Search

Search only in certain items:

Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
2019 | Comedy
Verdict: Rom Com 101

Story: Always Be My Maybe starts when we get to meet two friends Sasha and Marcus who have grown up as best friends into their high school era where they almost become a couple, only their friendship falls apart. 15 years later Sasha (Wong) has become a major celebrity chef, heading back home for the latest restaurant opening. Marcus (Park) has followed his father Harry (Saito) into the family business, getting high on the side.
When the two reunite they see the changes they have both been through and start looking at what could once have been between the two despite having their own relationships on the side.

Thoughts on Always Be My Maybe

Characters – Sasha was once Marcus best friend before becoming one of the biggest celebrity chefs in America, she has restaurants across America and now looks to return home for the latest one. She starts to see her relationship crumble and with her old best friend walking back into her life, she is left to wonder what if. Marcus was Sasha best friend too, he never made too much of his life, working with his father, getting high and being part of his small band, never leave San Francisco. With Sasha back in his life, he must decide if it is finally time to take a chance on life. Harry is Marcus father that has always let him do his own thing, they both lost his wife and mother to Marcus. Veronica is Sasha best friend who is always there for business and personal issues, she knows about the previous friendship.
Performances – Randall Park and Ali Wong are both fine in the leading roles, they do struggle with balancing the ideas of their stand-up routines, with realistic conversations, which shows through the film. The supporting performers do get the better laughs, with more realistic nature to everything happening.
Story – The story follows two childhood friends that almost became more that have gone onto live very different lives until they get a chance to meet up again 15-years-later to put forward the question once more about what could have been. We do have deeper side to the story, which explores the ideas of not taking chances in life, when you meet somebody who will go everywhere. The idea that the two get a second chance does make most of the story feel like a straight to TV level of storytelling and while it doesn’t completely fall into relying on stand-up jokes, we do get more than we need to. The story does have a proper heart which is the important factor needed, only it just doesn’t do much more outside of this.
Comedy/Romance – The comedy is mostly miss until Keanu Reeves arrives on the scene, where he will give laughs through the scenes with ease, while the romance elements are everything we have seen before.
Settings – The film is mostly set in San Francisco which is always a nice backdrop, it does show the different lifestyles the two are living with where they feel more comfortable.

Scene of the Movie – Double date.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It offers nothing new to the rom com.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the book rom com that does get saved by an outrageous cameo, which is the clear highlight of the film.

Overall: Simple and Fun.
  
Slender Man (2018)
Slender Man (2018)
2018 | Horror
Director: Sylvain White
Writer: David Birke, Victor Surge (Screenplay)
Starring: Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso, Alex Fitzalan, Taylor Richardson, Javier Botet
 
Plot: In a small town in Massachusetts, a group of friends, fascinated by the internet lore of the Slender Man, attempt to prove that he doesn't actually exist - until one of them mysteriously goes missing.
 
Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
 
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
 
Verdict: The Worst Horror Film of 2018
 
Story: Slender Man starts with four high school friends Wren (King), Hallie (Telles), Chloe (Sinclair) and Katie (Basso) decide to learn about Slender Man on the internet, they watch a video to summon him and the next morning the girls have had nightmares, before Katie vanishes.
The three remaining girls start searching for answers after the police come up with nothing and soon find themselves the latest target for the Slender Man.
 
Thoughts on Slender Man
 
Characters – Usually I would start to describe the characters here, but this film could well be the worst character development film I have ever seen, we have Wren and Hallie who are the longest surviving members of the group, who mostly just scream and think they are better than everyone else. Chloe is here too, she doesn’t listen to instructions and Katie is the one that goes missing. This is how little we learn about the characters in this film.
Performances – With terrible characters, comes no chance for the poor actresses in the main roles of the film to get anything memorable in, it is hard to give any of them any praise for their performance, mostly because it was hard to tell Joey King and Julia Goldani Telles apart too.
Story – The story follows four girls that play along with a Slender Man mystery that leaves them being terrorised by the mythical monster. The problem with this story is that we are force to follow four boring high characters that are given nothing to make them standout in a crowd, we have a internet video starting the nightmare which doesn’t create any sort of rules behind the mysterious figure. We have one person literally vanish, another one getting chased which just makes it hard to believe just what is happening with the characters will be going through. It is the most lacklustre pointless story we have seen that almost feels like everything is complete list of what not to do when making a movie.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in the film could be high tension moment, only for it to come back flat on its face not building the tension just, this is a scary moment, over. We even have a mystery which should be interesting but soon turns into nothing important.
Settings – The film is set in a city, didn’t notice which one, but it is surround by woodlands which only get to add what could be the mystery about the Slender Man who could use this area for hiding places.
Special Effects – The effects are just complete the weak attempt to make a movie here, with the Slender Man never getting anything remotely looking scary which he should be if he is literally kidnapping children.

Scene of the Movie – Ummmmmmm, the credits were good.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The kids have nothing that makes them look different.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the weakest horror films you will ever see, it is just a terrible mess, with no scares and doesn’t give the talent a chance to shine in.
 
Overall: Bad is being nice.
Rating
  
    Pinball HD Collection

    Pinball HD Collection

    Games and Sports

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    This unique table features pinball bumpers and targets, plus a color monitor where you can take on a...

Lady Bird (2017)
Lady Bird (2017)
2017 | Comedy, Drama
Masterpiece
Set in 2002, Lady Bird is a coming of age story for high school senior Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson. The film follows her pursuit of college while growing up in a low-income family. While that is the main plot, Lady Bird is about so much more. Quite frankly, the movie is perfect. I haven't seem a film this memorable since Boyhood.

Trying to find something wrong with this film is like trying to catch a fly while blinking rapidly. Not only does it do everything right, it does it flawlessly. What impresses me the most is this is Greta Gerwig's directorial debut (who also did the screenplay). For someone to hit a homerun like this on their first try is an incredible thing to consider.

I won't go into too much detail here because I want you go into this with as little knowledge of the film as I, but here are a few things I loved about it. At just ninety-three minutes, Lady Bird carries a consistent pace with an ending that is just too perfect for words. It's going to make you laugh out loud. A lot. It will probably make you tear up a bit as well as it's just as much heartbreaking as it is hilarious. The acting, highlighted by Saiorse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf is stellar through and through. Emotions are captured in a way that what you feel you are seeing is something real, not a script. So real it hits home in a way that might surprise you. Finally, this film gets all the little things right. Those small extra mile touches that add a lasting touch to a film.

As cliche as I have to be in this moment, Lady Bird is a masterpiece. That's why I'm giving it a perfect 100.
  
40x40

Dubbsbrother1 (1 KP) Dec 9, 2017

This movie was weak. Definitely not a masterpiece. Last years Edge of Seventeen was 1000x better.

40x40

Loz Hughes (80 KP) Aug 4, 2018

I agree with you Philip, I thought it was really well done too.

The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass
Philip Pullman | 1995 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
7.6 (68 Ratings)
Book Rating
Originally reviewed on http://www.frommybookshelf.com

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass will forever be one of my favorite books. I remember reading it when it was first published in 1995 and thinking then I had never read anything like it before, and each subsequent reading (along with the other books in the His Dark Materials series, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) still brings that feeling of wonder. The ideas and themes that Pullman introduces in these books challenged me as a reader then, and still do over 20 years later.

Lyra's story of friendship and loyalty found in the most unlikely places, and opposing and challenging those whose beliefs may be strong but not necessarily in the right, resonated strongly with me right out of high school, and I still think that these are important themes for any young reader to experience, especially told through Lyra's eyes. Her strength of character and resolve in what she believes right creates a fantastic role model for anyone, but especially those, I think, who are trying to find their way in the world and are looking to literature to help them. Of course, Pullman disguises much of this in a fast-paced adventure story filled with political intrigue and suspense around every corner, so it will keep readers both young and old eager to find out what happens next. Not every book deserves the title "unputdownable", but I think this was one of my first experiences with a book that earned that description for me. An alternate universe, witches, daemons, polar bears who talk, and more make this book one of the more unique books you'll read, and Philip Pullman's writing is beautiful and poignant.
  
LG
Local Girls
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Three friends walk into their favorite dive bar, The Shamrock, and are shocked to see their favorite actor, Sam Decker there. When he joins their table and starts buying drinks, the conversation turns to each others pasts and how their lives got to be at the point they are. This night will change everyone's lives forever.

From the beginning of the book, we know that someone is going to die. And now I am just trying to figure out the when and how. The book flips between present day and the past when the group of three girls used to be a foursome.

Something about this book that I liked is that you get to see how the girl get to this point in their life. I liked the flashbacks and it transported me back to my high school days. I could see me and my friends in this same situation although my friends and I were not quite as wild as these girls.

One part that really struck me was a reference to Virginia Woolf and her suicide note. In the note she says, "I don't think any two people could have been happier than we have been." The character reading this mentions that this phrase is said twice in her short suicide note. I find it ironic that the author mentions a phrase twice in this book, "Only boring people get bored." I think deep down these girls were bored, but used the antics they pulled help to add some excitement to their lives. Another interesting thing about this book, is that we are never really introduced to the narrator. I can only recall her name being mentioned twice in the book.

**I received an uncorrected proof of this book through Goodreads Giveaways and this review is based on that copy.**
  
40x40

Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Solo in Books

May 10, 2018  
S
Solo
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Blade Morrison has reached a pivotal point in his life. He's graduating from high school, about to turn eighteen and has his whole life in front of him But with a famous father who is always in the media and a girlfriend whose parents can't stand you, it's hard to find your place. When Blade discovers something about his past, it will change his future forever. Set on two continents, inspired by rock and roll, and written in poetic verse Solo is one of the best books I have read this year.

Thank you to Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess, and Blink YA for the opportunity to read and review this book and be a part of the Solo Launch Team.

This is the first book I have read by Kwame Alexander or Mary Rand Hess and I have already picked up another at the library. This book was built on a love of music. Every character has a connection to music in some way shape or form.

Blade is yourtypical teenage boy, but for the fact that he has a famous father, Rutherford Morrison who is a rock and roll star who has fallen from grace. Often in the media because of an incident involving drugs or alcohol, Blade is tired of being there to pick up pieces that eventually fall apart again. After the loss of his mother Sunny, the family was never the same. When Blade discovers something about his past and given a letter his mother wrote to him for his 18th birthday, he sets out on a quest to find out where he really belongs.

Full of love, loss, addiction and music, Solo, although written for the YA crowd is a book people of all ages can enjoy.


  
Tempted (House of Night, #6)
Tempted (House of Night, #6)
P.C. Cast | 2008 | Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
4
7.7 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
In terms of plot, I would say this is the worst book of the series. Loose ends are left dangling all over the place, more questions are formed than answered, and (spoiler!) the main character, Zoey escapes into the afterlife "Otherworld." The last page is like a huge "To Be Continued..." and I just hate so-called endings like that. Most of the book is spent making plans regarding Kalona and Neferet, the red fledglings, and the House of Night school, but very little is actually accomplished. I appreciate that the series seems to move in real-time, but at the same time, things need to move a bit faster for anything to actually happen. The most exciting thing was Stevie Rae's near-death experience, which isn't saying much. I was greatly antipating the group's trip to Venice, but their meeting with the High Council was strangely short and anti-climactic. I think that at least one vampyre on the council should have disagreed with Neferet's lies, since Kalona's hypnotic powers are supposed to rely on choice.
The things I did like about the book are what I've like about the entire series. I love how the characters all strive for normalcy, even when everything around them is completely paranormal. I love the dialogue and how it is very typically teenager-ish. I also love how Zoey makes tons of mistakes, even though she has the favor of the Goddess. The one "loose end" that did seem to get taken care of in a way was the Imprint between Aphrodite and Stevie Rae being broken, though it just formed another loose end with Stevie Rae hiding the Raven Mocker Rephaim from everyone else.
I will likely stay loyal to the series in the hopes that the plot improves with the next book, Burned.
  
Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)
Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)
Patricia Briggs | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.6 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
This plotline delved more deeply into the interplay between wolf and man in the werewolf, which is interesting since Mercy does not have that issue with becoming a coyote. It also explored the way that being connected to a pack could either help you or hurt you. The complexities and interplays were fascinating, especially since Mercy had to learn to fight only "in the mind." It kind of validates being intelligent as a viable form of defense. What I did find annoying was when Sylvia and her brood would use Spanish to communicate, and their words were not translated. I studied French in high school, folks, not Spanish. It's poor form to put a foreign language in your book and not at least roughly translate it. Moving on.
I thought the way that the fairy queen operated was, put simply, stupid. She got so many basic things wrong that it did not even make sense that she was even living in the modern world. For instance, she really should have thought of the capabilities of cell phones. As "bad guys" go, she was rather pathetic, and even Bran, the Marrok agreed with me, calling her "stupid fairy queen." I loved that the fight against the fairy queen brought a past love of Samuel's to the forefront, thus giving him a reason to want to live, as well as giving me a different female character to root for. I'm also hoping that Ariana will stick around in future books.
This was not my favorite book in the series, despite centering around an actual book in the plot, as well as showing a bit more "bonding" between Adam and Mercy. The climax seemed less "climactic" than normal, thanks to a less believeable villian, but there was lots for me to like about this book despite what it lacked.
  
Y’all! Let me tell you a little something about this book right here. It’s fantabulous. That’s right. Fantabulous. Mary Connealy has been on my auto read authors list for years now. And, I always get giddy like a school kid on the play ground when I get to read her novels. This upcoming addition to her High Sierra Sweethearts series was no exception.

From the start, we are taking to the heart of the plot line, and into the lives of John and Penny. Oh sweet Penny, how I loved her! I loved her strong willed ways. And John. Lord have mercy, did I ever love him! His character really came to life for me, and I pictured myself beside him, taking each new twist and turn of being kidnapped with Penny as if I was there.

I loved the way Connealy created her characters with her trademark charm and wit. I love to get lost between the covers of one of her amazing novels because they are lighthearted and keep me chuckling on a bad day. The wit and charm of Penny and John were definitely evident in this page turner!

If you ask me, and even if you don’t, I’m going to tell you that I highly recommend this book with hats-off, two thumbs, and highest of 5 stars. Inspiration, hope, mercy and love are all wrapped up into another incredible cowboy story from the talented Mary Connealy. So, grab ya a copy, kick your boots off, and get ready to get wrapped up in another impeccably done novel from Mrs. Connealy!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*