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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
2013 | Action, Animation, Family
Runs at about <0.2x the pace of the first, with the exact same breed of that formularized 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘵 & 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 style non-plot drivel I detest. But otherwise? Yeah it was cute enough to suffice. Still gets docked a half star based solely on the sickly oversweetened last half hour filled with monotonous genre tropes and atrocious, badly-aged family-friendly pop crap (anyone remember Cody Simpson lmfao). But the foodimal designs here are so fucking cute holy shit - and just speaking generally the thing is an energetic, luminous laser light show to look at which manages to not only distinct itself from the original; but also packs ceaseless creativity in practically every inch of every frame. Plus the animation that's used to do so, even looking at it today, is gobsmackingly beautiful. Add in that it's occasionally pretty damn funny (again, if not matching up to the rate of the first) and that these characters are impossible not to root for even if they're merely a shadow of their former selves and you've got yourself a really nice time. I've always liked the subversion and general respect given to the Sam Sparks character in this relationship and I'm glad to see it remains intact with this one. Shame we never got any more of these.
  
Ninja Assassin (2009)
Ninja Assassin (2009)
2009 | Action, Drama
Slept on. A breathless, blood-soaked rager where shurikens get thrown like machine gun bullets and manifold enemies get shredded into human ballistic gel. Totally cockamamie lore put to the backdrop of CGI blade-chains and club music, ancient ninja cults just hanging out and making human sacrifices on rainy city rooftops and shit lmao. Nothing more than an excuse to rip apart a bunch of ninjas, gangsters, and government officials for 99 minutes - a decapitated head ends up in a washing machine at one point - but who wouldn't want to see that? I'll take the opposite opinion of the general consensus and totally gush about the style, I'm all for modernizing cheesy early-mid-2000s duels where we just started to really learn what mainstream stylized action was and went overboard with it. Also has an acute emphasis on physicality and production rather than leaving everything important up to the editing department - has a realized sense of framing and uses CGI as an enhancer rather than the full package. Lovingly embraces martial arts story tropes without undermining their importance, which many actioners would probably jettison out entirely. Feels much, much more like a successful and distinct love letter rather than a ripoff. Aesthetic as fuck, and Rain is godly in it.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Richard Jewell (2019) in Movies

Sep 21, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)  
Richard Jewell (2019)
Richard Jewell (2019)
2019 | Drama
There were long stretches of this movie where I liked it a lot... right until I remembered who made it and why (a story about a 'good ole boy' famously + very publicly under investigation by the government where both the FBI and the media are both portrayed as parasitic losers with nothing better to do - yeah I'm sure this has absolutely no parallels to anything going on in the present day whatsoever...……..). Other than that it's like your regular late-period Eastwood: mostly just fine with assorted confirmation biases, too much fat, drippy over-fabrications, unabashed factual inaccuracies (the addition of the sex-for-news bit is just ew let alone stupidly unoriginal), a general oversimplification of the events, and a dated view of women - though not without a fair amount of awesome scenes to keep it (for the most part) watchable. I think even this movie's supporters underplayed how fortifyingly *amazing* Paul Walter Hauser is in this - he's not only uncannily casted but straight-up riveting, I recommend this movie simply to see him alone tbh. He's behind only Phoenix and Sandler for the best actor of 2019 imo - nothing else in this film even matters. The last ten or so minutes are horrendous.
  
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated Evie and the Animals in Books

Sep 24, 2020 (Updated Jan 26, 2021)  
Evie and the Animals
Evie and the Animals
Matt Haig | 2019 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist in this book is Evie, a little girl who can talk to animals! I really liked Evie, she is intelligent and knows the difference between good and evil. I liked the characters chosen for his book, every single character teaches the young readers something valuable.

The narrative of this book has a very important message to share. It teaches about deforestation and animal cruelty. It has plenty of fun adventures, self-exploration, as well as lots of important teachings about humans in general, that Matt Haig shares with his young readers.

This novel is filled with beautiful illustrations and a really fun and enjoyable writing style. The chapters are pretty short so the book didn’t leave me bored. I liked the ending of this book, even though it is quite predictable, I think it rounds up the story pretty nicely.

So, to conclude, the author didn’t disappoint me with this book, I really liked the messages he was trying to share with children, showing not such a pretty side of some of the humans, as well as incorporating a great adventure with the strong and admirable protagonist. I really enjoyed this fun and educational book, and I strongly recommend it not only to children but parents as well.
  
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Erika (17788 KP) rated Yellow Rose (2019) in Movies

Oct 18, 2020 (Updated Oct 18, 2020)  
Yellow Rose (2019)
Yellow Rose (2019)
2019 | Drama, Music
Luckily, I had a free ticket for another theater chain, so I was able to see this in theaters (I was the only one there).
My initial interest in the film stemmed from it being filmed in Austin, where I live. The story is about a teenage, Filipino girl and her mother, both of whom are undocumented. When customs and immigration pick up Rose's mother, she escapes to Austin from Bastrop (EW). Rose dreams of being a country singer, and ends up making music with Dale Watson, who's a well known Texas Country artist.
That's basically the story, and yes, perfectible, it ends the exact way you imagine it to end. The music is good, and Eva Noblezada, the actress that plays Rose, has an amazing singing voice.
To answer the question as to what the title means - yes, it's racist, and a nickname Rose got when she initially sang at school. BTW, the myth of the 'Yellow Rose' is one from history, supposedly, a woman was sent in as a spy by the Texas army during the revolution, and she... distracted Santa Anna, the general of the Mexican army. There's no actual evidence, but it's incredibly believable.
Anyway, this was a great movie, with good music, and a tight running time.
  
Buddies, Bullies, and Baseball
Buddies, Bullies, and Baseball
Phyllis J. Perry | 2020 | Sport & Leisure
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist of this book is Jack, and the story is told from his perspective. Jack is a fifth-grade student, who has great friends and loves baseball. I liked Jack, he is a cute and very intelligent young boy. Jack shares his tricks in avoiding the bullies, and his general daily routine. This book is very simplistic and the whole plot can be quite relatable to any schoolboy out there. It discusses home works, friendships, and baseball. I didn’t see many adventures or twits and turns in this book, it is written in simple and easy to understand language, suitable for children. The chapters are pretty short, and the ending rounded up this story pretty nicely.

To conclude, it is an important book, and I do recommend it for children to read. As an adult, I found this book not very entertaining and quite boring. I think children would enjoy it more because they would see themselves in Jack and could relate on some level. I do see the marketing and pricing issues with this book and I highlighted that to the publisher. For now, it is free on Kindle Unlimited, so please offer it to your kids, it is quite educational and might help someone.
  
The Adulting Manual
The Adulting Manual
Milli Smith | 2020 | Mind, Body & Spiritual
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
First of all, I love the gold foil on the cover. It is shiny and very nicely illustrated. The journal itself is very colourful, fun and informative. There are many various topics discussed in this journal, such as body image, mental health, mindfulness and many more. It has many many fun tasks in every section, to help the reader explore themselves, helps to deal with mental health struggles or stress in general. 🙂 This journal has a very fun balance between adulthood and childishness. The topics are serious and grown-up oriented, but the illustrations and colours remind of something from my teenage years. 🙂 At the end, this journal has a couple of pages of fun stickers and a couple of postcards as well, that made me extremely happy. 🙂

So, to conclude, I love this journal! It is very well designed, it helped me to relax and to explore myself and my view about me and my mental health. I am from the generation where no one discusses their mental health, so this journal helped me to see things differently. I strongly recommend this journal to anyone who has low self-esteem or needs a fun emotional outlet. It has boosted my mood, and I hope it will help someone else as well.
  
Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.9 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
The imagery in this book is phenomenal. I can't begin to describe the beauty in Owens' words, the scenery she implants straight into your head - it's incredible.
Kya, also known as the Marsh Girl by the local town residents, is an unbearably shy and skittish young lady who grows up within the deep recesses of the marsh (hence her name), abandoned - one by one - by her entire family and left to fend for herself. For over 10 years, she lives off the land, exploring and learning by watching life in the wild. Through different circumstances, she encounters a few acquaintances along the way, most of whom disappoint her enough that she's permanently convinced life is better alone, despite the yearning to be with someone who will never leave her.
I feel as if Kya can be understood and empathized with by just about anyone. She's relatable in so many ways, especially as she navigates the discoveries of new emotions, of life and love in general. You can't help but hurt for her, root for her, cheer her on and wish to physically defend her honor against the prejudices she endures. I loved this book so very much, and I think I loved Kya even more.
  
A Star Is Born (2018)
A Star Is Born (2018)
2018 | Drama, Romance
Dull and overhyped
I have seen so many good reviews about this film that I thought I was sure to love it, especially as I can’t usually say no to anything with decent songs. However, this was such a dire disappointment.

First of all, the plot isn’t anything new. Tortured and wannabe musicians have been done to death in films, and sadly much better than this. The entire film drags too, it’s so slow and dull and feels like it’s on forever. Aside from the ending, it’s rather boringly predictable and can’t even be saved by Bradley Cooper. He saves this film as his performance is brilliant, but I really don’t rate Lady Gaga, I didn’t think she was good at all, I found her very irritating and other than her voice which is of course phenomenal, I really didn’t like her. I also thought the start of the film with the beginning of the whole romance was so cliched, cheesy and a little bit cringeworthy. The songs were really good and with Bradley Cooper’s performance in general they made this film at least vaguely watchable, but I would never be in a rush to watch this again. Such a disappointment.
  
    Farm Story™

    Farm Story™

    Games and Entertainment

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    ** Farm Story™ reached Top 1 in the App Store. ** Welcome to Farm Story™ where you and your...