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The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)
2018 | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
This isn't a bad film all in all, it certainly fills a more traditional (?) magical gap in recent releases.

The best thing about The House With A Clock In Its Walls is definitely Cate Blanchett, she plays eccentric beautifully in this one and I don't think there were any of her scenes that I wasn't fond of. She bounces well with Jack Black, and their little moments of bickering are amusing and express their playful friendship really well.

Jack Black is very, well, Jack Black in this. He's a good comedic actor, but his roles are always quite similar in ways. That's not a negative thing as such, I like that he's consistent and you know you'll enjoy his performance.

We've been blessed with some great performances from kids in films recently, Shuya Sophia Cai as Meiying in The Meg and Jacob Tremblay as Rory McKenna in The Predator, were both brilliant in their roles and were blessed with some great scenes and lines. Owen Vaccaro in this portrayed the awkward Lewis with conviction and was on point for what the film set out for him, but what he was given was on par with the film as a whole. It was good, but it didn't have any oomph behind it.

The story itself seemed to be jogging along nicely in the background, but I'm always left wondering about the baddie reveals. Would the film have felt better if there was less lead up and more of the spooky bad guy moments? I'm honestly not sure, but he seemed to appear and then disappear in a puff of smoke. I wonder how much screen time he had in total?

I will say this... I don't ever need to see "baby" Jack Black ever again. It was creepy, the graphics were horrendous and it was completely inaccurate to the events that were about to unfold, as was evident with the rest of the town who we see experiencing the same thing.

Based on the book The House With A Clock In It's Walls by John Bellairs.

What should you do?

It's not a bad family film to go and see if you've got a couple of hours to spare.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

Having the magic would be too cliché, I'd like a topiary winged lion please.
  
    MidiFire

    MidiFire

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    MidiFire is a free-form, modular CoreMIDI router, processor, monitor and clock source from the...

Ruth has a very busy week ahead of her getting ready for the grand reopening of Cog & Spocket. Tonight, however, she is working on the launch of a promotion to help all the businesses in town by cross promoting each other. The giant open house goes off well, until Ruth finds a dead body as the evening is winding down. The pocket watch next to the victim intrigues her. Is it a clue?

The book starts a little slowly reintroducing us to the characters while planting a few seeds for the mystery. Once it gets started, however, the plot picks up speed and heads in some surprising directions. I had a hard time putting it down at that point. I absolutely love this characters, and it was wonderful to spend time with them again. One of the strengths is the relationship that Ruth has developed with her step-grandmother, and I loved how it was strengthened here.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/08/book-review-clock-and-dagger-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
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AnnieW (23 KP) rated Google Home Mini Smart Speaker in Tech

Dec 27, 2018 (Updated Dec 27, 2018)  
Google Home Mini Smart Speaker
Google Home Mini Smart Speaker
Home Audio & Theater > Speakers
See review title (2 more)
Always reacts
Easy setup
Much quicker than typing questions into my phone!
I just got my Mini and I love it. Not sure the cat trusts it yet though - she goes on alert every time I ask it to do anything!
I can ask the Mini for radio stations I can only listen to online and it's playing within seconds, which I love. I listen to a lot of music and my app of choice is Deezer. It took a while to get that connected, but it was down to my phone rather than the Mini (resolved as soon as I set the default browser to Samsung Internet).
And, a little thing, but I love it - my clock battery has run down so just saying 'Hey Google, what time is it?' has been very useful. I also found it really useful when cooking to say 'alert me in 25 minutes'.
So far, it seems I can ask pretty much anything and it'll have an answer of some sort, but I'm still learning what it can do. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun.
  
Damaged
Damaged
Martina Cole | 2017 | Crime
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Another Amazing book from Martina Cole
When the bodies of missing schoolgirls start turning up, former DCI Kate Burrows is dragged out of retirement.

A new Grantley serial killer is in town and DCI Annie Carr turns to Kate for help. She welcomes the distraction from her home life with former gangster, Patrick Kelly, whose long lost son has turned up out of the blue, bringing trouble with him.

It soon becomes clear the killer is on their doorstep and as the body count grows, Kate and Annie face a race against the clock.

But they have no real leads ... and there's more to these murders than meets the eye. Can Kate take the killer down before another schoolgirl dies?

I absolutely love Martina Cole and this series is my favourite! It kicks you in the gut within the first 4 chapters especially if you're a mum to young girls. Martina writes in such a way your scared of what's on the the next page! Although nothing stops you from turning the page!
Following DI Kate Burrows and Pat Kelly's life has been just eye opening and a full on roller coaster. Time to reread !
  
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
2014 | Action, Sci-Fi
I am surprised at how much I liked this film. I think there is just as much to love as there is to hate - just like the first one - but I think the love outweighs a bit more! I think Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are what make this film. Their chemistry and their acting are incredible and one that can't be beaten by any other characters in this film.

The action scenes were fun to watch - Times Square, the power grid, the clock tower - but I do agree with some other reviewers in that it does start slow. Despite everything, I am really bummed that they didn't finish out the trilogy. My biggest pet peeve when it comes to film is when a studio starts a series and then doesn't finish it. I'd almost be happier to see it be done and be bad, than have it not be done at all. But what do I know?

I can't say I'll ever watch this film again unless I find myself weirdly craving Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man (which seems unlikely), but I am glad I watched it.