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Beastly Journeys: Travel and Transformation at the Fin de Siecle
Book
Bats, beetles, wolves, butterflies, bulls, panthers, apes, leopards and spiders are among the...
The Case of the 'Hail Mary' Celeste: The Case Files of Jack Wenlock, Railway Detective
Book
Read 'How to Make Exploding Spiders', in which Malcolm talks about the research he did into Boy’s...
Ten Songs by Tucker Zimmerman by Tucker Zimmerman
Album
Writing in 2006, in a list of his 25 favourite records, Bowie ranked Ten Songs alongside seminal...
My Blacklist
Lifestyle and Entertainment
App
My Blacklist is a fun and unique way to view and record the relationships with the people around...
Will Young recommended David Live by David Bowie in Music (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Maze Runner (2014) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020
There's absolutely no excuse to not have utilized the actual maze more (we get like three action scenes in it?) but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a ball with this otherwise thoroughly fun and often thrilling popcorn entertainment. Dylan O'Brien is tremendous in it, even when it wears the dystopian YA format a little too prominently. For a while I couldn't tell if the simplicity helped or hurt this in the end - I mean on the one hand this has precious nothing to say about the implications of its brutal story/world, but then again on the other it 110% forgoes the usual heavy-handed yet jejune moralizing that normally sugar-coat these films. I'm sure you could have found a decent medium between the two but Wes Ball's direction is sturdy, and I kind of like the idea of all these random 18/20-somethings nonchalantly trapped in this ludicrous scenario who just see this giant, mechanical deathtrap maze as a way of life lol. So I had more than enough fun with it. Try to picture a 2014 blockbuster "Lord of the Flies" without the obvious symbolism meets a market-tested 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 where a bunch of extras get PG-13-ed to death by huge mechanical alien spiders. Plus no one even takes their shirt off I mean that's *gotta* be a first for one of these.
Eldorado
8.0
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Tabletop Game
A fun, light, but hard to find game where players explore South America in search of the Eldorado,...
Boardgames ExplorationBoardGames
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Maze Runner (2014) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Kids have one heck of an imagination, and “The Maze Runner” gives off the impression that is exactly where its plot came from. The film is an adaption of the first book in the young adult sci-fi series written by James Dashner.
In the film, the action starts right out of the gate with a boy in a cage being delivered up to a strange place. Upon his arrival, he encounters a group of boys, each of which arrived in the same way. The boys created a sort of primitive community in a beautiful green glade. Each boy is assigned a specific role in order to contribute to their survival. None of them are able to remember where they came from or their life before arriving.
The plot quickly begins to revolve around the boys who have been deemed maze runners. The glade in which the community resides is surrounded, or I should say enclosed, by a gigantic stone maze. The maze runners run through the maze trying to find out more about it in order to eventually escape. But, the maze is unsolvable because it changes shape each day and is too dangerous to stay in overnight.
The main protagonist Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) quickly interjects himself into the maze runner role, against the wishes of the community. But it isn’t long until he proves himself capable of the role when he becomes the first boy to kill what they call a “griever.” His arrival marks the beginning of new hope for the boys’ escape. At this point, one must wonder why none of the boys had ever killed a “griever” before the arrival of Thomas.
The “grievers” are cyborg spiders residing within the maze. They are the main threat keeping the boys confined to the glade, and they come off as an incredibly hokey aspect of the film. However, this may be really enjoyable for fans of corny science fiction.
I have not had a chance to read the series myself, but something tells me details were left out of the film which would have brought the quality of the plot up a level.
Unfortunately, the plot is poorly developed in crucial areas which could have made the film great, had they been further developed. For example, the creators of the strange place and the robotic spiders are not given much depth. The lack of detail in this area is what gives the execution of the plot a make-believe feel. Perhaps this part of the plot is purposefully left open to lay the ground work for the rest of the series to be made into film.
All criticism aside, what makes “The Maze Runner” enjoyable is that it stems from a unique idea. It takes the audience on a new adventure. However, I would hardly say the film aims to please a young adult audience. Its execution seems tailored for tweens. It lacks any real graphic violence, staying well within its PG rating.
I give “Maze Runner” 3 out of 5 stars.
In the film, the action starts right out of the gate with a boy in a cage being delivered up to a strange place. Upon his arrival, he encounters a group of boys, each of which arrived in the same way. The boys created a sort of primitive community in a beautiful green glade. Each boy is assigned a specific role in order to contribute to their survival. None of them are able to remember where they came from or their life before arriving.
The plot quickly begins to revolve around the boys who have been deemed maze runners. The glade in which the community resides is surrounded, or I should say enclosed, by a gigantic stone maze. The maze runners run through the maze trying to find out more about it in order to eventually escape. But, the maze is unsolvable because it changes shape each day and is too dangerous to stay in overnight.
The main protagonist Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) quickly interjects himself into the maze runner role, against the wishes of the community. But it isn’t long until he proves himself capable of the role when he becomes the first boy to kill what they call a “griever.” His arrival marks the beginning of new hope for the boys’ escape. At this point, one must wonder why none of the boys had ever killed a “griever” before the arrival of Thomas.
The “grievers” are cyborg spiders residing within the maze. They are the main threat keeping the boys confined to the glade, and they come off as an incredibly hokey aspect of the film. However, this may be really enjoyable for fans of corny science fiction.
I have not had a chance to read the series myself, but something tells me details were left out of the film which would have brought the quality of the plot up a level.
Unfortunately, the plot is poorly developed in crucial areas which could have made the film great, had they been further developed. For example, the creators of the strange place and the robotic spiders are not given much depth. The lack of detail in this area is what gives the execution of the plot a make-believe feel. Perhaps this part of the plot is purposefully left open to lay the ground work for the rest of the series to be made into film.
All criticism aside, what makes “The Maze Runner” enjoyable is that it stems from a unique idea. It takes the audience on a new adventure. However, I would hardly say the film aims to please a young adult audience. Its execution seems tailored for tweens. It lacks any real graphic violence, staying well within its PG rating.
I give “Maze Runner” 3 out of 5 stars.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) in Movies
Oct 2, 2019
Characters – Lisbeth Salander is the famous hacker that will stand up against any man that is causing a woman abuse, she will leave her brand on them. She is called for difficult hacking jobs, which sees her take something from the Americans, this makes her a wanted suspect in Sweden and her on the run looking for answers to clear her name. Mikael Blomkvist is still the only person that Lisbeth will trust, he tries to operate from a distant and investigates the trust behind what is happening. Ed Needham is the American that has his system hacked, a government man, he heads to Sweden to get it back and finds nothing but barriers from the Swedish government. Camilla Salander is the long lost sister of Lisbeth, she thought to be dead, but now she is involved in a criminal gang known as The Spiders, targeting Lisbeth for what she wants.
Performances – Claire Foy does feel mis-cast in this role, she doesn’t seem to have a tough enough look to make this character effect as the two previous stars. Sverrir Gudnason had large shoes to fill and he doesn’t do a strong enough job in the Mikael role, while Sylvia Hoeks does what she can with her role without being anything overly special, while LaKeith Stanfield doesn’t seem to feel like the character he is meant to be playing.
Story – The story here is the fourth story in the Dragon Tattoo world, the second in English and is the first not written by the original author. We follow Lisbeth who once again finds herself needing to take on secret organisation that what something that could put the world in danger and this time it becomes more personal, with her sister being the enemy. This story does feel like it has borrowed from many other films and while it still puts Lisbeth is an anti-hero role, we only seem to find ourselves in one direction where Lisbeth is always one step ahead of everything happening, despite the fact we get to see just how twisted the Spiders are, it paints one image of them only to leave us facing a different softer enemy.
Action/Crime – The action was pretty much all given away in the trailer, we have the motorbike chase across the ice, the car chases and shoot outs, each feels very similar and doesn’t have the suspense required in a thriller.
Settings – The film does try to bring everything back to Lisbeth’s backstory with the settings showing the off the grid life she current lives compared to the one she could have lived, the snowy roads add a little to the chases, but not that much overall.
Scene of the Movie – Ice lake escape.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Spider’s not hinting at wanting to do to what they did to the guy without a nose, to the new Lisbeth group.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a cash grab on a franchise that has never taken off on the American side of things, we get everything scaled back leaving us feeling disappointed by the end of the film.
Overall: No thrills to be seen here.
Performances – Claire Foy does feel mis-cast in this role, she doesn’t seem to have a tough enough look to make this character effect as the two previous stars. Sverrir Gudnason had large shoes to fill and he doesn’t do a strong enough job in the Mikael role, while Sylvia Hoeks does what she can with her role without being anything overly special, while LaKeith Stanfield doesn’t seem to feel like the character he is meant to be playing.
Story – The story here is the fourth story in the Dragon Tattoo world, the second in English and is the first not written by the original author. We follow Lisbeth who once again finds herself needing to take on secret organisation that what something that could put the world in danger and this time it becomes more personal, with her sister being the enemy. This story does feel like it has borrowed from many other films and while it still puts Lisbeth is an anti-hero role, we only seem to find ourselves in one direction where Lisbeth is always one step ahead of everything happening, despite the fact we get to see just how twisted the Spiders are, it paints one image of them only to leave us facing a different softer enemy.
Action/Crime – The action was pretty much all given away in the trailer, we have the motorbike chase across the ice, the car chases and shoot outs, each feels very similar and doesn’t have the suspense required in a thriller.
Settings – The film does try to bring everything back to Lisbeth’s backstory with the settings showing the off the grid life she current lives compared to the one she could have lived, the snowy roads add a little to the chases, but not that much overall.
Scene of the Movie – Ice lake escape.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Spider’s not hinting at wanting to do to what they did to the guy without a nose, to the new Lisbeth group.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a cash grab on a franchise that has never taken off on the American side of things, we get everything scaled back leaving us feeling disappointed by the end of the film.
Overall: No thrills to be seen here.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Bees in Books
Dec 24, 2018
I was cautiously optimistic about this book, because I'd heard good things about it, but really? Bees? An entire book from the viewpoint of a worker bee? Even fictionalized, how much material is there really to work with?
SO MUCH.
My fears were completely ungrounded because this book is AMAZING. Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, tasked with taking dead bodies out of the hive, cleaning up wax cells after new bees have hatched, and other duties to keep the hive clean. Somewhat extraordinarily, it is discovered that she can produce the liquid needed to feed bee larva, and is taken to serve in the nursery for a bit, where she starts to develop a mind of her own.
As Flora develops new abilities and works her way through the ranks of the hive, we start to learn that something in the governing of the hive is not quite what it should be. Something is wrong. But the strictly enforced castes and other outside factors, like weather and predators, delay Flora's quest to ferret it out.
Between lying wasps, conniving spiders, and a conspiracy within the ranks of her own hive, Flora bounces from danger to danger trying to protect what she loves in an engrossing story of bravery and sacrifice.
I absolutely loved this book. I especially liked that anywhere possible, actual bee behavior was described and used to further the plot. This is definitely one of my favorite reads this year!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
SO MUCH.
My fears were completely ungrounded because this book is AMAZING. Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, tasked with taking dead bodies out of the hive, cleaning up wax cells after new bees have hatched, and other duties to keep the hive clean. Somewhat extraordinarily, it is discovered that she can produce the liquid needed to feed bee larva, and is taken to serve in the nursery for a bit, where she starts to develop a mind of her own.
As Flora develops new abilities and works her way through the ranks of the hive, we start to learn that something in the governing of the hive is not quite what it should be. Something is wrong. But the strictly enforced castes and other outside factors, like weather and predators, delay Flora's quest to ferret it out.
Between lying wasps, conniving spiders, and a conspiracy within the ranks of her own hive, Flora bounces from danger to danger trying to protect what she loves in an engrossing story of bravery and sacrifice.
I absolutely loved this book. I especially liked that anywhere possible, actual bee behavior was described and used to further the plot. This is definitely one of my favorite reads this year!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com