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James Dean Bradfield recommended Y Bardd Anfarwol by The Gentle Good in Music (curated)
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MisterK (8 KP) rated Overwatch Origins Edition in Video Games
Nov 25, 2017 (Updated Nov 25, 2017)
Very Solid Controls (2 more)
Distinctive Characters
Balance is Good Between Characters
The Dawn of the Hero Shooter
Overwatch is the gold standard of hero shooters. There may have been a couple before it (Battleborn) and many to come after it (Paladins and the hilarious Chinese knockoffs) but this game takes the idea pioneered by games like Team Fortress and takes it to new heights. The characters are vivid and lively, the arenas are interesting and varied, and the gameplay is top-notch. Controls are responsive and abilities are snappy, characters fire off dialog at one-another to keep the player entertained. And most of all, despite the large roster there are only one or two snags in balance. The dev team is constantly moving to change these problems when a new hero is involved and are very involved with the community as well, up to and including adding skins and dialog to follow trends in their fandom.
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ClareR (5603 KP) rated The Pumilio Child in Books
Apr 6, 2018
Ya Ling is kidnapped from her well-off Chinese family and sold in to slavery in 15th century Italy. Mantegna, a Renaissance artist, buys her with money that he can't really afford to spend, and takes her home to a very disapproving wife and household.
Ya Ling is admirable calm and stoic through all of her trials and tribulations, and eventually work as a respected healer, as her family taught her back in China.
The author really makes you feel for the characters in her novel - pity and later pride for Ya Ling, and hatred for some of the less virtuous male characters. It's a book that reflects the times very well: men, and men in the church especially, hold all the cards. Women are held in very low esteem. And women who are in any way different from the accepted norms are in danger of the ecclesiastical courts.
I read this on 'The Pigeonhole', a social reading platform, and really enjoyed the whole experience.
Ya Ling is admirable calm and stoic through all of her trials and tribulations, and eventually work as a respected healer, as her family taught her back in China.
The author really makes you feel for the characters in her novel - pity and later pride for Ya Ling, and hatred for some of the less virtuous male characters. It's a book that reflects the times very well: men, and men in the church especially, hold all the cards. Women are held in very low esteem. And women who are in any way different from the accepted norms are in danger of the ecclesiastical courts.
I read this on 'The Pigeonhole', a social reading platform, and really enjoyed the whole experience.
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/df5/bf9dbe24-a42f-4ec6-94fe-ab1f3b404df5.jpg?m=1522361176)
Awix (3310 KP) rated Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) in Movies
Apr 9, 2019
Umpty-tumpth Bond film rests on the laurels of GoldenEye perhaps just a bit too much. Evil media magnate Carver tries to orchestrate a war between the UK and China so he can sell more papers and grab a satellite TV franchise; British intelligence decides to disrupt his scheme by sending James Bond to have sex with his wife.
Well-mounted set pieces, and plenty of them, plus Michelle Yeoh gets an eye-catching role as the 'Oh, James!' character, but the problem is that the rest of it feels like karaoke Bond, without the self-awareness or attempts to move the franchise on that lifted GoldenEye somewhat - plus, it's just not as well written. The result is a mid-range entry in the series, assuming one overlooks the schoolboy error of Bond not being able to read Chinese (as any fule kno, he got a First in Oriental Languages at Cambridge). This still equates to an entertaining movie, just not an exceptional one.
Well-mounted set pieces, and plenty of them, plus Michelle Yeoh gets an eye-catching role as the 'Oh, James!' character, but the problem is that the rest of it feels like karaoke Bond, without the self-awareness or attempts to move the franchise on that lifted GoldenEye somewhat - plus, it's just not as well written. The result is a mid-range entry in the series, assuming one overlooks the schoolboy error of Bond not being able to read Chinese (as any fule kno, he got a First in Oriental Languages at Cambridge). This still equates to an entertaining movie, just not an exceptional one.
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) in Movies
Jul 15, 2020
End On A High Note
Lethal Weapon 4- is a great, fantasic and good send off for these charcters. Over the period of time you really got to invest/know the charcters, care about them, laugh with them, get really annoyed with them (cough) Joe Pesci and Chris Rock. The action, comedy, suspense, thrills and the chemistry were always good in this franchise. I will miss this franchise.
The plot: Detective Riggs (Mel Gibson) tries to settle down with his pregnant girlfriend, Lorna (Rene Russo), while his partner, Murtaugh (Danny Glover), comes to grips with the marriage of his pregnant daughter, Rianne (Traci Wolfe), to fellow cop Butters (Chris Rock). But they find themselves and their families targeted by Chinese mobsters, led by Wah Sing Ku (Jet Li). Riggs, Murtaugh, Butters and private eye Getz (Joe Pesci) decide to go on the offensive before the gangsters get to their loved ones.
Like i said before its a beautiful send off for this franchise.
The plot: Detective Riggs (Mel Gibson) tries to settle down with his pregnant girlfriend, Lorna (Rene Russo), while his partner, Murtaugh (Danny Glover), comes to grips with the marriage of his pregnant daughter, Rianne (Traci Wolfe), to fellow cop Butters (Chris Rock). But they find themselves and their families targeted by Chinese mobsters, led by Wah Sing Ku (Jet Li). Riggs, Murtaugh, Butters and private eye Getz (Joe Pesci) decide to go on the offensive before the gangsters get to their loved ones.
Like i said before its a beautiful send off for this franchise.
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/501/077b1db6-2107-4eff-b66f-1f45a3d74501.jpg?m=1612362682)
Lucy Liu recommended Red Sorghum (1988) in Movies (curated)
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Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Rush Hour 3 (2007) in Movies
Dec 12, 2021
Foreign detective's in Paris
At the time of its announcement I was very sceptical and was 50/50 upon its release.
Plot - Inspector Lee and LAPD detective James Carter travel to Paris to protect a French witness from the attacks of the Chinese triads. The two battle it out against the world's most deadly criminals.
The threequel received very mixed reviews from both critics and movie goers.
Although not the worst movie ever and was still packed with its usual high octane and action packed movie scenes and fight sequences, the plot itself felt recycled which was a shame as a new setting was a great idea but wasn't enough to carry it.
Still a fun film to watch that sits nicely with its predecessors, a forth installment is said to be in the works, so with any luck we may have some of that 90s magic back.. Even if its for one last run.
Plot - Inspector Lee and LAPD detective James Carter travel to Paris to protect a French witness from the attacks of the Chinese triads. The two battle it out against the world's most deadly criminals.
The threequel received very mixed reviews from both critics and movie goers.
Although not the worst movie ever and was still packed with its usual high octane and action packed movie scenes and fight sequences, the plot itself felt recycled which was a shame as a new setting was a great idea but wasn't enough to carry it.
Still a fun film to watch that sits nicely with its predecessors, a forth installment is said to be in the works, so with any luck we may have some of that 90s magic back.. Even if its for one last run.
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/e1b/46ec1de4-9a4a-4850-a6b5-782e2806ee1b.jpg?m=1522353941)
Mayhawke (97 KP) rated Ocean's Twelve (2004) in Movies
Feb 7, 2018
That moment when all the ingredients that should have made Cordon Bleu curdle and, instead, turn to liquid shit...
Contains spoilers, click to show
The follow up to the remake of 'Oceans Eleven' this is one of the best examples of Hollywood producers not knowing when to leave well enough alone, and trying to cash in on the success of an earlier film with trite rubbish.
It has all the technical quirks of the first that gave that film it's 'feel' but this is the proof that making a good film is like making a good quiche - you can have all the right ingredients but if you don't do it properly you just end up with a plate full of sludge.
It also helps to have a plot. What passes for the plot in this film is so absurd that it can't sustain a film even as lightweight as this.
Don Cheadle is still speaking his rather quaint Dick-Van-Dykelish, and the two brothers are still squabbling, but the other characters all seem to have undergone a peculiar metamorphosis. They appear to have been written by someone lacking descriptive skill, who has drawn clumsily on second-hand clichés. Damon has become the weak-kneed, over-eager social conscience of the group; Gould has become bland; the Chinese acrobat still can't speak English but everyone else can understand him. Worst of all, Andy Garcia who was so wonderfully, and chillingly menacing in the first has become a joke of a bad-guy: a cane-carrying renaissance man who can tinkle the ivories, speak fluent Chinese and illogically doesn't kill the Eleven when finds them - because a total stranger asked him not to. They are no longer characters but caricatures.
Then there's Catherine Zeta-Jones. She plays the beautiful (naturally) daughter-of-a-thief cop who specialises in 'master thieves', and has previously been involved with Pitt's character [yawwwwwn]....
You would have thought it would be impossible for a cast like this to make something so dire. Apparently it isn't.
Tediously predictable ending.
What a waste of time, money, effort and people.
It has all the technical quirks of the first that gave that film it's 'feel' but this is the proof that making a good film is like making a good quiche - you can have all the right ingredients but if you don't do it properly you just end up with a plate full of sludge.
It also helps to have a plot. What passes for the plot in this film is so absurd that it can't sustain a film even as lightweight as this.
Don Cheadle is still speaking his rather quaint Dick-Van-Dykelish, and the two brothers are still squabbling, but the other characters all seem to have undergone a peculiar metamorphosis. They appear to have been written by someone lacking descriptive skill, who has drawn clumsily on second-hand clichés. Damon has become the weak-kneed, over-eager social conscience of the group; Gould has become bland; the Chinese acrobat still can't speak English but everyone else can understand him. Worst of all, Andy Garcia who was so wonderfully, and chillingly menacing in the first has become a joke of a bad-guy: a cane-carrying renaissance man who can tinkle the ivories, speak fluent Chinese and illogically doesn't kill the Eleven when finds them - because a total stranger asked him not to. They are no longer characters but caricatures.
Then there's Catherine Zeta-Jones. She plays the beautiful (naturally) daughter-of-a-thief cop who specialises in 'master thieves', and has previously been involved with Pitt's character [yawwwwwn]....
You would have thought it would be impossible for a cast like this to make something so dire. Apparently it isn't.
Tediously predictable ending.
What a waste of time, money, effort and people.
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/df5/bf9dbe24-a42f-4ec6-94fe-ab1f3b404df5.jpg?m=1522361176)
Awix (3310 KP) rated Fathom (1967) in Movies
Apr 13, 2019 (Updated Apr 13, 2019)
Light-as-a-soufflé-but-not-as-nourishing swinging 60s spy thriller. Big-haired competitive sky-diver Raquel Welch gets recruited to help recover a priceless Chinese treasure while visiting Spain. Naturally, this involves her wearing a lot of short skirts and bikinis. It soon turns out nearly everyone she meets is lying to her, so who can she trust? (The hunky guy with his name above hers on the poster might be a safe bet.)
Riffs somewhat on the style of Charade, but without the charm or acting ability of the stars in that film. Mostly feels a bit exhausting by modern standards: there's no denying Raquel Welch was a very beautiful woman, but did she really inspire such extremes of instant condescending lechery in every man she ever met? Even Richard Briers can barely keep his tongue in his mouth. Thorough-going chauvinism extends behind the camera, too, as noted - despite being in every scene, and playing the lead role, Welch doesn't even warrant top billing. It kind of passes the time in a very superficial way but it's extremely dated.
Riffs somewhat on the style of Charade, but without the charm or acting ability of the stars in that film. Mostly feels a bit exhausting by modern standards: there's no denying Raquel Welch was a very beautiful woman, but did she really inspire such extremes of instant condescending lechery in every man she ever met? Even Richard Briers can barely keep his tongue in his mouth. Thorough-going chauvinism extends behind the camera, too, as noted - despite being in every scene, and playing the lead role, Welch doesn't even warrant top billing. It kind of passes the time in a very superficial way but it's extremely dated.
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/bce/a994ce68-65b8-4f65-93ea-36071e120bce.jpg?m=1523341046)
Jennifer Daniell (108 KP) rated Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come in Books
Jun 9, 2019
This is the EXACTLY the book I needed.
I don't think I have ever written a book, but reading this one makes me think I have. I too am a 30 something, shy, introverted, small town Texas girl who has no idea how to have a conversation (that doesn't involve ghosts or dogs) or make friends. I'm not Chinese, Aries or named Jessica (Pan) but I would have been if my cousin hadn't been born first, forcing my Mom to "get creative" and name me Jennifer (Ann) instead. The title of this book caught my attention, because SAME, but I had no idea just how relatable it was going to be! There were SO many times I caught myself nodding along enthusiastically or cringing at how awful some of these experiences she was forcing herself to have were, and just laughing out loud. Literally. I have finished this book inspired to go on an extrovert journey of my own - not today - but maybe someday soon I will be as brave as Jessica is.
I don't think I have ever written a book, but reading this one makes me think I have. I too am a 30 something, shy, introverted, small town Texas girl who has no idea how to have a conversation (that doesn't involve ghosts or dogs) or make friends. I'm not Chinese, Aries or named Jessica (Pan) but I would have been if my cousin hadn't been born first, forcing my Mom to "get creative" and name me Jennifer (Ann) instead. The title of this book caught my attention, because SAME, but I had no idea just how relatable it was going to be! There were SO many times I caught myself nodding along enthusiastically or cringing at how awful some of these experiences she was forcing herself to have were, and just laughing out loud. Literally. I have finished this book inspired to go on an extrovert journey of my own - not today - but maybe someday soon I will be as brave as Jessica is.