Search
Search results
InfernalNinja (49 KP) rated Distruptus in Tabletop Games
Jun 9, 2020 (Updated Jun 9, 2020)
Train your creative thinking muscles!
Distruptus is a game with a super simple premise: using the object(s) on the cards you draw, you either create a new object or improve it, then the players vote on the best one.
Jesscica Morgan recommended Being John Malkovich (1999) in Movies (curated)
Connie (244 KP) rated Super Fight in Tabletop Games
Jun 8, 2018
Silliness meets creative thinking (2 more)
Many expansions
Can be played with anyone who knows how to argue
A riot for all ages!
Super fight is pretty hilarious, actually. The basic premise is that you draw cards to create your fighter, and then you argue about whose fighter would win in a battle! The winner is picked by group consensus.
This is a game that can be played with basically anyone who can argue. I have played against some ridiculously hilarious children, amd some highly creative adults as well. There's no wrong answer... I mean, when you're trying to decide between a giant fire breathing out haha and a robot with lazers for eyes, the only way to win is to get creative!
It should also be said that there are multiple expansion packs for this game, each one a different color. For example, I believe th Pink expansion is anime-related, while the yellow is books/ book characters/ abilities.
I will have this available at most parties, and hope to see others playing it too!
This is a game that can be played with basically anyone who can argue. I have played against some ridiculously hilarious children, amd some highly creative adults as well. There's no wrong answer... I mean, when you're trying to decide between a giant fire breathing out haha and a robot with lazers for eyes, the only way to win is to get creative!
It should also be said that there are multiple expansion packs for this game, each one a different color. For example, I believe th Pink expansion is anime-related, while the yellow is books/ book characters/ abilities.
I will have this available at most parties, and hope to see others playing it too!
Blake Anderson recommended Blood Visions by Jay Reatard in Music (curated)
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Guy Not Taken: Stories in Books
Jan 15, 2018
I had a hard time thinking about what to write as a review for this book. It is a series of stories about life & love. The stories are well written, but I had a hard time with finishing some of them because they were left unfinished. I found myself wanting to know what happened to the characters. I hate when that happens! That is what led me to the 3 star review...I just couldn't get over the fact that so many of the stories felt like they left me, the reader, hanging.
Don't get me wrong, the stories were creative with engaging characters & the writing was impeccable. The engaging characters is where my hang up really comes in. I'd just get invested in them & then nothing...no ending, no conclusion. What happened to them? Did things work out? That is so frustrating! I guess that's why I'm not a big fan of books such as this one.
Don't get me wrong, the stories were creative with engaging characters & the writing was impeccable. The engaging characters is where my hang up really comes in. I'd just get invested in them & then nothing...no ending, no conclusion. What happened to them? Did things work out? That is so frustrating! I guess that's why I'm not a big fan of books such as this one.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Sempre (Sempre, #1) in Books
Jan 7, 2021
*Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I’ve been looking at this story for a long time, undecided on whether to read it or not. Truthfully, it sounded a bit like C.J. Roberts’ Captive in the Dark series only with slightly younger characters but I was wrong.
At the start I was a little confused. Was she dreaming or had it really happened? But in the end it didn’t really matter much as the story quickly progressed.
I felt sorry for Haven a lot, being a second generation slave and having no idea what certain things are and what some words mean must have been hard for her and gave her an innocence that I wasn’t expecting considering the life she’d had. I have to admit sometimes it made me smile, if not laugh, like the cherry coke scene. Creative thinking!
The gradual change in Haven and Carmine’s relationship grabbed me immediately and I cared what happened to them, both individually and as a couple. If a book can make me care about the characters, then I’m hooked. And I was. They were such a sweet couple with Carmine having to learn how to love someone at the same time that Haven was.
It’s like there are two parts to the story. One with Haven and Carmine away from the Mafia. And one following Vincent, Carmine’s dad, as he goes back and forth between his family and his other family: the Mafia.
Then there was the mystery surrounding him. Has he taken Haven to rescue her? Or for some darker reason? It was all very intriguing.
I just HAVE to mention Dominic. He was awesome and I really liked the way he treated Haven from the moment she arrived at the house.
This drew me in completely and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I put it down and would quickly pick it back up again. It was long–500+ pages–but it was completely captivating and I cant wait to read the second book, Sempre: Redemption.
I’ve been looking at this story for a long time, undecided on whether to read it or not. Truthfully, it sounded a bit like C.J. Roberts’ Captive in the Dark series only with slightly younger characters but I was wrong.
At the start I was a little confused. Was she dreaming or had it really happened? But in the end it didn’t really matter much as the story quickly progressed.
I felt sorry for Haven a lot, being a second generation slave and having no idea what certain things are and what some words mean must have been hard for her and gave her an innocence that I wasn’t expecting considering the life she’d had. I have to admit sometimes it made me smile, if not laugh, like the cherry coke scene. Creative thinking!
The gradual change in Haven and Carmine’s relationship grabbed me immediately and I cared what happened to them, both individually and as a couple. If a book can make me care about the characters, then I’m hooked. And I was. They were such a sweet couple with Carmine having to learn how to love someone at the same time that Haven was.
It’s like there are two parts to the story. One with Haven and Carmine away from the Mafia. And one following Vincent, Carmine’s dad, as he goes back and forth between his family and his other family: the Mafia.
Then there was the mystery surrounding him. Has he taken Haven to rescue her? Or for some darker reason? It was all very intriguing.
I just HAVE to mention Dominic. He was awesome and I really liked the way he treated Haven from the moment she arrived at the house.
This drew me in completely and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I put it down and would quickly pick it back up again. It was long–500+ pages–but it was completely captivating and I cant wait to read the second book, Sempre: Redemption.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Holdout in Books
Feb 25, 2020
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
Even after a few years, working with jurors is fascinating to me. Each jury uses the jury room differently. When I read the description of Graham Moore's The Holdout, I knew what I would read next. Having recently finished one of his earlier books, The Sherlockian, I was even more eager to read this. As with The Sherlockian, The Holdout does not disappoint.
Juror 272, aka Maya Seale, was the lone holdout. She does the near-impossible task of converting the other jurors to her way of thinking and the defendant is found not guilty. Unfortunately, the trial of the jury has just begun.
Moore is able to accurately capture jury service and the deliberation process. His writing style makes the story move quickly. Some of the actions of the characters require a suspension of disbelief but it does not take away from the story.
I do not want to give away anything so it is hard to say anything about specific parts of the book. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed chapter 23! It was creative and I was pleasantly surprised how the issue was handled.
Graham Moore is on my "authors to read as soon as they publish" list.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 2/25/20.
Even after a few years, working with jurors is fascinating to me. Each jury uses the jury room differently. When I read the description of Graham Moore's The Holdout, I knew what I would read next. Having recently finished one of his earlier books, The Sherlockian, I was even more eager to read this. As with The Sherlockian, The Holdout does not disappoint.
Juror 272, aka Maya Seale, was the lone holdout. She does the near-impossible task of converting the other jurors to her way of thinking and the defendant is found not guilty. Unfortunately, the trial of the jury has just begun.
Moore is able to accurately capture jury service and the deliberation process. His writing style makes the story move quickly. Some of the actions of the characters require a suspension of disbelief but it does not take away from the story.
I do not want to give away anything so it is hard to say anything about specific parts of the book. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed chapter 23! It was creative and I was pleasantly surprised how the issue was handled.
Graham Moore is on my "authors to read as soon as they publish" list.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 2/25/20.
ClareR (5577 KP) rated The Atlas Paradox in Books
Jun 21, 2023
I should lead with the fact that everything I write about books is my own opinion, and you’ll see why.
The second instalment of anything creative seems to be the hard one: the difficult second album, and in this case, the second in a book trilogy.
When you’re building a new, different world, I should imagine that there’s so much to think about. Every aspect has a new perspective. People have different life choices, new rules, new laws, and I can see why in many books in this genre (fantasy, in this case) there’s a need for more than the average amount of description. As a reader though, I feel there needs to be a sweet spot, because I do enjoy the interactions between the characters as much as the more descriptive passages. For me, it’s a large part of what propels the story forward. I like to hear the characters.
Ok, I’ll just say it: I found The Atlas Paradox really hard work. It has taken me nearly three weeks to read, which is a long time for me. I would pick it up, start reading, find myself skipping pages and trying to find something to grab me, feel guilty and backtrack.
I still love the Libby/ Nico/ Gideon story arc, and Callum and Reina seem to be a bit of a revelation. I think Libby could be very interesting in the next book, in particular.
But I think that as a whole it felt like The Atlas Paradox had lost its way somewhat. There was a lot of sitting around and thinking, and not enough action related to the thinking. I actually believe that this book was killing time for book 3 - which incidentally, I will read.
I know that seems crazy after what I’ve just written, but I do believe this trilogy still has something interesting to say, and I really hope it says it in book 3 (The Atlas Complex). And really, the character Atlas did seem to building himself up to something - it’s just taken him about 900 pages to do it. There’s so much promise here, and ever the optimist (with a healthy dash of realism!) I want to see what happens in The Atlas Complex.
The second instalment of anything creative seems to be the hard one: the difficult second album, and in this case, the second in a book trilogy.
When you’re building a new, different world, I should imagine that there’s so much to think about. Every aspect has a new perspective. People have different life choices, new rules, new laws, and I can see why in many books in this genre (fantasy, in this case) there’s a need for more than the average amount of description. As a reader though, I feel there needs to be a sweet spot, because I do enjoy the interactions between the characters as much as the more descriptive passages. For me, it’s a large part of what propels the story forward. I like to hear the characters.
Ok, I’ll just say it: I found The Atlas Paradox really hard work. It has taken me nearly three weeks to read, which is a long time for me. I would pick it up, start reading, find myself skipping pages and trying to find something to grab me, feel guilty and backtrack.
I still love the Libby/ Nico/ Gideon story arc, and Callum and Reina seem to be a bit of a revelation. I think Libby could be very interesting in the next book, in particular.
But I think that as a whole it felt like The Atlas Paradox had lost its way somewhat. There was a lot of sitting around and thinking, and not enough action related to the thinking. I actually believe that this book was killing time for book 3 - which incidentally, I will read.
I know that seems crazy after what I’ve just written, but I do believe this trilogy still has something interesting to say, and I really hope it says it in book 3 (The Atlas Complex). And really, the character Atlas did seem to building himself up to something - it’s just taken him about 900 pages to do it. There’s so much promise here, and ever the optimist (with a healthy dash of realism!) I want to see what happens in The Atlas Complex.
Nick McCabe recommended The Protecting Veil by John Tavener in Music (curated)
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Accountant (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Rain Man with a Kalashnikov.
(Another Bob the Movie Man Showcase Theatre).
The scene: studio execs in a board room in Warner Brothers. Greg Silverman, head of Creative Development walks into the room full of his most creative guys and slams a script by Bill Dubuque onto the table.
Silverman: “Affleck needs a real zinger of a film to follow his Batman work and this is it… but we we need a really riveting title… something to grab everyone’s attention and get them begging to pay their ticket money to see. Hit me!”
Creative 1: “The Autist?”
Silverman: “Like your thinking…. good Oscar associations… but perhaps a tad non-PC.”
Creative 2: “Under the Skin?”
Silverman: “Been done. Besides, don’t want everyone thinking they’re going to see THAT much of Johansson again”
A grey looking financial director, sitting in the corner: “Er… sir… I’ve got an idea….”
=====
So… it’s not the most PR-friendly title in the world, but it is a whole lot more interesting than it sounds. Ben Affleck plays the titular accountant (who may or may not be called Christian Wolff) – a sort of evil Jack Reacher of the financial world: off-the-grid behind multiple aliases and with financial fingers in more murky pies around the world than seems tasteful.
Not only is he a mathematical genius with the numbers, but is also extremely handy with his fists and an arsenal of high powered weaponry he keeps in his executive trailer home… ready to up-roots and disappear at any time.
Supported over the phone by a mysterious ‘Pepper-Potts-style’ personal assistant, who appears more machine than person, Affleck is guided from job to job, dropping in the occasional “normal” job to keep the authorities off his tail. One of these is for a bio-technology company headed up by Lamar Black (John Lithgow) who brings him in – against the wishes of his FD and long term friend Ed Chilton (Andy Umberger) – since all appears not quite right in the books. Junior accountant Dana Cummings (Anna “Pitch Perfect” Kendrick) is the young lady who has seen the discrepancy but can’t track it down in the labyrinthine accounts.
This so called ‘safe’ job lands both him and Dana in extreme danger as person or persons unknown, fronted by a hired ‘heavy’ played by Jon Bernthal, try to prevent some dodgy activities coming to the surface.
As a parallel thread, the head of the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, Ray King (J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”) strong-arms (for no readily apparent reason) analyst Marybeth Medina (an impressive Cynthia Addai-Robinson) into pursuing Wolff. With a keen intellect and a strong incentive she begins to close in.
Directed by Gavin O’ Connor, this – for me – is a frustratingly inconsistent film. When it flies, it really flies well, both at an action level and at a dramatic level. The flashback scenes to Wolff’s childhood are well done, showing how the autistic and needy youngster who needed compassion, quiet and understanding got the exact opposite from his militaristic father (Robert C Treveiler) to ‘jolt him out of’ his condition. It is easy to understand how he turned out the way he did.
On the flip side, the plot progression almost deliberately shines a spotlight on some questions (no spoilers) that if you ask them you immediately see the answers, resulting in most of the rest of the plot falling into place without shock or surprise. There was only one genuine twist for me, right at the end of the film, that I didn’t see coming.
The script by Bill Dubuque (“The Judge”) delivers some really nice scenes between Affleck and Kendrick, some smart (and genuinely funny) one-liners and one of the best abruptly ended speeches since Samuel L. Jackson’s in “Deep Blue Sea”. However, the whole Treasury Investigation story-line (however good it is to see J.K. Simmons act) is somewhat superfluous to the whole thing and just doesn’t work.
Kendrick and Affleck have good chemistry, with Affleck trying desperately to breathe some likeability into what is a pretty cold and calculating character. It’s hard though to empathise with someone who – albeit indirectly – is the source of such misery around the world through drugs, terrorism, dictatorships and God-knows what else. Kendrick plays kooky and naive really well, but she really ought to get some protocols sorted out around letting people into her apartment: she really doesn’t seem to learn!
It’s a nice idea and entertaining to watch, but the delivery is flawed.
The scene: studio execs in a board room in Warner Brothers. Greg Silverman, head of Creative Development walks into the room full of his most creative guys and slams a script by Bill Dubuque onto the table.
Silverman: “Affleck needs a real zinger of a film to follow his Batman work and this is it… but we we need a really riveting title… something to grab everyone’s attention and get them begging to pay their ticket money to see. Hit me!”
Creative 1: “The Autist?”
Silverman: “Like your thinking…. good Oscar associations… but perhaps a tad non-PC.”
Creative 2: “Under the Skin?”
Silverman: “Been done. Besides, don’t want everyone thinking they’re going to see THAT much of Johansson again”
A grey looking financial director, sitting in the corner: “Er… sir… I’ve got an idea….”
=====
So… it’s not the most PR-friendly title in the world, but it is a whole lot more interesting than it sounds. Ben Affleck plays the titular accountant (who may or may not be called Christian Wolff) – a sort of evil Jack Reacher of the financial world: off-the-grid behind multiple aliases and with financial fingers in more murky pies around the world than seems tasteful.
Not only is he a mathematical genius with the numbers, but is also extremely handy with his fists and an arsenal of high powered weaponry he keeps in his executive trailer home… ready to up-roots and disappear at any time.
Supported over the phone by a mysterious ‘Pepper-Potts-style’ personal assistant, who appears more machine than person, Affleck is guided from job to job, dropping in the occasional “normal” job to keep the authorities off his tail. One of these is for a bio-technology company headed up by Lamar Black (John Lithgow) who brings him in – against the wishes of his FD and long term friend Ed Chilton (Andy Umberger) – since all appears not quite right in the books. Junior accountant Dana Cummings (Anna “Pitch Perfect” Kendrick) is the young lady who has seen the discrepancy but can’t track it down in the labyrinthine accounts.
This so called ‘safe’ job lands both him and Dana in extreme danger as person or persons unknown, fronted by a hired ‘heavy’ played by Jon Bernthal, try to prevent some dodgy activities coming to the surface.
As a parallel thread, the head of the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, Ray King (J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”) strong-arms (for no readily apparent reason) analyst Marybeth Medina (an impressive Cynthia Addai-Robinson) into pursuing Wolff. With a keen intellect and a strong incentive she begins to close in.
Directed by Gavin O’ Connor, this – for me – is a frustratingly inconsistent film. When it flies, it really flies well, both at an action level and at a dramatic level. The flashback scenes to Wolff’s childhood are well done, showing how the autistic and needy youngster who needed compassion, quiet and understanding got the exact opposite from his militaristic father (Robert C Treveiler) to ‘jolt him out of’ his condition. It is easy to understand how he turned out the way he did.
On the flip side, the plot progression almost deliberately shines a spotlight on some questions (no spoilers) that if you ask them you immediately see the answers, resulting in most of the rest of the plot falling into place without shock or surprise. There was only one genuine twist for me, right at the end of the film, that I didn’t see coming.
The script by Bill Dubuque (“The Judge”) delivers some really nice scenes between Affleck and Kendrick, some smart (and genuinely funny) one-liners and one of the best abruptly ended speeches since Samuel L. Jackson’s in “Deep Blue Sea”. However, the whole Treasury Investigation story-line (however good it is to see J.K. Simmons act) is somewhat superfluous to the whole thing and just doesn’t work.
Kendrick and Affleck have good chemistry, with Affleck trying desperately to breathe some likeability into what is a pretty cold and calculating character. It’s hard though to empathise with someone who – albeit indirectly – is the source of such misery around the world through drugs, terrorism, dictatorships and God-knows what else. Kendrick plays kooky and naive really well, but she really ought to get some protocols sorted out around letting people into her apartment: she really doesn’t seem to learn!
It’s a nice idea and entertaining to watch, but the delivery is flawed.