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Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Last Time I Lied in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Fifteen years ago, Emma Davis attended Camp Nightingale for the first time. She shared a cabin with three older girls, Vivian, Allison and Natalie and one night they snuck out of the cabin and never came back. This is something that has haunted Emma all this time. So much so that she has included these girls in all of her paintings since that time, hidden in the woods they disappeared into. Now, Emma has been invited back to camp which is reopening after fifteen years. She is determined to find out what happened to the girls so that she can move on with life. But will she be able to do that? Will the people who are responsible for the girls disappearance and maybe death, try to stop her?
I loved this book! I read The Final Girls earlier this year and loved that one as well. I couldn't wait to read this one. I will say at the beginning I felt the story started off a little slowly, taking us back and forth from present day to Camp Nightingale fifteen years ago. We learn more about Emma's youth and about the girls who disappeared, especially Vivian who Emma seemed most obsessed with.
Riley Sager will is another author I am now adding to my list of author's whose books I will read regardless of the description. I hope everything he writes turns out to be as big a hit as the previous two.
I loved this book! I read The Final Girls earlier this year and loved that one as well. I couldn't wait to read this one. I will say at the beginning I felt the story started off a little slowly, taking us back and forth from present day to Camp Nightingale fifteen years ago. We learn more about Emma's youth and about the girls who disappeared, especially Vivian who Emma seemed most obsessed with.
Riley Sager will is another author I am now adding to my list of author's whose books I will read regardless of the description. I hope everything he writes turns out to be as big a hit as the previous two.
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Outlaw Takes a Bride in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Can an outlaw find love and happiness when his life is nothing but a lie?
Springtime in Colorado, 1885. Johnny Paynter is accused of a murder and flees towards his brother’s ranch in Texas. Although when he arrives, he finds his brother Mark dead! Folk in town think that Johnny is Mark, and Johnny doesn’t correct them. He begins to start a new life as Mark and things go rather well. Until he finds out that Mark has a mail order bride on her way to Texas. Deciding that there is nothing else to do, he takes Sally as his wife and continues life as Mark Paynter. With a relationship founded on lies, how can it survive?
The foundation of any relationship should be founded on truth and honesty. If it isn’t, there is much turmoil working through the mess. But there is always hope, the Lord can heal the hurt and His mercies are new every day. We can always begin again. I have enjoyed both books that I have read by Susan Page Davis now. The Outlaw Takes a Bride is a western romance, with really good Christian principles. She reminds us that we should strive to live an honest life, but even when we mess things up, the Lord is there to forgive and restore what has been broken. This book is action packed with bandits, touching and romantic, and an overall good read!
I received a free digital copy of The Outlaw Takes a Bride from Barbour Publishing, Inc. through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Springtime in Colorado, 1885. Johnny Paynter is accused of a murder and flees towards his brother’s ranch in Texas. Although when he arrives, he finds his brother Mark dead! Folk in town think that Johnny is Mark, and Johnny doesn’t correct them. He begins to start a new life as Mark and things go rather well. Until he finds out that Mark has a mail order bride on her way to Texas. Deciding that there is nothing else to do, he takes Sally as his wife and continues life as Mark Paynter. With a relationship founded on lies, how can it survive?
The foundation of any relationship should be founded on truth and honesty. If it isn’t, there is much turmoil working through the mess. But there is always hope, the Lord can heal the hurt and His mercies are new every day. We can always begin again. I have enjoyed both books that I have read by Susan Page Davis now. The Outlaw Takes a Bride is a western romance, with really good Christian principles. She reminds us that we should strive to live an honest life, but even when we mess things up, the Lord is there to forgive and restore what has been broken. This book is action packed with bandits, touching and romantic, and an overall good read!
I received a free digital copy of The Outlaw Takes a Bride from Barbour Publishing, Inc. through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated The Nines (2007) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019 (Updated Jun 22, 2019)
The Nines tells the story of Gary, Gavin, and Gabriel with each character given a specific segment in the film. The first segment tells the story of Gary, an actor who has more than a few issues. The second introduces us to Gavin as we're given a reality TV show look behind the scenes as he tries to get his show onto the air. The final segment is about Gabriel, a married man who designs video games. All of the segments are related and focus around the number 9. Discovering the truth about these characters and what they really are is what really makes the film worth watching.
I had been wanting to see this for awhile and I finally got around to seeing it today. It was actually better than I was expecting it to be. I haven't seen a film tie together multiple segments like this in a long time. Everything comes together quite well and it's pretty satisfying once all the cards are put on the table. Ryan Reynolds proves once again that his acting is quite strong and has more to him than being the casual funny man. Melissa McCarthy is also worth mentioning. She starts off being kind of irritating, but turns out being incredibly charming once the credits roll. Hope Davis was the last piece of the puzzle and is crucial to the overall story. At first, she just seems like the typical jealous and conniving female character who didn't get what she wanted. As the film progresses, however, her role becomes more interesting and it's revealed how important she is in Gary/Gavin/Gabriel's path to discovering what's really going on.
The Nines deserves a watch from anyone looking for something a little different. It'll definitely satisfy Ryan Reynolds fans and it'll probably meet or exceed what you expect from the film once it's all said and done. It surprised me quite a bit with a strong story, a great cast, and an incredibly solid script.
I had been wanting to see this for awhile and I finally got around to seeing it today. It was actually better than I was expecting it to be. I haven't seen a film tie together multiple segments like this in a long time. Everything comes together quite well and it's pretty satisfying once all the cards are put on the table. Ryan Reynolds proves once again that his acting is quite strong and has more to him than being the casual funny man. Melissa McCarthy is also worth mentioning. She starts off being kind of irritating, but turns out being incredibly charming once the credits roll. Hope Davis was the last piece of the puzzle and is crucial to the overall story. At first, she just seems like the typical jealous and conniving female character who didn't get what she wanted. As the film progresses, however, her role becomes more interesting and it's revealed how important she is in Gary/Gavin/Gabriel's path to discovering what's really going on.
The Nines deserves a watch from anyone looking for something a little different. It'll definitely satisfy Ryan Reynolds fans and it'll probably meet or exceed what you expect from the film once it's all said and done. It surprised me quite a bit with a strong story, a great cast, and an incredibly solid script.
TheDefunctDiva (304 KP) rated The Fly (1986) in Movies
Mar 13, 2021 (Updated Mar 15, 2021)
Come Fly With Me...
Contains spoilers, click to show
The Fly, Directed by David Cronenberg, 1986
To the victor go the spoils. To the reader, go the spoilers.
We watched The Fly the other night. I observed, with fond amusement, that the energetic and quirky Jeff Goldblum always seems to star as himself. In this film, he plays a scientist named Seth Brundle. His offbeat handsomeness pairs well with the pale beauty of Geena Davis, who stars alongside him as journalist Veronica Quaife. As the two characters hit it off, I tried to ignore the fact that Goldblum’s character came off as somewhat creepy.
Then we were introduced to Veronica’s ex-boyfriend, who is also her boss. Stathis, played by John Getz, is unhinged. His performance was exaggerated, almost a caricature. He presents himself as the pinnacle alpha-male. Talk about a stalker. His attempts to control Veronica, and his jealousy, were epic. I commented that the scariest thing about this movie was Veronica’s ex. Little did I know what the rest of the film had in store.
Seth, an undiscovered genius, has invented a transporter. Seth shows Veronica how his invention works by transporting her stocking from one pod to another. Veronica wants to publish a story about it, but Seth insists that his technology is not ready. Seth and Veronica become involved, and she helps document his experiments.
Later, things get hairy. Naturally, they want to see if the pods are capable of transporting living beings. Instead of experimenting on a bug, or a mouse, or a smaller creature, they attempt to transport a full-sized monkey.
Suffice to say, things do not go well. Kudos to the special effects team for creating that pile of retch.
More modifications are made, and another monkey survives the transportation trip.
The romance grows between Seth and Veronica. I had a hard time buying into the chemistry between Goldblum and Davis. They both seemed a little distant. Regardless, the love story pushes forward. There is even talk of the pair going away together “like an old married couple.” Then Veronica’s boss throws a wrench in the mix. Veronica is forced to deal with his antics. Seth, who is also a bit of a jealous type, gets drunk and sends himself through the transporter, since the monkey seemed fine.
Then there comes the stuff of nightmares. Seth isn’t himself. He is immediately charged with manic energy. He performs quite an impressive gymnastics routine (thank you, stunt Goldblum).Veronica is clearly distraught that her boyfriend is losing it.
The physical metamorphosis begins. Seth develops weird, wiry hairs protruding from a cut on his back. His sex drive goes wonky, and when he alienates Veronica, he finds a random lady from a bar to sleep with. His complexion worsens dramatically. He discovers that his machine has melded his genetic information with the DNA of a fly that was in the pod of the transporter with him. THE DNA FUSED AT A MOLECULAR LEVEL. This, my dear viewers, is not good. Not the sort of thing you can get addressed at your nearest urgent care clinic.
Things get worse, and incredibly gross, from there. Fingernails fall off and bug juice oozes. The makeup and special effects departments did an extremely convincing job. I felt incredibly bad for this seemingly highly intelligent man. My boyfriend kept calling for a flame thrower.
Veronica tries to help, and is empathetic. But watching your newfound love deteriorate so rapidly, and being powerless to help, is extremely traumatic. Davis brought her A-game to this portion of the performance. And, true to the sci-fi soap opera plot, she discovers that she is pregnant with Seth’s baby.
I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. But do you imagine this story ends well? I had hope. But it was squashed like a bug. If you have the stomach for good, old-fashioned movie gore, and you like Weird Science with a touch of Bad Romance, this film is for you.
To the victor go the spoils. To the reader, go the spoilers.
We watched The Fly the other night. I observed, with fond amusement, that the energetic and quirky Jeff Goldblum always seems to star as himself. In this film, he plays a scientist named Seth Brundle. His offbeat handsomeness pairs well with the pale beauty of Geena Davis, who stars alongside him as journalist Veronica Quaife. As the two characters hit it off, I tried to ignore the fact that Goldblum’s character came off as somewhat creepy.
Then we were introduced to Veronica’s ex-boyfriend, who is also her boss. Stathis, played by John Getz, is unhinged. His performance was exaggerated, almost a caricature. He presents himself as the pinnacle alpha-male. Talk about a stalker. His attempts to control Veronica, and his jealousy, were epic. I commented that the scariest thing about this movie was Veronica’s ex. Little did I know what the rest of the film had in store.
Seth, an undiscovered genius, has invented a transporter. Seth shows Veronica how his invention works by transporting her stocking from one pod to another. Veronica wants to publish a story about it, but Seth insists that his technology is not ready. Seth and Veronica become involved, and she helps document his experiments.
Later, things get hairy. Naturally, they want to see if the pods are capable of transporting living beings. Instead of experimenting on a bug, or a mouse, or a smaller creature, they attempt to transport a full-sized monkey.
Suffice to say, things do not go well. Kudos to the special effects team for creating that pile of retch.
More modifications are made, and another monkey survives the transportation trip.
The romance grows between Seth and Veronica. I had a hard time buying into the chemistry between Goldblum and Davis. They both seemed a little distant. Regardless, the love story pushes forward. There is even talk of the pair going away together “like an old married couple.” Then Veronica’s boss throws a wrench in the mix. Veronica is forced to deal with his antics. Seth, who is also a bit of a jealous type, gets drunk and sends himself through the transporter, since the monkey seemed fine.
Then there comes the stuff of nightmares. Seth isn’t himself. He is immediately charged with manic energy. He performs quite an impressive gymnastics routine (thank you, stunt Goldblum).Veronica is clearly distraught that her boyfriend is losing it.
The physical metamorphosis begins. Seth develops weird, wiry hairs protruding from a cut on his back. His sex drive goes wonky, and when he alienates Veronica, he finds a random lady from a bar to sleep with. His complexion worsens dramatically. He discovers that his machine has melded his genetic information with the DNA of a fly that was in the pod of the transporter with him. THE DNA FUSED AT A MOLECULAR LEVEL. This, my dear viewers, is not good. Not the sort of thing you can get addressed at your nearest urgent care clinic.
Things get worse, and incredibly gross, from there. Fingernails fall off and bug juice oozes. The makeup and special effects departments did an extremely convincing job. I felt incredibly bad for this seemingly highly intelligent man. My boyfriend kept calling for a flame thrower.
Veronica tries to help, and is empathetic. But watching your newfound love deteriorate so rapidly, and being powerless to help, is extremely traumatic. Davis brought her A-game to this portion of the performance. And, true to the sci-fi soap opera plot, she discovers that she is pregnant with Seth’s baby.
I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. But do you imagine this story ends well? I had hope. But it was squashed like a bug. If you have the stomach for good, old-fashioned movie gore, and you like Weird Science with a touch of Bad Romance, this film is for you.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) in Movies
Oct 29, 2019 (Updated Oct 29, 2019)
I'll start by saying that Terminator: Dark Fate isn't quite the glorious return to form that a lot of people were hoping it would be. It's not a scratch on the first two, but there's enough good here to provide a mostly enjoyable sequel.
The Terminator series has had a bit of an extended rough patch over the last 15-20 years to say the least. Many fans (including myself) are quite happy to pretend that any entries after T2 just don't exist.
Lucky for us then that Dark Fate feels the same way.
Picking up after the events of T2, with a bit of digital trickery, we're first subjected to a sweet shot of nostalgia that we seem to be getting used to these days.
One thing I found apparent throughout DF, is that it drip feeds nostalgia quite subtly, without ever going overboard.
From there we're introduced to characters old and new including a new Terminator target Dani (Natalia Reyes), her cybernetically augmented human protector-from-the-future, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and the new improved Terminator model for this chapter, the 'Rev-9' (Gabriel Luna).
And then of course Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), back and more badass than ever.
I enjoyed the cast as a whole during DF, but I'll admit that whenever Hamilton was involved in a scene was when my attention was at a peak.
The pacing drags at times - the action scenes are pretty hectic, and mostly entertaining, and a decent script holds the slower moments together for the most part, but i found parts of the middle act a little dull at times.
Arnold Schwarzenegger appears fairly late on, and the film picked up a notch for me at this point. The position we find him in is initially quite jarring, but does (kind of) make sense once explained. It's also Schwarzenegger that provides the bulk of Dark Fate's sparse humour, and it's done very well. Just like the nostalgia aspect, it never quite goes overboard, allowing for some genuinely funny moments in an otherwise serious movie.
The climax of the film is stupidly entertaining, with thrilling action, and some genuinely emotional moments. Dark Fate felt like a 6/10 to me until the last 25 minutes, and it's a strong final sequence that closes the film nicely.
The CGI is mostly decent. Mostly. There are some moments early on that look dodgy AF, and an action set piece on a huge plane a bit later on that is glaringly awful, but it's not enough to tank what is overall, an entertaining action vehicle, with a great cast.
I honestly (and probably naively) hope that the Terminator franchise is left alone now. There's only so many ways one can shoehorn Arnie into a new Terminator narrative, and Dark Fate does just enough to make up for the last three films. And that's good enough for me.
The Terminator series has had a bit of an extended rough patch over the last 15-20 years to say the least. Many fans (including myself) are quite happy to pretend that any entries after T2 just don't exist.
Lucky for us then that Dark Fate feels the same way.
Picking up after the events of T2, with a bit of digital trickery, we're first subjected to a sweet shot of nostalgia that we seem to be getting used to these days.
One thing I found apparent throughout DF, is that it drip feeds nostalgia quite subtly, without ever going overboard.
From there we're introduced to characters old and new including a new Terminator target Dani (Natalia Reyes), her cybernetically augmented human protector-from-the-future, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and the new improved Terminator model for this chapter, the 'Rev-9' (Gabriel Luna).
And then of course Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), back and more badass than ever.
I enjoyed the cast as a whole during DF, but I'll admit that whenever Hamilton was involved in a scene was when my attention was at a peak.
The pacing drags at times - the action scenes are pretty hectic, and mostly entertaining, and a decent script holds the slower moments together for the most part, but i found parts of the middle act a little dull at times.
Arnold Schwarzenegger appears fairly late on, and the film picked up a notch for me at this point. The position we find him in is initially quite jarring, but does (kind of) make sense once explained. It's also Schwarzenegger that provides the bulk of Dark Fate's sparse humour, and it's done very well. Just like the nostalgia aspect, it never quite goes overboard, allowing for some genuinely funny moments in an otherwise serious movie.
The climax of the film is stupidly entertaining, with thrilling action, and some genuinely emotional moments. Dark Fate felt like a 6/10 to me until the last 25 minutes, and it's a strong final sequence that closes the film nicely.
The CGI is mostly decent. Mostly. There are some moments early on that look dodgy AF, and an action set piece on a huge plane a bit later on that is glaringly awful, but it's not enough to tank what is overall, an entertaining action vehicle, with a great cast.
I honestly (and probably naively) hope that the Terminator franchise is left alone now. There's only so many ways one can shoehorn Arnie into a new Terminator narrative, and Dark Fate does just enough to make up for the last three films. And that's good enough for me.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) in Movies
Oct 31, 2019
Finally a worthy sequel
After all of the other poor sequels since the original Terminator films, I hadn’t been holding out much hope for this one and had forgotten it even existed until the trailers popped up a couple of weeks ago. However this film was a massively pleasant surprise.
Right from the opening scene, this film knows how to pack a punch. This opening scene is so far away from anything I expected and it was so brilliantly done, the CGI in this was fantastic and starting this way really increased the nostalgia factor that seems to resonate through the entire film. There’s no doubt whatsoever that this film fits in with the original two and for me there’s no other way they could’ve pulled this off. We’ve seen before how badly other Terminator films can go wrong, but this doesn’t shy away from nods to the originals and it really works.
The first 20-30 minutes are non-stop action, and a great introduction to both the Rev-9 and Grace. The Rev-9 is a very good addition to the Terminator family, he’s rather creepy, virtually unstoppable and a seemingly appropriate transition from the T-1000. Aside from the odd dodgy CGI moment, he’s definitely a rather worthy successor to the T-1000. And then there’s Grace, a kick ass powerful female who is a brilliant and much better alternative to the male protector we’ve seen from the rest of the films. She’s played wonderfully by Mackenzie Davis who definitely looks the part. Having Grace alongside old hand Sarah Connor and newbie Dani brings a powerful trio of independent women who spend most of the film battling on their own, is a refreshing change to a male driven film.
Of course they are joined eventually by Arnie, who’s return has sadly been by the trailers. However his appearance in the latter half of the film is very much welcome, as he provides some great deadpan humour that is a little lacking from the first half, and also some of the emotional heartwarming side which was a pleasant surprise. Seeing him back alongside Linda Hamilton is a wonderful feeling, even if her Sarah Connor seems a little too OTT at times.
Despite the above, Dark Fate isn’t perfect. It has been entirely ruined by the trailer, which has given away a lot of the plot – I for one would’ve preferred not to know Arnie was returning, how much of a shock would that have been?! Also, I found some of the action scenes (especially in the second half) to be a little bit much and I wish they could’ve been toned down a little as they were almost giving me motion sickness! There’s also the fact that this film has blatantly been set up for another sequel and I’m hoping and praying that this isn’t the case. This is a very worthy sequel to the original Terminator films and whilst it doesn’t surpass them it sure as hell doesn’t let them down, and I think it’d be such a shame if they were to ruin the franchise again by bringing out yet more second rate sequels.
Right from the opening scene, this film knows how to pack a punch. This opening scene is so far away from anything I expected and it was so brilliantly done, the CGI in this was fantastic and starting this way really increased the nostalgia factor that seems to resonate through the entire film. There’s no doubt whatsoever that this film fits in with the original two and for me there’s no other way they could’ve pulled this off. We’ve seen before how badly other Terminator films can go wrong, but this doesn’t shy away from nods to the originals and it really works.
The first 20-30 minutes are non-stop action, and a great introduction to both the Rev-9 and Grace. The Rev-9 is a very good addition to the Terminator family, he’s rather creepy, virtually unstoppable and a seemingly appropriate transition from the T-1000. Aside from the odd dodgy CGI moment, he’s definitely a rather worthy successor to the T-1000. And then there’s Grace, a kick ass powerful female who is a brilliant and much better alternative to the male protector we’ve seen from the rest of the films. She’s played wonderfully by Mackenzie Davis who definitely looks the part. Having Grace alongside old hand Sarah Connor and newbie Dani brings a powerful trio of independent women who spend most of the film battling on their own, is a refreshing change to a male driven film.
Of course they are joined eventually by Arnie, who’s return has sadly been by the trailers. However his appearance in the latter half of the film is very much welcome, as he provides some great deadpan humour that is a little lacking from the first half, and also some of the emotional heartwarming side which was a pleasant surprise. Seeing him back alongside Linda Hamilton is a wonderful feeling, even if her Sarah Connor seems a little too OTT at times.
Despite the above, Dark Fate isn’t perfect. It has been entirely ruined by the trailer, which has given away a lot of the plot – I for one would’ve preferred not to know Arnie was returning, how much of a shock would that have been?! Also, I found some of the action scenes (especially in the second half) to be a little bit much and I wish they could’ve been toned down a little as they were almost giving me motion sickness! There’s also the fact that this film has blatantly been set up for another sequel and I’m hoping and praying that this isn’t the case. This is a very worthy sequel to the original Terminator films and whilst it doesn’t surpass them it sure as hell doesn’t let them down, and I think it’d be such a shame if they were to ruin the franchise again by bringing out yet more second rate sequels.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) in Movies
Nov 6, 2019
Good (enough) conclusion to the Franchise
After a few attempts at resurrecting this franchise, James Cameron has (wisely) decided to bury the franchise with one last TERMINATOR film starring the original Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE is a direct sequel to T2: JUDGEMENT DAY (or so says Producer/Writer Cameron) as it ignores the 3rd and 4th movies in this series (as well as the television show THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES).
And that is a wise move as it simplifies things and just lets us get on to what a Terminator movie does best - fantastic action sequences, state of the art CGI, a killer robot that will stop at nothing to accomplish it's mission, and a plucky hero or 2 to battle said killer robot.
Oh...did I mention that they recruit a Terminator to help them stop the Terminator?
And it all works well...enough. Set in this year (2019), TERMINATOR: DARK FATE tells the tale of what happens next after Sarah and John Connor stopped Judgement Day in the 2nd Terminator film. A deadly - even more dangerous - Terminator (version 9!) returns to 2019 to kill a single woman (Natalie Reyes). This time she is helped by an augmented human from the future (Mackenzie Davis) and...Sarah Connor! Returning to this film, all buffed up and aging, is a craggy voiced Linda Hamilton as Sarah, who brings an adequate amount of world-weary, "been there, done that" attitude to the proceedings that pretty much carry the first half of the film.
And...just as the film was beginning to sag in the middle, along comes Arnold.
Playing an aging Terminator (which is explained, well enough, in the plot), Arnold plays the Terminator (who has been living with humans for over 20 years) with a wink in his eye and a sense of humor about him. Yep...this is a Terminator with a funny bone. And - I'll be darned - it works! Thanks to the performance of Mr. Schwarzenegger. He knows exactly what kind of film he is in and brings the right amount of energy, muscle and humor to the proceedings. He pretty much carries this film on his broad shoulders for the 2nd half - and he carries it with ease.
Credit Director Tim Miller (DEADPOOL) for keeping things light, simple and moving along crisply. He, too, understands the type of film he is making (and the audience that will go see this type of film) so he keeps the dialogue light and snappy, the plot at it's simplest and the action as high as he can go - blowing things up at a moment's notice. It's not sublte art by any stretch of the imagination, but it is art - in a way - and art that he does well.
If this is the last Terminator film (and I hope it is), then it is going out on a high (enough) note. I was surprisingly entertained (and not preached to) and, I think that is all I could have hoped for in a Terminator flick.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
And that is a wise move as it simplifies things and just lets us get on to what a Terminator movie does best - fantastic action sequences, state of the art CGI, a killer robot that will stop at nothing to accomplish it's mission, and a plucky hero or 2 to battle said killer robot.
Oh...did I mention that they recruit a Terminator to help them stop the Terminator?
And it all works well...enough. Set in this year (2019), TERMINATOR: DARK FATE tells the tale of what happens next after Sarah and John Connor stopped Judgement Day in the 2nd Terminator film. A deadly - even more dangerous - Terminator (version 9!) returns to 2019 to kill a single woman (Natalie Reyes). This time she is helped by an augmented human from the future (Mackenzie Davis) and...Sarah Connor! Returning to this film, all buffed up and aging, is a craggy voiced Linda Hamilton as Sarah, who brings an adequate amount of world-weary, "been there, done that" attitude to the proceedings that pretty much carry the first half of the film.
And...just as the film was beginning to sag in the middle, along comes Arnold.
Playing an aging Terminator (which is explained, well enough, in the plot), Arnold plays the Terminator (who has been living with humans for over 20 years) with a wink in his eye and a sense of humor about him. Yep...this is a Terminator with a funny bone. And - I'll be darned - it works! Thanks to the performance of Mr. Schwarzenegger. He knows exactly what kind of film he is in and brings the right amount of energy, muscle and humor to the proceedings. He pretty much carries this film on his broad shoulders for the 2nd half - and he carries it with ease.
Credit Director Tim Miller (DEADPOOL) for keeping things light, simple and moving along crisply. He, too, understands the type of film he is making (and the audience that will go see this type of film) so he keeps the dialogue light and snappy, the plot at it's simplest and the action as high as he can go - blowing things up at a moment's notice. It's not sublte art by any stretch of the imagination, but it is art - in a way - and art that he does well.
If this is the last Terminator film (and I hope it is), then it is going out on a high (enough) note. I was surprisingly entertained (and not preached to) and, I think that is all I could have hoped for in a Terminator flick.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Lee (2222 KP) rated Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) in Movies
Oct 25, 2019 (Updated Oct 27, 2019)
A worthy successor to Judgement Day
Terminator: Dark Fate is the sixth movie in a franchise which has now been around for 35 years. The first sequel, Judgement Day back in 1991, is widely regarded by many as one of the greatest movie sequels of all time and for me it still holds up as an incredible piece of movie entertainment to this day. Since then, the following sequels have all failed to live up to that high standard in my opinion and, despite some interesting ideas and execution, have been largely forgettable. For one thing, I don’t even remember if I’ve actually seen 2015 movie Genisys or not! Now though, with James Cameron back onboard with writing/producing duties and directed by Deadpool director Tim Miller, Dark Fate has been pitched as the natural successor to Judgement Day that we never got. The trailer certainly gave off that impression and, for the first time in years, I was actually excited about seeing a Terminator movie again.
Dark Fate gets its shock twist out of the way right off the bat, before launching into approximately 20 minutes of non-stop, heart pounding action as we are introduced to both the new Terminator and the protector sent from the future to try and prevent him. Straight away, Dark Fate certainly feels like the kind of Terminator movie we love, playing more like an homage at times in a similar way to how Star Wars: The Force Awakens felt like A New Hope. Wow, it's a promising start!
Our protector this time round is Grace (Mackenzie Davis), a human soldier who has received some cybernetic enhancements to her body. She has been sent back from an alternate future to the one portrayed in Judgement Day - that future is now dead, thanks to the efforts of Sarah and John Connor in that movie, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800. However, humans clearly can't stop meddling with AI technology and the result, some 40 years from now, is the birth of 'Legion'. Our world has subsequently been destroyed, humans are being hunted and killed, but the remaining survivors are fighting back hard.
Those survivors have sent Grace back to protect a young, unsuspecting Mexican woman named Dani (Natalia Reyes), a factory worker whose job is becoming redundant thanks to the introduction of robot automation(!). Her importance to the future of humanity isn't immediately made clear, but the fact that war is currently raging around her while she is both hunted and protected, is good enough reason for now. The Terminator hunter Dani is being chased by is a Rev 9 (played by Gabriel Luna), similar to the T1000 of Judgement Day in that it has a liquid skin, able to replicate any human it comes into contact with or transform its body into various sharp weapons. But also, with the added bonus of being able to separate that liquid skin from its metal endoskeleton, doubling down on the threat level and providing two very different Terminators to fight off at the same time.
But when all seems lost, a guardian angel in the form of Sarah Connors arrives on the scene, packing guns, rocket launchers and grenades and generally being a real badass. Turns out Sarah has spent the last twenty years or so hunting down any cyborgs that decide to venture into our time from the future and she joins forces with Grace in order to protect Dani at all costs. It's great to have Linda Hamilton back as Sarah Connor, and she is once again a strong and effective presence in the movie. Grace and Dani prove to be just as tough as Sarah though, both mentally and physically, but it's Mackenzie Davis that stands out for me as being particularly impressive. All 3 of them form a pretty formidable, badass trio as they go on the run to get as far away from the Terminator as possible.
It's no secret if you've seen the trailers that Arnie is back, and his arrival later in the movie introduces yet more nostalgia and a good injection of humour. His presence and purpose is explained well, feeling believable, not like a cheap cash-in, and it's great to have Arnie and Linda Hamilton back together as a team, even if it feel like a handing over of the baton to a new bunch of heroes.
The action builds to an impressive finale, continuing the homage to the original movies, but still managing to feel fresh and original, and for me Dark Fate definitely feels a worthy successor to Judgement Day. There's certainly a possibility of further sequels following this and while I had an absolute blast with this movie, part of me hopes that they'll leave well alone now and just end the series on a real high.
Dark Fate gets its shock twist out of the way right off the bat, before launching into approximately 20 minutes of non-stop, heart pounding action as we are introduced to both the new Terminator and the protector sent from the future to try and prevent him. Straight away, Dark Fate certainly feels like the kind of Terminator movie we love, playing more like an homage at times in a similar way to how Star Wars: The Force Awakens felt like A New Hope. Wow, it's a promising start!
Our protector this time round is Grace (Mackenzie Davis), a human soldier who has received some cybernetic enhancements to her body. She has been sent back from an alternate future to the one portrayed in Judgement Day - that future is now dead, thanks to the efforts of Sarah and John Connor in that movie, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800. However, humans clearly can't stop meddling with AI technology and the result, some 40 years from now, is the birth of 'Legion'. Our world has subsequently been destroyed, humans are being hunted and killed, but the remaining survivors are fighting back hard.
Those survivors have sent Grace back to protect a young, unsuspecting Mexican woman named Dani (Natalia Reyes), a factory worker whose job is becoming redundant thanks to the introduction of robot automation(!). Her importance to the future of humanity isn't immediately made clear, but the fact that war is currently raging around her while she is both hunted and protected, is good enough reason for now. The Terminator hunter Dani is being chased by is a Rev 9 (played by Gabriel Luna), similar to the T1000 of Judgement Day in that it has a liquid skin, able to replicate any human it comes into contact with or transform its body into various sharp weapons. But also, with the added bonus of being able to separate that liquid skin from its metal endoskeleton, doubling down on the threat level and providing two very different Terminators to fight off at the same time.
But when all seems lost, a guardian angel in the form of Sarah Connors arrives on the scene, packing guns, rocket launchers and grenades and generally being a real badass. Turns out Sarah has spent the last twenty years or so hunting down any cyborgs that decide to venture into our time from the future and she joins forces with Grace in order to protect Dani at all costs. It's great to have Linda Hamilton back as Sarah Connor, and she is once again a strong and effective presence in the movie. Grace and Dani prove to be just as tough as Sarah though, both mentally and physically, but it's Mackenzie Davis that stands out for me as being particularly impressive. All 3 of them form a pretty formidable, badass trio as they go on the run to get as far away from the Terminator as possible.
It's no secret if you've seen the trailers that Arnie is back, and his arrival later in the movie introduces yet more nostalgia and a good injection of humour. His presence and purpose is explained well, feeling believable, not like a cheap cash-in, and it's great to have Arnie and Linda Hamilton back together as a team, even if it feel like a handing over of the baton to a new bunch of heroes.
The action builds to an impressive finale, continuing the homage to the original movies, but still managing to feel fresh and original, and for me Dark Fate definitely feels a worthy successor to Judgement Day. There's certainly a possibility of further sequels following this and while I had an absolute blast with this movie, part of me hopes that they'll leave well alone now and just end the series on a real high.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Santa Claus Bank Robbery: A True Crime Saga in Texas in Books
Nov 26, 2019
I don't normally read a lot of non-fiction, but there was something about Tui Snider's true crime novel Santa Claus Bank Robbery that really drew me in. Maybe it was the fact that I love to imagine how things were back in the day or maybe it was the mystery of the blonde woman that I wanted to know. Whatever it was, I am thrilled that I had the chance to read Santa Claus Bank Robbery.
Tui Snider opens her novel with a chapter that talks about how she first heard of this crazy bank heist. She gives information behind the history of bank robberies in Texas. Snider then goes into details about the key players that were apart of the bank robbery in the next chapter. It isn't long before you're thrown into the action of what happened that fateful day in Cisco, Texas when at least four men - Marshall Ratliff, Henry Helms, Robert Hill, and Lewis Davis - decided to rob the First National Bank on December 23, 1927 with Ratliff dressed in a Santa Claus suit. It's a wonder more people didn't die considering back then anyone off the street could get a gun and shoot at criminals! Snider doesn't just end her book when the bank robbery ended. She also writes about what happened to the bank robbers after they were apprehended as well as what happened to some of the other people who were involved whether they were hostages, bystanders, or vigilantes.
It's very obvious that Tui Snider had done extensive research before writing Santa Claus Bank Robbery. Snider even includes a diagram that shows where everyone was standing when the bank robbery occurred! She includes names of many of the key players (witnesses, accessories, bystanders, etc) which can sometimes be a bit daunting to remember. I had to go back to previous chapters to find out who was who sometimes. The names of people get easier to remember further into the book though. I loved that photos from Newspapers around that time were also included in Santa Claus Bank Robbery.
It was nice to read Tui Snider's commentary on the events whilst reading through the chapters of Santa Claus Bank Robbery. I felt as if Snider was right beside me giving me her opinion on the events of the book. I do agree with her on who she thinks the mysterious blonde woman was. After reading Tui Snider's book, I'm definitely with Snider. I'm also left wondering, along with the author, why A.C. Greene left out major details and gave pseudonyms to some people in his book The Santa Claus Bank Robbery published in 1972 (not to be confused with Tui Snider's book Santa Claus Bank Robbery) but not to others. That's also a great mystery that I hope one day Snider can find out because it seemed like it was driving her crazy wondering Greene did that (ha!).
One more touch that I really appreciated from Tui Snider in her book Santa Claus Bank Robbery was the fact that at the end, she includes appendices for places of interest, staying in touch with her, and further reading. I really enjoyed the places of interest section which lists the address and websites of places mentioned in the book. After reading Santa Claus Bank Robbery, I'm hankering to check these places out!
Trigger warnings for Santa Claus Bank Robbery include murder, death, and violence. It is a true crime book after all!
Overall, Santa Claus Bank Robbery is a highly fascinating novel full of action and mystery that holds your attention from the very first page. So much research went into the writing of this book, and it really shows. After reading this novel, I have become fascinated with this case. I would definitely recommend Santa Claus Bank Robbery by Tui Snider to those aged 16+ who love true crime, mystery, or just a well written book in general. This is one of those books that you won't be able to put down even when you have to!
--
(A special thank you to Tui Snider for providing me with a paperback copy of Santa Claus Bank Robbery in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Tui Snider opens her novel with a chapter that talks about how she first heard of this crazy bank heist. She gives information behind the history of bank robberies in Texas. Snider then goes into details about the key players that were apart of the bank robbery in the next chapter. It isn't long before you're thrown into the action of what happened that fateful day in Cisco, Texas when at least four men - Marshall Ratliff, Henry Helms, Robert Hill, and Lewis Davis - decided to rob the First National Bank on December 23, 1927 with Ratliff dressed in a Santa Claus suit. It's a wonder more people didn't die considering back then anyone off the street could get a gun and shoot at criminals! Snider doesn't just end her book when the bank robbery ended. She also writes about what happened to the bank robbers after they were apprehended as well as what happened to some of the other people who were involved whether they were hostages, bystanders, or vigilantes.
It's very obvious that Tui Snider had done extensive research before writing Santa Claus Bank Robbery. Snider even includes a diagram that shows where everyone was standing when the bank robbery occurred! She includes names of many of the key players (witnesses, accessories, bystanders, etc) which can sometimes be a bit daunting to remember. I had to go back to previous chapters to find out who was who sometimes. The names of people get easier to remember further into the book though. I loved that photos from Newspapers around that time were also included in Santa Claus Bank Robbery.
It was nice to read Tui Snider's commentary on the events whilst reading through the chapters of Santa Claus Bank Robbery. I felt as if Snider was right beside me giving me her opinion on the events of the book. I do agree with her on who she thinks the mysterious blonde woman was. After reading Tui Snider's book, I'm definitely with Snider. I'm also left wondering, along with the author, why A.C. Greene left out major details and gave pseudonyms to some people in his book The Santa Claus Bank Robbery published in 1972 (not to be confused with Tui Snider's book Santa Claus Bank Robbery) but not to others. That's also a great mystery that I hope one day Snider can find out because it seemed like it was driving her crazy wondering Greene did that (ha!).
One more touch that I really appreciated from Tui Snider in her book Santa Claus Bank Robbery was the fact that at the end, she includes appendices for places of interest, staying in touch with her, and further reading. I really enjoyed the places of interest section which lists the address and websites of places mentioned in the book. After reading Santa Claus Bank Robbery, I'm hankering to check these places out!
Trigger warnings for Santa Claus Bank Robbery include murder, death, and violence. It is a true crime book after all!
Overall, Santa Claus Bank Robbery is a highly fascinating novel full of action and mystery that holds your attention from the very first page. So much research went into the writing of this book, and it really shows. After reading this novel, I have become fascinated with this case. I would definitely recommend Santa Claus Bank Robbery by Tui Snider to those aged 16+ who love true crime, mystery, or just a well written book in general. This is one of those books that you won't be able to put down even when you have to!
--
(A special thank you to Tui Snider for providing me with a paperback copy of Santa Claus Bank Robbery in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Instant Karma (2021) in Movies
Sep 6, 2021
Neat idea for a movie (1 more)
Samantha Belle
Script is rambling and needs much tightening up (1 more)
Acting is often sub-par
You’ve got to admire the effort here.
Positives:
- There’s a quirky joy behind the story and it did keep me watching until the end to find out how it turned out.
- I enjoyed Samantha Belle’s performance. Whilst she has a few rough acting edges, she channelled a sort of cross between Ally Sheedy and Geena Davis that was cute. Elsewhere in the cast, Karl Haas (as Harry, the homeless guy) and Keegan Luther as the luckless Emilio gave, for me, the most naturalistic (and therefore best) performances.
- There’s an ending that, while feeling inconclusive and circuitous, did at least leave me with a smile on my face. (I hope permission was gained for the use of the name in the end titles!).
Negatives:
- If you watch, for example, “The Father” you quickly appreciate that the reason Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are so GREAT in the movie is you NEVER get the feeling that they are acting. Unfortunately, in “Instant Karma”, while I appreciate that all of the cast are giving of their best, almost EVERYONE appears to be acting. While it’s seldom ‘hold your head in your hands’ terrible, the chasm of skill between this cast and the top-flight is vast. - - The script doesn’t help this by introducing a torrent of different ‘rider’ cast, many of whom should never have been put in front of a camera to deliver lines.
- While the story has potential, the script rambles around and never quite decides what genre it’s going for. Drama? It’s not dramatic enough. Thriller? It tries to go that way in the final reel, but never convincingly (and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO POOR EMILIO????). Comedy? Humourous at times maybe, but never laugh-out-loud funny. (It actually might have made a pretty good comedy – a variant on the “Do you think I asked for a million ducks?” bar joke! This idea (C) Bob Mann 2021!).
- The script is also incomplete and tonally inconsistent. There are sub-plots (e.g. Emilio’s request for the money) that are never fleshed out. And Samantha seems to veer from excitable and supportive sexy wife to full-on psycho-bitch-marital-nightmare from scene to scene.
- When you’ve got a loose script, and a cast with limited experience, don’t over-egg the pudding! The movie is 115 minutes long: I would personally have gone to town in the editing room and got it down to sub-90 minutes. The overall concoction would have been much better. As it is, we have far too many instances of “Karma” in the first half of the film and some ‘filler’ scenes that go on and on (and on and on) without adding anything to the story. For example, there is a ‘spending spree’ montage that, while very nicely put together, goes on for almost two whole minutes. Chop, chop, chop!
- Technically, the sound needs more work. There’s a lot of noise on the soundtrack and some poorly mixed music cues. Lighting inside the car was also an issue in some scenes.
Summary Thoughts on “Instant Karma”: I enjoyed watching this one more than my long list of “suggested improvements” might suggest.
I remain in awe of a team, with a limited budget, being able to project manage a movie like this to completion. And especially since this was filmed during the pandemic and in the searing heat of an Arizona summer, with the temperature rising to 117 degrees. As such, I hate to fire as many negatives at the film as I have, but I have to review things on a level playing field. With so many rough edges, I can’t give it a better rating than I have, but it gets an A+ for effort, and it’s far from being the worst film I’ve seen so far in 2021.
(For the full graphical review, check out #onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks)
- There’s a quirky joy behind the story and it did keep me watching until the end to find out how it turned out.
- I enjoyed Samantha Belle’s performance. Whilst she has a few rough acting edges, she channelled a sort of cross between Ally Sheedy and Geena Davis that was cute. Elsewhere in the cast, Karl Haas (as Harry, the homeless guy) and Keegan Luther as the luckless Emilio gave, for me, the most naturalistic (and therefore best) performances.
- There’s an ending that, while feeling inconclusive and circuitous, did at least leave me with a smile on my face. (I hope permission was gained for the use of the name in the end titles!).
Negatives:
- If you watch, for example, “The Father” you quickly appreciate that the reason Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are so GREAT in the movie is you NEVER get the feeling that they are acting. Unfortunately, in “Instant Karma”, while I appreciate that all of the cast are giving of their best, almost EVERYONE appears to be acting. While it’s seldom ‘hold your head in your hands’ terrible, the chasm of skill between this cast and the top-flight is vast. - - The script doesn’t help this by introducing a torrent of different ‘rider’ cast, many of whom should never have been put in front of a camera to deliver lines.
- While the story has potential, the script rambles around and never quite decides what genre it’s going for. Drama? It’s not dramatic enough. Thriller? It tries to go that way in the final reel, but never convincingly (and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO POOR EMILIO????). Comedy? Humourous at times maybe, but never laugh-out-loud funny. (It actually might have made a pretty good comedy – a variant on the “Do you think I asked for a million ducks?” bar joke! This idea (C) Bob Mann 2021!).
- The script is also incomplete and tonally inconsistent. There are sub-plots (e.g. Emilio’s request for the money) that are never fleshed out. And Samantha seems to veer from excitable and supportive sexy wife to full-on psycho-bitch-marital-nightmare from scene to scene.
- When you’ve got a loose script, and a cast with limited experience, don’t over-egg the pudding! The movie is 115 minutes long: I would personally have gone to town in the editing room and got it down to sub-90 minutes. The overall concoction would have been much better. As it is, we have far too many instances of “Karma” in the first half of the film and some ‘filler’ scenes that go on and on (and on and on) without adding anything to the story. For example, there is a ‘spending spree’ montage that, while very nicely put together, goes on for almost two whole minutes. Chop, chop, chop!
- Technically, the sound needs more work. There’s a lot of noise on the soundtrack and some poorly mixed music cues. Lighting inside the car was also an issue in some scenes.
Summary Thoughts on “Instant Karma”: I enjoyed watching this one more than my long list of “suggested improvements” might suggest.
I remain in awe of a team, with a limited budget, being able to project manage a movie like this to completion. And especially since this was filmed during the pandemic and in the searing heat of an Arizona summer, with the temperature rising to 117 degrees. As such, I hate to fire as many negatives at the film as I have, but I have to review things on a level playing field. With so many rough edges, I can’t give it a better rating than I have, but it gets an A+ for effort, and it’s far from being the worst film I’ve seen so far in 2021.
(For the full graphical review, check out #onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks)
