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Lenard (726 KP) rated Voyagers (2021) in Movies
Apr 18, 2021
Voyagers is the story of an 86-year voyage to a life sustaining planet in another galaxy. How did they stock the ship for the crew? When the 1st generation crew dies, who is going to train the next generation? Will the next generation listen since they are the first crew's children? Next question: you are going to bred a crew from intellectual superior Earthlings and keep them isolated in a facility so they will not miss the Sun or anything on Earth. How will these children develop a circadian rhythm since human circadian rhythms are based on the Sun? How do you settle upon 30 crew members? Could you have 60 crew members and give each a different circadian rhythm so you would have 3 shifts of 20 and someone would always be monitoring the vessel? Would that be more efficient and safer than all 30 being on the same cycle? These are just the science-y questions for this story.
Now, the actual film. The writer decides to quickly dispatch the lone "adult" in this cast of YAs. Slowly the crew descends into Lord of the Flies. At one point, I was wondering which one is the Piggy. Hint: brown and male. There is a little twist where one of the crew turns paranoia into a weapon and launches a leadership campaign. I enjoyed the concept of an alien that was not there, but could attack anyone. It never went far as the movie turned into a battle of arms rather than wits. I prefer not to critique films based on what should have been done. But shouldn't the crew have learned at some point that the pressure outside in outer space on a metal tin can travelling at interstellar speeds creates friction which reverbs inside. Then the film could have focused on a more politically tinted parable.
One scene disturbed me. The acting of Lily-Rose and Fionn is so bad that I thought a porn scene had been edited into the space opera.
Now, the actual film. The writer decides to quickly dispatch the lone "adult" in this cast of YAs. Slowly the crew descends into Lord of the Flies. At one point, I was wondering which one is the Piggy. Hint: brown and male. There is a little twist where one of the crew turns paranoia into a weapon and launches a leadership campaign. I enjoyed the concept of an alien that was not there, but could attack anyone. It never went far as the movie turned into a battle of arms rather than wits. I prefer not to critique films based on what should have been done. But shouldn't the crew have learned at some point that the pressure outside in outer space on a metal tin can travelling at interstellar speeds creates friction which reverbs inside. Then the film could have focused on a more politically tinted parable.
One scene disturbed me. The acting of Lily-Rose and Fionn is so bad that I thought a porn scene had been edited into the space opera.
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What can I say about <i>Revenger</i>?
It was my first ever Space Opera and it has opened my eyes to a whole new genre.
It was my first ever Space Opera and it has primed my taste-buds for more.
It was my first ever Alastair Reynolds and now I want more.
Revenger itself was amazingly well written. As mentioned above this was my first book from Alastair Reynolds and it was just the kind of book I could get into again and again; the writing style flowed with a shocking ease and the plot line was very Firefly-esque with a hint more action and a smidge more ‘oh-shit’ factor.
Revenger follows the story of Adrana and Arafura Ness – two sisters from Mazarile whose sick father had made some very poor choices in business – as they embark on a journey into space to end all journeys.
It begins with Adrana convincing her younger sister Arafura to escape into Neural Alley for a reading by Madam Granity. There’s aliens, robots and weird looking men with bad attitudes and then there’s Captain Rackamore. Pol Rackamore is the captain of the Monetta’s Mourn – a sunjammer spaceship – and he’s in need of a new Boney on his ship as his current one is getting too old to ‘read the bones’ and I mean that in the literal sense of the word.
Adrana convinces Cap’n Rack to take both her and Arafura on board the Monetta in the position of new Bone Readers (with the aide of Cazaray the current Boney) and that is where the story really begins. We’re introduced to the rest of the crew and the Monetta sails off into the Empty in search of baubles. As they sail towards their first bauble Arafura becomes a lot closer to the rest of the crew while I feel that Adrana is doing her best to stay away from them all even though she’s front and center.
Story progresses and little hints are dropped about Bosa Sennen and Cap’n Rack’s long lost daughter. There’s several shocking deaths, a mad woman, a kidnapping or two and a young girl bent on revenge.
Around the mid way mark Arafura changes, subtly at first and then a lot more drastic and she becomes Just Fura. This is where the story becomes a lot darker and a lot less like Firefly and a lot more like the Firefly from hell; the second half of this book is based around Fura getting Revenger on Bosa Sennen for what she did and the things that Fura puts herself through to get where she needs to be? She started off as a little timid and shy but after the 50% mark she changed completely and became hard and unyielding.
You know how they say that the future is bright? That brightness is swallowed by the Empty and the future is dark and full of terrors (oh yeah I went there) there’s a doctor with a God complex, a father with a total lack of regard for his daughters, a totally bad ass soldier robot with logic barricades and all sorts of other people.
I think I loved the world building the most about Revenger it was such a smooth transition from place to place and from time to time that it was almost seamless; my second favourite thing was the characters – hands down they were some of the best characters I’ve ever read and I’d love to see if AR takes this book any further as it was seemingly left open for another book but we shall see.
The book gave off a distinctly pirate feeling but with the space element it felt more like Firefly than it did Pirates of the Caribbean which as a fan of both was saying something. Pirates sailing the high skies rather than the high seas! Some of the characters left much to be desired – Bosa, Adrana and Dr Moonface I’m looking at y’all – but the likes of Rack, Prozor and Paladin more than made up for them.
The dialogue was great and the story wasn’t overly scientific which sometimes can be an issue for me, I like my books to be a little less science fact and a bit more science fiction but with Revenger, I felt like AR was giving us regular folk an explanation without going overboard on the description.
It was my first ever Space Opera and it has opened my eyes to a whole new genre.
It was my first ever Space Opera and it has primed my taste-buds for more.
It was my first ever Alastair Reynolds and now I want more.
Revenger itself was amazingly well written. As mentioned above this was my first book from Alastair Reynolds and it was just the kind of book I could get into again and again; the writing style flowed with a shocking ease and the plot line was very Firefly-esque with a hint more action and a smidge more ‘oh-shit’ factor.
Revenger follows the story of Adrana and Arafura Ness – two sisters from Mazarile whose sick father had made some very poor choices in business – as they embark on a journey into space to end all journeys.
It begins with Adrana convincing her younger sister Arafura to escape into Neural Alley for a reading by Madam Granity. There’s aliens, robots and weird looking men with bad attitudes and then there’s Captain Rackamore. Pol Rackamore is the captain of the Monetta’s Mourn – a sunjammer spaceship – and he’s in need of a new Boney on his ship as his current one is getting too old to ‘read the bones’ and I mean that in the literal sense of the word.
Adrana convinces Cap’n Rack to take both her and Arafura on board the Monetta in the position of new Bone Readers (with the aide of Cazaray the current Boney) and that is where the story really begins. We’re introduced to the rest of the crew and the Monetta sails off into the Empty in search of baubles. As they sail towards their first bauble Arafura becomes a lot closer to the rest of the crew while I feel that Adrana is doing her best to stay away from them all even though she’s front and center.
Story progresses and little hints are dropped about Bosa Sennen and Cap’n Rack’s long lost daughter. There’s several shocking deaths, a mad woman, a kidnapping or two and a young girl bent on revenge.
Around the mid way mark Arafura changes, subtly at first and then a lot more drastic and she becomes Just Fura. This is where the story becomes a lot darker and a lot less like Firefly and a lot more like the Firefly from hell; the second half of this book is based around Fura getting Revenger on Bosa Sennen for what she did and the things that Fura puts herself through to get where she needs to be? She started off as a little timid and shy but after the 50% mark she changed completely and became hard and unyielding.
You know how they say that the future is bright? That brightness is swallowed by the Empty and the future is dark and full of terrors (oh yeah I went there) there’s a doctor with a God complex, a father with a total lack of regard for his daughters, a totally bad ass soldier robot with logic barricades and all sorts of other people.
I think I loved the world building the most about Revenger it was such a smooth transition from place to place and from time to time that it was almost seamless; my second favourite thing was the characters – hands down they were some of the best characters I’ve ever read and I’d love to see if AR takes this book any further as it was seemingly left open for another book but we shall see.
The book gave off a distinctly pirate feeling but with the space element it felt more like Firefly than it did Pirates of the Caribbean which as a fan of both was saying something. Pirates sailing the high skies rather than the high seas! Some of the characters left much to be desired – Bosa, Adrana and Dr Moonface I’m looking at y’all – but the likes of Rack, Prozor and Paladin more than made up for them.
The dialogue was great and the story wasn’t overly scientific which sometimes can be an issue for me, I like my books to be a little less science fact and a bit more science fiction but with Revenger, I felt like AR was giving us regular folk an explanation without going overboard on the description.
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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Kingdom Beyond the Waves in Books
Nov 18, 2019
Professor Amelia Harsh is a discredited academic, shunned by any university she could work for because of her obsession for the lost city of Camlantis which is dismissed by most as a myth. When all her other avenues dry up she grabs a lifeline from a rich industrialist to lead an expedition to find the last evidence of the city.
Meanwhile, why is someone graverobbing obsolete steamman corpses from cemetaries? And why has Furnace-breath Nick - scourge of Quatershift - been asked to break a prisoner free?
For those unfamiliar with Hunt's incredibly imaginative world - revealed in this book to likely be a far future version of our own which somehow mirrors certain aspects such as Victorian England and the French Revolution - would soon be at home in this book, particularly as half of the book involves a trip up a native-infested jungle river worthy of Conrad. Meanwhile the trail is being followed from the other end and the smoggy streets of Middlesteel in the country of Jackals by Furnace-breath Nick's not so mild mannered alter ego, Cornelius Fortune.
The way the story unfolds is very reminiscent of Saturday morning serials that used to be popular when not everyone had a television. There are a series of episodes where our heroes are put into peril and yet somehow (mostly) break free. The difference is in the mostly. Hunt is not afraid of killing off a character and that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat and turning the pages to see if that really was the end or there is a miraculous escape on the cards.
The inventiveness Hunt showed in The Court of the Air is very much still evident with a fiendish plot and fantastic ideas zinging off the page together with very clever dialog. Once again this is a book to read carefully and not to skim, it will be so much more rewarding.
All in all this is a stronger book than the first and the characters in it are terrific, heroes and villains alike. There are still Deus Ex Machina escapes here and there but they are on the whole consistent with the world of Jackals.
I would very much recommend this to anyone who likes their science fiction broad and heading to steam punk rather than space opera (although it's not really steam punk) and their adventure old-school swashbuckling. Terrific work.
Meanwhile, why is someone graverobbing obsolete steamman corpses from cemetaries? And why has Furnace-breath Nick - scourge of Quatershift - been asked to break a prisoner free?
For those unfamiliar with Hunt's incredibly imaginative world - revealed in this book to likely be a far future version of our own which somehow mirrors certain aspects such as Victorian England and the French Revolution - would soon be at home in this book, particularly as half of the book involves a trip up a native-infested jungle river worthy of Conrad. Meanwhile the trail is being followed from the other end and the smoggy streets of Middlesteel in the country of Jackals by Furnace-breath Nick's not so mild mannered alter ego, Cornelius Fortune.
The way the story unfolds is very reminiscent of Saturday morning serials that used to be popular when not everyone had a television. There are a series of episodes where our heroes are put into peril and yet somehow (mostly) break free. The difference is in the mostly. Hunt is not afraid of killing off a character and that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat and turning the pages to see if that really was the end or there is a miraculous escape on the cards.
The inventiveness Hunt showed in The Court of the Air is very much still evident with a fiendish plot and fantastic ideas zinging off the page together with very clever dialog. Once again this is a book to read carefully and not to skim, it will be so much more rewarding.
All in all this is a stronger book than the first and the characters in it are terrific, heroes and villains alike. There are still Deus Ex Machina escapes here and there but they are on the whole consistent with the world of Jackals.
I would very much recommend this to anyone who likes their science fiction broad and heading to steam punk rather than space opera (although it's not really steam punk) and their adventure old-school swashbuckling. Terrific work.
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Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019 (Updated Jun 10, 2019)
The Marvel touch
The first thing I’m going to tell you about Spider-Man: Homecoming is that it has been gloriously undersold in its uninspiring trailers and promotional posters. In fact, most of the marketing materials shown made it look like this would be Iron Man 4 ft. Peter Parker. Thankfully that’s not the case.
The second thing I’ll tell you is that Tom Holland’s turn as Peter Parker is very good indeed. But is he better than Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield? Well, for that you’ll have to read on.
Still buzzing from his experiences with the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns home to live with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). Under the watchful eye of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Peter starts to embrace Spider-Man. He also tries to return to his normal life — distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just a bargain basement superhero. However, when danger emerges in the shape of the Vulture (Michael Keaton), Peter must soon put his powers to the test.
Jon Watts directs not only the best Spider-Man film to date, but probably the best film to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Guardians of the Galaxy. That is by no means and easy thing to achieve, but by golly he’s done it.
The best Marvel films don’t shout about their superhero roots. By that I mean Captain America: the Winter Soldier was first and foremost a heist movie and Guardians of the Galaxy was an epic space opera. Here, Watts and his two writers turn Spider-Man: Homecoming into a cheesy, fun high-school romance and it succeeds at that beautifully.
But is it a good superhero flick? In a word, yes. The action is shot exceptionally well with very little nonsensical shaky cam, the pacing is spot on; in fact it may be one of the best films I have ever seen for pacing and the characters are all utterly believable.
Tom Holland is, without a doubt the best iteration of Peter Parker ever put to the big screen. He is the school geek that the character always should have been. Gone are Tobey Maguire’s ridiculous facial expressions and Andrew Garfield’s unrealistic ‘high school nerd’ persona.
Elsewhere, Michael Keaton avoids the Marvel villain trap and becomes the universe’s best antagonist since Loki. It would be easy for Vulture to come across ridiculous rather than menacing and Keaton gets the latter absolutely spot on. In particular, a pivotal turning point in the film’s third act is exquisitely written and truly intimidating.
It’s not all good news unfortunately. Like a broken record, I have to mention the obligatory CGI-heavy finale. Thankfully though, the story is nicely twisted to give the scenes emotional gravitas. I’m also not sold on Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, but this may come with time. And if I’m really nit-picking, there’s a little too much obvious product placement for Audi.
So, I’ve managed to get through a full review with only a small paragraph of negative points, that doesn’t happen very often. Something else that doesn’t happen very often is for me to award a film a full five stars. On this occasion however, the Marvel touch has well and truly created a corker.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/07/06/spider-man-homecoming-review/
The second thing I’ll tell you is that Tom Holland’s turn as Peter Parker is very good indeed. But is he better than Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield? Well, for that you’ll have to read on.
Still buzzing from his experiences with the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns home to live with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). Under the watchful eye of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Peter starts to embrace Spider-Man. He also tries to return to his normal life — distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just a bargain basement superhero. However, when danger emerges in the shape of the Vulture (Michael Keaton), Peter must soon put his powers to the test.
Jon Watts directs not only the best Spider-Man film to date, but probably the best film to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Guardians of the Galaxy. That is by no means and easy thing to achieve, but by golly he’s done it.
The best Marvel films don’t shout about their superhero roots. By that I mean Captain America: the Winter Soldier was first and foremost a heist movie and Guardians of the Galaxy was an epic space opera. Here, Watts and his two writers turn Spider-Man: Homecoming into a cheesy, fun high-school romance and it succeeds at that beautifully.
But is it a good superhero flick? In a word, yes. The action is shot exceptionally well with very little nonsensical shaky cam, the pacing is spot on; in fact it may be one of the best films I have ever seen for pacing and the characters are all utterly believable.
Tom Holland is, without a doubt the best iteration of Peter Parker ever put to the big screen. He is the school geek that the character always should have been. Gone are Tobey Maguire’s ridiculous facial expressions and Andrew Garfield’s unrealistic ‘high school nerd’ persona.
Elsewhere, Michael Keaton avoids the Marvel villain trap and becomes the universe’s best antagonist since Loki. It would be easy for Vulture to come across ridiculous rather than menacing and Keaton gets the latter absolutely spot on. In particular, a pivotal turning point in the film’s third act is exquisitely written and truly intimidating.
It’s not all good news unfortunately. Like a broken record, I have to mention the obligatory CGI-heavy finale. Thankfully though, the story is nicely twisted to give the scenes emotional gravitas. I’m also not sold on Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, but this may come with time. And if I’m really nit-picking, there’s a little too much obvious product placement for Audi.
So, I’ve managed to get through a full review with only a small paragraph of negative points, that doesn’t happen very often. Something else that doesn’t happen very often is for me to award a film a full five stars. On this occasion however, the Marvel touch has well and truly created a corker.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/07/06/spider-man-homecoming-review/