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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
2015 | Comedy
5
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has a cast including Judi Dench (Evelyn), Maggie Smith (Muriel), Bill Nighy (Douglas), Dev Patel (Sonny), and Richard Gere (Guy Chambers).

It is a sequel to the 2011 film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, which I never saw, nor even knew existed.

The idea is that a hotel in India becomes a permanent residence for elderly retirees at their last stopping point before their journey to ‘the great beyond’.

We follow their relationships and interactions, all wrapped up in the hotel proprietors (Sonny) desire to expand his hotel into another additional location, and his pitch to the (supposedly) undercover Hotel evaluator (Guy Chambers).

Sonny is willing to go to almost any length, up to and including sending his mother as an ‘offering’ to Chambers, in an attempt to secure the financing for the expansion.

In the meantime Sonny sacrifices a bit of his relationship with his fiancé,
Sunaina (played by Tena Desae), because she is wanting him to focus more on their upcoming wedding, than his business plans.

I thought the movie was ok, it had some funny parts. My husband almost fell asleep twice during it because it moved along pretty slowly.

It wouldn’t have been my pick to see ‘on the big screen’, to me, it just doesn’t need a movie screen to tell its story.

My guess is folks in the older generation will appreciate it and enjoy it much more than we did.
It certainly wasn’t ‘horrible’, it was just slow and rambling, without enough funny parts to hold our interest.
  
Extraction (2020)
Extraction (2020)
2020 | Action
Brutal and bloody Netflix actioner starring a post-Avengers Chris Hemsworth, that harkens back to the heyday of just these type of 80's action man movies i.e. little in the way of plot, relying instead on the charisma of its leading man, and on the action scenes.

And that's a good thing (sometimes you just want junk food, or the cinematic equivalent thereof).

In this, Hemsworth plays a black marker mercenary named Tyler Rake (and with a name like that, you *know* there's going to be at least one scene where he uses said implement to dispose of some goons), who is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned Bangladeshian international crime lord, with said son held in a city run by a rival of that crime lord.

He easily rescues the son, but then things take a turn for the complicated when they are betrayed, and he must escort that kid out of the city whilst being hunted by both those who wish to recapture Ovi (the teenage kid), and by those who don't want to pay him for the rescue ...

As I said earlier, little in the way of plot - a straight 'get the package from point A to point B - but that is made up for in some stunning (and bruising) action scenes: in particular, the one seemingly-long-take as Tyler and Ovi are hunted through an apartment bloke, across the rooftops, and out on the streets.

Ambiguous ending also leaves it open for a sequel!
  
Cassandra Files: Genesis
Cassandra Files: Genesis
Rod Pennington | 2021 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Rod Pennington's latest novel, Cassandra Files: Genesis, is a quick and enjoyable read.

A third-generation and well-respected Naval combat pilot, Lt. Cassandra Morse, is performing a test of a prototype fighter jet with her co-pilot grandfather when they are attacked. Missing for weeks after the accident, she has no memory of the lost time. Stranger still, she can see and talk with her grandfather, who died in the accident. No one believes her even when she begins having prophetic dreams. That is, no one believes her until her dreams come true, and her latest dream is the scariest yet.

While I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed Pennington's writing, use of strong women characters, and humor more. The story wraps everything up at the end, but he left room for a sequel too.

Some reviewers had a difficult time keeping track of the numerous characters involved. I do not think that should prevent readers from enjoying this book. It is worth taking the time to read, and since it is a quick read, it will not take much time. I think it is best described as a cozy for the fantasy genre.

Pennington is best known for The Fourth Awakening Series.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com.