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Nickg24 (492 KP) rated Stranger Things - Season 3 in TV
Jul 6, 2019
Yet another triumph for Netflix and their behemoth of a TV show.Not going to go into a lot of detail as some people may still be watching it or haven't started it yet..what I will say though is this season has a lot more depth to it than season 2 and some of the performances by the young members of the cast are excellent.
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Poseidon (2006) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
Billed as an antidote to those of us who didn’t like the romantic elements of 1997’s box office behemoth, Titanic; Poseidon had the makings of a great disaster film.
Unfortunately, a ballooning budget that ended up reaching $160million and a lacklustre story that featured incredibly wooden characters meant Poseidon sank like a stone upon its release.
It did manage to recoup some of that budget back through home video release, but Warner Bros. still ended up writing the film down as a massive loss.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/07/30/box-office-disappointments-top-5/
Unfortunately, a ballooning budget that ended up reaching $160million and a lacklustre story that featured incredibly wooden characters meant Poseidon sank like a stone upon its release.
It did manage to recoup some of that budget back through home video release, but Warner Bros. still ended up writing the film down as a massive loss.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/07/30/box-office-disappointments-top-5/
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated The Incredible Hulk (2008) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
A lot of people forget this film is even part of the MCU, I do as well! And there’s a reason for this. Louis Letterier’s version of the great green behemoth is a decent film in its own right, but a little bit boring and nondescript.
Edward Norton and Liv Tyler are fine, if lacking a little in any on-screen chemistry and the story really disappoints. The special effects too, whilst better than Ang Lee’s Hulk, just aren’t up to scratch, especially considering Iron Man was released just two months earlier. This film threatened to derail the MCU before it had even got going. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2018/04/21/the-entire-marvel-cinematic-universe-ranked/
Edward Norton and Liv Tyler are fine, if lacking a little in any on-screen chemistry and the story really disappoints. The special effects too, whilst better than Ang Lee’s Hulk, just aren’t up to scratch, especially considering Iron Man was released just two months earlier. This film threatened to derail the MCU before it had even got going. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2018/04/21/the-entire-marvel-cinematic-universe-ranked/
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated The Lion King (2019) in Movies
Jul 22, 2019
A beautiful trip filled with nostalgia
Criticising this update of The Lion King because of its similarities to the 1994 original is doing a real disservice to the time, money and effort that has gone into getting this behemoth of a film to the big-screen. Jon Favreau delivered a unique take on The Jungle Book and while the result is slightly less successful here, The Lion King is a technical marvel that shows what incredible special effects look like today.
Those emotional moments may not hit as hard as they used to, but this is a treat for the eyes and the ears and another satisfying, if cautious, win for Disney’s ‘live-action’ remakes.
Read more at: https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/07/19/the-lion-king-review-a-technical-marvel/
Those emotional moments may not hit as hard as they used to, but this is a treat for the eyes and the ears and another satisfying, if cautious, win for Disney’s ‘live-action’ remakes.
Read more at: https://moviemetropolis.net/2019/07/19/the-lion-king-review-a-technical-marvel/
Mothergamer (1521 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Dauntless in Video Games
Jun 21, 2019
My husband Ron plays a lot of Dauntless. I did try Dauntless out on PC and I did like it, but with the arthritis in my hands it was difficult to handle the controls and it is not easy to map out a controller for Dauntless so it's not very controller friendly for PC. When the announcement was made that Dauntless would be cross platform play I was thrilled. This meant I could try out the game fully on our PS4 and play the game with Ron while he played the game on PC. I seriously counted down the days until the cross platform play launch. Launch day came and honestly there were a lot of issues. People couldn't log in, there was an infinite loading screen upon login, there were lag spikes, and sometimes people got kicked from the game altogether. I decided I would wait a week before I tried to play the game. I guess everyone was excited for cross platform play and the servers got crushed under the weight which is understandable considering Dauntless got four million people all ready to get out there and enjoy the game.
When I did get to start the game, I was excited. Dauntless is free to play and is set in a fantasy world where a cataclysmic event has ripped the world apart and released giant monsters known as behemoths. You get to play as a slayer that takes down these behemoths. The first thing you get to do is create your character. There are a variety of choices with the faces, hair, and makeup for the character creation. I had fun choosing all the things to make my slayer look the way I wanted.
Once the character is created you are logged into the game with an introduction explaining the world of Dauntless and this comes with a tutorial on how to fight the behemoths, how to use flares to signal where the behemoth is to your team, and how to stagger them. The controls for PS4 are great and the tutorial flowed seamlessly for me. When the tutorial is over you are back in the town of Ramsgate where you can pick up quests and craft items you need for hunts such as armor, weapons, and tonics. There are also a couple of adorable dogs in the game that you can actually stop and pat. I pat the dogs every time I'm in the game because I love dogs even in video games.
Dauntless can be played as a solo player or multiplayer. For me, it's more fun with friends and while sometimes it's a bit of a wait to find a hunt match it's not terribly long and once you have your team you're ready to go. Before you start, you have a chance to check your weapons and armor to make sure that they will give you the advantage you need against behemoths. Depending on what their elemental is, you will want weapons that can combat that. For example with a frost behemoth weapons with fire elements on them are your best friend and having armor that protects against ice attacks are quite helpful. As your team is getting ready, the game will show you an element guide for the type of behemoth you're fighting and will show you your weapon and armor power. When the numbers are in green it means your gear is adequate for the hunt.
The behemoth fights are pretty straightforward as you work with your team to battle them. Each behemoth not only has its own unique elements, they also have various attacks they will use. Being able to recognize their movements when they are starting their special attack is vital so that you can dodge and go in for a counter attack. Breaking off parts of the monster is important as well because you will need those parts for crafting armor and weapons. The fights are a lot of fun and when you vanquish a behemoth it feels pretty rewarding. You do get ranked on how you did in the fight and so does your team. Don't be too discouraged if your rank isn't so good when you are first starting out. As you level and improve your armor and weapons that rank will go up. Patience is key.
Depending on the type of build you want for your weapons and armor, there are specific behemoths you will need to hunt in order to get the materials needed. The great thing about Dauntless is that it allows you to try out all the weapons and experiment with them to get a feel for each one and decide which weapons suit your play style. For me, I absolutely love chain blades because they allow me to move and dodge quickly while dishing out damage. Armor crafting is important too and there are a ton of choices in armor builds. You will need to talk to the smithing NPCs in order to craft the things you need and if you have the proper amount of materials, you can upgrade them. This is where the grind comes in. You should strive to constantly upgrade your weapons and armor so you can have an easier time in behemoth hunts.
Don't like the colors of the armor? No problem. You can change the color at any time if you have the color palette unlocked. You get a set of colors for free and others you can unlock doing quests or fighting heroic behemoths. If you check the rewards for the quests and heroic hunts you will see the dye color listed. The other way of course is to buy the colors with platinum and that does cost money. If you're strapped for cash, the free way while a bit of a grind is a great way to go and worth it if you would like to change the colors of your items.
There are daily rewards in Dauntless that you get from doing things such as patrols and login rewards. You get one reward per login from the NPC Gregario Flynt and the rewards range from cores you can unlock that give you cells to add to your weapons and armor or crafting materials. If you want to change your character design a bit, you can do that in Ramsgate. Approach a mirror that is near Gregario and it will take you to the character design screen and you can change and adjust your character for a whole new look.
It is a good idea to try everything out so you get a good feel for the game. You also get rewards when you level up your mastery of weapons so it is advised to try them all out so you can work on it and get some sweet rewards for it. Make sure to take breaks so you don't get burned out on the grind because there is a lot of grinding in Dauntless. However, it is such a fun grind and there is so much to see and do in it and the cross platform play adds to the fun because now no matter what platform you play on you can enjoy the game with everyone. I am off to hunt some more behemoths. See you at the next adventure!
When I did get to start the game, I was excited. Dauntless is free to play and is set in a fantasy world where a cataclysmic event has ripped the world apart and released giant monsters known as behemoths. You get to play as a slayer that takes down these behemoths. The first thing you get to do is create your character. There are a variety of choices with the faces, hair, and makeup for the character creation. I had fun choosing all the things to make my slayer look the way I wanted.
Once the character is created you are logged into the game with an introduction explaining the world of Dauntless and this comes with a tutorial on how to fight the behemoths, how to use flares to signal where the behemoth is to your team, and how to stagger them. The controls for PS4 are great and the tutorial flowed seamlessly for me. When the tutorial is over you are back in the town of Ramsgate where you can pick up quests and craft items you need for hunts such as armor, weapons, and tonics. There are also a couple of adorable dogs in the game that you can actually stop and pat. I pat the dogs every time I'm in the game because I love dogs even in video games.
Dauntless can be played as a solo player or multiplayer. For me, it's more fun with friends and while sometimes it's a bit of a wait to find a hunt match it's not terribly long and once you have your team you're ready to go. Before you start, you have a chance to check your weapons and armor to make sure that they will give you the advantage you need against behemoths. Depending on what their elemental is, you will want weapons that can combat that. For example with a frost behemoth weapons with fire elements on them are your best friend and having armor that protects against ice attacks are quite helpful. As your team is getting ready, the game will show you an element guide for the type of behemoth you're fighting and will show you your weapon and armor power. When the numbers are in green it means your gear is adequate for the hunt.
The behemoth fights are pretty straightforward as you work with your team to battle them. Each behemoth not only has its own unique elements, they also have various attacks they will use. Being able to recognize their movements when they are starting their special attack is vital so that you can dodge and go in for a counter attack. Breaking off parts of the monster is important as well because you will need those parts for crafting armor and weapons. The fights are a lot of fun and when you vanquish a behemoth it feels pretty rewarding. You do get ranked on how you did in the fight and so does your team. Don't be too discouraged if your rank isn't so good when you are first starting out. As you level and improve your armor and weapons that rank will go up. Patience is key.
Depending on the type of build you want for your weapons and armor, there are specific behemoths you will need to hunt in order to get the materials needed. The great thing about Dauntless is that it allows you to try out all the weapons and experiment with them to get a feel for each one and decide which weapons suit your play style. For me, I absolutely love chain blades because they allow me to move and dodge quickly while dishing out damage. Armor crafting is important too and there are a ton of choices in armor builds. You will need to talk to the smithing NPCs in order to craft the things you need and if you have the proper amount of materials, you can upgrade them. This is where the grind comes in. You should strive to constantly upgrade your weapons and armor so you can have an easier time in behemoth hunts.
Don't like the colors of the armor? No problem. You can change the color at any time if you have the color palette unlocked. You get a set of colors for free and others you can unlock doing quests or fighting heroic behemoths. If you check the rewards for the quests and heroic hunts you will see the dye color listed. The other way of course is to buy the colors with platinum and that does cost money. If you're strapped for cash, the free way while a bit of a grind is a great way to go and worth it if you would like to change the colors of your items.
There are daily rewards in Dauntless that you get from doing things such as patrols and login rewards. You get one reward per login from the NPC Gregario Flynt and the rewards range from cores you can unlock that give you cells to add to your weapons and armor or crafting materials. If you want to change your character design a bit, you can do that in Ramsgate. Approach a mirror that is near Gregario and it will take you to the character design screen and you can change and adjust your character for a whole new look.
It is a good idea to try everything out so you get a good feel for the game. You also get rewards when you level up your mastery of weapons so it is advised to try them all out so you can work on it and get some sweet rewards for it. Make sure to take breaks so you don't get burned out on the grind because there is a lot of grinding in Dauntless. However, it is such a fun grind and there is so much to see and do in it and the cross platform play adds to the fun because now no matter what platform you play on you can enjoy the game with everyone. I am off to hunt some more behemoths. See you at the next adventure!
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Independence Day (1996) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Okay but why do you all call this a legendary blockbuster spectacle when there's very little spectacle yet a whole lot of people sulking around in rooms talking about computer code, cigars, recycling, and little else of actual value? Honestly just bar that this is preposterous and nauseatingly corny with a twinge of jingoism (granted, still way less than I expected) and a metric fuckton of characters not the least bit interesting - because of course it is, this is a Roland Emmerich film. Hell, this is the nearly tit-for-tat way less fun precursor to 2012 as it stands. But Jesus Christ did it have to be so goddamn boring? Not even ten minutes into this weightless behemoth and I already wanted the aliens (who, by the way, are barely even used... in this ALIEN movie) to put all these annoying mfs out of their misery. Has some highlights: the whole alien surgery bit is still a winner, can't help but get a sincere chuckle out of the last scene with Randy Quaid, and of course the explosions are... explosive. But it isn't worth it to have to wait like 40+ bloated minutes of nothing between them just to get to some minor diversions. Yes the effects are nice but when do we get to sit back and admire them around all this insufferable exposition and cheese? Hirsch > Smith > Fox > Spiner > Goldblum > Quaid > the kid actors > everyone else > dog shit > Pullman.
ChinaP (0 KP) rated The Last Hour of Gann in Books
Jan 24, 2018
World building is epic (1 more)
Addictive as all get out
Ruined me for other authors! (1 more)
Some one dimensionality to some of the other background characters
Epic in every waym
I feel I have to add a disclaimer or two everytime I write a review of this book (which is everywhere I encounter it online, because it deserves as much attention as I can give it!)
One: adult, triggering themes. There is sexual violence, violence in general and themes that will not be for everyone. This is an adult book in all senses of the word.
Two: I am biased. I freaking love this author.
Three: if you're not into long books, you're not gonna make it through. I love love love long books. This is a long book! And I still wanted more when I got the end. If 300 pages or less puts you off, then I doubt you'll manage this behemoth. (which is a crying shame, because it's awesome. I wonder if we could get an audio book of it?)
A general Internet search for this book will bring up a good few nuanced reviews, and I have left a longer one of my own on good reads. Mainly, this is a humans-crashland-on-alien-planet story, and it all goes to pieces for them. It's the story of survival, and what that can do to a person. It's a nuanced view of those with faith and those without. It's also some sexy alien romance. It can be all those and more!
Whenever I mention this book, I end up just telling people to read it. Just read it!
One: adult, triggering themes. There is sexual violence, violence in general and themes that will not be for everyone. This is an adult book in all senses of the word.
Two: I am biased. I freaking love this author.
Three: if you're not into long books, you're not gonna make it through. I love love love long books. This is a long book! And I still wanted more when I got the end. If 300 pages or less puts you off, then I doubt you'll manage this behemoth. (which is a crying shame, because it's awesome. I wonder if we could get an audio book of it?)
A general Internet search for this book will bring up a good few nuanced reviews, and I have left a longer one of my own on good reads. Mainly, this is a humans-crashland-on-alien-planet story, and it all goes to pieces for them. It's the story of survival, and what that can do to a person. It's a nuanced view of those with faith and those without. It's also some sexy alien romance. It can be all those and more!
Whenever I mention this book, I end up just telling people to read it. Just read it!
Alex Kapranos recommended It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy in Music (curated)
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Halloween (2007) in Movies
Jun 3, 2021
The original Halloween is such a goddam incredible movie, that anytime the franchise has tried to stray too far from its roots, the wheels just come off. The psychic stuff in Halloween 5 just didn't work. The cult stuff in Halloween 6 just didn't work. The found footage stuff in Resurrection just didn't work. This time around, it's a remake of the original, directed by Rob Zombie. His particular brand of hateful characters and nasty dialogue can be effective in other corners of horror, but when applied to the Halloween template, you guessed it, it just doesn't work.
It has its moments - Malcolm McDowell is great as Dr Loomis, and the towering behemoth of a Michael Myers we get her is genuinely fucking terrifying. There's also a fine selection of genre icons here and there - Dee Wallace, Brad Dourif, Clint Howard, Ken Foree, Sybil Danning, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Danny Trejo, Danielle Harris - it's an impressive roster for sure.
All of this isn't enough to lift this remake above all of its problems however.
None of the characters are particularly likable, and it's off pacing make for a bloated experience, an issue that's further exacerbated by the more widely available Directors Cut, which further pans out its runtime with an horrifically unnecessary rape scene.
I can appreciate the decision to explore the origins of Michael, but the end results are very mixed. When the familiar stuff kicks off halfway through, it's actually kind of boring. It manages to ape the original at every turn, whilst simultaneously feeling disrespectful with it's token RZ tropes.
All in all, Halloween is a remake that I wouldn't take issue with, but the decision to put Zombie in the driver's seat results in a movie that doesn't feel like it belongs anywhere. An inferior re-tread in every aspect, that leaves a bitter after taste.
It has its moments - Malcolm McDowell is great as Dr Loomis, and the towering behemoth of a Michael Myers we get her is genuinely fucking terrifying. There's also a fine selection of genre icons here and there - Dee Wallace, Brad Dourif, Clint Howard, Ken Foree, Sybil Danning, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Danny Trejo, Danielle Harris - it's an impressive roster for sure.
All of this isn't enough to lift this remake above all of its problems however.
None of the characters are particularly likable, and it's off pacing make for a bloated experience, an issue that's further exacerbated by the more widely available Directors Cut, which further pans out its runtime with an horrifically unnecessary rape scene.
I can appreciate the decision to explore the origins of Michael, but the end results are very mixed. When the familiar stuff kicks off halfway through, it's actually kind of boring. It manages to ape the original at every turn, whilst simultaneously feeling disrespectful with it's token RZ tropes.
All in all, Halloween is a remake that I wouldn't take issue with, but the decision to put Zombie in the driver's seat results in a movie that doesn't feel like it belongs anywhere. An inferior re-tread in every aspect, that leaves a bitter after taste.
The Every would appear to be something of a ‘Marmite’ book. I liked it, but I think I would have liked it more if it hadn’t been like a personal vendetta towards what Dave Eggers in the novel , very frequently refers to as “an e-commerce behemoth named after a South American jungle”. He’s blatantly anti-Amazon, and that’s ok, each to their own. This whole book seemed to be a cautionary tale of big business (particularly the online type), and smart phones (particularly the apps). This last part I can actually agree with: my sons are pretty much glued to their phone screens (although they seem to prefer YouTube, Reddit and Discord to some of the apps described in the book).
The characters who work for The Every are evangelical about their employer - they can see no wrong in their monopoly of, well, everything really. This in itself would throw up every red flag to me - and it does to the main character, Delaney. And when her co-conspirator joins the dark side, it seems even less unlikely that she’ll be able to bring the company down. The more weird and whacky her ideas for ridiculous apps become, the more the company likes them. And that means everyone - the company and the customers. It starts to seem unlikely that Delaney will be successful.
I think that there may well be a follow up to this - it’s left open-ended. Even though I’m a big fan of the open-ended-ending, I really don’t know whether I’ll read the next one (if it comes!), although I should think I’ll have time to decide whether I will or won’t!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the publisher for serialising this.
The characters who work for The Every are evangelical about their employer - they can see no wrong in their monopoly of, well, everything really. This in itself would throw up every red flag to me - and it does to the main character, Delaney. And when her co-conspirator joins the dark side, it seems even less unlikely that she’ll be able to bring the company down. The more weird and whacky her ideas for ridiculous apps become, the more the company likes them. And that means everyone - the company and the customers. It starts to seem unlikely that Delaney will be successful.
I think that there may well be a follow up to this - it’s left open-ended. Even though I’m a big fan of the open-ended-ending, I really don’t know whether I’ll read the next one (if it comes!), although I should think I’ll have time to decide whether I will or won’t!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the publisher for serialising this.