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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Road (2009) in Movies
Aug 8, 2019
“The Road” takes us on the post-apocalyptic story of the man, played by Viggo Morganson and the boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a father and son doing their best to get along in a world which is no longer suitable for humanity. Constantly teaching his son survival skills and doing his best not to focus on his lost love the man attempts to explain the essence of humanity to his boy who has never known a better world. Add in the ever-present threat of cannibals and you have the film adaptation of this best selling book.
The echoed use of color takes the viewer directly into the unnamed devastation that riddles the world of our two heroes. Moreover, the small sounds from the creeks of not quite abandoned buildings to the harrowing screams of cannibal victims make the world of “the Road” wholly engrossing. Maybe that is the problem.
Riddled with themes of devastation, survival, faith, and family, “The Road” is a piece of cinema significantly different from anything else. With all that said I am not sure this was a horrific and arduous journey one needs to go through.
After I first saw it I didn’t like “The Road”, and I couldn’t figure out who would want to watch this film. Too mature for many audiences and appearing to lack the complication to appeal to intellectual film crowd, it took a few days for me to develop the merit of the film. Now, I can’t stop thinking about the string of moments presented as powerful small scenes that compose “The Road” even though I wish I could.
If you have read the book, then “The Road” delivers a vivid understanding of the story, but before paying to see the film I ask you, is that a story you really want to experience on screen?
The echoed use of color takes the viewer directly into the unnamed devastation that riddles the world of our two heroes. Moreover, the small sounds from the creeks of not quite abandoned buildings to the harrowing screams of cannibal victims make the world of “the Road” wholly engrossing. Maybe that is the problem.
Riddled with themes of devastation, survival, faith, and family, “The Road” is a piece of cinema significantly different from anything else. With all that said I am not sure this was a horrific and arduous journey one needs to go through.
After I first saw it I didn’t like “The Road”, and I couldn’t figure out who would want to watch this film. Too mature for many audiences and appearing to lack the complication to appeal to intellectual film crowd, it took a few days for me to develop the merit of the film. Now, I can’t stop thinking about the string of moments presented as powerful small scenes that compose “The Road” even though I wish I could.
If you have read the book, then “The Road” delivers a vivid understanding of the story, but before paying to see the film I ask you, is that a story you really want to experience on screen?
JT (287 KP) rated Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in Movies
Mar 5, 2020 (Updated Mar 10, 2020)
Godzilla rises from the deep once again, this time to stand side by side with part of the human race to fend off monsters summoned by the crypto-zoological agency Monarch. Monarch has been able to devise a way to control the giant creatures using a sonar device called the Orca, in the hope that they will be able to live together in perfect harmony.
“Sometimes… the only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them,” says Ken Watanabe‘s Dr Ishiro Serizawa. That theory is short-lived when eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) threatens to unleash hell, all for the greater good.
It’s one big mess. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that. I lost interest halfway through and only raised an eyebrow when Godzilla arrived on-screen to pummel the shit out of the three-headed Ghidorah and Rodan. In 2014 Godzilla was rarely seen, albeit for the odd glimpse of a whipping tail. Here that is rectified and he’s placed front and centre as he smashes everything to smithereens.
The human element is just as bad. With a cast that boasted the likes of Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Charles Dance and Strangers Things starlet Millie Bobby Brown I would have expected more from the experienced group. I blame the script which falls by the wayside. Loud, thundering action set pieces do offer a little bit of satisfaction but it’s not enough to carry the film home. Plenty of scenes could have been cut which might have made it bearable.
There are suggestions that we could be getting a Kong Vs Godzilla film at some point which would loosely tie into a Kaiju styled universe but after this load of tripe, they will have their work cut out.
“Sometimes… the only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them,” says Ken Watanabe‘s Dr Ishiro Serizawa. That theory is short-lived when eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) threatens to unleash hell, all for the greater good.
It’s one big mess. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that. I lost interest halfway through and only raised an eyebrow when Godzilla arrived on-screen to pummel the shit out of the three-headed Ghidorah and Rodan. In 2014 Godzilla was rarely seen, albeit for the odd glimpse of a whipping tail. Here that is rectified and he’s placed front and centre as he smashes everything to smithereens.
The human element is just as bad. With a cast that boasted the likes of Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Charles Dance and Strangers Things starlet Millie Bobby Brown I would have expected more from the experienced group. I blame the script which falls by the wayside. Loud, thundering action set pieces do offer a little bit of satisfaction but it’s not enough to carry the film home. Plenty of scenes could have been cut which might have made it bearable.
There are suggestions that we could be getting a Kong Vs Godzilla film at some point which would loosely tie into a Kaiju styled universe but after this load of tripe, they will have their work cut out.
No Regrets
Book
No Regrets is Coleen Nolan's gripping new memoir about love and heartbreak. As a member of the Nolan...
The Ultimate Book of Heroic Failures
Book
This book was the winner of the Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year. Anyone can be a success, but...
Steelpan Ambassadors: The US Navy Steel Band, 1957-1999
Book
"Maybe you won't like steel band. It's possible. But it's been said that the Pied Piper had a steel...
Lindsay (1779 KP) rated Lost Locket (The Magic Magnifying Glass #1) in Books
Jul 29, 2021
Are you looking for a good clean book for your middle-grade children? The Magic Magnifying Glass is a good one. The first book is called “Lost Locket” by Wendy Ann Mattox. This book introduces you to a boy that loves to solve mysteries.
This book also is clean and talking about God helping him along the way. Your child or children will meet some new characters along the way. I enjoy the fact that this book does center around a boy named Finley. Though he needs the help of friends,
Will he learn that God made me the way he is for a reason. Will he know that having new friends might be able to help when he needs it? The way the author puts nature animals in this story. I enjoyed how they come to help or do as they would typically do in natural wildlife.
Children will learn about nature and the wild animals in their backyard. We learn along the way some of the friends that Finley meets as he tries to solve the tricky case. Will he figure out how he got so tiny? Will he learn to trust God?
This book is excellent. Will Finley find the missing locket? This adventure book is ideal for girls and boys. Parents can read it to their children. Children can pick this book up and read it themselves if they want. I was pleased with it. Children learn about nature and animals in their backyard. Some of the animals are common.
Parents could add more activities or learning activities with their children once they have read this book. Children will learn some animal facts about some of the new friends Finley meets in this book.
This book also is clean and talking about God helping him along the way. Your child or children will meet some new characters along the way. I enjoy the fact that this book does center around a boy named Finley. Though he needs the help of friends,
Will he learn that God made me the way he is for a reason. Will he know that having new friends might be able to help when he needs it? The way the author puts nature animals in this story. I enjoyed how they come to help or do as they would typically do in natural wildlife.
Children will learn about nature and the wild animals in their backyard. We learn along the way some of the friends that Finley meets as he tries to solve the tricky case. Will he figure out how he got so tiny? Will he learn to trust God?
This book is excellent. Will Finley find the missing locket? This adventure book is ideal for girls and boys. Parents can read it to their children. Children can pick this book up and read it themselves if they want. I was pleased with it. Children learn about nature and animals in their backyard. Some of the animals are common.
Parents could add more activities or learning activities with their children once they have read this book. Children will learn some animal facts about some of the new friends Finley meets in this book.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Betwixt (Betwixt and Between #1) in Books
Jan 24, 2021
14 of 250
Kindle
Betwixt (Bitwixt&Between book 1)
By Darynda Jones
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Divorced, desperate, and destitute, former restaurateur Defiance Dayne finds out she has been bequeathed a house by a complete stranger. She is surprised, to say the least, and her curiosity gets the better of her. She leaves her beloved Phoenix and heads to one of the most infamous towns in America: Salem, Massachusetts.
She’s only there to find out why a woman she’s never met would leave her a house. A veritable castle that has seen better days. She couldn’t possibly accept it, but the lawyer assigned to the case practically begs her to take it off her hands, mostly because she’s scared of it. The house. The inanimate structure that, as far as Dephne can tell, has never hurt a fly.
Though it does come with some baggage. A pesky neighbor who wants her gone. A scruffy cat who’s a bit of a jerk. And a handyman bathed in ink who could moonlight as a supermodel for GQ.
She decides to give it three days, and not because of the model. She feels at home in Salem. Safe. But even that comes to a screeching halt when people begin knocking on her door day and night, begging for her help to locate their lost objects.
Come to find out, they think she’s a witch. And after a few mysterious mishaps, Dephne is beginning to wonder if they’re right.
It wasn’t a bad book it was very middle of the road compared to her other books. It’s got a decent story some good characters hoping we see the ex get his comeuppance a little more! I do love her little quotes at the start of each chapter it wouldn’t be a Darynda book without them!
Kindle
Betwixt (Bitwixt&Between book 1)
By Darynda Jones
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Divorced, desperate, and destitute, former restaurateur Defiance Dayne finds out she has been bequeathed a house by a complete stranger. She is surprised, to say the least, and her curiosity gets the better of her. She leaves her beloved Phoenix and heads to one of the most infamous towns in America: Salem, Massachusetts.
She’s only there to find out why a woman she’s never met would leave her a house. A veritable castle that has seen better days. She couldn’t possibly accept it, but the lawyer assigned to the case practically begs her to take it off her hands, mostly because she’s scared of it. The house. The inanimate structure that, as far as Dephne can tell, has never hurt a fly.
Though it does come with some baggage. A pesky neighbor who wants her gone. A scruffy cat who’s a bit of a jerk. And a handyman bathed in ink who could moonlight as a supermodel for GQ.
She decides to give it three days, and not because of the model. She feels at home in Salem. Safe. But even that comes to a screeching halt when people begin knocking on her door day and night, begging for her help to locate their lost objects.
Come to find out, they think she’s a witch. And after a few mysterious mishaps, Dephne is beginning to wonder if they’re right.
It wasn’t a bad book it was very middle of the road compared to her other books. It’s got a decent story some good characters hoping we see the ex get his comeuppance a little more! I do love her little quotes at the start of each chapter it wouldn’t be a Darynda book without them!
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Scent of Death (David Hunter #6) in Books
Sep 27, 2019
Gripping
I remember, many moons ago, reading The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone and thoroughly enjoying them and have always had Simon Beckett on my radar as an author to pick up but alas I seem to have been side-tracked by the sheer plethora of excellent books out there so have sadly missed out on the other books in this series but on starting to read this, it was like putting on a comfy pair of slippers and snuggling down on the sofa (or, in my case whilst on holiday, in front of a swimming pool in the Portuguese sun) and losing a few hours amongst the pages of this gripping book.
The blurb gives an outline of what the story is about so I won't repeat it but what I will say is that it's as good, if not better, as it sounds. The setting is perfect and provides an additional layer of atmosphere and general creepiness and tension to this excellent book. The characters are well developed and believable; the details of the forensic side is not over done or too technical that you either get lost or lose interest and the plot development and twists means this is one book that I found hard to put down (cliché I know, but true).
I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this book to lovers of fast-paced thrillers from a different perspective than the usual police-procedurals and don't be put off that this is the 6th in the series as it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.
My thanks go to the Publisher via NetGalley for accepting my request for a copy in return for an honest and unbiased review; you have helped to remind me of how good Simon Beckett's work is.
The blurb gives an outline of what the story is about so I won't repeat it but what I will say is that it's as good, if not better, as it sounds. The setting is perfect and provides an additional layer of atmosphere and general creepiness and tension to this excellent book. The characters are well developed and believable; the details of the forensic side is not over done or too technical that you either get lost or lose interest and the plot development and twists means this is one book that I found hard to put down (cliché I know, but true).
I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this book to lovers of fast-paced thrillers from a different perspective than the usual police-procedurals and don't be put off that this is the 6th in the series as it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.
My thanks go to the Publisher via NetGalley for accepting my request for a copy in return for an honest and unbiased review; you have helped to remind me of how good Simon Beckett's work is.
Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path
6.0
Rate It
Book
Chasing Slow models HGTV star Erin Loechner's journey to help you break out of the...