Search
Search results
Merissa (13446 KP) rated Dire Straits (Aspen Falls #4) in Books
Jul 18, 2018
Dire Straits (Aspen Falls #4) by Melissa Pearl & Anna Cruise
Dire Straits is the fourth book in the Aspen Falls series, and we get to know Jessica and Jarrett a bit better. Both of them are unhappy in their current jobs/situation, but neither of them feel able to make a change. Just before Jessica has a week's vacation, a dead body is found. This leads to questions being asked by Jarrett and Jess, both professionally and personally.
The romance side of this was a slow burn, and going behind closed doors when necessary. The mystery side kept me guessing all the way through, although I had my own suspects.
There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is always a pleasure to catch up with old characters, and I loved the cameos we got.
This is a great series that I am thoroughly enjoying. Can't wait for the next one.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
The romance side of this was a slow burn, and going behind closed doors when necessary. The mystery side kept me guessing all the way through, although I had my own suspects.
There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is always a pleasure to catch up with old characters, and I loved the cameos we got.
This is a great series that I am thoroughly enjoying. Can't wait for the next one.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated The Dinosaur Project (2012) in Movies
Jul 22, 2018
I stuck with it (1 more)
I've seen worse CGI and acting
Forgettable movie (2 more)
Not enough dinosaurs
Boring
Blair witch project meets Jurassic park?
Yet another £1 movie I discovered and I have to say it is not worth it. That is 1 hour and 20 mins I will never get back.
The front of the blu ray case says 'the best Dino film since Jurassic park". That is laughable. It might as well have been a monster movie because I did not see that many dinosaurs. Maybe 3 different types?
This is a found footage movie. This genre has been, I feel, exhausted. It is no longer fresh and unique. It felt a lot like Blair witch project with them trying to build a suspense but that was not there. A fear of the unknown which meant there was no action.
The acting isnt horrible and neither is the CGI. Only good things about it I guess. But the characters were forgettable and their relationships were not believable.
It is badly paced with a lot of slow talking scenes while doing a lot of travelling. It is a predictable movie with an obvious betrayal and and ending.
The front of the blu ray case says 'the best Dino film since Jurassic park". That is laughable. It might as well have been a monster movie because I did not see that many dinosaurs. Maybe 3 different types?
This is a found footage movie. This genre has been, I feel, exhausted. It is no longer fresh and unique. It felt a lot like Blair witch project with them trying to build a suspense but that was not there. A fear of the unknown which meant there was no action.
The acting isnt horrible and neither is the CGI. Only good things about it I guess. But the characters were forgettable and their relationships were not believable.
It is badly paced with a lot of slow talking scenes while doing a lot of travelling. It is a predictable movie with an obvious betrayal and and ending.
Lee (2222 KP) rated A Star Is Born (2018) in Movies
Oct 6, 2018 (Updated Oct 6, 2018)
Bradley Cooper (1 more)
Lady Gaga
Disappointing
Last night I took Mrs B along to see this, much anticipated, much hyped movie. And to say we came away disappointed is an understatement.
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are both amazing in this, particularly in the early parts of the movie as we're introduced to both characters - music legend Jackson Maine and aspiring singer/songwriter Ally. The songs they sing, the story of them meeting up, falling in love and touring together, it's all good. But then things begin to go downhill for Jackson, while Ally gradually becomes more and more like Lady Gaga. There are some great moments in the latter half of the movie, but it's mostly Jackson slurring his words while you try and work out what he's saying and Ally doing choreography with her dancers and playing big gigs. And it drags, it really drags.
I actually heard some people behind me in the cinema complaining how boring it was. That's a little unfair, but there are certainly a lot of boring moments and I didn't feel it was worthy of all the hype.
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are both amazing in this, particularly in the early parts of the movie as we're introduced to both characters - music legend Jackson Maine and aspiring singer/songwriter Ally. The songs they sing, the story of them meeting up, falling in love and touring together, it's all good. But then things begin to go downhill for Jackson, while Ally gradually becomes more and more like Lady Gaga. There are some great moments in the latter half of the movie, but it's mostly Jackson slurring his words while you try and work out what he's saying and Ally doing choreography with her dancers and playing big gigs. And it drags, it really drags.
I actually heard some people behind me in the cinema complaining how boring it was. That's a little unfair, but there are certainly a lot of boring moments and I didn't feel it was worthy of all the hype.
Jarom Solar Norris (186 KP) rated A Star Is Born (2018) in Movies
Oct 9, 2018
I'm Very Conflicted
I'm having a really hard time judging this movie. Minor spoilers below.
Most of the movie was amazing. It moved kind of fast but told a really good story about two messy people putting their lives in front of each other and the world. The songs had great lyrics that made you think. And the dialogue made you think too: about careers, about relationships, about the responsibility that comes with talent and the choices we make.
The ending threw all of that away. I'm really opposed to the point of view that a sad ending makes a movie bad. But this movie's ending had no purpose. It didn't make some grand message, or underline the other messages the movie had already made. It didn't add anything to the film other than a sad ending. It just made me mad and upset, and sure, sometimes art does that, but not without purpose.
How do you give a score to a movie that made you feel so much and think about so many things and then decided it wanted you to walk away feeling empty instead of thoughtful?
Most of the movie was amazing. It moved kind of fast but told a really good story about two messy people putting their lives in front of each other and the world. The songs had great lyrics that made you think. And the dialogue made you think too: about careers, about relationships, about the responsibility that comes with talent and the choices we make.
The ending threw all of that away. I'm really opposed to the point of view that a sad ending makes a movie bad. But this movie's ending had no purpose. It didn't make some grand message, or underline the other messages the movie had already made. It didn't add anything to the film other than a sad ending. It just made me mad and upset, and sure, sometimes art does that, but not without purpose.
How do you give a score to a movie that made you feel so much and think about so many things and then decided it wanted you to walk away feeling empty instead of thoughtful?
ClareR (6001 KP) rated The Trick to Time in Books
Nov 6, 2018
A surprisingly beautiful novel.
I knew (and hoped) that this was going to be a good book, based on Kit de Waal's previous book 'My Name is Leon'. I have not been let down. I loved this. If it wasn't a library book, I would probably have turned back to the start and begun again.
This is the story of Mona: her life as a child, a young woman and an older woman (in the present day). She moves from Ireland to England to work and find more excitement than the village life she has experienced in Ireland, leaving her father behind (her mother dies when she is young). She meets a young Irish man and marries him. We skip between the present day and her past from chapter to chapter. In the present day, Mona hand makes dolls which she sells online around the world. These wooden dolls are made by 'the carpenter' and Mona makes their clothes. She meets a German 'gentleman' who always seems a little pushy to me (he made me feel uncomfortable).
It's the gradual revelations that really affected me: the hard life she had and the heartache. Such a beautifully written, emotional novel.
This is the story of Mona: her life as a child, a young woman and an older woman (in the present day). She moves from Ireland to England to work and find more excitement than the village life she has experienced in Ireland, leaving her father behind (her mother dies when she is young). She meets a young Irish man and marries him. We skip between the present day and her past from chapter to chapter. In the present day, Mona hand makes dolls which she sells online around the world. These wooden dolls are made by 'the carpenter' and Mona makes their clothes. She meets a German 'gentleman' who always seems a little pushy to me (he made me feel uncomfortable).
It's the gradual revelations that really affected me: the hard life she had and the heartache. Such a beautifully written, emotional novel.
ClareR (6001 KP) rated Running in Circles in Books
Jan 5, 2019
A good start to a new series!
Lucy works on a very small newspaper on a Thai island. She arrives after a traumatic experience back home in England, hoping to escape the memories of whatever has happened to her.
However, she becomes involved in some traumatic events on the island: a bomb goes off across from the hostel that she lives in, killing many people in the bars nearby, and a body washes sup on the beach - an investor in her newspaper. Lucy and her boss, Steve, decide to investigate these two occurrences and consequently become involved in some very disturbing events.
I really liked this. There is a feeling of 'disconnect' with Lucy. Her former trauma has left its mark on her, she is finding life difficult, and the author writes this feeling really well. I thought the whole atmosphere was well written - I could feel the humidity, the claustrophobia and the sadness and fear post bombing.
I'll be interested to read the next book in this series when it comes out - I rather like Lucy and Steve.
Many thanks to Sapere Books for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
However, she becomes involved in some traumatic events on the island: a bomb goes off across from the hostel that she lives in, killing many people in the bars nearby, and a body washes sup on the beach - an investor in her newspaper. Lucy and her boss, Steve, decide to investigate these two occurrences and consequently become involved in some very disturbing events.
I really liked this. There is a feeling of 'disconnect' with Lucy. Her former trauma has left its mark on her, she is finding life difficult, and the author writes this feeling really well. I thought the whole atmosphere was well written - I could feel the humidity, the claustrophobia and the sadness and fear post bombing.
I'll be interested to read the next book in this series when it comes out - I rather like Lucy and Steve.
Many thanks to Sapere Books for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
Vegas (725 KP) rated Bird Box (2018) in Movies
Dec 23, 2018 (Updated Dec 23, 2018)
The cast (2 more)
The suspense
The story
Grips you from the start
Not having seen any of the previously mentioned film as yet, I cannot compare this,, so I am not judging based on them.
A very good cast works well together to bring a story to life that sounds like it shouldn't work, 3 blindfolded people on a boat, with flashbacks... It can't work.. Can it?
The answer to that for me is, yes it can - It starts well, grabbing your attention right away, before having a flashback explaining what is going on... These flashbacks work well, which sometimes isn't the case in films and actually are probably more important than the scenes along the river (which are also shorter than the flashbacks)
The terror the people feel when faced with the unexplained happenings is pitched just right and it isn't a gore based film - it is a survival film...
So as long as you can ignore that it is quite far fetched (which most horror films are) - settle down to one of the better survival horror films of recent times.
A very good cast works well together to bring a story to life that sounds like it shouldn't work, 3 blindfolded people on a boat, with flashbacks... It can't work.. Can it?
The answer to that for me is, yes it can - It starts well, grabbing your attention right away, before having a flashback explaining what is going on... These flashbacks work well, which sometimes isn't the case in films and actually are probably more important than the scenes along the river (which are also shorter than the flashbacks)
The terror the people feel when faced with the unexplained happenings is pitched just right and it isn't a gore based film - it is a survival film...
So as long as you can ignore that it is quite far fetched (which most horror films are) - settle down to one of the better survival horror films of recent times.
Erika (17789 KP) rated Jojo Rabbit (2019) in Movies
Nov 2, 2019
I think my expectations were too high for this film. I love Taika Waititi's films, and @What We Do In The Shadows (2014) is one of my favorite movies.
The satire wasn't strong enough in my opinion, this film was very much JoJo's Bildungsroman. There's nothing wrong with that, but I feel like that should have been more prominent in the marketing. There was not enough of making fun of Nazis. Taika was amusing as (s)Hitler. Something that bothered me (which probably won't bother other people), was the amount of 'Heil Hitlers'; that phrase just creeps me out to my core.
An interesting observation made at the beginning of the film was that the fans of Hitler were very much like the crazed fans of the Beatles. The way it's shown is very interesting.
Rebel Wilson was annoying, and her character added nothing. The stupid lines she had should have been left on the cutting room floor. Same Rockwell was my favorite character, by far. The kid that played JoJo was also very good, and I hope he does more films.
Overall, worth a watch if you're a Taika fan, but I personally needed more ruthless teasing of Nazis.
The satire wasn't strong enough in my opinion, this film was very much JoJo's Bildungsroman. There's nothing wrong with that, but I feel like that should have been more prominent in the marketing. There was not enough of making fun of Nazis. Taika was amusing as (s)Hitler. Something that bothered me (which probably won't bother other people), was the amount of 'Heil Hitlers'; that phrase just creeps me out to my core.
An interesting observation made at the beginning of the film was that the fans of Hitler were very much like the crazed fans of the Beatles. The way it's shown is very interesting.
Rebel Wilson was annoying, and her character added nothing. The stupid lines she had should have been left on the cutting room floor. Same Rockwell was my favorite character, by far. The kid that played JoJo was also very good, and I hope he does more films.
Overall, worth a watch if you're a Taika fan, but I personally needed more ruthless teasing of Nazis.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Dreamcatcher (2003) in Movies
Nov 9, 2019
A little bonkers
I’ve read the book, and I still found this film to be bonkers and completely crazy. So I really don’t know how anyone who hasn’t read the book can watch this film and have a clue what’s going on.
To be fair, even for Stephen King this story is a bit far fetched and a slightly confusing mix of genres. The film follows the basic plot from the book although obviously missing a lot of the more detailed aspects. It has a good and very decent cast, although sadly some like Timothy Olyphant and Jason Lee. And I’m really not entirely sure how I feel about Morgan Freeman being the bad guy, he definitely feels a little miscast. The effects in this are rather poor too, even when considering it was made in 2003!
Overall it’s not a bad film and watchable if you’ve read the book, but the crazy plot isn’t made any less sane and I really don’t think the boys friendship is highlighted as much as it should be like it has in some of King’s other films (IT and Stand By Me for example).
To be fair, even for Stephen King this story is a bit far fetched and a slightly confusing mix of genres. The film follows the basic plot from the book although obviously missing a lot of the more detailed aspects. It has a good and very decent cast, although sadly some like Timothy Olyphant and Jason Lee. And I’m really not entirely sure how I feel about Morgan Freeman being the bad guy, he definitely feels a little miscast. The effects in this are rather poor too, even when considering it was made in 2003!
Overall it’s not a bad film and watchable if you’ve read the book, but the crazy plot isn’t made any less sane and I really don’t think the boys friendship is highlighted as much as it should be like it has in some of King’s other films (IT and Stand By Me for example).
Ross (3284 KP) rated One Word Kill in Books
Dec 4, 2019
Nothing original but a good read
Mark Lawrence has stepped out of the fantasy bubble into this loosely sci-fi trilogy set in the 1980s. 15 year old Nick is diagnosed with cancer and while undergoing chemotherapy starts to have strange visions and deja vu. A mysterious figure seems to be stalking him and his D&D friends, and he ends up planning a siege to help this person from the future.
The story is very short (a little over 200 pages on kindle), but is quite heavy on the 80s references and D&D gameplay. The story itself is nothing new but with a little more head-scratching time travel/parallel universe pseudo-science crammed in. The twists throughout the story are fairly predictable and cliched.
The dialogue also doesn't feel like authentic 80s teenager speech to me, a few too many Americanisms ("hey" instead of "hi", "do it, already" etc).
A reasonably enjoyable short book, but a little Stranger Things bandwagon-jumping to me. I'm not sure whether the other two books carry on the story or how, so I will be interested to see where they go from here.
The story is very short (a little over 200 pages on kindle), but is quite heavy on the 80s references and D&D gameplay. The story itself is nothing new but with a little more head-scratching time travel/parallel universe pseudo-science crammed in. The twists throughout the story are fairly predictable and cliched.
The dialogue also doesn't feel like authentic 80s teenager speech to me, a few too many Americanisms ("hey" instead of "hi", "do it, already" etc).
A reasonably enjoyable short book, but a little Stranger Things bandwagon-jumping to me. I'm not sure whether the other two books carry on the story or how, so I will be interested to see where they go from here.