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Smallfoot (2018)
Smallfoot (2018)
2018 | Animation, Comedy, Family
The movie features Channing Tatum as Migo, James Corden as Percy,
Zendaya as Meechee, Common as Stonekeeper, LeBron James and Gwangi and
Danny DeVito and Dorgie, Migos father.
The movie is centered around a group of characters (the Yeti) and the
rules that surround their existence and are literally “set in stone” ,
carried around by (and, one surmises, enforced by) the Stonekeeper.

If it isn’t in the Stones, it just isn’t so.

Conversely, if it IS in the stones, it MUST be so, even if your eyes and
experiences tell you differently.

Each member of the village has a job, and even though the jobs are
monotonously repetitive, and even though at the bottom of it all, they
don’t really know the “why” behind what they are doing, all the Yeti
happily go about their days and participate to make the village run
smoothly.

Until, that is, Migo sees and chases down an airplane that crash lands
into their mountaintop sanctuary. There are legends of Smallfoot in the
Yeti’s folklore, but the stones emphatically state that Smallfoot do NOT
exist.

Migo brings his exciting news of the Smallfoot sighting back to the
village, only to be met by the Stonekeeper questioning whether Migo
could have ACTUALLY seen a Smallfoot, since the stones say they do not
exist. Migo does not let go of his story of seeing the Smallfoot, and is
subsequently banished from the village until he can “see the truth”.
(Maybe he REALLY saw a new breed of Yak!)

Migo leaves the village not knowing where his path should take him now,
and is intercepted by the members of the SES (Smallfoot Evidentiary
Society) who tell him that they believe him and show him the reasons
why, as backed by evidence that they have found over the years.

The three members of the SES are Meechee (Zendaya), who happens to be
the Stonekeepers daughter (!!), Kolka (Gina Rodriguez), Gwangi (LeBron
James), and Fleem (Ely Henry). The four encourage Migo to follow his
curiosity to find the Smallfoot and see what he can find out about them.

With trepidation, Migo heads down the mountain to see what he can find.

Once he has made his way down the mountain, Migo meets a videographer
named Percy, who has been lamenting his recent dismal ratings and lack
of viewers. Percy was going to go so far as to fabricate a story to get
“hits” online and to make a story go viral. Meeting Migo changes all
that and what follows is a heartwarming story about overcoming
differences, learning how to communicate, friendship & sacrifice.

The movie is colorful, and has great, catchy songs. The characters are
funny, there are lots of jokes, and I didn’t feel like there was any
“dead space” in the movie. The story was easy to follow but not boring.

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about some sort of outcry raised by a
certain segment of the population, saying that the movie is
“anti-religious”, but I found it entirely refreshing for a kids movie to
send the message of not believing something someone tells you just
because “they say so” or just because “that’s the way its always been”,
or even “we do it this way for your own good (because you can’t be
trusted to think for yourself)” . Critical thinking skills are highly
lacking in today’s society, and I think that this movie is a great
example of finding out the truth by asking questions and not just
blindly following where you are told to.

My 10 year old son loved the movie, and I would go see it again in the
theatre, just to watch it again!
  
BL
Best Laid Plans
Jan Gayle | 2016
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Nicky James is a single mother who has devoted her entire adult life to raising her son, Austin - now a teenager. She works as a draftsman ("draftsperson") at an architecture firm and goes to school in the evening. She meets Lauren Thomas, a senior architect at her firm, when Lauren requests Nicky's expert help on her projects. Nicky falls quickly for the beautiful and talented woman, but quickly discovers a roadblock when she realizes Lauren isn't used to full commitment. Nicky isn't used to doing anything with less than her whole heart. Can she and Lauren get past their issues?

This was an interesting and heartfelt novel. It's told from the perspective of both women, so you can attempt to understand each of their varied point of views. I enjoyed that I could empathize with pieces of each: the tenderhearted mothering side of Nicky and the workaholic, private aspects of Lauren, for example. There are certainly some cliche aspects to the novel and a few scenes where the dialogue made me wince a bit, but overall it's refreshing to read a novel dealing with two women attempting to reconcile their issues with sexuality and love. It's certainly frustrating at points; for instance, Nicky doesn't even initially seem willing to try with Lauren and her coming out issues. I get that it must be hard, but let's face it, coming out is hard at any age! Things also get a little over-dramatic quickly: it's one date, they work together, why the freakout, etc.

Still, it's a very readable book and oddly exciting at times. I found myself pulled into Lauren and Nicky's story. Nicky and her son, especially, are just plain lovable. You can't help but root for them. There are also some hot sex scenes, which, hey, is a bonus, right? Overall, this is a compelling, fun, and sexy 3.5 stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you); it is available everywhere as of 07/12/2016.

<a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">My Blog</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/justacatandbook">Twitter</a>;
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Maleficent (2014) in Movies

Oct 19, 2019 (Updated Oct 25, 2019)  
Maleficent (2014)
Maleficent (2014)
2014 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
A refreshing take on a beloved classic
Sleeping Beauty is one of the most famous classic animated Disney features of all time, and that is partly thanks to the villain of the piece - Maleficent.
When I think back to watching Sleeping Beauty as a child, Maleficent is the main aspect that sticks out.
A being of seemingly pure evil, who would curse a baby just because.

This live action re telling of Sleeping Beauty shifts the focus to Maleficent almost exclusively, and explores an untold backstory that gives the character a whole different aspect.
And I reckon it's done pretty well.
Angelina Jolie is obviously having fun playing the strong fairy Queen, who turns to the dark side after she's done over by King Stefan, and she plays both the sympathetic and evil parts of Maleficent with style, with sprinkles of dark humour here and there for good measure.
Stefan is played by Sharlto Copley, who I loved im both District 9, and Elysium, so it's interesting to see him do something different here.
Aurora is more of a side character this time around, but Elle Fanning does a good job of fitting in when the narrative calls for it.

The film looks great for the most part. The more colourful palette of The Moors is lovely and feels suitably magical, and the darkness of the thorned forest plays well with a more gothic athstetic, and it's all backed up by a terrific score (courtesy of James Newton Howard).

The CGI is still pretty passable considering the film is now 5 years old, only becoming more obvious in the flying scenes.

The only things I didn't like about Maleficent, was mainly the three fairy godmothers. I know that Disney need to fill a certain quota of silly humour, but they became quickly annoying and actually quite out of place with the rest of the film.
Some of the dialogue is quite cheesy (especially when Maleficent performs the curse on Aurora) but little things like this are to be expected from a Disney fairytale.

All in all, Maleficent is great fun, and pretty good twist to a well established classic story.
  
Delilah (Ties That Bind #4)
Delilah (Ties That Bind #4)
Fay Lamb | 2019
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
They’ve sparred for years, but now they’re both headed for a knockout.



Newly elected judge, John M. Turner, tries his best to soothe the hard feelings of former Circuit Judge Delilah James, the woman he bested in the election by only a narrow margin, but his friend’s and her haughty reputation are making it difficult for him to let things slide. Worse yet, a vengeful assistant state attorney, the other candidate whose entry in the race actually handed the win to John, is seeking to have them both removed from the Florida Bar. Delilah wants to make amends to John, but every time she attempts to apologize or to behave in court, she makes a mess of it. Since leaving the bench, life has become complicated: John’s teenager sister hates her, Libby Carter, has been arrested for battery on a police officer and embroiled her in the plight of the homeless, her past has returned to haunt her, and if that’s not enough, she’s fallen into the one experience in life she never thought would happen to her. John finally offers to make peace, but Delilah’s not ready for that. Calling a truce with the man you love? What’s the fun in that?


My Thoughts: What more can I say? A story about friends who become like family; they care for one another, they look out for one another and they are there for one another. This is a fabulous book! I honestly could not put this one down.


All the characters are fun, the storyline runs smoothly. Yhis is a book the reader won't put down until it's finished.


The themes that I pulled from the story were, forgiveness and grace. It's about showing the love of God, and how it can influence others. It's about knowing the peace of God and showing His love to others.


This was book 4 in the "Ties That Bind" series. This book can be read by itself without the reader wondering about past events in the series. I enjoyed this book so much that I will go and read the others in this series.
  
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Great special effects, and details to make the Terminator spooky again. (0 more)
Killing off and destroying the John Conner legacy (0 more)
What went wrong?
Contains spoilers, click to show
So in my review I will make very controversial statements. This movie should have been secured future funding for the series however it may have just done enough damage to bury the Terminator for good.

So they kill little fresh faced John in the first five minutes. Only to replace with the new standard of hero in our society, an empowered female. This is being overdone in Hollywood I believe causing people to become tired with the predictability of it. On top of that shit sandwich we have a President that has villainized an entire race of people (Mexicans) which has fueled hatred that has been lying dormant in Americas belly waiting to be vomited up from ques by the leader of the "free" world. Well the "new" John Conner is a female, Latino. So James Camron and friends make a movie that kills off a beloved resistance hero and replaces him with someone that the Trump Nation has been brain washed into believing is the enemy of America.

I'm all for the empowered female but they are over doing it, we now have four star wars movies where the heroic main character is an empowered female.

Onto the highlights: The new color of the Rev Terminator is great black, the idea of a liquid terminator was seen in Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines which I loved, however the new color and the energy this machine shows is pretty intense.
_ There is a zero G flight in a plane going down which is fucking fantastic!
-They drive an armored Humvee underwater, kinda lame.
-End fight sequence is at the Hoover dam which was pretty cool.

Luckily its all about time travel and if they decide to resurrect the franchise again maybe they can do a proper sequel where John lives to fight another day, however don't count on it.
I give the movie a snore factor of 0/10 because I never looked away from the screen even though it made me disappointed.
  
The Suicide Squad (2021)
The Suicide Squad (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime
Firstly, let it be known that The Suicide Squad is a far, far, superior movie to 2016's Suicide Squad (although, that's not exactly a tall order...)
It's fun, frantic, sweary, gory, and is, above all, unmistakably a James Gunn film.
The remants of the 2016 version that remain are improved, namely Rick Flag and Harley Quinn. Both characters are well fleshed out and likable. Stand them side by side with all the newcomers and you have a wonderfully weird line up of D-list DC villains. Amongst the massive ensemble, the meatier roles are given to Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Thinker (Peter Capaldi) and of course, the show stealer King Shark (Sylvester Stallone). I would happily kill for him, and Sebastian the rat....
All of these characters are simply a pleasure to watch. Their interactions with eachother are frequently hilarious and the combined team give this movie a huge fricking heart that was so lacking back in 2016.
My main criticism is the pacing. After an amusingly brutal opening gambit, the whole thing takes a bit of a dive. The humour isn't quite enough to hold the slow-paced first hour together, and I found myself drifting on more than one occasion. I also wasn't a fan of the arty title cards that crop up throughout (with the exception of one during the films final act, which is quite possibly one of my favourite moments in the history of comic book movies...)
Sure, this whole part drags the experience down as a whole, but the last hour is an absolute riot. A fantastic scene involving Harley Quinn, a long hallway, and a javelin, marks a triumphant turn in proceedings, and the build up and resulting climax is batshit insane, with a villain I genuinely thought I'd never get to see in the big screen. It's horrifically entertaining and doesn't let up until the credits roll.

Ultimately, The Suicide Squad is heaps of gory fun, and a welcome addition to the mixed bag that is the DCEU. Personally, I would love to see Gunn return to the franchise in some form. Hell, give him the keys to the whole kingdom and see what happens.
  
Burned (House of Night, #7)
Burned (House of Night, #7)
P.C. Cast | 2009 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.4 (14 Ratings)
Book Rating
I liked this book a bit more than the previous book in the series simply because it looks like some of the characters are maturing passed some of their more annoying tweeny quirks and developing some depth. Stevie Rae always bugged me in previous books for her cliche hick-like speech and tastes in clothes, etc., but in this book, she starts to discover that the lines between good and evil are sometimes much harder to discern as she tries to juggle her relationship with Rephaim and still be what everyone else in her life wants her to be. She does this by lying, lying, lying, which is very bad, but at least she is taking risks to truly do the right thing, even if she is going about it the very wrong way. What did bug me was that the way she was caught between Dallas and Rephaim felt like the authors were attempting to make her be some kind of Zoey copycat, and the way Stevie Rae was handling the situation so poorly pretty much made it a forgone conclusion that whomever she hurt more would be the one going evil, making her the responsible party, even though the guy making the choice should be responsible for his own decisions.
I also like the maturity that James Stark reaches in his quest to save Zoey. While it is cliche to say that love conquers all, his love for her forces him to grow up and be a man, instead of just a petty, jealous, hormonal teen. The lengths he goes to save her could put a few grown men to shame, and if she ever rejects him in future books for any reason at all, she does not deserve him.
On the flip side, Zoey's other friends, i. e. Damien, Jack, and the twins are barely even mentioned throughout the entire book, except to provide color for the background or some comic relief. I don't really miss them, either, as their antics are so formulaic as to make me cringe every time I read about them.
I am undecided as to whether I like Aphrodite's character. While she does not seem to be growing in maturity very much - as in losing her bitchiness - she does seem to be coming to terms with how she appears to others. At the same time, she is learning to wield her arrogance with purpose as she gains the title of Prophetess and show some true emotion for her friends.
I really hope that this series wraps up soon, as this plot feels like it is spiraling out of control with all of the loose ends, unexplained pieces, and growing cast list that simply can not be given enough attention to detail in every single book, even with the random deaths of several characters in a single book.
  
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Beckie Shelton (40 KP) rated The Red in Books

Feb 8, 2018  
The Red
The Red
Tiffany Reisz | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh, My friggin god !!!! I'm not quite sure where to start with this review, perhaps with a disclaimer that if you have a weak constitution maybe put this book down now as the Red is likely to give you a bleeding heart attack with its dubiously delectable content.
ME!!! well, bring on the coronary because this book man, what a way to go!!
But seriously if you're easily offended or a bit of a novice to the erotica genre, you might want to start your journey with something a little less hard-core, as The Red Is not a novel with romantic lovey-Dovey phrases or lame-ass cliches.
It was so refreshing that it called a spade a spade!!!
no cutesy words, just plain tell it as it is loved that.
This for me was one of the biggest reasons this gets a big smokin thumbs up from me.
and I can honestly say I have never quite read anything like this before, The Red has an almost mythical surreal quality to some of its happenings, with its play on famous works of art and nymphs and minotaurs.
I hadn't had the delight of experiencing Tiffany Reisz's work before so this was a first for me, First but will not be the last time now I have discovered the voice of this unique author.
The Red's Storyline is simple, Mona Lisa St James needs to save her late mother's Art Gallery and she's practically broke.
Enter Malcolm her mysterious saviour who offers to pay Mona in very expensive art in return for carte-blanche when it comes to her body.
whatever he wishes, he gets, once a month for a year, after that he will disappear from her life forever and Mona will have the means to save the gallery.
The tale then takes us through every encounter, each one different, some more depraved than others but each encounter will make you squirm with its lack of modesty and the sheer corruption in Malcolm's every action.
I loved the way the story unfolded and I would say this was more of a delicious debasement than a romance, a debasement that our girl Mona embraced and welcomed wholeheartedly as The Red draws to its inevitable conclusion.
It's quite obvious to the reader that Malcolm has a hidden agenda which becomes more apparent to Mona as the story unfolds
Quite frankly hidden agendas, in my opinion, are all well and good but honestly, I was just counting the seconds to Mona and Malcolm's next session Take 1, Take 2 Take 3 could go on and on here sigh.
Well anyway, I really enjoyed The Red and would happily recommend it to my fellow perverts all that's left is for me to profusely thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this novel by Tiffany Reisz, this is an unbiased reflection of said novel.

https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
  
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
2016 | Action, Sci-Fi
Full disclosure, I grew up a huge X-Men fan. As a kid it was one of the few comics that I would try read as often as I could. I would borrow my friends books, convince my mom to buy me an issue every chance I got and like so many growing up in the early 90s, never miss a Saturday morning episode of the fantastic X-Men cartoon.

As such, I have been waiting for the films to capture the X-Men team dynamic while creating interesting fleshed out characters for the mass audiences to appreciate. I felt the franchise was headed in that direction with the last two films, X-Men: First class and X-Men: Days of Futures Past. Unfortunately, X-Men: Apocalypse takes a bit of a stumble in this department when it tries to introduce several fan favorite characters to this X-Men Universe. However it sacrifices solid character development in order to introduce them all in this one story. That’s not to say that this decision makes a bad film, it’s just that the characters are somewhat hollow and we never really connect with any of them. Not even the older characters who we already know. In the 2016 landscape of superhero/comic movies, when you have too many hollow characters the film often feels like we are just going through the motions of fan service, rather than telling a good story though film. This shallow character development makes me wish that instead of making more X-Men movies, Fox would team up with Netflix and produce an episodic series that can really dig down into the story of these characters and the missions they go on to help all of humanity…sigh…one can hope.

As for the rest of this film, it is safe to say that it is a fun popcorn adventure just in time for the summer blockbuster season. The first act suffers from a bit of pacing issues, but once the film starts to pick up steam, it becomes a full action packed adventure filled with all the mutant powers you would expect from an X-Men film. We receive excellent performances we have come to expect from James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the standard cast. As far as the new characters added to this film, Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) is the stand out as Jean Gery. She delivers one of the few nuanced performances of the whole film and I look forward to her continuing to build on the roll in future X-Men films.
X-Men: Apocalypse is more of what you would expect from the X-Men series. Not terrible but not all that great either. Fans will be exited and enjoy this entry to the series while casual viewers will enjoy the blockbuster elements.
  
Glass (2019)
Glass (2019)
2019 | Drama, Thriller
James Mcavoy (0 more)
Plot holes and unnecessary twist (0 more)
So close to a super super film
Contains spoilers, click to show
I try to not publish spoilers they're unavoidable here to explain why this only a 7/10 film. The first hour is great, building up the story leading to what you think will be an epic climax. The story starts with James McAvoy's 24 personalities having kidnapped 4 cheerleaders and Bruce Willis' David Dunn on the hunt to rescue them. After a confrontation they're taken to a psych hospital for evaluation which happens to be where they're keeping Samuel L Jackson's Mr Glass. All of this is awesome with the star of the show being McAvoy flowing through his personalities is a truly epic piece of acting. So the film plays out and leads to a good fight towards the end but then it goes a bit weird. You start to notice plot holes like this psych hospital only seems to have 1 orderly or security guard on duty at any one time. Or when McAvoy and Jackson are trying to escape they go through a security gate and get buzzed through straight away even though neither has their faces covered. It's like 'those 2 guys kinda look like 2 of the 3 highly dangerous multiple murderers that we're here guarding? Oh well!'...then we get into the obligatory M.Mike Salmonhands twist involving a secret society that just seemed uneeded and tacked on for no other reason than the film didn't have a twist...so there you have it. So close to being a truly great film but sloppy writing let it down.