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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Predators (2010) in Movies
May 14, 2019 (Updated Dec 4, 2019)
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.
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.
Salvation (Protectors #2)
10.0
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Trauma surgeon Ronan Grisham lost everything the day the man he loved was stolen from him in a...
audio 5 stars darker/grittier male/male romance
Web Designer Magazine: HTML, CSS, Javascript
Book and Magazines & Newspapers
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Web Designer is the premier magazine for aspiring online creatives and industry professionals. Each...
Joelene Marie (28 KP) rated The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms in Books
Oct 1, 2018
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!
Bokosuka Wars II
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"Defeat the tyrant King Ogereth!" Free your allies and lead your armies to invade the Basamu...
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Star-Crossed Myth
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Read the Prologue and Episode 1 for each character for free! "It all started with a sin. A...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 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
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A Puffin Book - stories that last a lifetime. Puffin Modern Classics are relaunched under a new...
Butch Vig recommended track My Generation by The Who in Who Sings My Generation by The Who in Music (curated)
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers [Audiobook] in Books
Apr 16, 2023
![Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers [Audiobook]](/uploads/profile_image/300/2ffa3ab2-a7f9-4edd-8d81-161ea4223300.jpg?m=1681658635)
After initially thinking "oh dear, I'm not going to like this", the more I listened the more I grew to love Vera Wong.
Vera lives on her own after the death of her husband, her son being successful and not in her life quite as much as she would like. Once a thriving tea shop, Vera Wang's World Famous Tea House is now on it's last legs having only one regular customer so when she discovers a dead body in the middle of her shop one morning, she decides it has to be murder and begins to investigate and find out who killed Marshall.
Using her own logic, Vera decides that those who turn up at her shop to ask questions about the body immediately become suspects and she begins to ingratiate herself into their lives using her forthright nature, a little bit of manipulation, fantastic cooking and, if course, tea.
As the story develops, we get to know each of the characters and suspects more so by the end, you don't want any of them to be guilty of murder but one of them must be surely?
This is definitely within the 'cosy mystery' genre and whilst there is little action, I was caught up in the story hook, line and sinker and desperate to know what the ultimate outcome was going to be and I definitely wasn't disappointed.
The narrator was excellent and she totally drew me into the story and into Vera's life. This, for me, was definitely a book to listen to rather than to read myself and I am hopeful that Vera will do more investigating in the future.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.
Vera lives on her own after the death of her husband, her son being successful and not in her life quite as much as she would like. Once a thriving tea shop, Vera Wang's World Famous Tea House is now on it's last legs having only one regular customer so when she discovers a dead body in the middle of her shop one morning, she decides it has to be murder and begins to investigate and find out who killed Marshall.
Using her own logic, Vera decides that those who turn up at her shop to ask questions about the body immediately become suspects and she begins to ingratiate herself into their lives using her forthright nature, a little bit of manipulation, fantastic cooking and, if course, tea.
As the story develops, we get to know each of the characters and suspects more so by the end, you don't want any of them to be guilty of murder but one of them must be surely?
This is definitely within the 'cosy mystery' genre and whilst there is little action, I was caught up in the story hook, line and sinker and desperate to know what the ultimate outcome was going to be and I definitely wasn't disappointed.
The narrator was excellent and she totally drew me into the story and into Vera's life. This, for me, was definitely a book to listen to rather than to read myself and I am hopeful that Vera will do more investigating in the future.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.