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Mike Wilder (20 KP) rated 2012 (2009) in Movies
May 30, 2018
As a disaster movie it doesn't get much better than this.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Roland Emmerich has done it again. He seems to get a kick out of bringing out humanities worst fears and putting them on screen in all its glory. After destroying a large part of the world in Independence Day: ID4, and trashing New York with Godzilla, he decides to go the rest of the way and change the face of the earth forever and in the process kill off most of humanity. What is the enemy this time? Aliens? Nope done that. Monsters? Nope also done that. Bad weather? Once again done that. What is left? I know lets have the sun spit out solar flares that heat up the earth's core and destabilize the planet! Whatever his problem with humanity is, it translates well on to film. This is an epic disaster movie. No part of the world is safe and there is no magic quick fix here.
The film itself is simple, massive destruction minimal plot. But in this case it really works. With amazing effects and a great cast that includes John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover and the story is played out well and the acting is good. It is not too over the top except the stand out performance from the great Woody Harrelson. He is your go to guy when you are looking for crazy, and once again he pulls off the crazy guy effortlessly.
I really enjoyed this film and I think it has been given an unfairly hard time by critics and movie goers alike. I don't understand what people expected from this film. It is a disaster film not The Shawshank Redemption! I expected disaster and destruction and it exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect award winning performances by the actors (many of who are award nominees and winners), and I didn't expect a plot more complicated than oh s**t, we are going to die what can we do? Many viewers and critics must have forgotten the other films by Roland Emmerich when viewing this or they were comparing it to other films that were released at the same time. However I judge a film on its own merit and not comparing it to films that are in a different category. As a disaster movie it doesn't get much better than this.
The film itself is simple, massive destruction minimal plot. But in this case it really works. With amazing effects and a great cast that includes John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover and the story is played out well and the acting is good. It is not too over the top except the stand out performance from the great Woody Harrelson. He is your go to guy when you are looking for crazy, and once again he pulls off the crazy guy effortlessly.
I really enjoyed this film and I think it has been given an unfairly hard time by critics and movie goers alike. I don't understand what people expected from this film. It is a disaster film not The Shawshank Redemption! I expected disaster and destruction and it exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect award winning performances by the actors (many of who are award nominees and winners), and I didn't expect a plot more complicated than oh s**t, we are going to die what can we do? Many viewers and critics must have forgotten the other films by Roland Emmerich when viewing this or they were comparing it to other films that were released at the same time. However I judge a film on its own merit and not comparing it to films that are in a different category. As a disaster movie it doesn't get much better than this.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Into the Blue (2005) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
In the thriller Into the Blue Sam (Jessica Alba), and Jared (Paul Walker), spend a lot of time scantily clad and swimming in the clear waters in some of the most lavish locales known.
Sam is an Oceanographer and Jared spends his time trying to restore his boat in hopes of searching for lost treasure and artifacts at various spots where ships were reported to have been lost over the years. They have a simple yet happy life, and although Jared feels that the time has come for him to make something of his life.
An arrival of Bryce (Scott Caan), and his new girlfriend Amanda (Ashley Scott), who seek to have some fun and party the days away provides a distraction to Sam and Jared and before long, they are taking in the luxury of the house Bryce is using, and its lavish boat.
A series of dives eventually leads the group to a sunken plane filled with cocaine and into more danger than they can realize. Convinced they have found the fabled lost ship Jared has long sought, he fears that turning the plane in will result in the loss of his claim. The group makes a pact to keep the plane, cargo and location a secret until they can finalize their claim on the shipwreck. Before long, the need for money leads to thoughts of selling the drugs to finance a salvage operation.
A bad situation becomes even worse when the owners of the drugs become aware of what the group is up to, and seek to reclaim their lost fortune letting nothing stand in their way.
While the film is mostly Alba, Walker, and the cast lounging semi clothed in the sun, with numerous close ups of Alba swimming slowly by the camera, there are some good moments in the film. Despite the plot holes, gaps in logic, and some bad acting, the film does have some entertaining moments. The buzz on the film was largely negative prior to my screener, yet I found myself enjoying it. The final segment of the film lost much of the earlier progress as the formulaic and stale ending, complete with the stiff and drawn out action, sink what could have been a good film.
That being said, the film does make for a nice diversion, just keep your expectations low.
Sam is an Oceanographer and Jared spends his time trying to restore his boat in hopes of searching for lost treasure and artifacts at various spots where ships were reported to have been lost over the years. They have a simple yet happy life, and although Jared feels that the time has come for him to make something of his life.
An arrival of Bryce (Scott Caan), and his new girlfriend Amanda (Ashley Scott), who seek to have some fun and party the days away provides a distraction to Sam and Jared and before long, they are taking in the luxury of the house Bryce is using, and its lavish boat.
A series of dives eventually leads the group to a sunken plane filled with cocaine and into more danger than they can realize. Convinced they have found the fabled lost ship Jared has long sought, he fears that turning the plane in will result in the loss of his claim. The group makes a pact to keep the plane, cargo and location a secret until they can finalize their claim on the shipwreck. Before long, the need for money leads to thoughts of selling the drugs to finance a salvage operation.
A bad situation becomes even worse when the owners of the drugs become aware of what the group is up to, and seek to reclaim their lost fortune letting nothing stand in their way.
While the film is mostly Alba, Walker, and the cast lounging semi clothed in the sun, with numerous close ups of Alba swimming slowly by the camera, there are some good moments in the film. Despite the plot holes, gaps in logic, and some bad acting, the film does have some entertaining moments. The buzz on the film was largely negative prior to my screener, yet I found myself enjoying it. The final segment of the film lost much of the earlier progress as the formulaic and stale ending, complete with the stiff and drawn out action, sink what could have been a good film.
That being said, the film does make for a nice diversion, just keep your expectations low.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated IA: B.O.S.S (IA #2) in Books
Nov 15, 2019
The first book in this series, IA: Initiate, introduced us to Naz, a teenage boy living in a ghetto with his little sister after both their parents have died. Naz, who has no memories from before he came to live in the Exclave, find he has unusual abilities. He is able to play chess to an impressive level and perform physical feats with ease. He is also very intelligent but chooses to live the easy life, doing just as well as he needs to at school to avoid attention. He just wants to be left alone.
In this second book he finds he can no longer hide; his chess playing prowess has been spotted and he finds himself trying out for the school basketball team. Although this exposes him more than he would like he also goes from something of a loner to a member of a close-knit team.
The first book showed a glimpse of the depth of Naz's abilities and history, with hints that something larger is going on. This novel continues that, answering a lot of the questions arising from the first book, but again it is clear that there is a lot more going on than Naz is aware of. Where the first book was focussed tightly on Naz and his sister, this book moves back a bit to include more of his school mates and teachers.
As before the characterisation is really effective and the interactions feel real and genuine. Coach Fears, introduced as a bit-part in the first book is now a main character as are the members of the basketball team.
The plot takes several left turns which took me by surprise and there is a palpable undercurrent of menace as the climax builds. Winston put his hero through the emotional wringer and doesn't spare the readers from the full impact of this. Everything progresses to a stunning conclusion which just opens up the possibilities for the next in the series.
This is pure science fiction but with such a powerful human dimension and intelligence that I simply cannot fault it. Although this is aimed at a Young Adult audience it will appeal to anyone who appreciates a carefully plotted and finely written book. Recommended to anyone
In this second book he finds he can no longer hide; his chess playing prowess has been spotted and he finds himself trying out for the school basketball team. Although this exposes him more than he would like he also goes from something of a loner to a member of a close-knit team.
The first book showed a glimpse of the depth of Naz's abilities and history, with hints that something larger is going on. This novel continues that, answering a lot of the questions arising from the first book, but again it is clear that there is a lot more going on than Naz is aware of. Where the first book was focussed tightly on Naz and his sister, this book moves back a bit to include more of his school mates and teachers.
As before the characterisation is really effective and the interactions feel real and genuine. Coach Fears, introduced as a bit-part in the first book is now a main character as are the members of the basketball team.
The plot takes several left turns which took me by surprise and there is a palpable undercurrent of menace as the climax builds. Winston put his hero through the emotional wringer and doesn't spare the readers from the full impact of this. Everything progresses to a stunning conclusion which just opens up the possibilities for the next in the series.
This is pure science fiction but with such a powerful human dimension and intelligence that I simply cannot fault it. Although this is aimed at a Young Adult audience it will appeal to anyone who appreciates a carefully plotted and finely written book. Recommended to anyone
Heart's Medicine: Time to Heal
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Lights Out (2016) in Movies
Oct 31, 2020
When The Lights Are Off
Lights Out- is a scary movie. Its terrorfying, horrorfying, suspenseful and twisted.
The plot: When Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) left home, she thought that her childhood fears were behind her. As a young girl growing up, she was never really sure of what was real when the lights went out at night. Now, her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that jeopardized her safety and sanity. Holding a mysterious attachment to their mother (Maria Bello), a supernatural entity has returned with a vengeance to torment the entire family.
is based on Sandberg's 2013 short film of the same name and features Lotta Losten, who starred in the short.
Special effects of having the ghost appear and disappear were mostly done by using a split-screen technique as also used in the short. Sandberg said "Whenever she's in frame with another character, it's basically just a split screen. So you shoot it with her and without her. You turn the camera on with her, you turn it off and she walks off, and then you turn it on again. It's super simple, actually." Sandberg also made a list of what he called the "light gags", or different ways to create light sources from flashlights to cell phones and gunfire. In the scene when Diana appears in Rebecca's room, James Wan suggested replacing passing car headlights in an early treatment with the flashing neon sign that appears in the final film.
Sandberg originally based the character of Rebecca on a real girl that he knew who was suffering from depression, and who was engaging in self-harm, which is why Rebecca has scars on her arms, but the development of the film made it less about depression and more of a ghost story in which Diana would have been the real person who died and became a ghost. Wan came up with the idea of making Diana the ghost. Rebecca's boyfriend was also given a twist of being a rocker, but is actually committed and responsible, even driving a safe car like a Volvo. Another twist Sandberg liked was making the imaginary friend for the mother rather than the trope of having the friend be for the child
Its a excellent supernatural movie.
The plot: When Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) left home, she thought that her childhood fears were behind her. As a young girl growing up, she was never really sure of what was real when the lights went out at night. Now, her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that jeopardized her safety and sanity. Holding a mysterious attachment to their mother (Maria Bello), a supernatural entity has returned with a vengeance to torment the entire family.
is based on Sandberg's 2013 short film of the same name and features Lotta Losten, who starred in the short.
Special effects of having the ghost appear and disappear were mostly done by using a split-screen technique as also used in the short. Sandberg said "Whenever she's in frame with another character, it's basically just a split screen. So you shoot it with her and without her. You turn the camera on with her, you turn it off and she walks off, and then you turn it on again. It's super simple, actually." Sandberg also made a list of what he called the "light gags", or different ways to create light sources from flashlights to cell phones and gunfire. In the scene when Diana appears in Rebecca's room, James Wan suggested replacing passing car headlights in an early treatment with the flashing neon sign that appears in the final film.
Sandberg originally based the character of Rebecca on a real girl that he knew who was suffering from depression, and who was engaging in self-harm, which is why Rebecca has scars on her arms, but the development of the film made it less about depression and more of a ghost story in which Diana would have been the real person who died and became a ghost. Wan came up with the idea of making Diana the ghost. Rebecca's boyfriend was also given a twist of being a rocker, but is actually committed and responsible, even driving a safe car like a Volvo. Another twist Sandberg liked was making the imaginary friend for the mother rather than the trope of having the friend be for the child
Its a excellent supernatural movie.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Unchosen in Books
Jul 1, 2021
The protagonist of this book is Charlotte, she is a middle child out of three sisters and the least gifted one of them all. Her older sister Harlow is a popular guitar player and very strong personality in general, her younger sister Vanessa is a talented gymnast. All her life Charlotte is left living in Harlow’s shadow, loving the boy who is in love with her sister and taking care of Vanessa. She sounds pretty miserable until she is taken from the camp as the Chosen One, who will save everyone from Crimson. Only then I could see, that Charlotte is not as useless as she portrayed it. I have to admit, in the beginning, I thought that Harlow should be the main character, she was more suitable, but by the time I finished the book, I was glad that Charlotte was the protagonist. 🙂 This book has such a great selection of characters to choose from! I loved them all, they were very well presented and delivered.
The narrative of this book is very fast-paced, and there is always something happening in this book. Most of the book is spent on the ship sailing through the ocean, and I really enjoyed the sailor’s life portrayed in this book. There is plenty of action, turns and twists, and this book really had me hooked and entertained. I loved the romance in this book as well, it is exciting, full of sexual tension and very adorable. The topics discussed in this book are forbidden love, family relations, bravery, adventures, self-pity, friendships, overcoming your fears and phobias and many more.
I really enjoyed the world that the author created for the reader. I felt like I was alongside the characters during their journeys. It has very strong Bird Box vibes, but also there is so much more going on than that. The chapters are pretty short, and the pages just flew by. I loved the ending of this book, it left me very satisfied with the outcome.
So, to conclude, I loved this book, and could not put it down. I really liked the characters and the roles they played as well as the fast-paced and full of adventures plot. It has all the things I need for an enjoyable dystopian/fantasy YA book, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who likes pirates, ships and adventures.
The narrative of this book is very fast-paced, and there is always something happening in this book. Most of the book is spent on the ship sailing through the ocean, and I really enjoyed the sailor’s life portrayed in this book. There is plenty of action, turns and twists, and this book really had me hooked and entertained. I loved the romance in this book as well, it is exciting, full of sexual tension and very adorable. The topics discussed in this book are forbidden love, family relations, bravery, adventures, self-pity, friendships, overcoming your fears and phobias and many more.
I really enjoyed the world that the author created for the reader. I felt like I was alongside the characters during their journeys. It has very strong Bird Box vibes, but also there is so much more going on than that. The chapters are pretty short, and the pages just flew by. I loved the ending of this book, it left me very satisfied with the outcome.
So, to conclude, I loved this book, and could not put it down. I really liked the characters and the roles they played as well as the fast-paced and full of adventures plot. It has all the things I need for an enjoyable dystopian/fantasy YA book, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who likes pirates, ships and adventures.
Bong Mines Entertainment (15 KP) rated New to You by Samie Bower in Music
Jul 10, 2019
Samie Bower is a rising singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Not too long ago, he released a lovely alternative R&B tune, entitled, “Tell Me”, released via Mickey Shiloh’s BDRM Records.
“Forget who you thought was around. What you allow? Let me take you outta town. I know you down. I’ma go show you around. Tell me what you wanna do now. I’m in awe, I called out. Staying with you, me and you. I’ma go start on the car now. I’m with tunes and food now. I don’t stall, I pull out. So demanding, yet monotone. I’m all up in there.” – lyrics
‘Tell Me’ tells an interesting tale of a young guy who fears that his significant other will leave him one day for the same guy who she broke up with in order for them to be together.
Now, he’s having doubts, buggin’ out, paranoid, wondering if she will be around in a month’s time. Later, he admits that he doesn’t want her to do him like she did her ex-beau.
Even though they say they shouldn’t be together, neither one of them really wants to leave their problematic relationship.
‘Tell Me’ contains a relatable storyline, harmonious vocals, and melodic instrumentation flavored with PBR&B (R-neg-B Hipster R&B) elements.
“It’s an on-going situation about how the one you left your past for, is now worried you’re gonna leave them and go back to who you left originally. With the chorus saying ‘I don’t want that done to me’ is basically a translation of ‘yeah, you can do that to get to me. But you can’t do it towards me so you leave’. It’s a string of webs for a storyline, but a true situation people go through every day. Being in a good relationship, but then suddenly finding someone else, so you leave to be with the new person. But at the same time, as time goes on, you have second thoughts and think about going back to who you were with originally. Meanwhile, the new person isn’t too happy to see it take place. I see it happen so often, and honestly, it’s a disappointing thing to see, but then again, depends on your perspective.” – Samie Bower
‘Tell Me’ is featured on Samie Bower’s “New to You” album. Check it out below via Spotify.
“Forget who you thought was around. What you allow? Let me take you outta town. I know you down. I’ma go show you around. Tell me what you wanna do now. I’m in awe, I called out. Staying with you, me and you. I’ma go start on the car now. I’m with tunes and food now. I don’t stall, I pull out. So demanding, yet monotone. I’m all up in there.” – lyrics
‘Tell Me’ tells an interesting tale of a young guy who fears that his significant other will leave him one day for the same guy who she broke up with in order for them to be together.
Now, he’s having doubts, buggin’ out, paranoid, wondering if she will be around in a month’s time. Later, he admits that he doesn’t want her to do him like she did her ex-beau.
Even though they say they shouldn’t be together, neither one of them really wants to leave their problematic relationship.
‘Tell Me’ contains a relatable storyline, harmonious vocals, and melodic instrumentation flavored with PBR&B (R-neg-B Hipster R&B) elements.
“It’s an on-going situation about how the one you left your past for, is now worried you’re gonna leave them and go back to who you left originally. With the chorus saying ‘I don’t want that done to me’ is basically a translation of ‘yeah, you can do that to get to me. But you can’t do it towards me so you leave’. It’s a string of webs for a storyline, but a true situation people go through every day. Being in a good relationship, but then suddenly finding someone else, so you leave to be with the new person. But at the same time, as time goes on, you have second thoughts and think about going back to who you were with originally. Meanwhile, the new person isn’t too happy to see it take place. I see it happen so often, and honestly, it’s a disappointing thing to see, but then again, depends on your perspective.” – Samie Bower
‘Tell Me’ is featured on Samie Bower’s “New to You” album. Check it out below via Spotify.