Search
Search results
David McK (3562 KP) rated The Incredible Hulk (2008) in Movies
Jan 30, 2021 (Updated Sep 18, 2022)
Don't make me hungry. You wouldn't like me when I'm... hungry.
One of the earliest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies (2nd? 3rd? Google says 2nd), it's easy to forget that this is actually considered part of the MCU, what with the lead actor (Ed Norton) being replaced in the dual role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk in later MCU entries by Mark Ruffalo, the complete disappearance of Liv Tyler's love interest Betty Ross from any subsequent film - at least, so far - and little to no mention made of the Harlem final showdown outside the confines of the more niche TV shows (such as Daredevil) when they were still being shown on Netflix. Indeed, about the only through line onto the larger MCU is General Ross, who does appear in later MCU films...
Anyway, all that said, this is solidly mid-tier stuff: better than the Ang Lee version from circa 2003, sure, but not up there with the likes of The Winter Soldier or Avengers Assemble.
Anyway, all that said, this is solidly mid-tier stuff: better than the Ang Lee version from circa 2003, sure, but not up there with the likes of The Winter Soldier or Avengers Assemble.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Bob Ross: The Happy Painter (2011) in Movies
Jul 7, 2019
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Irish Coffee Murder in Books
Feb 2, 2023 (Updated Feb 2, 2023)
Here's to a Deadly St. Patrick’s Day
Once again, these three authors are teaming up for a holiday themed novella collection. This time, their stories are set around St. Patrick’s Day. In the first story, Leslie Meier’s character, Lucy Stone, is doing a story on four local Irish dancers. Then one of their mother’s is murdered. Next, Lee Hollis’s sleuth, Hayley Powell, gets involved when the headlining comedian for the St. Patrick’s Day show dies after proposing a toast with his Irish coffee. Finally, Barbara Ross’s Julia Snowden is enjoying a stormy St. Patrick’s Day in with friends when they start talking about the local unsolved murder from 150 years ago. Everyone has a theory about who did it, but can Julia figure it out after all this time?
Since these are novellas, each story is roughly 100 pages, giving us a good taste of the series and characters before we move on to the next one. I enjoyed all three of them. I do struggle some with Leslie Meier’s entries in these anthologies, but I enjoyed it overall. On the other hand, I am considering starting Lee Hollis’s books because I continue to enjoy their entries in the series. Barbara Ross’s series is one of my favorites, so it’s is no surprise that I loved her entry. All three stories do feature good characters and an intriguing mystery. Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross include recipes with their stories, so you’ll have several traditional Irish recipes. This is a great book to sit down and enjoy with a mug of Irish coffee.
Since these are novellas, each story is roughly 100 pages, giving us a good taste of the series and characters before we move on to the next one. I enjoyed all three of them. I do struggle some with Leslie Meier’s entries in these anthologies, but I enjoyed it overall. On the other hand, I am considering starting Lee Hollis’s books because I continue to enjoy their entries in the series. Barbara Ross’s series is one of my favorites, so it’s is no surprise that I loved her entry. All three stories do feature good characters and an intriguing mystery. Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross include recipes with their stories, so you’ll have several traditional Irish recipes. This is a great book to sit down and enjoy with a mug of Irish coffee.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Expendables 3 (2014) in Movies
Nov 22, 2019
Mumble Mumble Mumble Part 3
PG-13, PG-13, PG-13!!!!!! Why 😓 , why couldnt this one be rating R like the other ones, i just dont understand.
The Plot: Mercenary leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and the rest of the Expendables team reunite when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) hires them for a seemingly easy job. But things go terribly wrong, compelling the mercenaries to seek revenge for a comrade's murder. With the odds against them, Barney and his team are hell-bent on payback and cut a path of destruction through opposing forces, only to encounter an unexpected threat: six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium.
So which 80's star is in this one? Kellan Lutz, who? Ohh he played Emmett Cullen in the Twight Franchise. Glen Powell, who? Ohh, Im not sure who this is.
Anyways its a good movie, good action, good comedy and over a good time.
The Plot: Mercenary leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and the rest of the Expendables team reunite when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) hires them for a seemingly easy job. But things go terribly wrong, compelling the mercenaries to seek revenge for a comrade's murder. With the odds against them, Barney and his team are hell-bent on payback and cut a path of destruction through opposing forces, only to encounter an unexpected threat: six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium.
So which 80's star is in this one? Kellan Lutz, who? Ohh he played Emmett Cullen in the Twight Franchise. Glen Powell, who? Ohh, Im not sure who this is.
Anyways its a good movie, good action, good comedy and over a good time.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Expendables 2 (2012) in Movies
Nov 22, 2019
Mumble Mumble Mumble Part 2
This one, this one to me is the best one out of all three of them. It has more action, more comedy, more one-liners and more mumbling is that a good thing probley not because you cant understand one who that their saying.
The Plot: Mercenary leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and the rest of the Expendables team reunite when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) hires them for a seemingly easy job. But things go terribly wrong, compelling the mercenaries to seek revenge for a comrade's murder. With the odds against them, Barney and his team are hell-bent on payback and cut a path of destruction through opposing forces, only to encounter an unexpected threat: six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium.
Is Bruce and Arnold in this one more yes their are and their say each other's one-liner's to each other. Its really funny.
So which 80's star is in this one? Liam Hemsworth, who? Oh the brother of Chris Hensworth.
Anways its a great time and fun to watch.
The Plot: Mercenary leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and the rest of the Expendables team reunite when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) hires them for a seemingly easy job. But things go terribly wrong, compelling the mercenaries to seek revenge for a comrade's murder. With the odds against them, Barney and his team are hell-bent on payback and cut a path of destruction through opposing forces, only to encounter an unexpected threat: six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium.
Is Bruce and Arnold in this one more yes their are and their say each other's one-liner's to each other. Its really funny.
So which 80's star is in this one? Liam Hemsworth, who? Oh the brother of Chris Hensworth.
Anways its a great time and fun to watch.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Yule Log Murder in Books
Nov 6, 2018
Put on a Yule Log and Curl Up with this Novella Collection
This book contains three Christmas mystery novellas by three different mystery authors featuring their main sleuths. Up first is the title story by Leslie Meier as Lucy Stone tries to figure out how a young woman died on the set of a movie being filmed in town. Next comes "Death by Yule Log" by Lee Hollis. In this story, Hayley Powell meets her daughter's new boyfriend. While she is less than impressed with him, she begins to poke around when he is accused of murder. Finally comes "Logged On" by Barbara Ross. Christmas is approaching, and Julia Snowden is determined to make a great yule log to impress her boyfriend's family. She's so desperate she gets help from Mrs. St. Onge, an unpleasant neighbor everyone agrees makes the best yule log cakes around. Only, something seems off. Can Julia figure out what is going on?
Fans of any of these authors will want to pick up this book. All three feature strong mysteries. Each story is around 100 pages, yet still feature some good twists and surprises that kept the pages flying. I did find the characters in the Lucy Stone story annoying, but that is my only complaint with the book. I don't read Lee Hollis, but I am tempted to with how much I enjoyed the story here. I love Barbara Ross's books, so it was fabulous to get another story with them. You'll get plenty of Christmas spirit while reading this book, and each author includes some recipes you can make after you've finished the book, including three different recipes for yule logs.
Fans of any of these authors will want to pick up this book. All three feature strong mysteries. Each story is around 100 pages, yet still feature some good twists and surprises that kept the pages flying. I did find the characters in the Lucy Stone story annoying, but that is my only complaint with the book. I don't read Lee Hollis, but I am tempted to with how much I enjoyed the story here. I love Barbara Ross's books, so it was fabulous to get another story with them. You'll get plenty of Christmas spirit while reading this book, and each author includes some recipes you can make after you've finished the book, including three different recipes for yule logs.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Red 2 (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
RED was such a great movie that it was inevitable a sequel would be made. And here we have it, RED 2. In this follow up to the 2010 film, we find Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) trying to adjust to life in a relationship. Only this is not your typical relationship. Frank’s goal is to keep Sarah safe, while Sarah just wants to get into the thick of things, which quickly happens as Frank and Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) are being hunted due to their involvement in an old operation only known as Nightshade.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Haunted House Murder in Books
Aug 30, 2019
Cozy Halloween Hauntings
This collection of three novellas focuses on Halloween. The book opens with the title story featuring Leslie Meier’s protagonist Lucy Stone. A couple has moved into the old abandoned house in town, but they are rebuffing efforts from Lucy and others to welcome them to town. Then strange things start happening and rumors start flying. What is happening? Up next is “Death by Haunted House” by Lee Hollis which takes up back to 2009 and shows us what life was like for Hayley Powell while she was married. When the house next door, which is rumored to be haunted, gets a new family, Hayley’s husband Danny is certain that they are up to something. The discovery of a dead body in the nearby woods just confirms his theory – at least to himself. Is he right? Finally comes “Hallowed Out” from Barbara Ross. The local Haunted House tour is gearing up for Halloween, trying to bring some more people to town in the fall. However, when a reenactment of a crime leaves an actor dead, Julia Snowden must figure out what happened.
As you might expect in a collection of stories by various authors, some are stronger than others. Personally, I found the opening story to be the weakest – I think it might have worked as a short story, but even as a novella is was too long. The middle story was better, with some fun scenes and a good twist to the mystery. I adore Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries, so it was the reason I picked up the book. It also means I found the third story to be the best, with some good twists and a very fun sub-plot. While each story has plenty of fall atmosphere, these stories aren’t that spooky – they are by cozy mystery authors after all. Still, fans of these authors will enjoy picking up the book.
As you might expect in a collection of stories by various authors, some are stronger than others. Personally, I found the opening story to be the weakest – I think it might have worked as a short story, but even as a novella is was too long. The middle story was better, with some fun scenes and a good twist to the mystery. I adore Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries, so it was the reason I picked up the book. It also means I found the third story to be the best, with some good twists and a very fun sub-plot. While each story has plenty of fall atmosphere, these stories aren’t that spooky – they are by cozy mystery authors after all. Still, fans of these authors will enjoy picking up the book.