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False Apocalypse: From Stalinism to Capitalism

Fatos Lubonja, Andrew Gumbel and John Hodgman

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

This unique and disturbing work concerns the events of 1997, a tragic year in the history of...

Chaos Comes (After the EMP #4)

Harley Tate

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Two weeks into the apocalypse, would your switch be flipped? Colt's a no-nonsense air marshal who...

Chaos Evolves (After the EMP Book 6)

Harley Tate

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

A month into the apocalypse, would you still be alive? Colt survived an emergency landing, a...

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Heart of Darkness in Books

Nov 14, 2019

This book is undoubtedly most famous today for being the story behind the film Apocalypse Now and really comparisons between the two are inevitable.

The story itself is a story within a story, being related by a sailor on a ship while it is waiting at anchor in the Thames estuary. To pass the time he tells his crewmates of the time he spent several years previously working for a trading consortium in Africa, piloting a boat to the trading station up river to pick up ivory.

His manager is wary of the man who runs the trading station - Mr Kurtz. He believes he is ultimately after his job. It is clear that Kurtz is a very talismanic and polarising figure, some hating him and others talking about him as if he is some sort of deity. The narrator cannot wait to meet him but suffers many delays (including having to repair his boat) before he can set off up river. By the time he does the weight of expectation and anticipation has created his own expectations of what he will find. But what will the reality be?

This is s slim volume, and to be honest a slim plot. But the brilliance is in the telling of the story. Conrad carefully evokes the feeling of the oppressive heat and frustration of not being able to head up the river. But once underway the jungle closes in and is claustrophobic and full of mystery and hidden dangers. The attraction is not in the tale itself but in the way it is told.

By the time the trading post is reached the expectations of Kurtz have been raised in the reader as much as in the narrator and events unfold in an unexpected direction.

As with Apocalypse Now the journey up the river is everything and the eventual destination looms until it consumes the characters and dictates their actions.

A word of caution about the language used. The 'N' word is frequently used and sometimes in a derogatory manner so if this offends it is best to avoid.

Overall, a diverting read and a masterclass in using descriptions to set the tone for the reader. But probably not essential.

Kudos

Dakota Morrill (17 KP) rated Horizon Zero Dawn in Video Games

Mar 4, 2018

Horizon Zero Dawn

2017 | Action/Adventure

8.8

(72 Ratings)

Video Game Rating

Diverse combat, beautiful open world, interesting story (0 more)

Some annoying enemies, mouth syncing (0 more)

Post Apocalypse without zombies and gangs

Where do I start on this game?
When I first saw it was announced, I was hyped. Then my hype died upon seeing gameplay and as time went by. I eventually decided I was going to take a risk and play it upon release. The next 3 days I was nowhere to be found as I put 50 hours into the game. Its so easy to fall in love with the characters and become invested in the story while still getting happily lost in the vast open world of post-apocalyptic Utah.

Even when you finish the main game, there are very likely plenty of side missions (many of which are unique in their own right) to complete. I first discovered an enemy AFTER I'd beaten the main game and had to figure out which method of attack would be best to tackle the beast. There is so much variety in your attacks from tying enemies down and running at them with your spear to tearblasting their armor off and hitting some carefully placed precision arrows. My favorite takedown is shooting the blaze canisters on enemies' bodies with fire arrows and watching as they detonate with a big kaboom.

I had to really think about what would keep this game from being a 10/10 and I realized that there are some enemies that just got on the nerves. Oftentimes Glinthawks would never come near the group and would constantly be moving, shooting ice at you. I had to learn through a mission a good way into the game that Glinthawks are susceptible to fire which will knock them down pretty quickly for some spear attacks. Also, the wonderful Ashley Burch's voice would often sound much differently than it would if they went by the mouth movements that Aloy made.

Kudos

Akward (448 KP) Aug 24, 2018

Man, I love this gam, but I totally agree about the mouth syncing. All of their upper lips look so stiff. It's like the motion capture actors were chewing tobacco the whole time.

Kudos

natmac (13 KP) rated Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) in Movies

Oct 17, 2019 (Updated Oct 17, 2019)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

2015 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

8.2

(90 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

The direction is perfect, George miller uses so many little techniques to elevate the action sequences (6 more)

The film looks gorgeous

All of the actors are on point

The characters are really interesting and depth full

George miller accomplishes so much without dialogue, nothing is over explained, a lot is left for you to figure out or imagine

The sound design and special effects are on point

The practical effects and real life stunts make a difference in the emersion.

Probably my favourite movie ever

The plot is very simple but the film isn't about the plot. It's about the world building, the characters and the action. I think I've seen this film close to 20 times in the 4 years that it's been out and it never fails as an enjoyable watch. A lot of people I have watched this film with have complained about it being weird, and that really frustrated me. It's set in the post apocalypse of the director's vision with an explanation behind most things that isn't given. Even elements like the door warrior don't really have logic behind them but are still very creative. It's really enjoyable to watch the relationship between max and furiosa develop over the course of the movie, in what on the surface looks like nothing more than a 2 hour car chase. I love this film and can't find anything about it that bothers me.