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David McK (3425 KP) rated Star Wars X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble (Rogue Squadron #2) in Books

Sep 8, 2024 (Updated Sep 8, 2024)  
Star Wars X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble (Rogue Squadron #2)
Star Wars X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble (Rogue Squadron #2)
Michael A Stackpole | 1996
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Second entry in Michael A Stackpole's Star Wars: X-Wing series (a total of 10 novels, the first four written by Stackpole and centring around a reconstituted Rogue Squadron), following on from'Rogue Squadron' and taking as its inspiration the old LucasArt X-Wing/TIE fighter series of computer games. Hadn't read books these since the late 90s.

These novels (and the aforementioned games, now all considered 'Legends' by Disney) are my head-canon of what the sequel trilogy should have been.

Anyway, in this novel in particular, the action now moves from space to the city-planet of Coruscant, the seat of the Imperial Government that took over from the Old Republic and - in the Legends continuity at least - also that of the New Republic.

Here, we have the members of Rogue Squadron infiltrating said city planet and looking for a way to bring down the planetary shields so that the rest of the fleet can arrive, but they may be playing into the villain-of-the-piece Ysanne Isard's hands in so doing ...

For anybody that hasn't read this, it ends in a massive cliff-hanger, so be warned you'll be wanting to move onto the sequel 'The Krytos Trap' not long after finishing it ...
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) in Movies

Feb 17, 2018 (Updated Feb 17, 2018)  
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
2001 | Fantasy
6
6.6 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Four's a crowd
Twenty-sixth Godzilla movie (also eleventh Mothra movie, eighth Ghidorah movie and third Baragon movie, in case anyone's counting) recruits director Shusuke Kaneko, helmsman of the brilliant 90s Gamera trilogy; results are (perhaps inevitably) disappointing. A new incarnation of Godzilla threatens Japan, but a young tabloid TV journalist encounters a mysterious old man in an equestrian safety helmet who tells her of three legendary Guardian Monsters who will defend the country against this menace (Baragon is also a Guardian Monster but not famous enough to get his name in the title).

Some interesting innovations: first film to address (even obliquely) issues of Japanese culpability for events of the Second World War, first film where King Ghidorah is a good guy, first film with a scene set in Godzilla's intestinal tract. However, the end result is let down by a fatally uncertain tone - seemingly serious scenes of death and carnage are intercut with knockabout cheesy humour and in-jokes (in the English dub at least). The retro feel of the movie, hearkening back to the 60s films of the series, is not unwelcome, but its take on the formula is just plain weird. Most importantly it lacks the mythic grandeur of the Kaneko Gamera trilogy. Still better than the films which immediately preceded it, though.
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Just Mercy (2019) in Movies

Feb 7, 2020  
Just Mercy (2019)
Just Mercy (2019)
2019 | Drama
7
8.3 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Exactly what you'd expect
After much deliberation, I decided on watching Just Mercy today - in all honesty because out of my 3 choices, it was on the earliest.

From seeing the trailer, Just Mercy is exactly the film you'd expect it to be. Which in a way was a tad disappointing, but as it's a true story, it would have been a surprise if it had turned out differently. The performances are very good, Michael B Jordan admittedly using the same facial expressions in most scenes but still a good turn. Jamie Foxx excels as you'd expect him to, it's just a shame he's not on screen as much as you'd like and Brie Larson is underused too. There's a lot of feels in this film too, I'd dare anyone not to be welling up by the end and it's also telling a true story that is important and meaningful, yet slightly worrying that this sort of injustice and racism was still happening in the early 90s!

The problem I think is that whilst this is a good film, it is your typical Oscar fodder. Which is odd considering it's lack of nominations. Films like this are far too common nowadays and there wasn't anything in this that made it stand out. But despite this it's still good and worth a watch for the story alone.