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Kiruji (13 KP) rated X-Men: First Class (2011) in Movies
Jul 18, 2018
I'm not an X-Men fan. I know, it's strange, right? I mean, I'm a comic book fan in general. Iron Man's a dude. I dig the Hulk. I love all things Batman (except when Joel Schumacher tweaked the Batman's Batnipples). I geekgasmed all over my trousers in the lead up to THE DARK KNIGHT and actually watching it at an IMAX was like losing my virginity again. But the X-Men? Kinda leave me cold. Even though, on the face of it, it should be pretty awesome. Mutant humans with the ability to do just about anything you can imagine, fighting each other and various other bad things? Why the hell wouldn't I like that? But I could never get into it. The first X-Men movie, way back in 2000, left me feeling indifferent. It was OK, but nothing special. The second one was worse. The third one just plain awful. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS was quite fun, but then, a hard drinking, smoking, swearing brawler with friendly mutton-chops and blades in his hands was always going to be appealing to me.
And so, it was with a feeling of complete indifference that I flashed my Cineworld Unlimited card at a bored usher and got my ticket and a mixed slushie last week. I only went to see it because my buddy wanted to and, well, we'd missed the start of THE HANGOVER PART II.
So, into the darkened room early for a change. Managed to get prime seats. Mainly because the auditorium was pretty much empty. Something I didn't think was the most fortuitous portent to the movie we were about to watch. On the plus side however, as we were watching a comic book movie, we got the comic book trailer reel... First was THE GREEN LANTERN, which excited me a little (mainly because I have a man crush on Ryan Reynolds). Then came CAPTAIN AMERICA, which excited me a little more (mainly because it looks FREAKIN' AWESOME). Then we got RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which intrigued me (mainly because James Franco was doing a 'learned man' accent). Presumably because Cineworld were already scraping the comic book movie barrel, they then repeated the APES trailer, which killed the mood and left me feeling indifferent again.
But I digress. I think you get that I didn't really give a crap one way or the other about the movie I was about to watch. The opening scenes however, are set in a WWII concentration camp and I found my interest piqued. At first, I couldn't figure out whether it had been newly filmed or if they were recycling one of the flashbacks from one of the earlier movies. Then, Kevin Bacon. Suddenly, I was transfixed by the German pouring forth from his mouth which seemed authentic and I couldn't quite work out if he was lip-synching or not. That's somewhat besides the point though, as the scene itself was very tense and only marginally spoiled by the child actor when it was his turn to scream the longest NOOOOOOO!!! (sorry, NEEEEEEEEIN!!!) since Adolf Vader in Episode 3.
The film very quickly moved on in leaps and bounds, sucking me in and winning me over. Kevin Bacon seemed to enjoy hamming it up as the evil Sebastian Shaw. James McAvoy is an exceptionally talented chap and made for an excellent Charles Xavier - a cocky, beer-swilling, genius ladies man. Similarly, Michael Fassbender did a top notch job in playing Erik Lehnsherr, coming across as a Holocaust-surviving Bond, maybe even slightly cooler. Even Jason Flemyng was pretty good, although I don't think he actually spoke at all, which might have helped his case.
I loved the whole origins story, seeing how Xavier and Lehnsherr were good friends despite their obvious differences and started the School for the Gifted together was pretty cool. The only little blight on the movie (after the whole NEEEEEEEIN!!! incident) was that when it came time for Fassbender to don Magneto's helmet, the prop department had obviously measured his noggin wrong and it was clearly too tight. I say that because, every time he slapped it on his dome, his accent turned from gruff-hero-of-indeterminate-country-of-origin to... Well, to Oirish. The only reason I can think of is that the helmet was squeezing his bonce a bit too snugly. It didn't happen when Kevin Bacon was wearing it.
Helmet business aside, on the whole, I left feeling like I'd just seen a proper comic book movie. Full of fantastical, incredible things dancing around a plot that made sense and characters that I, on the whole, cared about at least a little. There was even a Wolverine cameo in it, which made me chuckle more than it should have. Far from being indifferent towards the X-Men now, I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next. I just hope Matthew Vaughn is directing again. He's turned out an X-Men film that is much, much better than mediocre and they'd be idiots to give it to anyone else.
And so, it was with a feeling of complete indifference that I flashed my Cineworld Unlimited card at a bored usher and got my ticket and a mixed slushie last week. I only went to see it because my buddy wanted to and, well, we'd missed the start of THE HANGOVER PART II.
So, into the darkened room early for a change. Managed to get prime seats. Mainly because the auditorium was pretty much empty. Something I didn't think was the most fortuitous portent to the movie we were about to watch. On the plus side however, as we were watching a comic book movie, we got the comic book trailer reel... First was THE GREEN LANTERN, which excited me a little (mainly because I have a man crush on Ryan Reynolds). Then came CAPTAIN AMERICA, which excited me a little more (mainly because it looks FREAKIN' AWESOME). Then we got RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which intrigued me (mainly because James Franco was doing a 'learned man' accent). Presumably because Cineworld were already scraping the comic book movie barrel, they then repeated the APES trailer, which killed the mood and left me feeling indifferent again.
But I digress. I think you get that I didn't really give a crap one way or the other about the movie I was about to watch. The opening scenes however, are set in a WWII concentration camp and I found my interest piqued. At first, I couldn't figure out whether it had been newly filmed or if they were recycling one of the flashbacks from one of the earlier movies. Then, Kevin Bacon. Suddenly, I was transfixed by the German pouring forth from his mouth which seemed authentic and I couldn't quite work out if he was lip-synching or not. That's somewhat besides the point though, as the scene itself was very tense and only marginally spoiled by the child actor when it was his turn to scream the longest NOOOOOOO!!! (sorry, NEEEEEEEEIN!!!) since Adolf Vader in Episode 3.
The film very quickly moved on in leaps and bounds, sucking me in and winning me over. Kevin Bacon seemed to enjoy hamming it up as the evil Sebastian Shaw. James McAvoy is an exceptionally talented chap and made for an excellent Charles Xavier - a cocky, beer-swilling, genius ladies man. Similarly, Michael Fassbender did a top notch job in playing Erik Lehnsherr, coming across as a Holocaust-surviving Bond, maybe even slightly cooler. Even Jason Flemyng was pretty good, although I don't think he actually spoke at all, which might have helped his case.
I loved the whole origins story, seeing how Xavier and Lehnsherr were good friends despite their obvious differences and started the School for the Gifted together was pretty cool. The only little blight on the movie (after the whole NEEEEEEEIN!!! incident) was that when it came time for Fassbender to don Magneto's helmet, the prop department had obviously measured his noggin wrong and it was clearly too tight. I say that because, every time he slapped it on his dome, his accent turned from gruff-hero-of-indeterminate-country-of-origin to... Well, to Oirish. The only reason I can think of is that the helmet was squeezing his bonce a bit too snugly. It didn't happen when Kevin Bacon was wearing it.
Helmet business aside, on the whole, I left feeling like I'd just seen a proper comic book movie. Full of fantastical, incredible things dancing around a plot that made sense and characters that I, on the whole, cared about at least a little. There was even a Wolverine cameo in it, which made me chuckle more than it should have. Far from being indifferent towards the X-Men now, I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next. I just hope Matthew Vaughn is directing again. He's turned out an X-Men film that is much, much better than mediocre and they'd be idiots to give it to anyone else.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PC version of Titanfall in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
Much like Hollywood, the gaming industry is one built on hype and expectations. The nature of the game is to fan the flames of interest to ensure the best possible sales of a product and to encourage people to pre-order the title.
The rise of social media has only added to the frenzy as the race to get a title trending has publicists constantly in motion. Like many things though, the danger of hype and expectations being greater than the final product is always a constant threat.
TitanFall in many ways is the biggest release of 2014 to date and is one of the most watched, analyzed, and anticipated games in recent memory. Created by Respawn, the talents behind Infinity Ward and the Call of Duty series, a game mixing first person shooter and Mech combat with eye-popping graphics is one that was sure to grab attention.
When it was announced the game would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles there was some concern from a gamer base eager to experience the game on as many platforms as they could. Thankfully the game was also released on PC and that is the platform in which conducted my review.
The game is online only and mixes live opponents with bots in a series of campaigns and matches where players not only try to eliminate as many enemy units as possible, but they also can battle to capture and hold strategic points and other objectives.
The game has a high degree of customization as players level up based on kills and in game achievements and leveling up allows access to new weapons, attachments, and abilities which really help the tide of battle.
The campaigns are told from two different perspectives and once players complete the Militia campaign they get to experience the same campaign from the other side of the conflict, The IMC Corporation. What you do or do not do does not really change the outcome of the story as the campaigns are essentially cut scenes as a level loads and do not really give a full explanation of the story. It almost seemed to me as if a full campaign was planned at one time and then scrapped, but elements were left in for the sake of ambiance.
Story aside, the action in the game is intense. Running at full settings on PC with an NVIDIA card, the action was fast, smooth, and amazing. On rare instances when I could look up safely, I saw ships overhead engaged in heated battles and the detail level of the cites and combat locales were great. I especially liked one that had dragon like creatures around while combat raged on.
Players have options for their Titans ranging from the Atlas, Styrder an Ogre which aside from missile and ballistic weapons have energy shields, temporary jet boosts and a devastating punch which can reduce enemy units to pulp.
Finding the right mix of speed, agility, power, and weapons is a matter of personal choice and being able to eject from a damaged unit or ride along on an allied unit is great fun. The best experience for me was jumping onto an enemy unit and blasting it down but hanging on and shooting into a control port.
As much fun as the Titan combat is, players will spend a good chunk of their time on foot. Getting up close and personal with a melee kill is great as is feasting on bots and other A.I. units. The challenge of taking on other pilots is tough, but highly enjoyable as when you take one down you have earned it. Players will have power ups known as Burn Cards which come in handy especially when two minutes is about what players can expect to wait for their Titan to arrive after they have lost one.
I enjoy using the personal cloak of my pilot to sneak up on an enemy unit and my new tactic is to dismount from my mech and set it in Guard or Follow mode. It will engage an enemy or another Titan which allows me to flank and attack from a cross fire.
Aside from some minor connection issues during the first two days, I was able to get into games with no issues and my lag was minimal as I was able to ping in the low 50s for most games.
While the campaigns were fairly short, the multitude of Deathmatch, Hardpoint, and last Titan Standing multiplay options ensures several hours of gaming ahead.
I have not really touched on the wall walking and double jump features as pilots can scale walls, buildings, and such with ease which brings a new dimension to combat and comes in very handy when running to catch your ride.
I hope that the developers will offer more maps in the near future and will work to tweak a few minor things such as play balance which saw me unload multiple machine gun rounds into an enemy yet see them able to withstand that and dispatch me with a single kick.
It is hard to find much to complain about the game as not only on PC is it a visual joy, but the fast paced action and highly satisfying and diverse combat options makes the game incredibly fun to play and an early contender for our Game of the Year Awards.
http://sknr.net/2014/03/12/titanfall/
The rise of social media has only added to the frenzy as the race to get a title trending has publicists constantly in motion. Like many things though, the danger of hype and expectations being greater than the final product is always a constant threat.
TitanFall in many ways is the biggest release of 2014 to date and is one of the most watched, analyzed, and anticipated games in recent memory. Created by Respawn, the talents behind Infinity Ward and the Call of Duty series, a game mixing first person shooter and Mech combat with eye-popping graphics is one that was sure to grab attention.
When it was announced the game would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles there was some concern from a gamer base eager to experience the game on as many platforms as they could. Thankfully the game was also released on PC and that is the platform in which conducted my review.
The game is online only and mixes live opponents with bots in a series of campaigns and matches where players not only try to eliminate as many enemy units as possible, but they also can battle to capture and hold strategic points and other objectives.
The game has a high degree of customization as players level up based on kills and in game achievements and leveling up allows access to new weapons, attachments, and abilities which really help the tide of battle.
The campaigns are told from two different perspectives and once players complete the Militia campaign they get to experience the same campaign from the other side of the conflict, The IMC Corporation. What you do or do not do does not really change the outcome of the story as the campaigns are essentially cut scenes as a level loads and do not really give a full explanation of the story. It almost seemed to me as if a full campaign was planned at one time and then scrapped, but elements were left in for the sake of ambiance.
Story aside, the action in the game is intense. Running at full settings on PC with an NVIDIA card, the action was fast, smooth, and amazing. On rare instances when I could look up safely, I saw ships overhead engaged in heated battles and the detail level of the cites and combat locales were great. I especially liked one that had dragon like creatures around while combat raged on.
Players have options for their Titans ranging from the Atlas, Styrder an Ogre which aside from missile and ballistic weapons have energy shields, temporary jet boosts and a devastating punch which can reduce enemy units to pulp.
Finding the right mix of speed, agility, power, and weapons is a matter of personal choice and being able to eject from a damaged unit or ride along on an allied unit is great fun. The best experience for me was jumping onto an enemy unit and blasting it down but hanging on and shooting into a control port.
As much fun as the Titan combat is, players will spend a good chunk of their time on foot. Getting up close and personal with a melee kill is great as is feasting on bots and other A.I. units. The challenge of taking on other pilots is tough, but highly enjoyable as when you take one down you have earned it. Players will have power ups known as Burn Cards which come in handy especially when two minutes is about what players can expect to wait for their Titan to arrive after they have lost one.
I enjoy using the personal cloak of my pilot to sneak up on an enemy unit and my new tactic is to dismount from my mech and set it in Guard or Follow mode. It will engage an enemy or another Titan which allows me to flank and attack from a cross fire.
Aside from some minor connection issues during the first two days, I was able to get into games with no issues and my lag was minimal as I was able to ping in the low 50s for most games.
While the campaigns were fairly short, the multitude of Deathmatch, Hardpoint, and last Titan Standing multiplay options ensures several hours of gaming ahead.
I have not really touched on the wall walking and double jump features as pilots can scale walls, buildings, and such with ease which brings a new dimension to combat and comes in very handy when running to catch your ride.
I hope that the developers will offer more maps in the near future and will work to tweak a few minor things such as play balance which saw me unload multiple machine gun rounds into an enemy yet see them able to withstand that and dispatch me with a single kick.
It is hard to find much to complain about the game as not only on PC is it a visual joy, but the fast paced action and highly satisfying and diverse combat options makes the game incredibly fun to play and an early contender for our Game of the Year Awards.
http://sknr.net/2014/03/12/titanfall/
Darren (1599 KP) rated Aliens (1986) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: Aliens starts when Ripley (Weaver) is finally rescued from her hyper sleep, only to find out that she has been sleeping for centuries, questioned for her action on the spacecraft she learns that the same planet LV-426 has been colonised with no problems from any alien species. We get to see how the colony is building on the planet which includes us watching Newt (Henn) and her family being the ones to find the alien ship.
The company representative Burke (Reiser) looks to recruit Ripley into helping them once the company loses connect with the colony, this time armed with marines led by Lieutenant Gorman (Hope). The elite unit including Corporal Hicks (Biehn), Private Hudson (Paxton), Private Vasquez (Goldstein) and Private Drake (Rolston) to mention a few is armed to the teeth ready for any combat needed, but it is the android Bishop (Henriksen) that cause Ripley the worries especially after what happened last time she was on a mission with one.
Once at the colony the soldiers find the place abandoned at first until they find Newt only to learn the truth about what happened at the base. The unit find themselves under attack from multiply xenomorphs and only Ripley knows how to fight them off.
Aliens is the sequel to one of the greatest horror movies that actually takes the film in a different direction by adding action element. This doesn’t take away anything because if the sequel had just been on one ship with limited weapons it simply would have been a remake feeling, this story feels fresh because we already know the basics of what our heroes are up against we just needed to learn how they will deal with them this time. When it comes to the story it once again is simple soldiers versus aliens in a battle to survive which all works perfectly for this classic 30 years later.
Actor Review
Sigourney Weaver: Ripley is the lone survivor from the events of the first film, she has been in hyper sleep for years. She is charged for her actions as no evidence of any alien life form is discovered in the wreck, dealing with all the side effects we get to see how she is getting on with her life again. All this changes when the company that blamed her turned to her for help on the same planet that we first met a xenomorph. When things go wrong she takes charge of the situation while trying to protect a little girl. Sigourney was nominated for an Oscar for this performance and it would hard not to praise her brilliant performance.ripley
Carrie Henn: Newt is the little girl that was living on the colony before the attack, she is also the lone survivor once the soldiers turn up to deal with the situation. She has survived by hiding and offers the soldiers much needed advice on where to survive. Carrie is great in this role for such a young actress at the time.
Michael Biehn: Corporal Hicks has to take charge of the soldiers once his seniors become incapacitated. He will listen to Ripley and make the right decisions when it comes to fighting the xenomorphs. Michael is great in this role where he actually plays the sensible soldier.
Lance Henriksen: Bishop is the android on the mission, he is instantly disliked by Ripley but this time we only see good from the android who is willing to risk his own life to save the humans. Lance is great as this android keeping the emotionless expression throughout.
Support Cast: Aliens has a supporting cast that is mostly the soldiers who are generic in their own way along with the company man that also works for this film very well.
Director Review: James Cameron – James is a director that always makes classics and this could well be his best.
Action: Aliens is filled with combat driven action which comes off very nicely in the confined spaces.
Horror: Aliens is still filled with horror of isolation on the planet being hunted down by an alien enemy.
Sci-Fi: Aliens puts our characters in space and a new planet ticking off all of the sci-fi elements to make this an action sci-fi film.
Settings: Aliens creates a larger isolation idea with the characters being trapped on a base rather than a ship with no escape from the enemy.
Special Effects: Aliens has stunning effects that still stand the test of time.xena
Suggestion: Aliens is one I do feel everyone should have watched at least once in a lifetime. (Watch)
Best Part: First meeting the aliens.
Worst Part: Depends which cut you watch, the shorter cut takes away a lot of back story.
Action Scene Of The Film: Final fight.
Favourite Quote: Ripley ‘Get away from her you bitch’
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: Yes
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: Won Two Oscars for Best Sound Effects and Visual Effects.
Box Office: $85 Million
Budget: $ 18.5 Million
Runtime: 2 Hours 34 Minutes
Tagline: There are some places in the universe you don’t go alone.
Trivia: The knife trick scene was not in the original shooting script. According to Lance Henriksen, the adding of Hudson’s hand to the knife trick was discussed with almost everyone, except Bill Paxton.
Overall: Stunning sci-fi action horror that really comes off as the true classic
https://moviesreview101.com/2016/05/25/aliens-1986/
The company representative Burke (Reiser) looks to recruit Ripley into helping them once the company loses connect with the colony, this time armed with marines led by Lieutenant Gorman (Hope). The elite unit including Corporal Hicks (Biehn), Private Hudson (Paxton), Private Vasquez (Goldstein) and Private Drake (Rolston) to mention a few is armed to the teeth ready for any combat needed, but it is the android Bishop (Henriksen) that cause Ripley the worries especially after what happened last time she was on a mission with one.
Once at the colony the soldiers find the place abandoned at first until they find Newt only to learn the truth about what happened at the base. The unit find themselves under attack from multiply xenomorphs and only Ripley knows how to fight them off.
Aliens is the sequel to one of the greatest horror movies that actually takes the film in a different direction by adding action element. This doesn’t take away anything because if the sequel had just been on one ship with limited weapons it simply would have been a remake feeling, this story feels fresh because we already know the basics of what our heroes are up against we just needed to learn how they will deal with them this time. When it comes to the story it once again is simple soldiers versus aliens in a battle to survive which all works perfectly for this classic 30 years later.
Actor Review
Sigourney Weaver: Ripley is the lone survivor from the events of the first film, she has been in hyper sleep for years. She is charged for her actions as no evidence of any alien life form is discovered in the wreck, dealing with all the side effects we get to see how she is getting on with her life again. All this changes when the company that blamed her turned to her for help on the same planet that we first met a xenomorph. When things go wrong she takes charge of the situation while trying to protect a little girl. Sigourney was nominated for an Oscar for this performance and it would hard not to praise her brilliant performance.ripley
Carrie Henn: Newt is the little girl that was living on the colony before the attack, she is also the lone survivor once the soldiers turn up to deal with the situation. She has survived by hiding and offers the soldiers much needed advice on where to survive. Carrie is great in this role for such a young actress at the time.
Michael Biehn: Corporal Hicks has to take charge of the soldiers once his seniors become incapacitated. He will listen to Ripley and make the right decisions when it comes to fighting the xenomorphs. Michael is great in this role where he actually plays the sensible soldier.
Lance Henriksen: Bishop is the android on the mission, he is instantly disliked by Ripley but this time we only see good from the android who is willing to risk his own life to save the humans. Lance is great as this android keeping the emotionless expression throughout.
Support Cast: Aliens has a supporting cast that is mostly the soldiers who are generic in their own way along with the company man that also works for this film very well.
Director Review: James Cameron – James is a director that always makes classics and this could well be his best.
Action: Aliens is filled with combat driven action which comes off very nicely in the confined spaces.
Horror: Aliens is still filled with horror of isolation on the planet being hunted down by an alien enemy.
Sci-Fi: Aliens puts our characters in space and a new planet ticking off all of the sci-fi elements to make this an action sci-fi film.
Settings: Aliens creates a larger isolation idea with the characters being trapped on a base rather than a ship with no escape from the enemy.
Special Effects: Aliens has stunning effects that still stand the test of time.xena
Suggestion: Aliens is one I do feel everyone should have watched at least once in a lifetime. (Watch)
Best Part: First meeting the aliens.
Worst Part: Depends which cut you watch, the shorter cut takes away a lot of back story.
Action Scene Of The Film: Final fight.
Favourite Quote: Ripley ‘Get away from her you bitch’
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: Yes
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: Won Two Oscars for Best Sound Effects and Visual Effects.
Box Office: $85 Million
Budget: $ 18.5 Million
Runtime: 2 Hours 34 Minutes
Tagline: There are some places in the universe you don’t go alone.
Trivia: The knife trick scene was not in the original shooting script. According to Lance Henriksen, the adding of Hudson’s hand to the knife trick was discussed with almost everyone, except Bill Paxton.
Overall: Stunning sci-fi action horror that really comes off as the true classic
https://moviesreview101.com/2016/05/25/aliens-1986/
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Public Enemies (2009) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019
The year is 1933 and bank robberies are at an all time high. John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd are at the top of their game. In the public eye, robbers are looked at as heroes instead of criminals. Dillinger enjoys the fruit of his labor to the fullest until the day Melvin Purvis is put in charge of the FBI division down in Chicago. Word traveled fast of how one of FBI's top agents (Purvis) took down Pretty Boy Floyd and hopes are high that he can help in the newly announced "war on crime." Once Purvis arrived in Chicago, the crime wave of the 30's that was on a steady uprise took a drastic decline. Bank robberies were never the same as Dillinger's friends began dropping like flies. As Dillinger's motto of not thinking about tomorrow since he's too busy enjoying today comes back to haunt him, he soon realizes that he can only hide for so long and that the feds will catch up with him sooner or later.
The most noticeable thing about the film is its cinematography. Michael Mann has used the same method of shooting Public Enemies with HD digital cameras like he did with Collateral. This could be a hassle to some viewers as the picture isn't as shaky as it was in something like Cloverfield, but isn't as crystal clear and steady as you may have found in some of Mann's earlier work like Heat or most other films, for that matter. Perspective plays a huge role in this film. Certain lighting seems to come off better being shot in HD digital and it certainly shows, but the imperfections seem to give the film more character. Some people might throw the word, "edgy," around, but we'll settle on saying this style of filming feels like a more realistic approach. It makes the audience feel like they're actually amongst these gangsters during their heyday.
It almost felt like Christian Bale didn't really want to be there. Between this and Terminator: Salvation, he's really lacking the charisma and talent he's shown in films like The Prestige and The Machinist or even American Psycho. Maybe he's just hit his peak and has nothing else up his sleeve to wow audiences. Bale has hit an eye-catching slump, which is hard to say since this is coming from a long time fan. As long as he continues to be cast in big budget films though and those films wind up doing extremely well at the box office, then not many people are going to notice a difference in the actor's lackluster performance.
Johnny Depp, on the other hand, stole every scene he was in. His cockiness and confidence in his abilities in what he does just gave life to Dillinger that makes you generally like him. You want to see him escape as soon as he gets caught, pull off that next big robbery, and succeed at everything he does so he can run off with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) and live happily ever after. His dialogue is also generally pretty incredible. In the scene where he's confronting Agent Purvis from behind bars, Dillinger is asking Purvis about what it was like to kill a man. How their eyes looked and how you can literally watch a man just drift away by staring into their eyes while they're dying. That that whole experience could keep a man up at night. Purvis asks Dillinger what keeps him up at night. Dillinger, who always seemed to be chewing gum, replies, "Coffee." Dillinger just felt like one of Depp's better acting roles, as of late. He showed more emotion than we're generally used to seeing from him and it was just an incredibly strong performance from the Oscar nominee.
The film has a lot of great dialogue, intriguing character interaction, and it's interesting watching the story unfold of how the crime wave of the 30s may have come to an end, but what really makes the film worth seeing is the shootouts. Any scene that begins with somebody holding a gun is worth getting excited over. There's a scene in the woods in the latter half of the film that is worth the price of admission alone. It takes place at night and everything is littered with darkness until the tommy guns make an appearance. The way the guns light up everything else around the characters firing them was a nice touch. Small explosions erupting from a chamber every time somebody pulled the trigger. This is some of the best gunfire to ever be filmed.
When it comes to Public Enemies, it is one of the best films of the year which is mentioned in at least one of the TV spots. Anyone who was a fan of Michael Mann's previous films (or gangster films, in general) will more than likely walk away from this film satisfied. Johnny Depp is still at the top of his game while Christian Bale seems to be winding down. Public Enemies is a film worthy of the summer blockbuster season which will satisfy the appetite of any fan of crime films.
The most noticeable thing about the film is its cinematography. Michael Mann has used the same method of shooting Public Enemies with HD digital cameras like he did with Collateral. This could be a hassle to some viewers as the picture isn't as shaky as it was in something like Cloverfield, but isn't as crystal clear and steady as you may have found in some of Mann's earlier work like Heat or most other films, for that matter. Perspective plays a huge role in this film. Certain lighting seems to come off better being shot in HD digital and it certainly shows, but the imperfections seem to give the film more character. Some people might throw the word, "edgy," around, but we'll settle on saying this style of filming feels like a more realistic approach. It makes the audience feel like they're actually amongst these gangsters during their heyday.
It almost felt like Christian Bale didn't really want to be there. Between this and Terminator: Salvation, he's really lacking the charisma and talent he's shown in films like The Prestige and The Machinist or even American Psycho. Maybe he's just hit his peak and has nothing else up his sleeve to wow audiences. Bale has hit an eye-catching slump, which is hard to say since this is coming from a long time fan. As long as he continues to be cast in big budget films though and those films wind up doing extremely well at the box office, then not many people are going to notice a difference in the actor's lackluster performance.
Johnny Depp, on the other hand, stole every scene he was in. His cockiness and confidence in his abilities in what he does just gave life to Dillinger that makes you generally like him. You want to see him escape as soon as he gets caught, pull off that next big robbery, and succeed at everything he does so he can run off with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) and live happily ever after. His dialogue is also generally pretty incredible. In the scene where he's confronting Agent Purvis from behind bars, Dillinger is asking Purvis about what it was like to kill a man. How their eyes looked and how you can literally watch a man just drift away by staring into their eyes while they're dying. That that whole experience could keep a man up at night. Purvis asks Dillinger what keeps him up at night. Dillinger, who always seemed to be chewing gum, replies, "Coffee." Dillinger just felt like one of Depp's better acting roles, as of late. He showed more emotion than we're generally used to seeing from him and it was just an incredibly strong performance from the Oscar nominee.
The film has a lot of great dialogue, intriguing character interaction, and it's interesting watching the story unfold of how the crime wave of the 30s may have come to an end, but what really makes the film worth seeing is the shootouts. Any scene that begins with somebody holding a gun is worth getting excited over. There's a scene in the woods in the latter half of the film that is worth the price of admission alone. It takes place at night and everything is littered with darkness until the tommy guns make an appearance. The way the guns light up everything else around the characters firing them was a nice touch. Small explosions erupting from a chamber every time somebody pulled the trigger. This is some of the best gunfire to ever be filmed.
When it comes to Public Enemies, it is one of the best films of the year which is mentioned in at least one of the TV spots. Anyone who was a fan of Michael Mann's previous films (or gangster films, in general) will more than likely walk away from this film satisfied. Johnny Depp is still at the top of his game while Christian Bale seems to be winding down. Public Enemies is a film worthy of the summer blockbuster season which will satisfy the appetite of any fan of crime films.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Terminator Salvation (2009) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019
In the year 2018, humans are resisting the machines Skynet created called terminators. John Connor is the man who is destined to lead the resistance. Everything John Connor knows is turned inside out when he comes across Marcus Wright. Marcus was put to death by lethal injection in 2003 for killing his brother and two cops yet here he stands today. When an all out assualt by John's superiors is declared on Skynet, John finds out that Kyle Reese (the man who would eventually become his father) has been captured and will be caught in the blast, he knows his only choice is to join forces with Marcus, rescue the human prisoners, and bring Skynet down.
Christian Bale may have been the biggest disappointment in this film. After everyone heard the sound clip of him blowing up on set at a cinematographer, everybody kind of wondered if Bale's success was getting to his head. Well, it just might have. That clip seemed to run through my mind an awful lot throughout the duration of the film. My biggest complaint was that John Connor yelled the majority of the time, even when there was no reason to. When he did talk normally, he used his Batman voice. It just didn't seem to fit since Bale is more than capable of altering his accent (Harsh Times, Rescue Dawn, The Prestige). It's an issue that was bound to come up eventually, but just didn't really click until now.
The other weak link of the film had to be the dialogue. It is incredibly cheesy at times. At the beginning of the film, one of John Connor's superiors yells, "You tell those men to respond, even if they're dead!" It just seemed to be over the top more often than not. While the dialogue was a bit on the atrocious side, the story did have one interesting element going for it. The entire film revolves around this element and is really the only new factor brought in to the Terminator franchise. While the film had its low points, I kept thinking that the film at least had this going for it. Then the ending rolled around and just completely dropped the ball.
With all the negative components of the film, there are still quite a few pieces of the puzzle that are worth mentioning. The action scenes are beyond superb. The camera always seems to be in the right spot at the right time and it isn't too close, which is a definite plus. It seems to be too close during action sequences and fighting scenes in most films these days and most of the action gets lost in the shuffle (Transformers is a good example). Being able to see everything without wondering what happened to this character or that character is a nice change. Something that should definitely happen more often. The entire scene with The Harvester is pretty phenomenal. There are also quite a few throwbacks to the first two films of the franchise. "Come with me if you want to live," and, "I'll be back," are both used in the film, Kyle Reese uses his signature weapon, a sawn off shotgun, Marcus Wright knocks the windshield out of the wrecking truck in a similar fashion the T-1000 did with the diesel in T2, John Connor cocking a gun and firing at a T-800 while being wounded much like Sarah Connor did with the T-1000 while being wounded in T2, and I'm sure quite a few more that I missed.
Sam Worthington should be getting all the attention Christian Bale is for this film. He actually makes you care about Marcus Wright despite what he's done in the past. The way he portrays his emotions and how he's done these horrible things yet is a decent guy deep down inside just makes you want to root for him. Anton Yelchin also deserves a mention. His version of Kyle Reese is pretty much spot on with how you'd imagine a younger version of Kyle Reese to act. His mannerisms, the way he talks, everything. He nailed it.
The sound was also spectacular. Sounds of huge terminators echoed off the walls and made the ground shake, helicoptor blades seemed to chop through the air in violent strokes, motorcycles screeched from one side of the theater to the other to sound like they were going right by you, and you could feel the area around you rumble whenever there was a huge explosion. The sound is definitely a huge aspect of an action film and it really delivered here.
Terminator: Salvation is worth seeing, but being a fan of the franchise and having high expectations may leave you walking away in disappointment. The film doesn't really elaborate on the war between humans and machines or really add anything to the franchise, when all is said and done. If you can somehow remember the first two films yet not compare this sequel with them while ignoring plot holes, Christian Bale's over the top performance, and cheesy dialogue, then you may be able to enjoy Terminator: Salvation to its full extent. But if you're looking for a great action film that fails to expand the Terminator mythos in any way, shape, or form, then this film delivers.
Christian Bale may have been the biggest disappointment in this film. After everyone heard the sound clip of him blowing up on set at a cinematographer, everybody kind of wondered if Bale's success was getting to his head. Well, it just might have. That clip seemed to run through my mind an awful lot throughout the duration of the film. My biggest complaint was that John Connor yelled the majority of the time, even when there was no reason to. When he did talk normally, he used his Batman voice. It just didn't seem to fit since Bale is more than capable of altering his accent (Harsh Times, Rescue Dawn, The Prestige). It's an issue that was bound to come up eventually, but just didn't really click until now.
The other weak link of the film had to be the dialogue. It is incredibly cheesy at times. At the beginning of the film, one of John Connor's superiors yells, "You tell those men to respond, even if they're dead!" It just seemed to be over the top more often than not. While the dialogue was a bit on the atrocious side, the story did have one interesting element going for it. The entire film revolves around this element and is really the only new factor brought in to the Terminator franchise. While the film had its low points, I kept thinking that the film at least had this going for it. Then the ending rolled around and just completely dropped the ball.
With all the negative components of the film, there are still quite a few pieces of the puzzle that are worth mentioning. The action scenes are beyond superb. The camera always seems to be in the right spot at the right time and it isn't too close, which is a definite plus. It seems to be too close during action sequences and fighting scenes in most films these days and most of the action gets lost in the shuffle (Transformers is a good example). Being able to see everything without wondering what happened to this character or that character is a nice change. Something that should definitely happen more often. The entire scene with The Harvester is pretty phenomenal. There are also quite a few throwbacks to the first two films of the franchise. "Come with me if you want to live," and, "I'll be back," are both used in the film, Kyle Reese uses his signature weapon, a sawn off shotgun, Marcus Wright knocks the windshield out of the wrecking truck in a similar fashion the T-1000 did with the diesel in T2, John Connor cocking a gun and firing at a T-800 while being wounded much like Sarah Connor did with the T-1000 while being wounded in T2, and I'm sure quite a few more that I missed.
Sam Worthington should be getting all the attention Christian Bale is for this film. He actually makes you care about Marcus Wright despite what he's done in the past. The way he portrays his emotions and how he's done these horrible things yet is a decent guy deep down inside just makes you want to root for him. Anton Yelchin also deserves a mention. His version of Kyle Reese is pretty much spot on with how you'd imagine a younger version of Kyle Reese to act. His mannerisms, the way he talks, everything. He nailed it.
The sound was also spectacular. Sounds of huge terminators echoed off the walls and made the ground shake, helicoptor blades seemed to chop through the air in violent strokes, motorcycles screeched from one side of the theater to the other to sound like they were going right by you, and you could feel the area around you rumble whenever there was a huge explosion. The sound is definitely a huge aspect of an action film and it really delivered here.
Terminator: Salvation is worth seeing, but being a fan of the franchise and having high expectations may leave you walking away in disappointment. The film doesn't really elaborate on the war between humans and machines or really add anything to the franchise, when all is said and done. If you can somehow remember the first two films yet not compare this sequel with them while ignoring plot holes, Christian Bale's over the top performance, and cheesy dialogue, then you may be able to enjoy Terminator: Salvation to its full extent. But if you're looking for a great action film that fails to expand the Terminator mythos in any way, shape, or form, then this film delivers.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) in Movies
Jul 3, 2019
I think I was one of the few people that was ultimately disappointed by Spider-Man: Homecoming. After Spider-Man's impressive and thrilling introduction to the Marvel universe during Captain America: Civil War, I felt Homecoming to be somewhat lacking - set pieces that had already been shown in the trailer, bigger set pieces that were difficult to follow on screen and, to quote my review, "too much awkward teen, not enough action hero". I even used the phrase "superhero fatigue", which funnily enough is a phrase currently being bandied around by some for this next Spider-Man venture, Far From Home, particularly in the wake of the intense Avengers: Endgame earlier this year. So, let's just say I was cautiously optimistic heading in to see this movie.
We kick off with a brief introduction to what will dominate the rest of the movie - Nick Fury and Maria Hill arrive in Mexico, where "a cyclone with a face" has completely destroyed a small town. As this new threat returns to wreak even more havoc, a mysterious new hero arrives to face it square on in battle, dramatically declaring to the startled S.H.I.E.L.D agents, "you don't want any part of this". From there, we switch to a lighthearted wrap up of the devastating events surrounding Infinity War/Endgame, in the form of an amateur high school news report. Mourning the loss of fallen heroes (accompanied by Whitney Houston singing 'I Will Always Love You'!), the report goes on to explain how "The Blip" - the term many are using to describe the effects of the 5 year period where half of the population were wiped from existence. Having the population age 5 years while the returning half haven't aged at all naturally has humorous consequences when it comes to students and their school life, but essentially humanity has managed to move on and has learnt to deal with it. Someone who is struggling to move on though, particularly from the loss of mentor/surrogate father, Tony Stark, is young Peter Parker. Desperately in need of a summer vacation, and a break from being Spider-Man, Parker cannot wait to join the rest of his friends, and crucially MJ (Zendaya), on an upcoming school trip which will take them to various European destinations.
But there's no chance of any kind of break for Spider-Man just yet, as Nick Fury has other plans for him. Peter does the unthinkable though and ignores the many phone calls from Fury, until he eventually tracks him down for a face to face meeting in his Venice hotel room. Since the incident in Mexico, S.H.I.E.L.D have been working with the mysterious new hero, Quentin Beck, or 'Mysterio' as he has now been dubbed, and Peter (along with us) are now brought up to speed on the origins of Quentin and these new global threats. Quentin actually comes from an alternate Earth where these creatures, known as The Elementals (monstrous versions of wind, fire, water and air), were responsible for the destruction of not only his world but his entire family too. The most powerful Elemental, fire, is yet to appear on our Earth and Mysterio, along with the help of S.H.I.E.L.D and Spider-Man, need to locate and stop it before it becomes too powerful for them to defeat.
Peter isn't initially interested though, being more concerned about jeopardising his school trip and exposing his identity, not to mention ruining his chances of finally hooking up with MJ. So, the rest of the movie nicely splits itself between teen high school banter/comedy drama and international superhero action. Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) features prominently throughout the movie, helping to guide and mentor Peter in the absence of his old boss Tony Stark, and providing plenty of comic relief along the way too. He also passes onto Peter, a gift from Tony Stark - a pair of Jarvis-like talking shades called EDITH (Even Dead I'm The Hero!) - which initially act as a funny and poignant accessory for Peter, but proves to be a hugely important part of how the rest of the movie plays out.
Beyond that, I'm struggling to avoid spoilers. And there are a lot of them. If you're familiar with the comics though (and despite having some vague familiarity with them, I'd completely forgotten everything!), you'll be able to predict a lot of what comes next anyway. But, once again, I have to say how amazed I am that Marvel managed to produce trailers for this movie which not only mislead you into believing that you know exactly which direction this movie is heading in, but also feature scenes which aren't in the final movie! As a result, I found Far From Home to be a truly wonderful surprise, and even if you know how it's all going to play out, you should still manage to get a huge amount of enjoyment from seeing the masters of storytelling at work yet again. This movie gave me Endgame-level thrills and goose-bump moments, over and over again throughout. Visually, it's outstanding - with impressive action scenes and trippy sequences the likes of which we haven't seen since Doctor Strange. Jake Gyllenhaal is perfect as Mysterio too, really bringing the character to life, and by the end of it all I was just completely blown away. So when the mid credit sequence hit, opening up some shocking possibilities for future movies, I was almost hyperventilating with excitement!
We kick off with a brief introduction to what will dominate the rest of the movie - Nick Fury and Maria Hill arrive in Mexico, where "a cyclone with a face" has completely destroyed a small town. As this new threat returns to wreak even more havoc, a mysterious new hero arrives to face it square on in battle, dramatically declaring to the startled S.H.I.E.L.D agents, "you don't want any part of this". From there, we switch to a lighthearted wrap up of the devastating events surrounding Infinity War/Endgame, in the form of an amateur high school news report. Mourning the loss of fallen heroes (accompanied by Whitney Houston singing 'I Will Always Love You'!), the report goes on to explain how "The Blip" - the term many are using to describe the effects of the 5 year period where half of the population were wiped from existence. Having the population age 5 years while the returning half haven't aged at all naturally has humorous consequences when it comes to students and their school life, but essentially humanity has managed to move on and has learnt to deal with it. Someone who is struggling to move on though, particularly from the loss of mentor/surrogate father, Tony Stark, is young Peter Parker. Desperately in need of a summer vacation, and a break from being Spider-Man, Parker cannot wait to join the rest of his friends, and crucially MJ (Zendaya), on an upcoming school trip which will take them to various European destinations.
But there's no chance of any kind of break for Spider-Man just yet, as Nick Fury has other plans for him. Peter does the unthinkable though and ignores the many phone calls from Fury, until he eventually tracks him down for a face to face meeting in his Venice hotel room. Since the incident in Mexico, S.H.I.E.L.D have been working with the mysterious new hero, Quentin Beck, or 'Mysterio' as he has now been dubbed, and Peter (along with us) are now brought up to speed on the origins of Quentin and these new global threats. Quentin actually comes from an alternate Earth where these creatures, known as The Elementals (monstrous versions of wind, fire, water and air), were responsible for the destruction of not only his world but his entire family too. The most powerful Elemental, fire, is yet to appear on our Earth and Mysterio, along with the help of S.H.I.E.L.D and Spider-Man, need to locate and stop it before it becomes too powerful for them to defeat.
Peter isn't initially interested though, being more concerned about jeopardising his school trip and exposing his identity, not to mention ruining his chances of finally hooking up with MJ. So, the rest of the movie nicely splits itself between teen high school banter/comedy drama and international superhero action. Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) features prominently throughout the movie, helping to guide and mentor Peter in the absence of his old boss Tony Stark, and providing plenty of comic relief along the way too. He also passes onto Peter, a gift from Tony Stark - a pair of Jarvis-like talking shades called EDITH (Even Dead I'm The Hero!) - which initially act as a funny and poignant accessory for Peter, but proves to be a hugely important part of how the rest of the movie plays out.
Beyond that, I'm struggling to avoid spoilers. And there are a lot of them. If you're familiar with the comics though (and despite having some vague familiarity with them, I'd completely forgotten everything!), you'll be able to predict a lot of what comes next anyway. But, once again, I have to say how amazed I am that Marvel managed to produce trailers for this movie which not only mislead you into believing that you know exactly which direction this movie is heading in, but also feature scenes which aren't in the final movie! As a result, I found Far From Home to be a truly wonderful surprise, and even if you know how it's all going to play out, you should still manage to get a huge amount of enjoyment from seeing the masters of storytelling at work yet again. This movie gave me Endgame-level thrills and goose-bump moments, over and over again throughout. Visually, it's outstanding - with impressive action scenes and trippy sequences the likes of which we haven't seen since Doctor Strange. Jake Gyllenhaal is perfect as Mysterio too, really bringing the character to life, and by the end of it all I was just completely blown away. So when the mid credit sequence hit, opening up some shocking possibilities for future movies, I was almost hyperventilating with excitement!
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The Tether (The ELI Chronicles, #2) in Books
Feb 3, 2020
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
<b>The ELI Chronicles Series</b>
#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2387441859">The One and Only</a> - ★★★★
#2 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2803361466">The Tether</a> - ★★★★
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Book-Review-Banner-19.png?resize=1024%2C576&ssl=1"/>;
<b><i>As soon as I read <a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/2018/05/29/the-one-and-only-julia-ash-book-review/">The One and Only, the first book of the ELI Chronicles,</a> I knew I had to finish the series. When Julia Ash reached out to me, letting me know the second book, The Tether, is available for review – I obviously jumped at the opportunity!M/i></b>
It took me a bit to get to it due to my busy schedule, but once I finally got my hands on The Tether and started reading it, I couldn’t put it down.
The Tether continues where the first book finished – Ruby managed to save the Earth from the ZOM-B disease and a possible zombie apocalypse, being the only person with a unique blood type that can provide a cure. And then she got turned to a vampire.
And when everything seems quiet, things are starting to escalate again. Ruby’s blood donors are from another planet, and one of the donors is the King of Darkness, an ancient vampire who is in search for food – animals and humans on Earth. And once again, it is up to Ruby to save the planet and her family. Only this time, she discovers she has way more power than she thought.
If you read my review on Book One, you will know I was confused and angry with how the first book ended. Right after a Zombie Apocalypse, we had a vampire ending. For a moment, I thought that once you start mixing too many things up, it can get confusing. But this series somehow manages to keep it all together, and it all logically makes sense. I just fear that perhaps people might not agree with me and find it confusing. I didn’t though.
Ruby, again, was my favourite character. She had to go through so much, and then learn to finally embrace it. She kept herself down on Earth, despite her power, and that made me like her even more. I also respect her so much for sacrificing herself for a greater cause, and always putting her family first!
<i><b>Clay, oh, Clay…</b></i>
We never got along buddy. But I couldn’t help but feel for Clay in this book, and he is slowly growing on me. He has to slowly age and then die, while his wife is immortal. Secretly, I hope he becomes a vampire too, so they can spend their eternity together, even though, let’s be honest, he won’t really bring anything much to the table. But I loved, how he sacrificed himself for his family, and stood up against bullies, even if they were immortal vampires.
I loved our main villain in this book – Zagan. For he had reasoning for everything he did, even though it was wrong. He had a purpose and a goal, and he did have a pinch of good inside him. But he also had evil, and that was never gonna change.
Interestingly enough, and a big no-surprise for me was the government. Their corruption and the depths that they were willing to go to reach their goal was scary – and very accurate to what actually is currently happening in the world. The fear is also represented, and how differently they react as soon as they see someone who has more power than them. Their thinking of making new people similar to this one case, that they could use for greater goals. This moment was captured in the book in a great way, as it is a great discussion point and a very painful subject at the same time for some people.
The new planet, new characters, new powers was an interesting switch within the book. I didn’t expect that at all, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it all fitted in. It was all well thought of, The Tether story, the tree, the blood connection with Ruby, the link between the planet and Earth, the concept of how people lived their belief of healing what they were hurting and keeping the balance. The one thing that confused me was the mentions of their heartbeats, as I thought vampire’s hearts don’t beat.
<b><i>I really enjoyed The Tether and it ended perfectly, getting us ready for the third book and Ruby’s next challenge. I highly recommend it – it is a real page-turner with incredible plot twists!
Thank you to the author, Julia Ash, for sending me a copy of The Tether, in exchange for an honest review!</i></b>
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<b>The ELI Chronicles Series</b>
#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2387441859">The One and Only</a> - ★★★★
#2 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2803361466">The Tether</a> - ★★★★
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Book-Review-Banner-19.png?resize=1024%2C576&ssl=1"/>;
<b><i>As soon as I read <a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/2018/05/29/the-one-and-only-julia-ash-book-review/">The One and Only, the first book of the ELI Chronicles,</a> I knew I had to finish the series. When Julia Ash reached out to me, letting me know the second book, The Tether, is available for review – I obviously jumped at the opportunity!M/i></b>
It took me a bit to get to it due to my busy schedule, but once I finally got my hands on The Tether and started reading it, I couldn’t put it down.
The Tether continues where the first book finished – Ruby managed to save the Earth from the ZOM-B disease and a possible zombie apocalypse, being the only person with a unique blood type that can provide a cure. And then she got turned to a vampire.
And when everything seems quiet, things are starting to escalate again. Ruby’s blood donors are from another planet, and one of the donors is the King of Darkness, an ancient vampire who is in search for food – animals and humans on Earth. And once again, it is up to Ruby to save the planet and her family. Only this time, she discovers she has way more power than she thought.
If you read my review on Book One, you will know I was confused and angry with how the first book ended. Right after a Zombie Apocalypse, we had a vampire ending. For a moment, I thought that once you start mixing too many things up, it can get confusing. But this series somehow manages to keep it all together, and it all logically makes sense. I just fear that perhaps people might not agree with me and find it confusing. I didn’t though.
Ruby, again, was my favourite character. She had to go through so much, and then learn to finally embrace it. She kept herself down on Earth, despite her power, and that made me like her even more. I also respect her so much for sacrificing herself for a greater cause, and always putting her family first!
<i><b>Clay, oh, Clay…</b></i>
We never got along buddy. But I couldn’t help but feel for Clay in this book, and he is slowly growing on me. He has to slowly age and then die, while his wife is immortal. Secretly, I hope he becomes a vampire too, so they can spend their eternity together, even though, let’s be honest, he won’t really bring anything much to the table. But I loved, how he sacrificed himself for his family, and stood up against bullies, even if they were immortal vampires.
I loved our main villain in this book – Zagan. For he had reasoning for everything he did, even though it was wrong. He had a purpose and a goal, and he did have a pinch of good inside him. But he also had evil, and that was never gonna change.
Interestingly enough, and a big no-surprise for me was the government. Their corruption and the depths that they were willing to go to reach their goal was scary – and very accurate to what actually is currently happening in the world. The fear is also represented, and how differently they react as soon as they see someone who has more power than them. Their thinking of making new people similar to this one case, that they could use for greater goals. This moment was captured in the book in a great way, as it is a great discussion point and a very painful subject at the same time for some people.
The new planet, new characters, new powers was an interesting switch within the book. I didn’t expect that at all, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it all fitted in. It was all well thought of, The Tether story, the tree, the blood connection with Ruby, the link between the planet and Earth, the concept of how people lived their belief of healing what they were hurting and keeping the balance. The one thing that confused me was the mentions of their heartbeats, as I thought vampire’s hearts don’t beat.
<b><i>I really enjoyed The Tether and it ended perfectly, getting us ready for the third book and Ruby’s next challenge. I highly recommend it – it is a real page-turner with incredible plot twists!
Thank you to the author, Julia Ash, for sending me a copy of The Tether, in exchange for an honest review!</i></b>
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Ticket to Ride in Tabletop Games
Jan 9, 2020
I am one of the remaining few who reviewers who haven’t put in their two cents on Ticket to Ride. Why? Is it bad? No. Am I lazy? No. It’s really because I don’t think I have anything new to say about it that hasn’t already been said a hundred times. So this review on this game will be a little different from me. Instead of going over the rules and such (however truncated they typically are from me) I will question how well this game has aged for me.
Ticket to Ride is one of those games that has really hit it big in the mass market. You can find it all over in big box stores, in FLGS, online, secondary market, just everywhere. But why? And for this long? Ticket to Ride (TTR) came out in 2004. A mere 15 years ago. While that doesn’t really sound like a long time, in contrast to today’s game industry it is an eternity. With thousands upon thousands of games being released into the market through direct publish, Kickstarter/crowd funding, and big releases at conventions it’s hard to believe that you can still find this hanging with the exciting, fresh new games.
What I truly believe is magical about this game is its simplicity. “You have two main options: take some cards or play some cards.” When you can start a teach of a game by saying that, your players are invested right away because they know you aren’t going to bog them down with rules upon rules. “If you decide to take cards you can take these colored train cards or you can take new route ticket cards.” So now players have two choices from gaining cards. “If you decide to play cards you need to play cards of a color and number matching whichever route between two connecting cities on the map you like.” Done. The game is explained. Yeah, you can fight me about the endgame scoring stuff like longest route and whatnot, but for new gamers, you have explained this classic in three sentences. It’s so beautiful when a game allows you to teach it so quickly.
But that surely means that this is an easy game, right? With so few rules and such. Well, no. It’s not really “easy” at all. While your main rules are light, the strategy and tactics during play can cause feelings of joy and delight as well as frustration and concern as you see someone claim the route you need to connect to two cities on the map. Of course, you can’t explain that to your new players right away. You want them to experience these feelings organically and fully. It’s what makes TTR a really great game: having your well-laid plans just shot to smithereens by the guy who can’t tell the difference between the white train cars and the wild rainbow train cars.
DISCLAIMER: I play with the 1910 expansion, which is a MUST. The larger cards are way easier to play with. See photo below with comparisons from base game on bottom with the larger 1910 cards above. YMMV, but I will always play using this expansion. -T
Components. Let’s compare components to some current or newer games. The game board is laid out really well, and the artwork is sparse and not over-busy on the board. This is a HUGE plus for me. I like nothing more than for the board to offer thematic elements and feeling without pelting my eyes with too much distraction. The cards were a bad choice. Not because the art or the quality on them is bad – because that’s not what I am saying. The size of the cards was a poor choice. I did purchase the 1910 expansion and simply will not play my copy without it. I recently played TTR for GenCan’t 2019 at my FLGS with OG base cards and found myself dreaming of the 1910 cards. The score tracker discs are of industry-standard quality for scoring discs. The plastic train car pieces are still just as wonderful to handle and play with as are many other more modern components. Seriously just as good. TTR components (and really, most of the time Days of Wonder components in general) are really great.
So do I still enjoy playing it? You betcha, don’tcha know. I still love seeing the board in front of me, agonizing over the route tickets I am dealt, and trying to decide if I should go for the New York to Los Angeles, or keep it simple with multiple routes along the Mississippi River. I still love the panic that ensues when I see people hoarding train cards, just knowing that they will soon be on the attack and their train car collection will dwindle to almost endgame levels in too few rounds for me to complete my masterpiece. I guess I still really love it.
Is Ticket to Ride my favorite game? No. But I’ll tell you what. I hadn’t played it in a couple years, and after this weekend’s play, it has moved up on my list by several spaces. It still holds a special place in my heart, and also the hearts of my team. That’s why Purple Phoenix Games gives Ticket to Ride a retrospective 20 / 24. It’s still great!
Ticket to Ride is one of those games that has really hit it big in the mass market. You can find it all over in big box stores, in FLGS, online, secondary market, just everywhere. But why? And for this long? Ticket to Ride (TTR) came out in 2004. A mere 15 years ago. While that doesn’t really sound like a long time, in contrast to today’s game industry it is an eternity. With thousands upon thousands of games being released into the market through direct publish, Kickstarter/crowd funding, and big releases at conventions it’s hard to believe that you can still find this hanging with the exciting, fresh new games.
What I truly believe is magical about this game is its simplicity. “You have two main options: take some cards or play some cards.” When you can start a teach of a game by saying that, your players are invested right away because they know you aren’t going to bog them down with rules upon rules. “If you decide to take cards you can take these colored train cards or you can take new route ticket cards.” So now players have two choices from gaining cards. “If you decide to play cards you need to play cards of a color and number matching whichever route between two connecting cities on the map you like.” Done. The game is explained. Yeah, you can fight me about the endgame scoring stuff like longest route and whatnot, but for new gamers, you have explained this classic in three sentences. It’s so beautiful when a game allows you to teach it so quickly.
But that surely means that this is an easy game, right? With so few rules and such. Well, no. It’s not really “easy” at all. While your main rules are light, the strategy and tactics during play can cause feelings of joy and delight as well as frustration and concern as you see someone claim the route you need to connect to two cities on the map. Of course, you can’t explain that to your new players right away. You want them to experience these feelings organically and fully. It’s what makes TTR a really great game: having your well-laid plans just shot to smithereens by the guy who can’t tell the difference between the white train cars and the wild rainbow train cars.
DISCLAIMER: I play with the 1910 expansion, which is a MUST. The larger cards are way easier to play with. See photo below with comparisons from base game on bottom with the larger 1910 cards above. YMMV, but I will always play using this expansion. -T
Components. Let’s compare components to some current or newer games. The game board is laid out really well, and the artwork is sparse and not over-busy on the board. This is a HUGE plus for me. I like nothing more than for the board to offer thematic elements and feeling without pelting my eyes with too much distraction. The cards were a bad choice. Not because the art or the quality on them is bad – because that’s not what I am saying. The size of the cards was a poor choice. I did purchase the 1910 expansion and simply will not play my copy without it. I recently played TTR for GenCan’t 2019 at my FLGS with OG base cards and found myself dreaming of the 1910 cards. The score tracker discs are of industry-standard quality for scoring discs. The plastic train car pieces are still just as wonderful to handle and play with as are many other more modern components. Seriously just as good. TTR components (and really, most of the time Days of Wonder components in general) are really great.
So do I still enjoy playing it? You betcha, don’tcha know. I still love seeing the board in front of me, agonizing over the route tickets I am dealt, and trying to decide if I should go for the New York to Los Angeles, or keep it simple with multiple routes along the Mississippi River. I still love the panic that ensues when I see people hoarding train cards, just knowing that they will soon be on the attack and their train car collection will dwindle to almost endgame levels in too few rounds for me to complete my masterpiece. I guess I still really love it.
Is Ticket to Ride my favorite game? No. But I’ll tell you what. I hadn’t played it in a couple years, and after this weekend’s play, it has moved up on my list by several spaces. It still holds a special place in my heart, and also the hearts of my team. That’s why Purple Phoenix Games gives Ticket to Ride a retrospective 20 / 24. It’s still great!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Houses of Knowledge in Tabletop Games
Mar 26, 2020 (Updated Mar 26, 2020)
Museums. You know, the places you go with your family for, “fun bonding and learning experiences.” I have always been a big fan of museums. Art, Science & History, Aquariums, all of them! I like to stop and read the plaques too, but many times I am rushed along because EVERYTHING has to be seen. But did you know that museum curation could be interesting and cutthroat? I did not. Not until I played Houses of Knowledge, that is.
Houses of Knowledge pits 2-4 players against each other as museum curators desperately trying to fill their museums with interesting rooms and curious artifacts. In fact, a curator can end the competition once they are able to display eight lovely pieces in their halls. Beware, however, as the competition is also trying to gather the best gallery and may even attempt to pilfer your displayed items!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, but the final components will be exactly the same as these shown, if the pending Kickstarter campaign is successful. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but to give our readers a general feel for how the game plays. You can back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, order from your FLGS, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
Setting up a game of Houses of Knowledge is quite a feat, as different decks need to be assembled according to player count. Refer to the rules to setup each deck. Once the decks are prepared and starting cards dealt to each player, create the Items and Actions markets by revealing six cards from each deck and assigning cost discs in decending order from the draw decks. Furthest away from the two draw decks will be placed the deck of Room cards, with two visible and available for purchase. These rooms will receive the leftover 5-value cost disc. Set the monicash aside to be used as a central bank. Determine the starting player and you are ready to begin!
Luckily, the game furnishes the players with reference cards so that all players have access to all options they are afforded on their turns. The first thing that happens on a turn is collecting income. Each turn a player earns 3 monicash (MC) plus the amounts earned from Rooms in their tableau. From here a turn has several options: buying Items or Actions from the market to your hand, paying 2 MC to play a card from your hand to your tableau, selling two cards for 2 MC, and buying Room cards.
When a player buys an Item or Action card from the market the new card is taken in hand, paying the cost shown on the cost disc either above or below the card taken. To play a card from hand, the player pays 2 MC to the bank and places an Item onto a corresponding Room card, or plays an Action card either on their own tableau or against an opponent.
Play continues in this fashion until one player is displaying eight Items in their Rooms or the draw decks are depleted. The round finishes completely so all players have an equal amount of turns, and then points are tallied and summed to determine the greatest curator and winner of Houses of Knowledge!
Components. As I mentioned in my disclaimer, we were provided a copy of this game for this preview. All components we were provided are finalized, so everything you see pictured here is how it will be upon a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, the components are fantastic! The cards are good quality, the cost discs are good cardboard chips, and the money is the faux-paper money we are starting to see in games nowadays – and thank heavens for that! No more cheap Monopoly money! Oh by the way, the art on this one is superb and very chic. I love it!
So the game looks and feels great, but does it play well? YES. This one is excellent! At first it feels too simple because it is relatively easy to collect Rooms and Items to fit on those Rooms, so you think, “Heck, I can get eight Items in like four rounds!” That is, until your opponents hit you with some of the Action cards they’ve been hoarding unseen by you. One “friend” maybe steals one of your Items because you neglected to assign Guards to it, or the “pal” just before you in initiative order rearranges the Item cards so that the ones you wanted are now much more expensive, thus throwing your carefully-planned tactics down the drain. Ooh, it’s great tension! My one gripe: I wish it was longer so that I could really stick it to my enem- uhh, friends.
If you are a fan of card games that pack more of a punch than it first seems, and games that keep you wanting more, whilst giving you a grand feeling of quirky opulence, then you should certainly check out Houses of Knowledge. We are happy to recommend this one. Go back it on Kickstarter when the campaign begins!
Houses of Knowledge pits 2-4 players against each other as museum curators desperately trying to fill their museums with interesting rooms and curious artifacts. In fact, a curator can end the competition once they are able to display eight lovely pieces in their halls. Beware, however, as the competition is also trying to gather the best gallery and may even attempt to pilfer your displayed items!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, but the final components will be exactly the same as these shown, if the pending Kickstarter campaign is successful. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, but to give our readers a general feel for how the game plays. You can back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, order from your FLGS, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
Setting up a game of Houses of Knowledge is quite a feat, as different decks need to be assembled according to player count. Refer to the rules to setup each deck. Once the decks are prepared and starting cards dealt to each player, create the Items and Actions markets by revealing six cards from each deck and assigning cost discs in decending order from the draw decks. Furthest away from the two draw decks will be placed the deck of Room cards, with two visible and available for purchase. These rooms will receive the leftover 5-value cost disc. Set the monicash aside to be used as a central bank. Determine the starting player and you are ready to begin!
Luckily, the game furnishes the players with reference cards so that all players have access to all options they are afforded on their turns. The first thing that happens on a turn is collecting income. Each turn a player earns 3 monicash (MC) plus the amounts earned from Rooms in their tableau. From here a turn has several options: buying Items or Actions from the market to your hand, paying 2 MC to play a card from your hand to your tableau, selling two cards for 2 MC, and buying Room cards.
When a player buys an Item or Action card from the market the new card is taken in hand, paying the cost shown on the cost disc either above or below the card taken. To play a card from hand, the player pays 2 MC to the bank and places an Item onto a corresponding Room card, or plays an Action card either on their own tableau or against an opponent.
Play continues in this fashion until one player is displaying eight Items in their Rooms or the draw decks are depleted. The round finishes completely so all players have an equal amount of turns, and then points are tallied and summed to determine the greatest curator and winner of Houses of Knowledge!
Components. As I mentioned in my disclaimer, we were provided a copy of this game for this preview. All components we were provided are finalized, so everything you see pictured here is how it will be upon a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, the components are fantastic! The cards are good quality, the cost discs are good cardboard chips, and the money is the faux-paper money we are starting to see in games nowadays – and thank heavens for that! No more cheap Monopoly money! Oh by the way, the art on this one is superb and very chic. I love it!
So the game looks and feels great, but does it play well? YES. This one is excellent! At first it feels too simple because it is relatively easy to collect Rooms and Items to fit on those Rooms, so you think, “Heck, I can get eight Items in like four rounds!” That is, until your opponents hit you with some of the Action cards they’ve been hoarding unseen by you. One “friend” maybe steals one of your Items because you neglected to assign Guards to it, or the “pal” just before you in initiative order rearranges the Item cards so that the ones you wanted are now much more expensive, thus throwing your carefully-planned tactics down the drain. Ooh, it’s great tension! My one gripe: I wish it was longer so that I could really stick it to my enem- uhh, friends.
If you are a fan of card games that pack more of a punch than it first seems, and games that keep you wanting more, whilst giving you a grand feeling of quirky opulence, then you should certainly check out Houses of Knowledge. We are happy to recommend this one. Go back it on Kickstarter when the campaign begins!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Dodos Riding Dinos in Tabletop Games
Apr 7, 2020
Ahh dinosaurs. One of my favorite themes! What’s this? Dodos on top of dinosaurs? And they seem to be running away from something? Well now I’m just intrigued. Oh, they’re running from THE meteor and you are trying to sabotage your opponents so they get destroyed first, and this is a race to see who is destroyed last? Ok I’m in.
Dodos Riding Dinos is a hand management, dexterity, racing card game where if while you are playing it you don’t feel like you have portaled into a prehistoric Mario Kart board game, you have missed the point.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I know the final components will be a little different from these shown (upgrades!). Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign beginning April 28, 2020, purchase it from your FLGS, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, lay out the board in the middle of the table. Randomly deal each player a Dodo/Dino team card, give them the corresponding team player dodineeple, and deal each six cards. Place the meteoreeple, eggeeple, and bananeeple (jeepers) within reach. Determine the starting player order, placing the dodineeples on the corresponding hexes behind the starting line. The game can now begin!
Dodos Riding Dinos is played over a series of rounds until one player has either surpassed the finish line or is the furthest past the finish line at the end of the round. To accomplish this, Dinos will be moved using the cards dealt at the beginning of the game and that are drawn from the deck during play. There are three colors (types) of cards: blue (normal), red (aggressive), and green (fast). During a round, players will choose a red or blue card to be played. Once all have chosen, the cards are revealed simultaneously. Whomever has the active player marker will resolve their card first, moving their dino the number shown on the top of the card and resolving any special abilities on the bottom of the card. The round will continue this way around the table until every player has resolved their card.
That is, unless two or more players have revealed red cards during the round. When this happens, these dinos are enraged and can only move, canceling out any special abilities printed on the bottom of the cards. If a red card gets through, however, get ready for the crux of the game.
Usually these cards are those that introduce the dexterity element of the game. If a card mentions throwing a banana “with a damage of 2,” then the player will grab the bananeeple, anchor their elbow to the table, and try to throw the banana onto their opponents with a wrist flick. Those that are hit will take 2 damage, where damage is discarding cards from their hand. Should a player enact a card involving throwing the eggeeple, the player will move their piece aside, place the egg there, and flick the egg to the opponents without the assistance of thumb resistance. And finally, the meteor. To unleash the meteor’s fury, the player will hold the meteoreeple in their fist, hold their arm parallel to the game board at least 1ft above the surface, and drop the meteoreeple onto unsuspecting foes causing massive damage.
Play continues in this fashion until only one player has crossed the finish line at the end of a round or the winner is the player who is furthest past the finish line when the round is over.
Components. Again, this is a prototype that was sent to us so I cannot rightfully comment on the quality of components, but I can on the art style and direction. So I really love the presentation of the components. The game is colorful, and the art is cartoony and super-quirky, a style of which I am always a fan. I’m excited to see how these components will be upgraded as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, but even as is, the game is gorgeous and the components are fun to handle.
It is probably no surprise that I love this one. It is super simple to learn, gives the players tons of choices per round, and perfecting the meteor drop or egg flick is going to take lots of plays, so that’s a big winner for me. I was telling the publisher that even though the box recommends ages 8+ to play, we were able to fashion some house rules to allow our 3 year old to play and have fun with it. Simply play open-handed, with no special dino abilities, and give them endless mulligans. Works for us, but the original rules are even better for adults.
So if you are a fan of games where dinosaurs are involved, or dodos, or animals riding other animals, or dexterity games, then definitely check out Dodos Riding Dinos on Kickstarter. I think that I will be backing the deluxe version because I’m a sucker for KS upgrades and content. It’s a great game as long as you don’t take yourself too seriously and just have a great time flicking eggs and meatball meeples at each other.
Dodos Riding Dinos is a hand management, dexterity, racing card game where if while you are playing it you don’t feel like you have portaled into a prehistoric Mario Kart board game, you have missed the point.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I know the final components will be a little different from these shown (upgrades!). Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign beginning April 28, 2020, purchase it from your FLGS, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, lay out the board in the middle of the table. Randomly deal each player a Dodo/Dino team card, give them the corresponding team player dodineeple, and deal each six cards. Place the meteoreeple, eggeeple, and bananeeple (jeepers) within reach. Determine the starting player order, placing the dodineeples on the corresponding hexes behind the starting line. The game can now begin!
Dodos Riding Dinos is played over a series of rounds until one player has either surpassed the finish line or is the furthest past the finish line at the end of the round. To accomplish this, Dinos will be moved using the cards dealt at the beginning of the game and that are drawn from the deck during play. There are three colors (types) of cards: blue (normal), red (aggressive), and green (fast). During a round, players will choose a red or blue card to be played. Once all have chosen, the cards are revealed simultaneously. Whomever has the active player marker will resolve their card first, moving their dino the number shown on the top of the card and resolving any special abilities on the bottom of the card. The round will continue this way around the table until every player has resolved their card.
That is, unless two or more players have revealed red cards during the round. When this happens, these dinos are enraged and can only move, canceling out any special abilities printed on the bottom of the cards. If a red card gets through, however, get ready for the crux of the game.
Usually these cards are those that introduce the dexterity element of the game. If a card mentions throwing a banana “with a damage of 2,” then the player will grab the bananeeple, anchor their elbow to the table, and try to throw the banana onto their opponents with a wrist flick. Those that are hit will take 2 damage, where damage is discarding cards from their hand. Should a player enact a card involving throwing the eggeeple, the player will move their piece aside, place the egg there, and flick the egg to the opponents without the assistance of thumb resistance. And finally, the meteor. To unleash the meteor’s fury, the player will hold the meteoreeple in their fist, hold their arm parallel to the game board at least 1ft above the surface, and drop the meteoreeple onto unsuspecting foes causing massive damage.
Play continues in this fashion until only one player has crossed the finish line at the end of a round or the winner is the player who is furthest past the finish line when the round is over.
Components. Again, this is a prototype that was sent to us so I cannot rightfully comment on the quality of components, but I can on the art style and direction. So I really love the presentation of the components. The game is colorful, and the art is cartoony and super-quirky, a style of which I am always a fan. I’m excited to see how these components will be upgraded as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, but even as is, the game is gorgeous and the components are fun to handle.
It is probably no surprise that I love this one. It is super simple to learn, gives the players tons of choices per round, and perfecting the meteor drop or egg flick is going to take lots of plays, so that’s a big winner for me. I was telling the publisher that even though the box recommends ages 8+ to play, we were able to fashion some house rules to allow our 3 year old to play and have fun with it. Simply play open-handed, with no special dino abilities, and give them endless mulligans. Works for us, but the original rules are even better for adults.
So if you are a fan of games where dinosaurs are involved, or dodos, or animals riding other animals, or dexterity games, then definitely check out Dodos Riding Dinos on Kickstarter. I think that I will be backing the deluxe version because I’m a sucker for KS upgrades and content. It’s a great game as long as you don’t take yourself too seriously and just have a great time flicking eggs and meatball meeples at each other.
