Search

Search only in certain items:

    Scopa: la Sfida

    Scopa: la Sfida

    Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Challenge your friends now at Scopa: La Sfida, the only one with SCOPONE SCIENTIFICO mode! Download...

Daddy's Home (2015)
Daddy's Home (2015)
2015 | Comedy
5
7.0 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A Lesson in beige comedy
We did it! After managing to get through the record-breaking year that was 2015, things in the film world shifted down a gear for 2016, well, for a month or so.

As we begin another promising year in the world of the silver screen, one of the first movies to garner the public’s attention is Daddy’s Home, but can this comedy with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell hold its own with the heavyweights in the genre?

Daddy’s Home has a simple premise, stepfather Brad (Ferrell) who lives and breathes for the adoration of his stepchildren feels threatened when their hunky, off-the-wall dad Dusty (Wahlberg) comes into town. That’s literally the plot, and this becomes the film’s major stumbling block.

Decent comedy films are ten-a-penny these days and over the last few years, director Paul Feig has charmed audiences across the globe with Bridesmaids, The Heat and the rib-achingly funny Spy. He is simply the guy everyone wants for comedy as every script that has his name attached turns to gold.

Daddy’s Home unfortunately lacks a cohesive and witty plot, instead opting for clichéd laughs that work the first few times, but fall flat afterwards. That’s not to say there isn’t anything clever here, in fact there is, but it’s in short supply.

The two lead actors are, as usual, dependable with Wahlberg being particularly memorable, not least because he spends the majority of the 96 minute running time with his shirt off, and Ferrell is a veteran in this genre, but the characters lack any real depth, and the obligatory moments were director Sean Anders wants us to feel something for the pair simply evaporate into thin air.

Elsewhere, Linda Cardellini provides a surprisingly phoned-in performance as Dusty’s ex-wife, Sara, with her two children, Megan and Dylan, played by Scarlett Estevez and Owen Vaccaro faring much better. Estevez in particular is a promising young actress.

Despite these glaring omissions, a brilliant sequence shot in a fertility clinic garners laughs from start to finish and Thomas Haden Church’s turn as Ferrell’s boss is a real joy to watch with some of the film’s best lines.

It just all lacks a little touch of Feig. There’s none of the satirical humour mixed with belly laughs that audiences come to expect in 21st Century comedy and it’s a real shame the two lead stars, heavily marketed as facing off against each other, don’t get to do more and go that bit further.

Overall, Daddy’s Home is a perfectly pleasant start to 2016. It’s no-where near the standards set by Bridesmaids or Spy, but does just about enough to warrant a watch. It’s just not as funny as its credentials would have you believe.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/01/10/a-lesson-in-beige-comedy-daddys-home-review/
  
The Hideaway (Lavender Shores #5)
The Hideaway (Lavender Shores #5)
Rosalind Abel | 2017 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Loving this series
When Micah Bryant was 9 years old, his future was pulled into his family. It takes Connor Clark a long time to realise that Micah was always The One, will only ever be The One. They just need to tell the family. And avoid Connor's past.

Loving this series, I really am, despite the fact its first person multi point of view ? or maybe even BECAUSE it's written that way, regardless, loving this series.

You don't need to have read the other four books, although they are all 4 and 5 star reads, they can all be read as stand alones, but it would give you a better understanding of the Founding Families of Lavender Shores, and the strong bond they have. It will give you a better understanding of just WHY Connor is so reluctant to become official with Micah.

I enjoyed this one, not as much as book4, The Shipwreck, but it's still a very good read. I think more could have been made of the Moses' (Connor's nephew) return home story line, because let's face it, the Clark family are not the nicest bunch of folks, and I would like to have known how Connor ended up with Moses in his custody in the first place, that was not really explained.

But I am enjoying that there is no real break ups in these books, there is no real violence to deal with. They really are just great reads, books to fall into and forget about the world for a few hours.

Seth though, he needs a story! The poor guy is hard done by here, and I want to see him happy!

A great, well written, well delivered story.

4 solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
PL
Patti's Luck (Sleepover Friends, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My rating is based on how much I would have liked this as a ten-year-old. For some reason, I never read any books in the Sleepover Friends' series, even though it's a kind of a cousin-once-removed to the Baby-Sitter's Club series. So when I saw this and another one at a recent library book sale, I figured, why not?

This book has a little of everything most girls like: sleepovers (duh), junk food and baking, talk of boys, games, makeovers with purple hair gel, movies, the paranormal, school fairs, field trips, new friends, and who knows what I've forgotten! Plus, a moment when Stephanie's father cross-dresses as fortune teller at the school fair. That gave me some thoughts about secrets in that family. Maybe that's why they moved from "The City." There's some moments of suspended belief, the biggest is when Patti and Lauren chase after a car (homework was put on the bumper and apparently it stuck real good :P), Lauren (the narrator) loses track of Patti, gets back to school and tells their teacher that Patti's lost. The teacher, being told of a new student unaware of the area being lost, says not to worry(!), that someone will point her back to the school. What?! All I'm thinking is good thing this isn't the real world! Abduction, anybody? There's also a lot of baking these fifth-graders do, they talk surprisingly well, probably better than I do, and have heaps of common sense, but hey, it's a harmless kids' book that I would have gobbled up when I was that age. Overall, it's a cute book that I think even girls today would enjoy.
  
WT
When Tides Turn (Waves of Freedom, #3)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Every book in this series has been spectacular! Full of intrigue and drama, faith and freedom, handsome officers and daring heroines, and not to mention bursting with history! I have learned so much about the war of the Atlantic during World War II through these books. Not only does Sarah include REAL events and REAL people in these books, it inspires me to do research of my own. To delve into the facts and history that inspired these stories.

As the Waves of Freedom series comes to a close, Tess and Dan completely steal the show with their strained relationship and beautiful, er, practical? romance. Tess is full of life, color, and longs to be seen for who she is beneath the pretty face. Dan, has a one track mind focused on his career...That is, until his heart cries out for something more. Both Tess and Dan must learn to trust God to guide their paths, to find who they are in Him, individually. Once they surrender to God's plan, it is amazing to watch the events unfold.

While the books in this series can stand alone, you will want to begin with book one to enjoy and appreciate the full effect of the storyline. Plus, they are simply amazing books. All three have made it on my top reads list!

Get ready for one last amazing ride in the Waves of Freedom Series. And do not despair...For Sarah has a new WWII series she is working on titled, Sunrise at Normandy. The first book, The Sea Before us will be released Spring 2018.

I received a complimentary copy of When Tides Turn from Revell. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.