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Frozen II (2019)
Frozen II (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
An entertaining sequel
When we got to the cinema last night, my friend and I realised that neither of us had seen a trailer for this film. Weird considering how big a film it is, but I've been left wondering if this has had an impact on our overall enjoyment of the film.

Either way, Frozen II is an impressive sequel in that it's actually very good. The animation is superb as you'd expect from Disney and there's a lot of heart and humour in this. There are 2 notably stand out brilliant moments in this film: the first is Olaf's retelling of the events of the first film (I nearly wet myself laughing at this point) and Kristoff's power ballad - not only is it a great song but hilarious too - I won't spoil it for anyone but Sven and the reindeer, genius. The songs themselves are good and there are some stand out tunes amongst them all, but I did feel like they didn't quite match up to those from the original. I've actually come out of the film with Let It Go stuck in my head rather than any other the newer tracks.

The plot in this film is good, it's your typical Disney fare with some fun and adorable characters thrown in. My biggest problem with this though is the overall cheesy lovey dovey over affectionate-ness of it all. Yes I know that's not unusual for a Disney film, but this felt like way too much even for Disney. I was ready to reach for the sick bag by the time it finished. It's a shame really as I think if they had eased up on the over the top sisterly love, I would've rated this a little higher as I really enjoyed everything else. Or maybe I just hated this aspect because I'm a stone cold heartless Brit...

Overall a very good impressive sequel, that almost comes close to matching up to the original.
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Therapist in Books

Jul 29, 2021  
The Therapist
The Therapist
B.A. Paris | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An average locked neighborhood thriller
Alice and Leo have been in a long distance relationship for eighteen months when they finally move in together and buy a house in the The Circle, a development in the middle of London. It's a gated estate made up of twelves house designed to be especially safe and secure. But Alice soon discovers a horrible secret about her new home and becomes obsessed with Nina, the therapist who lived there before her. She starts trying to figure out what happened to Nina--at the expense of her relationship with Leo and her neighbors.

"It's only as I stand there, shrouded in perfect stillness that a thought slams into my head. I don't like this house."

This thriller was slow to start and was one of several locked neighborhood books I've read lately. I'm sort of over the trend of average folks up in everyone's business thinking they can solve murders. I didn't quite buy why Alice cared so much, even though there's supposed to be a "reason" for her attachment to Nina (she shares a name with Alice's late sister).

As with many of these types of thrillers, there's a cast full of mostly unlikable characters and a bunch of somewhat interchangeable neighbors. Alice forms an odd bond with a Private Investigator, Thomas, who is quickly added to the mix. She seems fast to accuse basically everyone she meets of nearly anything, so I suppose that added to the suspense/red herrings. The book does have a slightly ominous feel, though I think many of her problems would have been solved by simply changing the darn locks!

There are some good twists and the story held my interest once it picked up the pace. However, I'm afraid it will get lost in the swirl of recent locked neighborhood books and not stand out in a few months. 3 stars.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
  
Let the Dead Speak (Maeve Kerrigan, #7)
Let the Dead Speak (Maeve Kerrigan, #7)
Jane Casey | 2017 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.3 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Once again, I have not been disappointed by Jane Casey; she has delivered and written an excellent book that I really enjoyed. Great story line that is full of suspense and keeps you enthralled. The characters are fantastic and believable; I particularly like the working relationship between Kerrigan and Derwent which comes across as being very genuine. Highly recommended read to anyone and you don't have to have read the previous books in the series as this holds up as a stand-alone however, I would suggest you do as you won't be disappointed.

A massive thank you to the publisher, HarperCollins UK, and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

<a href="https://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/when-eighteen-year-old-chloe-emery.html">Reading Stuff 'n' Things</a>
  
AB
Aliens: Bug Hunt
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A compilation of Alien(s) stories, set during the events of all 4 of the original movies (Alien, Aliens, Ali3n and Alien: Resurrection), with a large portion of these concentrating on just-about-everybodies favourite characters from the second movie: that of the Colonial Marines.

As a compilation, some of these stories are better than others: the stand-outs (to me) are the one about Bishop, the one about the history of the Pulse Rifle (yes, seriously! Somebody actually took time to write up a piece on that!) and the one told from an Alien Point-of-view (such as it were).

However, some of the others seem overly-formulaic: Marines get sent to distant planet that has lost communication with the inhabitants, to find the Weyland-Yutani has a hand in the proceedings ...
  
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Front Runner (2018) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
The Front Runner (2018)
The Front Runner (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama
The Front Runner is a tricky one to sum up. We've got some excellent acting talent giving solid performances but *shrugs shoulders* it's just another average story. Perhaps it holds more weight with an American audience.

Much like Colette this one felt very long, but that feeling hit much earlier into the screening. I wasn't bored, but there was a lot of this film. I'm not even sure that taking anything out would improve my feelings about it.

I could honestly finish my review there, I made no notes at all. There was nothing that made this film stand out above anything else in this genre. It's a well made film about an average story, and that's its problem.

What you should do

It's a good film but it can definitely wait until it's streaming.
  
Mr. Iglesias
Mr. Iglesias
2019 | Comedy
I've been a fan of Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias' stand up comedy for forever. He's a very funny guy, and I like how his comedy is fairly clean. I was beyond excited when I heard he had his own sitcom on Netflix! I wasn't disappointed at all.

The first couple of episodes are pretty cheesy, but this show does get much better! The casting is fantastic, and the comedy timing is perfect. It's obvious that all the cast members love acting in the show. It's not all just laughs though. Mr. Iglesias does focus on some serious issues and school issues with each episode. All the issues are tackled head on in such a great way.

I would definitely recommend this show to everyone who needs a good laugh. It's one of the best sitcoms around!
  
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel
Margaret Atwood, Renée Nault | 2019 | Comics & Graphic Novels, Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry
10
7.9 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
A worthy addition to the original story.
This is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel which remains true to the original novel by Margaret Atwood. It seems even more disturbing with the pictures: the starkness of the almost black and white background against the red of the Handmaids clothes, not only makes the Handmaids stand out, it also, for me, highlights their separateness or ‘otherness’.

It’s a while since I read the original book, but the prose in it felt right. It’s not all prose in speech bubbles, there are more in-depth, explanatory short paragraphs - and I think they really worked well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I can see myself reading this again and again - and I might just have to re-read the original too, especially in the lead up to The Testaments.