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Return to Kadenburg (The Kadenburg Shifters #2)
Return to Kadenburg (The Kadenburg Shifters #2)
T.E. Ridener | 2014 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Welcome back to the world of the shifters of Kadenburg. This story continues to delight as you revisit old characters and welcome in new ones. The bears of Kadenburg come to realise that their 'little' problem with Breslin is actually larger than at first thought. The twists and turns that will take you through the story keep it fresh and exciting. There is a bit of everything in this book - humour, new romance, old romance, mystery, intrigue, and action. It really does have it all.

If you are a fan of shifter books then I can highly recommend this series. Just one thing though, beware the cliffhanger ending!
 
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *


August 13, 2016
  
The Adam Project (2022)
The Adam Project (2022)
2022 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
7
6.6 (13 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Funny (1 more)
Good Action scenes
Some poor youth Cgi (1 more)
Nothing original
Enjoyable funny Sci-Fi
Yet another Ryan Reynolds Netflix film, they do seem to be churning them out pretty quick lately. This time a time travel Sci-Fi film with some good action and more laughs. Accidentally travelling back to today from 2050 he meets up with himself as a young boy.
Seems to have ideas from quite a few time travel films but the main fun is the humour to be had between the Young and older Adam. It has a decent budget, although the Cgi for a young version of the villian looks more computer game level.
Overall it's a fun film with some touching moments with a fairly straight forward plot. Ryan Reynolds again raising quite a few laughs to put a smile on your face.
  
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David McK (3562 KP) rated Horrible Histories: The Movie (2019) in Movies

Jan 14, 2020 (Updated Apr 7, 2024)  
Horrible Histories: The Movie (2019)
Horrible Histories: The Movie (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Family
Effectively a (roughly) 1.5 hour extended edition of one of the skits from the TV show, this - I feel - suffers a bit from the absence of the core cast from that series, although it does try to make up for it with a virtual plethora of famous faces from British TV: off the top of my head including Alexander Armstrong (from Pointless), Warwick Davis, Derek Jacob, Nick Frost and Lee Mack.

This is set in and around the time of Boudiccea's rebellion against Rome, and is clearly aimed (not surprisingly!) at the younger audience, leaving aside the more gory aspects of the time and introducing (just like the TV show) several song and dance numbers throughout its running - a running time that could have been cut, somewhat, if it wasn't so enamoured of toilet humour!
  
Deadpool (2016)
Deadpool (2016)
2016 | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Ryan Reynolds (2 more)
Hilarious Throughout
Energetic Score
Even Better Than A Chimichanga
Many thought that this movie would never get made, but I am very glad that it did. The movie serves as a long awaited origin story to Deadpool, that is fairly faithful to the comic book, at least more so than the previous iteration that we got of the character. Ryan Reynolds is fantastic in the Deadpool role, he truly was born to play the merc with a mouth in my opinion. Deadpool here is crass, funny, violent and energetic as well as being pretty faithful to comic book Deadpool, with the only thing missing from this version being the multiple voices in his head, but I am pretty sure that we will see that character trait develop in future Deadpool movies. The plot is pretty simple, we are introduced to Deadpool and shown how he got his powers after being diagnosed with incurable cancer via flashback. From there we basically follow him while he attempts to track down Ajax, or Francis, (the guy that turned him into Deadpool and made him deformed,) so that he can cure his skin and give him back his good looks. The one thing that was always going to either make or break this movie, was the humour. However they capture the meta humour perfectly here, which is an essential component of what makes up this character and is one of the main reasons why so many people love him. The movie is chock full of clever fourth wall breaks and pop culture references. The film was granted an R rating by the studio and the filmmakers take full advantage of that fact, with constant blood splatter and f-bombs being dropped left and right. The hip hop based score adds to the energetic tone of the movie and the action scenes are exciting throughout.

All of this results in setting up a Deadpool universe that is full of potential, we already know that we are getting a sequel, probably featuring Cable and possibly introducing the X force, plus I am very curious whether or not we will get to see Deadpool being integrated into the larger X Men universe, it would be really cool to see him interacting with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, since he is the butt of several jokes in the Deadpool movie.

Overall, whether you are a fan of the Deadpool comic or not, as long as you are into crass humour, over the top cartoon violence and R rated superhero movies, then there is no reason why you won’t love this movie. It is also the best Fox superhero movie that we have had and it is the best R rated superhero movie ever produced.
  
The Suicide Squad (2021)
The Suicide Squad (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime
The Suicide Squad is a (possible) reboot that may or may not follow on from Suicide Squad and (or only) Birds of Prey. Honestly I'm not sure that even DC knows what's going on with their movie time line. Anyway, Margot Robbie and Joel Kinnamen return as Harley Quinn and Rick Flagg to lead another team of criminal misfits on an impossible mission (or, if it's a reboot like James Gunn says then it's the first time they are together and we ignore that Flagg askes Harley why she's back in prison or that Waller's team are checking who has worked with who). This time task force X are sent to the island of Corto Maltese to find and destroy 'Project Starfish'.

Ok so 'The Suicide Squad' is a good film, it looks like it has learned form the problems of the first film and incorporated the humour from 'Birds of Prey'. Firstly It's not as formulaic as the first film, a problem that is caused by the premise of 'Task Force X', if each member of the task force is chosen because they have a skill that is useful for the mission then you would expect that skill to be used and the first film took this too literally, each member had a scene where they did their thing then they just faded into the background and 'The Suicide Squad' avoids this by focusing on the characters was, well characters and not powers.
The film is very action driven and very violent but, unlike some of the other recent DC films it's not dark, it has more of a 'Grindhouse' feel than the dark, brooding style of the Batman/Superman/Justice league films (I liked those but they were a bit heavy in parts). The Suicide Squad has humour in it, some of which is quite immature but it fits the tone of the film. The violence and humour is some what balanced out by the comic book feel the film has, King shark, Weasel and Staro are both some what cartoony in appearance and some of the costumes are straight out of the comic books and I think that this is what managed to keep it at a (UK) rating of 15 because (and I know I've said this) it's violent, it's bloody, people get ripped apart and there is torture and lots of talk about killing children.
Somehow 'The Suicide Squad' is a fun watchable film and defiantly one of the better DC films, don't be put of by the original Suicide Squad (no 'The).
Oh and also there's a, after credit scene that set's up for a film that's been announced so stick around until the credits finish.
  
The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green | 2012 | Children
10
8.2 (185 Ratings)
Book Rating
If you don’t want to read a long review, here’s my summary: Read. This. Book. It is perfect.

In my last review (of <a href="http://awowords.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/beautiful-creatures/">Beautiful Creatures</a>), I was a little harsh about the portrayal of love stories in teenage/young adult fiction. The backbone of this book is that slowly but surely, the two main characters, Hazel and Augustus, fall in love. It’s not some pre-determined, intense force that sweeps the characters off their feet. It’s slow and steady, with a few set-backs, much like Hazel’s breathing at times, if you like. As Hazel puts it, perfectly:

<blockquote>“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”</blockquote>

There’s nothing glamorous – life goes up and down, it’s sad and it’s funny, it’s not fair. It’s real.

In The Fault in Our Stars, John Green introduces us to two extremely philosophical teenagers that have been through a lot more than most people, with the knowledge that there is only more hardship to come. He humanises something I know I have never really thought about – the feelings, and more specifically, the sense of humour cancer sufferers/survivors have throughout it all. I talk about the humour later, but something that really got the message across was Hazel finally admitting her biggest fear to her parents. Hazel, the girl who decided to become a vegetarian so as to “minimise the number of deaths I’m responsible for.”

<blockquote>“‘I’m like. Like. I’m a grenade, Mom. I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up and I would like to minimise the casualties, okay?’”</blockquote>

It was the realness of the characters that got me so attached. For the last third of the story, I was unabashedly sobbing (luckily, alone. The first time I finished this, I was on a bus). To be blunt (and a little bit gross), the best way I can describe the end of this book is like this. When I was a child, I’d be crying my eyes out over something or other, and my mum would be comforting me. When the worst was over, she’d joke that I’d better not have got snot on her jumper, which would make me laugh through the tears. I’m trying not to put spoilers in here, but the next quote, for example, happens just after one of the most poignant parts of the book. It lightens the mood without altering the seriousness, and at the same time reminding us that they are, after all, only teenagers.

<blockquote>“He smiled. Gallows humour. ‘I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up,’ he said.

‘And it is my privilege and my responsibility to ride all the way up with you,’ I said.

‘Would it be absolutely ludicrous to try to make out?’

‘There is no try,’ I said. ‘There is only do.’”</blockquote>

John Green managed to blend humour and tragedy perfectly. If you’ve read the book already, he wrote a blog post answering questions about the book – I’d recommend a read. I don’t want to waffle, so I’ll leave it there, but I’d wholeheartedly recommend The Fault in Our Stars - it’s an instant favourite and already has a place in my heart. Don’t forget the tissues!

Oh, and about the film that’s apparently in the works – did anyone else picture Hazel as looking a little like Ellen Page in Juno? Maybe it’s a similar attitude to life, but I could only see her as this!

PS – Sorry for anglicising the quotes – habit!

This review is also on my <a href="http://awowords.wordpress.com">blog</a>; - if you liked it, please check it out!
  
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Natalie (23 KP) rated Trainspotting (1996) in Movies

Nov 13, 2017 (Updated Nov 13, 2017)  
Trainspotting (1996)
Trainspotting (1996)
1996 | Comedy, Drama
10
8.1 (21 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Great cast (3 more)
Fantastic dialogue
Some amazing visuals
Brilliant soundtrack
One particularly bad use of special effects (0 more)
Finally watched this film in the last month or so! Not sure how I have avoided it for all these years, though I'm kind of glad I did, as I've gotten to experience it with my fully-adult-drifting-through-life-mind, rather than my scatty-wild-drunk-university-mind. The visuals are amazing (at most points) and draw you into a world that most people cannot imagine. The characters are brilliantly portrayed with a stellar cast. This film shot into my Top 10 immediately when I realised that I instantly couldn't wait until the next time I watch it. It's grimy and unforgiving, with just the right amount of humour. Even though it gets disturbing, you are glued to the screen with irresistible charisma. I've never quite experienced anything like it.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Stargate Atlantis in TV

Dec 5, 2017 (Updated Dec 5, 2017)  
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate Atlantis
2004 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
8
7.4 (55 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
A very worthy spinoff
For most film and tv shows, spinoffs tend to be a very poill Stargate Atlantis, which is a very entertaining and fantastic show in its own right.

Like SG-1, it’s packed full of sci-fi and action, as well as humour. They’ve tried to follow the same formula as SG-1, and it really works. The majority of the main characters are just as likeable as their SG-1 counterparts, McKay being my personal favourite. However some of the other characters I feel are a little weak, like Teyla who is a poor match to Carter or even Teal’c.Weir as well doesnt live up to O’Neill or Hammond.


The wraith are a terrifying new enemy, although I think some of the physical makeup and effects perhaps let them down. Especially watching it recently, it does look a little bit naff.