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World Railway Journeys: Discover 50 of the World's Greatest Railways
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Discover the fascinating histories and routes of 50 of the world's most scenic railways. Railway...
okletmereviewit (4 KP) rated Doctor Strange (2016) in Movies
May 11, 2018
One heck of a ride
Contains spoilers, click to show
I went to see Doctor Strange last night and let me tell you, it was one hell of a ride. I saw it in 3D which is the only way I will watch movies nowadays, because its so immersive and makes the movie really come alive, at least in my opinion. Marvel Studios did a really amazing job on capturing the essence of this movie. If you want a good idea on how it is, think The Matrix meets Inception, meets Harry Potter.
If you don't know the story of Doctor Strange, well let me fill you in. Dr. Steven Strange was a brilliant neurosurgeon, and an egotist. In the movie, we find Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) washing up to perform brain surgery. His prideful, ways have him showboating the surgery by not waiting for any imaging equipment and dislodging a bullet from the brain of a person who was thought to be dead.
After he has preformed a miracle surgery, he is rushing through traffic to go to a gala, when he hits another car, and crashes. In the process of crashing he crushes his hands, the very tools to which he was made famous for. After countless surgeries and experimental procedures he is left in destitute.
He then begins to wander the city and comes across a man who had sever spinal cord injury and was supposed to never walk again, but was and playing basketball, who tells him of a spiritual retreat that he went on in order to heal himself. Using what money he has left Dr. Strange flies to Kathmandu to search out this mystical temple and its healer.
He wanders the streets of Kathmandu, looking for any signs of where this holy temple may be. Getting desperate, and weary of looking. He makes a fated turn down a back alley street, where he is assaulted by a group of Pick Pockets, who target him as easy prey. They are quickly dispatched as Mordo (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) beats them down, thus saving Strange from certain death by the hands of petty thugs.
Mordo takes Dr. Strange to the temple, explaining that The Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton) may be able to help him, but that he would have to be very humble in asking for help. Dr. Strange with his medical, and scientific knowledge, begins to dismiss the teachings and workings of The Ancient One, as no more than metaphysical BS. The Ancient One then sends Dr. Strange on a quick out of body journey throughout the multiverse the whole time narrating the journey with deep wisdom. And then quickly after he is brought back from this journey he is banished to the streets and the doors locked behind him. Begging and pleading for hours, Mordo convinces The Ancient One to accept him for training.
Through what can be assumed as months of training, Dr. Steven Strange begins learning the mystical arts and excelling at a phenomenal rate. While studying he discovers The Eye of Agamotto. A powerful talisman capable of augmenting time and space. He then uses it to reveal the missing pages of a manuscript, and discovers that The Ancient One has been harnessing energies from a dark dimension to prolong her life, and a realm of a dimensional being known as Dormammu. Dormammu wants nothing else than to absorb the Earth into his being and make it part of the dark dimension. Doctor Strange then learns that Dormammu's henchmen are devising a plot to overtake 3 power houses throughout the world, in order to allow his reign of power to be complete.
Doctor Strange then must battle Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelsen) a former student of The Ancient One, and top disciple of Dormammu, for control of the Sanctum's (three mystical power houses that create a magical shield that protects the earth). This is the point in the movie where Steven begins to really take point and understand the extent of the power that he has learned. An epic magical battle of the wills ensues where Dr. Strange, Mordo, and Kaecillius, all take the the streets of New York in 'Mirror Dimension' where Kaecillius bends space and time to create an augmented reality (if you have seen Inception this is where they flip the world upside down and sideways and things get really visually intense), The battle of wills continues until finally The Ancient One joins the fight and battles her former pupil in a no holds battle. She is then critically injured and all of reality returns to normal. As she lays dying in a hospital room, she and Strange exchange an emotional yet sagely goodbye on the Astral Plane.
Doctor Strange returns to the New York Sanctum only to find that it had been destroyed. He and Mordo go to Hong Kong, the where they discover that the last Sanctum has fallen and that Dormammu is in the process of over taking the Earth with help from his lackey Kaecillius. Acting on instinct and whim, Doctor Strange uses The Eye of Agamotto to turn back time and restore the city and Sanctum back to its original form, when Kaecillius breaks the spell and concentration of Doctor Strange. DS then flies into the heart of the dark dimension bringing along with him The Eye of Agamotto, where he then traps Dormammu and himself in an endless time loop. Driving Dormammu mad realizing that he is trapped inside of time and no longer existing outside of time. Strange strikes a bargain that Dormammu will retreat from the Earth and take with him all of his followers never to return again, to which a defeated and angry Dormammu agrees and calls back his forces. The movie ends with Doctor Strange taking up the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme.
If you don't know the story of Doctor Strange, well let me fill you in. Dr. Steven Strange was a brilliant neurosurgeon, and an egotist. In the movie, we find Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) washing up to perform brain surgery. His prideful, ways have him showboating the surgery by not waiting for any imaging equipment and dislodging a bullet from the brain of a person who was thought to be dead.
After he has preformed a miracle surgery, he is rushing through traffic to go to a gala, when he hits another car, and crashes. In the process of crashing he crushes his hands, the very tools to which he was made famous for. After countless surgeries and experimental procedures he is left in destitute.
He then begins to wander the city and comes across a man who had sever spinal cord injury and was supposed to never walk again, but was and playing basketball, who tells him of a spiritual retreat that he went on in order to heal himself. Using what money he has left Dr. Strange flies to Kathmandu to search out this mystical temple and its healer.
He wanders the streets of Kathmandu, looking for any signs of where this holy temple may be. Getting desperate, and weary of looking. He makes a fated turn down a back alley street, where he is assaulted by a group of Pick Pockets, who target him as easy prey. They are quickly dispatched as Mordo (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) beats them down, thus saving Strange from certain death by the hands of petty thugs.
Mordo takes Dr. Strange to the temple, explaining that The Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton) may be able to help him, but that he would have to be very humble in asking for help. Dr. Strange with his medical, and scientific knowledge, begins to dismiss the teachings and workings of The Ancient One, as no more than metaphysical BS. The Ancient One then sends Dr. Strange on a quick out of body journey throughout the multiverse the whole time narrating the journey with deep wisdom. And then quickly after he is brought back from this journey he is banished to the streets and the doors locked behind him. Begging and pleading for hours, Mordo convinces The Ancient One to accept him for training.
Through what can be assumed as months of training, Dr. Steven Strange begins learning the mystical arts and excelling at a phenomenal rate. While studying he discovers The Eye of Agamotto. A powerful talisman capable of augmenting time and space. He then uses it to reveal the missing pages of a manuscript, and discovers that The Ancient One has been harnessing energies from a dark dimension to prolong her life, and a realm of a dimensional being known as Dormammu. Dormammu wants nothing else than to absorb the Earth into his being and make it part of the dark dimension. Doctor Strange then learns that Dormammu's henchmen are devising a plot to overtake 3 power houses throughout the world, in order to allow his reign of power to be complete.
Doctor Strange then must battle Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelsen) a former student of The Ancient One, and top disciple of Dormammu, for control of the Sanctum's (three mystical power houses that create a magical shield that protects the earth). This is the point in the movie where Steven begins to really take point and understand the extent of the power that he has learned. An epic magical battle of the wills ensues where Dr. Strange, Mordo, and Kaecillius, all take the the streets of New York in 'Mirror Dimension' where Kaecillius bends space and time to create an augmented reality (if you have seen Inception this is where they flip the world upside down and sideways and things get really visually intense), The battle of wills continues until finally The Ancient One joins the fight and battles her former pupil in a no holds battle. She is then critically injured and all of reality returns to normal. As she lays dying in a hospital room, she and Strange exchange an emotional yet sagely goodbye on the Astral Plane.
Doctor Strange returns to the New York Sanctum only to find that it had been destroyed. He and Mordo go to Hong Kong, the where they discover that the last Sanctum has fallen and that Dormammu is in the process of over taking the Earth with help from his lackey Kaecillius. Acting on instinct and whim, Doctor Strange uses The Eye of Agamotto to turn back time and restore the city and Sanctum back to its original form, when Kaecillius breaks the spell and concentration of Doctor Strange. DS then flies into the heart of the dark dimension bringing along with him The Eye of Agamotto, where he then traps Dormammu and himself in an endless time loop. Driving Dormammu mad realizing that he is trapped inside of time and no longer existing outside of time. Strange strikes a bargain that Dormammu will retreat from the Earth and take with him all of his followers never to return again, to which a defeated and angry Dormammu agrees and calls back his forces. The movie ends with Doctor Strange taking up the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme.
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Ghost in the Shell (2017) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
Dumb as fuck, sheds the vast majority of the source's intelligence - even speaking as someone with only a cursory knowledge of it - for something a lot more nonsensical, westernized, and generic. But it doesn't sacrifice even an ounce of its visual pizzazz - if we've learned anything about Rupert Sanders (non-cheating scandal related, that is) it's that he does not fuck around with his aesthetic. 110% magnetic, self-assured, and every bit as visually stupendous as ššš¢š„š¦ šš¶šÆšÆš¦š³ 2049. I found most of the ending parts to be a disingenuous swing and a miss but who cares, did you *see* the way ScarJo beat the shit out of those people to synth music while she was invisible and the water was going all slo-mo and stuff? As a piece of seductive sci-fi junk food that's nice and heavy on the portent, it's nothing less than orgasmic - though it makes sense fans of the source would detest this, this is pretty much what I expected after all so I can't say my bar was mega high to begin with. I'm in the middle with Scarlett, it isn't too demanding of a performance but the unnatural cranes and dead gawks are right up her alley and do fit quite nicely here so eh I'll take it for now even if it feels like bootleg ššÆš„š¦š³ šµš©š¦ šš¬šŖšÆ. And it's always good to see Takeshi Kitano. Oh and also Juliette Binoche is at least twenty-five times better in this than every role she's ever been nominated for an Oscar for.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated A Time for Dying ( Araneae Nation 3) in Books
Jun 30, 2024
127 of 220
Kindle
A Time for Dying ( Araneae Nation 3)
By Hailey Edwards
āļøāļøāļøāļø
They just might survive...if they don't kill each other first.
Once the future Segestriidae maven, Kaidi lived a privileged life. Now she spends her nights haunting cities ravaged by the plague. Spade in hand, she stalks rows of freshly dug graves for corpses...and then she takes their heads.
Her new life is caked in blood and spattered with gore, but it's hers. At least until--to her fury--she's caught napping.
A plague survivor by the skin of his teeth, Murdoch risks his neck to solve the mysteries left in its wake. Bodies have gone missing. Guards have left their posts and never returned home.
When he rouses a female dozing among the dead, he's unprepared for the violence of her response. Or his. Beneath the grime, she's lovely. Too bad the blood under her fingernails belongs to his clansmen.
He has no choice but to follow this alluring creature deeper into her world of winged beasts and flesh-eating monsters. She holds the knowledge he craves, but the price is high--and they may both pay for it with their lives.
Iāve become so invested in this series I absolutely love the different clans and how diverse they are. The story is just so interesting and the characters really are so well written you become part of that world. Really good read this brought us new characters while keep us updated on some old faces.
Kindle
A Time for Dying ( Araneae Nation 3)
By Hailey Edwards
āļøāļøāļøāļø
They just might survive...if they don't kill each other first.
Once the future Segestriidae maven, Kaidi lived a privileged life. Now she spends her nights haunting cities ravaged by the plague. Spade in hand, she stalks rows of freshly dug graves for corpses...and then she takes their heads.
Her new life is caked in blood and spattered with gore, but it's hers. At least until--to her fury--she's caught napping.
A plague survivor by the skin of his teeth, Murdoch risks his neck to solve the mysteries left in its wake. Bodies have gone missing. Guards have left their posts and never returned home.
When he rouses a female dozing among the dead, he's unprepared for the violence of her response. Or his. Beneath the grime, she's lovely. Too bad the blood under her fingernails belongs to his clansmen.
He has no choice but to follow this alluring creature deeper into her world of winged beasts and flesh-eating monsters. She holds the knowledge he craves, but the price is high--and they may both pay for it with their lives.
Iāve become so invested in this series I absolutely love the different clans and how diverse they are. The story is just so interesting and the characters really are so well written you become part of that world. Really good read this brought us new characters while keep us updated on some old faces.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Last Night in Soho (2021) in Movies
Nov 5, 2021
Unique
Writer/Director Edgar Wright has developed into one of the more unique film makers working today with a stylistic look, feel and sound to all of his films. Long known as the Director of the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost comedies (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ and AT WORLDāS EDGE), Wright started coming into his own with the under-rated SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD and the marvelous BABY DRIVER and with his latest film, the trippy thriller LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, Wright has graduated - in my eyes - as a Director whoās work is āmust watchā whenever they come out.
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO is unique, stylized, stunning - both visually and aurally - mind-bending, tense and satisfying. A truly unique film by a unique filmmaker.
To tell the tale of LAST NIGHT IN SOHO is to spoil it. The less you know about it, the better. But, as the trailers suggest, a modern young fashion student is in London and is transported into the āswinging ā60ās London and ends up living, vicariously, the life of another. Thatās all Iāll say. I would recommend just going in and let the story wash all over you - both through the eyes and through the ears - which is why I would recommend this film been seen in a theater (or, at the very least, on a set-up with a killer sound system).
Because of the highly stylized and āgo with itā feel of this film, the performances have a tendency to move to the background, but they are very well done. Thomasin McKenzie (JOJO RABBIT) is a strong choice as the Fashion Student who has this āadventureā (to say more is to spoil), she brings the right amount of reality and āunrealityā to her character. Anya Taylor-Joy (THE QUEENāS GAMBIT) is superb as Sandie, the object of the āadventureā. She isnāt asked to do much more than be mysterious - and she does it well.
Wright, wisely, fills the rest of the film with strong supporting players - Matt Smith (DR. WHO), the great Terence Stamp (THE LIMEY) and, most importantly, Dame Diana Rigg (Emma Peel in THE AVENGERS in the 1960ās, in her final film role before her death in September 2020), all bring their āAā game to the festivities and fill their roles well.
Itās not a perfect film, the beginning drags on a bit before things start to get good (and weird) and their is a superfluous subplot involving some āMean Girlsā at the Fashion School that our heroine attends in todayās world - a subplot that never really goes anywhere. The ending, also, does go āover the topā, but by that time, I was swept up in the style of this film and forgave it itās flaws.
I ended up having LAST NIGHT IN SOHO-type dreams, and indication that this film struck a chord with me and is going to stay with me for awhile - and is probably worth a re-watch (it certainly is one of those types of films that can be different upon a re-watch).
Well worth the effort to check it out on the Big Screen - certainly the visuals and sound will make it worthwhile.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO is unique, stylized, stunning - both visually and aurally - mind-bending, tense and satisfying. A truly unique film by a unique filmmaker.
To tell the tale of LAST NIGHT IN SOHO is to spoil it. The less you know about it, the better. But, as the trailers suggest, a modern young fashion student is in London and is transported into the āswinging ā60ās London and ends up living, vicariously, the life of another. Thatās all Iāll say. I would recommend just going in and let the story wash all over you - both through the eyes and through the ears - which is why I would recommend this film been seen in a theater (or, at the very least, on a set-up with a killer sound system).
Because of the highly stylized and āgo with itā feel of this film, the performances have a tendency to move to the background, but they are very well done. Thomasin McKenzie (JOJO RABBIT) is a strong choice as the Fashion Student who has this āadventureā (to say more is to spoil), she brings the right amount of reality and āunrealityā to her character. Anya Taylor-Joy (THE QUEENāS GAMBIT) is superb as Sandie, the object of the āadventureā. She isnāt asked to do much more than be mysterious - and she does it well.
Wright, wisely, fills the rest of the film with strong supporting players - Matt Smith (DR. WHO), the great Terence Stamp (THE LIMEY) and, most importantly, Dame Diana Rigg (Emma Peel in THE AVENGERS in the 1960ās, in her final film role before her death in September 2020), all bring their āAā game to the festivities and fill their roles well.
Itās not a perfect film, the beginning drags on a bit before things start to get good (and weird) and their is a superfluous subplot involving some āMean Girlsā at the Fashion School that our heroine attends in todayās world - a subplot that never really goes anywhere. The ending, also, does go āover the topā, but by that time, I was swept up in the style of this film and forgave it itās flaws.
I ended up having LAST NIGHT IN SOHO-type dreams, and indication that this film struck a chord with me and is going to stay with me for awhile - and is probably worth a re-watch (it certainly is one of those types of films that can be different upon a re-watch).
Well worth the effort to check it out on the Big Screen - certainly the visuals and sound will make it worthwhile.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Debbiereadsbook (1554 KP) rated An Unlocked Mind (Secrets #2) in Books
Apr 24, 2019
awesome follow up!
Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted the audio file of this book.
Rob is TRYING to be better person than the one who nearly ruined his brotherās life, he really is. But itās hard when no one will help you. A visit to the opening night of Secrets is just what he needs. Til a demonstration has him running. But he returns the next week, and runs straight into Vic, along with giving Vic attitude. Rescuing the obnoxious little git wasnāt in Vicās game plan for the evening, but he canāt leave Rob walking in the pouring rain. After depositing Rob at the train station, he never expects to see him again. Although, something about Rob calls to him, it really does. When Rob starts turning up every weekend, Vic begins to look forward to his visits. Then Life throws Rob under a bus and Vic knows this is his chance to get into Robās head, and for Rob to get out of it.
This is book 2 in the Secrets series, but you donāt NEED to have read/listened to book one first, but I think you should. Itās bloody good!
As is this one!
Vic isnāt what I would call a Dom Dom, his speciality is getting a sub out of his head, rather than floggers and whips. And he KNOWS something is eating away at Robās mind, he just needs to unlock it. But to do THAT, Vic needs to get to know Rob, on his weekly visits to London. When Rob loses his job in Manchester, Vic offers him a lifeline, under strict terms that Vic lays down. And Rob, desperate for help and starved of any real human interaction, jumps at the chance.
Rob did some things as a younger man, that come back to haunt him, that STILL haunt him. A conversation with his mother turns his brother against him, and Rob is suffering that guilt so bad, itās a dead weight on his shoulders. Meeting Vic, though, lets something free in his soul, something he had been so afraid to admit before. Something his mother would not approve of. Something he so badly needs, it brings him to the brink of his limits and budgets and his money runs out faster than it should. But Vic? Vic gives him a chance, so long as he sticks with the rules, and those RULES are what Rob needs, He needs to find himself again, deep within himself, before he can forgive himself and to make amends with his brother, should his brother want to.
What I particularly loved about this one, was the lack of the physical BDSM stuff that usually comes with these books, I mean I LOVED the lack of it. Oh donāt get me wrong, this is a sexy book, and it has a crazy amount of heat but there is a distinct lack of floggers and paddles. This was very much a MENTAL book, as in Rob needed to get out of his head so bad, and Vic knew just how to do that.
Rob is, quite simply, a wreck at the start of this book, and itās a long while before Vic can get him to admit whatās eating him the most. That is: what he did to his brother. But when the FULL picture comes clear, I cried for Rob, I really did. He felt so bad for something he did not do, it messed his head.
Vic, being the most laid back Dom I have quite possibly EVER come across, is just the man for Rob, just the Dom to get to the bottom of his pain and release it. Rob calls to his soul, he really does. But not immediately. It takes a little time for Rob to worm his way in, but once he does, Vic is all in.
I NEED to listen Robās story now though! I need to know what a little shit Rob was, and how Rob was affected by what happened, I really do. So, books one and two of Collars and Cuffs are nicely lined up for when Iāve got time.
Joel Leslie narrates this one, as he does book one. I cannot, CANNOT fault the narration of these books, this one especially. Leslie pours so MUCH into Rob, and to Vic to, but to a lesser extent. The emotion pouring out of Rob when he finally breaks down and tells Vic all made me cry, great wrecking sobs that I have no doubt might NOT have come had I been reading.
Leslie is, quite simply a Master at his craft, and coupled with the work of Wells and Williams, I can only give this book. . . .
5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration
5 stars overall.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Rob is TRYING to be better person than the one who nearly ruined his brotherās life, he really is. But itās hard when no one will help you. A visit to the opening night of Secrets is just what he needs. Til a demonstration has him running. But he returns the next week, and runs straight into Vic, along with giving Vic attitude. Rescuing the obnoxious little git wasnāt in Vicās game plan for the evening, but he canāt leave Rob walking in the pouring rain. After depositing Rob at the train station, he never expects to see him again. Although, something about Rob calls to him, it really does. When Rob starts turning up every weekend, Vic begins to look forward to his visits. Then Life throws Rob under a bus and Vic knows this is his chance to get into Robās head, and for Rob to get out of it.
This is book 2 in the Secrets series, but you donāt NEED to have read/listened to book one first, but I think you should. Itās bloody good!
As is this one!
Vic isnāt what I would call a Dom Dom, his speciality is getting a sub out of his head, rather than floggers and whips. And he KNOWS something is eating away at Robās mind, he just needs to unlock it. But to do THAT, Vic needs to get to know Rob, on his weekly visits to London. When Rob loses his job in Manchester, Vic offers him a lifeline, under strict terms that Vic lays down. And Rob, desperate for help and starved of any real human interaction, jumps at the chance.
Rob did some things as a younger man, that come back to haunt him, that STILL haunt him. A conversation with his mother turns his brother against him, and Rob is suffering that guilt so bad, itās a dead weight on his shoulders. Meeting Vic, though, lets something free in his soul, something he had been so afraid to admit before. Something his mother would not approve of. Something he so badly needs, it brings him to the brink of his limits and budgets and his money runs out faster than it should. But Vic? Vic gives him a chance, so long as he sticks with the rules, and those RULES are what Rob needs, He needs to find himself again, deep within himself, before he can forgive himself and to make amends with his brother, should his brother want to.
What I particularly loved about this one, was the lack of the physical BDSM stuff that usually comes with these books, I mean I LOVED the lack of it. Oh donāt get me wrong, this is a sexy book, and it has a crazy amount of heat but there is a distinct lack of floggers and paddles. This was very much a MENTAL book, as in Rob needed to get out of his head so bad, and Vic knew just how to do that.
Rob is, quite simply, a wreck at the start of this book, and itās a long while before Vic can get him to admit whatās eating him the most. That is: what he did to his brother. But when the FULL picture comes clear, I cried for Rob, I really did. He felt so bad for something he did not do, it messed his head.
Vic, being the most laid back Dom I have quite possibly EVER come across, is just the man for Rob, just the Dom to get to the bottom of his pain and release it. Rob calls to his soul, he really does. But not immediately. It takes a little time for Rob to worm his way in, but once he does, Vic is all in.
I NEED to listen Robās story now though! I need to know what a little shit Rob was, and how Rob was affected by what happened, I really do. So, books one and two of Collars and Cuffs are nicely lined up for when Iāve got time.
Joel Leslie narrates this one, as he does book one. I cannot, CANNOT fault the narration of these books, this one especially. Leslie pours so MUCH into Rob, and to Vic to, but to a lesser extent. The emotion pouring out of Rob when he finally breaks down and tells Vic all made me cry, great wrecking sobs that I have no doubt might NOT have come had I been reading.
Leslie is, quite simply a Master at his craft, and coupled with the work of Wells and Williams, I can only give this book. . . .
5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration
5 stars overall.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Avengers: Endgame (2019) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
The final curtain.
Soā¦ thanks again to work and family commitments, Iāve spent 7 days dodging social media to arrive at my showing of āEndgameā spoiler freeā¦ and was successful in doing so! It is of course impossible to write just about anything on this film without dropping spoilers. So I will keep this first part of the review short, but add some footnotes (indexed with <#> symbols) to a āspoiler sectionā below the trailer video. Proceed at your peril if you havenāt yet seen it!
The Plot
The MCU has delivered an impressively well-connected movie series. In the case of Thanos, this is a story-arc that started in the mid-credit āmonkeyā at the end of 2012ās āThe Avengersā and, at the conclusion of āAvengers: Infinity Warā, saw half the universeās population drift away ā Voldemort-style ā into grey ash. This, of course, also wiped out half of our heroes (good trivia question for future years: who was the first we saw drift away? Answer below* ). This included Spider-Man (Tom Holland); Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch); Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman); Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson); half of the remaining Guardians; The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr Pym (Michael Douglas). Oblivious to all of this is Ant Man (Paul Rudd), still stranded in the āquantum realmā following the demise of his colleagues, and with no one to flick the āreturnā switch.
After some early action, Endgameās story revolves around a desperate attempt by the remaining Avengers, led by Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a āretiredā Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) to undo the undoable. Can they succeed against all the odds? (With a new Spider-Man film due out in the summer, Iāll give you a guess!). Of more relevance perhaps is whether the team can stay unscathed from their encounter with the scheming and massively powerful Thanos (Josh Brolin)?
Thoughtful
The film will not be to every fanās taste. After the virtually non-stop rip-roaring action of āInfinity Warā, āEndgameā takes a far more contemplative approach to its first hour.
The film starts with a devastating prologue, and a great lesson in statistics: that you need a decent sized population to guarantee getting a 50:50 split! There is also a very surprising twist in the first 15 minutes or so that I didnāt see coming AT ALL.
But then things settle down into a far more sombre section of the film: short on action; long on character development. The world is grieving for its loss, unable to move on past the non-stop counselling sessions that everyone is getting. This first hour was, for me, by far, my favourite part of the film. Seeing how the characters we know and love have been impacted ā some for better rather than for worse ā was terrific. Mark Ruffaloās Hulk (with a rather glib plot-point) takes on an hilarious new aspect; and Chris Hemsworth adds hugely comedic value as Thor, setting up in Scotland a āNew Asgardā settlement in uncharacteristically laid-back fashion.
Cast
As an ensemble cast, everyone plays their parts extremely well. But it is just the breadth of the cast that astounds in this film: just about everyone who is anyone in the Marvel Universe ā at least, those who are still alive (alive!) and not dead (dead!) ā pop up for an appearance! This is great fun with, in one particular case, the opportunity to try some more rejuvenation of an old timer as previously done with Samuel L. Jackson in āCaptain Marvelā.
Inevitably, some of these appearances are overly brief, and characters that I wanted to see developed more in this film (particularly Brie Larsonās Captain Marvel) get very little screen time. Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) barely get a single line each. So it will depend on where your loyalties lie as to whether you are satisfied with the coverage or not. (I personally find Chris Evansā Captain America a bit of a po-faced bore, so I wasnāt keen on the amount of screen time he had).
Stan Lee again gets another cameo in the bag before his demise: will this actually be his last live one?
Overall view
I enjoyed this movie. It could obviously NEVER live up to the over-hyped expectations of the fan base. But as a cinematic spectacle, for me, it delivered on its billing as a blockbuster finale, but one filled with a degree of nuance I was not expecting. The problem with the way that the plot have been structured (no spoilers ā <#>) is that it is easy to pick holes in the storyline. Indeed, some dramatic options (that to me seemed obvious ones to āmineā) were left āunminedā <##>; others were left inexplicably hanging <###>.
I suspect the reason for some of this is that the initial cut of this film probably ran to 5 hours rather than the ā still bladder-testing ā 3 hours as released. There were probably a bunch of scenes left on the cutting room floor that might allow things to make more sense in the extended BluRay release.
Itās at times slow, but for me never dull. It does suffer from one significant flaw though: the āReturn of the Kingā disease. It doesnāt know when to quit. There was a natural MCU arc to follow and a perfect time at which to end it: but the directors (the Russo Brothers, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo) kept adding additional scenes that detracted from the natural ending <####>.
Above all, unlike I think all but one film in MCU history, there is NO āMONKEYā in the end credits: either mid-credit or end-credit! So, after the long title crawl (and some rather odd choices for end-title music by Alan Silvestri), if you are not to look bloody stupid as the lights come up, and face a storm of derision from your partner, then leave after the dramatic roll-call sequence of the filmās stars!
(*BTW, the answer to the trivia question is, I believe, Bucky.)
Soā¦ thanks again to work and family commitments, Iāve spent 7 days dodging social media to arrive at my showing of āEndgameā spoiler freeā¦ and was successful in doing so! It is of course impossible to write just about anything on this film without dropping spoilers. So I will keep this first part of the review short, but add some footnotes (indexed with <#> symbols) to a āspoiler sectionā below the trailer video. Proceed at your peril if you havenāt yet seen it!
The Plot
The MCU has delivered an impressively well-connected movie series. In the case of Thanos, this is a story-arc that started in the mid-credit āmonkeyā at the end of 2012ās āThe Avengersā and, at the conclusion of āAvengers: Infinity Warā, saw half the universeās population drift away ā Voldemort-style ā into grey ash. This, of course, also wiped out half of our heroes (good trivia question for future years: who was the first we saw drift away? Answer below* ). This included Spider-Man (Tom Holland); Dr Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch); Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman); Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson); half of the remaining Guardians; The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr Pym (Michael Douglas). Oblivious to all of this is Ant Man (Paul Rudd), still stranded in the āquantum realmā following the demise of his colleagues, and with no one to flick the āreturnā switch.
After some early action, Endgameās story revolves around a desperate attempt by the remaining Avengers, led by Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a āretiredā Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) to undo the undoable. Can they succeed against all the odds? (With a new Spider-Man film due out in the summer, Iāll give you a guess!). Of more relevance perhaps is whether the team can stay unscathed from their encounter with the scheming and massively powerful Thanos (Josh Brolin)?
Thoughtful
The film will not be to every fanās taste. After the virtually non-stop rip-roaring action of āInfinity Warā, āEndgameā takes a far more contemplative approach to its first hour.
The film starts with a devastating prologue, and a great lesson in statistics: that you need a decent sized population to guarantee getting a 50:50 split! There is also a very surprising twist in the first 15 minutes or so that I didnāt see coming AT ALL.
But then things settle down into a far more sombre section of the film: short on action; long on character development. The world is grieving for its loss, unable to move on past the non-stop counselling sessions that everyone is getting. This first hour was, for me, by far, my favourite part of the film. Seeing how the characters we know and love have been impacted ā some for better rather than for worse ā was terrific. Mark Ruffaloās Hulk (with a rather glib plot-point) takes on an hilarious new aspect; and Chris Hemsworth adds hugely comedic value as Thor, setting up in Scotland a āNew Asgardā settlement in uncharacteristically laid-back fashion.
Cast
As an ensemble cast, everyone plays their parts extremely well. But it is just the breadth of the cast that astounds in this film: just about everyone who is anyone in the Marvel Universe ā at least, those who are still alive (alive!) and not dead (dead!) ā pop up for an appearance! This is great fun with, in one particular case, the opportunity to try some more rejuvenation of an old timer as previously done with Samuel L. Jackson in āCaptain Marvelā.
Inevitably, some of these appearances are overly brief, and characters that I wanted to see developed more in this film (particularly Brie Larsonās Captain Marvel) get very little screen time. Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) barely get a single line each. So it will depend on where your loyalties lie as to whether you are satisfied with the coverage or not. (I personally find Chris Evansā Captain America a bit of a po-faced bore, so I wasnāt keen on the amount of screen time he had).
Stan Lee again gets another cameo in the bag before his demise: will this actually be his last live one?
Overall view
I enjoyed this movie. It could obviously NEVER live up to the over-hyped expectations of the fan base. But as a cinematic spectacle, for me, it delivered on its billing as a blockbuster finale, but one filled with a degree of nuance I was not expecting. The problem with the way that the plot have been structured (no spoilers ā <#>) is that it is easy to pick holes in the storyline. Indeed, some dramatic options (that to me seemed obvious ones to āmineā) were left āunminedā <##>; others were left inexplicably hanging <###>.
I suspect the reason for some of this is that the initial cut of this film probably ran to 5 hours rather than the ā still bladder-testing ā 3 hours as released. There were probably a bunch of scenes left on the cutting room floor that might allow things to make more sense in the extended BluRay release.
Itās at times slow, but for me never dull. It does suffer from one significant flaw though: the āReturn of the Kingā disease. It doesnāt know when to quit. There was a natural MCU arc to follow and a perfect time at which to end it: but the directors (the Russo Brothers, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo) kept adding additional scenes that detracted from the natural ending <####>.
Above all, unlike I think all but one film in MCU history, there is NO āMONKEYā in the end credits: either mid-credit or end-credit! So, after the long title crawl (and some rather odd choices for end-title music by Alan Silvestri), if you are not to look bloody stupid as the lights come up, and face a storm of derision from your partner, then leave after the dramatic roll-call sequence of the filmās stars!
(*BTW, the answer to the trivia question is, I believe, Bucky.)
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Polar (2019) in Movies
Feb 7, 2019 (Updated Feb 7, 2019)
Extremely Polarizing
Wow, what a train wreck this turned out to be..
Think diet John Wick meets an immature, garish comic book full of pantomime villains and you have Polar. Sometimes you see a movie and can't help but wonder, "What the hell were they thinking?" Unfortunately this is one of those times. There are folks out there that have crafted a solid script and are struggling to get their movie funded and made, meanwhile there is low level trash like this being paid for and distributed by a huge platform like Netflix?! It is an outrageous and pretty sad state of affairs.
Without a doubt the worst part of this thing is the god awful assortment of villains. They are so annoying and infuriating in every scene they are in and only get worse as the movie goes on. Half the movie is spent following this massively irritating group as they hunt for Mads Mikkelsen's character and they are so unlikable, but not in the way that they are supposed to be. They all work for the main villain, who is inexplicably played by Matt Lucas from Little Britain. That's right, Vicky Pollard is this movie's main antagonist. He is god awful here and I genuinely don't even know what they were attempting to do with this character. Every scene that he is in feels like a discarded Little Britain sketch.
The one bright spot in the film is Mads Mikkelsen's turn as Duncan, the ex-hitman being hunted throughout the film by his ex-employers who serves as our main protagonist. I love seeing Mads in anything he appears in, so I actually found the scenes with him in them pretty enjoyable, and frankly they were the only thing that stopped this movie from being scored a pathetic 1/10.
Overall, this is total mess. It is the worst type of comic book movie and doesn't seem appealing to anyone over the age of 12. Please don't waste your time with this garbage, there are much better movies out there based on graphic novels that don't only cater to horny, brain-dead teenagers.
Think diet John Wick meets an immature, garish comic book full of pantomime villains and you have Polar. Sometimes you see a movie and can't help but wonder, "What the hell were they thinking?" Unfortunately this is one of those times. There are folks out there that have crafted a solid script and are struggling to get their movie funded and made, meanwhile there is low level trash like this being paid for and distributed by a huge platform like Netflix?! It is an outrageous and pretty sad state of affairs.
Without a doubt the worst part of this thing is the god awful assortment of villains. They are so annoying and infuriating in every scene they are in and only get worse as the movie goes on. Half the movie is spent following this massively irritating group as they hunt for Mads Mikkelsen's character and they are so unlikable, but not in the way that they are supposed to be. They all work for the main villain, who is inexplicably played by Matt Lucas from Little Britain. That's right, Vicky Pollard is this movie's main antagonist. He is god awful here and I genuinely don't even know what they were attempting to do with this character. Every scene that he is in feels like a discarded Little Britain sketch.
The one bright spot in the film is Mads Mikkelsen's turn as Duncan, the ex-hitman being hunted throughout the film by his ex-employers who serves as our main protagonist. I love seeing Mads in anything he appears in, so I actually found the scenes with him in them pretty enjoyable, and frankly they were the only thing that stopped this movie from being scored a pathetic 1/10.
Overall, this is total mess. It is the worst type of comic book movie and doesn't seem appealing to anyone over the age of 12. Please don't waste your time with this garbage, there are much better movies out there based on graphic novels that don't only cater to horny, brain-dead teenagers.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2434 KP) rated Christmas Cocoa Murder in Books
Sep 26, 2019
Snuggle Up for this Christmas Novella Collection
Kensington has released another Christmas novella collection, this time featuring three authors that havenāt been featured before. All three stories feature hot cocoa is some capacity. Up first is āChristmas Cocoa Murderā by Carlene OāConnor, which takes place in an Irish village leading up to Christmas. Her series main character, Siobhan OāSullivan, is just a couple of weeks away from joining the police force, but she gets pulled in early when the villageās Santaās stunt at the annual panto goes horribly wrong and heās found floating in a dunk tank filled with hot cocoa. Next, we get āChristmas Cocoa and a Corpseā by Maddie Day. Robbie Jordan, the star of the Country Store Mysteries, is looking forward to a quiet Christmas, but first she must figure out what happened to Jed Greenburg who was found dead while out walking a dog and drinking some of Robbieās special hot chocolate mix. Finally, comes āDeath by Hot Cocoaā by Alex Erickson. Krissy Hancock, his main character, has been talked into doing a Christmas themed escape room, but when she and the rest of the participants finish the first part, they find themselves locked in a second room with the body of their host next to a puddle of hot chocolate.
All three of these stories are fun. The only series I read regularly is Maddie Dayās, but that didnāt keep me from enjoying all of them. The plots are all wonderfully constructed and perfect for the shorter novella format. I did feel a little lost with some of the series regular characters in the first story, but thatās to be expected since I havenāt read the series before. However, it didnāt hamper my overall enjoyment at all. The main characters all come to life in the stories, and the suspects are just as vivid. Each story is filled with Christmas detail that will put you in the holiday spirit no matter what time of year you read them. A couple of the stories even feature some recipes, including two different versions of hot chocolate. So, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate (or maybe not given the theme of this book) and snuggle up and enjoy.
All three of these stories are fun. The only series I read regularly is Maddie Dayās, but that didnāt keep me from enjoying all of them. The plots are all wonderfully constructed and perfect for the shorter novella format. I did feel a little lost with some of the series regular characters in the first story, but thatās to be expected since I havenāt read the series before. However, it didnāt hamper my overall enjoyment at all. The main characters all come to life in the stories, and the suspects are just as vivid. Each story is filled with Christmas detail that will put you in the holiday spirit no matter what time of year you read them. A couple of the stories even feature some recipes, including two different versions of hot chocolate. So, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate (or maybe not given the theme of this book) and snuggle up and enjoy.