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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Ratchet & Clank (2016) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Based on the popular video game series for the Playstation systems, “Ratchet and Clank” has arrived looking to take the duo’s success to the big screen in a new animated adventure. The film follows the diabolical Chairman Drek (Paul Giamatti), who has a nefarious scheme that leaves planets destroyed in his wake. The government decides to hire an additional Ranger for protection which leads lowly mechanic Ratchet (James Arnold Taylor), to see his chance for greatness. Sadly the head of the Rangers; an ego-maniac named Captain Qwark (Jim Ward), dismisses the physically unimpressive Ratchet and thus crushes his dreams.
Fate steps in when a defective robot named Clank (David Kaye) arrives with news that will shake the very fabric of the galaxy. Ratchet and Clank team up to help the Rangers and must overcome all obstacles on all sides to save the day. The animation of the film is solid and it was a bit of a surprise that the film was not presented to us in 3D which has become the norm for animated film. The solid voice cast does a good job and there are more than a few nice celebrity voices along the way. The biggest issue I had with the film was that it was a bit dull and dragged in places. Our screener was loaded with children and families and I saw some leave the cinema during the film and did not return.
The movies takes a while to get going and there are more than a few nods to the game and other Playstation characters along the way. The biggest issue is that it seems as if the film is dedicated to hardcore fans of the series. I have played the last three games in the series and I found myself lost at times as it was clear that this was for those who have been there from the start. This is not to say that new fans will not be gained by the film, but one has to wonder how many children who are not familiar with the characters will have the patience to wait for things to get rolling in the film.
As it stands the film is a good first effort but may or may not be enough to successfully launch a long term franchise.
http://sknr.net/2016/04/28/ratchet-and-clank/
Fate steps in when a defective robot named Clank (David Kaye) arrives with news that will shake the very fabric of the galaxy. Ratchet and Clank team up to help the Rangers and must overcome all obstacles on all sides to save the day. The animation of the film is solid and it was a bit of a surprise that the film was not presented to us in 3D which has become the norm for animated film. The solid voice cast does a good job and there are more than a few nice celebrity voices along the way. The biggest issue I had with the film was that it was a bit dull and dragged in places. Our screener was loaded with children and families and I saw some leave the cinema during the film and did not return.
The movies takes a while to get going and there are more than a few nods to the game and other Playstation characters along the way. The biggest issue is that it seems as if the film is dedicated to hardcore fans of the series. I have played the last three games in the series and I found myself lost at times as it was clear that this was for those who have been there from the start. This is not to say that new fans will not be gained by the film, but one has to wonder how many children who are not familiar with the characters will have the patience to wait for things to get rolling in the film.
As it stands the film is a good first effort but may or may not be enough to successfully launch a long term franchise.
http://sknr.net/2016/04/28/ratchet-and-clank/
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Burn (Nava Katz, #6) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
I've put this book ON HOLD.
My Kindle Unlimited membership runs out in a few days and I've been struggling to get into this, which is strange considering I read the fifth book not long ago and love these characters.
I'll try again in a few months, start from the beginning again and see if I can get into it then (I really hope so!)
14th April
So, I'm trying again--not from the beginning--and hopefully after a few other good urban fantasy stories, I can get into this...
And I did, sort of.
2.5 stars.
I think this book has way too much going on. We skip a lot of little extra bits that would have been explained fully in earlier books, but just get a short paragraph that paraphrases into the basic facts.
The rest of the series has been long, and let it be known I'm not a fan of books longer than 350 pages, but this one seemed to go on forever. It seemed to take an age for 1% to pass and considering we get bombarded by stuff happening, I expected it to go quicker but in my opinion it went slower.
I lost interest in parts and skipped paragraphs just wanting the major fights to play out so when that had ended at about 88% (I think) and the story carried on...well, I started to lose interest once again. The main thing I was waiting for in those last few chapters was Drio to pull his finger out and tell Leo how he felt.
My Kindle Unlimited membership runs out in a few days and I've been struggling to get into this, which is strange considering I read the fifth book not long ago and love these characters.
I'll try again in a few months, start from the beginning again and see if I can get into it then (I really hope so!)
14th April
So, I'm trying again--not from the beginning--and hopefully after a few other good urban fantasy stories, I can get into this...
And I did, sort of.
2.5 stars.
I think this book has way too much going on. We skip a lot of little extra bits that would have been explained fully in earlier books, but just get a short paragraph that paraphrases into the basic facts.
The rest of the series has been long, and let it be known I'm not a fan of books longer than 350 pages, but this one seemed to go on forever. It seemed to take an age for 1% to pass and considering we get bombarded by stuff happening, I expected it to go quicker but in my opinion it went slower.
I lost interest in parts and skipped paragraphs just wanting the major fights to play out so when that had ended at about 88% (I think) and the story carried on...well, I started to lose interest once again. The main thing I was waiting for in those last few chapters was Drio to pull his finger out and tell Leo how he felt.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Cold As The Grave in Books
Sep 1, 2019
A treat for crime fiction lovers
This is a treat for crime fiction lovers with a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Mr Oswald knows how to write a great story and he has done it once again with "Cold as the Grave".
DCI Tony McLean finds himself, quite unexpectedly, in the midst of a strange and disturbing investigation following his discovery of the mummified remains of a young girl. Being a DCI, Tony is not supposed to get into the day to day investigation of crime however, Tony being Tony just can't help himself and he quickly becomes in the thick of it.
This is a dark and sinister case to investigate and includes themes on refugees, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, trafficking, modern slavery, the murder of children and violence towards women as well as introducing a less than "normal" slant on the perpetrator of the crime and the method used for committing murder.
With fantastic characters throughout and written in a sympathetic rather than sensationalist way with the back drop of a winter in Edinburgh, this is a great read.
I admit to not having read all the previous books in this series and although I have probably missed out massively on back story, character development, etc., it did not detract from my enjoyment of this book.
On to the next .... when it comes out!
My thanks must go to the Publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.
DCI Tony McLean finds himself, quite unexpectedly, in the midst of a strange and disturbing investigation following his discovery of the mummified remains of a young girl. Being a DCI, Tony is not supposed to get into the day to day investigation of crime however, Tony being Tony just can't help himself and he quickly becomes in the thick of it.
This is a dark and sinister case to investigate and includes themes on refugees, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, trafficking, modern slavery, the murder of children and violence towards women as well as introducing a less than "normal" slant on the perpetrator of the crime and the method used for committing murder.
With fantastic characters throughout and written in a sympathetic rather than sensationalist way with the back drop of a winter in Edinburgh, this is a great read.
I admit to not having read all the previous books in this series and although I have probably missed out massively on back story, character development, etc., it did not detract from my enjoyment of this book.
On to the next .... when it comes out!
My thanks must go to the Publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.
Debbiereadsbook (1570 KP) rated A Furever Home: A Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue Romance in Books
Sep 8, 2025
loved the emotional connection!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
What this is, right, is a bloody good book!
I mean, there is drama, both for Arthur and Brooklyn and other folks in their lives. Brooklyn's sister, Cheyenne, arrives with a whole host of problems, and really that is the most drama.
There is so much love in Gaynor Beach, that it jumps off the page. Arthur and Brooklyn have fast attraction, but given that Arthur is injured, they do take a *small* amount of time to act on it.
FURBABIES!! Lots and lots of furbabies and I did get a bit lost at one point, but I'm not holding anything against the book for that! Also, no furbabies were harmed in this book. Scared, yes indeed, but not harmed.
I loved the emotional connection between Arthur and Brooklyn. It grows at pace, and doesn't let up. The steam level is perfect for these two. Steamy in places and fade to grey in others.
There is a huge amount of support for Arthur, when things happen. For Brooklyn too, when Cheyenne arrives. What she is dealing with is quite dark, but on the whole, very well dealt with. The book is a light book, apart from this.
I have not read other books in this series, and a quick glance at the blurbs for those books means, at some point (!!) I want to go back and read them.
A wonderful, 4 star read.
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
What this is, right, is a bloody good book!
I mean, there is drama, both for Arthur and Brooklyn and other folks in their lives. Brooklyn's sister, Cheyenne, arrives with a whole host of problems, and really that is the most drama.
There is so much love in Gaynor Beach, that it jumps off the page. Arthur and Brooklyn have fast attraction, but given that Arthur is injured, they do take a *small* amount of time to act on it.
FURBABIES!! Lots and lots of furbabies and I did get a bit lost at one point, but I'm not holding anything against the book for that! Also, no furbabies were harmed in this book. Scared, yes indeed, but not harmed.
I loved the emotional connection between Arthur and Brooklyn. It grows at pace, and doesn't let up. The steam level is perfect for these two. Steamy in places and fade to grey in others.
There is a huge amount of support for Arthur, when things happen. For Brooklyn too, when Cheyenne arrives. What she is dealing with is quite dark, but on the whole, very well dealt with. The book is a light book, apart from this.
I have not read other books in this series, and a quick glance at the blurbs for those books means, at some point (!!) I want to go back and read them.
A wonderful, 4 star read.
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Madbatdan82 (341 KP) rated The Act in TV
May 13, 2019
Loving this wont be an Act!
I had heard of the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case so I had an idea of the story heading into this however i didnt know everything and this show was AMAZING!! It tells the story of Gypsy Rose, a wheelchair bound young girl with many different life threatening illnesses and her mum Dee Dee as they move into a new charity built house. By the end of the first episode Dee Dee is dead and Gypsy is missing. The series is the story of what lead to this incident and all is not as it seems. The performances are amazing. Patricia Arquette was almost unrecognisable as Dee Dee - I didnt even realise it was her till ep 3! However the star of the show is Joey King as Gypsy Rose. She completely becomes Gypsy and is simply amazing. After watching this I watched the HBO documentary 'mummy dead and dearest' and its scary how much King looks, sounds and acts like Gypsy. Truly awesome
David McK (3633 KP) rated Nightlife (Cal Leandros #1) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
Originally picked up on a whim (as a Christmas present from my Amazon wishlist back in the early 2010s), and I'm glad I did. Be looking for more of this series, methinks.
<edit in 2018>
I've just re-read this again, and can fill in a bit more now than my previous 'review' (above).
This falls firmly into the Urban Fantasy genre, mainly told in the first person, with Cal(iban) Leandros the main narrator of the story, and with the Grendels (or Auphe, or Elf!) the main antagonists: the main, but not the only. In this world (or New York), there's also a Boggle in the park, Trolls (at least one) in the underground, Werewolves, Vampires and other associated mythological creatures, including one who takes a prominent role: that of Darkling (whose sisters are the Banshees of Irish myth). Caliban definitely undergoes quite a bit throughout this story with a major transformation in his character taking place roughly about halfway through: read it, and you'll see what I mean!
<edit in 2018>
I've just re-read this again, and can fill in a bit more now than my previous 'review' (above).
This falls firmly into the Urban Fantasy genre, mainly told in the first person, with Cal(iban) Leandros the main narrator of the story, and with the Grendels (or Auphe, or Elf!) the main antagonists: the main, but not the only. In this world (or New York), there's also a Boggle in the park, Trolls (at least one) in the underground, Werewolves, Vampires and other associated mythological creatures, including one who takes a prominent role: that of Darkling (whose sisters are the Banshees of Irish myth). Caliban definitely undergoes quite a bit throughout this story with a major transformation in his character taking place roughly about halfway through: read it, and you'll see what I mean!
David McK (3633 KP) rated The Book of Ultimate Truths in Books
Jan 30, 2019
When reading books, I go through phases of genres, where I might read 3 or 4 of one type before switching to another. Recently, I'd been reading a lot of historical fiction and felt it was time to switch it up, moving on to comedy instead, hoping this would prove to be a hit.
Unfortunately, it wasn't. :(
Perhaps I should have known: I had read some Robert Rankin before and had found him (generally) to be more miss than hit, with this novel only serving to reinforce that opinion. IMO, I found this rather surreal and just not that funny with it rarely raising a smile, never mind a laugh! Indeed, what humour there is I found to be rather childish, almost infantile. Doubt I'll be looking for any more in this series: the only reasons this doesn't get 1 star is because A) a book has to be really, REALLY bad for me to give it that and B) because it was free (but now I know why!) from Amazon.
Unfortunately, it wasn't. :(
Perhaps I should have known: I had read some Robert Rankin before and had found him (generally) to be more miss than hit, with this novel only serving to reinforce that opinion. IMO, I found this rather surreal and just not that funny with it rarely raising a smile, never mind a laugh! Indeed, what humour there is I found to be rather childish, almost infantile. Doubt I'll be looking for any more in this series: the only reasons this doesn't get 1 star is because A) a book has to be really, REALLY bad for me to give it that and B) because it was free (but now I know why!) from Amazon.
book sparrow (239 KP) rated Stone Cold Touch in Books
Jan 15, 2020
omg this book takes you on so many twist and turns my neck hurts.
what i don't like about some series is that the second book has to go and rehash whats happened in the fist book......like if the reader had read the first book like i have they would already bloody know and if not ...didums go read it anyway moving on. in the first book roth was my fave ,,,in this book i was so torn between zayne and roth i want layla to have both (is that greedy?) anyway layla is a lot less of an immature whiny baby in this book and i started to like her character a lot more honestly loved this book soooo much i even think i love it more then the first which is rare for me always love the originals. this is another book that took 8 hours to read even with having to do my day to day stuff it has you hooked from the beginning
what i don't like about some series is that the second book has to go and rehash whats happened in the fist book......like if the reader had read the first book like i have they would already bloody know and if not ...didums go read it anyway moving on. in the first book roth was my fave ,,,in this book i was so torn between zayne and roth i want layla to have both (is that greedy?) anyway layla is a lot less of an immature whiny baby in this book and i started to like her character a lot more honestly loved this book soooo much i even think i love it more then the first which is rare for me always love the originals. this is another book that took 8 hours to read even with having to do my day to day stuff it has you hooked from the beginning
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Golden Compass (2007) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Just nukes the ever-loving fuck out of the book. To turn a pretty bloody and challenging series into this hyperincompetent snooze of shit storytelling, genre rehashing, and violently diluted themes (or what's left of them, if anything) should have been criminalized on arrival. Find me anyone who can tell me what the plot of this is or why anything in it happens, this is 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 of crummy children's fantasy flicks (which were the 2000s answer to the dull, samey YA craze of the 2010s). Oh and those Academy Award winning effects? They're fucking ghoulish. The production is nice but how anyone could think this mess of badly-aged animation and awful greenscreen work looks good is far beyond me. The armored polar bears were pretty dope though, and this wakes up a bit in the weird 15 minutes where a group of crazy institution fanatics start experimenting on children out in like the middle of the arctic for no real reason lmao. But otherwise absolutely not, no thank you.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Stripped (Travesty, #2) in Books
Jan 11, 2021
4.5 stars.
Well, what can I say other than I really enjoyed this. I was definitely thinking it was going to be a possible five star read. And it might have been…but I didn’t cry. I know, stupid reason. But if I cry over characters it means they’ve dug under my skin and made me care about them. Strangely this didn’t, despite me rooting for them from pretty much the first chapter. Nevertheless I really liked it. If I could have, I would probably have read this in one sitting, I was that into it.
I loved the characters, pretty much all of them, apart from Nate’s dad—and maybe his mum too. Oh and a certain friend that I will not name as it might spoilt the story.
If you like contemporary romances with a girl who doesn’t have a filter and a guy who always wants to win then this will be right up your street.
P.S. I haven’t read the first book in this series but I wouldn’t mind doing now!
Well, what can I say other than I really enjoyed this. I was definitely thinking it was going to be a possible five star read. And it might have been…but I didn’t cry. I know, stupid reason. But if I cry over characters it means they’ve dug under my skin and made me care about them. Strangely this didn’t, despite me rooting for them from pretty much the first chapter. Nevertheless I really liked it. If I could have, I would probably have read this in one sitting, I was that into it.
I loved the characters, pretty much all of them, apart from Nate’s dad—and maybe his mum too. Oh and a certain friend that I will not name as it might spoilt the story.
If you like contemporary romances with a girl who doesn’t have a filter and a guy who always wants to win then this will be right up your street.
P.S. I haven’t read the first book in this series but I wouldn’t mind doing now!