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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Lion King (2019) in Movies

Aug 2, 2019 (Updated Aug 2, 2019)  
The Lion King (2019)
The Lion King (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Family
An animation tour de force (0 more)
Lacks the emotion of the original (0 more)
"Gorgeously Pointless" sums this up for me. In general I find the Disney live action remakes pretty pointless. Why try, other than to fill Disney coffers? (Which I guess is the producer’s point!) And my opinion hasn’t changed after this. I still think its a rather pointless exercise, particularly in this case where there is no human cast.

With these things, I always think of Jim Carrey‘s cry at the end of his version of “I am the Walrus”. He screams “There, I did it. I defiled a timeless piece of art”. Jon Favreau can at least sleep happy (sic) in his bed content that he hasn’t managed to do that. I can’t say I was horrified by this one, because I wasn’t. It was majestic, entertaining, technically superb and certainly had its moments.

The acid test for me would be “would I go and see that again”. And in this case the answer would be “yes”.


For my full graphical review, please visit https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/08/02/one-manns-movies-film-review-the-lion-king-2019/.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) Aug 2, 2019

Gorgeously pointless is definitely spot on with this!

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ClareR (6037 KP) rated Zikora in Books

Nov 8, 2020  
Zikora
Zikora
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Honestly, I would have been happy if this short story had been a full novel. It’s full of Adichie’s view of the world and how women live their lives in it.

When Zikora finds out that she is pregnant, she excitedly tells her boyfriend thinking that he’ll be just as excited. He isn’t. He wants nothing to do with the responsibilities of being a father, and shuts Zikora out completely, even threatening her with legal action when she continues to phone him about the progress of her pregnancy.

This story mainly takes place during Zikora’s labour, as it looks back on all the things that happened before. Her mother is a constant presence during her labour, and Zikora is able to look back on their relationship.

I shouldn’t really say any more, because this is only a 35 page short story. I will say that I listened to this on Audible at the same time as reading it, and the narrator, Adepero Oduye, really brought the story to life for me. Adichie’s storytelling is at its usual high standard, and it was a joy to both read and listen to.
  
Chernobyl Diaries (2012)
Chernobyl Diaries (2012)
2012 | Drama, Horror
Contains spoilers, click to show
There have been a few things set in Pripyat, the abandoned town where the workers of the Chernobyl power plant used to live and almost all of them rely on dogs as a big/main threat. After a slow start 'The Chernobyl Diaries' looked like it was going to follow this pattern, however, the dogs soon give away to a bigger but mostly unseen threat.
I found that the film was predictable in parts both in the action and in some of the scenery used, you know that something was going to happen to the van, you can work out who is going to go missing and anyone who knows anything about Pripyat knows there will be at least one scene with the ferris wheel. However there are still plenty of good jump scares and the fact that we never get a clear view of the killers (although one did remind me of the 'Toxic Avenger')
All in all the 'Chernobyl Diaries' is a slightly above average slasher in the vain of 'The Hills Have Eyes' and 'Wrong Turn' with some creepy moments, not to much gore and a plausible set up.