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Star Trek III - The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek III - The Search for Spock (1984)
1984 | Action, Sci-Fi
Why mess with a winning formula? Most of the original cast return for this next outing – with Robin Curtis stepping in for Kirstie Alley who “didn’t want to get typecast”. And the story continues from where we left off. But it all feels more forced this time. There are various absurdities in the story that make things very convenient! There are also things that make you say “hang on a minute” from Star Trek II. (For example, McCoy just stands there without objection in the funeral scene! Wouldn’t a “wait a minute” at that point have saved an AWFUL lot of grief??!).

Christopher Lloyd is wonderfully over the top as the Klingon commander, making a very believable baddie. And he really is a villain, allowing Shatner the opportunity to test his acting range (unfortunately, he singularly fails): “You Klingon bastard, you killed my son…. You Klingon bastard, you killed my son”.

Overall, it’s not a total disaster, but it all feels lacklustre and lazy after the glory of the Wrath of Khan. It makes you wonder what might have been if Nicholas Meyer had stayed at the helm to direct it instead of Nimoy.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Feb 3, 2023 (Updated Feb 3, 2023)  
It's cover reveal time! I've got the amazing cover for Anita Dickason's new mystery book, MURDER'S LEGACY on my blog today! You can also watch the book trailer, pre-order the book, and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a Tori Winters series tote bag and a cute personalized mug!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2023/02/cover-reveal-pre-order-book-blitz-and.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Secrets that defy time!

An inconceivable disaster brings Tori Winters’ plans for the historic house she inherited to a traumatic standstill. A section of the escape tunnel built by her great-grandfather, a notorious Dallas gangster, has collapsed. Within the rubble, there is a gruesome discovery. A skeleton with a bullet hole in the skull.

The shocking cave-in triggers an ominous scheme to condemn her property as accusations arise that the tunnel is dangerous.

Embattled, Tori soon discovers that more than the destruction of the house is on the line. It seems she can’t escape the past. It keeps clawing its way into her life with deadly consequences.

Who hides in the shadows with a motive for murder?

And … is Tori the target?
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PI
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Original Review Posted at <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-parrot-in-the-oven-mi-vida-by-victor-martinez.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste.

     Oh. Another required reading. Yay. After Dreamland's disaster, I was going to call it quits here and go hide in a cubicle for awhile. Not that it's bad idea... but I'm pretty sure I would've failed high school already with that many absences (so not happening).

      Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida is about a fourteen-year-old boy named Manny who lives with his abusive father and just wants to fit in with the others around his neighborhood.

      I had hoped that Parrot in the Oven was going to be majorly better than our last reading in English. I guess it went out okay in the end, but I ended up flipping back and forth to find a certain something.

 A glossary, which I didn't find to my misfortune. With the Spanish terms and translations that were used in the book at the least. It would've have helped me so much since I haven't taken Spanish. Okay, there were a few translations in English after the Spanish throughout the book, but not all of them. I still say that a glossary would have been majorly helpful (and not just to me... I hope). In fact, I have no clue what the title says. Besides the Parrot in the Oven part. I
guess it's time to stroll on over to Google Translator.

      Parrot in the Oven, is a bit different, but similar when compared to other realistic fiction. It might just be me and realistic fiction (because I'm definitely not it's biggest fan, considering the fact I rarely give realistic fiction a high rating...), but there tends to be not so much going on, besides a typical Mexican American teenager with family problems typically contained in realistic fiction and wanting/trying to fit in with others (also typically found in realistic fiction). I might be wrong with that view.
 
*holds up warning sign* ATTENTION: MINI-SPOILER ALERT!
 
You have been warned of the next paragraph containing tiny mini-spoilers that may give away a tad bit too much information about the book. Continue at your own risk.
  
     The end tends to be rushed into 2-3 chapters. Manny was going on with his typical life, until a disaster at a party, and then boop. He decides to join a gang. Shortly after, boop. Someone gets in trouble, he realizes something within just hours/a day and boop. Goes home and "happily ever after," the end.
  
Greenland (2020)
Greenland (2020)
2020 | Action, Thriller
John Garrity (Gerard Butler) is a man trying to put his life in order. Despite being a successful structural engineer; he has recently moved back home with his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and their son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd).

John and Allison are attempting to rebuild their marriage and despite some awkwardness at first they are moving ahead. In the new film “Greenland” life is about to become far more complicated for the Garrity family in the form of a comet that is set to pass very close to earth.

The authorities have told the public there is no cause for concern but John notices a large group of military aircraft in the skies shortly before he receives an automated call from Homeland Security telling him to come to an evacuation location with his wife and son.

Not sure what to make of the message; things become abundantly clear when a “harmless fragment” strikes and destroys a city on live television.

With panic setting in the Garrity family head to the evacuation site only to face complications which leave them separated and facing many dangers and obstacles as they attempt to reunite and get to safety before the big chunk hits in two days.

The film is very engaging and what really stood out for me was how the film relied on the cast versus an array of special effects and action sequences which are so common for films in the disaster genre.

Despite the circumstances the characters were very relatable and the tension of the pending impact helped shape their actions instead of being a countdown to an elaborate array of FX sequences showing cities being devastated. While there is footage of this sort; it is generally confined to news reports versus being the focal points.

Butler was very strong in a departure from his usual action oriented parts as a father trying to make things right in a world that is falling apart around him. It was also nice to hear him using his natural accent for a change as well.

While some may wonder about the timing of releasing a disaster film at the end of 2020 and during the Holiday Season the film is so engaging that it did not matter to me in the slightest.

“Greenland” is a film that came in under the radar in terms of hype and expectation but has delivered an enjoyable and memorable viewing experience that is not to be missed.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Deluge (1933) in Movies

Apr 23, 2019 (Updated Apr 23, 2019)  
Deluge (1933)
Deluge (1933)
1933 | Drama, Sci-Fi
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Pre-Code apocalyptic disaster movie boldly goes where Roland Emmerich would follow several times; also manages to be almost definitively non-compliant with the Bechdel test. A series of unexplained disasters including floods and earthquakes destroy civilisation; in the aftermath resourceful lawyer Martin hooks up with plucky society girl Claire, little realising his wife and children survived the catastrophe. Then fate brings them all back together...

The destruction of New York is the most celebrated sequence in the movie, and it stands up relatively well as an example of practical effects in action, but it happens in the first quarter of the movie. Most of the rest of it is concerned with surprisingly familiar post-apocalyptic themes - people come together and struggle to rebuild, raiders prey on settlements, people question familiar moral standards, and so on. The film's gender politics are startling, to say the least: women appear to have no rights and are basically property (and then civilisation crumbles, ha ha). It is interesting and indicative that the film ends with the affirmation of the traditional moral order. Not exactly subtle or nuanced, and the acting is fairly robotic, but it's pacy and the story is an engaging one. An interesting movie that suggests things haven't changed as much as we sometimes think.
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