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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated The Curse of La Llorona (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
The Mexican Legend
The Curse of La Llorona is a 2019 supernatura/horror movie directed by Michael Chaves and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. The film was produced by James Wan through his Atomic Monster Productions. It is based on the Mexican folklore, is Chaves directorial debut, and is set in "The Conjuring" Universe. It stars Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, and Patricia Velasquez.
While playing with his family in 1673 Mexico, a young boy closes his eyes only to re-open them and find his family missing. While searching for them he witnesses his mother drowning his brother in a stream. Frightened, he runs away but is caught and suffers the same fate.
300 years later, in 1973 Los Angeles, Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) works as a social worker and is investigating a well known client of hers, Patrica Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) whose children have gone missing. Demanding to check on her children's well being, Anna goes to Patricia's home with a police of. She searches for the children and finds them locked in a room. Patricia attacks her as she locates the children and is dragged away by the officer while screaming for her not to open the door. Anna takes the boys, Carlos and Tomas out of the room, ignoring their request to stay in the room where they are safe. That night, two boys are found drowned in a nearby river and Anna is called in to investigate their deaths. At the scene Anna hears Patricia screaming that it was Anna's fault for their deaths. This draws Anna and her family into the frightening supernatural realm of "La Llorona" and her deadly wrath.
I felt like this movie was a tough mix of somewhat silly but still creepy. It was good but had too many jump scares that you could see coming from a mile a way. The acting was generally good with Linda Cardellini really selling the terror of fighting off the evil presence. The children's performances were kind of hit or miss for me.. The tone and atmosphere of the film was great but for me "La Llorona" was scarier when she had her face veiled rather than the highly CGI-ed one they gave her when it was removed. The opening was downright silly to me. I didn't find it scary/creepy at all but a little disturbing. Also for some reason I think they went for too many scares in daylight. I know everything scary doesn't have to be at night, but I felt like it undersold them or didn't do them justice. One aspect that I really liked was how they brought in a faith healer or shaman, in Spanish "Curandero" to the Conjuring Universe. He was an interesting original character addition. Astwo different critics put it, "convincing premise, sufficient drama, decent twists, and enough scares make it worth the watch", but "predictable jump scare treatment and dragging exposition take out the potential from this film despite decent performance Orverall I'd give this movie a 6/10.
While playing with his family in 1673 Mexico, a young boy closes his eyes only to re-open them and find his family missing. While searching for them he witnesses his mother drowning his brother in a stream. Frightened, he runs away but is caught and suffers the same fate.
300 years later, in 1973 Los Angeles, Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) works as a social worker and is investigating a well known client of hers, Patrica Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) whose children have gone missing. Demanding to check on her children's well being, Anna goes to Patricia's home with a police of. She searches for the children and finds them locked in a room. Patricia attacks her as she locates the children and is dragged away by the officer while screaming for her not to open the door. Anna takes the boys, Carlos and Tomas out of the room, ignoring their request to stay in the room where they are safe. That night, two boys are found drowned in a nearby river and Anna is called in to investigate their deaths. At the scene Anna hears Patricia screaming that it was Anna's fault for their deaths. This draws Anna and her family into the frightening supernatural realm of "La Llorona" and her deadly wrath.
I felt like this movie was a tough mix of somewhat silly but still creepy. It was good but had too many jump scares that you could see coming from a mile a way. The acting was generally good with Linda Cardellini really selling the terror of fighting off the evil presence. The children's performances were kind of hit or miss for me.. The tone and atmosphere of the film was great but for me "La Llorona" was scarier when she had her face veiled rather than the highly CGI-ed one they gave her when it was removed. The opening was downright silly to me. I didn't find it scary/creepy at all but a little disturbing. Also for some reason I think they went for too many scares in daylight. I know everything scary doesn't have to be at night, but I felt like it undersold them or didn't do them justice. One aspect that I really liked was how they brought in a faith healer or shaman, in Spanish "Curandero" to the Conjuring Universe. He was an interesting original character addition. Astwo different critics put it, "convincing premise, sufficient drama, decent twists, and enough scares make it worth the watch", but "predictable jump scare treatment and dragging exposition take out the potential from this film despite decent performance Orverall I'd give this movie a 6/10.
Graham Bonnet: The Story Behind the Shades
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Graham Bonnet was born in Skegness in 1947 and had his first hit single with The Marbles in 1968,...
Claimed (Breaking Free #7)
10.0
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University student Demir Higgs is on the fast-track to graduate with honors and dive straight into...
Mpreg Omegaverse M_M
TheDefunctDiva (304 KP) rated The Wicker Man (1973) in Movies
Aug 29, 2021
Something Wicker This Way Comes
Contains spoilers, click to show
Forgive me, Father, for I am about to spoil this whole film. I am a novice film reviewer, and as such, I know no other way.
This film opens up with a police officer (Sergeant Howie) flying to an island in Scotland. I knew something was up when the older gentlemen in the harbor refused to send a dinghy for him to get onto the island. The older men seemed to be in on some kind of joke. As my teenager would say, “Very sus.”
The rather uppity lawman, portrayed quite convincingly by Edward Woodward, is searching for a girl on the island. The girl, Rowan Morrison, was reported missing by way of an anonymous letter sent to the mainland.
We are then introduced to the woman who is allegedly the missing girl’s mother. She runs the most unsettling candy shop ever. There are a lot of chocolate bunnies, which I am normally all in favor of. But she corrects the officer when he refers to them as bunnies. They are rabbits, of course. Because that increases the creepiness factor by ten.
Howie’s lodging is above a righteously rollicking pub. The locals sing and play about in the pub, and all seems normal.
Forward to the next scene. Holy unexpected nudity, Batman. I am glad my son chose to stay in his room and play Roblox. There are a bunch of naked locals openly copulating in and around the churchyard. Of course, it is later explained that it is not a churchyard, because poor, very stodgy, very Puritan Sergeant Howie has stumbled upon an island of RECKLESS HEATHEN PAGANS.
The lovely Britt Ekland portrays Willow, the barmaid. In a scene early on, she does a ritualistic dance in the nude, in the room next to the very tempted police officer. My boyfriend correctly observed that Howie should stay away from this woman, as she is clearly a siren. Her dance moves were odd to me, and at one point, I asked aloud, “What is she doing?” My boyfriend responded, “She’s twerking.”
The plot thickens like a good rabbit stew. Christopher Lee aptly portrays Lord Summerisle, the leader of the island. Summerisle makes some strange claims about the island, and says the women there get pregnant asexually by way of a ritual. This claim seems counterintuitive, since there seemed to be a lot of unprotected boinking going on by various members of the island, in the open air no less. But hey, maybe these adulterated pagans missed the lecture on the birds and the bees.
As a heathen myself, I didn’t find this movie too horrific until it neared the end. I was more focused on Sergeant Howie’s unwillingness to entertain a faith other than his own. The scenery was breathtaking, as it was filmed entirely on location in Scotland.
I’m not really going to spoil every detail of the ending. But I must observe that this is the strangest version of The 40-Year-Old Virgin I have ever seen.
This film opens up with a police officer (Sergeant Howie) flying to an island in Scotland. I knew something was up when the older gentlemen in the harbor refused to send a dinghy for him to get onto the island. The older men seemed to be in on some kind of joke. As my teenager would say, “Very sus.”
The rather uppity lawman, portrayed quite convincingly by Edward Woodward, is searching for a girl on the island. The girl, Rowan Morrison, was reported missing by way of an anonymous letter sent to the mainland.
We are then introduced to the woman who is allegedly the missing girl’s mother. She runs the most unsettling candy shop ever. There are a lot of chocolate bunnies, which I am normally all in favor of. But she corrects the officer when he refers to them as bunnies. They are rabbits, of course. Because that increases the creepiness factor by ten.
Howie’s lodging is above a righteously rollicking pub. The locals sing and play about in the pub, and all seems normal.
Forward to the next scene. Holy unexpected nudity, Batman. I am glad my son chose to stay in his room and play Roblox. There are a bunch of naked locals openly copulating in and around the churchyard. Of course, it is later explained that it is not a churchyard, because poor, very stodgy, very Puritan Sergeant Howie has stumbled upon an island of RECKLESS HEATHEN PAGANS.
The lovely Britt Ekland portrays Willow, the barmaid. In a scene early on, she does a ritualistic dance in the nude, in the room next to the very tempted police officer. My boyfriend correctly observed that Howie should stay away from this woman, as she is clearly a siren. Her dance moves were odd to me, and at one point, I asked aloud, “What is she doing?” My boyfriend responded, “She’s twerking.”
The plot thickens like a good rabbit stew. Christopher Lee aptly portrays Lord Summerisle, the leader of the island. Summerisle makes some strange claims about the island, and says the women there get pregnant asexually by way of a ritual. This claim seems counterintuitive, since there seemed to be a lot of unprotected boinking going on by various members of the island, in the open air no less. But hey, maybe these adulterated pagans missed the lecture on the birds and the bees.
As a heathen myself, I didn’t find this movie too horrific until it neared the end. I was more focused on Sergeant Howie’s unwillingness to entertain a faith other than his own. The scenery was breathtaking, as it was filmed entirely on location in Scotland.
I’m not really going to spoil every detail of the ending. But I must observe that this is the strangest version of The 40-Year-Old Virgin I have ever seen.
Tatiana Temple (3 KP) rated Find Me in Books
Jan 3, 2018
Kept me wondering
Contains spoilers, click to show
Find Me is about a young man named Jar who is convinced that his girlfriend, Rosa, who allegedly committed suicide five years earlier is alive. Throughout the novel you wonder if maybe she really is alive, if he has had a psychotic break and is imagining it all, or if you are missing something. This novel kept me on the edge of my seat, even with the last few sentences.
Towards the end of the novel you discover that Rosa is in fact alive but not in the capacity that you expect her to be. She is being held captive by her Uncle Martin. When Jar rescues her you get a sense of relief only to have a question raised in the last 3 pages of the book that still has me wondering if Rosa's abduction was in fact government sanctioned.
The only reason why I didn't give this a 10/10 is because towards the middle-end of the book you start reading in her Uncle Martin's POV who is a complete psycopath. Some of his thoughts are rather disturbing and some were hard for me to get through as I have a deep love for animals.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I definitely would recommend it to anyone looking for something that will keep your brain active throughout.
Towards the end of the novel you discover that Rosa is in fact alive but not in the capacity that you expect her to be. She is being held captive by her Uncle Martin. When Jar rescues her you get a sense of relief only to have a question raised in the last 3 pages of the book that still has me wondering if Rosa's abduction was in fact government sanctioned.
The only reason why I didn't give this a 10/10 is because towards the middle-end of the book you start reading in her Uncle Martin's POV who is a complete psycopath. Some of his thoughts are rather disturbing and some were hard for me to get through as I have a deep love for animals.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I definitely would recommend it to anyone looking for something that will keep your brain active throughout.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Cloudland in Books
Jan 15, 2018
So I'm still not quite sure what to make of this book. The language used in it's writing was very poetic & descriptive. I enjoyed that aspect of it a great deal. My real issue with it was the plot. For being a murder/suspense/crime novel, it sure didn't move very quickly. I wasn't kept on the edge of my seat as I usually expect from novels that fall into this category. The "edge of my seat-ness" didn't happen for me until about the last 40 pages or so. :(
This book tells the story of a former New York Times writer & teacher who loses her adjunct professorship because she becomes romanitcally involved with a student. She is asked to leave the university & eventually settles in upstate Vermont in a rural area called Cloudland. While walking home from a neighboor's house, she comes upon the body of a woman who has been missing for months. From there you a sprung into the middle of an investigation of a group of murders taking place in the area & the manhunt for the killer...
...except you aren't really thrown into the middle of it. The writing is good, but I always felt like a bit of an outsider looking in, instead of being put in the middle of the action. The minor twists & turns that came up in the plot felt forced & insignificant to the work as a whole. Was it a bad book, no not at all. I just wasn't swept away with it by any means.
This book tells the story of a former New York Times writer & teacher who loses her adjunct professorship because she becomes romanitcally involved with a student. She is asked to leave the university & eventually settles in upstate Vermont in a rural area called Cloudland. While walking home from a neighboor's house, she comes upon the body of a woman who has been missing for months. From there you a sprung into the middle of an investigation of a group of murders taking place in the area & the manhunt for the killer...
...except you aren't really thrown into the middle of it. The writing is good, but I always felt like a bit of an outsider looking in, instead of being put in the middle of the action. The minor twists & turns that came up in the plot felt forced & insignificant to the work as a whole. Was it a bad book, no not at all. I just wasn't swept away with it by any means.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Hit the Ground Running in Books
May 10, 2018
Eric Bakker has just received a cryptic message from his brother, Michael, about the disappearance of their parents. Now Michael is also missing, but who can Eric trust to help him with all of this. Michael says to trust no one. Eric is away at boarding school and hasn't made too many friends. What is he going to do to find his family?
Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Moon Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Hit the Ground Running had me hooked from the start. I read almost 1/2 the book on the first day. This is a faced paced novel that leaves you wanting more. Imagine your parents dumping you in a boarding school in Canada for no good reason and uprooting you from the home you've always known. Eric isn't sure why his family made the move to Canada or why he has to go to this school. He tries to stick to himself as much as possible. But when he needs help to find his family, who can he trust to help him. While contemplating his situation, he runs into Tess another student from the school, and she thinks she may have a way to help him. Can he trust her? Will he be able to find his brother and his parents before it's too late?
This is the first book in a trilogy. The end leaves you hanging so you will want to read the next book. I can't wait for it to be released.
Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Moon Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Hit the Ground Running had me hooked from the start. I read almost 1/2 the book on the first day. This is a faced paced novel that leaves you wanting more. Imagine your parents dumping you in a boarding school in Canada for no good reason and uprooting you from the home you've always known. Eric isn't sure why his family made the move to Canada or why he has to go to this school. He tries to stick to himself as much as possible. But when he needs help to find his family, who can he trust to help him. While contemplating his situation, he runs into Tess another student from the school, and she thinks she may have a way to help him. Can he trust her? Will he be able to find his brother and his parents before it's too late?
This is the first book in a trilogy. The end leaves you hanging so you will want to read the next book. I can't wait for it to be released.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Samsung Galaxy S8 in Tech
May 11, 2018
Stunning phone
I absolutely love this phone. I upgraded last year from the Galaxy S6 and I’m so glad I did.
It is such a beautiful looking phone. I have mine in a flip case, but I often take it out just to admire it as the body is so sleek and just feels great to hold. The infinity display too is fantastic. The camera is much better than any of my previous phones and takes some pretty good looking photos. I was dubious about the missing home button but it actually works very well and I think this is partly why the phone looks so slick. The fingerprint sensor on the back is a little unusual and it does take a while to get used to, but you come to realise that it is actually useful to have it on the back. The phone itself runs very quickly, I’ve never had any concerns over speed and the Android interface itself is still much better than Apple’s and allows a lot more personalisation and customisation.
My only criticism of this phone is the predictive text/autocorrect. It is so clunky and so unintelligent that it drives me up the wall on a daily basis. It changes real actual words for no reason and then never seems able to learn words that I type regularly. Although strangely it does seem quick to pick up things I’ve misspelt and then constantly correct the right word to a misspelt version that I’ve used once... very frustrating.
It is such a beautiful looking phone. I have mine in a flip case, but I often take it out just to admire it as the body is so sleek and just feels great to hold. The infinity display too is fantastic. The camera is much better than any of my previous phones and takes some pretty good looking photos. I was dubious about the missing home button but it actually works very well and I think this is partly why the phone looks so slick. The fingerprint sensor on the back is a little unusual and it does take a while to get used to, but you come to realise that it is actually useful to have it on the back. The phone itself runs very quickly, I’ve never had any concerns over speed and the Android interface itself is still much better than Apple’s and allows a lot more personalisation and customisation.
My only criticism of this phone is the predictive text/autocorrect. It is so clunky and so unintelligent that it drives me up the wall on a daily basis. It changes real actual words for no reason and then never seems able to learn words that I type regularly. Although strangely it does seem quick to pick up things I’ve misspelt and then constantly correct the right word to a misspelt version that I’ve used once... very frustrating.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
This is my favorite book in the series so far because the plot FINALLY focuses on Claire's schooling. When her schedule got replaced with harder classes, I went just a bit green with envy - I'm a nerd at heart, even though I haven't been to school in years. I also love that we get more background information about the town of Morganville, such as its purpose and an explanation of the more mystical aspects of the town. Myrnin was quite a fascinating character, and I would not have minded if the text spent more time on Claire's studies with him, as well as her advanced class studies. (And yes, my favorite parts of the Harry Potter series was the classroom stuff.)
I didn't like that this book did not have Eve's journal entries at the end like previous books have done. Those previously gave me clues into her mind and her relationship with Michael, as well as a taste of what happens in the next book, so I was rather disappointed when I realized it was missing.
I'm hoping that future books go into more detail about what the journals cover as well as what exactly the red crystals are and how they affected Claire. I'm hoping that the drama with Eve's brother Jason gets resolved quickly as I find him just plain annoying and obnoxious. The ending had me exclaiming out loud, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series, Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires, Book 4).
I didn't like that this book did not have Eve's journal entries at the end like previous books have done. Those previously gave me clues into her mind and her relationship with Michael, as well as a taste of what happens in the next book, so I was rather disappointed when I realized it was missing.
I'm hoping that future books go into more detail about what the journals cover as well as what exactly the red crystals are and how they affected Claire. I'm hoping that the drama with Eve's brother Jason gets resolved quickly as I find him just plain annoying and obnoxious. The ending had me exclaiming out loud, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series, Feast of Fools (Morganville Vampires, Book 4).