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Heartthrob (2017)
Heartthrob (2017)
2017 |
5
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
After a classmate dies, Sam bumps into a guy from school, Henry, on the beach after the memorial. They don't really get along and she storms off after belittling him. A while later she bumps into him again after work and he offers her a lift home, where she apologises and agrees to go on a date with him, which leads to them becoming a couple.
They seem like a very odd couple from the get go though, Henry comes across as very awkward and you keep expecting something bad to happen, eventually something bad does happen but it seems to take ages to get there just like many other parts of the film.
After a very awkward and way too long pool scene, we find out that Henry is listening to Sam's conversations through what I can only assume is an app on her phone, and that's just the start of the creepiness, as we also discover he is capable of murder when he kills one of Sam's ex boyfriends out of jealousy.
I lost interest very quickly if I'm honest, keir Gilchrist did a good job playing a crazy jealous boyfriend, but the movie wasn't all that great. I don't know if it's the writing or what but it could have been so much better. It was disappointing really as the concept sounded good.
  
Titan A.E. (2000)
Titan A.E. (2000)
2000 | Animation, Family, Sci-Fi
Design-wise nothing short of extraordinary, the blend of astounding nu-age CGI and trademark Bluth animation should by no means work but it ends up looking like heaven. Definitely also helps that this has exactly 0% fat to it and rides on one fun, kinetic wave from start to finish that's full of rapturous action sequences and endlessly creative visuals. That being said, outside of a couple nice turns the story is total copy-and-paste sci-fi template - but I digress, I guess it's still serviceable for this type of thing but this is just *begging* to have some depth injected into its potentially thought-provoking story. What kills this from greatness for me is how chained it is to the era it was made in; granted it still could have turned out much worse but the fakey-sounding, faux-edgy soundtrack sucks so much shit (sans a couple okay song choices [thx Powerman 5000]) that it single-handedly knocks the whole rating down a half star, and the totally repellent "tude" that was required in all of these mid-late 90s/early 2000s kids' films makes me want to rip my hair out. I suppose you can write this in with ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜บ: ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ž๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ for flawed early-aughts orgasmically animated sci-fi bombs that I'm still a total softie for. Gets pretty gnarly sometimes, too.
  
Lovecraft Country
Lovecraft Country
2020 | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Lovecraft country was a total surprise to me, I expected something that was totally over the top and when I saw the opening scene of the first episode it looked looked I was going to be right. However the show soon settles down and, after the first episode finds itself ground in reality, even if it is a reality contain magic. A lot of the episodes have a Lovecraftian/Pulp feel (The strange case springs instantly to mind) but they are still set in a very real feeling world and some episodes throw a real emotional punch.
The first couple of episodes focus on a couple of characters which leave some of the supporting cast feeling a bit two dimensional to begin with but, by the final episode almost everyone has been filled out and some of the best emotion comes from the characters you'd least expect.
There is violence, racism, sex and magic in Lovecraft Country so you may want to keep younger viewers away.
The series has Lovecraftian themes but also pulls on other classic literature and still manages to steer away from the more conventional monsters , there are no vampires, no zombies and, even though it's called 'Lovecraft' Country his most famous creation, Cthulhu, only has a small cameo that has no effect on the story, favouring the Shoggoth as the go-to Lovecraft creation.
  
Swipe Right for Murder
Swipe Right for Murder
Polly Harris | 2021 | Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
who could believe you could find love and murder on one app!!



After Georgie feels like everybody else around her is growing up and settling down. She finally feels she is able to start dating herself after her last rough relationship so she downloads a couple of dating apps and gets a couple of matches. At the same time around her university campus there are murders happening and both of the men she has been matched and on dates with could possibly be the murderer!
Ash has a connection to every single one of the victims and Nate has an unhealthy obsession with the details of every attack going.


Well i did not expect that! I normally have a good radar on who the culprits are but this really blind sighted me! Excellent writing it really did have me gripped throughout just when you think you've got it all covered something comes out of nowhere and surprises you. It is a seriously thrilling book with twists and turns round every corner. When georgie goes away with ash i was almost screaming at her dont be so stupid a cabin in the middle of nowhere is deffinatly a recipie for desaster. i never expected the drama that followed though.

a well written novel with drama, love and murder what more could you ask for! 4/5
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2488 KP) rated Nun But the Brave in Books

Feb 18, 2022 (Updated Feb 18, 2022)  
Nun But the Brave
Nun But the Brave
Alice Loweecey | 2016 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Giulia Bravely Tackles a Missing Person Case
Giulia Driscoll has been hired by a young woman to find her missing twin sister. Joanne has been missing for a couple of months. The police are sure that she is dead, but her sister refuses to give up hope. Giulia starts by talking to Joanneโ€™s friends and co-workers, and she find that Joanne had been acting differently the last few months before she vanished. The trail leads Giulia to several internet dating sites, but where will the trail end?

Iโ€™d forgotten just how funny this series was until I picked this book up. I loved the banter between Giulia and those in her life. Some of the humor was on the crude side, but it was still handled as delicately as possible. The plot was good. She made a couple of leaps of logic early on, but, I was willing to let that slide. The plot holds up well on, and everything is resolved with evidence Giulia finds along the way by the time we reach the climax. The characters are wonderful. They may make us laugh, but there is depth to them that makes us care about the outcome. If you are looking to laugh as you read, be sure to check out this book.
  
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David McK (3721 KP) rated The Mandalorian - Season 3 in TV

Apr 25, 2023 (Updated Apr 29, 2023)  
The Mandalorian - Season 3
The Mandalorian - Season 3
2022 | Sci-Fi
Season 3 episode of Disney's 'The Mandalorian', which seems to move the focus away from Grogu and Din Djarin somewhat to focus more on the fractured Mandalorian society as a while, in particular with a heavy emphasis on the character of Bo-Katan Kryze.

For anybody who expected the crux of the series to be Din's quest to rejoin his culvert after being previously kicked out for revealing his face in public, that arc in particular is actually resolved with almost indecent haste within the first couple of episodes - there's also no mention of how Grogu is back with Din at all at the start of the first episode of the series (you need to watch the last couple of episodes
 of The Book of Boba Fett for that), although I had thought it would be a good opportunity for the opening crawl that the movies have to explain his reappearance. There's also an episode here that feels like it has been lifted and ported over almost wholesale from Andor, set on Coruscant and delving into the bureacratic New Republic.

While I have since heard that season 4 is already planned (presumably after Ashoka), the series does also end in an episode that could wrap up the entire thing of that was not to be the case.
  
W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone, #23)
W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone, #23)
Sue Grafton | 2013 | Mystery
5
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Distracted Plot Wastes Time in This Book
PI Kinsey Millhone is facing a stretch with no clients over the next couple of weeks, which she isnโ€™t quite sure how she will fill. That is, until she gets a phone call from the coronerโ€™s office. A homeless man has died, and the coroner has no idea who he is. The only thing they have to go on is Kinseyโ€™s name and office number. Who might he be? Why did he have Kinseyโ€™s contact information in his pocket?

The premise of this book captured my attention from the start. Unfortunately, the plot wandered, with a sub-plot taking over the middle of the book before Kinsey really even discovers there is a crime for her to solve. We know that sooner thanks to some flashback chapters written in third person. Both parts of the book are rushed in their resolution, leaving a couple of things dangling. However, I still found myself engaged in the book thanks to the characters, who I still love. It might have helped that I listened to the audio instead of reading it. Judy Kaye, the narrator, does a great job once again here. Fans of the series will want to see what happens here, but if you havenโ€™t met Kinsey yet, I recommend you start earlier and work your way to this book.