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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated The Lost Expedition in Tabletop Games
Jul 22, 2021
El Dorado – the lost city of gold. Many have searched for this fabled civilization, but none have prevailed… yet. Gather up your team of experts and pack your bags for the jungle – you’re headed on an adventure! Can you find the path to this lost city and get there alive? Or will the encounters of the wilderness prove to be too much to handle? Only one way to find out….
Disclaimer: The Lost Expedition can be played cooperatively, solo, or head-to-head. This review only covers the cooperative version of the game! -L
The Lost Expedition is a cooperative (in this case) game of strategy and hand management in which players are trying to traverse the jungle to reach El Dorado by carefully managing their Resources and utilizing their collective Expertise. To setup the game, choose 3 explorers to form your team, and collect 3 Ammunition and 4 Food from the supply tokens. Shuffle the adventure cards, dealing 4 to every player, placing the remainder in a face-down draw deck. Depending on the difficulty selected, place the corresponding number of Expedition cards in a row on the table (we played Normal mode, using 9 Expedition cards). Place 4 Health tokens on each explorer card, place the phase token with the Morning side up, select a starting expedition leader, and the game is ready to begin.
Each round consists of 2 phases: Morning and Evening. During the Morning phase, players will take turns playing adventure cards from their hand, one at a time, until each player has played 2 cards. This line of cards forms the path that the explorers are traveling in the morning. After all cards have been played, they will be rearranged in numerical order, from lowest to highest. Once the cards are organized, they will be resolved one at a time, from lowest to highest, until all cards have been addressed. Examples of card actions are: discarding the next card in play, swapping two cards on the path, adding a new card to the end of the path, or moving the team pawn one card closer to El Dorado. Adventure cards have different colored boxes that indicate action choices that the players must make. Some actions are mandatory and must be completed. Some cards offer 2 or more choices, one of which must be selected and performed to clear the card. And some cards have optional choices, that do not have to be completed for the card to be resolved. Certain actions will require the team to gain/spend Resources tokens or Expertise from your explorers (in the form of Health tokens). At the end of the Morning phase, the team loses 1 Food token, and play continues to the Evening phase.
During the Evening phase, the gameplay is like that of the Morning with a couple of changes. Players again will alternate playing cards, but will play until all remaining cards in their hand have been played. Cards in the Evening phase are resolved in the order that they are played, and are not organized numerically like in the Morning phase. Again, after all cards are played, they will be resolved one by one as normal, paying Resources/Expertise as required. Once the Evening phase is finished, the team loses 1 Food token, players draw a new hand of cards, select another expedition leader, and a new round begins with the Morning phase. Play continues in this fashion until either the players have reached El Dorado, all 3 of the team’s explorers have died (have no remaining Health tokens), or if the adventure card draw deck runs out 2 times during play.
Pretty straight-forward, right? Play cards, resolve cards, repeat. That is one thing I really like about The Lost Expedition – it is simple, yet so strategic. Ultimately this is a game of Resource/Expertise management. You need at least 1 explorer to make it to El Dorado alive. There is no reward without risk in this game. Couple that with the multiple action options on each card, and you’ve really got to have a strategy. Maybe you’re low on Ammunition, but in order to gain back some much-needed Health, you’ve got to spend Ammo. Or are you willing to deal damage to an explorer if it means the team can advance a card? There are so many things to consider, and so many ways in which you can strategize, and that keeps all players engaged.
That being said, players are not allowed to reveal the details of any cards in hand. So how can you best communicate with your team about what types of cards to play if you can’t tell them point-blank? That added aspect of working in a team creates some unique strategies in and of itself. Ultimately, the final decision comes down to the expedition leader for the round – but what if they choose the action you didn’t want? How can everyone help balance everyone else out? You really have to work together to be successful. The flip-side of that teamwork is that the game can be frustrating in some aspects. You never truly know what your teammates are going to play at any given time, and the card they choose could totally unravel your plan. Not being able to discuss the specifics of cards in your hand makes sense (because then why wouldn’t the team just have one collective hand of cards?), but it adds an element of randomness and luck to the game that seems counterintuitive to me. Playing the wrong card at the wrong time might just turn your team against you, and that undermines the spirit of the game.
Let’s touch briefly on components. The cards are nice, oversized, and sturdy. The artwork is colorful and thematically appropriate. All of the Resources tokens are thick cardboard, and the meeples are nice and chunky. All in all, good production quality overall.
So how do I really feel about The Lost Expedition? I think it’s ok. It is strategic and entertaining, with the added elements of teamwork and cooperation – you either win together or lose together. As a group, you’ve got to have an adaptable strategy and manage your resources as best you can. Is it a game that I love? No. But it’s one that will probably stay in my collection for a bit, before it moves on to someone who might see some hidden quality that I may have missed. If you want a nice and relatively simple team game to play, maybe check out The Lost Expedition. And if risk/reward or resource management isn’t your jam, then maybe keep looking beyond this one. Purple Phoenix Games give The Lost Expedition an eventful 6 / 12.
Disclaimer: The Lost Expedition can be played cooperatively, solo, or head-to-head. This review only covers the cooperative version of the game! -L
The Lost Expedition is a cooperative (in this case) game of strategy and hand management in which players are trying to traverse the jungle to reach El Dorado by carefully managing their Resources and utilizing their collective Expertise. To setup the game, choose 3 explorers to form your team, and collect 3 Ammunition and 4 Food from the supply tokens. Shuffle the adventure cards, dealing 4 to every player, placing the remainder in a face-down draw deck. Depending on the difficulty selected, place the corresponding number of Expedition cards in a row on the table (we played Normal mode, using 9 Expedition cards). Place 4 Health tokens on each explorer card, place the phase token with the Morning side up, select a starting expedition leader, and the game is ready to begin.
Each round consists of 2 phases: Morning and Evening. During the Morning phase, players will take turns playing adventure cards from their hand, one at a time, until each player has played 2 cards. This line of cards forms the path that the explorers are traveling in the morning. After all cards have been played, they will be rearranged in numerical order, from lowest to highest. Once the cards are organized, they will be resolved one at a time, from lowest to highest, until all cards have been addressed. Examples of card actions are: discarding the next card in play, swapping two cards on the path, adding a new card to the end of the path, or moving the team pawn one card closer to El Dorado. Adventure cards have different colored boxes that indicate action choices that the players must make. Some actions are mandatory and must be completed. Some cards offer 2 or more choices, one of which must be selected and performed to clear the card. And some cards have optional choices, that do not have to be completed for the card to be resolved. Certain actions will require the team to gain/spend Resources tokens or Expertise from your explorers (in the form of Health tokens). At the end of the Morning phase, the team loses 1 Food token, and play continues to the Evening phase.
During the Evening phase, the gameplay is like that of the Morning with a couple of changes. Players again will alternate playing cards, but will play until all remaining cards in their hand have been played. Cards in the Evening phase are resolved in the order that they are played, and are not organized numerically like in the Morning phase. Again, after all cards are played, they will be resolved one by one as normal, paying Resources/Expertise as required. Once the Evening phase is finished, the team loses 1 Food token, players draw a new hand of cards, select another expedition leader, and a new round begins with the Morning phase. Play continues in this fashion until either the players have reached El Dorado, all 3 of the team’s explorers have died (have no remaining Health tokens), or if the adventure card draw deck runs out 2 times during play.
Pretty straight-forward, right? Play cards, resolve cards, repeat. That is one thing I really like about The Lost Expedition – it is simple, yet so strategic. Ultimately this is a game of Resource/Expertise management. You need at least 1 explorer to make it to El Dorado alive. There is no reward without risk in this game. Couple that with the multiple action options on each card, and you’ve really got to have a strategy. Maybe you’re low on Ammunition, but in order to gain back some much-needed Health, you’ve got to spend Ammo. Or are you willing to deal damage to an explorer if it means the team can advance a card? There are so many things to consider, and so many ways in which you can strategize, and that keeps all players engaged.
That being said, players are not allowed to reveal the details of any cards in hand. So how can you best communicate with your team about what types of cards to play if you can’t tell them point-blank? That added aspect of working in a team creates some unique strategies in and of itself. Ultimately, the final decision comes down to the expedition leader for the round – but what if they choose the action you didn’t want? How can everyone help balance everyone else out? You really have to work together to be successful. The flip-side of that teamwork is that the game can be frustrating in some aspects. You never truly know what your teammates are going to play at any given time, and the card they choose could totally unravel your plan. Not being able to discuss the specifics of cards in your hand makes sense (because then why wouldn’t the team just have one collective hand of cards?), but it adds an element of randomness and luck to the game that seems counterintuitive to me. Playing the wrong card at the wrong time might just turn your team against you, and that undermines the spirit of the game.
Let’s touch briefly on components. The cards are nice, oversized, and sturdy. The artwork is colorful and thematically appropriate. All of the Resources tokens are thick cardboard, and the meeples are nice and chunky. All in all, good production quality overall.
So how do I really feel about The Lost Expedition? I think it’s ok. It is strategic and entertaining, with the added elements of teamwork and cooperation – you either win together or lose together. As a group, you’ve got to have an adaptable strategy and manage your resources as best you can. Is it a game that I love? No. But it’s one that will probably stay in my collection for a bit, before it moves on to someone who might see some hidden quality that I may have missed. If you want a nice and relatively simple team game to play, maybe check out The Lost Expedition. And if risk/reward or resource management isn’t your jam, then maybe keep looking beyond this one. Purple Phoenix Games give The Lost Expedition an eventful 6 / 12.
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Witches Gone Wicked in Books
Jun 11, 2019
All Clarissa wants to do is become a powerful witch, learn about her mother, and find her high school sweetheart, Derrick.
But it’s not that simple when she’s all but banned from using her volatile magic, her mother was apparently an evil dictator, and her high school sweetheart was swept away in a tornado. Oh, and she caused the tornado.
But, now that she’s a teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, she might have a chance to actually become part of the Witchkin community and achieve her goals.
Despite everyone despising her because of her mother, she’s making new friends like Josie, a video-gaming witch who loves all life, and Khaba, a Djinn with a kilt fetish. She’s also getting attention from the very sexy Julien Thistledown.
If only that jerk Felix Thatch would stop patronizing her and let her learn about her mother.
Witches Gone Wicked is essentially Harry Potter fanfiction,which had me skeptical at first, but it was really entertaining at the same time.
Womby’s is the Title I version of Hogwarts. It’s for witchkin too poor to afford other schools as well as ones who were kicked out of other schools. Clarissa, being an art teacher, feels the strain of this with an annual budget of $20. The previous art teacher apparently had the students make mud pie art because of lack of supplies. I really liked the idea of a Title I Hogwarts and found the entire school and the staff really interesting.
Josie and Khaba are really funny and entertaining. Khaba is a bit of a stereotype, but I didn’t mind it that much. Josie was fantastic. Gotta love someone who loves all life and has the guts to treat spiders like puppies.
My favorite character is perhaps Felix Thatch. He’s very sexy and funny and I love almost every scene including him. He’s definitely not a people person by any stretch, but he has a lot of integrity as a teacher and a person that Clarissa just refuses to see.
Clarissa is actually one of my least favorite characters. Her dislike and suspicion of Thatch is near identical to Harry Potter’s dislike of Snape. The only problem is she’s a full-grown woman!
Clarissa has a tendency to blindly trust everyone nice to her, not thinking for a second that anyone has ulterior motives. And she despises Thatch for being brutally honest with her despite proving time and time again that he has integrity as a person and a teacher.
Felix Thatch does the following:
Trains Clarissa to use her magic (granted, the principal ordered him to)
Emphasizes the importance of people wanting to take advantage of her
Makes students write apology letters to her
Lets one of his students read in his classroom during lunchtime
Expresses concern over said student’s habit of hugging male teachers because someone might try to take advantage of her friendly nature.
Meanwhile, Clarissa thinks Thatch:
is secretly trying to kill her
might be trying to enslave her using sex magic
condones student and teacher relationships
It’s completely insane! Hey, who’s the most likely to take advantage of you? Maybe not the guy who keeps warning you about people taking advantage of you.
Clarissa is sometimes funny and relatable. I like how much she cares about her students and her patience with the troublemakers in her class. That’s actually really admirable.
But half the time she’s juvenile and irrational and I just want to shake some sense into her.
She’s the daughter of a powerful witch who apparently terrorized the Witchkin community with evil and forbidden magic. Clarissa never knew her birth mother personally, but she’s treated with suspicion and fear because her mother killed and ruined the lives of basically everyone.
Because of her lineage and her volatile magic, Clarissa is under constant threat of being fired from Womby’s, drained of her magic, and turned into a Morty (Muggle).
So you think she would be really careful, right?
Lol no.
Clarissa goes around saying she wants to be the most powerful witch ever, uses magic when she’s not supposed to, and makes plans to break into the library’s restricted section. It’s a freaking miracle that she didn’t get drained and turned into a Morty.
Here’s another thing: why doesn’t she want to be drained? I really don’t get it. Because of her magic and her mother:
everyone hates her
her sister died
her high school sweetheart blew away in a tornado
Womby’s almost burned down
anyone can turn her into a sex slave
As far as I can tell, there are very few benefits to her having magic and a staggering amount of drawbacks. Call me a defeatist, but if I was Clarissa I would be begging to be drained. Her conviction that magic is her true identity isn’t good enough for me.
All in all, this book is definitely three out of five stars. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and really like Thatch. Some of the magic concepts are surprisingly sexy, which I definitely enjoyed. I just don’t like Clarissa.
But it’s not that simple when she’s all but banned from using her volatile magic, her mother was apparently an evil dictator, and her high school sweetheart was swept away in a tornado. Oh, and she caused the tornado.
But, now that she’s a teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, she might have a chance to actually become part of the Witchkin community and achieve her goals.
Despite everyone despising her because of her mother, she’s making new friends like Josie, a video-gaming witch who loves all life, and Khaba, a Djinn with a kilt fetish. She’s also getting attention from the very sexy Julien Thistledown.
If only that jerk Felix Thatch would stop patronizing her and let her learn about her mother.
Witches Gone Wicked is essentially Harry Potter fanfiction,which had me skeptical at first, but it was really entertaining at the same time.
Womby’s is the Title I version of Hogwarts. It’s for witchkin too poor to afford other schools as well as ones who were kicked out of other schools. Clarissa, being an art teacher, feels the strain of this with an annual budget of $20. The previous art teacher apparently had the students make mud pie art because of lack of supplies. I really liked the idea of a Title I Hogwarts and found the entire school and the staff really interesting.
Josie and Khaba are really funny and entertaining. Khaba is a bit of a stereotype, but I didn’t mind it that much. Josie was fantastic. Gotta love someone who loves all life and has the guts to treat spiders like puppies.
My favorite character is perhaps Felix Thatch. He’s very sexy and funny and I love almost every scene including him. He’s definitely not a people person by any stretch, but he has a lot of integrity as a teacher and a person that Clarissa just refuses to see.
Clarissa is actually one of my least favorite characters. Her dislike and suspicion of Thatch is near identical to Harry Potter’s dislike of Snape. The only problem is she’s a full-grown woman!
Clarissa has a tendency to blindly trust everyone nice to her, not thinking for a second that anyone has ulterior motives. And she despises Thatch for being brutally honest with her despite proving time and time again that he has integrity as a person and a teacher.
Felix Thatch does the following:
Trains Clarissa to use her magic (granted, the principal ordered him to)
Emphasizes the importance of people wanting to take advantage of her
Makes students write apology letters to her
Lets one of his students read in his classroom during lunchtime
Expresses concern over said student’s habit of hugging male teachers because someone might try to take advantage of her friendly nature.
Meanwhile, Clarissa thinks Thatch:
is secretly trying to kill her
might be trying to enslave her using sex magic
condones student and teacher relationships
It’s completely insane! Hey, who’s the most likely to take advantage of you? Maybe not the guy who keeps warning you about people taking advantage of you.
Clarissa is sometimes funny and relatable. I like how much she cares about her students and her patience with the troublemakers in her class. That’s actually really admirable.
But half the time she’s juvenile and irrational and I just want to shake some sense into her.
She’s the daughter of a powerful witch who apparently terrorized the Witchkin community with evil and forbidden magic. Clarissa never knew her birth mother personally, but she’s treated with suspicion and fear because her mother killed and ruined the lives of basically everyone.
Because of her lineage and her volatile magic, Clarissa is under constant threat of being fired from Womby’s, drained of her magic, and turned into a Morty (Muggle).
So you think she would be really careful, right?
Lol no.
Clarissa goes around saying she wants to be the most powerful witch ever, uses magic when she’s not supposed to, and makes plans to break into the library’s restricted section. It’s a freaking miracle that she didn’t get drained and turned into a Morty.
Here’s another thing: why doesn’t she want to be drained? I really don’t get it. Because of her magic and her mother:
everyone hates her
her sister died
her high school sweetheart blew away in a tornado
Womby’s almost burned down
anyone can turn her into a sex slave
As far as I can tell, there are very few benefits to her having magic and a staggering amount of drawbacks. Call me a defeatist, but if I was Clarissa I would be begging to be drained. Her conviction that magic is her true identity isn’t good enough for me.
All in all, this book is definitely three out of five stars. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and really like Thatch. Some of the magic concepts are surprisingly sexy, which I definitely enjoyed. I just don’t like Clarissa.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in Books
Aug 3, 2018
It doesn’t hurt me to say that I have watched the movie before I read the book. What hurts me to say is that even though I loved the book, I enjoyed the movie way more. But I am not here to compare the book and the movie, because I loved them both in a different way.
‘’I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.’’
Jacob was raised by his grandfather, who told him stories about the amazing house he used to live in, and all the children that lived with him, that had amazing abilities and were different than ordinary people. Grandpa Portman would even show Jacob pictures of the children and their peculiarities - he would tell him stories about the invisible boy, the girl that could float if she didn’t have iron boots, the girl that could breath out fire and the children that could easily lift the heaviest rocks. He would also talk about the danger and the big monsters that the children were so scared of.
And Jacob believed and loved these stories - he shared an amazing bond with his grandpa. Until, of course, he grew up. Suddenly, he was old enough to know this isn’t true, and stopped believing. His grandpa would try to convince him, and warn him that the monsters are coming, but the only conclusion he had is that his grandpa lost his marbles.
But then his grandpa dies, and Jacob sees the monsters himself. Despite everyone believing that he is crazy, just like his grandpa, Jacob now has no choice but to find these strange children - and get answers to all his questions.
The book moves quite slow, and it is not until half of the book that we actually get to meet the children. As a person that watched the movie, this was extremely frustrating, as I kept waiting and waiting, and nothing special happened for 90 pages.
The author puts photographs in the book, and they are perfectly put in the book to explain how a character looks, and to describe the scene better. This was the strawberry to my cake in this book. I immensely enjoyed the beautiful photographs and how perfectly well they fitted with the book and detailed the characters. The only character that I couldn’t imagine was Miss Peregrine - her picture is not at all what I expected. At first, I thought about sharing some of those pictures here - but then, I assumed you might enjoy them more if you explore them yourself while reading the book, as they come - as I could never be able to do that as well as Ransom Riggs did.
For the ones you watched the movie first - the movie is not at all the same as the book. So lower your expectations, otherwise you will be disappointed. The movie seemed to have put three books into one, and swapped people’s abilities, and made up some scenes and places.
The book, however, had parts that you wouldn’t see in the movie, and its own magic of detailed descriptions to your favorite stories and characters.
I hated Jacob. Not just at the beginning, but all the way through. Mister ‘’I-am-too-good-for-everything’’ , Mister ‘’My-family-is-so-rich-I-will-try-my-best-to-get-fired-from-work-because-my-uncle-owns-the-shop’’. No - Just no. As much as I enjoyed his story, his character is very egocentric and unlikeable. I actually liked Grandpa Abe so much more, even though he was only partially and ghostly present in the book.
Miss Peregrine didn’t reveal much of her character as she does in the movie. We don’t get to read a lot about her to be honest, and she was the one person I expected to see more of.
We get to hang around with the children a lot though, and meet Emma, the girl that has fire powers, and that used to be Grandpa Abe’s lover and now Jacob - which is more than weird, but oh well…
‘’She moved to pinch me again but I blocked her hand. I’m no expert on girls, but when one tries to pinch you four times, I’m pretty sure that’s flirting.’’
We get to meet Millard, the invisible boy, Olive, the girl that can float without her iron boots, Fiona, who can make plants and trees grow in seconds and many other lovely children with even lovelier abilities.
This is an amazing story about extraordinary people, children who will amuse you with how cute they can be, a bit of (well, a lot of) time travel and a great valuable lesson that everyone in this world is peculiar and extraordinary in their own way! A must-read to all of you that love some fantasy stories and different worlds.
‘’I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.’’
Jacob was raised by his grandfather, who told him stories about the amazing house he used to live in, and all the children that lived with him, that had amazing abilities and were different than ordinary people. Grandpa Portman would even show Jacob pictures of the children and their peculiarities - he would tell him stories about the invisible boy, the girl that could float if she didn’t have iron boots, the girl that could breath out fire and the children that could easily lift the heaviest rocks. He would also talk about the danger and the big monsters that the children were so scared of.
And Jacob believed and loved these stories - he shared an amazing bond with his grandpa. Until, of course, he grew up. Suddenly, he was old enough to know this isn’t true, and stopped believing. His grandpa would try to convince him, and warn him that the monsters are coming, but the only conclusion he had is that his grandpa lost his marbles.
But then his grandpa dies, and Jacob sees the monsters himself. Despite everyone believing that he is crazy, just like his grandpa, Jacob now has no choice but to find these strange children - and get answers to all his questions.
The book moves quite slow, and it is not until half of the book that we actually get to meet the children. As a person that watched the movie, this was extremely frustrating, as I kept waiting and waiting, and nothing special happened for 90 pages.
The author puts photographs in the book, and they are perfectly put in the book to explain how a character looks, and to describe the scene better. This was the strawberry to my cake in this book. I immensely enjoyed the beautiful photographs and how perfectly well they fitted with the book and detailed the characters. The only character that I couldn’t imagine was Miss Peregrine - her picture is not at all what I expected. At first, I thought about sharing some of those pictures here - but then, I assumed you might enjoy them more if you explore them yourself while reading the book, as they come - as I could never be able to do that as well as Ransom Riggs did.
For the ones you watched the movie first - the movie is not at all the same as the book. So lower your expectations, otherwise you will be disappointed. The movie seemed to have put three books into one, and swapped people’s abilities, and made up some scenes and places.
The book, however, had parts that you wouldn’t see in the movie, and its own magic of detailed descriptions to your favorite stories and characters.
I hated Jacob. Not just at the beginning, but all the way through. Mister ‘’I-am-too-good-for-everything’’ , Mister ‘’My-family-is-so-rich-I-will-try-my-best-to-get-fired-from-work-because-my-uncle-owns-the-shop’’. No - Just no. As much as I enjoyed his story, his character is very egocentric and unlikeable. I actually liked Grandpa Abe so much more, even though he was only partially and ghostly present in the book.
Miss Peregrine didn’t reveal much of her character as she does in the movie. We don’t get to read a lot about her to be honest, and she was the one person I expected to see more of.
We get to hang around with the children a lot though, and meet Emma, the girl that has fire powers, and that used to be Grandpa Abe’s lover and now Jacob - which is more than weird, but oh well…
‘’She moved to pinch me again but I blocked her hand. I’m no expert on girls, but when one tries to pinch you four times, I’m pretty sure that’s flirting.’’
We get to meet Millard, the invisible boy, Olive, the girl that can float without her iron boots, Fiona, who can make plants and trees grow in seconds and many other lovely children with even lovelier abilities.
This is an amazing story about extraordinary people, children who will amuse you with how cute they can be, a bit of (well, a lot of) time travel and a great valuable lesson that everyone in this world is peculiar and extraordinary in their own way! A must-read to all of you that love some fantasy stories and different worlds.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in Books
Oct 26, 2018
It doesn’t hurt me to say that I have watched the movie before I read the book. What hurts me to say is that even though I loved the book, I enjoyed the movie way more. But I am not here to compare the book and the movie, because I loved them both in a different way.
‘’I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.’’
Jacob was raised by his grandfather, who told him stories about the amazing house he used to live in, and all the children that lived with him, that had amazing abilities and were different than ordinary people. Grandpa Portman would even show Jacob pictures of the children and their peculiarities - he would tell him stories about the invisible boy, the girl that could float if she didn’t have iron boots, the girl that could breath out fire and the children that could easily lift the heaviest rocks. He would also talk about the danger and the big monsters that the children were so scared of.
And Jacob believed and loved these stories - he shared an amazing bond with his grandpa. Until, of course, he grew up. Suddenly, he was old enough to know this isn’t true, and stopped believing. His grandpa would try to convince him, and warn him that the monsters are coming, but the only conclusion he had is that his grandpa lost his marbles.
But then his grandpa dies, and Jacob sees the monsters himself. Despite everyone believing that he is crazy, just like his grandpa, Jacob now has no choice but to find these strange children - and get answers to all his questions.
The book moves quite slow, and it is not until half of the book that we actually get to meet the children. As a person that watched the movie, this was extremely frustrating, as I kept waiting and waiting, and nothing special happened for 90 pages.
The author puts photographs in the book, and they are perfectly put in the book to explain how a character looks, and to describe the scene better. This was the strawberry to my cake in this book. I immensely enjoyed the beautiful photographs and how perfectly well they fitted with the book and detailed the characters. The only character that I couldn’t imagine was Miss Peregrine - her picture is not at all what I expected. At first, I thought about sharing some of those pictures here - but then, I assumed you might enjoy them more if you explore them yourself while reading the book, as they come - as I could never be able to do that as well as Ransom Riggs did.
For the ones you watched the movie first - the movie is not at all the same as the book. So lower your expectations, otherwise you will be disappointed. The movie seemed to have put three books into one, and swapped people’s abilities, and made up some scenes and places.
The book, however, had parts that you wouldn’t see in the movie, and its own magic of detailed descriptions to your favorite stories and characters.
I hated Jacob. Not just at the beginning, but all the way through. Mister ‘’I-am-too-good-for-everything’’ , Mister ‘’My-family-is-so-rich-I-will-try-my-best-to-get-fired-from-work-because-my-uncle-owns-the-shop’’. No - Just no. As much as I enjoyed his story, his character is very egocentric and unlikeable. I actually liked Grandpa Abe so much more, even though he was only partially and ghostly present in the book.
Miss Peregrine didn’t reveal much of her character as she does in the movie. We don’t get to read a lot about her to be honest, and she was the one person I expected to see more of.
We get to hang around with the children a lot though, and meet Emma, the girl that has fire powers, and that used to be Grandpa Abe’s lover and now Jacob - which is more than weird, but oh well…
‘’She moved to pinch me again but I blocked her hand. I’m no expert on girls, but when one tries to pinch you four times, I’m pretty sure that’s flirting.’’
We get to meet Millard, the invisible boy, Olive, the girl that can float without her iron boots, Fiona, who can make plants and trees grow in seconds and many other lovely children with even lovelier abilities.
This is an amazing story about extraordinary people, children who will amuse you with how cute they can be, a bit of (well, a lot of) time travel and a great valuable lesson that everyone in this world is peculiar and extraordinary in their own way! A must-read to all of you that love some fantasy stories and different worlds.
‘’I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.’’
Jacob was raised by his grandfather, who told him stories about the amazing house he used to live in, and all the children that lived with him, that had amazing abilities and were different than ordinary people. Grandpa Portman would even show Jacob pictures of the children and their peculiarities - he would tell him stories about the invisible boy, the girl that could float if she didn’t have iron boots, the girl that could breath out fire and the children that could easily lift the heaviest rocks. He would also talk about the danger and the big monsters that the children were so scared of.
And Jacob believed and loved these stories - he shared an amazing bond with his grandpa. Until, of course, he grew up. Suddenly, he was old enough to know this isn’t true, and stopped believing. His grandpa would try to convince him, and warn him that the monsters are coming, but the only conclusion he had is that his grandpa lost his marbles.
But then his grandpa dies, and Jacob sees the monsters himself. Despite everyone believing that he is crazy, just like his grandpa, Jacob now has no choice but to find these strange children - and get answers to all his questions.
The book moves quite slow, and it is not until half of the book that we actually get to meet the children. As a person that watched the movie, this was extremely frustrating, as I kept waiting and waiting, and nothing special happened for 90 pages.
The author puts photographs in the book, and they are perfectly put in the book to explain how a character looks, and to describe the scene better. This was the strawberry to my cake in this book. I immensely enjoyed the beautiful photographs and how perfectly well they fitted with the book and detailed the characters. The only character that I couldn’t imagine was Miss Peregrine - her picture is not at all what I expected. At first, I thought about sharing some of those pictures here - but then, I assumed you might enjoy them more if you explore them yourself while reading the book, as they come - as I could never be able to do that as well as Ransom Riggs did.
For the ones you watched the movie first - the movie is not at all the same as the book. So lower your expectations, otherwise you will be disappointed. The movie seemed to have put three books into one, and swapped people’s abilities, and made up some scenes and places.
The book, however, had parts that you wouldn’t see in the movie, and its own magic of detailed descriptions to your favorite stories and characters.
I hated Jacob. Not just at the beginning, but all the way through. Mister ‘’I-am-too-good-for-everything’’ , Mister ‘’My-family-is-so-rich-I-will-try-my-best-to-get-fired-from-work-because-my-uncle-owns-the-shop’’. No - Just no. As much as I enjoyed his story, his character is very egocentric and unlikeable. I actually liked Grandpa Abe so much more, even though he was only partially and ghostly present in the book.
Miss Peregrine didn’t reveal much of her character as she does in the movie. We don’t get to read a lot about her to be honest, and she was the one person I expected to see more of.
We get to hang around with the children a lot though, and meet Emma, the girl that has fire powers, and that used to be Grandpa Abe’s lover and now Jacob - which is more than weird, but oh well…
‘’She moved to pinch me again but I blocked her hand. I’m no expert on girls, but when one tries to pinch you four times, I’m pretty sure that’s flirting.’’
We get to meet Millard, the invisible boy, Olive, the girl that can float without her iron boots, Fiona, who can make plants and trees grow in seconds and many other lovely children with even lovelier abilities.
This is an amazing story about extraordinary people, children who will amuse you with how cute they can be, a bit of (well, a lot of) time travel and a great valuable lesson that everyone in this world is peculiar and extraordinary in their own way! A must-read to all of you that love some fantasy stories and different worlds.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Way Way Back (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Prior to the press screening for The Way, Way Back I had little knowledge of the film. Despite the heavy hitters in this film, including Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Sam Rockwell, I did not expect to be amazed by the movie. Even as I entered the theater and the studio reps were handing out sunglasses, t-shirts and beach balls I had little hope for the movie. Typically, great films are not promoted through cheap novelties.
Fortunately for us all, The Way, Way Back turned out to be a surprisingly delightful movie with a lot of heart. IT is way, way better than its marketing campaign, that’s for sure.
The movie centers on 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James), a kind of dorky and awkward teenager whose mother, Pam (Toni Collette), brings him along to an extended summer vacation on the Massachusetts coast. Duncan would rather be spending time with his father than his mother and her unlikeable boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), and his stuck up teenage drama-queen daughter, Steph (Zoe Levlin).
Duncan finds little of interest in the small beach town, and immediately feels alienated from the rest of his group. This is until he meets Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), the brainy, older woman (16) who is staying next door with her hilariously blunt mother, Betty (Allison Janney), a friend of Trent’s. The two teens make an immediate, if not awkward connection, and share in the bond of thinking the town sucks, both being children of divorce, and their families are unbearable.
Aside from Susanna, Duncan finds an even better excuse to disappear and avoid the likes of his would-be family at the local water park, where he develops an unlikely friendship with Owen (Sam Rockwell), owner of Water Wizz. Sensing that Duncan is a lonely, outcast teen looking for place to belong, Owen hires him to work at the water park. Duncan is so alienated from his family that he doesn’t even bother mention to them that he is employed. Instead, he pretends to that he is just hanging out all day not really doing anything.
If this all sounds eerily familiar, it’s because The Way, Way Back follows a formula that most standard-issue summer vacation/coming of age movie does. But familiar isn’t always bad. The Way, Way Back has genuinely funny humor to it, and the characters are very relatable. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that you were comparing them to others in your life, or that you may have met along the way. I know I was.
In fact, the film’s undeniable charm lies in its appealing, and not so appealing, characters, all portrayed excellently by a cast with a surprising amount of credibility for a film of this genre. James, a relatively new name, plays Duncan superbly, displaying the sort of low self-esteem that drives other kids to mock him. Anyone who does, or has, ever retreated into a lonely, nerdy, self-absorbed world will understand his angst and immediately attach themselves to Duncan. Especially in the early scenes that Duncan shares with Susanna, who obviously terrifies him with her confidence and beauty.
Rockwell steals every scene he is in as the ever-wisecracking Owen. He is your typical summer comedy character that you see in every film of this sort – the fast-talking adult male prankster whom all the kids flock to – but Rockwell plays the part with great depth. Beneath all of his bravado and clowning, there is clearly a man who has a lot of soul and cares about those around him. This side of Owen is brought out by Caitlin (Maya Rudolph), Owen’s park manager and sometimes girlfriend.
Carell takes on an unusual to most role as Trent, the films antagonist, if there really is one in this genre. He is one of the guys who is kind of a jerk, but not enough for you to really hate. Collette plays her part well, but doesn’t really get a significant amount of focus in the film. The funniest character of the fill is the over-the-top inappropriate Betty, a mom with a mean steak who does her best to embarrass her children and make everyone cringe with her nosy questions and open sexual frankness. Janney plays her with perfect comic timing.
I spoke with a friend, who also screened this movie, and he felt the movie played it too safe. He wanted it to explore the film’s darker themes more (family dysfunction, career frustration, teenage alienation) with much more insight. The one point I did agree with him was that Collette’s character was too underwritten to fully explain Pam’s tense relationships with, well… everyone. This is accentuated by the ending of the film where based on the buildup, I expected a much different action from her.
Still, The Way, Way Back is a delightful and smartly funny film that is sure to entertain you, and has a bit more gravitas than most summer comedies. I can tell you that I will be sporting my white “Ray-Ban”-esque sunglasses.
Fortunately for us all, The Way, Way Back turned out to be a surprisingly delightful movie with a lot of heart. IT is way, way better than its marketing campaign, that’s for sure.
The movie centers on 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James), a kind of dorky and awkward teenager whose mother, Pam (Toni Collette), brings him along to an extended summer vacation on the Massachusetts coast. Duncan would rather be spending time with his father than his mother and her unlikeable boyfriend, Trent (Steve Carell), and his stuck up teenage drama-queen daughter, Steph (Zoe Levlin).
Duncan finds little of interest in the small beach town, and immediately feels alienated from the rest of his group. This is until he meets Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), the brainy, older woman (16) who is staying next door with her hilariously blunt mother, Betty (Allison Janney), a friend of Trent’s. The two teens make an immediate, if not awkward connection, and share in the bond of thinking the town sucks, both being children of divorce, and their families are unbearable.
Aside from Susanna, Duncan finds an even better excuse to disappear and avoid the likes of his would-be family at the local water park, where he develops an unlikely friendship with Owen (Sam Rockwell), owner of Water Wizz. Sensing that Duncan is a lonely, outcast teen looking for place to belong, Owen hires him to work at the water park. Duncan is so alienated from his family that he doesn’t even bother mention to them that he is employed. Instead, he pretends to that he is just hanging out all day not really doing anything.
If this all sounds eerily familiar, it’s because The Way, Way Back follows a formula that most standard-issue summer vacation/coming of age movie does. But familiar isn’t always bad. The Way, Way Back has genuinely funny humor to it, and the characters are very relatable. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that you were comparing them to others in your life, or that you may have met along the way. I know I was.
In fact, the film’s undeniable charm lies in its appealing, and not so appealing, characters, all portrayed excellently by a cast with a surprising amount of credibility for a film of this genre. James, a relatively new name, plays Duncan superbly, displaying the sort of low self-esteem that drives other kids to mock him. Anyone who does, or has, ever retreated into a lonely, nerdy, self-absorbed world will understand his angst and immediately attach themselves to Duncan. Especially in the early scenes that Duncan shares with Susanna, who obviously terrifies him with her confidence and beauty.
Rockwell steals every scene he is in as the ever-wisecracking Owen. He is your typical summer comedy character that you see in every film of this sort – the fast-talking adult male prankster whom all the kids flock to – but Rockwell plays the part with great depth. Beneath all of his bravado and clowning, there is clearly a man who has a lot of soul and cares about those around him. This side of Owen is brought out by Caitlin (Maya Rudolph), Owen’s park manager and sometimes girlfriend.
Carell takes on an unusual to most role as Trent, the films antagonist, if there really is one in this genre. He is one of the guys who is kind of a jerk, but not enough for you to really hate. Collette plays her part well, but doesn’t really get a significant amount of focus in the film. The funniest character of the fill is the over-the-top inappropriate Betty, a mom with a mean steak who does her best to embarrass her children and make everyone cringe with her nosy questions and open sexual frankness. Janney plays her with perfect comic timing.
I spoke with a friend, who also screened this movie, and he felt the movie played it too safe. He wanted it to explore the film’s darker themes more (family dysfunction, career frustration, teenage alienation) with much more insight. The one point I did agree with him was that Collette’s character was too underwritten to fully explain Pam’s tense relationships with, well… everyone. This is accentuated by the ending of the film where based on the buildup, I expected a much different action from her.
Still, The Way, Way Back is a delightful and smartly funny film that is sure to entertain you, and has a bit more gravitas than most summer comedies. I can tell you that I will be sporting my white “Ray-Ban”-esque sunglasses.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Hierarchy in Tabletop Games
Oct 1, 2019
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the next installment in the Button Shy wallet series is here! *Crowd roar* After my discovery of Button Shy through their Kickstarter for Sprawlopolis, I have actively been on the lookout for their games. When I saw the call for reviewers for their newest card game, I knew I wanted to be involved! So how does Hierarchy hold up compared to their other wildly successful wallet games? Keep reading to find out!
Hierarchy is an abstract strategy game of perfect information for 2 players. Comprised of a mere 14 playing cards (excluding title and reference cards) it is quite the compact game – as is to be expected from the Button Shy crew. In a game of Hierarchy, players take turns playing cards from their open hand (no hidden information here!) on top of the last card played by their opponent, per the placement restrictions. To win, you must be able to play a card on top of which your opponent is unable to play a card – effectively ‘checkmating’ them and claiming victory for yourself!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. As this is a preview copy of the game, I do not know if the final rules or components will be similar or different to what we were provided. -T
Here’s how it works in detail. Each player first receives a Quick Reference Card, and is then dealt half of the deck (7 cards). The cards are double-sided to represent the two player colors – purple and gold – so each player flips their 7 cards to show their chosen color. Since this is a game of perfect information, all cards are laid out on the table, so each player always knows what cards their opponent has available to them. The player who was dealt the ‘Imposter’ card goes first. Each card has a specific number, ranging from 1 to 13, as well as a specific ability. To play a card, its number must be higher than that of the card below it, unless the card’s specific ability says it can be played otherwise. For example, if I play the Queen (#12), Travis could play the King (#13, numerically higher) or the Assassin (#1) since its power allows it to be played atop any card except for the Tower and Leper. Don’t be worried about having to memorize all the card abilities – they are all detailed on the Quick Reference Cards (see photo below). Play continues back and forth until one player is unable to play a card, either because they have no cards left at all or because they have no valid cards left to play. That player loses the game, and the remaining player is the top of the Hierarchy! (Roll credits)
Let’s talk components first. They’re excellent, which is no surprise coming from ButtonShy. Of course, we just have a preview copy of the game, so I can only imagine that the card quality might be up for improvement during the Kickstarter. That being said, the cards we received are nice and sturdy, as is the tell-tale wallet of a ButtonShy game. The text on the cards is a good size, and the font is easy to read. The artwork is fine, but quite honestly not something I looked at in depth until Travis mentioned the style. I think that’s because the cards are all monochrome, the art just didn’t really draw my eye. Not a knock on the game, just something I noticed! Speaking of color, I personally love the player color choices of Purple and Gold – the school colors of my Alma Mater ((the University of Northern Iowa, go Panthers!)(also of the Alma Mater of the rest of us – Western Illinois University – GO NECKS! -T)). Maybe I’m biased, but I think those two colors are a great combination 🙂
And how about the gameplay? I think it’s excellent. For such a compact and ‘light’ game, the strategy required for success keeps the game extremely engaging. You always know the cards your opponent has, and you’ve got to be thinking at least several turns in advance to try to back them into a corner while not letting yourself fall victim to an unnoticed strategic play. Another neat thing about Hierarchy is how quickly it plays – typically in 20 minutes or less. You might have to devote a decent amount of brainpower to outwitting your opponent, but you definitely don’t need to devote hours of time during your game night for this game, and I love that. Gamers who enjoy games like Citadels or Love Letter might enjoy the familiarity of Hierarchy’s gameplay coupled with the intimacy of a strictly 2-player game. The final verdict from me is that Button Shy has another hit on their hands with Hierarchy. I am very much looking forward to following the campaign, and definitely plan to pull this game out many times in my future!
Hierarchy is an abstract strategy game of perfect information for 2 players. Comprised of a mere 14 playing cards (excluding title and reference cards) it is quite the compact game – as is to be expected from the Button Shy crew. In a game of Hierarchy, players take turns playing cards from their open hand (no hidden information here!) on top of the last card played by their opponent, per the placement restrictions. To win, you must be able to play a card on top of which your opponent is unable to play a card – effectively ‘checkmating’ them and claiming victory for yourself!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. As this is a preview copy of the game, I do not know if the final rules or components will be similar or different to what we were provided. -T
Here’s how it works in detail. Each player first receives a Quick Reference Card, and is then dealt half of the deck (7 cards). The cards are double-sided to represent the two player colors – purple and gold – so each player flips their 7 cards to show their chosen color. Since this is a game of perfect information, all cards are laid out on the table, so each player always knows what cards their opponent has available to them. The player who was dealt the ‘Imposter’ card goes first. Each card has a specific number, ranging from 1 to 13, as well as a specific ability. To play a card, its number must be higher than that of the card below it, unless the card’s specific ability says it can be played otherwise. For example, if I play the Queen (#12), Travis could play the King (#13, numerically higher) or the Assassin (#1) since its power allows it to be played atop any card except for the Tower and Leper. Don’t be worried about having to memorize all the card abilities – they are all detailed on the Quick Reference Cards (see photo below). Play continues back and forth until one player is unable to play a card, either because they have no cards left at all or because they have no valid cards left to play. That player loses the game, and the remaining player is the top of the Hierarchy! (Roll credits)
Let’s talk components first. They’re excellent, which is no surprise coming from ButtonShy. Of course, we just have a preview copy of the game, so I can only imagine that the card quality might be up for improvement during the Kickstarter. That being said, the cards we received are nice and sturdy, as is the tell-tale wallet of a ButtonShy game. The text on the cards is a good size, and the font is easy to read. The artwork is fine, but quite honestly not something I looked at in depth until Travis mentioned the style. I think that’s because the cards are all monochrome, the art just didn’t really draw my eye. Not a knock on the game, just something I noticed! Speaking of color, I personally love the player color choices of Purple and Gold – the school colors of my Alma Mater ((the University of Northern Iowa, go Panthers!)(also of the Alma Mater of the rest of us – Western Illinois University – GO NECKS! -T)). Maybe I’m biased, but I think those two colors are a great combination 🙂
And how about the gameplay? I think it’s excellent. For such a compact and ‘light’ game, the strategy required for success keeps the game extremely engaging. You always know the cards your opponent has, and you’ve got to be thinking at least several turns in advance to try to back them into a corner while not letting yourself fall victim to an unnoticed strategic play. Another neat thing about Hierarchy is how quickly it plays – typically in 20 minutes or less. You might have to devote a decent amount of brainpower to outwitting your opponent, but you definitely don’t need to devote hours of time during your game night for this game, and I love that. Gamers who enjoy games like Citadels or Love Letter might enjoy the familiarity of Hierarchy’s gameplay coupled with the intimacy of a strictly 2-player game. The final verdict from me is that Button Shy has another hit on their hands with Hierarchy. I am very much looking forward to following the campaign, and definitely plan to pull this game out many times in my future!
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Lestranger than fiction.
I must be one of the last people to watch this in the cinema, thanks to an irritating bout of sickness and – well – frankly total bloody apathy! For me this is the franchise that nobody asked for and nobody wanted. (Well, “nobody” is probably overstating the case, since there is probably a bunch of Potterheads out there who are shouting at me right now). But judging from the opinion of my daughter-in-law, who could win “Mastermind” with her knowledge of the original Potter series as her specialist subject, I am certainly not alone in my lack of enthusiasm.
The Plot
I’d really love to tell you about the plot. I really would! But I would struggle to pull all the multitude of strands together from J.K. Rowling’s story and coherently explain them to anyone. If Rowling had put ten thousand monkeys (not a million – it’s no bloody Shakespeare) into a room with typewriters and locked the door I wouldn’t be surprised.
Let me try at a high level….. The arch-criminal wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) is being tortured in ‘Trump Tower’, but manages to escape and flees to Paris in pursuit of a mysterious circus performer called Credence (Ezra Miller) and his bewitched companion Nagini (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) played fetchingly by Claudia Kim. Someone needs to stop him, and all eyes are on Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law). But he is unable to do so, since he and Grindelwald are “closer than brothers” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). So a reluctant and UK-grounded Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is smuggled into the danger zone… which suits him just fine since his love Tina (Katherine Waterston) is working for the ministry there, and the couple are currently estranged due to a (topical) bout of ‘Fake News’.
Throw in a potential love triangle between Newt, his brother Theseus (Callum Turner) and old Hogwart’s schoolmate Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz) and about a half dozen other sub-plots and you have… well… a complete bugger’s muggle – – sorry – – muddle.
A plot that’s all at sea
Above all, I really can’t explain the crux of the plot. A venerable diarrhoea of exposition in a crypt, during an inexplicably quiet fifteen minutes (given ‘im-who-can-be-named is next door with about a thousand other people!) left me completely bewildered. A bizarre event at sea (no spoilers) would seem to make absolutely NO SENSE when considered with another reveal at the end of the film. I thought I must have clearly missed something… or I’d just not been intelligent enough to process the information…. or…. it was actually completely bonkers! Actually, I think it’s the latter: in desperation I went on a fan site that tried to explain the plot. While it was explained there, the explanation aligned with what I thought had happened: but it made no mention of the ridiculousness of the random coincidence involved!
The turns
The film’s a mess. Which is a shame since everyone involved tries really hard. Depp oozes evil very effectively (he proves that nicely on arriving in Paris, and doubles-down about 5 minutes later: #veryverydark). Redmayne replays his Newt-act effectively but once again (and I see I made the same comments in my “Fantastic Beasts” review) his character mumbles again so much that many of his lines are unintelligible.
I also complained last time that the excellent actress Katherine Waterston was criminally underused as the tentative love interest Tina. this trend unfortunately continues unabated in this film…. you’ll struggle afterwards to write down what she actually did in this film.
Jacob (Dan Fogler) and Queenie (Alison Sudol, looking for all the world in some scenes like Rachel Weisz) reprise their roles in a sub-plot that goes nowhere in particular.
Of the newcomers, Jude Law as Dumbledore is a class-act but has very little screen time: hopefully he will get more to do next time around. Zoë Kravitz impresses as Leta.
Wizards of the screen
As you would expect from a David Yates / David Heyman Potter collaboration, the product design, costume design and special effects are all excellent. Some scenes are truly impressive – an ‘explosion’ in a Parisian garret is particularly spectacular.
But special effects alone do not a great film make. Many reviews I’ve seen complain that this was a ‘filler’ film… a set-up film for the rest of the series. And I can understand that view. If you analyse the film overall, virtually NOTHING of importance actually happens: it’s like the “Order of the Phoenix” of the prequels.
Final Thoughts
I dragged myself along to see this one because “I thought I should”. The third in the series will really need to sparkle to make me want to see it. If J.K. Rowling were to take me advice (she won’t – she NEVER returns my calls!) then she would sculpt the story-arc but leave the screenwriting to someone better. The blame for this one, I’m afraid, lies at Rowling’s door alone.
The Plot
I’d really love to tell you about the plot. I really would! But I would struggle to pull all the multitude of strands together from J.K. Rowling’s story and coherently explain them to anyone. If Rowling had put ten thousand monkeys (not a million – it’s no bloody Shakespeare) into a room with typewriters and locked the door I wouldn’t be surprised.
Let me try at a high level….. The arch-criminal wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) is being tortured in ‘Trump Tower’, but manages to escape and flees to Paris in pursuit of a mysterious circus performer called Credence (Ezra Miller) and his bewitched companion Nagini (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) played fetchingly by Claudia Kim. Someone needs to stop him, and all eyes are on Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law). But he is unable to do so, since he and Grindelwald are “closer than brothers” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). So a reluctant and UK-grounded Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is smuggled into the danger zone… which suits him just fine since his love Tina (Katherine Waterston) is working for the ministry there, and the couple are currently estranged due to a (topical) bout of ‘Fake News’.
Throw in a potential love triangle between Newt, his brother Theseus (Callum Turner) and old Hogwart’s schoolmate Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz) and about a half dozen other sub-plots and you have… well… a complete bugger’s muggle – – sorry – – muddle.
A plot that’s all at sea
Above all, I really can’t explain the crux of the plot. A venerable diarrhoea of exposition in a crypt, during an inexplicably quiet fifteen minutes (given ‘im-who-can-be-named is next door with about a thousand other people!) left me completely bewildered. A bizarre event at sea (no spoilers) would seem to make absolutely NO SENSE when considered with another reveal at the end of the film. I thought I must have clearly missed something… or I’d just not been intelligent enough to process the information…. or…. it was actually completely bonkers! Actually, I think it’s the latter: in desperation I went on a fan site that tried to explain the plot. While it was explained there, the explanation aligned with what I thought had happened: but it made no mention of the ridiculousness of the random coincidence involved!
The turns
The film’s a mess. Which is a shame since everyone involved tries really hard. Depp oozes evil very effectively (he proves that nicely on arriving in Paris, and doubles-down about 5 minutes later: #veryverydark). Redmayne replays his Newt-act effectively but once again (and I see I made the same comments in my “Fantastic Beasts” review) his character mumbles again so much that many of his lines are unintelligible.
I also complained last time that the excellent actress Katherine Waterston was criminally underused as the tentative love interest Tina. this trend unfortunately continues unabated in this film…. you’ll struggle afterwards to write down what she actually did in this film.
Jacob (Dan Fogler) and Queenie (Alison Sudol, looking for all the world in some scenes like Rachel Weisz) reprise their roles in a sub-plot that goes nowhere in particular.
Of the newcomers, Jude Law as Dumbledore is a class-act but has very little screen time: hopefully he will get more to do next time around. Zoë Kravitz impresses as Leta.
Wizards of the screen
As you would expect from a David Yates / David Heyman Potter collaboration, the product design, costume design and special effects are all excellent. Some scenes are truly impressive – an ‘explosion’ in a Parisian garret is particularly spectacular.
But special effects alone do not a great film make. Many reviews I’ve seen complain that this was a ‘filler’ film… a set-up film for the rest of the series. And I can understand that view. If you analyse the film overall, virtually NOTHING of importance actually happens: it’s like the “Order of the Phoenix” of the prequels.
Final Thoughts
I dragged myself along to see this one because “I thought I should”. The third in the series will really need to sparkle to make me want to see it. If J.K. Rowling were to take me advice (she won’t – she NEVER returns my calls!) then she would sculpt the story-arc but leave the screenwriting to someone better. The blame for this one, I’m afraid, lies at Rowling’s door alone.
Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Mork And Mindy in TV
Apr 20, 2017
Classic Comedy (2 more)
Feel Good show
Life Lessons
Na-nu Na-nu
Now here's a show that not many people know, especially someone of my age because it's a show that's been off the air for 3 decades. However if you are a fan of the late great Robin Williams, this show is a must see.
The show is actually a spin off, after the character of Mork appeared in an episode of Happy Days. After the then unknown Robin Williams became so popular in his role that the producers decided to give him his own show.
One great thing about Mork and Mindy is that we learn life lessons through Mork learning about human life. With lessons about lying to people, talking to strangers, and the importance of laws etc. It's packed to the brim with humour both scripted by the writers, and some improvised by the brilliantly entertaining Robin Williams which made him really popular with the audience.
Mork from Ork, gets himself into all kinds of trouble on the show and the show is filled with memorable words and phrases such as "Na-Nu Na-Nu" which, from how it's used in the show, is used as "Hello" and "Goodbye". There's also "Shazbot" which seems to be a curse word, meaning something along the lines of "Damn".
Some of the special effects of the show are, to this day and age, very bad. However some of the effects are brilliant and practical including the moving furniture when Mork uses his 'alien abilities'.
One of my favourite aspects of the show is seeing the other cast members trying not to laugh too much at Robin Williams' performance especially when he improvises.
At the end of each episode, Mork must report back to his world leader Orson (voiced by Ralph James) and tell him about what he's learned on Earth.
The show ran for 4 seasons and remains as one of the funniest shows I have seen.
The show is actually a spin off, after the character of Mork appeared in an episode of Happy Days. After the then unknown Robin Williams became so popular in his role that the producers decided to give him his own show.
One great thing about Mork and Mindy is that we learn life lessons through Mork learning about human life. With lessons about lying to people, talking to strangers, and the importance of laws etc. It's packed to the brim with humour both scripted by the writers, and some improvised by the brilliantly entertaining Robin Williams which made him really popular with the audience.
Mork from Ork, gets himself into all kinds of trouble on the show and the show is filled with memorable words and phrases such as "Na-Nu Na-Nu" which, from how it's used in the show, is used as "Hello" and "Goodbye". There's also "Shazbot" which seems to be a curse word, meaning something along the lines of "Damn".
Some of the special effects of the show are, to this day and age, very bad. However some of the effects are brilliant and practical including the moving furniture when Mork uses his 'alien abilities'.
One of my favourite aspects of the show is seeing the other cast members trying not to laugh too much at Robin Williams' performance especially when he improvises.
At the end of each episode, Mork must report back to his world leader Orson (voiced by Ralph James) and tell him about what he's learned on Earth.
The show ran for 4 seasons and remains as one of the funniest shows I have seen.
Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated Holding the Fort in Books
Jan 13, 2018
The plot was normally what you would expect in this type of novel. What I really loved about this book was the comedy throughout. I wasn’t really expecting some laughs. It made the book stand out and an enjoyable read. The romance within was also nicely done. There were moments where it tore you up inside but at the same time makes you squeal for joy because you were cheering Daniel and Louisa on. But the ending! Oh my the ending got me all girly and squealing. I’d have to say it was one of the most beautiful endings I have read so far.
But my oh my the romance in this book was excellent! The things Daniel does was enough to make you swoon. The chemistry he had with Louisa was also very well done and although there were a few frustrating moments were Louisa could just tell Daniel outright what the truth was, I guess it had to be dragged out to make the story complete (albeit not necessary. You sort of knew what was going to happen once Daniel found out the whole story.)
Louisa is also very likable and her willingness to change paths is admirable and fun to read. I was hoping for two hellions for her to deal with (which the two girls were at first) but Louisa didn’t have to do much to get them to like her (which proves how likable and fun going she was.)
As a non Christian reader, there are moments of the book where it gets preachy but it’s to be expected and one can gloss over those parts. It’s not extremely central to the book if you’re there to just read for the romance and the characters.
I’m looking forward to reading the next few books and I hope they cover the rest of the characters at the fort. I’d love to know more about their stories and hope they find the same happiness Daniel and Louisa did. :)
But my oh my the romance in this book was excellent! The things Daniel does was enough to make you swoon. The chemistry he had with Louisa was also very well done and although there were a few frustrating moments were Louisa could just tell Daniel outright what the truth was, I guess it had to be dragged out to make the story complete (albeit not necessary. You sort of knew what was going to happen once Daniel found out the whole story.)
Louisa is also very likable and her willingness to change paths is admirable and fun to read. I was hoping for two hellions for her to deal with (which the two girls were at first) but Louisa didn’t have to do much to get them to like her (which proves how likable and fun going she was.)
As a non Christian reader, there are moments of the book where it gets preachy but it’s to be expected and one can gloss over those parts. It’s not extremely central to the book if you’re there to just read for the romance and the characters.
I’m looking forward to reading the next few books and I hope they cover the rest of the characters at the fort. I’d love to know more about their stories and hope they find the same happiness Daniel and Louisa did. :)
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Cowl Girls: The Neck's Big Thing to Knit in Books
Apr 27, 2018
You may be asking, "What on earth is a Cowl?" Up until I saw this book, I had no idea. A Cowl is like a hat without a top that sits around your neck, a scarf that is connected at both ends, a super-thick necklace that keeps you warm—or cool—and looks fashionable and sophisticated at the same time. Some of the patterns cover just your neck, while others cover neck and shoulders. My favorite is a hood that transfers into a neck-shoulder sort of warmer. And it has buttons on it. How much better can you get?
Everyone needs something to keep their neck warm when it's cold, and long rectangles are a little old and, honestly, a little boring. There aren't that many different ways you can knit a scarf. But there are a million different things you can do with a Cowl, a million different looks you can go for, and a million different variations you can do with each of the 41 patterns in this book.
If you can't tell by the photos on the cover, they're all pretty unique. Tweak decor and color schemes and you have literally endless possibilities.
Along with the cowl patterns, there are some pointers and some tips on what makes a good cowl, different ways you can knit them, how to convert patterns, and a page of resources.
I am so excited about this book. Although there are some situations that certainly call for a scarf—and some scarves that demand to be worn—cowls are an exciting change that meet a need and manage to look stylish and fresh at the same time. Cowl Girls will escort you into "the neck's big thing to knit."
The patterns themselves are diverse and versatile. There is a pattern in here for everyone, hitting every style you could possibly aim for. The difficulty level ranges from beginner to advanced.
Recommendation: Beginner through advanced knitters.
Everyone needs something to keep their neck warm when it's cold, and long rectangles are a little old and, honestly, a little boring. There aren't that many different ways you can knit a scarf. But there are a million different things you can do with a Cowl, a million different looks you can go for, and a million different variations you can do with each of the 41 patterns in this book.
If you can't tell by the photos on the cover, they're all pretty unique. Tweak decor and color schemes and you have literally endless possibilities.
Along with the cowl patterns, there are some pointers and some tips on what makes a good cowl, different ways you can knit them, how to convert patterns, and a page of resources.
I am so excited about this book. Although there are some situations that certainly call for a scarf—and some scarves that demand to be worn—cowls are an exciting change that meet a need and manage to look stylish and fresh at the same time. Cowl Girls will escort you into "the neck's big thing to knit."
The patterns themselves are diverse and versatile. There is a pattern in here for everyone, hitting every style you could possibly aim for. The difficulty level ranges from beginner to advanced.
Recommendation: Beginner through advanced knitters.