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SummerLGrant (185 KP) rated Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) in Movies
Aug 5, 2017
Visual effects (1 more)
Rihanna - surprisingly
Predictable (2 more)
The script and story had weak moments
Dated and lacking diversity
A mish mash that fails to hit the mark
Contains spoilers, click to show
It had the potential to be the sci-fi blockbuster of the summer, but where there was plenty of ambition the execution was lacking. One of the first things to crop up was right at the beginning of the film, well, two things really. First was the opening scene explaining the situation that led to the main story, each delegation of new astronauts popped in and greeting the humans on the space station - but unless they were obviously meant to be from a different country you only ever saw white men climbing aboard with the odd token woman thrown in for good measure. The other thing was when it said it was based on the Valerian and Laureline comics - so typical that when the film industry gets hold of it they cut off the woman's name.
Anyway, it begins with the destruction of Mul - pretty much a paradise - and this launches the story as we find Valerian on his ship enjoying some sun on an artificial beach. And this is when it starts to get really predictable, which is a shame because it's only about 15 minutes in. After the mission to take the last known Converter into government custody Valerian and Laureline head to their rendezvous where we meet their Commander - at which point we know who the bad guy is through a mixture of a bad script and failed attempts at setting up some mystery. So when we finally get told he's the guy who pretty much destroyed Mul there's no surprised and you can't help but roll your eyes at the "twist"
There are some good bits though, if you want a film that you don't want to think and just want to sit back and enjoy then this is it. The visual effects are fantastic, it's amazing to watch the two main characters jump from environment to environment, especially as Valerian is chasing after the Pearls who kidnapped the Commander. There were also some ideas that were good and could probably have been expanded on.
One thing that was better than expected was Rihanna. I didn't expect her to be any good and while there was some clunky parts to her role, she was mostly good and I would have liked to see more of Bubble - although, again, her fate was struck by predictability. For all its faults it's still an enjoyable film, you just have to be willing to look past everything it's lacking.
Anyway, it begins with the destruction of Mul - pretty much a paradise - and this launches the story as we find Valerian on his ship enjoying some sun on an artificial beach. And this is when it starts to get really predictable, which is a shame because it's only about 15 minutes in. After the mission to take the last known Converter into government custody Valerian and Laureline head to their rendezvous where we meet their Commander - at which point we know who the bad guy is through a mixture of a bad script and failed attempts at setting up some mystery. So when we finally get told he's the guy who pretty much destroyed Mul there's no surprised and you can't help but roll your eyes at the "twist"
There are some good bits though, if you want a film that you don't want to think and just want to sit back and enjoy then this is it. The visual effects are fantastic, it's amazing to watch the two main characters jump from environment to environment, especially as Valerian is chasing after the Pearls who kidnapped the Commander. There were also some ideas that were good and could probably have been expanded on.
One thing that was better than expected was Rihanna. I didn't expect her to be any good and while there was some clunky parts to her role, she was mostly good and I would have liked to see more of Bubble - although, again, her fate was struck by predictability. For all its faults it's still an enjoyable film, you just have to be willing to look past everything it's lacking.
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Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Wish You Were Here in Books
Jan 26, 2022
I didn’t quite realise how much this book would resonate with me until I started reading it. It reminded me sometimes about the awful things that we have lived through the past 2 years but also reminded me how strong people can be.
Diana and Finn are living in New York as the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning, they have planned to go on a once in a lifetime holiday to The Galápagos Islands just as the world seems to be shutting down. Finn, being a surgical resident, has been told that he can’t take time off, even pre planned holidays. While Diana, who is an art specialist working for Sotheby’s, knows that she needs to take time off as a deal she had brokered for a painting has fallen through. Finn tells Diana to go anyway as he doesn’t want to make her sick since he’s working in the hospital.
We then follow Diana exploring the beautiful, scenic Isabela island, and meeting a family who take her in and look after her when she becomes stranded there. She explores the island and although she doesn’t speak the language she manages to get by because she needs to. She has no phone service and very limited access to the internet so she has no way to contact the outside world, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much when you’re in paradise.
The second part of the book was a complete surprise, but a pleasant one. It reminded me of exactly how we were at the start of the pandemic, wiping down anything that came from outside, not opening mail for days and for some of us stripping as soon as we came in from work for fear we’d brought the virus home with us. I am a support worker and so had no choice but to go into work and look after people that had Covid-19 because as much as I was scared, I knew that they needed me more. One line that sticks in my head is also one that I thought myself: “Well if I catch it, I catch it” and that became my opinion for a lot of the pandemic.
It was a nice change that not everything was tied up with a neat little bow at the end of this book, as that’s how life is sometimes. I really enjoyed this book and I feel like it will be one of those that helps us to remember the pandemic in years to come.
Diana and Finn are living in New York as the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning, they have planned to go on a once in a lifetime holiday to The Galápagos Islands just as the world seems to be shutting down. Finn, being a surgical resident, has been told that he can’t take time off, even pre planned holidays. While Diana, who is an art specialist working for Sotheby’s, knows that she needs to take time off as a deal she had brokered for a painting has fallen through. Finn tells Diana to go anyway as he doesn’t want to make her sick since he’s working in the hospital.
We then follow Diana exploring the beautiful, scenic Isabela island, and meeting a family who take her in and look after her when she becomes stranded there. She explores the island and although she doesn’t speak the language she manages to get by because she needs to. She has no phone service and very limited access to the internet so she has no way to contact the outside world, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much when you’re in paradise.
The second part of the book was a complete surprise, but a pleasant one. It reminded me of exactly how we were at the start of the pandemic, wiping down anything that came from outside, not opening mail for days and for some of us stripping as soon as we came in from work for fear we’d brought the virus home with us. I am a support worker and so had no choice but to go into work and look after people that had Covid-19 because as much as I was scared, I knew that they needed me more. One line that sticks in my head is also one that I thought myself: “Well if I catch it, I catch it” and that became my opinion for a lot of the pandemic.
It was a nice change that not everything was tied up with a neat little bow at the end of this book, as that’s how life is sometimes. I really enjoyed this book and I feel like it will be one of those that helps us to remember the pandemic in years to come.
Mothergamer (1604 KP) rated the PC version of Dead Island in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
I really wanted to love Dead Island. After seeing many fantastic pictures and reading up about the game months before it came out, I was excited. Friends and family know I am very much a zombie fan. Ever since that Halloween night when I was 12, and watched Romero's Night Of The Living Dead, I have genuinely enjoyed all forms of zombie multimedia. Some of it has been great, some of it filled with schlock, and some of it just plain fun. So I was excited about Dead Island and had high hopes for it. Some of my expectations were met, but others not so much. This included the discovery that the game is in the first person view (I have issues with vertigo and first person view games), but I found that I could play the game for short periods of time because the camera did not bounce around the way it does for so many other first person games I've experienced. There are good things about this game, but there are bad things as well.
Welcome To Paradise!
You start the game with the setting of what appears to be a tropical island paradise, Banoi. However, if you look closer, you'll notice the blood on the walls, in the sand, and in the swimming pools. Look even closer, and you'll see the zombies munching on corpses. Dead Island while appearing to be a first person shooter, is more than that. Sure there is shooting in it, but there are also a myriad of other weapons such as oars, cars, and molotov cocktails. Dead Island is more of a schlock filled action role playing game that plays heavily on grisly melee combat. The resort is not the only place you explore. You can go even further inland into city and jungle settings, while doing favors for survivors on the island. The maps are excellent and there is even a handy shortcut function, where you can click on the map and go back to a previous location without having to run through a zombie horde. There are also plenty of weapons that you can improvise, making them quite deadly to the zombie menace. The four player online co-op is pretty good and gives you a chance to survive a zombie horde fight for the more difficult quests.
Just a girl and her axe, waiting for some zombies.
The majority of your time on Banoi is spent exploring and foraging for items for weapons and supplies. In co-op mode, this can work very well with a couple of people fighting off the zombies, while the others get things like fuel for the vehicles. You can also have fun with the leveling grind, running zombies over with various automobiles and watch the points tally up. You can easily put twenty hours into this game with all the questing, exploring, and zombie slaying and it is fun trying all the different melee choices out. My personal favorite was driving a big truck and running zombies over.
Hungry Tourists.
Now we get to the bad. While there are only a few minor flaws with the game, it definitely made a difference in the game play and the story. Now I'm not saying for a fun schlock zombie game I need a gripping emotional story, but the story must be good. Dead Island gives you a very threadbare story and the characters backgrounds are rather weakly written. This is a reflection on the writers. They could have written the characters better and fleshed out the story more, but they chose to do it this way although I am not sure why. The voice acting is also not great, with monotone emotionless voices. Do the characters even care that they could get eaten by zombies? I get the impression that they don't with that flat tone in their voice acting. Clunky controls and awkward combat can make you frustrated. It can be off putting when you're fighting off a wave of zombies and trying to make the camera turn the way you want it to so you can at least see what you're fighting. The game would also benefit from a better block and dodge option during combat. The quality of the visuals isn't even. The environmental graphics on the resort are great and the jungle environments as well, but the character and npc animation is poor and as you progress towards the end of the game it comes across as the bare minimum at best.
The last issue I have with Dead Island is the lack of regard for the solo player. There isn't an offline co-op option so you can play with friends you have over. It's as if they didn't even consider the possibility that people would want to play offline with friends and only have the online option. While I appreciate their reliable system for online play, I still would have liked the option to play offline with others if I chose.
Overall, Dead Island is a good game, but not a perfect one. It had a lot of potential, but the execution of those ideas was severely lacking. You're better off just waiting for it to go on sale really cheap or just rent it.
Welcome To Paradise!
You start the game with the setting of what appears to be a tropical island paradise, Banoi. However, if you look closer, you'll notice the blood on the walls, in the sand, and in the swimming pools. Look even closer, and you'll see the zombies munching on corpses. Dead Island while appearing to be a first person shooter, is more than that. Sure there is shooting in it, but there are also a myriad of other weapons such as oars, cars, and molotov cocktails. Dead Island is more of a schlock filled action role playing game that plays heavily on grisly melee combat. The resort is not the only place you explore. You can go even further inland into city and jungle settings, while doing favors for survivors on the island. The maps are excellent and there is even a handy shortcut function, where you can click on the map and go back to a previous location without having to run through a zombie horde. There are also plenty of weapons that you can improvise, making them quite deadly to the zombie menace. The four player online co-op is pretty good and gives you a chance to survive a zombie horde fight for the more difficult quests.
Just a girl and her axe, waiting for some zombies.
The majority of your time on Banoi is spent exploring and foraging for items for weapons and supplies. In co-op mode, this can work very well with a couple of people fighting off the zombies, while the others get things like fuel for the vehicles. You can also have fun with the leveling grind, running zombies over with various automobiles and watch the points tally up. You can easily put twenty hours into this game with all the questing, exploring, and zombie slaying and it is fun trying all the different melee choices out. My personal favorite was driving a big truck and running zombies over.
Hungry Tourists.
Now we get to the bad. While there are only a few minor flaws with the game, it definitely made a difference in the game play and the story. Now I'm not saying for a fun schlock zombie game I need a gripping emotional story, but the story must be good. Dead Island gives you a very threadbare story and the characters backgrounds are rather weakly written. This is a reflection on the writers. They could have written the characters better and fleshed out the story more, but they chose to do it this way although I am not sure why. The voice acting is also not great, with monotone emotionless voices. Do the characters even care that they could get eaten by zombies? I get the impression that they don't with that flat tone in their voice acting. Clunky controls and awkward combat can make you frustrated. It can be off putting when you're fighting off a wave of zombies and trying to make the camera turn the way you want it to so you can at least see what you're fighting. The game would also benefit from a better block and dodge option during combat. The quality of the visuals isn't even. The environmental graphics on the resort are great and the jungle environments as well, but the character and npc animation is poor and as you progress towards the end of the game it comes across as the bare minimum at best.
The last issue I have with Dead Island is the lack of regard for the solo player. There isn't an offline co-op option so you can play with friends you have over. It's as if they didn't even consider the possibility that people would want to play offline with friends and only have the online option. While I appreciate their reliable system for online play, I still would have liked the option to play offline with others if I chose.
Overall, Dead Island is a good game, but not a perfect one. It had a lot of potential, but the execution of those ideas was severely lacking. You're better off just waiting for it to go on sale really cheap or just rent it.
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