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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Reminiscence (2021) in Movies
Aug 24, 2021
Soggy special effects. (1 more)
Ramin Djawadi's music score
I’ll only remember how disappointing it was.
It's the near future and global warming and a recent war have drastically changed life in Miami. The days are too hot to do anything other than sleep, and the oceans have risen deluging the city. Ex-military colleagues Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) and 'Watts' Sanders (Thandiwe Newton) run a 'reminiscence' business, allowing customers to re-experience memories from their past as if they were there. But when nightclub singer Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) begs for their help in finding her lost keys Nick's heart, life and livelihood are thrown into turmoil.
Positives:
- The special effects showing a submerged Miami are impressive enough.
- I enjoyed the soundtrack by "Westworld" and "Game of Thrones" composer Ramin Djawadi.
Negatives:
- The script is dreadful. Hugh Jackman's does a voiceover.... and regular readers of mine will know my feelings about those!!! Here he drones on incessantly about things like "memories being beads on time's necklace". Outside of the voiceover, the dialogue generally doesn't sound remotely like things that people would say to each other. There are some cringe-inducing segments of speechifying. That's when you can actually understand what's being said: I found the sound mix makes that really difficult with some of the lines.
- This seemed to me to be reflected in the performances of Jackman, Ferguson and Newton. Star-power indeed, but it appeared to me that they didn't have confidence in the words. Fans of the trio will, I think, be disappointed. (And I am a big fan of Rebecca Ferguson. She is again gorgeous here and - unlike in "The Greatest Showman" - actually gets to sing).
Summary Thoughts on "Reminiscence": This film is a big disappointment to me. When I first saw the trailer, I went "YES, YES, YES!!". It looked like an interesting post-apocalyptic sci-fi with perhaps elements of "Inception", "Waterworld" and "Flatliners" thrown in. Jackman even gets to tussle with sheets on a rooftop again! (Was anyone else playing "A Million Dreams" in their head?). But then came the film itself. The result was that about two-thirds in I was really willing it to end. (On principle, I don't walk out of movies). To be fair, the story did pick up slightly towards the conclusion, so I could quietly put my 1* rating away.
I really feel sorry for writer/director Lisa Joy for writing such a negative review. The executive producer of "Westworld" (who's also written and directed some episodes) had secured Jackman and brought some of her "Westworld" talent with her. I'm sure she put her heart and soul into this as her directorial feature debut. But I'm afraid it just did nothing for me and - given the talent available - came across as a wasted opportunity.
(For the full graphical review, please check out onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks.)
Positives:
- The special effects showing a submerged Miami are impressive enough.
- I enjoyed the soundtrack by "Westworld" and "Game of Thrones" composer Ramin Djawadi.
Negatives:
- The script is dreadful. Hugh Jackman's does a voiceover.... and regular readers of mine will know my feelings about those!!! Here he drones on incessantly about things like "memories being beads on time's necklace". Outside of the voiceover, the dialogue generally doesn't sound remotely like things that people would say to each other. There are some cringe-inducing segments of speechifying. That's when you can actually understand what's being said: I found the sound mix makes that really difficult with some of the lines.
- This seemed to me to be reflected in the performances of Jackman, Ferguson and Newton. Star-power indeed, but it appeared to me that they didn't have confidence in the words. Fans of the trio will, I think, be disappointed. (And I am a big fan of Rebecca Ferguson. She is again gorgeous here and - unlike in "The Greatest Showman" - actually gets to sing).
Summary Thoughts on "Reminiscence": This film is a big disappointment to me. When I first saw the trailer, I went "YES, YES, YES!!". It looked like an interesting post-apocalyptic sci-fi with perhaps elements of "Inception", "Waterworld" and "Flatliners" thrown in. Jackman even gets to tussle with sheets on a rooftop again! (Was anyone else playing "A Million Dreams" in their head?). But then came the film itself. The result was that about two-thirds in I was really willing it to end. (On principle, I don't walk out of movies). To be fair, the story did pick up slightly towards the conclusion, so I could quietly put my 1* rating away.
I really feel sorry for writer/director Lisa Joy for writing such a negative review. The executive producer of "Westworld" (who's also written and directed some episodes) had secured Jackman and brought some of her "Westworld" talent with her. I'm sure she put her heart and soul into this as her directorial feature debut. But I'm afraid it just did nothing for me and - given the talent available - came across as a wasted opportunity.
(For the full graphical review, please check out onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks.)
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Tenacity ( Rise of Iliri book 5) in Books
Feb 1, 2022
Contains spoilers, click to show
❗️❗️❗️ spoiler in last paragraph!‼️‼️
20 of 230
Kindle
Tenacity ( Rise of Iliri book 5)
By Auryn Hadley
WAR, HEARTBREAK, MORE WAR... AND A NEW FRIEND
In the fifth heart-stopping tale of her epic fantasy series The Rise of the Iliri, Auryn Hadley interjects a compelling sci-fi action fantasy with an emotionally charged reverse harem romance, setting the heart-warming experience of everyday community against the heart-wrenching reality of war - and the loss it causes. A jarring emotional roller coaster, Tenacity tells the age-old tale of pure love amidst a struggle between good and evil - but with a heaping dose of the light-hearted, cross-cultural birds and bees. This one has plenty of laughs. And plenty of heartbreak.
Slowly, region by region, the Lieutenant Salryc Luxx and her elite Black Blades are pushing forward and liberating an enslaved nation from the emperor's reign of terror. But the battle's not without consequence.
While scoping out the quiet remains of a fallen town - too quiet, actually - they discover scores of slaughtered families. But they also discover life: a young girl, locked in a cage below a tavern. No one is certain exactly what she is. She has unusual streaks of red, blonde, and white hair, and two different-colored eyes. She's fluent in iliri language, and she's terrified. So terrified that when an officer approaches to unlock her, her fear burns a hole in his armor.
The girl's name is Shaden. She's too young to know what exactly her talents are, or how to control them, but she's powerful. Immediately recognizing Sal as the fabled Kaisae, she trusts only Sal. Meanwhile, as the Black Blades continue their assault on a city thought to be impenetrable, Shaden manages to harness her power to help keep her newfound family of warriors safe. But for Sal's part, Shaden triggers difficult emotional memories of her own enslavement as a girl. And her longing to free anyone she can
With every win, Sal is bombarded by the thanks of those she rescued, and the disdain of those whose families she could not save. She can't sleep, she can't eat ... but she cannot stop fighting, either.
Victory is near. The Emperor is losing. He knows this. He knows Sal's responsible, and he knows exactly how to destroy her - go after those she loves most.
There’s me going a long nicely really enjoying the book and being back with Sal and her guys the Bam!!!! Not only does Balaec get killed in front of her she has to watch the dogs eat him! My heart broke this was a character death I won’t forget in a hurry poor Sal. Poor black blades. This was another brilliant book from a series I absolutely love! I just need to hide this one in the freezer (if you know you know) .
20 of 230
Kindle
Tenacity ( Rise of Iliri book 5)
By Auryn Hadley
WAR, HEARTBREAK, MORE WAR... AND A NEW FRIEND
In the fifth heart-stopping tale of her epic fantasy series The Rise of the Iliri, Auryn Hadley interjects a compelling sci-fi action fantasy with an emotionally charged reverse harem romance, setting the heart-warming experience of everyday community against the heart-wrenching reality of war - and the loss it causes. A jarring emotional roller coaster, Tenacity tells the age-old tale of pure love amidst a struggle between good and evil - but with a heaping dose of the light-hearted, cross-cultural birds and bees. This one has plenty of laughs. And plenty of heartbreak.
Slowly, region by region, the Lieutenant Salryc Luxx and her elite Black Blades are pushing forward and liberating an enslaved nation from the emperor's reign of terror. But the battle's not without consequence.
While scoping out the quiet remains of a fallen town - too quiet, actually - they discover scores of slaughtered families. But they also discover life: a young girl, locked in a cage below a tavern. No one is certain exactly what she is. She has unusual streaks of red, blonde, and white hair, and two different-colored eyes. She's fluent in iliri language, and she's terrified. So terrified that when an officer approaches to unlock her, her fear burns a hole in his armor.
The girl's name is Shaden. She's too young to know what exactly her talents are, or how to control them, but she's powerful. Immediately recognizing Sal as the fabled Kaisae, she trusts only Sal. Meanwhile, as the Black Blades continue their assault on a city thought to be impenetrable, Shaden manages to harness her power to help keep her newfound family of warriors safe. But for Sal's part, Shaden triggers difficult emotional memories of her own enslavement as a girl. And her longing to free anyone she can
With every win, Sal is bombarded by the thanks of those she rescued, and the disdain of those whose families she could not save. She can't sleep, she can't eat ... but she cannot stop fighting, either.
Victory is near. The Emperor is losing. He knows this. He knows Sal's responsible, and he knows exactly how to destroy her - go after those she loves most.
There’s me going a long nicely really enjoying the book and being back with Sal and her guys the Bam!!!! Not only does Balaec get killed in front of her she has to watch the dogs eat him! My heart broke this was a character death I won’t forget in a hurry poor Sal. Poor black blades. This was another brilliant book from a series I absolutely love! I just need to hide this one in the freezer (if you know you know) .
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth in Books
Sep 7, 2017
Amazing, easy-to-read memoir
Wow. Just wow. I woke up far earlier than I wanted to this morning, so I picked up one of the nonfiction books I had from the library, expecting it to put me back to sleep. Three hours later I was still awake, nearly done with the book, and absolutely enthralled. I’m not sure why I thought it would be otherwise – I’d been one of the millions fascinated with Hadfield’s videos and tweets when he was Commander of the ISS. His particular voice is very clear throughout this book. In 284 pages he takes us from his childhood, through his career path to becoming an astronaut, to his 5 months in the International Space Station, and back home. Nothing felt rushed, nothing felt like it didn’t get the attention it deserved. I’m pretty sure this is going to be one of my favorite books of 2017 – I have several months to read more things, but this book just absolutely blew me away.
It does appeal to how I like to read about science, though. I love reading about scientists. How they worked, how they made their discoveries, the paths they took. Who they were. I’m less interested in the actual science. This is part of why I loved A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson, so much. I borrowed that book from the library and read it cover to cover, fascinated. Finally had to buy my own copy.
Hadfield took space exploration and made it accessible to everyone. According to the book, he didn’t even quite realize how big of an impact he was making at first. But between tweeting pictures from the ISS, making videos of how different life was in space, and making music videos, he really did become the most well-known astronaut of our generation. I remember putting his video of I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) on repeat when it came out – and it STILL gives me chills today.
He only briefly talked about Is Somebody Singing in the book, which I found surprising, given it was the one that hit me the hardest. He spent more time talking about filming and recording Space Oddity – which does have 36 million views, to I.S.S.’s 2 million. So I suppose that makes sense! (I'm going to attach both videos to the book page.)
One thing he keeps coming back to in his book is his philosophy of trying to be a zero. That doesn’t sound very ambitious on the surface – but what he means is you can be one of three things in a group. You can be a negative impact (a -1) a neutral impact (a zero) or a positive impact (a +1). If you try to be a +1, it’s far likelier that you’ll try too hard, fuck up, and instead become a negative impact. So aim to be a zero. And most of the time you’ll wind up as a positive impact. I thought that was a very unique philosophy.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
It does appeal to how I like to read about science, though. I love reading about scientists. How they worked, how they made their discoveries, the paths they took. Who they were. I’m less interested in the actual science. This is part of why I loved A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson, so much. I borrowed that book from the library and read it cover to cover, fascinated. Finally had to buy my own copy.
Hadfield took space exploration and made it accessible to everyone. According to the book, he didn’t even quite realize how big of an impact he was making at first. But between tweeting pictures from the ISS, making videos of how different life was in space, and making music videos, he really did become the most well-known astronaut of our generation. I remember putting his video of I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) on repeat when it came out – and it STILL gives me chills today.
He only briefly talked about Is Somebody Singing in the book, which I found surprising, given it was the one that hit me the hardest. He spent more time talking about filming and recording Space Oddity – which does have 36 million views, to I.S.S.’s 2 million. So I suppose that makes sense! (I'm going to attach both videos to the book page.)
One thing he keeps coming back to in his book is his philosophy of trying to be a zero. That doesn’t sound very ambitious on the surface – but what he means is you can be one of three things in a group. You can be a negative impact (a -1) a neutral impact (a zero) or a positive impact (a +1). If you try to be a +1, it’s far likelier that you’ll try too hard, fuck up, and instead become a negative impact. So aim to be a zero. And most of the time you’ll wind up as a positive impact. I thought that was a very unique philosophy.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Lockdown (Escape from Furnace, #1) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
<b> My summary: </b> Alex was like any other boy. Go to school, hang out with his group, and control the monkey bars. But when he started stealing, his life changed for the worse. Out of nowhere, his best friend is murdered, and he is framed for it. he is sent to the child prison: a Hell hole. Worse than Hell. Furnace. When he’s there, he is disgusted with the way people live. Kids do hard labor like chipping rock. Gangs kill kids. and he isn’t the only innocent person who was framed. But there’s no hope of escape. Nobody can escape furnace. Or at least, that’s what they all say. <i> But that’s only because nobody ever has… </i>
<b> What I felt: </b> Personally, the first time I looked at the cover, I found it just a little disturbing. I thought “eh, I doubt very seriously I’ll like that book. But hey—they want to send me a free book? I’ll take a free book.” So no, I didn’t really like the cover. They could have done much better, either artistically or graphically or even with the colors. But that’s just me as an artist and a girl :D so I did judge it. boy was that a mistake.
The first sentence of this book seemed to grab me by the neck: “If I stopped running, I was dead.” From there, the entire book held me and wouldn’t let me go, from that first sentence to the very end. In fact, it held me after the end, too. I distinctly remember my blood racing, heart beating, sweating, adrenalin searing through my veins while I read this book! It was breathtaking and riveting to the last word. And even after the last word. I sat there, staring at the blank page, gasping and panting like a dog from lack of oxygen from reading a book. (that doesn’t happen very often, people.)
<b> Characters: </b> The characters in this book were very relatable. They weren’t super people, they were real. They handled the horrific experiences of Furnace the same way I would have—screaming in their sleep, crying, throwing up from the horrors.
<b> Writing: </b> the writing was very good—not one of those books where the author just says what he wants to say. Alexander Gordon Smith followed my creative writing teachers’ first rule: Show, don’t tell. It was an amazing thing to read, the language was very full in vocabulary, and it had good prose. There wasn’t any really bad foul language either, like some of the other teen books I’ve been reading lately.
Recommendation: this book is a thriller, not a horror book, even though it’s mildly graphic (mildly. Not really that bad. Descriptive enough to be kinda gross at times… but hey, it could be just because I’m a girl.). It’s not the most horrific book I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly not for an eight-year-old. Personally I’d recommend it for anyone fourteen and up (but that’s just me).
Here is a link for a giveaway for this book! http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/2009/09/win-lockdown.html
<b> What I felt: </b> Personally, the first time I looked at the cover, I found it just a little disturbing. I thought “eh, I doubt very seriously I’ll like that book. But hey—they want to send me a free book? I’ll take a free book.” So no, I didn’t really like the cover. They could have done much better, either artistically or graphically or even with the colors. But that’s just me as an artist and a girl :D so I did judge it. boy was that a mistake.
The first sentence of this book seemed to grab me by the neck: “If I stopped running, I was dead.” From there, the entire book held me and wouldn’t let me go, from that first sentence to the very end. In fact, it held me after the end, too. I distinctly remember my blood racing, heart beating, sweating, adrenalin searing through my veins while I read this book! It was breathtaking and riveting to the last word. And even after the last word. I sat there, staring at the blank page, gasping and panting like a dog from lack of oxygen from reading a book. (that doesn’t happen very often, people.)
<b> Characters: </b> The characters in this book were very relatable. They weren’t super people, they were real. They handled the horrific experiences of Furnace the same way I would have—screaming in their sleep, crying, throwing up from the horrors.
<b> Writing: </b> the writing was very good—not one of those books where the author just says what he wants to say. Alexander Gordon Smith followed my creative writing teachers’ first rule: Show, don’t tell. It was an amazing thing to read, the language was very full in vocabulary, and it had good prose. There wasn’t any really bad foul language either, like some of the other teen books I’ve been reading lately.
Recommendation: this book is a thriller, not a horror book, even though it’s mildly graphic (mildly. Not really that bad. Descriptive enough to be kinda gross at times… but hey, it could be just because I’m a girl.). It’s not the most horrific book I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly not for an eight-year-old. Personally I’d recommend it for anyone fourteen and up (but that’s just me).
Here is a link for a giveaway for this book! http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/2009/09/win-lockdown.html
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated My Sister's Bones in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/my-sisters-bones-by-nuala-ellwood
NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!
<b>Trigger warnings are noted in the first paragraph.</b>
<b><i>Were all of us, every day, just a hairbreadth away from evil. If Ive learnt anything from fifteen years of reporting, its that. But I couldnt expect these people to understand.</b></i>
This is a really heavy read as it deals with some really dark and depressing subjects, <b>such as the war and refugees in Syria, domestic & child abuse, rape, death, mental illness, alcoholism and miscarriages.</b> Dont read this if youre having a low period in your life because this is not going to make you feel any better, throughout its a rather distressing and upsetting story.
Each character in this novel was well developed, no matter how small a part they played in the plot. Ellwood has done a fantastic job with her research into PTSD as Kates fears and anxieties seem so real to the reader. Though Ive never experienced anything even close to PTSD, I can really imagine how terrifying and disturbing it would be, from reading this book. Its definitely the best and most harrowing description of the condition Ive ever read in a fiction novel.
This was a really well presented novel and Im amazed that its a debut! It was excellently written and thought out. My only issue being that sometimes, the timings in this book felt a little off. When Kate and Paul were together, one minute they'd be serving dinner and the next, after a small 5 lined conversation, it would be midnight and time for Paul to leave and Kate to get into bed. It seemed like large chunks of the day would just disappear.
Maybe I shouldnt have read some other peoples reviews on this beforehand, but because I was expecting all these super duper amazing twists, I kind of didnt feel that they were super duper amazing. I also found some of them to be a little far fetched and silly, rather than surprising.
I can definitely see why this has gained so many 5 star ratings, but its all down to personal preference at the end of the day, and this one was just a little too dark for my liking. That's not to say I didn't like this...I enjoyed this a lot, hence the 4 stars. I found myself not wanting to put it down, even when my eyes were telling me it was definitely time for sleep. It was certainly a thrilling and page turning read, but I dont know if I could recommend this to anyone because of all the dark subject matters. It seems like the sort of book some people are going to love for its dark realism and others are going to hate that and find it too distressing to read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!
<b>Trigger warnings are noted in the first paragraph.</b>
<b><i>Were all of us, every day, just a hairbreadth away from evil. If Ive learnt anything from fifteen years of reporting, its that. But I couldnt expect these people to understand.</b></i>
This is a really heavy read as it deals with some really dark and depressing subjects, <b>such as the war and refugees in Syria, domestic & child abuse, rape, death, mental illness, alcoholism and miscarriages.</b> Dont read this if youre having a low period in your life because this is not going to make you feel any better, throughout its a rather distressing and upsetting story.
Each character in this novel was well developed, no matter how small a part they played in the plot. Ellwood has done a fantastic job with her research into PTSD as Kates fears and anxieties seem so real to the reader. Though Ive never experienced anything even close to PTSD, I can really imagine how terrifying and disturbing it would be, from reading this book. Its definitely the best and most harrowing description of the condition Ive ever read in a fiction novel.
This was a really well presented novel and Im amazed that its a debut! It was excellently written and thought out. My only issue being that sometimes, the timings in this book felt a little off. When Kate and Paul were together, one minute they'd be serving dinner and the next, after a small 5 lined conversation, it would be midnight and time for Paul to leave and Kate to get into bed. It seemed like large chunks of the day would just disappear.
Maybe I shouldnt have read some other peoples reviews on this beforehand, but because I was expecting all these super duper amazing twists, I kind of didnt feel that they were super duper amazing. I also found some of them to be a little far fetched and silly, rather than surprising.
I can definitely see why this has gained so many 5 star ratings, but its all down to personal preference at the end of the day, and this one was just a little too dark for my liking. That's not to say I didn't like this...I enjoyed this a lot, hence the 4 stars. I found myself not wanting to put it down, even when my eyes were telling me it was definitely time for sleep. It was certainly a thrilling and page turning read, but I dont know if I could recommend this to anyone because of all the dark subject matters. It seems like the sort of book some people are going to love for its dark realism and others are going to hate that and find it too distressing to read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.