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VirtualDrumming App is the version for iPad and iPhone of the most popular drum set in the gaming...

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Magical 2.5D Classical PC Element Masterpiece of the Year The journey of the magical MMORPG begins ~...

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* My Wonderful Days is a diary you can easily write on. Full of analog features, 2-in-1 iPhone+iPad...

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Primal (2019) in Movies

Aug 22, 2020

Primal (2019)

2019 | Action, Adventure

4.4

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

When will I learn? Do not watch big star films you've never heard of before I see them on DVD.

A big game hunter ends up transporting his catch on a ship with a team of military personnel that are transporting an assassin back to the US under the radar. All it takes is one wrong step for the ship to be filled with danger as everyone is being stalked by killers, both animal and human.

I nearly lobbed this DVD out my window after the first scene with the CGI kitty cat, it was truly abysmal. Thankfully at some point I stopped noticing fairly quickly.

Kevin Durand plays our assassin-in-transit and he's always a pretty good bet for a bad guy. Even in this he has a great presence. Next we have Famke Janssen, I couldn't honestly tell you how long it's been since I saw her in something. This wasn't a great character though, and apart from one or two scenes I had forgotten she was even in this film when I scrolled through the cast list. It's not entirely to do with the acting, which did feel a little lacklustre, the character didn't have a lot of punch and wasn't what you know she's capable of.

There's no denying that this is below my usual Cage favourites. It's pretty low on the Cage Rage ranking, but it's still a Nicolas Cage film and as with shark films that means there's an automatic pass. It would have to do something horrendous for me to outright hate it.

There's logic of some description in Primal but it's still a distinctly average film. I can forgive the bad CGI, but a poor script and average production quality across the board mean I'm regretting paying actual money for it. The idea for the story feels like someone used a story generator to get different plot points, even so, there was potential in it but I was rather sad it wasn't a better experience.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/08/primal-movie-review.html

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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated This Is How I Lied in Books

May 21, 2020

This Is How I Lied

Heather Gudenkauf | 2020 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

This book was one of those delicious surprises that turns out to be so much better than you expect. I've never read a book by Heather Gudenkauf before, but I certainly will be reading more of her books now! I read this as I was sent a Netgalley widget, and I'm so glad! This is such a dark and twisty tale, and I loved how it kept me guessing the entire time, always wondering and doubting myself about what exactly happened to Eve.

Gudenkauf tells her tale from multiple perspectives and time periods, but unlike so many thrillers these days, she does so deftly. It's heartbreaking to hear from the Eve of twenty-five years ago, knowing her fate, yet fascinating, as she slowly dispenses details and clues about what has happened to her. Eve's younger sister is the "town crazy," a veterinarian with a penchant for extreme creepiness. We also have Maggie's even-keeled husband, Shaun, who runs their orchard (and did I mention Maggie is way pregnant?), her father, the ex-chief, who is suffering from dementia, and her brother, who has been forced to care for him. And lets not forget Eve's ex-boyfriend, Nick, who now runs a store in town.

The small-town dynamics are perfect here. Eve's murder is the biggest thing to happen to this town. Everyone knows everyone else, and they think they all know each other's secrets. But, goodness, the secrets and lies buried deep in this small town are just beginning as Maggie starts investigating Eve's death again. The story unfolds perfectly--new pieces coming at you in just the right amount, constantly changing the perspective and allowing suspects to switch around in your mind. Half the thrillers I read, I feel like I have the "whodunnit" figured out from the beginning, but I was never sure here, always frantically reading, always wondering, and being pulled deeply into Eve and Maggie's lives.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I loved the surprise of it--finding a book I didn't expect to be so good--and I loved being drawn into such a taunt well-written thriller. 4.5 stars.