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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Predators (2010) in Movies

May 14, 2019 (Updated Dec 4, 2019)  
Predators (2010)
Predators (2010)
2010 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Another Predator movie, another misfire
Contains spoilers, click to show
In reality, the only truly decent Predator film is the original (although I do have a soft spot for Predator 2 but shhh).

Predators is just a bit of a mess from the get go. We're very swiftly introduced to a cast of bland, cliched, "badass" characters, none of whom are particularly likable, and I can only find myself blaming the script for the most part. This cast includes true talents, including Adrian Brody, Laurence Fishburne, and Mahershala Ali, and none them succeed in making positive impact.
It also stars Topher Grace, who's character goes through some absolute-nonsense-sudden-shift-to-evil-douche plot twist near the end, by which point, you just struggle to care.

As for the actual Predator side of things - it's pretty underwhelming. The trailer promised a big number of the alien hunters, where in reality we get 4, who hardly get any screen time (which wouldn't be a problem if the human characters were actually interesting).
The opportunity to explore an alien world, rather than the usual setting of Earth is a nice idea, but mostly wasted bar a couple of nice looking landscape shots.
The whole thing comes down to a showdown between a lone Predator, and a shirtless Adrian Brody covered in mud, in what I Imagine was supposed to be an ode and call back to the original, but in reality, it just reminds you that you could be spending your time watching that instead.

Final thought - after the lengths that Arnie went through in the original to take down the Predator, I absolutely refuse to accept that one dude with a katana can cut one down with relative ease.
  
    Star-Crossed Myth

    Star-Crossed Myth

    Entertainment and Games

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    Read the Prologue and Episode 1 for each character for free! "It all started with a sin. A...

Lower World (Infernal Regions for the Unprepared #2)
Lower World (Infernal Regions for the Unprepared #2)
Maya Daniels | 2021 | Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
LOWER WORLD is the second book in the Infernal Regions for the Unprepared series and remember how I said the first one wasn't too fast-paced? Yeah, well, we're back to the crazy and frantic pace Maya Daniels is known for!

Don't get me wrong, it is still smoking-hot, and I love how Ms Daniels drags you along into her story, but for me, it just lost a bit of 'something' in the pace. Brooklyn and Dominic are heating up and the trust is building, but with all the action going on, I felt like I missed part of that. Alice is a cracker, as always, and I am loving her role in this.

Now, I was warned about the ending of this book, so I was expecting something. Usually, I end up throwing my Kindle away in disgust at the typical cliffhanger endings, but this time, this time I was okay with it. Maybe it's because I was warned, or maybe it's because although I know Brooklyn is in danger, she is too tough to go down easy, PLUS she has her crew coming for her. And then there is the whole question mark about her mum. So, yeah, cliffhanger but one I'm happy with.

I am still loving this series, and can't wait to see where it goes next. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and lie down, get my heart rate down, and be ready to start the world at a normal pace, not superspeed!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 15, 2021
  
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
N.K. Jemisin | 2000 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Finally got around to reading this one to see what all the fuss was about. I purchased the omnibus ebook on my nook app to have all three after reading the sample a few days prior and it stuck with me. let me just say that the hype is warranted. going into it I really didn't expect to be so entranced by the story, as I haven't read this sort of fantasy in a long time, but I found myself resentful every time real life interfered with my reading forcing me to put it down for a while. I was so absorbed that I even dreamed about it lol. there is something about the authors writing style that hooked me from the beginning, the world building is superb, and the characters were very well developed. I loved that there were plot twists I didn't see coming a mile away, especially at the end. the ending was nicely done, tying up this particular story while also setting up the next book in the trilogy. highly recommended! now I'm on to book two!
  
    Dr. Panda Mailman

    Dr. Panda Mailman

    Education and Games

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    **Winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award for 2015!** Be a mailman and deliver mail as you explore a...

Samurai Spirit
Samurai Spirit
2014 | Animals, Fantasy, Fighting
One of the best parts of the board gaming experience is finding a fun group of people with whom to play! Sometimes, though, coordinating a game night is easier said than done. We all must occasionally forego the group experience and face the world as the Lonely Only. But fear not! The world of solo-play is a vast and exciting realm! What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the solo-playing world – notes on gameplay, mechanics, rules, difficulty, and overall experience with solo variations of commonly multiplayer games! I hope this will provide some insight as you continue to grow your collection, or explore your already owned games!

As a Samurai, you spend your life traveling across the land to help those in need. Most recently, you and a handful of other Samurai have been contracted by a small village to defend them against a clan of invading raiders. Only by working together, and by using your extensive training, will you succeed in keeping this village safe!

Samurai Spirit is a cooperative game of press-your-luck. Players take on the role of a Samurai, each with a unique power, and take turns drawing cards and fighting off the invaders or offering support to your fellow Samurai. Invaders can have recurring negative effects, so strategize wisely on how best to combat them and see how far you can push your luck each round. If you are able to survive through 3 rounds (waves) of invaders with at least one surviving farmstead and family, the Samurai are victorious and the village is saved! If any of the Samurai are killed, or the village has been completely destroyed by invaders, then the game is lost. As a solo game, Samurai Spirit plays essentially the same as in group play, with only 2 main differences – the solo player controls 2 Samurai instead of 1, and the support tokens from the unused Samurai are each available for use once during the game.

For such a neat theme, this game falls short for me. It seems simple enough, but there are areas of ambiguity in the rules that lead to some confusion. For starters, the text size is so small that I am not able to find any information at a quick glance! The text itself is not always clear either – like when, at the end of a round, the rules say to collect all cards used this round, does that include cards that have been discarded due to Samurai abilities? How about the cards of the Intruder stack that are presumably discarded after being revealed? The rulebook offers no clarification, and I honestly still don’t know the right answer.

The order/layout of the rules feels mismatched too – relevant information is not always grouped together, and I find myself flipping between several pages at a time trying to figure out one single thing. For example, in the ‘Fight’ action description, it says that if you reach your Kiai value exactly, you can activate your Kiai ability. You have to turn the page to a different section to see exactly what activating that ability means, and then you have to flip an additional 2 more pages to see what each individual Kiai ability is! Why not just put them all in one place? It would certainly be easier to understand if all relevant information was grouped together.

The prominent mechanic of Samurai Spirit is press-your-luck, and I would definitely say that this game is very luck-based. When setting up the game, the initial deck of cards is randomly selected and that can impact whether or not you are able to complete certain requirements each round – if there aren’t enough hat/farm/doll cards for each Samurai, you are guaranteed to incur a penalty at the end of every round. Actual gameplay is very luck-based too, and for me it feels like there are no good ways to strategize – your choices are all dependent on the luck of the draw. You can push your luck to draw more cards and use special abilities, but since you are suffering from recurring penalties each turn, it feels futile to keep going at a certain point.

For me, Samurai Spirit is repetitive and kind of boring – suffer penalty, draw card, and repeat until you eventually pass or the deck runs out. It’s like a too-complicated version of blackjack in which the deck is stacked against you. It’s such a bummer because the theme and artwork are neat, and the gameplay (in theory, at least) should be effective. But the actual execution is too reliant on luck to be successful.

I do quite a bit of solo gaming, but this game is never one that I willingly decide to play. I honestly only broke it out recently as a refresher for this review. Perhaps it is better at higher player counts, but since that is not where most of my gaming occurs, Samurai Spirit is a dud for me.

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/solo-chronicles-samurai-spirit/
  
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Butch Vig recommended track My Generation by The Who in Who Sings My Generation by The Who in Music (curated)

 
Who Sings My Generation by The Who
Who Sings My Generation by The Who
1965 | Rock
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

My Generation by The Who

(0 Ratings)

Track

"This had a profound effect on me when I was really young. I was maybe eleven or twelve years old when I saw The Who play ‘My Generation’ on a TV show called The Smothers Brothers Show. I was sitting with my brother, sister and parents and I just freaked out at how powerful they were. Watching Keith Moon, I just couldn’t understand what he was doing. I’d never seen anyone play like that before, he blew up his bass drum at the end of the performance, it was unbelievable and that’s when I told my parents I wanted to get a drum set. My mum said “Well, if you want to get a drum set you’ll have to take lessons and keep up your piano lessons too.” I promised I’d do both and kept up my piano lessons for about a year, but then I dropped them and focussed on the drums and started trying to figure out how to play Rock and Roll. The Who are in my top five bands of all time, in my home studio in Los Angeles I’ve got photos of them spread throughout the studios and the hallways. They had everything, they looked cool, Pete Townsend was an incredible writer, the way he played the guitar with windmills and swooping arm movements, Roger Daltrey was a great singer and an iconic frontman and John Entwistle’s bass runs held the band together. They had an incredibly unique sound. I still love this song, it’s in my top ten greatest rock songs ever written. It speaks to the essence of the confusion of adolescence and even the confusion of being an adult and what kind of world we live in. It never gets old, it’s a constant recurring theme that every generation of kids grows up with."

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