Search

Search only in certain items:

6 Underground (2019)
6 Underground (2019)
2019 | Action, Thriller
It’s a Michael Bay film. It’s going to have so many car crashes, explosions, stunts and more of the same. Seriously. It’s Michael Bay…AND Ryan Reynolds. With the script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who both have worked on Zombieland, Deadpool 1 & 2. Just to clarify, this IS an action movie. It surprises me that it was released at this time of year. I would have thought the typical release would head off the summer blockbuster season. However, Netflix has been sending out an eclectic group of movies to premiere in theaters prior to its streaming release.

The premise that we are set up for: super rich billionaire, Number One (Ryan Reynolds) has curated a team with members that each have a specific set of skills. The small team of specialists are all ghosts in the real world. The work that they do requires the anonymity of nonexistence. Each member of the six -person team have been chosen by Number One. Number Two (Melanie Laurent) is a former CIA Operative, Number Three (Manuel Garcia Rulfo) the very talented assassin, Number Four (Adria Arjona) is the Doctor. She is the one who can remove a bullet while the car is dodging through the traffic at breakneck speed. Number five (Ben Hardy, last seen in Bohemian Rhapsody as Roger Taylor) who is the parkour king. Rounding out the team is Number Six (Dave Franco) the Driver.
To say some parts of the film was subdued would have some people raise their collective eyebrows. However, the characters (Numbers Two to Six), have taken on the witty quips that we, as an audience have long associated with Ryan Reynolds. The writers have dispersed the wit and sarcasm to the other team members. This also helps to provide the comradery and establish the “family” concept that bonds the disparate backgrounds of each member. We are privy to a little bit of information of each team member, but I would have liked to see a little bit more history of each to fill in the personal motivation.

I enjoyed all the car chases, explosions, stunts and the international sites. It’s definitely not the typical fare of the holiday season in the theaters, but it is a very fun action movie that shoots the viewer through the story. The pacing is steady, the humor is a little sarcastic with a side of gentle familial teasing.

If you have had enough of the warm and fuzzies that the season provides in plentitude, Six Underground is a welcomed palate cleanser in this time of Yule. I certainly hope we get to see more of this team in a sequel.
4 out of 5 stars
  
The Turn of The Key
The Turn of The Key
Ruth Ware | 2019 | Thriller
10
7.7 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’ve read some pretty spooky books in my time, but none have had me on the edge of my seat in quite the same way as Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware did! There’s an underlying menace in this book - nothing explicit - and I think that makes it all the more frightening. I can’t even tell you the amount of times I told the lead character, a Nanny from London, to just pack up, leave the children with the housekeeper, and go home!

So, as I’ve already begun to say, Rowan is a Nanny who has been employed to look after the children of a wealthy husband and wife architecture team. They work away from home, and need someone to take care of their young children (plus a 14 year old who comes home from boarding school at the weekend). It all seems very rushed, and when Rowan turns up to take her post, Sandra (the mum) drops the bombshell that they will both be leaving for a week the next day. The children haven’t even had a chance to get to know Rowan with their mum there! Sandra leaves a huge folder with instructions for EVERYTHING regarding the children, and a very quick lesson on ‘Happy’, the house computer system (kind of like Alexa, but less chatty and far less easy to use!). I would’ve said something here, but Rowan seems to be desperate for the job. She seems to be a nice enough person, but she does make allusions to her temper, and does seem to lose it with the children quite a bit. But I’m not surprised - she is woken up every night, either by bumps and pacing sounds, or Happy seemingly having a huge glitch and playing loud music whilst turning on lights throughout the house in the early hours. Well, Maddie, the 8 year old, did warn her about the displeasure of the ghosts at her interview.....

I loved how creepy this was - I didn’t know what was real and what Rowan was imagining because of sleep deprivation, but it made all of the days seem to merge together. You could feel how tired and scared she must have been.

The last fifth of the book was something else though. I can’t think of many books where I’ve actually told a character out loud “No!” (It made my dogs stop and look!). The last few (yes, FEW!) revelations and twists kept the tension running right up to the end.

Have I said that I loved this book? This is my second Ruth Ware book, and it certainly won’t be my last - this is even better than The Death of Mrs Westaway (if that’s possible!).
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book - you did it again! Another absolutely cracking choice!
  
Hell or High Water (2016)
Hell or High Water (2016)
2016 | Drama, Mystery
Classic
Two brothers rob banks in west Texas to pay off overdue loans before their family home is foreclosed on.

Acting: 10

Beginning: 10

Characters: 10
From the first scene in the beginning with Tanner (Ben Foster) and Toby (Chris Pine), I knew I was going to like the two brothers. One’s a loose cannon while the other is more level-headed and calculated. They argue like typical brothers because they are so different and their interactions remind you of typical sibling hate/love. As a viewer, their personalities worked so well for me because you realize both were needed throughout the movie. Sometimes you needed cool, other times crazy was definitely needed to get the two out of a rough scrape.

I also enjoyed Jeff Bridges character playing the role of Sheriff Marcus, the area’s dedicated peacemaker. He speaks with a quick drawl straight out of an Eastwood western. He is overly truthful to a hilarious extent. He is on his way to retirement and feels like catching Tanner and Toby could be his last bit of peace.

Cinematography/Visuals: 9

Conflict: 7
While there truly are some impactful intense moments that help drive the narrative, Hell Or High Water is more drama than it is an action film. You do get a fair share of bank robberies, car chases, and shootouts. It just would have been nice if they had showed a bit more of that. Some of the parts that dragged on a bit would have served well with a bit more conflict.

Genre: 8
A powerful story about family helping family. Time will tell, but I think it’s a story that will keep its power years from now. The storytelling and direction is just as strong as any of my all-time favorites. Hell Or High Water packs a potent punch.

Memorability: 8

Pace: 10

Plot: 10
The bank robbery genre has been done and redone, but not quite like this. From its setting to the backdrop of the plot, this movie paves its own way within a crowded and successful genre. It succeeds with memorable dialogue and making every single scene count towards a definitive end.

Resolution: 10
The final scene features a conversation between Marcus and Toby. It’s hands-down the most memorable scene in the entire film as you get to see how this chain of events has ultimately affected both characters. They have both gained and lost and both face ghosts that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. It’s a scene that stuck with me long after I watched it.

Overall: 92
Set against a sprawling, yet compacted west Texas, Hell Or High Water gives you everything you look for in a movie. Memorable scenes abound keeping the movie entertaining and fresh. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a classic.
  
TL
The Lost Girls
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
In 1935, on the last evening of summer vacation, six-year-old Emily disappears from her family's vacation lake home. Emily's doting mother is devastated, and she and her two daughters (Emily's older sisters) spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, waiting for Emily to return. Six decades later, only Lucy, the middle sister, is still alive. Afraid of dying without telling her story, she writes the tale down in a notebook and leaves it, along with the house, to her sister's granddaughter, Justine. When Justine receives the news that her great-aunt has left her a house in Minnesota, she's shocked. They've only met once, after all, and Justine's flighty mother is still living. But Justine realizes the house represents a way to flee the suffocating life she's living now, and to give her daughters a better life. So they pack up for Minnesota, only to find the house run down, the Minnesota winter cold and isolating, and their only neighbors two elderly men who live in the nearby lodge. Justine's older daughter, Melanie, becomes interested in Emily's disappearance; her mother, Maurie, returns, bringing her usual craziness; and ghosts from Justine's own past threaten their safety. Justine doesn't know what happened at the lake sixty years ago, nor does she know if it's safe for her family now...

This novel was a quick read, which pulled me into its tale immediately. The POV alternates between present-day (late 1990s) with Justine and then flips back to the 1930s, as Lucy tells her story via letter. In this way, we get snippets about the past in chunks, allowing for the story to unfurl slowly, building up suspense. Young does an excellent job in creating her characters: Lucy and her older sister Lilith practically jump off the page, as does little Emily. Lucy was the star of the show for me, both as her younger self and via her letter-writing. Her sadness is easily apparent as she tells a tale of a family trapped by their own secrets.

This is a somber book with serious themes; it's not always an easy read. Still, the back and forth POV works well in this case, and you'll quickly become enraptured in Lucy and Lilith's past, in particular. Justine and Maurie (her mom) are more frustrating characters, but their story is still interesting, especially as you learn about Maurie's life growing up at the lake house with Lilith and Lucy. Overall, this was a different book (in a good way), with insightful and well-drawn characters, and an intriguing plot. Lucy sticks with you, even after it's over.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere on 07/26/2016.

<a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">My Blog</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/justacatandbook">Twitter</a>;
  
London Tides by Carla Laureano
Reviewed by Rachel Dixon
Radiant Lit Blog Tours
Genre: Romance
Publisher: David C. Cook
Date Published: June 1, 2015

Grace Brennan has seen the brutality of war first hand. Will she give up her identity in her career to build a new life with the man she loves?

Ian MacDonald has not seen Grace since she left him ten years ago. Grace has suffered very severe trauma with her job as a conflict photojournalist. As she searches for a place to call home, can she lay to rest the ghosts of her past? When their lives are thrown together again, they are different people than they were ten years ago. Will they be able to forge a new life together? Or will the past push them further apart then ever before?

London Tides had me biting my nails till the last page. There are a lot of ups and downs and I had no idea which direction Carla Laureano would take me next. The romance was a little more heated than in the first book, but it was still clean. Although I have never experienced PTSD, there was a side of Grace that I could completely relate to. That is the desire to know that our lives meant something. I think there is a piece inside all of us that wants to know that our lives made a difference in the world. We may not all be able to find a magic cure for a disease or personally finance an endeavor to put shoes on the feet of an entire village. But every life matters and every life makes a difference in the sphere we are placed in. Our friends, our co-workers, our children and our family. I have to believe that I have been called to where I am for a reason. I may never see the results of the impact my life has been, but God sees it. And He knows and cares about whatever challenges we are facing and if we let Him, He will guide and support us through it all. I have been swept away by the MacDonald family and can not wait for the finale Under Scottish Stars releasing Summer 2016.

Carla Laureano is the author of the RITA® award-winning romance Five Days in Skye as well as London Tides and the Celtic fantasy series The Song of Seare (as C. E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons.

I received a free copy of London Tides as part of a blog tour with Radiant Lit in exchange for my honest review. Review copy provided by David C Cook.
  
The Broken Girls
The Broken Girls
Simone St. James | 2018 | Horror, Thriller
10
8.5 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Spooky Ghost Story and Mystery in One!
When I first read the synopsis for The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, I knew it was a book I had to read. I was going to wait for it to come down in price, but the more I thought about the book, the more I knew I had to read it as soon as possible. Luckily, it was such a fantastic read!

The Broken Girls has such an interesting plot with everything I love such as a creepy boarding school, a scary ghost, and very big mystery. It felt like I was reading two different stories at the same time whilst reading this book, but it worked very well. Two mysteries at different time frames within the same book made for a great read. I loved reading about the mystery of Deb, the main character's sister, as well as Mary Hand, the ghost that haunts Idlewild Hall. I enjoyed how the two desperate stories came together brilliantly. Nothing felt rushed. It just flowed together so well. I also loved the little bit of true life history in the book. I had never heard of Ravensbruck prior to reading The Broken Girls. That tidbit was interesting. Although there were a few plot twists, I found them to be easily predictable. Saying that, this didn't take away my enjoyment from the book.

The characters in The Broken Girls were written fantastically! Almost every single character was fleshed out perfectly. I felt as if I was reading about real life people instead of fictional characters. The character that felt the most real to me was Sonia. My heart went out to her the most after all she had endured at such a young age. I admired Katie's leadership qualities. I also admired Fiona's thirst for the truth throughout everything. Mary Hand made such an excellent ghost! I enjoyed her backstory as well. She was so spooky to read about and what she could make people see was even more scary! The only character I would have loved to read a little more about was Rose Albert. I felt as if she could have had a very interesting back story as well.

The pacing for The Broken Girls was done very well. Nothing ever felt rushed nor was the pacing too slow where reading the book felt tedious and like it had to be done. Everything flowed so well.

Trigger warnings in The Broken Girls include violence, murder, attempted murder, ghosts, profanities, and drinking alcohol.

All in all, The Broken Girls was such a thrilling read that held my attention throughout. I loved the Gothic feel as well as just how beautifully written this book was. I would definitely recommend The Broken Girls by Simone St. James to those aged 16+ who enjoy a fantastically written mystery with a bit of the paranormal. This is one book that won't disappoint!
  
40x40

Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) Jan 31, 2019

I have this. I just need to get off my butt and read it!

40x40

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) Jan 31, 2019

I made myself buy it finally after just looking at it on Amazon day after day, haha.

Cold Moon (2017)
Cold Moon (2017)
2017 |
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
At first glance this looks like most other by the numbers Horror/Thriller movies with a cast of people you will recognize straight away but take a while to place where from. However give it a minute because this movie has some really stellar performances from the core cast which considering the concept is just bonkers enough to take you out of it completely, I find this to be nothing short of incredible.

THE BLURB:

In a sleepy southern town, the Larkin family suffers a terrible tragedy. Now the Larkin’s are about to endure another: Traffic lights blink an eerie warning, a ghostly visage prowls in the streets, and graves erupt from the local cemetery in an implacable march of terror . . . And beneath the murky surface of the river, a shifting, almost human shape slowly takes form to seek a terrible vengeance.

I found this movie to be way more Thriller than Horror, sure there are some solid as hell jump scares but one of the defining points in a Horror is that we don’t find out who the man in the mask is till the last quarter of the movie. In Cold Moon we know who the killer is early on and the film interestingly begins to focus on the rapid decline of our killers mind. Being haunted by the eerie ghosts of his victims, leading him to drink heavily, become careless and basically begin to lose his shit… Well that is where this movie cuts its teeth and showcases not only what our core cast can do but how effortlessly our Director/Writer can craft his tale.

 

Griff Furst has crafted a pretty eerie, Good looking, Atmospheric and Clever movie from the original novel written by the late Michael McDowell, author of Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Not only that but he managed to perfectly cast his roles from top to bottom **In my eyes, of course**. So lets touch on a couple of those people you know but may not place.

Josh Stewart from mostly everything, most notably for me he was Bane’s main henchmen in Dark Knight Rises. He is great in this flick, given a real chance to show us his range and I was pleased to see more of him. Frank Whaley from almost everything ever and he is fantastic in this. Up and Coming Robbie Kay from Tv show Once Upon A Time puts in a pretty strong performance. Ladies and Gentlemen we are even treated to some Christopher Lloyd, Doc Brown-ing all over the place.

Oh crap I almost forgot we are given a Tommy Wiseau cameo that is a real treat… Listen closely for his one line “He’s tearing him Apart”. Awww man now I wanna watch the room.

I recommend the hell out of this movie, is it amazing?? Not really… But its good fun, pretty clever, great performances and entertaining as hell. So a definite recommend.