Search

Search only in certain items:

Accidentally Perfect
Accidentally Perfect
Elizabeth Stevens | 2018 | Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rom-com love story (1 more)
Relatable
I absolutely LOVED this book!
I absolutely LOVED this book!

Piper and Roman we're perfection, there story was very believable despite the fact that it was a tad cliche, but maybe that's exactly what made it so amazing.

I started reading this book last night around ten and had to literally force myself to close the book and go to sleep at 4 am. Soon as I woke up I picked it up again and finished it and I was not dissapointed.

Piper is a relatable character, the fact she loves rom-coms and John Cusack is her favorite (because he's also mine) made for a connection to her that I rarely get with characters. This story was my high school fantasy and it was written out beautifully.

Honestly, I can't rave about this book enough. I will be re-reading it because this is my new rom-coms read and I can't wait to see Piper and Roman again.

I recieved a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
40x40

PhoebeLV (147 KP) rated 1408 (2007) in Movies

Jul 28, 2020  
1408 (2007)
1408 (2007)
2007 | Horror, Mystery
Great Acting (2 more)
Great Characters
Enjoyable Storyline
One of the best supernatural movies
Contains spoilers, click to show
1408 follows the story of Mike Enslin (John Cusack), a man who writes ‘true-horror’ books for a living; he stays in ‘haunted’ hotels and locations for his inspiration. One day, he receives a postcard of the Dolphin Hotel telling him not to stay in room 1408. Despite the warnings of the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson), he proceeds to stay in there anyway.
Before watching this, I considered it being The Shining all over again. However, it was not. Apart from the hotel and the book writing, it was quite different.
Enslin starts by seeing a few ghosts and then strange things start happening.
In the middle, it starts messing with your head and you think ‘was this before the hotel? is this real? is he imagining everything?’. I know I did.
I couldn’t really find any bad things with this and I would 100% recommend this to any horror fan and Stephen King book lover.
  
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)
2015 | Comedy
3
5.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
When “Hot Tub Time Machine” came out almost five years ago, it took a whacky concept of four friends whisked back in time during a getaway to the 80s giving them a chance to fix aspects of their lives they wished they had done differently.

The outrageous and bawdy humor as well as strong performances from John Cusack and Crispin Glover made the film a cult hit that earned over $64 million worldwide and did well on DVD sales as well.

Naturally a sequel was planned and when I first heard it was looking to be a direct to DVD sequel sans Cusack, I had an idea that the film may be little more than an effort to cash in on the success of the first film without offering much to the continued story of the characters.

I was encouraged by the early trailers for the sequel and as such went into the screener with better expectations than I had originally had when I first heard of the projects.

The film explains that “John Cusack’s character is off on adventure of self-discovery as the friends have all become wealthy and famous after the events of the first film. Lou (Rob Corddry) has milked Motley Crue and his knowledge of pending tech to establish himself as a major player, Nick (Craig Robinson) has cashed in on a recording career by covering famous songs from his day before they were ever released and Jacob (Clark Duke) is stuck playing Butler to his father Lou.

Lou has become an example of an ego run wild and during one of his lavish parties; he is shot and left near death. In a move of desperation, Nick and Jacob whisk Lou into the Hot Tub and attempt to go back in time to stop the shooting.

Things do not go as planned as the trio end up 15 years into the future and must find a way to put things right and get home.

One would think that this premise would be able to produce some funny moments, but sadly the film is painfully slow and plodding and most shocking of all, very, very unfunny. The film tries to get some crude laughs from a gameshow of the future and a homicidal Smart Car but the film just wanders from situation to situation looking for laughs and does not setup or execute them properly.

There is a montage scene at the end of the film which sadly is the best part and shows what could have been a much better sequel with the group going through time taking the place of famous individuals and interacting with them.

As it stands, “Hot Tub Time Machine 2”, is a trip you do not want to make.

http://sknr.net/2015/02/20/hot-tub-time-machine-2/
  
1408 (2007)
1408 (2007)
2007 | Horror, Mystery
For writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack), ghosts and the supernatural are simply myths people use to bolster the local economy with tourism dollars. Mike has made a career of evaluating and debunking so called haunted inns, hotels, graveyards, and locales all over the nation.

While his books do well enough for his editors to be happy with his work, and for locales to be included in his next book, Mike lives a life of routine.
One a promising author, Mike abandoned his novels for his haunted travel guides, and a life of hotels and sparsely attended book signings.

While Mike is evaluating the numerous brochures sent to him by prospective topics, he notices a simple hotel post card that features the simple message “Do not stay in room 1408”. Intrigued, Mike attempts to book the room for a review, but is unable to as the room is no longer available to the public.

With the help of his editor and the legal staff, Mike is able to cover the mysterious room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York.

Upon his arrival, Mike is greeted by the hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), who offers numerous incentives ranging from rare Brandy, to a penthouse suite if Mike will give up his request to stay in 1408.

It is learned that over 50 people have died while staying in that room and that nobody has even been able to last an hour before befalling some horrific tragedy. Mike is convinced that this is all just part of the hype and that Olin is simply trying to scare him off.
Despite the numerous pleads from Olin to reconsider, Mike insists upon staying in the room, and is soon alone in room 1408.

Upon entering the room, Mike finds it to be a cozy and well maintained room. At first nothing seems out of the ordinary, until a couple of bizarre things happen. Mike is at first convinced there is a member of the hotel staff in hiding, who is playing a trick on him, but soon, Mike realizes just how and why 1408 earned its reputation.

What follows is a serious of horrors that Mike is unable to escape from, despite his best efforts, and he must figure out the mystery of 1408 before it kills him.

The film is based on a short story by Stephen King and is one of the better adaptations of the author’s works. Briskly paced at around 90-minutes, the film is careful to setup the characters and locale, but once the bizarre starts, the audience is in for a thrill ride complete with twists, turns, and some bizarre and suspenseful moments.

Cusack does a masterful job of portraying the conflicted Mike, but never lets you lose sympathy for the man, and displays a very effective ability to blend action, horror, emotions, and pathos, as Mike walks a razor thin line between reality and chaos.
It is especially effective given the fact that Cusack has to carry large segments of the film on his own, without any co-stars in much of his scenes.

The film does lose some momentum in the final 20 minutes, but still rebounds nicely to come to an effective and memorable ending without overusing many of the hackneyed horror film staples.

That being said if chills are what you are looking for this summer, then make sure to check into ?”
  
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
1989 | Comedy, Drama

"It’s difficult to pick a Woody Allen film. In terms of my favorite person who’s been in a film it would be Woody Allen, so therefore it feels that I’ve got to pick a Woody Allen film. I think he’s the best performer that’s ever been in films, in a way; certainly sound-era films. Just his voice is the best voice that has ever been recorded, I think. Even if he had just been a writer of comic prose, he would have been one of the best writers of comic prose. His best films have so much life to them, and they’re funny. I know he often has a low self-estimation of them publicly, but Crimes and Misdemeanors, in terms of his feeling that he hasn’t made a film as good as Rashōmon or Bicycle Thieves — I think it’s definitely a film that could be held up with those films, really. It’s just very brutal, but funny as well. Just everything: the music, that professor and how kind of depressing it is, but how many great lines it has. And such a good cast: everyone’s really suited to his style. Not every actor is suited to being in a Woody Allen film. Seems like Owen Wilson is really suited to it [in Midnight in Paris], from what I’ve seen, in the same way that John Cusack was so good in Bullets Over Broadway. For me it’s just infinitely rewatchable."

Source