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Doctor Who: Son of the Dragon
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Once I got over my surprise that this was not a story set in Asia and featured no dragons, I quite enjoyed myself. It feels like a long while since I heard a 5th Doctor pure historical, (not true, this being the era of Peri and Erimem, but still) and like Peri, I kept waiting for that supernatural element to appear. We are talking about Dracula, after all. But nope. Just a wonderful straightforward historical with some great performances. I tire a bit of the "let's throw Erimem to the lusty bad guy trope" but other than that, high marks. For more on this, visit www.travelingthevortex.com
  
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
2014 | Comedy, Drama
Great acting (1 more)
Visually Stunning
Plot is lacking (0 more)
Not quite worth all the awards, but great cast
What a strange film. It basically entails Michael Keaton's character, an aging, flailing theatre actor, who is basically having a nervous breakdown and hallucinates throughout the movie.

While the cast is absolutely incredible (Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts), and the acting is equally top-class, the film itself feels like it falls short.

The cinematography is quite stunning, especially the dream sequence with the bird itself. But I am slightly baffled to how this was put up for so many Oscars. A good film, but not a great one.
  
Doctor Strange (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
2016 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Benedict Cumberbatch (1 more)
Special effects
A bit of a meh storyline (1 more)
BC's accent is all over the place
Fun to watch but nothing special
This is predictable beyond belief. As are most comic book films. A doctor has a big predicament (there's always some trouble at the beginning) and then has to become all-powerful to overcome this. Literally that's pretty much the entire storyline - it's not particularly intelligent. That being said, the graphics are pretty stunning, the scenes showing Benedict Cumberbatch running from one dimension to another is absolutely breathtaking. It feels on a higher scale than other Marvel films in terms of cinematography.
  
Suicide Squad (2016)
Suicide Squad (2016)
2016 | Action
The music (0 more)
Where to begin? Acting, plot, everything else? (0 more)
So bad it's not even worth watching
I wanted to switch this off after 20 minutes it was that bad. For some bizarre reason, the modern DC films apart from the new Wonder Woman, have been exceptionally awful. From the acting, to the absolutely ridiculous plot, the beginning of the film feels like the middle of the story so it makes no sense whatsoever. The characters are mismatched and the dialogue are all equally terrible. Harley Quinn as per usual is super sexualised for no apparent reason. The only good thing was some of the music. Don't bother to watch it.
  
AA
Angel: After the Fall, Volume 1
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have to say, this was bloody awesome! The style was there, the characters, the vibe, it all felt like Angel. Season eight of Buffy feels a bit 'out there' as far as the plot goes but this actually is a continuation of the series, and even though it didn't start right where the show (and action) left off (although, I think volume two of After the Fall does), it did a great job getting back into a groove. Not to mention the artwork is fabulous and the whole look of the book is beautiful. Great job, I hope the others in the series hold up as well.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Chickens Come Home (1931) in Movies

Mar 20, 2019 (Updated Mar 20, 2019)  
Chickens Come Home (1931)
Chickens Come Home (1931)
1931 | Comedy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Slightly atypical Laurel and Hardy short, presumably because it's a remake of a silent non-L&H film. This explains why Stan and Ollie play successful businessmen looking to get into politics rather than the usual perennially useless goons, why it feels more like a farce than usual, and why the boys spend a lot of the film apart.

That said, there are some quite good bits: Ollie's glances to the camera are first class, and there are some epic double-takes from Jimmy Finlayson as Ollie's butler. It is undeniably funny, but you do get a sense of a film not quite making best use of its strongest assets.
  
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Dean (6927 KP) rated Hellboy (2019) in Movies

Apr 12, 2019 (Updated Jul 8, 2019)  
Hellboy (2019)
Hellboy (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Good range of creatures (0 more)
Too much cgi (1 more)
The gore didn't seem right
Well hard to believe it's be 15 years since the first Hellboy, this reboot largely seems to have gone under the radar. I can see why.
Despite the big budget feel and huge amount of SFX it just feels like a very standard action film. Quite gory and with every fight accompanied by a thumping rock track. The plot is very by the numbers. It doesn't have the sense of humour of the earlier films. Overall an average action film nothing special but you might enjoy more if you are a fan of the other Hellboy films.
  
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HString (92 KP) Apr 16, 2019

Very underwhelmed. Prefer the original. This has none of the humour of the first.

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Oshie Thurmond (3 KP) Apr 18, 2019

Great movie but still can't beat Ron Pearlman in the orginal film

Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
2018 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
The cast particularly, Eddie Redmayne as Newt scamander, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore and Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald Opening action sequence was cool. Cgi was fantastic (1 more)
The world feels magical and the nostalga of being back in the wizarding world is always beautiful.
Grindelwald was underused considering it's called The crimes of grindelwald. The plot was messy and sloppy. Too many flashback sequences including two back to back sequences that lasted 20 minutes (1 more)
The big plot twist/reveal at the end makes no sense from what i know from the Harry Potter lore. Lack of Continuity Action sequences weren't that impressive
A disappointing entry in the Harry Potter franchise
  
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Samantha (0 KP) rated Before I Fall in Books

Jan 29, 2018  
Before I Fall
Before I Fall
Lauren Oliver | 2017 | Children
9
7.6 (60 Ratings)
Book Rating
Grounding day with a twist (0 more)
Takes a while to get going (0 more)
YA fiction for any age
Contains spoilers, click to show
I hated this book, and loved it. It’s cruel, and frustrating, unfair, and yet it’s also sad, and hopeful, and honest and authentic. I’m not sure how everyone else feels about their High School experience, but I despised mine. You couldn’t pay me to go back. However, this story was so vivid, that I felt as though I could smell the grease from the cafeteria, feel the rough tile on the bathroom floor and the chill of that cold fateful night. This is the story of a mean girl done good.
  
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Ross (3284 KP) created a post

Dec 10, 2018  
I have decided to give up on a book for the first time in about 10 years. @Legends of Ahn is just boring me and after a week of grinding away at it I am barely a quarter of the way through. I need a book to have a plot and a purpose, this just feels like a man wandering around doing things with no clear purpose, and my reading rate has fallen so far I have to give up. I will probably pick this up again in future, ideally when the series is finished (at least then I will know it must have found a purpose eventually!).
     
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Ross (3284 KP) Dec 10, 2018

Thanks guys. I had DNF-guilt but it is passing.

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Rachel Maria Berney (114 KP) Dec 11, 2018

I hate when that happens, but there are so many good books out there. Sometimes you have to give up on the duds, especially if you are not enjoying, you get over the guilt, eventually. It just feels so wrong not to finish a book :)