Decent Japanese Travelling Communicator
Travel and Utilities
App
. Selected by Apple's App Store for Popular Travel Destinations: Japan "Travel Tools" app! . 蘋果...
Lee (2222 KP) rated Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020) in Movies
Sep 2, 2020
For the uninitiated, Phineas and Ferb are two step-brothers who spend their summer holiday coming up with highly elaborate ways to occupy every day, usually resulting in some wacky adventures and an extremely frustrated sister, Candace. Candace is forever trying to bust the boys and get their mum to catch them in the act, only to fail every time as some last second incident conveniently erases any evidence. Oh, and they also have a pet platypus called Perry, who without their knowledge works as an agent for a secret animal organisation, trying each episode to thwart the latest evil scheme hatched by Dr Doofenshmirtz. It’s very funny, features some incredibly catchy songs, and is just an extremely well written show for both kids and adults to enjoy. Running for four seasons, and racking up over 200 episodes before ending in 2015, the show also spawned a number of crossover specials involving Marvel and Star Wars.
Candace against the universe is the second feature length Phineas and Ferb movie and opens with Candace, lamenting the sad fact that no matter what she does, she never manages to successfully bust her brothers. All of this is delivered in the form of a song, and acts as a nostalgic reminder of some of the crazy inventions and adventures the boys have been involved in over the course of the series. The song ends with another perfect chance for Candace to bust the boys, who are currently enjoying themselves with their friends in the back garden. But of course, she fails. After heading out to the front of the house, and meeting up with friend Vanessa, she spots an alien spaceship. Believing her brothers to be behind it somehow, she and Vanessa are sucked up inside, before taking off and shooting up into the sky.
The boys see Candace flying away in the ship, and after photographing the alien license plate, are able to quickly identify where she’s headed (as you do…). They round up the gang and quickly rustle up a portal in their back garden (as you do…), in order to jump to the planet where Candace is being taken. The portal takes them via Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc, where they pick up Heinz Doofenshmirtz and Perry the Platypus (unknowingly), before heading off in a spaceship of their own. When they do catch up with Candace, they discover that she is being hailed as ‘the chosen one’ by the alien race that captured her. But does the queen of the planet have a more sinister reason for bringing Candace all this way?
It’s fair to say that, unless you’re already a fan of the show, you’re unlikely to have any interest whatsoever in watching Candace Against the Universe. For fans of the show though, this is a wonderful trip down memory lane, unless you’ve already spent all of lockdown recently catching up on all of the episodes on Disney+, and it feels so good to be back in the company of such wonderful characters. There’s a lot of comfort to be had from the running gags and themes of the episode format of the show, and the only thing I found with this movie, and the crossover shows, is that they end up feeling like a dragged out episode at times, tending to sag a little around the middle.
It’s a very minor complaint though. The songs are as good as ever, including a song from Doofenshmirtz about ‘adulting’, and the humour is still smart and on point, although Buford does tend to get some of the funnier lines in my opinion. And when Buford gets ridiculed for bringing a canoe with him on their trip to the alien planet, and Doofenshmirtz gets laughed at for inventing something as stupid as a “Chicken Replace-inator” – basically a gun which swaps whatever you fire at with the nearest chicken – you just know they’re working on delivering us some great gags later on throughout the movie. And obviously, Perry the Platypus gets to save the day as usual, and without anyone even realising it. It’s like being back in the company of old friends. Fingers crossed that this isn’t the last we see of Phineas, Ferb and the gang.
Lee Richmond (19 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
Mar 5, 2019
Fast forward to 2018. I had been excited for the prospect of Halloween since it was announced. Jamie Lee was involved and it was a direct sequel. Both of these things had me invested. Then the trailer dropped and that old familiar feeling of hype that I had promised to forgo started to creep over me once more. Now I should add that John Carpenters original 1978 movie is one of my all time favourites. I love that movie. To me it is an example of perfect horror story telling. It's simple yet incredibly effective at doing what it says on the tin and I rewatch it every year on Haloween as a tradition.
Time came for opening night and I had purchased my ticket in advance (but only one this time just in case) and as we sat waiting for the movie to start even my wife commented that I appeared nervous. I was nervous. I had every right to be nervous because the mishandling of something that means so much to me would mean major disappointment. I am a movie geek. Movies mean so much to me, especially Halloween and I take disappointment pretty badly. So the movie played out. That old familiar score played over the top of bright orange titles against a black background as a pumpkin seemed to unrot and I loved it. I loved the steady build to Michaels escape. I loved how being locked up for so long just seemed to make him more relentless. Once he was out and let loose on Haddonfield I was hooked. The killing spree that followed as Michael went from house to house on a rampage fueled by 40 years of incarceration had me mentally punching the air with happiness. Jamie Lee Curtis though was something else all together. Her portrayal of Laurie suffering from four decades of pent up PTSD was nothing short of brilliant. I could really feel for this character that I have adored for so many years. Laurie will always be my number 1 final girl. She survived the original Halloween because she was smart, and wasn't distracted like her sex mad, airhead friends. Seeing how the events of the first film had effected her life so dramatically was like watching an old friend going through a really hard time. The closing twenty minutes literally had me on the edge of my seat as Laurie searches one dark room after another, the hunted becoming the hunter. You know Michael is there lurking somewhere, but where? The final image as a trapped Michael stares up at his escaping prey, so fixed on Laurie that he fails to even notice that he is being engulfed in flames really stuck with me after the credits rolled.
Now I'm not going as far as to say this film was perfect. Some of the humour fell a little flat and felt out of place and I hated the new Dr Loomis character and his plot twist. It felt crowbarred in and completely unnecessary. Had the rest of the film not been as tight it would have taken me out of the movie completely, but thankfully that was not the case. A lot of love and passion went into making this movie. Clearly the film makers are fans of the original and that really comes across on screen. It really honours Carpenters movie and evidently comes across as a love letter more than a cash in. I know this movie divided people. You either loved it or hated it and I am definitely in the camp of the former. Do I want another sequel? If the quality of this one is maintained then hell yeah. Halloween 2018 has taught me that allowing myself to get a little hyped now and again can sometimes be rewarding. Not everything has to be The Phantom Menace.
BackToTheMovies (56 KP) rated Fear Clinic (2014) in Movies
Jun 12, 2019 (Updated Jun 12, 2019)
Fear Clinic has an incredibly strong cast line up with Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) reprising his role as Dr.Andover, Thomas Dekker (Heroes) as Blake, Fiona Dourif (Curse of Chucky) as Sara a survivor of the diner shooting, Angelina Armani (Chromeskull 2) as another survivor Caylee and Corey Taylor in his first ever acting role as Bauer a porter at the clinic. Joining this stellar cast are a whole host of other amazing talent including Brandon Beemer, Cleopatra Coleman, Kevin Gage and Felisha Tirrell.
The movie as a whole was incredibly strong, what started off as an incredibly slow build up actually built the story up rather nicely and gave us some in depth character building and information, it is rare to see a good character build in indy horrors but Fear Clinic did it maybe even too much at times. Either way the second half of the movie eclipses the first by a long shot, once the story is set the action begins and with Bob Kurtzman and Steve Johnson behind the SPFX team the excitement and effects do not disappoint. As fear incarnate slowly starts to develop in the real world the SPFX team has amazingly brought this character to life taking on a persona that was unsettling to watch (Minus the visible bald cap on Robert Englund's head). The intro to the movie however slow always had a creepy and uncomfortable vibe, almost putting you in the clinic itself, testing your nerves, straining your ability to relax and always putting you on edge for what is about to come. It was a great touch and full credit to the team for drawing it out over the films duration without letting go of that emotion.
The film contains deep undertones and emotional depth in terms of people's fears and phobia's but there are some points within the movie that need to be tightened up a bit. Certain scenes need explaining more and as fear incarnate starts to manifest itself the build up and gore is lacking within the story so even thou the creature looks amazing, it doesn't strike fear into the audience which is a shame as now the audience is isolated from the story. Never the less the movie flows nicely and as it stands its a great introduction to a franchise but it does feels quite rushed in places and action is scarce in places as the build up is painstakingly drawn out, hopefully this is tightened up for the DVD release version or Director's cut.
Convoluted in places but a movie that stands higher than most Horror's that are being released at the present, a new generation of cerebral Horror. A movie that will make you think rather than spaced out watching the screen, a movie that when finished you'll rewind to make the jigsaw pieces fit. A very smart movie.
If you're used to watching Horror movies with a vacant mind then you will be disappointed with Fear Clinic, it's time to engage your brain, the Fear Clinic is open for business.
FEAR ON!
Brainfeed – Educational Videos for Kids
Education and Entertainment
App
Brainfeed – Educational Videos for Kids * Ranked #1 in 70 countries * Top 10 app for Kids 9-11 in...
Grandma's Kitchen
Education and Games
App
Cook up fun and learning in Grandma's Kitchen! Bake together some compound words, snatch healthy...
MSC1: Be Confident in Who You Are
Book and Education
App
Now for iPhone and iPad! • “As you prepare for back to school, don't forget the anxiety...[this...
Audio Books by Audiobooks
Book and Entertainment
App
Wish you could read more but don’t have the time? You’ll love audiobooks! Audiobooks.com is the...
Tamil Note Taking Writer Faster Typing Keypad App
Productivity and Utilities
App
The Tamil Note Book app is an amazing application that allows you to take notes in Tamil! This is...
Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics
Book
Lecturers/instructors - request a free digital inspection copy here With a little help from his...