One Word Kill
7.0
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In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even...
The Witch of Willow Hall
8.3
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Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she...
Risen (Blood Eternal #1)
10.0
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My aunt has been kidnapped by vampires, and it’s up to me to save her. Only…I had no idea...
Wolf (2019)
3.3
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Great Britain. 150AD. When four messengers sent by Rome to a plague infected Caledonia, with a...
David McK (3562 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books
Sep 19, 2021
Have also seen the movie mentioned below. It was just OK; not great.
<original 2016 review>
Prior to reading this, I'd heard good things about it, and was aware that - like seemingly nearly all of the current Young Adult Dystopian novels - there was a movie for it in the pipeline, by none other than Spielberg himself.
Set in the near-future, I found this to be like a cross between the Bruce Willis movie Surrogates (in that nearly everybody seems to live their life vicariously through other means), The Matrix (cyber reality) and maybe even a bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the MacGuffin that gets the plot rolling). it probably helps that - unlike the characters - I actually *was* a kid in the 80s, and so get plenty of the various pop-culture references made.
Plenty, but not all - this, remember, is set in America, so leans more towards the American or Japanese spectrum of popular culture than European.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Tattooist (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Positives:
Well! This should be a case study for Zack Snyder that you don’t need a film to be a bladder-busting 242 minutes in order to tell a story. At just 80 seconds long, this is a masterclass in subliminal editing.
The film is both disturbing and quirky. Is the tattooist just day-dreaming? Is what he is thinking about down in his shop’s cellar right now? Is the semi-naked girl on the table to be next? All questions and no answers are forthcoming!
It’s impressive when you think of all of the production design that had to go into making each of those subliminal shots (e.g. the still below). As in Wong’s previous short film (“The Story of 90 Coins“), the lighting and cinematography is first rate.
Negatives:
None. For what it is, it’s very impressive.
Intrusion (Reflections #4)
8.0
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Jess awoke to a world she doesn’t really understand, hounded by impulses that are quite literally...
Young Adult Paranormal Romance Short Story
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated You Can stay in Books
Dec 12, 2023
Book
You Can Stay
By Elle Connel
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
She's the perfect host. He's the perfect victim.
Someone is hunting Connor. Alone, freezing, in the wilderness of Bodmin Moor, on an elite Special Forces training exercise, he'd be a fool to scorn the kindness of a local stranger. Wouldn't he?
At first, Eilidh seems to be an impeccable host. She offers Connor food and a warm bed - he finds it nearly impossible to leave her charming farmhouse.
But the choice isn't his to make.
There have been others before. None, though, as perfect as him.
Why would she let him leave?
This was really good and a lesson to any man not to stick it places he really shouldn’t. Conner a soldier in training for the elite special forces becames the unfortunate house guest of Eilidah and things go south pretty quickly. Well written and such a good read.
David McK (3562 KP) rated The Witcher - Season 2 in TV
Apr 10, 2022
That aspect, thankfully, is almost entirely done away with in the second season which, as a result, means it is far easier to follow just what is going on!
Set in the aftermath of the Battle of Floden field, with Geralt and Ciri now reunited and with Geralt also believing Yennefer to be dead, this season also introduces more members of the group to which he belongs; that is to say, more Witchers.
I found the season overall to be a bit hit and miss: when the episodes were good, they were very good, but when they were bad ... they were bad.
None the less, still interestied to see where this goes!
David McK (3562 KP) rated She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in TV
Oct 16, 2022
I could probably best describe this by the 6 words I heard my mum (who doesn't really watch any of the Marvel stuff) say when she saw a bit of an episode of this:
"What on earth is this rubbish?"
While, personally, that was maybe a bit strong for me - I wouldn't go quite as far as calling it rubbish - it does more-or-less reflect my feelings on the show: for a (supposed) sit-com, there's very little funny in it, with what comedy there is being painful to watch rather than amusing.
Does bring Charlie Cox's Daredevil back into the fold, though (eventually), and really REALLY leans heavily into trolling its own fans ...