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Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Girl Last Seen in Books
May 15, 2018
I like to listen to audiobooks while I game, which means I ended up reading Girl Last Seen by chance. It is the first book I’ve read by Nina Laurin and may very well be the last – harsh, I know. When I choose to read a thriller, suspense, or mystery book, I expect… well, the elements of those genres. Girl Last Seen was devoid of any excitement whatsoever and a bit too stereotypical for my taste.
Time and time again, I’ve made it clear that I hate slow plots. I want to feel urgency in a book, especially if it deals with a kidnapped child. In Girl Last Seen, the characters were underwhelming. It becomes obvious early on that things are going to go exactly the way the reader feels they are: girl disappears, guy everyone knows is at fault, oh dear god how can it possibly be. The main character is more unlikable than her own despicable mother, considering she’s drug addicted. There’s even a sex scene that’s a bit on the descriptive side thrown in for what feels like the hell of it. And that annoys me.
Fortunately, the narrator is an excellent choice and I would gladly listen to more books read by her.
Time and time again, I’ve made it clear that I hate slow plots. I want to feel urgency in a book, especially if it deals with a kidnapped child. In Girl Last Seen, the characters were underwhelming. It becomes obvious early on that things are going to go exactly the way the reader feels they are: girl disappears, guy everyone knows is at fault, oh dear god how can it possibly be. The main character is more unlikable than her own despicable mother, considering she’s drug addicted. There’s even a sex scene that’s a bit on the descriptive side thrown in for what feels like the hell of it. And that annoys me.
Fortunately, the narrator is an excellent choice and I would gladly listen to more books read by her.
Film and stuff (30 KP) rated Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) in Movies
May 15, 2019 (Updated May 15, 2019)
A great second Avengers outing
Starring: Robert Downey JR, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Rennee, James Spader, Samuel L Jackson and Paul Bettany.
Directed by: Joss Whedon.
Plot - Tony Stark creates an AI that turns psychopathic and is determined to destroy the world. The Avengers must stop the AI known as Ultron.
With spectacular visuals and an amusing villain this is on the surface of things, exactly what you would want a sequel to the excellent Avengers Assemble to be. The way in which the Avengers are reintroduced is quit simply one of the coolest things I've seen for a while.
The issue is that it treads over a great deal of previous material and doesn't feel as original and fresh as the previous.
Surprisingly something that is handled brilliantly is the volume of characters that are in this. Something that many have tried and failed. Huge kudos for this Mr Whedon.
With a great deal more humour, a romance that feels slightly forced and amazing action sequences I would rate this marginally below Avengers Assemble. That being said, I enjoyed it immensely and would definitely recommend seeing it.
Directed by: Joss Whedon.
Plot - Tony Stark creates an AI that turns psychopathic and is determined to destroy the world. The Avengers must stop the AI known as Ultron.
With spectacular visuals and an amusing villain this is on the surface of things, exactly what you would want a sequel to the excellent Avengers Assemble to be. The way in which the Avengers are reintroduced is quit simply one of the coolest things I've seen for a while.
The issue is that it treads over a great deal of previous material and doesn't feel as original and fresh as the previous.
Surprisingly something that is handled brilliantly is the volume of characters that are in this. Something that many have tried and failed. Huge kudos for this Mr Whedon.
With a great deal more humour, a romance that feels slightly forced and amazing action sequences I would rate this marginally below Avengers Assemble. That being said, I enjoyed it immensely and would definitely recommend seeing it.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Black Mirror - Season 5 in TV
Jun 15, 2019
Not up to it’s usual high standard
Black Mirror is known for having a dark and futuristic take on modern society, and this is why it has always succeeded. It’s bleak and harrowing at times and whilst it’s not a happy programme to watch, it’s bloody good. The problem with series 5 is that it feels like an entirely different show, and not for the better.
Whilst each episode has it’s own take on modern society and technology (VR, social media and musical pop culture), none of this felt particularly new or unique. Don’t get me wrong, the episodes aren’t bad at all. But they’re just not brilliant. There are good performances (Andrew Scott especially) and the storylines are vaguely interesting, they just don’t get pushed far enough into the dark and bleak Black Mirror world we’re used to. Not only that, but none of these stories have particularly bad endings. It all just feels a little bit meh and after the rather wonderful Bandersnatch, I’d been looking forward to another great season. Sadly, it’s been a bit of a letdown. I’m really hoping that this is just a blip and that the next series is back on form, and not a sign that Black Mirror has run out of decent ideas...
Whilst each episode has it’s own take on modern society and technology (VR, social media and musical pop culture), none of this felt particularly new or unique. Don’t get me wrong, the episodes aren’t bad at all. But they’re just not brilliant. There are good performances (Andrew Scott especially) and the storylines are vaguely interesting, they just don’t get pushed far enough into the dark and bleak Black Mirror world we’re used to. Not only that, but none of these stories have particularly bad endings. It all just feels a little bit meh and after the rather wonderful Bandersnatch, I’d been looking forward to another great season. Sadly, it’s been a bit of a letdown. I’m really hoping that this is just a blip and that the next series is back on form, and not a sign that Black Mirror has run out of decent ideas...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Doctor Sleep (2019) in Movies
Nov 1, 2019
What-time-d'you-call-this-then Shining sequel/follow-up doesn't have the magisterial formal brilliance of Kubrick, but scores consistently for solid storytelling and simple entertainment value. Many years on from the nastiness in the snow, Dan Torrance has tried to put his special faculties to good use, working in a hospice. However, a gifted young girl he has befriended becomes the target of a pack of inhuman killers who feed on the souls of psychics, and he finds himself compelled to intervene. Faced with a terrifying enemy, he finds he may have to make a reservation at a certain hotel.
The prospect of a two-and-a-half-hour sequel to a Kubrick movie, made by someone I hadn't really heard of gave me pause, to be honest, but Doctor Sleep rapidly develops into an engrossing and satisfying dark fantasy, with mostly good performances and impressive set piece sequences. Most impressive is the way it works hard to stand on its own merits, saving all the crowd-pleasing Shining references until late on, by which time it feels like it's earned them - almost. It's still probably self-indulgently overlong, and the climax likewise feels a bit overcooked, but this is still a cut above the majority of Stephen King movies.
The prospect of a two-and-a-half-hour sequel to a Kubrick movie, made by someone I hadn't really heard of gave me pause, to be honest, but Doctor Sleep rapidly develops into an engrossing and satisfying dark fantasy, with mostly good performances and impressive set piece sequences. Most impressive is the way it works hard to stand on its own merits, saving all the crowd-pleasing Shining references until late on, by which time it feels like it's earned them - almost. It's still probably self-indulgently overlong, and the climax likewise feels a bit overcooked, but this is still a cut above the majority of Stephen King movies.
Jonas Carpignano recommended Faces (1968) in Movies (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Jacket (2005) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯... 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥?"
Categorical drivel, nonsense almost solely for the sake of nonsense. Emo time-traveling 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 + 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 that feels like a Marcy Playground music video which basically acts as a one hour forty-three minute essay on why dying kind of blows. Sort of awesome, though if there's any supposed underseen masterpiece here as I was led to believe, I haven't found it. Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant concepts here - the whole idea of the titular womblike jacket system is tantalizing, and in numerous instances this portrays a very clever way in which the people in your past manifest into your future and can either help you or haunt you depending on the choices you've once made towards them. But none of it is developed enough, this feels like one of those movies that was really promising until it got whittled away to scraps by the studios - but that wasn't the case? Idk I still liked it - I'm glad this wasn't condescending and purposefully cold like it probably would have been were it made today - but I just wanted it to be longer, man.
Categorical drivel, nonsense almost solely for the sake of nonsense. Emo time-traveling 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 + 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 that feels like a Marcy Playground music video which basically acts as a one hour forty-three minute essay on why dying kind of blows. Sort of awesome, though if there's any supposed underseen masterpiece here as I was led to believe, I haven't found it. Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant concepts here - the whole idea of the titular womblike jacket system is tantalizing, and in numerous instances this portrays a very clever way in which the people in your past manifest into your future and can either help you or haunt you depending on the choices you've once made towards them. But none of it is developed enough, this feels like one of those movies that was really promising until it got whittled away to scraps by the studios - but that wasn't the case? Idk I still liked it - I'm glad this wasn't condescending and purposefully cold like it probably would have been were it made today - but I just wanted it to be longer, man.
Missing You
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t’s a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan...