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Gail (4 KP) rated Truth (Alex Conner Chronicles, #2) in Books
Jun 4, 2018
Life is a tornado for Alex Connor as we continue where we left off in book one. Now she is training hard for a fight that will test her strength and will. This book has everything in it. A weird love triangle and some interesting guys. Alex reunites with her mother and now is looking for her dad.
I have been pulling for Justin since book one hoping that she would pick him. I would’ve never guess the twist she throws at us in this book. Ryan doesn’t do it for me so I’m hoping that he cast some spell on her. Lol!
You get so much from these books that you don’t want to put them down or wait for the next book. I love the mystery and all the magic the author wrote. I also enjoyed how Alex could be sweet or spicy. The different powers and possibilities the author gives us just sucks you in.
I don’t really like love triangles because someone always gets hurt and this book is clearly no different. It’s not that hard to pick one guy. But we wouldn’t be reading if we didn’t enjoy a little drama.
I have been pulling for Justin since book one hoping that she would pick him. I would’ve never guess the twist she throws at us in this book. Ryan doesn’t do it for me so I’m hoping that he cast some spell on her. Lol!
You get so much from these books that you don’t want to put them down or wait for the next book. I love the mystery and all the magic the author wrote. I also enjoyed how Alex could be sweet or spicy. The different powers and possibilities the author gives us just sucks you in.
I don’t really like love triangles because someone always gets hurt and this book is clearly no different. It’s not that hard to pick one guy. But we wouldn’t be reading if we didn’t enjoy a little drama.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) in Movies
Nov 8, 2019
I genuinely find The Phantom Menace really hard to review.
I was 11 years old when it came out in cinemas, and I of course absolutely loved it, and I did for a good few years.
As I grew older, it became apparent that the original Star Wars trilogy was a set of films that truly stood the test of time, a statement that doesn't hold true to the prequel films, but when I look back on Episode I in particular, it's a huge part of the Star Wars that I grew up with, so I really can't hate on it too aggressively!
Episode 1 is undeniably geared towards a younger audience. It has a pretty basic script, colourful characters, low brow humour, and is dripping with CGI. This direction is a huge part of it's downfall, with infamous characters like Jar Jar Binks being a big source of fan contempt. Likewise, young Anakin Skywalker was also not received well by a lot of fans, a character geared towards the young audience TPM is aimed at, and so unbelievably far away from the iconic villain he will eventually become.
A big part of Episode I that I personally dislike is the need to give a backstory to everything. An example of this is the scientific explanation behind The Force, taking away the mystical side of it. (I'm also not a huge fan of C3-PO being built by a pre-adolescent Darth Vader, but here we are)
The above mentioned CGI is completely overloaded. It's aged pretty badly when it comes to characters like the Gungans, and is a far cry from the practical effects and sets of the original trilogy.
Saying all this though, there is still a load of stuff I love about TPM, and I don't care what you think...
Ewan McGregor is great casting as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, and is the beating heart of this whole trilogy.
I also like Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon.
It gets a lot of flack, but I love the pod race scene (sue me) and then of course, Darth Maul. No backstory is given here, just a badass Sith Lord with a dual ended lightsaber, and that's all we need to know.
The Phantom Menace, isn't the most gracious start to the chronological Star Wars story, but it still has an odd sort of charm and it's certainly not the worst Star Wars film out there.
To be honest, I lost count a long time ago in regards to how many times I've seen it, and dammit, I'll watch it again 🖕
I was 11 years old when it came out in cinemas, and I of course absolutely loved it, and I did for a good few years.
As I grew older, it became apparent that the original Star Wars trilogy was a set of films that truly stood the test of time, a statement that doesn't hold true to the prequel films, but when I look back on Episode I in particular, it's a huge part of the Star Wars that I grew up with, so I really can't hate on it too aggressively!
Episode 1 is undeniably geared towards a younger audience. It has a pretty basic script, colourful characters, low brow humour, and is dripping with CGI. This direction is a huge part of it's downfall, with infamous characters like Jar Jar Binks being a big source of fan contempt. Likewise, young Anakin Skywalker was also not received well by a lot of fans, a character geared towards the young audience TPM is aimed at, and so unbelievably far away from the iconic villain he will eventually become.
A big part of Episode I that I personally dislike is the need to give a backstory to everything. An example of this is the scientific explanation behind The Force, taking away the mystical side of it. (I'm also not a huge fan of C3-PO being built by a pre-adolescent Darth Vader, but here we are)
The above mentioned CGI is completely overloaded. It's aged pretty badly when it comes to characters like the Gungans, and is a far cry from the practical effects and sets of the original trilogy.
Saying all this though, there is still a load of stuff I love about TPM, and I don't care what you think...
Ewan McGregor is great casting as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, and is the beating heart of this whole trilogy.
I also like Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon.
It gets a lot of flack, but I love the pod race scene (sue me) and then of course, Darth Maul. No backstory is given here, just a badass Sith Lord with a dual ended lightsaber, and that's all we need to know.
The Phantom Menace, isn't the most gracious start to the chronological Star Wars story, but it still has an odd sort of charm and it's certainly not the worst Star Wars film out there.
To be honest, I lost count a long time ago in regards to how many times I've seen it, and dammit, I'll watch it again 🖕
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated A Window Opens in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Alice Pearse is faced with a dilemma when her husband decides to leave his job. She leaver her part-time job that she really enjoys to find full-time work. She thinks that she may have found the perfect job(I would think so too) getting to work with books all day long. It's a dream come true. Unfortunately, this job also comes at a time when there is so much going on in her personal life. Will Alice be able to still be present for her family as well as her new job? Will this job live up to the excitement that was offered to her at the beginning, or will things change?
I was very enthusiastic to read this book. Imagine a job where all you do is read books and talk to publishers all day long. That is my dream job. The story moved very slowly for me. Taking me 10 days to read this book, and I wasn't drawn to it in my down time to pick it up, although I was curious to find out the outcome of the book. The second half moved along a bit quicker for me.
The thing that really drew me to this book was the main character Alice. She is a book lover and her job is to read and vet books for a new concept of bookstore. Who wouldn't want a job like that, especially as a book lover. I'm not sure why is always seems that when one thing is going right in your life, other things seem to go terribly wrong. Alice is faced with many challenges after taking this position and they seem to be all flying at her face at the same time. From issues with her parents health, to marital problems and guilt of not being there for her kids as often as she was before she took the job. These are things we all face in life and how we handle them will determine our strength and character. How Alice handles these problems will be a test to her as a woman, wife, mother, daughter, friend and employee. How many balls can we juggle before they all come crashing down upon us?
I was very enthusiastic to read this book. Imagine a job where all you do is read books and talk to publishers all day long. That is my dream job. The story moved very slowly for me. Taking me 10 days to read this book, and I wasn't drawn to it in my down time to pick it up, although I was curious to find out the outcome of the book. The second half moved along a bit quicker for me.
The thing that really drew me to this book was the main character Alice. She is a book lover and her job is to read and vet books for a new concept of bookstore. Who wouldn't want a job like that, especially as a book lover. I'm not sure why is always seems that when one thing is going right in your life, other things seem to go terribly wrong. Alice is faced with many challenges after taking this position and they seem to be all flying at her face at the same time. From issues with her parents health, to marital problems and guilt of not being there for her kids as often as she was before she took the job. These are things we all face in life and how we handle them will determine our strength and character. How Alice handles these problems will be a test to her as a woman, wife, mother, daughter, friend and employee. How many balls can we juggle before they all come crashing down upon us?
WiFi Check - speed tool
Utilities and Productivity
App
This app will allow you to test and troubleshoot your wifi network. It will be very useful when you...
Rhubarbio (27 KP) rated A Game of Thrones the Board Game (2nd Edition) in Tabletop Games
May 26, 2019
Like Risk, but without die rolls (2 more)
Deeply strategic game
Opportunity, like the books/TV show to make alliances with other house and then...honour them or betray them, often with game changing consequences.
Very long game! Circa 4-5 hours (5 more)
Games explanation takes a long time
Learning curve is high and will dissuade most players, given the time commitment and rules unfamiliarity, which can be exceptionally frustrating.
Need 6 players for game to be properly balanced
Will lead to a lot of analysis paralysis, requiring a bullish player to force players to make a decision
May lose you friends...
A Marmite Experience!
I love this game, but despite owning it for over 3 years, I have only played it 3 times. Each time, rules explanation took an hour and are not completely intuitive. Once explained, I almost guarantee that most players will not be able to remember the number of nuances involved in this game, leading to making a lot of random decisions at the beginning. However, as I explored the game more, I realised it addressed all the deficiencies I see in Risk - there is no chance from the roll of a die here, nor does being the most powerful player mean that things cannot turn, by virtue of the fact that players have a finite number of armies and units they can hold on the board...the more you expand, the thinner your forces and therefore easier for someone to start taking some of your territories. Additionally, the player interaction and forging alliances is interesting, but given the length and cutthroat nature of the game, people may genuinely get upset and not want to play. For GoT fans who are willing to put in the hard slog of learning and then playing the game, this is great. If you're on the fence, I suggest playing it first...it is not an easy game and is a test of one's endurance.
Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies
Nov 25, 2019 (Updated Nov 26, 2019)
And the Oscar goes to...
First things first, you can not start a review of Joker without mentioning the lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck. I would say he is probably an evens favourite to take home the best actor Oscar at next years ceremony.
As for the movie itself, Tod Phillips take on Joker almost feels like a tribute to early Martin Scorsese movies, with the most obvious being Taxi Driver & The King of Comedy, both starring Robert De Niro who also appears here. This is certainly not a bad thing as they are brilliant pieces of cinema, that will stand the test of time. As will Joker in my opinion for it's excellent cinematography & gritty authenticity, I think people will still be talking about this movie for many years to come.
There are a few very slight flaws that I could point out. The first being that because it is so Scorsese like, for me it loses the feeling of being set in Gotham city and just feels very much like we are in New York city. Secondly the Wayne's and Alfred are very much portrayed as the bad guys in this movie, in my opinion I felt myself siding with Arthur/Joker a little too much maybe, which makes you lose all sympathy for the reason Batman became the Dark Knight in the first place. Last but not least the very controversial choice of adding a Gary Glitter song at a pivotal point of the movie, is a strange choice to say the least.
Overall Joker is an exceptional character study of a very disturbed individual with many mental health issues, add to that a superb performance by Joaquin Phoenix and I think you have a movie that will only get better with time and become a genre classic. With the huge box office success, I just hope DC keep this grim, very true to life approach for their future Batman projects.
As for the movie itself, Tod Phillips take on Joker almost feels like a tribute to early Martin Scorsese movies, with the most obvious being Taxi Driver & The King of Comedy, both starring Robert De Niro who also appears here. This is certainly not a bad thing as they are brilliant pieces of cinema, that will stand the test of time. As will Joker in my opinion for it's excellent cinematography & gritty authenticity, I think people will still be talking about this movie for many years to come.
There are a few very slight flaws that I could point out. The first being that because it is so Scorsese like, for me it loses the feeling of being set in Gotham city and just feels very much like we are in New York city. Secondly the Wayne's and Alfred are very much portrayed as the bad guys in this movie, in my opinion I felt myself siding with Arthur/Joker a little too much maybe, which makes you lose all sympathy for the reason Batman became the Dark Knight in the first place. Last but not least the very controversial choice of adding a Gary Glitter song at a pivotal point of the movie, is a strange choice to say the least.
Overall Joker is an exceptional character study of a very disturbed individual with many mental health issues, add to that a superb performance by Joaquin Phoenix and I think you have a movie that will only get better with time and become a genre classic. With the huge box office success, I just hope DC keep this grim, very true to life approach for their future Batman projects.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Samsung Galaxy S10 in Tech
Mar 11, 2019 (Updated Mar 18, 2019)
Impressive
I'll begin by saying that I upgraded from an S8 to an S10. So my opinion of the S10 is based on my experience of the S8.
Looks wise, this phone is stunning. The virtually bezel-less display looks amazing and the cut out hole for the front camera works surprisingly well. I love that they've kept the edge screen too. The back of the phone with the new cameras layout looks very sleek and the prism white version that I opted for looks beautiful. The gorilla glass casing too feels so smooth and makes for a very nice phone to hold. My only criticism, which in all fairness goes for all phones not just the S10, is that this is a stunning phone but because it's not indestructible, it has to have a chunky ugly case and/or screen protector to protect it. Which for me spoils the enjoyment of having a phone that's both nice to look at and hold, and I just wish they'd find a way of making the phone more durable. Size wise it's ever so slightly bigger than the S8 but yet feels just as thin and light.
The display is visually flawless and vivid, and the processor is impressively fast. I'd thought my old S8 was fine and quick to use, but I can really see the difference in the processing speed in this. Storage capacity now comes at 128GB as standard - how we used to cope with phones with 16GB I'll never know. The cameras are definitely better than the S8 and more than good enough for what I use them for, with some manual features that would put some digital cameras to shame. The battery seems much improved although it's still early days to see whether it depletes over time. The new interface itself looks noticeably different but without making any major changes, and I really like it. And I'm glad they haven't done anything drastic. The only change I don't like is to Bixby, but I've never been a fan so its hardly worth caring.
I'm intrigued with features like the wireless power share, although I'm not sure when I'd get the chance to test this out. For me though the biggest feature change is the fingerprint sensor in the screen. And at the moment, I'm going to need a little convincing. Having the fingerprint sensor built into the sensor is a smart move and is definitely a much better location than the back like the S8. However it seems a little too specific and temperamental sometimes. If you don't put your finger in exactly the right place/position, it doesn't work. It doesn't even seem to like it when you are doing the right thing. I may reserve judgement on this for a while and hope that this is down to me getting used to a different type of sensor.
The only other glitch that I've spotted is with the use of headphones and Spotify. The headphone controls & screen lock don't seem to register with Spotify immediately and cutout or dont work. Annoying, but I have figured out a quick fix by using the lock screen controls first before using the headphones. With this being a new phone, I'm hoping this will get resolved in an update soon.
In short, this is a stunning looking phone that works well and is very slick. It may not have a massive amount of new features, but phone technology advances do appear to be slowing down and this is a much better upgrade than the S9 claimed to be.
Edit: I completely forgot another slightly irritating feature (or lack of) on the S10 - they've removed the LED indicator! I always loved this about the earlier Samsungs and while I know you have the AED to check notifications, it's not quite the same as a multicoloured flashing LED...
Looks wise, this phone is stunning. The virtually bezel-less display looks amazing and the cut out hole for the front camera works surprisingly well. I love that they've kept the edge screen too. The back of the phone with the new cameras layout looks very sleek and the prism white version that I opted for looks beautiful. The gorilla glass casing too feels so smooth and makes for a very nice phone to hold. My only criticism, which in all fairness goes for all phones not just the S10, is that this is a stunning phone but because it's not indestructible, it has to have a chunky ugly case and/or screen protector to protect it. Which for me spoils the enjoyment of having a phone that's both nice to look at and hold, and I just wish they'd find a way of making the phone more durable. Size wise it's ever so slightly bigger than the S8 but yet feels just as thin and light.
The display is visually flawless and vivid, and the processor is impressively fast. I'd thought my old S8 was fine and quick to use, but I can really see the difference in the processing speed in this. Storage capacity now comes at 128GB as standard - how we used to cope with phones with 16GB I'll never know. The cameras are definitely better than the S8 and more than good enough for what I use them for, with some manual features that would put some digital cameras to shame. The battery seems much improved although it's still early days to see whether it depletes over time. The new interface itself looks noticeably different but without making any major changes, and I really like it. And I'm glad they haven't done anything drastic. The only change I don't like is to Bixby, but I've never been a fan so its hardly worth caring.
I'm intrigued with features like the wireless power share, although I'm not sure when I'd get the chance to test this out. For me though the biggest feature change is the fingerprint sensor in the screen. And at the moment, I'm going to need a little convincing. Having the fingerprint sensor built into the sensor is a smart move and is definitely a much better location than the back like the S8. However it seems a little too specific and temperamental sometimes. If you don't put your finger in exactly the right place/position, it doesn't work. It doesn't even seem to like it when you are doing the right thing. I may reserve judgement on this for a while and hope that this is down to me getting used to a different type of sensor.
The only other glitch that I've spotted is with the use of headphones and Spotify. The headphone controls & screen lock don't seem to register with Spotify immediately and cutout or dont work. Annoying, but I have figured out a quick fix by using the lock screen controls first before using the headphones. With this being a new phone, I'm hoping this will get resolved in an update soon.
In short, this is a stunning looking phone that works well and is very slick. It may not have a massive amount of new features, but phone technology advances do appear to be slowing down and this is a much better upgrade than the S9 claimed to be.
Edit: I completely forgot another slightly irritating feature (or lack of) on the S10 - they've removed the LED indicator! I always loved this about the earlier Samsungs and while I know you have the AED to check notifications, it's not quite the same as a multicoloured flashing LED...
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Time Quintet, #3)
8.0
Rate It
Book
In this companion volume to "A Wrinkle In Time" (Newbery Award winner) and "A Wind In The Door"...
Andy K (10821 KP) rated L.A. Confidential (1997) in Movies
Mar 3, 2019
Modern film noir at its finest!
Los Angeles in the 1950s is the setting for this amazing film which probably should've won Best Picture in 1997 (although I love Titanic also).
When new cop Ed Exley comes comes to the force, he is immediately greeted with corruption and some hard choices which test his loyalty and willingness to stand to his principles. A murder investigation quickly ensues which potentially pit cop against cop and uncovers the seedy underbelly of Hollywood during that time and everyone looking out for themselves.
Another brazen cop, sticks up for battered women while another enjoys being the technical adviser for everyone's favorite television program at the time.
The 3 men have various run in with each other as their investigation seems to conclude with a resolution, but one or more of them are not convinced the solution is correct and that the real perpetrators are still at large.
The depth of this film as well as the smart, complex characters are really what makes this film work. The acting is all exceptional as is the screenplay.
Any aspiring screenwriter should watch this film as a class as to what to do and how to write.
Very highly recommended.
When new cop Ed Exley comes comes to the force, he is immediately greeted with corruption and some hard choices which test his loyalty and willingness to stand to his principles. A murder investigation quickly ensues which potentially pit cop against cop and uncovers the seedy underbelly of Hollywood during that time and everyone looking out for themselves.
Another brazen cop, sticks up for battered women while another enjoys being the technical adviser for everyone's favorite television program at the time.
The 3 men have various run in with each other as their investigation seems to conclude with a resolution, but one or more of them are not convinced the solution is correct and that the real perpetrators are still at large.
The depth of this film as well as the smart, complex characters are really what makes this film work. The acting is all exceptional as is the screenplay.
Any aspiring screenwriter should watch this film as a class as to what to do and how to write.
Very highly recommended.