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Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated It's a Disaster (2013) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
Time to meet the family!!
386. It's a Disaster. You know that point in a relationship when you get to meet your significant others friends? Well this it what is happening to David Cross' character Glen. His special lady friend is introducing him to 3 other couples for Sunday brunch, and judging by the first person he meets, kinda just looks him up and down and dismisses him pretty much outright. And it's all downhill from there, especially once brunch begins and there's a knock on the door from the neighbor, who at first is quite shocked they are having a get together without him, they try to explain it is a couples' brunch, then they casually ask him about the hazmat suit he's wearing. Ohhh yea, couple of dirty bombs were dropped downtown, the world as we know it is coming to an end. So, what to do... Well at least they don't seem like the type of people to panic, instead, with possibly only a few hours left to live, everybody kind of opens up, some get freakier than others, but they're all in it together!! Really funny movie, besides Cross bunch of good people in it, definitely worth a watch! Filmbufftim on FB
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Taking (Afterlife #2) in Books
Nov 26, 2019
After her actions at the end of the first book in the series - Fledgling - the human-turned-angel Aurora has drawn the unwelcome attention of Separus, one of the most powerful of the demons. He covets her power and is determined to capture her and turn her to the side of darkness.
Aware of this Archangel Michael, leader of the angels, assigns her and her friends to be further trained by Zacharias, a rather bad tempered 'earthbound' angel who is an expert in fighting and weapons. As their - at times brutal - training takes place the demons are plotting to capture the three angel friends by using the ultimate bait for Aurora - Ethan. Aurora will need to make a choice, and not an easy one.
The Taking continues more-or-less where Fledgling left off although there is a distinct change of tone. Whereas in the first book Aurora, Cindy and Ben are out and about in the world saving innocents, here they are in training for very much of the time. In other hands this might be a disappointment, but Cope has an eye for telling the interesting bits of stories and not labouring the mundane. It also helps that the training is somewhat unusual, as is the teacher. As the major new character Zacharias is very well drawn, suitably grumpy and terse at being given 'humans' to train, as he sees it.
When conflict with the demons arises Cope again shows the flair for describing fight scenes from the first book and these, as would be expected, are far more intense battles with much more at stake. These are not serene angels gently guiding their human charges through life. These are kick-ass super heroes who are not afraid to put themselves in the way of extreme danger for what they believe is right.
Aurora must also confront her feelings for both Ethan, her human love, and Ben her angel friend. Both relationships are forbidden and this just complicates things further. I suspect that this aspect of the books would appeal more to female young adult readers but they are well written even if you will probably be shouting at the book telling Aurora not to be so silly at points.
Overall a second strong showing in this series and very recommended. If the angel/demon theme doesn't sound like your cup of tea then just give it a go. You will be pleasantly surprised
Aware of this Archangel Michael, leader of the angels, assigns her and her friends to be further trained by Zacharias, a rather bad tempered 'earthbound' angel who is an expert in fighting and weapons. As their - at times brutal - training takes place the demons are plotting to capture the three angel friends by using the ultimate bait for Aurora - Ethan. Aurora will need to make a choice, and not an easy one.
The Taking continues more-or-less where Fledgling left off although there is a distinct change of tone. Whereas in the first book Aurora, Cindy and Ben are out and about in the world saving innocents, here they are in training for very much of the time. In other hands this might be a disappointment, but Cope has an eye for telling the interesting bits of stories and not labouring the mundane. It also helps that the training is somewhat unusual, as is the teacher. As the major new character Zacharias is very well drawn, suitably grumpy and terse at being given 'humans' to train, as he sees it.
When conflict with the demons arises Cope again shows the flair for describing fight scenes from the first book and these, as would be expected, are far more intense battles with much more at stake. These are not serene angels gently guiding their human charges through life. These are kick-ass super heroes who are not afraid to put themselves in the way of extreme danger for what they believe is right.
Aurora must also confront her feelings for both Ethan, her human love, and Ben her angel friend. Both relationships are forbidden and this just complicates things further. I suspect that this aspect of the books would appeal more to female young adult readers but they are well written even if you will probably be shouting at the book telling Aurora not to be so silly at points.
Overall a second strong showing in this series and very recommended. If the angel/demon theme doesn't sound like your cup of tea then just give it a go. You will be pleasantly surprised
Maris (8 KP) rated The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2) in Books
Jun 10, 2019
All my book reviews are SPOILER FREE!
The Wicked King was my top three anticipating books of 2019. Let me just say I believe Holly Black knows what she is doing with this story and she has not let me down and more than likely she won't when she ends this story.
When I started to read the first pages I was having a hard time getting into the story and where we are now in the story. I was getting a little confused with so many characters. The beginning of the book was okay but everything started to pick up for me towards the very end of the story, which is kinda a bummer for me since the first book hooked me the moment I started to read.
Once the action started to flow in I was hooked and couldn't put the book down. I have a lot of feelings for some characters in this book and what are they planning and motives. I was surprised to see some characters backstab Jude and confused in a good way as to why they are doing it to where I need answers.
The ending was everything, just like the first book! It didn't fail me! I love the ending more than anything and it was the best part of the book. I had to flip back pages to read it again, it was that good!
The writing, of course, is wonderful and very detailed for me to feel like I was apart of the world that Holly Black has created. The first book was definitely my favorite so far but the second one is not bad at all. I am looking forward to the final book "Queen Of Nothing" to see what happens with Jude and the other characters in the story and unfortunately, I have to wait another whole year just to find out.
The Wicked King was my top three anticipating books of 2019. Let me just say I believe Holly Black knows what she is doing with this story and she has not let me down and more than likely she won't when she ends this story.
When I started to read the first pages I was having a hard time getting into the story and where we are now in the story. I was getting a little confused with so many characters. The beginning of the book was okay but everything started to pick up for me towards the very end of the story, which is kinda a bummer for me since the first book hooked me the moment I started to read.
Once the action started to flow in I was hooked and couldn't put the book down. I have a lot of feelings for some characters in this book and what are they planning and motives. I was surprised to see some characters backstab Jude and confused in a good way as to why they are doing it to where I need answers.
The ending was everything, just like the first book! It didn't fail me! I love the ending more than anything and it was the best part of the book. I had to flip back pages to read it again, it was that good!
The writing, of course, is wonderful and very detailed for me to feel like I was apart of the world that Holly Black has created. The first book was definitely my favorite so far but the second one is not bad at all. I am looking forward to the final book "Queen Of Nothing" to see what happens with Jude and the other characters in the story and unfortunately, I have to wait another whole year just to find out.
The Daughters of Ironbridge
7.0
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Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Carriers (2009) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Brian and Danny grew up as two brothers who were relatively close to one another. They cherish the memories they have of Turtle Beach, a beach their family vacationed to every summer. The abandoned motel in Turtle Beach may be their best bet of surviving the highly contagious disease that now plagues the entire country and possibly the world. Not much is known about the virus other than the victims coughing up blood and bleeding from the ears as their condition worsens. Brian actually came up with a few rules that will hopefully get him, his girlfriend Bobby, his brother Danny, and Danny's friend Kate through this disease ridden world to Turtle Beach clean. The rules include avoiding the infected at all costs, disinfecting anything they've touched in the past 24 hours, and that the infected are already dead as there is no cure. You may survive if you stick to the rules, but actually abiding by them is an entirely different story.
Right off the bat, people are probably going to compare Carriers to Zombieland because of the rules. Carriers was released a full month before Zombieland, but Paramount Vantage folded upon its initial release causing its wide release to be an extremely limited one at the last minute (I think it wound up playing at only two theaters in the country). Expectations rise unintentionally in situations such as this. "This is that horror film that was practically shelved earlier this year and is finally being released." The result is a horror film that is well worth watching, but may not be entirely what you're expecting.
Carriers is more about establishing an atmosphere than anything else. Everything is abandoned and rightfully so as most people were picked off handfuls at a time by this pandemic. The entire film is more like the first half hour of 28 Days Later where Jim wakes up in an abandoned hospital and realizes how empty the streets of London are. There aren't masses of the infected running around lusting for brains or wanting to tear humans apart in Carriers. The story follows these four friends as they journey across the country to this supposed sanctuary where they hope to tough it out until this disease runs its course. Carriers is more of a slow burn as things turn from bad to worse very slowly and snowball as the film goes on.
Chris Pine is really the drawing factor of the film. His role as Brian is kind of like a more intense version of his role as Kirk in Star Trek from earlier this year. Brian comes off as an inconsiderate prick the first half of the film and seems to only do things that benefit himself. The second half is where his character gets interesting though. The speech he gives Danny about their parents and telling Danny that he only told him what he wanted to hear is the turning point for Brian. Chris Pine shines as things begin to roll downhill for Brian as his emotions take center stage and his true demeanor is revealed.
Everything else in the film pretty much feels like routine manuevers when it comes to films revolving around viral outbreaks as some main characters contract the disease, they resort to drastic measures to survive, and begin to question their humanity along the way. The most disappointing part of the film is the ending as things just seem to kind of stop without much of a resolution. It seems like films like this either end this way or have a really depressing ending and that's its biggest flaw. Movie buffs who have seen films concerning pandemics already have a rough idea of how the film is going to end and it's about time to mix that up a bit. There's got to be a decent way to end the film that offers something a bit different that could wrap everything up until that point, but also leave enough room open for a sequel if need be.
Carriers may be a bit slow at first and doesn't really offer anything you probably haven't seen before in a film like this, but is still worth seeing for Chris Pine's performance. It's kind of a more serious take on Zombieland without actual zombies running or stumbling around with an atmosphere similar to the one established in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. If you're a fan of films involving a virus that has wiped out most of the human population, then this is still worth a watch.
Right off the bat, people are probably going to compare Carriers to Zombieland because of the rules. Carriers was released a full month before Zombieland, but Paramount Vantage folded upon its initial release causing its wide release to be an extremely limited one at the last minute (I think it wound up playing at only two theaters in the country). Expectations rise unintentionally in situations such as this. "This is that horror film that was practically shelved earlier this year and is finally being released." The result is a horror film that is well worth watching, but may not be entirely what you're expecting.
Carriers is more about establishing an atmosphere than anything else. Everything is abandoned and rightfully so as most people were picked off handfuls at a time by this pandemic. The entire film is more like the first half hour of 28 Days Later where Jim wakes up in an abandoned hospital and realizes how empty the streets of London are. There aren't masses of the infected running around lusting for brains or wanting to tear humans apart in Carriers. The story follows these four friends as they journey across the country to this supposed sanctuary where they hope to tough it out until this disease runs its course. Carriers is more of a slow burn as things turn from bad to worse very slowly and snowball as the film goes on.
Chris Pine is really the drawing factor of the film. His role as Brian is kind of like a more intense version of his role as Kirk in Star Trek from earlier this year. Brian comes off as an inconsiderate prick the first half of the film and seems to only do things that benefit himself. The second half is where his character gets interesting though. The speech he gives Danny about their parents and telling Danny that he only told him what he wanted to hear is the turning point for Brian. Chris Pine shines as things begin to roll downhill for Brian as his emotions take center stage and his true demeanor is revealed.
Everything else in the film pretty much feels like routine manuevers when it comes to films revolving around viral outbreaks as some main characters contract the disease, they resort to drastic measures to survive, and begin to question their humanity along the way. The most disappointing part of the film is the ending as things just seem to kind of stop without much of a resolution. It seems like films like this either end this way or have a really depressing ending and that's its biggest flaw. Movie buffs who have seen films concerning pandemics already have a rough idea of how the film is going to end and it's about time to mix that up a bit. There's got to be a decent way to end the film that offers something a bit different that could wrap everything up until that point, but also leave enough room open for a sequel if need be.
Carriers may be a bit slow at first and doesn't really offer anything you probably haven't seen before in a film like this, but is still worth seeing for Chris Pine's performance. It's kind of a more serious take on Zombieland without actual zombies running or stumbling around with an atmosphere similar to the one established in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. If you're a fan of films involving a virus that has wiped out most of the human population, then this is still worth a watch.
Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
It’s been thirteen years since Director Peter Jackson first took us to middle earth and showed movie
audiences that large scale fantasy could be done right on film with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And
now the final trek through middle earth is here with the third and final film in the Hobbit series.
Picking up at the climatic conclusion of 2013’s The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies is
less about the journey and more about the war between the various armies of middles earth over the
massive riches in the mountain home they journeyed to reclaim. After the exciting beginning that serves
to tie up the previous film and sets to table for this one, we begin to see the brotherhood between the
dwarfs, a wizard, a few elves and a Hobbit that focuses on the bonds of friendship and loyalty. This
builds on itself as it leads to the climactic battle of the five armies. The battle is on the grand scale you
would come to expect from these middle earth films, only at times this battle seems to rely on a bit too
much CGI and thus almost plays out cartoonish. Granted, this is a fantasy world were Dwarfs, Elves and
Men are fighting Orcs so it is really not that hard to suspend disbelief in the first place. Thus the film is
entertaining in its own right as it wraps up one trilogy and bridges to another.
This bridge is what surprised me most. We received a bit more insight to some of the higher beings and
their understanding that villain in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is slowly returning to power. These
sequences are entertaining and great for fan service, but they seem to be handled a bit to simply as it
makes us wonder, if they knew this dark figure was alive, why did they wait so long (The Lord of the
Rings Trilogy) to do something about it. Still, it is nice to see the story wrapped up into one complete
adventure that viewer could connect all the way through.
In the end, those fans of the books and previous films will be pleased with the action, pace and way this
film wraps everything up. Other than the sequence of Bilbo’s interaction with Smaug in the last film, The
Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the best film in the Hobbit Series.
audiences that large scale fantasy could be done right on film with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And
now the final trek through middle earth is here with the third and final film in the Hobbit series.
Picking up at the climatic conclusion of 2013’s The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies is
less about the journey and more about the war between the various armies of middles earth over the
massive riches in the mountain home they journeyed to reclaim. After the exciting beginning that serves
to tie up the previous film and sets to table for this one, we begin to see the brotherhood between the
dwarfs, a wizard, a few elves and a Hobbit that focuses on the bonds of friendship and loyalty. This
builds on itself as it leads to the climactic battle of the five armies. The battle is on the grand scale you
would come to expect from these middle earth films, only at times this battle seems to rely on a bit too
much CGI and thus almost plays out cartoonish. Granted, this is a fantasy world were Dwarfs, Elves and
Men are fighting Orcs so it is really not that hard to suspend disbelief in the first place. Thus the film is
entertaining in its own right as it wraps up one trilogy and bridges to another.
This bridge is what surprised me most. We received a bit more insight to some of the higher beings and
their understanding that villain in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is slowly returning to power. These
sequences are entertaining and great for fan service, but they seem to be handled a bit to simply as it
makes us wonder, if they knew this dark figure was alive, why did they wait so long (The Lord of the
Rings Trilogy) to do something about it. Still, it is nice to see the story wrapped up into one complete
adventure that viewer could connect all the way through.
In the end, those fans of the books and previous films will be pleased with the action, pace and way this
film wraps everything up. Other than the sequence of Bilbo’s interaction with Smaug in the last film, The
Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the best film in the Hobbit Series.
Stig of the Dump
Clive King and Edward Ardizzone
7.3
Rate It
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A Puffin Book - stories that last a lifetime. Puffin Modern Classics are relaunched under a new...
Cassie Osbourne (6 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books
Nov 9, 2018
Alice and her mother, Ella, have been on the road for as long as she can remember, constantly followed by some kind of freak bad luck. When word reaches them that Ella’s mother, famous fairytale author Althea Proserpine, has died, they think they’re safe...until Ella gets kidnapped by the Hinterlands. To save her, Alice must venture into the Hazel Wood.
I LOVE fairy tales, the darker, the better as far as I’m concerned. So when I’m told about a book that is based around dark, original fairytales, naturally I wanted to read it as soon as I could get my hands on it. However, it wasn’t quite what I expected.
Although this is a book about fairy tales and their characters being real, we are only told two stories: ‘Alice Three Times’ and ‘The Door That Wasn’t There’. This means that when we meet the Nightwalkers, Twice-Killed-Katherine, the Briar King and Hansa the Traveller, we don’t know what to make of them because we don’t know their stories. Now, I am all for discovering more about characters and their motivations as the story unfolds, but we never get that with these characters - it’s almost just assumed that we know who they are. I even checked online to see if I was reading the second book in the series by mistake! There is a book being written called ‘Tales From The Hinterland’ which is the collection of stories that these characters are from, but it is set to be published in 2020 when really it should have come first. Having said all of that, I did really like the ‘real world’ characters, and I thought that Janet and Spinner were super cool.
The atmosphere was really good throughout, even in the middle section when I found it hard to read because I couldn’t connect were really atmospheric. I loved the strange surrealness and dreamlike writing that was very fairy tale-ish, and it was brilliant. I also really enjoyed the writing style. I don’t think that I’ve properly ever read a book with so many current references and I quite like it. It makes the book feel very contemporary (after all it was only published in January) and in our world, while still having the other world, the Hinterland, mixed in which gives it a slight feeling of invasion and overlap. It also really suits Alice’s character and voice since she is narrating the story and was brought up very much in our world.
The plot was good on the whole. My main issue, once again, comes down to the fact that the stories weren’t told - or rather that the wrong one was. ‘Alice Three Times’ was great because it became relevant but ‘The Door That Wasn’t There’ seemed not to have any purpose. Surely if there was one story that Finch would have told Alice, it would have been ‘Twice-Killed-Katherine’ as she is following them for most of the first half of the book (and then just disappears for no real reason).
While the beginning and end of the book are really great and really gripping, I found most of the middle section really difficult to read because, guess what, we didn’t know the stories! When I started reading this book, I thought that I would finish it in the same week I started it...that was two weeks ago. The middle of the book is when Alice actually enters the Hinterland, but since we don’t know anything about the characters or the world, it feels like we’re constantly playing catch up. Whenever I decided what I was going to sit down, grit my teeth and get through it, it felt like it was a chore and I could only manage one or two chapters at a time. It gets very gripping again from chapter twenty-eight when Alice starts to get sucked into the story, but that’s because we’ve already been told ‘Alice Three Times”.
Although I did like ‘The Hazel Wood’, a middle did take a lot of the enjoyment out of reading it. Maybe when ‘Tales From The Hinterland’ comes out, I’ll read that then give this book another shot when I am more informed.
Characters: 6/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 6/10
Logic: 7/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
I LOVE fairy tales, the darker, the better as far as I’m concerned. So when I’m told about a book that is based around dark, original fairytales, naturally I wanted to read it as soon as I could get my hands on it. However, it wasn’t quite what I expected.
Although this is a book about fairy tales and their characters being real, we are only told two stories: ‘Alice Three Times’ and ‘The Door That Wasn’t There’. This means that when we meet the Nightwalkers, Twice-Killed-Katherine, the Briar King and Hansa the Traveller, we don’t know what to make of them because we don’t know their stories. Now, I am all for discovering more about characters and their motivations as the story unfolds, but we never get that with these characters - it’s almost just assumed that we know who they are. I even checked online to see if I was reading the second book in the series by mistake! There is a book being written called ‘Tales From The Hinterland’ which is the collection of stories that these characters are from, but it is set to be published in 2020 when really it should have come first. Having said all of that, I did really like the ‘real world’ characters, and I thought that Janet and Spinner were super cool.
The atmosphere was really good throughout, even in the middle section when I found it hard to read because I couldn’t connect were really atmospheric. I loved the strange surrealness and dreamlike writing that was very fairy tale-ish, and it was brilliant. I also really enjoyed the writing style. I don’t think that I’ve properly ever read a book with so many current references and I quite like it. It makes the book feel very contemporary (after all it was only published in January) and in our world, while still having the other world, the Hinterland, mixed in which gives it a slight feeling of invasion and overlap. It also really suits Alice’s character and voice since she is narrating the story and was brought up very much in our world.
The plot was good on the whole. My main issue, once again, comes down to the fact that the stories weren’t told - or rather that the wrong one was. ‘Alice Three Times’ was great because it became relevant but ‘The Door That Wasn’t There’ seemed not to have any purpose. Surely if there was one story that Finch would have told Alice, it would have been ‘Twice-Killed-Katherine’ as she is following them for most of the first half of the book (and then just disappears for no real reason).
While the beginning and end of the book are really great and really gripping, I found most of the middle section really difficult to read because, guess what, we didn’t know the stories! When I started reading this book, I thought that I would finish it in the same week I started it...that was two weeks ago. The middle of the book is when Alice actually enters the Hinterland, but since we don’t know anything about the characters or the world, it feels like we’re constantly playing catch up. Whenever I decided what I was going to sit down, grit my teeth and get through it, it felt like it was a chore and I could only manage one or two chapters at a time. It gets very gripping again from chapter twenty-eight when Alice starts to get sucked into the story, but that’s because we’ve already been told ‘Alice Three Times”.
Although I did like ‘The Hazel Wood’, a middle did take a lot of the enjoyment out of reading it. Maybe when ‘Tales From The Hinterland’ comes out, I’ll read that then give this book another shot when I am more informed.
Characters: 6/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 6/10
Logic: 7/10
Enjoyment: 7/10