film of the series.

Do you need to have seen Enola Holmes 1 or 2? No, but if you know nothing of Sherlock or more importantly Enola Holmes and their characters you definitely need to binge watch the first two movies to understand the nuances and cadences of each character and the way the various plot lines work and flow. Enola Holmes has 10 books in the series for readers to choose from and likely producers and writers could decide one day to come back to Enola and spin another web of story lines and uncover more clues for another mystery in the future.

What would I give this movie?  4 out of 5 stars. The setting was excellent. The content was excellent. Characters were good and especially rememberable for the most part but the ending was very hurried I felt, this was to make it under 2 hours, long a Netflix requirement for most movies on their platform. I also thought the summarization of who the guilty were and the parts they played in the schemes was also rushed. All in all Enola Holmes 3 is a great family film. I hope there will be future sequels yet to come that are also original.

My Thoughts on the book "Being Henry" by Henry Winkler

 

As I have started my blog page, I have felt that I am developing a theme at least for this year 2026 which is Americana since it is the 250th anniversary year of the United States of America. How have I gotten to this theme? One can say is by happenstance or maybe the instinctual draw to all things that has, is and can still make America great. No this is not my endorsement for Donald Trump or is it even political. I believe America has been great in the past and with real human writers like me and not an unemotional AI prompting us how we should feel. My story shown through these blogs hopefully will show you how important it is to recognize the importances of life with important themes, books, movies, stories and education to help us unwind with our lives. I am hoping that as I continue you will still be interested in my review thoughts and know I am not trying to be overtly political except for acknowledging Presidents and important moments in the United States history and landscape so it might encourage you to read those books or watch those movies I discuss. I am also going to be pointing out pieces of the fabrics of Americana that are also non political and show how important moments and famous people but mostly not, that have important things to say. By showing that will help us all be glad we acknowledge things that can make us thankful and better for the stories.
Enough of the build up…. On with the review of Henry Winkler’s book Being Henry.

REVIEW: When I look back on past moments in American history that help me understand the good things of my childhood and growing up, I look at the TV shows, books, movies, music and events I can say this is my Americana. American history is very important so we can know that which is good and no good about America. I am choosing to highlight that which I feel are good. When I was a kid the good things in life were hot dogs, apple pie, lemonade and good TV shows. My favorite show was the Dukes of Hazzard. Also up there on the list is Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, The Incredible Hulk and The A Team. One of the types of books over the years I have read are the behind the scenes of actors, musicians and anyone that has found success and learn from their biographies or autobiographies from any secrets and stories of how a TV or movie was made or album projects laid down on reel to reel tape. Oh to be a fly on the wall, I can through their words get a glimpse at it.

When Happy Days came out in 1974, I was just 2 years old I watched the later seasons and then the spinoffs of Laverne and Shirley and Mork and Mindy. As the show aired, I was hearing the stories from my parents and friends parents that grew up in that time period. 

Fast forward until today,  I picked up the biography written by Henry Winkler Being Henry in hopes he would share the stories about being Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli and hopefully all of the TV shows he produced and the more recent ‘The Waterboy” movie with Adam Sandler. Boy was I surprised and happy with all the stories that Mr. Winkler discussed and the famous people he met. This book starts from his childhood and goes all the way until 2022 right before this book came out in October 2023. 

It is crazy to think that shows I watched when I was a kid are 50 years or older now. I was thankful that Henry Winkler wrote a personal diary type memoir about his years in the entertainment industry. It was a very revealing and unexpected look into his life and career and how he reached beyond The Fonz and sprinkled in more recent projects like MacGyver and Arrested Development. His little nuggets of wisdom, revelations and candor were a nice read even if you might be only slightly interested in his career. I am a nerd so I want to know as many details of the entertainment genre as I can and hopefully learn and adapt lessons learned as an application to success.

What do I rate this memoir? I give it a 5 out of 5 stars. It may not be a perfectly written biographical story but, I think it is perfect to me and that is all that counts in my opinion.

Masters of the Universe Film Review

For this week’s review I decided to watch Masters of the Universe. It is the fifth most watched streamed movie of all streaming services and number one on Amazon Prime. Amazon MGM is the primary production studio. Why did I? By the power of Grayskull, I have the power.  Ha! This movie stars Nicholas Galitzine as Adam the Prince of Eternia. Galitzine was last seen in the movie The Sheep Detectives as a blond mystery reporter Elliott Matthews. When a young Adam’s family and kingdom are attacked by Skeltor played by Jared Leto to escape the carnage and potential death, young Adam is sent with the Sword of Power where he loses it and has him lost and away from his family and home planet for 15 years. 

When we first see grown up Adam, he is stuck on planet Earth until one day he finds the sword ironically in a comic book / toy store. This is when the audiences are first introduced to Galitzine playing the now grown up Adam before he changes into his powerful alter ego. 

I must confess that I have been a fan of He - Man since I was a kid all the way back in 1983 when the animated show came on television. I know I can’t be that old you say? Well I am just a little bit older. I even played with the few toys made by Mattel. I bring that up because Mattel was the other co-production company with MGM to make this film get reimagined as a better reboot then the movie first starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man back in 1987 on the silver screen.

I felt like I was in the movie playing alongside all of the characters that I first saw many years ago and felt they just jumped out of the TV into real life. Masters of the Universe is a trip down memory lane for those of us old enough to remember the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on television. I believe this is the best live action version I have ever seen of this Mattel brand. Nevertheless, I would not go as far to say it is as great as a Marvel movie or you name it special effects comic book / CGI film. The Easter eggs and hidden gems and surprise appearances in the movie were a nice touch as well.

The original film with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man I would rate it as 5 out of 10. For this reboot and new origin story I felt was better written and the quality cinematography making me give this film version a 7.5 out of 10. I would recommend the nostalgic fans that haven’t already seen this movie to give it a chance. The movie does have some bad language scattered through out and a little demonic in some parts but not over the top. Parents, you might want to watch this movie first before you let a 10 - 13 old see it as not to be scared or observe something they shouldn’t. I hope this review helps in your decision on what to watch this weekend. See you next Friday for the movie review of the week!

Movie Review for The Sheep Detectives

Well it is Friday and you know what that means, another movie review but this Friday is a little different since this is my second review posted for the day. I have had a very busy week so I want to post the first review of a book that I will try to do every week. I am going to also be posting a movie review as well.  My movie reviews will also be on a Friday so you can have an idea of a movie to watch with your family or significant other. I hope you will understand that I might not have a definite schedule for a book review of a certain day but movie reviews will always be on Fridays. I will try to post one one week for the theater and the next week the review will be for a streaming service.  If you would like more movie reviews, then comment below and I will try to post both types each week if time permits.

Now, on to my review of The Sheep Detectives starring Hugh Jackman as the good shepherd. The movie I watched is an Amazon MGM studio production that is on Prime Video. It is written for the screen as an adapted story by Craig Mazin taken from the book “Three Bags Full” and directed by Kyle Balda. The novel was written by Leonie Swann in case you want to find it and read to your children one day. Hugh Jackman is the lead actor who played the Shepherd George Hardy. Also making their vocal appearances as the various sheep were Brett Goldstein, also known from as Roy Kent from Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame, Regina Hall and many more screen actors like Emma Thompson and Nicholas Braun.

The Sheep Detectives is a story of a Shepherd who truly loves his sheep and would read to them a book every night before he would end his day. The stories were a detective or mystery novel and we find out early that when no humans are around the sheep talk amongst themselves or to other animals. These smart animals always try to figure the who done it or solve the stories before they were finished. Not long into this movie tragedy befalls George Hardy causing him to lose his life. It is up to the sheep to go into detective mode and solve the death of George because they know how much he loved and cared for them. They know he would have done the same thing for any one of them. Alongside a dim witted at times police officer and unofficial detective of the towns police force played by Nicholas Braun makes this a wholesome and fun mystery movie.

The Sheep Detectives is just under 2 hours long and rated PG. I believe this film can be watched by the whole family. While the budget for the movie was a low $85 million, I did not feel the production, story and editing lacked at any point. I would definitely also consider watching this movie again. It seemed to be a come of age and nostalgic type story that I would liken it to Secondhand Lions meets Babe movies.

I would rate this movie 9.5 out of 10 stars. Definitely give this movie a watch whether you are a Hugh Jackman fan or not. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised how good this movie is. You can also watch this on Blu Ray or rent it on whatever media platforms you use.

 

My Book Review for "Big Trouble Ahead" by Allen Jackson

 

In my initial post restarting this blog page back last month, I stated that I would post my reviews on books of various types with the primary ones being suspense and general fiction and movies of various types that I feel can be a help in our collective pit stops and problems in our lives so that we can hopefully all make it to the preferable checkered flags at the end of our lives well. I also said that I would post life observations that I feel necessary for if no other person than me but hope it will be something we all can learn and use in our lives to better our futures whether from a book or just my journal for that day or week.

Today I want to bring to your attention to a book written by a pastor named Allen Jackson called Big Trouble Ahead. He leads the congregation at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He has seen a lot of growth and lesson learned through scripture and observations with his world travels and degrees from several schools over his lifetime.

I will say at the time of this book’s writing, the subjects that Mr. Jackson brings up and discusses, I feel, still are as relevant and more so now than when he was first going through them coming out of the pandemic Co-vid 19 outbreak.

The book’s title is described as a description for tribulation that is found in the Holy Bible and explained thoroughly in the first few pages of this christian living genre book. The one thing I liked about this book is Jackson uses a lot of scriptures to explain his subject points and chapter titles and sub sections in each chapter. The subtitle that says a real plan for flourishing in a time of fear and deception could not have been a better wording when dealing with all of the news and stories we see, hear and experience on a daily basis now in 2026 but he wrote the book in 2022. The book starts with the Lord’s prayer explanations and what is the Prosperity Gospel. The pastor further discusses topics ranging from how to build a proper foundation in your life and what can and should you do when life’s storms come, what is the Trinity when it is not in the Bible and how to handle other sensitive topics we see in our workplaces and news daily. Topics such as misremembering, the Lord’s prayer and the prosperity gospel, what various governmental philosophies we observe are in our every daily lives around the world and how to make sure readers can be educated from past Biblical accounts through the scriptures that can be applied to our lives today. Why is it important to understand what, why and how reasons for Jesus and his disciples were so prevalent many years ago and applying it to today’s life challenges and give us encouragements? The unpacking of the information provided with scripture references in each chapter with a given summary after each one to discuss and help ponder what was written. I found clarity in what was written for each chapter through these summaries. The book provides hope and understanding that we can find all things possible through Jesus Christ. His sacrifice is the bridge to all things that can be possible as Pastor Allen Jackson references from Mark 10:27. Hopefully, you will come to understand that with a better armor provided by God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit we can be better prepared for the big trouble ahead. If we can be more like Jesus, his light through all men shine for all to see and make things better and new. This is my brief take on all things discussed in this book. 

To bring this to a close, I would give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. In my 40+ years as a Christian, I am still learning things and trying to better myself daily. Since Allen Jackson has written this book, he has authored several other books that talk about several topics including a book about his dad. Further he has created a podcast called Allen Jackson Ministries & a TV show called Allen Jackson Now. Whether you decide to read or listen to an audiobook version of this book, I believe you should start with this one in case you are looking for a christian living or guidance book. Of course, I would encourage you to read the Holy Bible first with these resources as additions. This last sentence is definitely for me.