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Britt Daniel recommended Jehovahkill by Julian Cope in Music (curated)
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Ready Player One (2018) in Movies
Sep 20, 2018 (Updated Sep 20, 2018)
Not Quite Ready
I saw this movie in the cinema back when it came out in March earlier this year and I honestly didn't feel ready to review it after a single viewing because of all of the references etc that there was to take in. After watching the movie a couple more times and watching a bunch of Easter Egg videos on Youtube, I feel more equipped to discuss the film.
Up top, I never read the book that this film is based on. It has been recommended to me quite a few times, but I have never gotten around to reading it, so I was going into this with no pre-conceived ideas of what it was going to be other than what I had seen in the various trailers for the movie.
Let's start with the good stuff. Although I have some issues with the overabundance of CGI onscreen, as a 3d animator myself I was extremely impressed at the sheer quality of the animation in the movie. I know that this thing had a pretty high budget behind it, but still the level of quality in the animation is really high throughout the film. The references are also pretty cool, at least for the first third of the movie but the novelty of seeing some of your favourite pop culture characters does wear off after a while and ends up feeling like a cheap gimmick before too long. Finally, if all you are looking for is a big dumb fun blockbuster, then this movie provides that in spades.
Ok, onto the stuff that bothered me. As I said above, although the quality of the CGI is pretty incredible, the vast amount of it gets tiresome after a while. I also don't like the character designs at all, Parzival looks like a rejected piece of Final Fantasy artwork, Art3mis looks like a stereotypical version of a what a middle aged man thinks a cool hacker looks like with a weird resemblance to a feline, Aech just looked chunky and awkward, like something from a last-gen Gears Of War game, I-R0k's weird, edgy, fantasy-based design didn't fit his voice or the tone of the scenes he appeared in and Sorrento's avatar just looked distractingly like a dastardly Clark Kent for some reason. Also, these original character designs seemed oddly out of place being surrounded by other characters from franchises that we already know like DC and Mortal Kombat, none of it meshed well.
From this point on I am going to delve into some mid-movie spoilers, so here's your warning.
It really annoyed me how they kept touching on the idea that someone in the Oasis might not necessarily look the same as they do in real life and if you ever met them in real life you would be sorely disappointed, only for the reason for all of this to be a birthmark on Olivia Cooke's character's face. The way that they make her out to some sort of beast-like monster because of a slight skin-irregularity is ridiculous and also kinda offensive. Also, we are told during the movie's opening sequence that the Oasis is a worldwide thing, where people from anywhere on the planet can meet up online and fight together or kill each other for coins, then halfway through the movie, all of the characters meet up in a small ice cream truck in the real world and it turns out that they all live within a few miles of each other. It just made the whole thing feel really small scale. Another issue is that the movie is only 6 months old at this point and it already feels slightly dated. I don't see this movie ageing very well at all and this is both due to the CGI and the references that they choose to include.
Lastly, as I said earlier, if what you want out of this movie is mindless fun, then you'll walk away satisfied, the problem with that is that the movie seems to want to be more than that. The way that the movie treats itself and the way it was marketed along with the fact that it's got Spielberg in the director's chair, signifies that the filmmakers were intending for this to be this generation's Back To The Future or Star Wars and on that front it totally fails. In these other movies that this film is aspiring to be, you care about what happens to the characters and want to see where they go, whereas here the audience cares way more about seeing the next popular franchise references than anything that happens to the main characters at the heart of this story and once you've seen the film, you are going to leave talking about the characters that appeared from outside franchises rather than the ones created for this story. The characters are also instantly forgettable, for example I have seen this film three times now and still couldn't tell you the real world names of any of the characters other than Wade Watts and Sorrento and that's only because he has the same name in the real world as he does in the Oasis. I also don't care if I ever see any of these characters again if I'm being honest. I'm sure there is probably a sequel to this already being planned seeing as it made a bunch of money at the box office and there is apparently a sequel book in the works, but frankly I wouldn't care if I never saw any of these characters again and I don't care where the story is going either.
In conclusion, Ready Player One doesn't achieve the goal that it sets for itself of being a modern sci-fi classic, but there is a lot of fun to be had here along with some impressive animation to boot. The movie has a fairly shallow, hollow feel to it throughout, as if we are scratching the surface of something potentially engaging and worth investing in, but the filmmakers constantly keep distracting us with flashy visuals and obscure pop culture references. If the movie committed to telling a more original story rather than being obsessed with the 80's classics it is exploiting, then it may be more worthwhile. Also, it's definitely not Spielberg's best, this may be a bit harsh but it's probably closer to Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull than Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I wish that Smashbomb had a half star rating system, because although I feel that the movie was better than a 6, I don't like it enough to give it a 7, so a 6.5 would sum up how I felt about the film more accurately.
Up top, I never read the book that this film is based on. It has been recommended to me quite a few times, but I have never gotten around to reading it, so I was going into this with no pre-conceived ideas of what it was going to be other than what I had seen in the various trailers for the movie.
Let's start with the good stuff. Although I have some issues with the overabundance of CGI onscreen, as a 3d animator myself I was extremely impressed at the sheer quality of the animation in the movie. I know that this thing had a pretty high budget behind it, but still the level of quality in the animation is really high throughout the film. The references are also pretty cool, at least for the first third of the movie but the novelty of seeing some of your favourite pop culture characters does wear off after a while and ends up feeling like a cheap gimmick before too long. Finally, if all you are looking for is a big dumb fun blockbuster, then this movie provides that in spades.
Ok, onto the stuff that bothered me. As I said above, although the quality of the CGI is pretty incredible, the vast amount of it gets tiresome after a while. I also don't like the character designs at all, Parzival looks like a rejected piece of Final Fantasy artwork, Art3mis looks like a stereotypical version of a what a middle aged man thinks a cool hacker looks like with a weird resemblance to a feline, Aech just looked chunky and awkward, like something from a last-gen Gears Of War game, I-R0k's weird, edgy, fantasy-based design didn't fit his voice or the tone of the scenes he appeared in and Sorrento's avatar just looked distractingly like a dastardly Clark Kent for some reason. Also, these original character designs seemed oddly out of place being surrounded by other characters from franchises that we already know like DC and Mortal Kombat, none of it meshed well.
From this point on I am going to delve into some mid-movie spoilers, so here's your warning.
It really annoyed me how they kept touching on the idea that someone in the Oasis might not necessarily look the same as they do in real life and if you ever met them in real life you would be sorely disappointed, only for the reason for all of this to be a birthmark on Olivia Cooke's character's face. The way that they make her out to some sort of beast-like monster because of a slight skin-irregularity is ridiculous and also kinda offensive. Also, we are told during the movie's opening sequence that the Oasis is a worldwide thing, where people from anywhere on the planet can meet up online and fight together or kill each other for coins, then halfway through the movie, all of the characters meet up in a small ice cream truck in the real world and it turns out that they all live within a few miles of each other. It just made the whole thing feel really small scale. Another issue is that the movie is only 6 months old at this point and it already feels slightly dated. I don't see this movie ageing very well at all and this is both due to the CGI and the references that they choose to include.
Lastly, as I said earlier, if what you want out of this movie is mindless fun, then you'll walk away satisfied, the problem with that is that the movie seems to want to be more than that. The way that the movie treats itself and the way it was marketed along with the fact that it's got Spielberg in the director's chair, signifies that the filmmakers were intending for this to be this generation's Back To The Future or Star Wars and on that front it totally fails. In these other movies that this film is aspiring to be, you care about what happens to the characters and want to see where they go, whereas here the audience cares way more about seeing the next popular franchise references than anything that happens to the main characters at the heart of this story and once you've seen the film, you are going to leave talking about the characters that appeared from outside franchises rather than the ones created for this story. The characters are also instantly forgettable, for example I have seen this film three times now and still couldn't tell you the real world names of any of the characters other than Wade Watts and Sorrento and that's only because he has the same name in the real world as he does in the Oasis. I also don't care if I ever see any of these characters again if I'm being honest. I'm sure there is probably a sequel to this already being planned seeing as it made a bunch of money at the box office and there is apparently a sequel book in the works, but frankly I wouldn't care if I never saw any of these characters again and I don't care where the story is going either.
In conclusion, Ready Player One doesn't achieve the goal that it sets for itself of being a modern sci-fi classic, but there is a lot of fun to be had here along with some impressive animation to boot. The movie has a fairly shallow, hollow feel to it throughout, as if we are scratching the surface of something potentially engaging and worth investing in, but the filmmakers constantly keep distracting us with flashy visuals and obscure pop culture references. If the movie committed to telling a more original story rather than being obsessed with the 80's classics it is exploiting, then it may be more worthwhile. Also, it's definitely not Spielberg's best, this may be a bit harsh but it's probably closer to Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull than Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I wish that Smashbomb had a half star rating system, because although I feel that the movie was better than a 6, I don't like it enough to give it a 7, so a 6.5 would sum up how I felt about the film more accurately.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Black Mirror - Season 5 in TV
Jun 21, 2019
Black Mirror has been going downhill since Netflix acquired it from Channel 4.
The first season was fantastic, and the second season wasn’t too bad. It’s like the Black Mirror writers are in a competition to make each season worst than the last.
It used to be speculative fiction, but even that is no more in season 5. I wish there were more than just 3 measly episodes especially with how long it took them to release season 5.
Striking Vipers was the worst episode in my opinion. To me, it focused too much on sex instead of the actual story which had the potential to be good.
Smithereens was the best episode in season 5 although it was just alright. At least there was a heartfelt story behind it all. Plus, the acting was fantastic for the most part. Yes, there were a few shoddy acting bits, but most of it was good.
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too started off being a good episode, but it just turned ridiculous towards the end. It did start with a good message, but the ridiculousness of it turned this episode into more of a comedy. I guess they were just too focused on Miley Cyrus bringing in the viewers instead of the actual story.
I’m really losing hope for Black Mirror. They need to just stop making episodes or hire better writers.
The first season was fantastic, and the second season wasn’t too bad. It’s like the Black Mirror writers are in a competition to make each season worst than the last.
It used to be speculative fiction, but even that is no more in season 5. I wish there were more than just 3 measly episodes especially with how long it took them to release season 5.
Striking Vipers was the worst episode in my opinion. To me, it focused too much on sex instead of the actual story which had the potential to be good.
Smithereens was the best episode in season 5 although it was just alright. At least there was a heartfelt story behind it all. Plus, the acting was fantastic for the most part. Yes, there were a few shoddy acting bits, but most of it was good.
Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too started off being a good episode, but it just turned ridiculous towards the end. It did start with a good message, but the ridiculousness of it turned this episode into more of a comedy. I guess they were just too focused on Miley Cyrus bringing in the viewers instead of the actual story.
I’m really losing hope for Black Mirror. They need to just stop making episodes or hire better writers.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Feed Your Athlete: A Cookbook to Fuel High Performance in Books
Apr 27, 2018
I am extremely impressed by this book. The sheer amount of work that went into making this such a valuable tool will, I hope, bounce back to benefit many people.
This is not just a cookbook. This is a reference book. The book starts with a rundown of the different kinds of athletes and their specific dietary needs (with constant reminder that everyone is different and you should check with your doctor or dietician to confirm diet changes). Then it provides practical's on how to meet those needs. Not just recipes (that are all divided up by high or low fiber, low fat, high carb, and high protein) but also meal plans, detailed appendix, water replacement recipes, recovery meals and drinks, and even athlete-friendly deserts. It covers how to determine how many calories you need, how to balance your energy, measure your BMI and BFP, and eating for each stage of training, up through recovery from a performance or event.
The recipes themselves are detailed and easy to follow, and most of them fall into the Easy category (which automatically gives it a plus). It includes a rundown of the categories, prep time, ingredients, yield, make ahead and freeze plans, substitutions in case you want to make it gluten-free or vegetarian, and the breakdown of nutrition information.
There were a few recipes, mostly baking recipes like muffins and breads, that I thought could have used less sugar. There are lots of ways to substitute sugar, oil, and eggs by using things like avocado, apple sauce, peanut butter, honey, agave, etc. and I thought there could have been more of that happening. There were a few drinks that seemed like they had too much sugar in them as well. Sugar really is an athlete’s poison (actually it’s everyone’s poison). And honestly I don’t see how a fudge pop with pudding and whipped topping as the only ingredients belong in a healthy athlete cookbook. But even including those few recipes, this book still blew me away. It should be a staple in every health-conscious home, and every athlete’s shelf.
This is not just a cookbook. This is a reference book. The book starts with a rundown of the different kinds of athletes and their specific dietary needs (with constant reminder that everyone is different and you should check with your doctor or dietician to confirm diet changes). Then it provides practical's on how to meet those needs. Not just recipes (that are all divided up by high or low fiber, low fat, high carb, and high protein) but also meal plans, detailed appendix, water replacement recipes, recovery meals and drinks, and even athlete-friendly deserts. It covers how to determine how many calories you need, how to balance your energy, measure your BMI and BFP, and eating for each stage of training, up through recovery from a performance or event.
The recipes themselves are detailed and easy to follow, and most of them fall into the Easy category (which automatically gives it a plus). It includes a rundown of the categories, prep time, ingredients, yield, make ahead and freeze plans, substitutions in case you want to make it gluten-free or vegetarian, and the breakdown of nutrition information.
There were a few recipes, mostly baking recipes like muffins and breads, that I thought could have used less sugar. There are lots of ways to substitute sugar, oil, and eggs by using things like avocado, apple sauce, peanut butter, honey, agave, etc. and I thought there could have been more of that happening. There were a few drinks that seemed like they had too much sugar in them as well. Sugar really is an athlete’s poison (actually it’s everyone’s poison). And honestly I don’t see how a fudge pop with pudding and whipped topping as the only ingredients belong in a healthy athlete cookbook. But even including those few recipes, this book still blew me away. It should be a staple in every health-conscious home, and every athlete’s shelf.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated Ruin of Stars in Books
Aug 14, 2018
Characters (1 more)
World Creation
Just as good as the first
When I read Mask of Shadows I was blown away by Linsey Miller's book. I loved Sal and so many of the characters. They were truly lovely. It was horror filled love letter written and I loved everything about it. When I saw that Ruin of Stars was up on NetGalley, I knew that I had to read it! When I was accepted as an ARC reader I did a little jump of joy as well.
Just like Mask of Shadows, Ruin of Stars brings us the wonderful character of Sal. I honestly loved the gender fluid nature of Sal though at times in this book I felt is was a little too preachy on sexuality. What I loved about it is that though slightly preachy at times, Sal is still Sal. Sallot is written well and isn't a gender fluid character just to be gender fluid and I loved that Sal was so beautifully written.
This book revisits all of our favorite & least favorite characters from Mask of Shadows, you see Sal trying to cross off his list. You also see the struggle of all of the characters when it comes to living, dying, and everything in between.
The descriptions, the characters, and everything you loved about Mask of Shadows is here. This is one of my favorite reads so far. I loved it so much, I refused to finish it for the longest of times. If you liked the first one, you'll love this one too.
Just like Mask of Shadows, Ruin of Stars brings us the wonderful character of Sal. I honestly loved the gender fluid nature of Sal though at times in this book I felt is was a little too preachy on sexuality. What I loved about it is that though slightly preachy at times, Sal is still Sal. Sallot is written well and isn't a gender fluid character just to be gender fluid and I loved that Sal was so beautifully written.
This book revisits all of our favorite & least favorite characters from Mask of Shadows, you see Sal trying to cross off his list. You also see the struggle of all of the characters when it comes to living, dying, and everything in between.
The descriptions, the characters, and everything you loved about Mask of Shadows is here. This is one of my favorite reads so far. I loved it so much, I refused to finish it for the longest of times. If you liked the first one, you'll love this one too.
Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated A.M.I. (2019) in Movies
Dec 10, 2019
Wow
368. A.M.I. Around the same time Countdown popped into theaters, a movie about a cell phone app that tells you when you die, this movie popped onto Netflix. I'll have to eventually get to the other one to see how bad that one is but this one here, epic. Of the, so bad, it's good genre. Centers around a high schooler named Cassie, her vapid friends, and her douche bag boyfriend Liam. We are introduced to Liam being drilled by the football coach, he needs extra training time after regular practice because, he's the kicker. Oh my. Anyways, a few years ago Cassie's mom was killed in a car accident, Cassie was driving. Since then, Cassie hasn't been too stable. And when her friend starts talking about a creepy app called A.M.I., in which you become best friends with artificial intelligence, coincidentally enough, Cassie finds a cell phone in a park while jogging, takes it immediately to the lost and found, oh wait, no she doesn't. Cassie takes the phone home and tries this A.M.I. app out herself, and why not, because it seems to be already installed, up and running just waiting for Cassie to personalize it, to sound just like, her dead mom. The A.I. then does what it can to be the perfect mother, and to totally disapprove of her friends, especially Liam. So much so, that Cassie may have to take them out with an ax. Complete with a perfect ending that just feels right. Oh yea, must see!!
Lindsay (1812 KP) rated The Gold Digger (True Colors #9) in Books
Nov 23, 2020
This book is about two sisters though one seems to be doing something quite fishy. That fishiness seems to come out when a brother comes to town looking for his missing brother. We have Belle Gunness who seems to cry a lot or seem to be mean.
Why does the town seem to pick on a guy named Ray? Ingrid seems a bit naive about what her sister is doing but she loving her sister and children. Is her sister Belle a murder or looking for easy money? The town seems to think nothing of it when men go missing or think they just leave suddenly.
We do see that Ingrid and Nils seem to connect after meeting each other. They seem to take their time getting to know each other and courting. The plot of this story is deep and detailed. The story is done well. It just seems like found out who the killer is quite quickly. It just seems that Nils had to convince Ingrid and the town sheriff or the real killer and not the one they keep pulling in to question.
There are some surprises when it is all revealed and solved. Though there is still a twist at the end as well. There seem to be a mystery and lots of crimes. This is good in the sense that it tells some history of American crime and historical fiction and crime. It is a true crime. I rate this 4.5 Moons (stars).
Why does the town seem to pick on a guy named Ray? Ingrid seems a bit naive about what her sister is doing but she loving her sister and children. Is her sister Belle a murder or looking for easy money? The town seems to think nothing of it when men go missing or think they just leave suddenly.
We do see that Ingrid and Nils seem to connect after meeting each other. They seem to take their time getting to know each other and courting. The plot of this story is deep and detailed. The story is done well. It just seems like found out who the killer is quite quickly. It just seems that Nils had to convince Ingrid and the town sheriff or the real killer and not the one they keep pulling in to question.
There are some surprises when it is all revealed and solved. Though there is still a twist at the end as well. There seem to be a mystery and lots of crimes. This is good in the sense that it tells some history of American crime and historical fiction and crime. It is a true crime. I rate this 4.5 Moons (stars).
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Edge of the Heat (Westwood Harbor Corruption, #1) in Books
Jan 11, 2021
Well I became aware of this book after a mutual follow via Twitter and I thought I'd give it a go when the author described it as romantic suspense.
I'm not sure I'd class as that, though, now I've finished it. It's more contemporary romance with a bad guy in it, but I guess the ending itself was kinda suspenseful slash intrigue-mystery since it left you wondering what's going to happen next.
The beginning (prologue) left me a little confused as I was unable to figure out what it had to do with the rest of the story but since I'm aware the book is in two parts I'm assuming it will all make sense after reading that one.
The characters, for me, were okay. Craig has to be my favourite. Think it was the bum wiggle in the fire-station as he was making a meal that caused that to happen. And then he was just a nice guy all the way through. As for Emma, she did my head in a little concerning the vision. She just seemed a little blind to the good thing she had going on with Craig and I felt like slapping a little sense into her. But it all worked out in the end-ish.
For a first story, it's pretty good but I found it a little stilted in places and the transitions between chapters were a little strange. I felt the previous chapters never had proper endings, they just seemed to stop. And apart from a few minor wording/punctuation errors its good.
I'm not sure I'd class as that, though, now I've finished it. It's more contemporary romance with a bad guy in it, but I guess the ending itself was kinda suspenseful slash intrigue-mystery since it left you wondering what's going to happen next.
The beginning (prologue) left me a little confused as I was unable to figure out what it had to do with the rest of the story but since I'm aware the book is in two parts I'm assuming it will all make sense after reading that one.
The characters, for me, were okay. Craig has to be my favourite. Think it was the bum wiggle in the fire-station as he was making a meal that caused that to happen. And then he was just a nice guy all the way through. As for Emma, she did my head in a little concerning the vision. She just seemed a little blind to the good thing she had going on with Craig and I felt like slapping a little sense into her. But it all worked out in the end-ish.
For a first story, it's pretty good but I found it a little stilted in places and the transitions between chapters were a little strange. I felt the previous chapters never had proper endings, they just seemed to stop. And apart from a few minor wording/punctuation errors its good.