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i-Gun Ultimate - Original Gun App Sensation
Entertainment
App
The first & only interactive gun app with auto zoom, featured in "iGun Traffic Rampage" youtube...
RəX Regent (349 KP) rated The Black Pirate (1926) in Movies
Feb 18, 2019
Two-tone Techncolor milestone
Two Tone Technicolor in all its glory! This is it. The first widely distributed Technicolor movie back before we even had sound. This was hardly the first foray into colour, in fact colour almost goes as far back as film itself, as does sound, but it was not until the mid-1920’s that breakthroughs in both mediums would bring them into mainstream.
Sound would take first, with Technicolor taking just a little longer, mainly due to the technical issues of using it both in front and behind the camera. But as time went on, these issues were gradually dealt with with the rest is cinema history.
So, having gotten the technical bit out of the way, on to the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. blockbuster. And that is precisely want this was. A by-the-numbers acrobatic action movie by the undisputed star of the day, Fairbanks.
The plot follows a Duke (Fairbanks) whose ship is attacked and destroyed by a Pirates. He is the soul survivor and vows revenge. He soon finds himself in the company of the very pirates he is looking for and infiltrates their crew by being the best god-damn pirate there ever was!
He meets a princess (Billie Dove) and saves the day, gets the girl and the evil pirates are dispatched. All, amidst lots of colourful blood, to emphasise the Technicolor I suppose and slides down a few sails with his dagger along the way.
The performances are typical for a Hollywoodland movie of the day, but besides the outstanding physicality of Douglas, I would not say that there was anything particularly noteworthy about the acting, let alone the production on the whole. Having said that, the tone and cliche’s which this film has brought to the genre as whole are legendary and there is that foray into colour of course.
This were it all began folks…
The DVD
Unfortunately my copy was just the cheap R-0 version, whcih was clearly (ironically) taken from a old VHS recording. The colour is vivid but wrong. Greens have replaced blacks and the overall print quality was poor but watchable. I have seen bit s of the KINO HD Blu-ray edition and this looks great.
It also has the original score by Mortimer Wilson, something whcih this bargain basement DVD does not. The music supplied is okay; a mix of classical pieces on a loop but none this is cued and rarely suits the scenes let alone the action on screen. Further proof that there never was such a thing as silent cinema, just no synchronised sound.
For the real experience, get the Blu-ray, though it is very expensive at the moment, but if you just want to see what all the fuss is about, this DVD is quite watchable, at least as an entry version.
Me, I am after the upgrade!
Sound would take first, with Technicolor taking just a little longer, mainly due to the technical issues of using it both in front and behind the camera. But as time went on, these issues were gradually dealt with with the rest is cinema history.
So, having gotten the technical bit out of the way, on to the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. blockbuster. And that is precisely want this was. A by-the-numbers acrobatic action movie by the undisputed star of the day, Fairbanks.
The plot follows a Duke (Fairbanks) whose ship is attacked and destroyed by a Pirates. He is the soul survivor and vows revenge. He soon finds himself in the company of the very pirates he is looking for and infiltrates their crew by being the best god-damn pirate there ever was!
He meets a princess (Billie Dove) and saves the day, gets the girl and the evil pirates are dispatched. All, amidst lots of colourful blood, to emphasise the Technicolor I suppose and slides down a few sails with his dagger along the way.
The performances are typical for a Hollywoodland movie of the day, but besides the outstanding physicality of Douglas, I would not say that there was anything particularly noteworthy about the acting, let alone the production on the whole. Having said that, the tone and cliche’s which this film has brought to the genre as whole are legendary and there is that foray into colour of course.
This were it all began folks…
The DVD
Unfortunately my copy was just the cheap R-0 version, whcih was clearly (ironically) taken from a old VHS recording. The colour is vivid but wrong. Greens have replaced blacks and the overall print quality was poor but watchable. I have seen bit s of the KINO HD Blu-ray edition and this looks great.
It also has the original score by Mortimer Wilson, something whcih this bargain basement DVD does not. The music supplied is okay; a mix of classical pieces on a loop but none this is cued and rarely suits the scenes let alone the action on screen. Further proof that there never was such a thing as silent cinema, just no synchronised sound.
For the real experience, get the Blu-ray, though it is very expensive at the moment, but if you just want to see what all the fuss is about, this DVD is quite watchable, at least as an entry version.
Me, I am after the upgrade!
Ravensburger Puzzle - the jigsaw collection
Games and Entertainment
App
The best jigsaw puzzle app for iPhone and iPad - of course from Ravensburger. A huge selection of...
Educational games for kids - Animals, music, puzzles and more!
Education and Entertainment
App
Edujoy Educational Games contains up to 12 games for children of all ages without ads. It's the...
BeagleBone Home Automation Blueprints
Book
Automate and control your home using the power of the BeagleBone Black with practical home...
50in1 Piano
Music
App
Learn to play the piano, create your own songs and even sing to your compositions! 50in1 Piano lets...
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Trolls World Tour (2019) in Movies
Jun 8, 2020
Trolls World Tour, or the film that kicked off the Home Premiere debacle... I decided to pay money for this, a lot of money for just one person to watch, and all because I wanted to see something brand new.
Life in the village is going great, but when a bat flies in with a message for Queen Poppy the tune changes. Poppy's eternal enthusiasm means she doesn't want to see the potential danger that's on its way... because evidently she learned nothing in the last movie... When Barb from the Hard Rock trolls starts conquering all the other villages it's down to a few determined trolls to come to the rescue.
The first thing that struck me was that this would have been so much better on the big screen, the impact of all the explosive glitter and sparkle is lost in the home setting. That's entirely a me point though, surround me visually with all that song and glitter and you'll mesmerise me but on the small screen it doesn't have the same wow to it.
I had one thing that kept popping up in my head throughout the film, and that was how on earth do they not know that these other places exist when they're so close together? Especially as in the last film the Bergens meant they had to discover more around their village... which leads to the next thought of, if the Bergens love trolls so much then how haven't they discovered the others either... but this could be a slippery slope.
If you ignore that continuity then the plot isn't bad, classic good versus evil with a logical reasoning behind the events. The only issue it that there are a lot of new characters and ideas to deal with. I still don't know some of the names from the original characters! Evidently it's Cooper and not "giraffe" as I kept having to put in my notes every time.
I love all the different styles of music that World Tour collects together but it does feel like there's a bias against the Classical trolls. I didn't sit and count all the trolls to get percentages but it feels like they aren't seen as much as the others at times. There's a good mix on genres with the new trolls and I particularly liked the bounty hunters, it was a funny addition to the lineup.
The acting and the script is pretty much what you'd expect but I don't think it has the same spark as the first film. There are tangents that seem unnecessary and fleeting moments that had potential but were glitter glued over almost as soon as they presented themselves. Even though it felt like it missed some good opportunities and didn't shine as bright as the first, I know that kids will still love this one.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/trolls-world-tour-movie-review.html
Life in the village is going great, but when a bat flies in with a message for Queen Poppy the tune changes. Poppy's eternal enthusiasm means she doesn't want to see the potential danger that's on its way... because evidently she learned nothing in the last movie... When Barb from the Hard Rock trolls starts conquering all the other villages it's down to a few determined trolls to come to the rescue.
The first thing that struck me was that this would have been so much better on the big screen, the impact of all the explosive glitter and sparkle is lost in the home setting. That's entirely a me point though, surround me visually with all that song and glitter and you'll mesmerise me but on the small screen it doesn't have the same wow to it.
I had one thing that kept popping up in my head throughout the film, and that was how on earth do they not know that these other places exist when they're so close together? Especially as in the last film the Bergens meant they had to discover more around their village... which leads to the next thought of, if the Bergens love trolls so much then how haven't they discovered the others either... but this could be a slippery slope.
If you ignore that continuity then the plot isn't bad, classic good versus evil with a logical reasoning behind the events. The only issue it that there are a lot of new characters and ideas to deal with. I still don't know some of the names from the original characters! Evidently it's Cooper and not "giraffe" as I kept having to put in my notes every time.
I love all the different styles of music that World Tour collects together but it does feel like there's a bias against the Classical trolls. I didn't sit and count all the trolls to get percentages but it feels like they aren't seen as much as the others at times. There's a good mix on genres with the new trolls and I particularly liked the bounty hunters, it was a funny addition to the lineup.
The acting and the script is pretty much what you'd expect but I don't think it has the same spark as the first film. There are tangents that seem unnecessary and fleeting moments that had potential but were glitter glued over almost as soon as they presented themselves. Even though it felt like it missed some good opportunities and didn't shine as bright as the first, I know that kids will still love this one.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/trolls-world-tour-movie-review.html
Beat Fever: Music Rhythm Game
Games and Entertainment
App
Get your fingers ready for the ultimate music game! Beat Fever is an easy to learn, hard to master...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated A Clockwork Orange in Books
Nov 11, 2019
Grab a moloko or hot chai and peet it with your rot while you viddy my malenky review with your glazzies, real horrorshow.
Welcome to the world of Alex, a 15 year old boy living in some unspecified country in an unspecified future time. What Alex enjoys is classical music and ultraviolence. Every night he and his gang terrorise the streets looking for any kind of criminal activity, the more violent the better. They steal, burgle, assault and rape, all for fun.
When Alex is caught he is put in prison and then rehabilitated using an experimental procedure. But what effect will this have on Alex? And will it produce the desired results of preventing the youth turning every night into a time of danger for all.
The first thing any reader notices about the book is that, told from Alex's point of view, he uses street slang throughout. This makes it clear that the young have their own culture and are quite separate from the adults in terms of outlook and thinking. It also makes the reading quite immersive, like learning a foreign language particularly as only a very few of the words are ever explained and must be learned from context. This makes for a steep learning curve at the start of the book but it is worth the effort. The use of slang terms for the violent acts also helps to soften them a little - clearly what Alex does is horrendous but as it is described using these terms it is perhaps not so graphic as it would be otherwise.
Like critics of the film, it would be unfair to focus purely on the violence. The book is divided neatly into three parts. In the first we follow Alex as he perpetrates a number of terrible crimes. The second part describes his experiences in prison and is rehabilitation. The third what happens when he returns to society.
Burgess is clearly trying to make a number of points about individuality and state control of its citizens, and a fairly heavy handed job he makes of it too. But this is a slight volume - the paperback I read ran to a mere 140 pages - so there is little time for subtlety.
I would say the first two sections of the book were the best. The third section suffers a little from being rushed - it would have been better to have more insight into the world of the 'new' Alex - and also of the story being driven by coincidence after coincidence. This really did make the book seem like a sort of dream sequence where previous characters appeared and suddenly took on new meanings. In fact what it reminded me most of was the interrogation sequence in Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. This did detract from the story for me but not enough to do much damage to the tale. The ending is particularly strong and positive, in a book full of desperation it strikes the perfect counternote.
For anyone interested in the social side of 'science fiction' this is definitely worth reading. A morality tale for the future.
Rated: Frequent and extreme violence
Welcome to the world of Alex, a 15 year old boy living in some unspecified country in an unspecified future time. What Alex enjoys is classical music and ultraviolence. Every night he and his gang terrorise the streets looking for any kind of criminal activity, the more violent the better. They steal, burgle, assault and rape, all for fun.
When Alex is caught he is put in prison and then rehabilitated using an experimental procedure. But what effect will this have on Alex? And will it produce the desired results of preventing the youth turning every night into a time of danger for all.
The first thing any reader notices about the book is that, told from Alex's point of view, he uses street slang throughout. This makes it clear that the young have their own culture and are quite separate from the adults in terms of outlook and thinking. It also makes the reading quite immersive, like learning a foreign language particularly as only a very few of the words are ever explained and must be learned from context. This makes for a steep learning curve at the start of the book but it is worth the effort. The use of slang terms for the violent acts also helps to soften them a little - clearly what Alex does is horrendous but as it is described using these terms it is perhaps not so graphic as it would be otherwise.
Like critics of the film, it would be unfair to focus purely on the violence. The book is divided neatly into three parts. In the first we follow Alex as he perpetrates a number of terrible crimes. The second part describes his experiences in prison and is rehabilitation. The third what happens when he returns to society.
Burgess is clearly trying to make a number of points about individuality and state control of its citizens, and a fairly heavy handed job he makes of it too. But this is a slight volume - the paperback I read ran to a mere 140 pages - so there is little time for subtlety.
I would say the first two sections of the book were the best. The third section suffers a little from being rushed - it would have been better to have more insight into the world of the 'new' Alex - and also of the story being driven by coincidence after coincidence. This really did make the book seem like a sort of dream sequence where previous characters appeared and suddenly took on new meanings. In fact what it reminded me most of was the interrogation sequence in Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man. This did detract from the story for me but not enough to do much damage to the tale. The ending is particularly strong and positive, in a book full of desperation it strikes the perfect counternote.
For anyone interested in the social side of 'science fiction' this is definitely worth reading. A morality tale for the future.
Rated: Frequent and extreme violence