Search
Search results
The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated On a Cold Dark Sea in Books
Oct 5, 2020
Yes, this is yet another novel about the Titanic, but I request you not click away just yet. Instead, please read my latest review on my blog that answers the question: has Elizabeth Blackwell found an angle to this old story that sets her novel apart from all the rest, or has she, like so many before her who are transfixed with this story, fallen into the same mundane traps? Find out in my review of “On a Cold Dark Sea” on my blog, here.
https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/03/31/portraits-in-survival/
https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/03/31/portraits-in-survival/
Kevin Phillipson (10011 KP) rated Transformers Rise of the Beasts (2023) in Movies
Jun 23, 2023
Anthony ramos (1 more)
Dominique fishback
Watched today after so many not so great transformers movies with revenge of the fallen being the best sequel followed by bumblebee next best and now rise of the beasts the third best. Anyway the plot is self-explanatory u got good robots and bad robots who change into all manner of beasts and cars and trucks with Peter Cullen back again as optimus prime still the definitive prime in my opinion and I'm sticking with it if this is your type of movie go watch
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Angel Has Fallen (2019) in Movies
Jun 20, 2020
Full review: OMG explodey goodness! End.
Okay fine... the real full review is below.
Mike Banning is now on President Trumbull's secret service detail, past events have left him battered and bruised but he's not ready to stop doing what he was made to do.
When they take a short break so the President can get away from everything Mike is left in a life-changing situation. His team is all dead, the President is in a coma and all the evidence of the incident points to him. He needs to prove his innocence while evading every law enforcement agency that's hunting him, his only advantage? They aren't Mike Banning.
I loved Olympus Has Fallen, it was only narrowly edged out of the top spot the year it came out by White House Down. London Has Fallen was a completely different beast, it was much more aggressive and dark, and while entertaining it didn't feel like it fit with Olympus. Angel was always on my watchlist despite the dubious second instalment. At the very least it was going to be an action film where I didn't really have to think too much.
Angel Has Fallen is entirely predictable, I had two moments where I went "Oh... so this is what's going to happen..." I wasn't even mad that I guessed though, I was having too much fun.
Gerard Butler gets to flex his comedic muscles a bit more (look out for the wire), he does comedy so well that I've always got my fingers crossed for more of it. He mangles a lot of bad guys, naturally, but he managed to work in the fact that Mike isn't the spring chicken he used to be and it's a very convincing act. He also isn't phased by the fact his wife has had plastic surgery and transformed into a completely different woman.
Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Trumbull this time in the office of President. Freeman is one of my favourite actors and he always brings something to his roles. At one point he makes a very brief speech and that tone... it has a magical calming effect and instils great confidence. What are his political views? Is it worth considering him for office?
Nick Nolte also makes an appearance as Mike's estranger father. This leads to some very amusing scenes throughout. I'm not sure if it's because Nolte has the "grizzled back woodsman" look but it doesn't feel quite right that it's a father and son situation. The two have good chemistry though, especially while they're out in the woods.
There are some good and some bad things about the way the film is done. The worst is the CGI. Generally you'll always know where there's CGI in action but it will blend in well enough to be ignored. Some of the time that's true in Angel Has Fallen, but there's a lot that can't be ignored.
When it comes to the camera work it's quite good, you don't feel like you're missing anything and it helps you keep up with the action. There's just one point very early on that sticks out. We get a couple of first person shooter shots and while I understand why they were included it felt very out of place with the tone of everything around it.
After I saw London Has Fallen it felt like the franchise had already given up on itself a bit. Angel has definitely pulled it back. Olympus was a "serious" movie, London went much more ridiculous, and Angel did the only thing it could... go all out action. It feels very much like a classic 80s action storyline and I can't be mad at that.
Originally posted on: emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/08/angel-has-fallen-movie-review.html
Okay fine... the real full review is below.
Mike Banning is now on President Trumbull's secret service detail, past events have left him battered and bruised but he's not ready to stop doing what he was made to do.
When they take a short break so the President can get away from everything Mike is left in a life-changing situation. His team is all dead, the President is in a coma and all the evidence of the incident points to him. He needs to prove his innocence while evading every law enforcement agency that's hunting him, his only advantage? They aren't Mike Banning.
I loved Olympus Has Fallen, it was only narrowly edged out of the top spot the year it came out by White House Down. London Has Fallen was a completely different beast, it was much more aggressive and dark, and while entertaining it didn't feel like it fit with Olympus. Angel was always on my watchlist despite the dubious second instalment. At the very least it was going to be an action film where I didn't really have to think too much.
Angel Has Fallen is entirely predictable, I had two moments where I went "Oh... so this is what's going to happen..." I wasn't even mad that I guessed though, I was having too much fun.
Gerard Butler gets to flex his comedic muscles a bit more (look out for the wire), he does comedy so well that I've always got my fingers crossed for more of it. He mangles a lot of bad guys, naturally, but he managed to work in the fact that Mike isn't the spring chicken he used to be and it's a very convincing act. He also isn't phased by the fact his wife has had plastic surgery and transformed into a completely different woman.
Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Trumbull this time in the office of President. Freeman is one of my favourite actors and he always brings something to his roles. At one point he makes a very brief speech and that tone... it has a magical calming effect and instils great confidence. What are his political views? Is it worth considering him for office?
Nick Nolte also makes an appearance as Mike's estranger father. This leads to some very amusing scenes throughout. I'm not sure if it's because Nolte has the "grizzled back woodsman" look but it doesn't feel quite right that it's a father and son situation. The two have good chemistry though, especially while they're out in the woods.
There are some good and some bad things about the way the film is done. The worst is the CGI. Generally you'll always know where there's CGI in action but it will blend in well enough to be ignored. Some of the time that's true in Angel Has Fallen, but there's a lot that can't be ignored.
When it comes to the camera work it's quite good, you don't feel like you're missing anything and it helps you keep up with the action. There's just one point very early on that sticks out. We get a couple of first person shooter shots and while I understand why they were included it felt very out of place with the tone of everything around it.
After I saw London Has Fallen it felt like the franchise had already given up on itself a bit. Angel has definitely pulled it back. Olympus was a "serious" movie, London went much more ridiculous, and Angel did the only thing it could... go all out action. It feels very much like a classic 80s action storyline and I can't be mad at that.
Originally posted on: emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/08/angel-has-fallen-movie-review.html
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Angel Has Fallen (2019) in Movies
Jul 4, 2020
Honestly, if you put a gun to my head and asked me to recite what actually happens either Olympus Has Fallen or London Has Fallen, then I'd be shit out of luck. The recent third entry Angel Has Fallen will be no different in a week or two...
It's not awful (some of the action is fairly entertaining) but it's so by the numbers and boring. Jesus Christ, even Nick Nolte doing his by-now-expected-crazy-old-guy schtick is tiresome after roughly 5 seconds.
The plot revolves around Gerard Butler's Mike Banning, who is high up in the White Houses security detail, being framed for an assassination attempt on the President (Morgan Freeman). He is then chased down by the FBI, whilst he tries to figure out who is actually behind it, take them down, and clear his name.
I don't even need to spoil who the bad guys are because it's painfully obvious from the precise second we meet them.
I don't mind Gerard Butler by any means, but he seems to be phoning it in at this point, as he goes through the motions and runs through a gauntlet of action movie cliches - including but not limited to:
- a dramatic dimly lit and gun heavy opening scene that is blatantly a training excercise
- the hero throwing down an effective weapon to face of with the villain in hand to hand
- the hero walking away from an important family conversation at a pivotal moment to go and do hero stuff
- Danny Huston playing a smug arsehole
- A political sub plot involving Russia that doesn't actually go anywhere
Etc, etc.
I, like most people, love a good bit of Morgan Freeman, but unfortunately, they did a Leia on him and just had him in a coma for most of the film, yaaaaay. Jada Pinkett-Smith is in here somewhere as well, but I can't even remember what happens to her.
Just to top it all off, some of the effects work in this is terrible by any standard, but considering it's a big budget action film, it's pretty embarrassing.
I mean, I can be a miserable bastard sometimes, and I appreciate that maybe I'm railing too hard on a film that should just be a dumb popcorn film, but honestly, Angel Has Fallen feels like the result of someone forcing a bot to sit through the first two, and then produce a script for a sequel.
It's not awful (some of the action is fairly entertaining) but it's so by the numbers and boring. Jesus Christ, even Nick Nolte doing his by-now-expected-crazy-old-guy schtick is tiresome after roughly 5 seconds.
The plot revolves around Gerard Butler's Mike Banning, who is high up in the White Houses security detail, being framed for an assassination attempt on the President (Morgan Freeman). He is then chased down by the FBI, whilst he tries to figure out who is actually behind it, take them down, and clear his name.
I don't even need to spoil who the bad guys are because it's painfully obvious from the precise second we meet them.
I don't mind Gerard Butler by any means, but he seems to be phoning it in at this point, as he goes through the motions and runs through a gauntlet of action movie cliches - including but not limited to:
- a dramatic dimly lit and gun heavy opening scene that is blatantly a training excercise
- the hero throwing down an effective weapon to face of with the villain in hand to hand
- the hero walking away from an important family conversation at a pivotal moment to go and do hero stuff
- Danny Huston playing a smug arsehole
- A political sub plot involving Russia that doesn't actually go anywhere
Etc, etc.
I, like most people, love a good bit of Morgan Freeman, but unfortunately, they did a Leia on him and just had him in a coma for most of the film, yaaaaay. Jada Pinkett-Smith is in here somewhere as well, but I can't even remember what happens to her.
Just to top it all off, some of the effects work in this is terrible by any standard, but considering it's a big budget action film, it's pretty embarrassing.
I mean, I can be a miserable bastard sometimes, and I appreciate that maybe I'm railing too hard on a film that should just be a dumb popcorn film, but honestly, Angel Has Fallen feels like the result of someone forcing a bot to sit through the first two, and then produce a script for a sequel.
Book Divas (227 KP) rated Deep Blue (Waterfire Saga, #1) in Books
Dec 12, 2017
I simply loved this book and I found it hard to put it down. I've never really been a mermaid fan but these past few months as I've been discovering new authors I have certainly fallen in love with mer books. This book has just the right amount of drama, action and turmoil and I love that it is cleanly written so that my preteen daughter can read it as well.
I ordered the second book yesterday and I can't wait for it to come in. I loved the story line, the beautiful world building and the characters. It's a must read.
I ordered the second book yesterday and I can't wait for it to come in. I loved the story line, the beautiful world building and the characters. It's a must read.
Jenny Houle (24 KP) rated Be Like Bill in Books
Jan 13, 2018
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for an unbiased opinion.
"Be Like Bill", as anyone with a Facebook account already knows, was one of the biggest memes to hit in 2016. I wish I remember what mine said at the time, but it has fallen out of memory, as, sadly, has "Be Like Bill". Entertaining in the moment, but soon forgotten, BE LIKE BILL is a collection of the memes created at the time. I laughed out loud at several, but if you asked me ten minutes later which were my favorites, I honestly couldn't tell you.
"Be Like Bill", as anyone with a Facebook account already knows, was one of the biggest memes to hit in 2016. I wish I remember what mine said at the time, but it has fallen out of memory, as, sadly, has "Be Like Bill". Entertaining in the moment, but soon forgotten, BE LIKE BILL is a collection of the memes created at the time. I laughed out loud at several, but if you asked me ten minutes later which were my favorites, I honestly couldn't tell you.
starwarsluvr (236 KP) rated Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale, #1) in Books
Jan 30, 2018
Omg amazing. I am in love with this series already.. the characters and plot.. I love what appears to be the start of romance between a trio..I honestly have fallen in love with 2 of the guys so I'm not sure which way this will go. I find myself feeling horrible for Shade at some places and in other places I wanted to go through the computer and hurt her. lol And a couple of times I wanted to throw my kindle against the wall. Lol, that is when you know the book is awesome. Starting the 2nd one now woohoo.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Where One Goes (Where One Goes, #1) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
Tissues! I need more tissues!
Jeez! I really need to install a box (or three) of tissues on my night stand, or maybe just a bucket for me to cry into. I was just getting over one sad bit when I'd start all over again. And it was those unpretty, snotty tears too.
Ike, George, like Charlotte I have fallen for both of you too. And now, even after finishing the story I want to sob all over again. It's so sad...sniffle
After enjoying this so much, despite all the crying, I really wouldn't mind reading more books by the author.
Jeez! I really need to install a box (or three) of tissues on my night stand, or maybe just a bucket for me to cry into. I was just getting over one sad bit when I'd start all over again. And it was those unpretty, snotty tears too.
Ike, George, like Charlotte I have fallen for both of you too. And now, even after finishing the story I want to sob all over again. It's so sad...sniffle
After enjoying this so much, despite all the crying, I really wouldn't mind reading more books by the author.
Rachel Unthank recommended A Love Supreme by John Coltrane in Music (curated)
This is yet another book from a list on BookLikes called "Books to Fall in Love with". Some of them I have fallen in love with, some not so much and this is one of the latter.
I think it might have been down to the simplicity of the story after the two previous very complicated books i read before it. This didn't really engage me at all. The storyline was kinda cliche and rather boring compared to the previous two and i dont think cowboys do anything for me anymore.
I won't be reading any more of this series.
I think it might have been down to the simplicity of the story after the two previous very complicated books i read before it. This didn't really engage me at all. The storyline was kinda cliche and rather boring compared to the previous two and i dont think cowboys do anything for me anymore.
I won't be reading any more of this series.