Search
Search results
SnapShove Pro
Productivity
App
Become a short stack poker expert with this calculator and training app! The only mobile all-in...
Marber Plays: v. 1: After Miss Julie; Closer; Dealer's Choice
Book
Marber Plays: 1 brings together three of this award-winning playwright's first plays produced at the...
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Dog Days (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Not writing this review after seeing the film was a mistake. It's only been 8 days and yet I can't remember much about it, which probably sounds like it isn't a recommendation. I know I enjoyed it, there were touching moments and funny bits. It might not change your life but it'll make you feel good.
There are lots of faces you'll recognise. Some to love and some to hate. Jon Bass is the human star of this one for me. Adorable, funny and the great double act with Gertrude is delightful. She also rocks a super cool doggy wardrobe. Mabel is probably my favourite canine character. A coach to 5k success story line that got me in the feels.
It's another one of those films that's pretty predictable though. Characters end up where you expect them to be, and the dogs (for the most part) make you smile. Nice film, but probably not worth a full price ticket.
As an after thought, there is one moment I can specifically remember, and it left me puzzled. The dog walker sets up in a client's home while he's not there and then at the end of the film she's dating the materialistic vet... was it his house? I don't remember seeing anything about it other than those two scenes and it left me confused.
There are lots of faces you'll recognise. Some to love and some to hate. Jon Bass is the human star of this one for me. Adorable, funny and the great double act with Gertrude is delightful. She also rocks a super cool doggy wardrobe. Mabel is probably my favourite canine character. A coach to 5k success story line that got me in the feels.
It's another one of those films that's pretty predictable though. Characters end up where you expect them to be, and the dogs (for the most part) make you smile. Nice film, but probably not worth a full price ticket.
As an after thought, there is one moment I can specifically remember, and it left me puzzled. The dog walker sets up in a client's home while he's not there and then at the end of the film she's dating the materialistic vet... was it his house? I don't remember seeing anything about it other than those two scenes and it left me confused.
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated The Possession (The Anomaly Files #2) in Books
Nov 3, 2019
Great follow on from the previous book (1 more)
Don't have to have read the previous book
For the fans of Coast to Coast AM etc
When I reviewed Michael Rutger's previous novel; The Anomaly I said that this was a novel for those of us who love the strange paranormal, supernatural woo woo of things like Fortean Times magazine, Coast to Coast AM, Astonishing Legends and Lore and I am going to say the same thing for The Possession. The title lets it down a little. This isn't some girl gets possessed by a daemon and gets exorcised run of the mill story, Rutger is far more interesting than that.
The story centres round the Berkeley Mystery Walls, strange walls in California that are ancient and don't seem to be marking territory and whom no one knows who built them and what their purpose is, and the disappearance of a girl. Nolan Moore and his Anomaly Files crew turn up to investigate and things start getting more and more strange, creepy and out of this world as they go along.
Do you have to have read the previous book to get any of this? Not at all, you can jump straight into this as a separate story although after reading the Anomaly I was really keen to get The Possession and I wasn't disappointed. It is a tense thrilling hell ride from start to finish with no simple answers and solutions, just the great characters from the first book back bumbling through as best they can to try and save the world. Its great fun, full of well researched strange events and massive adventure. Its refreshing to have a voice in horror that throws away the cliches and instead makes a modern story entirely of their own. Lets hope there are many more novels to come.
The story centres round the Berkeley Mystery Walls, strange walls in California that are ancient and don't seem to be marking territory and whom no one knows who built them and what their purpose is, and the disappearance of a girl. Nolan Moore and his Anomaly Files crew turn up to investigate and things start getting more and more strange, creepy and out of this world as they go along.
Do you have to have read the previous book to get any of this? Not at all, you can jump straight into this as a separate story although after reading the Anomaly I was really keen to get The Possession and I wasn't disappointed. It is a tense thrilling hell ride from start to finish with no simple answers and solutions, just the great characters from the first book back bumbling through as best they can to try and save the world. Its great fun, full of well researched strange events and massive adventure. Its refreshing to have a voice in horror that throws away the cliches and instead makes a modern story entirely of their own. Lets hope there are many more novels to come.
ClareR (5885 KP) rated The Western Wind in Books
Mar 28, 2021
I loved the setting of this book, and with the excellent narration of Nyasha Hatendi, I was immersed in the life of a 15th century Somerset village. I could feel the damp and chill of life at the start of Lent, and I was fascinated by the traditions surrounding people during this period.
The book works backwards from the time that a wealthy landowner, Thomas Newman, is seen floating, assumed drowned, in the river. The rural Dean arrives and advises the village priest, John Reve, to find the murderer or find proof that Newman has passed through purgatory - all before Lent begins.
There are a lot of confessions in this book. Villagers come to church to confess before the start of Lent, but none have the necessary information to tell Reve what happened. The Dean is a pretty unpleasant character: he pushes Reve to find a murderer, when it’s not really known whether Newman has been murdered at all.
John Reve appears to know and care for all of his parishioners. When two of them try to admit to Newman’s murder, Reve will not let them stand up and say that they’ve done it - and it does seem unlikely that they have. One, Sarah, a seriously ill woman, sees her confession as a way of escaping from her life of illness and pain.
This is a gentle, moving, descriptive book. There’s no fast action or tumultuous love affairs. This is the story of a priest who is doing his best for his parishioners. He takes his job seriously - it really is his calling. And there’s no earth shattering ending either. If you like a beautifully written book, then this will be the book for you.
The book works backwards from the time that a wealthy landowner, Thomas Newman, is seen floating, assumed drowned, in the river. The rural Dean arrives and advises the village priest, John Reve, to find the murderer or find proof that Newman has passed through purgatory - all before Lent begins.
There are a lot of confessions in this book. Villagers come to church to confess before the start of Lent, but none have the necessary information to tell Reve what happened. The Dean is a pretty unpleasant character: he pushes Reve to find a murderer, when it’s not really known whether Newman has been murdered at all.
John Reve appears to know and care for all of his parishioners. When two of them try to admit to Newman’s murder, Reve will not let them stand up and say that they’ve done it - and it does seem unlikely that they have. One, Sarah, a seriously ill woman, sees her confession as a way of escaping from her life of illness and pain.
This is a gentle, moving, descriptive book. There’s no fast action or tumultuous love affairs. This is the story of a priest who is doing his best for his parishioners. He takes his job seriously - it really is his calling. And there’s no earth shattering ending either. If you like a beautifully written book, then this will be the book for you.
Rise From The Ashes
10.0
Rate It
Book
When everyone tells you that you’re meant for bigger things, at what point do you start believing...
The Right One
10.0
Rate It
Book
"Wrong never felt so right." Morgan Cantrell is a survivor. After running away from an abusive...
Contemporary MM Romance Trigger Warning
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Lion King (2019) in Movies
Jul 24, 2019 (Updated Dec 15, 2019)
An amazing looking film that unfortunately lacks soul.
I, like many people, consider The Lion King to be one of finest Disney animations of all time. For me, it ranks alongside Mulan as a favourite, and I immediately fell in love with the characters when it was released in 1994. (I was 5 at the time!)
All these years later, and it still stands as a bonafide classic.
And here we are now, in 2019, and this adaption of The Lion King is the latest in an ever growing line of Disney animations to get the realistic remake treatment.
It aims straight for the nostalgic jugular (and is painfully see through), even if the CGI is pretty damn impressive.
However, impressive CGI means nothing if everything surrounding is empty. It's quite simply missing the heart and soul of the original animation.
In a similar fashion to the recent Jungle Book remake, it's no easy task to convey emotion on these characters when they are photo realistic animals, and the film really suffers as a result.
I feel like that casting was a big contributor as well. A lot of the voice cast are quite simply doing voice over work, and it's painfully obvious is some scenes that the actors were not next to each other whilst performing. The dialogue flows unnaturally on several occasions.
The songs are...ok I guess. Again, they lack a lot of of the heart that made them so enjoyable the first time around.
In particular, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is just awful, listening to Beyonce try to out-Beyonce herself, warbling and riffing unessecarily on a pretty straightforward ballad.
Her involvement had me eye rolling actually. As soon as Hakuna Matata is over and Simba is older, it sort of turned into the Beyonce show - I have absolutely nothing against her, I just thought her involvement with The Lion King was a bit overdone and on the nose.
I'm not sure what I really expected but I feel suitably silly for thinking that this was going to be anything more than a blatant cash grab.
The Lion King offers up nothing new, and the argument of "it's bringing the story to a whole new generation" is rendered mute by just watching the easily accessible and miles better original.
All these years later, and it still stands as a bonafide classic.
And here we are now, in 2019, and this adaption of The Lion King is the latest in an ever growing line of Disney animations to get the realistic remake treatment.
It aims straight for the nostalgic jugular (and is painfully see through), even if the CGI is pretty damn impressive.
However, impressive CGI means nothing if everything surrounding is empty. It's quite simply missing the heart and soul of the original animation.
In a similar fashion to the recent Jungle Book remake, it's no easy task to convey emotion on these characters when they are photo realistic animals, and the film really suffers as a result.
I feel like that casting was a big contributor as well. A lot of the voice cast are quite simply doing voice over work, and it's painfully obvious is some scenes that the actors were not next to each other whilst performing. The dialogue flows unnaturally on several occasions.
The songs are...ok I guess. Again, they lack a lot of of the heart that made them so enjoyable the first time around.
In particular, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is just awful, listening to Beyonce try to out-Beyonce herself, warbling and riffing unessecarily on a pretty straightforward ballad.
Her involvement had me eye rolling actually. As soon as Hakuna Matata is over and Simba is older, it sort of turned into the Beyonce show - I have absolutely nothing against her, I just thought her involvement with The Lion King was a bit overdone and on the nose.
I'm not sure what I really expected but I feel suitably silly for thinking that this was going to be anything more than a blatant cash grab.
The Lion King offers up nothing new, and the argument of "it's bringing the story to a whole new generation" is rendered mute by just watching the easily accessible and miles better original.
Ali A (82 KP) rated The Bletchley Riddle in Books
Oct 14, 2024
Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his fourteen-year-old sister, Lizzie, share a love of riddles and puzzles. As WWII gets closer and closer to Britain, the siblings find themselves amongst the greatest secrets of all - Britain’s codebreaking facility at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins the country’s top minds to crack Nazi’s Enigma cipher, Lizzie transfers notes between departments in the park and tries to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother in her off time.
While the Novis siblings work hard on their tasks, messages and codes begin to arrive under their doorstep. It doesn’t help that while they try to figure out if the messages are truly for them (and possibly from their mother), that there is an inspector lurking outside the gates of the park, watching Jakob and Lizzie’s every move. They must figure out a way to put their bickering aside and work together to decipher the clues if they want to uncover the answers to the puzzle.
As usual, I will pick up anything Ruta Sepetys touches and learn about a part of history I hadn’t known about before I read the book. This book is no exception as we take a deeper dive into the codebreakers Bletchley Park during WWII. I knew there were codebreakers during WWII, but what I didn’t realize is that they consisted of mathematicians, chess champions, and librarians (which, as a librarian, this absolutely makes sense why they were needed!).
Though this book is aimed at middle grade, I will say it felt like it would be more for upper middle grade / younger high school age. Lizzie is fourteen and Jakob is nineteen so their voices were a little older, but nothing major or graphic happened that would make the novel need to be young adult.
Even as an adult, when it came to the description of the codes’ breakthroughs or the ins and outs of the Enigma machines, I would get lost, but overall I just assumed the characters knew what they were talking about and trusted them.
Overall, I loved the twists and turns that kept the pages moving for me. I know I had a hard time as an adult solving the clues, so young readers who like spies and code cracking, are sure to love this too.
*Thank you Viking Books for Young Readers and BookishFirst for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
While the Novis siblings work hard on their tasks, messages and codes begin to arrive under their doorstep. It doesn’t help that while they try to figure out if the messages are truly for them (and possibly from their mother), that there is an inspector lurking outside the gates of the park, watching Jakob and Lizzie’s every move. They must figure out a way to put their bickering aside and work together to decipher the clues if they want to uncover the answers to the puzzle.
As usual, I will pick up anything Ruta Sepetys touches and learn about a part of history I hadn’t known about before I read the book. This book is no exception as we take a deeper dive into the codebreakers Bletchley Park during WWII. I knew there were codebreakers during WWII, but what I didn’t realize is that they consisted of mathematicians, chess champions, and librarians (which, as a librarian, this absolutely makes sense why they were needed!).
Though this book is aimed at middle grade, I will say it felt like it would be more for upper middle grade / younger high school age. Lizzie is fourteen and Jakob is nineteen so their voices were a little older, but nothing major or graphic happened that would make the novel need to be young adult.
Even as an adult, when it came to the description of the codes’ breakthroughs or the ins and outs of the Enigma machines, I would get lost, but overall I just assumed the characters knew what they were talking about and trusted them.
Overall, I loved the twists and turns that kept the pages moving for me. I know I had a hard time as an adult solving the clues, so young readers who like spies and code cracking, are sure to love this too.
*Thank you Viking Books for Young Readers and BookishFirst for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
iWepPRO WiFi Passwords Generator
Utilities and Social Networking
10.0
Rate It
App
Connect to WiFi Hotspots for free and check routers security all over the world. Now you can scan...