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Kim Pook (101 KP) rated Rocketman (2019) in Movies
Mar 31, 2020
Acting (1 more)
Musical numbers
Contains spoilers, click to show
The movie starts with Elton in an AA meeting, he is asked about his childhood and we're thrown in a toe tapping number of the bitch is back and I'm instantly aware that the movie is going to be a musical biopic. As a big fan of musicals I'm instantly drawn in.
It is obvious from the start that regi was talented from a young age. As he gets older he pursues his musical career and eventually Elton John is born. I'm not a great fan of Elton John so it came as no surprise that he was so much into drinks and drugs, however knowing his onstage personality was all an act to hide his problems was a bit of a shock and it just goes to show you never know what goes on behind closed doors even in the life of a celebrity.
The whole movie had its ups and downs, with a few emotional moments such as Elton trying to kill himself and singing with his younger self whilst drowning. But there was also parts where I wanted to smack him.
The movie was an interesting watch and because of the musical aspect I found it very entertaining, I do feel without this aspect though it may not have been as good.
It is obvious from the start that regi was talented from a young age. As he gets older he pursues his musical career and eventually Elton John is born. I'm not a great fan of Elton John so it came as no surprise that he was so much into drinks and drugs, however knowing his onstage personality was all an act to hide his problems was a bit of a shock and it just goes to show you never know what goes on behind closed doors even in the life of a celebrity.
The whole movie had its ups and downs, with a few emotional moments such as Elton trying to kill himself and singing with his younger self whilst drowning. But there was also parts where I wanted to smack him.
The movie was an interesting watch and because of the musical aspect I found it very entertaining, I do feel without this aspect though it may not have been as good.
Otway93 (580 KP) rated Wingspan in Tabletop Games
Feb 13, 2022
Gameplay (4 more)
Replayability
Expansions
Variety of Birds
Quality
Plastic Containers (1 more)
Cost
Superb!
My mum bought me this for Christmas, I'd put off buying it for so long because of the price, but new board games do seem to be very expensive these days.
The game is beautiful, it's fun to play, the artwork is stunning, and all the pieces are of an excellent quality.
The game itself it won by scoring points by doing certain tasks, including collecting different species of birds, laying eggs, collecting food, and several other ways. The game is made up of 5 rounds I believe, and each round you use your tokens to complete actions. It's a very simple game, and great for the whole family!
If you're in Europe, I strongly suggest purchasing the European expansion, as in the base game quite a few of the birds are only found in North America, so the expansion brings it a bit closer to home :)
As I mentioned, the cost (approximately £45 for the base game, around £25 for the expansion), does let it down slightly, but it certainly feels worth every penny! The only thing that really disappoints me is the plastic containers included for storing different tokens and eggs. They aren't really necessary, and are bulkier than they need to be.
The game is beautiful, it's fun to play, the artwork is stunning, and all the pieces are of an excellent quality.
The game itself it won by scoring points by doing certain tasks, including collecting different species of birds, laying eggs, collecting food, and several other ways. The game is made up of 5 rounds I believe, and each round you use your tokens to complete actions. It's a very simple game, and great for the whole family!
If you're in Europe, I strongly suggest purchasing the European expansion, as in the base game quite a few of the birds are only found in North America, so the expansion brings it a bit closer to home :)
As I mentioned, the cost (approximately £45 for the base game, around £25 for the expansion), does let it down slightly, but it certainly feels worth every penny! The only thing that really disappoints me is the plastic containers included for storing different tokens and eggs. They aren't really necessary, and are bulkier than they need to be.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Guardians (2017) in Movies
Aug 31, 2020
Listed as Russia's Avengers, Guardians is a fun superhero film.
During the cold war a secret Russian organisation called Patriot performed a number of illegal experiments, with both machines and humans. Patriot was shut down due the actions of a rouge scientist who was trying to create module 1 a device that can control any vehicle remotely. Now, a number of experimental tanks have been stolen so Patriot is reopened and a number of the human experiments are found to combat their old creator.
4 hero's are found; Ler, who can control rocks and use them as weapons and armour, Khan, a super speed ninja, Kseniya, who can turn invisible (when wet) and doesn't feel temperature and Arsus, a were-bear with a Gatling gun.
Like many other hero's the hero's of Guardians have their own problems and their reasons for not wanting to be found but these are only touched upon as the film concentrates on bringing the team together and then fighting the enemy whilst showing off their powers and, lets face it, that's what most of us want from a super hero movie.
The plot is simple, the evil Avgust Kuratov wants to take over all the machines of the world and the Guardians are formed to stop him. The effects and CGI aren't bad and we even get a couple transformation scenes with the were-bear. There are funny moments and tragic back stories and action, really most things you would want in a super hero film.
There is a hint of a sequel, both at the end of the film and a scene during the credits which also promises more hero's but, unfortunately,I don't think it's been made.
During the cold war a secret Russian organisation called Patriot performed a number of illegal experiments, with both machines and humans. Patriot was shut down due the actions of a rouge scientist who was trying to create module 1 a device that can control any vehicle remotely. Now, a number of experimental tanks have been stolen so Patriot is reopened and a number of the human experiments are found to combat their old creator.
4 hero's are found; Ler, who can control rocks and use them as weapons and armour, Khan, a super speed ninja, Kseniya, who can turn invisible (when wet) and doesn't feel temperature and Arsus, a were-bear with a Gatling gun.
Like many other hero's the hero's of Guardians have their own problems and their reasons for not wanting to be found but these are only touched upon as the film concentrates on bringing the team together and then fighting the enemy whilst showing off their powers and, lets face it, that's what most of us want from a super hero movie.
The plot is simple, the evil Avgust Kuratov wants to take over all the machines of the world and the Guardians are formed to stop him. The effects and CGI aren't bad and we even get a couple transformation scenes with the were-bear. There are funny moments and tragic back stories and action, really most things you would want in a super hero film.
There is a hint of a sequel, both at the end of the film and a scene during the credits which also promises more hero's but, unfortunately,I don't think it's been made.
Alice (12 KP) rated The Weight of the World (The Amaranthine Spectrum #2) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
<i>I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review </i>
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1GF">here</a href>
The Weight of the World starts roughly where the previous book ended, I say roughly because it starts with a few historical stories from different points of view - Daniell and Ghaldezuel- before jumping to the present with Lycaste, Huerepo and Maneker in the thick of things.
Now originally I had this stupid idea that I'd be able to drop right in the deep end of this story and know what was going to happen - my expectations were that it was to be a lot like the first book The Promise of the Child and I've never been so happy to say otherwise. The Weight of the World is so full of surprises there was no way I could correctly guess what was going to happen in the next chapter.
We're still following the tale told from Lycaste's view more often than not and although there are several other secondary main characters (makes no sense I'm aware of this) the book doesn't feel quite so wholesome until it's told from Lycaste's view but then on the flip side it's have a new character that I love - Perception or Percy - a millenia old AI/soul that was imprisoned on a planet.
Perception - as his name suggests - is wickedly perceptive and incredibly smart; imprisoned as a five year old soul and left to linger and eventually 'die' he has all these ideas of how things should be done and takes a great joy in proving Hugo Maneker wrong once he has been freed.
In my review for the first book (which you can check out above) I made mention of a child that wasn't heard from since the beginning of the book - what I didn't realise until reading this book that he actually was and it was greatly done by Tom Toner on how he fed this information into the story and still kept the plot on point.
I learned a lot about each of the characters particularly Lycaste, Pentas and Jatropha (who I'd like to point out I didn't realise was an specific character until now *facepalm*).
Lycaste has grown up considerably
Pentas, although she's gone through a pretty tough time is an selfish, manipulative and all and round horrible person
Jatropha has fingers in many many pies.
The break down between the Vulgar and the Lacaille was stellar and Huerepo is the perfect character to put this across - a stark contrast to his Lacaille equivalent Ghaldezuel whom has a lovely traitorous streak in him, something that I wholly did not expect.
There were fights in space and an abundance of alien species once again and a firm understanding of Old World history versus present; a humourous trip in space with Huerepo's cousin who is like a mini version of a sarcastic, cockney-esque Butler.
You can tell in this book that Tom Toner has settled into his author boots with aplomb and I can only imagine that he will continue to grow from strength to strength and I can't wait to see where he takes the Amaranthine Spectrum next.
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1GF">here</a href>
The Weight of the World starts roughly where the previous book ended, I say roughly because it starts with a few historical stories from different points of view - Daniell and Ghaldezuel- before jumping to the present with Lycaste, Huerepo and Maneker in the thick of things.
Now originally I had this stupid idea that I'd be able to drop right in the deep end of this story and know what was going to happen - my expectations were that it was to be a lot like the first book The Promise of the Child and I've never been so happy to say otherwise. The Weight of the World is so full of surprises there was no way I could correctly guess what was going to happen in the next chapter.
We're still following the tale told from Lycaste's view more often than not and although there are several other secondary main characters (makes no sense I'm aware of this) the book doesn't feel quite so wholesome until it's told from Lycaste's view but then on the flip side it's have a new character that I love - Perception or Percy - a millenia old AI/soul that was imprisoned on a planet.
Perception - as his name suggests - is wickedly perceptive and incredibly smart; imprisoned as a five year old soul and left to linger and eventually 'die' he has all these ideas of how things should be done and takes a great joy in proving Hugo Maneker wrong once he has been freed.
In my review for the first book (which you can check out above) I made mention of a child that wasn't heard from since the beginning of the book - what I didn't realise until reading this book that he actually was and it was greatly done by Tom Toner on how he fed this information into the story and still kept the plot on point.
I learned a lot about each of the characters particularly Lycaste, Pentas and Jatropha (who I'd like to point out I didn't realise was an specific character until now *facepalm*).
Lycaste has grown up considerably
Pentas, although she's gone through a pretty tough time is an selfish, manipulative and all and round horrible person
Jatropha has fingers in many many pies.
The break down between the Vulgar and the Lacaille was stellar and Huerepo is the perfect character to put this across - a stark contrast to his Lacaille equivalent Ghaldezuel whom has a lovely traitorous streak in him, something that I wholly did not expect.
There were fights in space and an abundance of alien species once again and a firm understanding of Old World history versus present; a humourous trip in space with Huerepo's cousin who is like a mini version of a sarcastic, cockney-esque Butler.
You can tell in this book that Tom Toner has settled into his author boots with aplomb and I can only imagine that he will continue to grow from strength to strength and I can't wait to see where he takes the Amaranthine Spectrum next.
John Garrett (27 KP) rated La La Land (2016) in Movies
Jul 11, 2017
Cinematography (1 more)
The leads
The ending (1 more)
Pacing
A musical love letter for hollywood
this charming movie is an unashamedly nostalgic love letter to years of cinema gone. The musical numbers to the impromptu dance routines make this a throughly enjoyable film for lovers of film old and new.
the 2 leads in this film Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are superb. They both manage beautiful nuanced performances. They have fantastic chemistry as shown in previous films (crazy stupid love & gangster squad) but it really comes alive in this film.
the direction and cinematography of this movie is sometimes visually breathtaking. Damen Chiselle has proven what a versatile director he is with this movie and is willing to take a real risk.
where this movie does fall flat unfortunately is the pacing. At times the movie feels like it drags and could do with slimming out. At just over 2 hours this film is fairly long for a musical of modern standards. Also I felt the ending to be rather disjointed and jarring.
That being said I still found this movie to be absolutely charming and has a brilliant musical score you will be humming and whistling for days to come.
the 2 leads in this film Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are superb. They both manage beautiful nuanced performances. They have fantastic chemistry as shown in previous films (crazy stupid love & gangster squad) but it really comes alive in this film.
the direction and cinematography of this movie is sometimes visually breathtaking. Damen Chiselle has proven what a versatile director he is with this movie and is willing to take a real risk.
where this movie does fall flat unfortunately is the pacing. At times the movie feels like it drags and could do with slimming out. At just over 2 hours this film is fairly long for a musical of modern standards. Also I felt the ending to be rather disjointed and jarring.
That being said I still found this movie to be absolutely charming and has a brilliant musical score you will be humming and whistling for days to come.
David McK (3734 KP) rated Two Ravens and One Crow (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4.5) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
This is a short story, that seems to follow the usual Kevin Hearne's strategy of setting a short story between the 'main courses' of his full novels: a taster, if you will, of what those novels are like.
In this particular case, this story is set after the events of [b:Tricked|106843|Tricked|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347400465s/106843.jpg|102982] but before (I believe, not having read it yet!) of those from [b:Trapped|8428140|Trapped|Michael Northrop|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395769555s/8428140.jpg|13291342], and deals some more with the aftermath of Atticus's trip to Valhalla in [b:Hammered|10443590|Hammered|Mark Ward|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328728608s/10443590.jpg|15348265].
The Two Ravens of the title refers to Odin's birds Hugin and Munin, while the One Crow is the Morrigan, who appears to Atticus six years into training his apprentice Granuaile and insists that he must go on a journey with her.
If I'm honest, I found the previous full-length novel ([b:Tricked|106843|Tricked|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347400465s/106843.jpg|102982]) to be a bit of a let-down; thankfully he appears to be back on form in this short story.
:-)
In this particular case, this story is set after the events of [b:Tricked|106843|Tricked|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347400465s/106843.jpg|102982] but before (I believe, not having read it yet!) of those from [b:Trapped|8428140|Trapped|Michael Northrop|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395769555s/8428140.jpg|13291342], and deals some more with the aftermath of Atticus's trip to Valhalla in [b:Hammered|10443590|Hammered|Mark Ward|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328728608s/10443590.jpg|15348265].
The Two Ravens of the title refers to Odin's birds Hugin and Munin, while the One Crow is the Morrigan, who appears to Atticus six years into training his apprentice Granuaile and insists that he must go on a journey with her.
If I'm honest, I found the previous full-length novel ([b:Tricked|106843|Tricked|Alex Robinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347400465s/106843.jpg|102982]) to be a bit of a let-down; thankfully he appears to be back on form in this short story.
:-)
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Farewell (2019) in Movies
Oct 2, 2019
Faintly oddball comedy-drama successfully pulls off that trick of looking like being about one thing but actually covering lots of ground. Chinese matriarch is found to have terminal cancer; in accordance with local tradition the family keep her in the dark about this but organise a fake wedding as an excuse to get together one last time. New York-based scion of the family Awkwafina, grand-daughter of the dying woman, is very doubtful of the ethicality of this.
You expect a film about grief, and to some extent this is one, although it's really a chronicle of grief foretold, as the characters anticipate a loss to come. It's also about cultural differences, family life, and the way in which people routinely tell lies to each other every single day simply in order to keep life livable. The film skates along over the top of all this and treats it all with a light and delicate touch. Not an absolute tear-jerker, I thought, but there are some very touching moments (then again, I may be emotionally atrophied, who knows). Not a huge amount actually happens but the film has clearly been made with intelligence and skill.
You expect a film about grief, and to some extent this is one, although it's really a chronicle of grief foretold, as the characters anticipate a loss to come. It's also about cultural differences, family life, and the way in which people routinely tell lies to each other every single day simply in order to keep life livable. The film skates along over the top of all this and treats it all with a light and delicate touch. Not an absolute tear-jerker, I thought, but there are some very touching moments (then again, I may be emotionally atrophied, who knows). Not a huge amount actually happens but the film has clearly been made with intelligence and skill.
For You I Fall ( Angels & Misfits #1)
8.0
Rate It
Book
Despite having had a rough life, Seth has a big heart. After spending nearly ten years sleeping...
male/male angels paranormal not sure i liked it
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Dark Waters ( A Celtic Legacy book 1) in Books
Mar 29, 2022
56 of 230
Kindle
Dark Waters ( A Celtic Legacy book 1)
By Shannon Mayer
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sisters bound by love, separated by blood. . .
And doomed to face the unimaginable.
An everyday vacation quickly turns into a nightmare of epic proportions. Two sisters must struggle to find the strength within themselves to survive as well as to save one another. When the world of Fae emerges on a rocky shore far from the Emerald Isle, all hell breaks loose.
Two factions vie for the sister’s loyalties, one light, the other dark. Neither honest.
A series of events are set into motion that will not only test the bonds of sisterly love, but will defy belief and reality. Then you have found yourself deep in . . . “Dark Waters”.
Not quite sure how I actually feel after this book. It was ok and had an interesting take on the fae I was a bit put off by the “Irish accent “ and it seemed a little rushed at the end. But I’ll continue as it interested me enough to keep going. If only to see her hopefully punch Luke.
Kindle
Dark Waters ( A Celtic Legacy book 1)
By Shannon Mayer
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sisters bound by love, separated by blood. . .
And doomed to face the unimaginable.
An everyday vacation quickly turns into a nightmare of epic proportions. Two sisters must struggle to find the strength within themselves to survive as well as to save one another. When the world of Fae emerges on a rocky shore far from the Emerald Isle, all hell breaks loose.
Two factions vie for the sister’s loyalties, one light, the other dark. Neither honest.
A series of events are set into motion that will not only test the bonds of sisterly love, but will defy belief and reality. Then you have found yourself deep in . . . “Dark Waters”.
Not quite sure how I actually feel after this book. It was ok and had an interesting take on the fae I was a bit put off by the “Irish accent “ and it seemed a little rushed at the end. But I’ll continue as it interested me enough to keep going. If only to see her hopefully punch Luke.
Merissa (13878 KP) rated Hunted By Treaty (Qui Treaty Collection #3) in Books
Jun 6, 2023
Raiss Tyrone is on the run on a planet. You would think that that would be a big enough place to hide in, but guards are chasing after him. Due to the unexpected help of a half-breed, he manages to escape. During their travels, he finds out more about Crendea, including how it was for her to grow up, not trusted by either the K'lahn or the humans. Both characters are strong, and both complement each other. They didn't realise what was missing until they found it in the other.
This is very fast-paced as it all takes place within a day. However, both main characters admit to this, acknowledging that it shouldn't be as real as it is. Somehow, this makes the insta-love much more believable.
An excellent continuation of the Qui Treaty Collection, with a storyline that is sure to delight. Definitely recommended.
* 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. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 19, 2016
This is very fast-paced as it all takes place within a day. However, both main characters admit to this, acknowledging that it shouldn't be as real as it is. Somehow, this makes the insta-love much more believable.
An excellent continuation of the Qui Treaty Collection, with a storyline that is sure to delight. Definitely recommended.
* 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. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 19, 2016