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Wyoming Stories Box Set

Annie Proulx

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Book

All three volumes of Annie Proulx's Wyoming Stories available in hardback, for the first time in the...

Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting: The Revolutionary Programme That Transforms Family Life

Noel Janis-Norton

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Simple strategies for a happier home and more cooperative kids. For children aged 3-13. Finally, a...

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) in Movies

Jul 4, 2021

The first one - quite frankly - is one of the worst movies I've ever seen, this one is infinitely better by most conceivable metrics... but that isn't exactly high praise when the improvements here include such low bars as "stuff actually happens in this one" or "it's slightly less punishingly unwatchable". How (sub)standard most of Emmerich's movies are continues to bewilder me, as with this series for instance he essentially has carte blanche to do anything but chooses to frame them within the confines of the most nothing, clichéd disaster movie template - I swear I've seen this film like 50 times already at the very least. I mean I didn't care about the original's story or characters at all to begin with but good Lord he adds absolutely nothing to them with this. Tbh this one's monochrome sci-fi palette looks somewhat neat and there's actual shot composition going on here... but for alleged visual showcases these films really don't insist on their visuals near enough for some confounding reason, do they? And every performance in the pilot crew or whatever straight-up sucks. Maika Monroe deserves so much better. The stuff at the end with the queen running through the desert was lowkey kind of awesome though.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated 47 Ronin (2013) in Movies

Jan 12, 2021 (Updated Jul 4, 2021)

47 Ronin (2013)

2013 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

6.5

(17 Ratings)

Movie Rating

As expected this is a lot of eye-popping visual work in service of a story void of even a single drop of weight. Too much gorgeous design fetish on display to truly dislike in spite of it being executed as plainly as can be otherwise - for every mechanical, generic expository beat there's a splashpad of stunning locales, vibrant costumes, luscious CGI, sweeping sets, excellent props, and fully realized art backing it up. It's super atmospheric and the money is *definitely* on the screen but everything underneath the hood is not only lackluster but genuinely problematic. The idea to take one of the most legendary events in Japanese history and not only turn it into another passive whitewashed popcorn flick is gross all on its own, but to frame the entire thing around a bunch of wronged Japanese men + women having to constantly praise and apologize to a white man for bullying him or whatever is - quite frankly - beyond insulting. As much as I won't soon be forgetting the pop aesthetic experience this delivered upon, I'm also glad it bombed. A screenplay this goofy has no right being so tame. And see the skull guy on the poster? He's only in the movie for like 30 seconds so fuck you.