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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Pan (2015) in Movies

Sep 21, 2020  
Pan (2015)
Pan (2015)
2015 | Action, Sci-Fi
Huh? … what? H-how? Why..? I'm not even sure what like 80% of this crackpot, drug-fueled children's fever dream even was but I'm pretty sure I loved it. Everyone sings "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" to hype up a grisly-looking, scenery chewing pirate Hugh Jackman for no reason at all. You're also able to witness a severely miscast Garrett Hedlund give one of the worst performances the screen has ever seen as Rooney Mara pulls an Emma Stone in 𝘈𝘭𝘰𝘩𝘢 and the fairies savagely murder an entire ship full of people one by one. In all seriousness, perhaps my allure bias for these cockamamie box office bombs is showing but this isn't even a quarter of the disasterpiece it has been dubbed. The visuals are lush, varied, and colorful with Wright's lifeful eye hard at work - and it has a lot of fun with its setpieces, while taking fine care of its effects. My biggest complaint is that this nutty curio has to be stuck within the confines of those obnoxious kids' films where the bland protagonist (here at least acted exceptionally by Miller) who obviously has some arbitrary, special talent spends the whole movie claiming they don't have said arbitrary, special talent only to find out completely unsurprisingly that they did have the aforementioned arbitrary, special talent all along. This would make an awesome PS2 game, if I didn't know any better you could have effortlessly convinced me Luc Besson directed this. Rushed through plot but who cares, it's mostly a blast.
  
Beholden (The Fairest Maiden #1)
Beholden (The Fairest Maiden #1)
Jody Hedlund | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Are you looking for a good clean romance for your teens or young adults? Well, Beholden is good for them. It deals with princes and knights. It also has a sweet story about beauty. What a way to have action and adventures. The heroes have to work together.

I enjoyed learning about the gem mines and the slaves. We get a bit of an evil queen and slavery. It seems it is a modern-day fairy tale of Cinderella. Jody does well with the plot and storyline. What a way to pull into the story. It keeps you wanting to turn the pages once the action starts to pick up.

The adventures begin to heighten up once Gabriella is released from the mines. Who will win? The princes are to do testing to see if they are worth the kingship. The princes are given a phrase that is different for each prince.

I wonder what each means and for that prince. Slave for all what can that mean. You will be trying to figure it out along with Vilmar. What is Gabriella's plan? Can Vilmar find the true meaning to Slave to all and find help from the slaves and Gabriella?

My rating for this book is 4.5 stars (Moons) on my rating system. Which make my rating system will have it marked 4 stars (Moons). This book good for teens and young adults. It got romance and fantasy. If your teen or young adult enjoy fairy tales, this book has it and more.
  
Project Almanac (2015)
Project Almanac (2015)
2015 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
Dumb-as-nails but unpretentious CW teen soap opera reimagining of a time travel film - in which the machine itself is built using parts from an Xbox 360 and there are prominent slo-mo shots of Red Bull cans flying through the air. And what's the most noteworthy thing they do with the power of time travel right at their fingertips? Go to an Imagine Dragons concert, of course! Seems like it hates its own existence, no question about it - this was only made to sell tickets and that's it. But there's something really stupidly fun about it - maybe it's the neurotic nature of each element (from the acting to the camerawork to the cutting to the writing etc), or the fact that people record a good chunk of this pointlessly (but thankfully) found footage Chronicle ripoff with their smartphones yet they still make the clunky old camera sounds? And when they *do* record with the 10+ year old camcorder (which still takes tape btw) it's somehow pristine HD quality? I also really have to appreciate that so much of this is dedicated to the actual anxiety of making the machine itself, too - rather than jumping right into the travel stuff. Kind of falls off when this becomes another lame YA romance deal but even then it's still so confidently dumb and committed to its daft premise that I had to admire it somewhat. Also whenever they turn the machine on and everything starts floating and spinning that shit is cool as fuck and you know it.
  
The Electric Kingdom
The Electric Kingdom
David Arnold | 2021 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Electric Kingdom is a novel that takes another look at the beauty of humans in a post apocalyptic world. Eighteen years after a deadly Fly Flu sweeps the globe, killing most of the population, Nico and her dog, Harry get sent on a voyage by Nico’s father to find a mythical portal. Along the way, she meets other children, including a young artist named Kit. There’s also the Deliverer, who lives Life after Life in an attempt to put the world back together. This story is an exploration of art, love, life, and finding beauty.

Every character that David Arnold writes in this book is so full of love, warmth, and heartbreak. I fell in love with Kit and his outlook on live. It was beautiful. The relationship he had with his mother Dakota, and why he calls her “My Dakota” made me tear up.

I’m not sure I completely understand the whole dynamics of the world that is in this book, but I still very much enjoyed it! There are so many layers and plot twists and double backs, you don’t realize how intense it is until you’re half way through it. By then, Arnold has you hooked and you’ve got to find out what happens and how it’s all connected!

I haven’t read anything from Arnold before but I enjoyed this one and will seeking out others from him.

*Thank you Bookish First and Penguin Teen/Viking Books for Young Readers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
  
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Beckie Shelton (40 KP) rated The Treatment in Books

Oct 31, 2017 (Updated Oct 31, 2017)  
The Treatment
The Treatment
C. L. Taylor | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
6
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm: https://www.beckiebookworm.com

The Treatment By C.L. Taylor was a decent enough read that I really quite enjoyed.


I also took into account when reading, that this was aimed at a much younger audience than myself, so I have been slightly lenient in my rating as I feel there were things I noticed that would probably go over the heads of this books intended demographic.


I would say this is a read my twelve and thirteen-year-old boys would really enjoy, Myself being a mum in my forties, well let's just say I enjoyed this, while not overtaxing my brain overmuch.


So The Treatment is about sixteen-year-old Drew Finch and her actions when her younger brother Mason gets expelled from yet another school and sent to Norton House, a residential reform academy.


so after being followed by the mysterious Dr Cobey and receiving a strange message about the treatment, her brother is receiving while residing at Norton House. Drew decides to investigate herself by getting herself admitted as a pupil.


So as I said this was an enjoyable read that does what it says on the tin.


There were no great surprises here, This was more, the underdog saves the day type of tale.


Drew herself, well I felt a bit sorry for her bullied by her ex-best friend (which there was no real explanation for).


Does one thing wrong and then gets shipped off to a reform academy, I know she needs to be for the story to work but jeez, her mum, hardly mother of the year actions are they.


Drew herself seems to be quite a resilient girl with a bit of a kick-ass attitude, more so maybe than I would expect from someone who's been bullied so relentlessly.<br/>But anyway she seems a very likeable pragmatic type of girl.


She teams up inside Norton with her roommate Mouse and the two try to coordinate an escape while steering clear of there other roomy Jude.


Jude is every mean girl cliche you can think off, horrid just for the sake of it. Shes even worse when Lacey, Drew's arch nemesis turns up like a bad penny and the two join forces to torment Drew.


I did find both Jude and Lacey to be slightly one dimensional in their behaviour.


So anyway to cut a long story short Drew strives to save the day, while rescuing her friends and brother along the way.


This is done in true kick-butt style with only the one extra unsurprising twist along the way.


So the wrap up of "The Treatment" I felt was a little bit rushed, I would have liked to have seen things eked out and explored in a little more depth.


But besides that, this is a great addition to the Young Adult/teen genre-leaning more heavily towards the Teen age group.


So I would definitely recommend this to the younger generation, It is a fun action packed clean read, that is well written and is sure to catch imaginations.


Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an Arc of "The Treatment" By C.L. Taylor this is my own honest unbiased opinion.


Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm: https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/