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The Four: Battle For Stardom

3.8 (4 Ratings) Rate It

TV Show Watch

From the producers behind some of the biggest talent-driven shows on earth, comes, "THE FOUR: BATTLE...

music reality tv

A Song of Shadows

John Connolly

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Grievously wounded private detective Charlie Parker investigates a case that has its origins in a...

Sarah (7798 KP) rated Machines Like Me in Books

Sep 12, 2020

Machines Like Me

Ian McEwan | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

6.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Great idea, just not well executed

The idea behind this book and the base plot is a really great idea. An alternate 80s Britain thats more technologically advanced than we are currently in 2020 is a fascinating idea and I really enjoyed the parts of the book that detailed all the differences - some of which (like Apan Turing still being alive) were actually rather emotive and almost made you wish real life had been like this.

Adam too is a fascinating character and any part of the book that featured him was a winner. The problem with this book is the two main characters Charlie and Miranda. They are completely unlikeable and self absorbed, and the way they treat Adam (and Mark in some respects) is absolutely awful. There's something Alan Turing says towards the end of the book that really sums up how much of a horrible person Charlie is. Whilst having unlikeable characters isn't necessarily a bad thing for some books, in this I just found them rather irritating and annoying. And Charlie's constant internal rambling monologuing got rather boring and really dragged on.

I really wanted to love this because the general idea is fantastic, and there are parts of this where I did love it. It's just a same it was let down by the characters.

Kudos

LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Dead Set in TV

Aug 18, 2019 (Updated Oct 25, 2019)

Dead Set

2008 | Drama, Horror

7.5

(33 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

Dead Set in short - a six part British drama series, set around a zombie apocalypse, where most of the story takes place in the Big Brother house.
It's also from the mind of Charlie Brooker - the creator of Black Mirror, and the results are pretty good.

The opening episode deals with an eviction night of the British Big Brother series, where everyone involved both on camera and behind the scenes go about their usual business.
As a virus takes hold and chaos quickly ensues, the Big Brother housemates are trapped inside the house - which happens to be pretty secure.

The way that Dead Set is shot is frantic when the action starts. It's nasty and gritty whilst keeping a British dark humour sort of charm without ever going full comedy. In fact, the series is really quite bleak throughout.
The episodes run at 20 minutes each with an extended pilot, clocking in at just over 2 hours and it managed to hold my attention throughout.

Of course, being a Charlie Brooker project, there's an underlying message - as the zombie horde surrounding the house grows and grows, even in death, the public are drawn towards trashy reality shows.

Considering Dead Set is a TV show aired on Channel 4, it's pretty impressive. Well worth checking out for anyone who enjoys horror.

Kudos

Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) Aug 19, 2019

I watched this during it's original airing and really enjoyed it, it helped that I enjoy zombie movies, gritty brit flicks and am an adam deacon fan.
Still have the dvd.

Kudos

LeftSideCut (3778 KP) Aug 19, 2019

@Lee KM Pallatina it passed me by when it originally aired unfortunately. It's only in the last few years that I watched it. Thought it was great though 👍

Kudos

meg (46 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books

Apr 19, 2019

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry

8.9

(161 Ratings)

Book Rating

Contains spoilers, click to show

This book was a really enjoyable read. There are a lot of references to 80s pop culture and need culture, which I'm not a big fan of, but I still really enjoyed reading. My major complaint is a major spoiler. The premise is that everyone is competing to inherit a virtual reality universe essentially. Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but for a video game. There are a few main characters, and the main female is faster and smarter than the male who ends up winning, which I found frustrating. The book could have ended better if the female lead won, in my opinion. The ending was still good though.

Kudos

Yoshi (40 KP) rated The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Books

Oct 29, 2018

I'd give the story itself a three, but I'm rating the book lower because the author does not seem to understand how it is nearly impossible to have as many issues as Charlie does including the depression, drinking, and occasional drug use, and still be able to get straight A's. Although I still had a handful of potheads in my AP and Honors classes in high school, they were all B and C students who did the minimum amount of work needed to get by.

The book is okay, but you're better off reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson or Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.