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Jessica Cashen (1 KP) rated True North (True Born Trilogy, #2) in Books
May 16, 2018
Another Fantastic book by L.E. Sterling. Well written with a great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish. On the eve of Lucy and Margot's reveal, Lasters attack her home and Lucy is forced to run. Margot's has gone missing, Lucy is living with True Born Nolan Storm, unorthodox magic has been set loose upon the land, and Lucy is all mixed up when it comes to her fierce protector, Jared True Born Price.
Even though Lucy is upset about her circumstances, she still helps Storm navigate the Upper Circle. Wanting nothing more than to find her sister, Lucy finally makes some choices of her own. She tries to get help with where he sister might have been taken by a child in a kid gang. The child sets her up and it doesn't look good, but she is saved by Alistair. They wind up friends and he helps her try and find Margot. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.
Even though Lucy is upset about her circumstances, she still helps Storm navigate the Upper Circle. Wanting nothing more than to find her sister, Lucy finally makes some choices of her own. She tries to get help with where he sister might have been taken by a child in a kid gang. The child sets her up and it doesn't look good, but she is saved by Alistair. They wind up friends and he helps her try and find Margot. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hidden Figures (2016) in Movies
Mar 15, 2018
Possibly the most sedentary movie ever to be the subject of a proposed Lego set is one of those which you feel obliged to enjoy on moral grounds. Three African American women do sterling service in the early days of NASA, overcoming racial divisions to do so (well, they're brilliant mathematicians, so division should be easy for them).
Well made and all, but not exactly full of surprises, and if the whole point of the film is that this is a historical true story, why have the facts been stretched and edited and generally tweaked? Does the fact that this is a Serious Issue Movie mean that it gets a pass on what would usually be called historical inaccuracy? One gets the sense this movie is more interested in putting a message across than in telling the story of the real-life events it supposedly depicts. Capably done, with some good performances (a nice turn from Costner as, guess what, a wholly fictitious character), but just a little bit on-the-nose.
Well made and all, but not exactly full of surprises, and if the whole point of the film is that this is a historical true story, why have the facts been stretched and edited and generally tweaked? Does the fact that this is a Serious Issue Movie mean that it gets a pass on what would usually be called historical inaccuracy? One gets the sense this movie is more interested in putting a message across than in telling the story of the real-life events it supposedly depicts. Capably done, with some good performances (a nice turn from Costner as, guess what, a wholly fictitious character), but just a little bit on-the-nose.
Midge (525 KP) rated Breaking the Rules in Books
Dec 10, 2018
Isabelle LaFayette attempts but fails, to end her own life in what her mother calls a selfish act. Her suicide attempt haunts her, along with her other past regrets and the inability to forgive herself.
Jack Riley comes into Isabelleβs life and becomes her first love. He makes her feel alive, but she cruelly pushes him away, mistakenly believing that she doesn't deserve to be happy. Can she find the strength to confront her pain and be released from her troublesome past?
Isabelle needs to break the rules that have been imprisoning her. It is the only way for her to move on and piece her heart back together again.
Izzy, as she is known to her friends, is an extremely likeable character and I could really empathise with her. I thought this book was very insightful and thought-provoking. Although I thought that some of the dialogue between Izzy and her new beau, Nick Sterling, was a little repetitive, I found it a very enjoyable read, The author's writing has depth and the ending was very good.
Jack Riley comes into Isabelleβs life and becomes her first love. He makes her feel alive, but she cruelly pushes him away, mistakenly believing that she doesn't deserve to be happy. Can she find the strength to confront her pain and be released from her troublesome past?
Isabelle needs to break the rules that have been imprisoning her. It is the only way for her to move on and piece her heart back together again.
Izzy, as she is known to her friends, is an extremely likeable character and I could really empathise with her. I thought this book was very insightful and thought-provoking. Although I thought that some of the dialogue between Izzy and her new beau, Nick Sterling, was a little repetitive, I found it a very enjoyable read, The author's writing has depth and the ending was very good.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Venom (2018) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
It's... Ok, I guess...
There's not really much to say about Venom to be honest. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, it just sort of exists.
It's a pretty by the numbers origin film, that veers fairly sharply from the comics due to there being zero Spider-Man.
If you've seen the trailer, then you know the plot. There are no surprises (with the exception of an extremely on the nose tease for future installments near the end).
No one in the cast seems to be too bothered that they are there either, with the exception of Tom Hardy, who does a pretty sterling job of playing Eddie Brock - the dialogue between him and Venom is pretty entertaining throughout.
Surprising absolutely no one, the films climaxes in a CGI heavy face off, with both parties being dark grey in colour - making for a pretty bland showdown.
Venoms ok, worth a watch, even if it's just the one time - the Marvel nerd in me just really wishes that these characters were under the same MCU umbrella (one day... One day)
It's a pretty by the numbers origin film, that veers fairly sharply from the comics due to there being zero Spider-Man.
If you've seen the trailer, then you know the plot. There are no surprises (with the exception of an extremely on the nose tease for future installments near the end).
No one in the cast seems to be too bothered that they are there either, with the exception of Tom Hardy, who does a pretty sterling job of playing Eddie Brock - the dialogue between him and Venom is pretty entertaining throughout.
Surprising absolutely no one, the films climaxes in a CGI heavy face off, with both parties being dark grey in colour - making for a pretty bland showdown.
Venoms ok, worth a watch, even if it's just the one time - the Marvel nerd in me just really wishes that these characters were under the same MCU umbrella (one day... One day)
Logan Eccles (135 KP) rated The Predator (2018) in Movies
Oct 1, 2020 (Updated Oct 2, 2020)
Really wanted to love this
Ok, so this is not a bad review, it's a sad review. I was looking forward to this new installment ever since the first trailer. The cast was intriguing. Anything with Sterling in it is gonna grab my interest. However, I tried watching this movie on five different occasions and just couldn't be dragged into it fully. I finally forced myself to sit down and watch it in its entirety and its nothing to do with the cast they're fine it's just really not that interesting of a story. I can't pinpoint exactly what I think is wrong with it and maybe that's the problem. Maybe this story just doesn't serve a purpose and that's the sour taste it left in me.
Stories that are just marketing ploys never do well and I think this movie is a testament to that fact. This movie has the feeling it was only made so there could be another Predator movie not because it was a story that needed to be told and I'm utterly disappointed that that was the outcome.
Stories that are just marketing ploys never do well and I think this movie is a testament to that fact. This movie has the feeling it was only made so there could be another Predator movie not because it was a story that needed to be told and I'm utterly disappointed that that was the outcome.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Into the Night in Books
Mar 6, 2019
Intriguing and refreshing mystery
Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is working in Melbourne now, trying to negotiate relationships with her new boss, Chief Inspector Toby Isaacs, and her partner, Detective Sergeant Fleet. She has been in Melbourne for three months; this has meant leaving behind her five-year-old son, Ben, and his father, Scott. She's keeping busy with a series of cases, including that of a homeless man, Walter Miller, who was brutally killed and one with the famous actor, Sterling Wade, who was stabbed while filming a high-profile zombie film. Alone and away from her son, Gemma throws herself into her work, but will these difficult cases prove too much for her and her emotional well-being?
"I was high-functioning but deeply broken and eventually something had to give. When the opportunity to transfer to Melbourne arose, I needed to take it. Living in Smithson was slowly killing me."
This novel picks up a few years after the first Gemma book. Gemma has been haunted by the Rosalind Rose case featured in Bailey's superb first novel, The Dark Lake, as well as her affair with her former partner, Felix. We find her lost and floundering. This serves a dual-purpose for us, the reader. We get to read a novel with a complicated, realistic character in Gemma. She's true to herself. On the other hand, she's not always the easiest to like or even empathize with. This is a woman who has left her child behind, after all. I have to congratulate Bailey on having Gemma not make the easy/safe choices in life, or the ones you typically see in detective novels. Not only do we get a strong yet vulnerable female character, we get one who is flawed, real, and struggling to find her way in the world. I certainly didn't always agree with her choices, but I do enjoy reading about them.
Even better, Gemma features in an excellent complicated and captivating mystery, with several cases that keep you guessing. The prominent one is the Sterling Wade case. Bailey brings in various Hollywood elements, and there are a lot of characters to suspect and pieces to put together. I quite liked not knowing who had killed Sterling. Even the detectives were flummoxed at times: how refreshing. Throughout all her cases, Gemma is working out where she fits in her new department and how she relates to her new partner, Fleet. There's a lot going on, but Bailey handles it all quite deftly. The excellent writing I enjoyed so much in her first novel is on display again here; you'll be impressed at the way she can pull together her story and bring out her characters.
"'Or maybe this case is just fucking with my mind,' I say, 'and making me think that Agatha Christie plots are coming to life.'"
Overall, I found this book intriguing and refreshing. Gemma is a complicated and complex character who is matched by the intricate cases she attempts to solve. Those who enjoy a character-driven mystery will be drawn to Gemma's prickly exterior, while those who simply enjoy a hard-to-solve case will find plenty to like here as well. Sarah Bailey is certainly a go-to author for me.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
"I was high-functioning but deeply broken and eventually something had to give. When the opportunity to transfer to Melbourne arose, I needed to take it. Living in Smithson was slowly killing me."
This novel picks up a few years after the first Gemma book. Gemma has been haunted by the Rosalind Rose case featured in Bailey's superb first novel, The Dark Lake, as well as her affair with her former partner, Felix. We find her lost and floundering. This serves a dual-purpose for us, the reader. We get to read a novel with a complicated, realistic character in Gemma. She's true to herself. On the other hand, she's not always the easiest to like or even empathize with. This is a woman who has left her child behind, after all. I have to congratulate Bailey on having Gemma not make the easy/safe choices in life, or the ones you typically see in detective novels. Not only do we get a strong yet vulnerable female character, we get one who is flawed, real, and struggling to find her way in the world. I certainly didn't always agree with her choices, but I do enjoy reading about them.
Even better, Gemma features in an excellent complicated and captivating mystery, with several cases that keep you guessing. The prominent one is the Sterling Wade case. Bailey brings in various Hollywood elements, and there are a lot of characters to suspect and pieces to put together. I quite liked not knowing who had killed Sterling. Even the detectives were flummoxed at times: how refreshing. Throughout all her cases, Gemma is working out where she fits in her new department and how she relates to her new partner, Fleet. There's a lot going on, but Bailey handles it all quite deftly. The excellent writing I enjoyed so much in her first novel is on display again here; you'll be impressed at the way she can pull together her story and bring out her characters.
"'Or maybe this case is just fucking with my mind,' I say, 'and making me think that Agatha Christie plots are coming to life.'"
Overall, I found this book intriguing and refreshing. Gemma is a complicated and complex character who is matched by the intricate cases she attempts to solve. Those who enjoy a character-driven mystery will be drawn to Gemma's prickly exterior, while those who simply enjoy a hard-to-solve case will find plenty to like here as well. Sarah Bailey is certainly a go-to author for me.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Predator (2018) in Movies
Sep 14, 2019
Wasn't entirely terrible
I'd heard a lot of truly terrible things about this film so hadn't been expecting much, and whilst it isn't great, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
The first part of the film is actually quite good. I like the Predator's arrival on earth and subsequent escape, and some of the nods to the original film. The problem is the second half with the ridiculous super Predator and turns it into even more of a farce. The cast could have been good, and there's a decent amount of names in this, but they've been let down by a very poor script and characterisation. I mean Olivia Munn's biologist who can fight and handle weapons too without any explanation? And Sterling K Brown's ridiculously hammy villain was beyond cheesy. A lot of the deaths in the second half of the film were also farcical but sadly not in an enjoyable way, and unsurprisingly the ending has been set up yet another sequel. Do we really need another Predator film after this?
This wasn't as bad as Alien vs Predator at least...
The first part of the film is actually quite good. I like the Predator's arrival on earth and subsequent escape, and some of the nods to the original film. The problem is the second half with the ridiculous super Predator and turns it into even more of a farce. The cast could have been good, and there's a decent amount of names in this, but they've been let down by a very poor script and characterisation. I mean Olivia Munn's biologist who can fight and handle weapons too without any explanation? And Sterling K Brown's ridiculously hammy villain was beyond cheesy. A lot of the deaths in the second half of the film were also farcical but sadly not in an enjoyable way, and unsurprisingly the ending has been set up yet another sequel. Do we really need another Predator film after this?
This wasn't as bad as Alien vs Predator at least...
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Magic in the Moonlight (2014) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
ππ―π΅π’π―π¨πͺπ£ππ¦ ππ’π―. A movie that has no reason for existing, does virtually nothing more except over-explain the movie to you - leaving nothing else behind to chew on. Not just slight but good *Lord* is it ever drab. Yet another Woody Allen film where Stone falls for an unlikable, pompous asshole who thinks he's genius because he tells everyone else they're stupid and recites the same misanthropic bullshit you can find on those awful pre-commentary videos on YouTube from 2013 - except in this one he never perks up and the plot forgets to happen. And that's all not to mention how this is easily nu-Allen's crummiest looking movie. Has a few good moments, Stone is dependably sterling, and it's got a hell of a twist/reveal - but can this guy quit taking beyond excellent premises and spinning them into mostly wack fluff? Granted this is the first of his films I've disliked, but he's toed the line more times than once. The Firth dialogue is near as insufferable and amateurish as Allen has been - real thesaurus abuse going on. Starts off agreeable but soon after becomes a hell of a bore, pretty sure I checked out of 18 of the last 20 minutes.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Hotel Artemis (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Hmm... I don't know. I really enjoyed this film...
The cast was brilliant. Sterling K. Brown and Jodie Foster were excellent. Dave Bautista always with the lovable tough guy. And who doesn't like watching Sofia Boutella beat the hell out of people?! I even loved Goldblum's short appearance in it, his slightly eccentric style wasn't too overpowering on everything that was going on and he worked really well as the big bad.
My main objection, and I think the reason I didn't give this the last half star, is Zachary Quinto. I wouldn't actively avoid anything with him in it... It's not like I have a choice when he's in Star Trek. But he just didn't sit right in this character for me. Yes I understand that he's supposed to be having a bit of a power trip and isn't in any way like his father, but it felt like he was in a completely different film to everyone else.
I found it genuinely enjoyable to watch, and I'll certainly see it again. Although yet again as I've been writing this I'm wavering on my score. In any case, it would still be at least four stars. I'm definitely not in enough doubt that I'm going to go and change it.
The cast was brilliant. Sterling K. Brown and Jodie Foster were excellent. Dave Bautista always with the lovable tough guy. And who doesn't like watching Sofia Boutella beat the hell out of people?! I even loved Goldblum's short appearance in it, his slightly eccentric style wasn't too overpowering on everything that was going on and he worked really well as the big bad.
My main objection, and I think the reason I didn't give this the last half star, is Zachary Quinto. I wouldn't actively avoid anything with him in it... It's not like I have a choice when he's in Star Trek. But he just didn't sit right in this character for me. Yes I understand that he's supposed to be having a bit of a power trip and isn't in any way like his father, but it felt like he was in a completely different film to everyone else.
I found it genuinely enjoyable to watch, and I'll certainly see it again. Although yet again as I've been writing this I'm wavering on my score. In any case, it would still be at least four stars. I'm definitely not in enough doubt that I'm going to go and change it.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Jason and the Argonauts (1963) in Movies
Oct 5, 2019 (Updated Oct 5, 2019)
Corny but much-loved mythological fantasy film. Jason and his men go in search of a magic sheepskin, occasionally with the aid of the gods but without the assistance of modern special effects. A strong, mostly British cast do the usual sterling work while imported stars Todd Armstrong and Nancy Kovack stand around being obviously dubbed.
The script is, to be honest, all over the place: it's episodic, the writers seem to have been making it up as they went (the most memorable character wanders out of the movie half way through), and Jason doesn't actually complete the mission he sets himself at the start (maybe they were hoping for a sequel). However, for a bad movie this has some of the most wonderful special effects ever put on celluloid, namely Ray Harryhausen's brilliant hand-crafted animation. Any amount of stodgy non-acting and dubious costume design would be a small price to pay for sequences like the ones with the bronze titan Talos, the Hydra, or the mob of skeletons at the end (the skeleton battle is such a breathtaking achievement it should really be playing on loop in art galleries around the world). They don't make them like this any more. Even the bad bits are kind of bad in a good way.
The script is, to be honest, all over the place: it's episodic, the writers seem to have been making it up as they went (the most memorable character wanders out of the movie half way through), and Jason doesn't actually complete the mission he sets himself at the start (maybe they were hoping for a sequel). However, for a bad movie this has some of the most wonderful special effects ever put on celluloid, namely Ray Harryhausen's brilliant hand-crafted animation. Any amount of stodgy non-acting and dubious costume design would be a small price to pay for sequences like the ones with the bronze titan Talos, the Hydra, or the mob of skeletons at the end (the skeleton battle is such a breathtaking achievement it should really be playing on loop in art galleries around the world). They don't make them like this any more. Even the bad bits are kind of bad in a good way.
