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Guy Maddin recommended Umberto D. (1952) in Movies (curated)

 
Umberto D. (1952)
Umberto D. (1952)
1952 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Another emotional bludgeoning from De Sica and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, this one belonging—along with The Last Laugh—to that small genre concerning aged men playing out their hopeless, last, lonely days. It must have been something, back in 1952, when this film went head-to-head with Forbidden Games for the honor of most tearful ending! Right from the shank of titan De Sica’s neorealist years! I love being destroyed by masters!"

Source
  
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated They Lurk in Books

Jul 23, 2023  
They Lurk
They Lurk
Ronald Malfi | 2023 | Horror
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I haven't read anything by Ronald Malfi before and I do enjoy a good horror story every now and again and I'm pleased I did because out of the 5 short stories, there was only 1 I didn't particularly enjoy and that was The Separation but the other 4 more than made up for it.

Well written, great characters, a plethora of general creepiness, blood and gore ... what more could you want?

Mr Malfi is definitely an author I will look out for in the future and thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of They Lurk.
  
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Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated the PC version of Titanfall 2 in Video Games

Jun 19, 2019  
Titanfall 2
Titanfall 2
Shooter
Respawn and EA have returned with TitanFall 2 which is the rare sequel
that improves upon the original in almost every way.
The game now features a solo campaign which is a solid and gripping
adventure which adds greater depth to the TitanFall Universe and contains
some great level designs as well as graphics.

Cast as a Rifle Corps member who is suddenly forced into the coveted role of
Titan Pilot by fate, players must embark on a series of missions both
inside and outside of their massive Titan in order to save the Resistance.

Players have numerous weapon loadouts for themselves and their Titan at
their disposals and everything from ballistic to energy based weapons are
available as well as some brutal melee options.

The story was very engrossing and entertaining and presented plenty of
challenges, my biggest frustration was with the numerous timed jumps that
are required to complete segments of a chapter.

I have never been a fan of precision leaps and although I know it is a
part of the game, it does get frustrating at times. Most were able to be
resolved in a couple of efforts but one had me frustrated after numerous
attempts, until I figured out that it required a temporal phase during a
leap in order to complete it successfully.

The solo campaign gives the series a greater depth than the previous game
offered and it is filled with some very solid action and characters that
will compel you throughout the game.

Of course Multiplayer is a big part of the game and that has continued
with TitanFall 2 offering new modes such as a bank where players must cash
in money they have earned or risk losing it should they be taken down by
enemy units.

Enemies are a mix of bots and online players which offers differing
degrees of difficulty. It was frustrating at first to be trying to learn a
map and the new grapple hook when players who had powered leveled since
launch were able to pick me off with vastly superior weapons and power ups
before I had ventured into the battle.

Calling in your Titan is still as big a thrill as ever and some of the new
abilities such as the devastating energy weapon that can be emitted from
your unit once your timer has been reached is a real game changer.

It is still tricky to take down a Titan on foot as anyone who has
attempted to collect a Bounty in the game will attest to.

The level design stays true to what players have expected from the first
game and the developers have promised that all DLC for the game will be
offered free of charge to all players.
I did not find the online play as compelling as the solo mode, but that is
largely due to the fact that I had some lag and balance issues at launch
which hampered my online experience. I can say that recent updates have
made online play significantly better and more enjoyable and I look
forward to seeing what the future DLC will bring to the game.

I played the game on a 1060 Legacy Edition by NVIDIA and on the highest
settings the game looked amazing and ran very smoothly. Reports have said
that the sales for the game were slower than for the previous game which
is a shame as TitanFall 2 is a very solid and enjoyable game that deftly
combines a First Person Shooter with a Mech combat game to create a
visually impressive and very entertaining game which I hope will spawn
further chapters in the series.

http://sknr.net/2016/12/06/titanfall-2/
  
Releasing The Gods (The Titan's Saga #1)
Releasing The Gods (The Titan's Saga #1)
Leia Stone | 2019
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This review and more can be found at my blog

https://aromancereadersreviews.blogspot.com

A Romance Reader's Reviews

This has been borrowed from the Kindle Unlimited Library.

So this has a pretty quick start. Maisy is celebrating her twenty first birthday with her work colleagues on the beach and is double dared to go up the cliff to the haunted cave at its top, cutting her hand on a sharp rock on the way up. Tripping as she enters the cave, her bloody hand presses against the rock wall and the wall opens to reveal an almost seven foot mountain of a man - Cronus, a Titan - who's been imprisoned for the last 1000 years. After freeing the Titan she now finds herself with a complicated life bond connecting them together meaning they can't be more than five feet apart without agonizing pain which leads to some fun scenes.

I like how the authors integrated social media into this. It is a very big thing in the world today so to see a character who uses it regularly and wants to use it to become famous was rather realistic but I have to admit the self proclaimed hashtag queen used far too many hashtags mentally for me.

Also I think Maisy's name changes how it's spelt somewhere in this book. According to the description above it's spelt Maisy but I couldn't truly tell you if it begins like that and changes to Maisey but since about the 50%-ish mark that's how I've noticed it's been written.

I enjoyed this despite the #hashtags and will be continuing the series when more have been released.
  
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
1968 | Action, Drama, Western

"The Western is obviously one of the staples of American cinema, but ironically, the Italian spaghetti-westerns have become more famous in pop culture than the classic American western. And amongst the spaghetti-western directors, Sergio Leone will always be the titan for me. Although I love his films with Clint Eastwood, this epic is one to spend an evening with; from the classic shoot-out at the train depot, to the haunting final three-way gun fight, this may be my favorite portrayal of Charles Bronson on screen. It’s a story of the expansion of the railroad and the opening of the west; of revenge and infamy; of love triangles and justice. And with a sweeping, heartrending soundtrack from Ennio Morricone, what more can you ask of a film?"

Source
  
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Thanos Rising in Books

Oct 24, 2018  
Thanos Rising
Thanos Rising
Jason Aaron | 2013 | Comics & Graphic Novels
8
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Decent short backstory for the big screen super-baddie
This 5 issue collection gives a backstory to Thanos and adds some explanation for why he is the way he is. Certain elements of this fit in with the Jim Starlin Infinity Gauntlet/War books but add an interesting few viewpoints and aspects of his persona.
Around half of the story deals with Thanos' childhood, growing up different on the perfect Titan and how this started to warp his mind, and then leads in to him travelling the universe exploring as a pacifist and siring numerous children (this section fitting in nicely with the Jonathan Hickman Infinity epic), finishing with his final arrival at Mad Tyrant Central.
Strong artwork throughout and a decent story make this a good attempt at putting some meat on the bones of Thanos' backstory.
  
The Avengers (2012)
The Avengers (2012)
2012 | Action, Sci-Fi
Great first collaboration. Good view at each heroes backstory. A hint at what the MCU will become. (0 more)
Great first collaboration movie
The Avengers first go at the group ensemble is a win in my books. Who knew all those years ago what the MCU would become. This movie combined all the heroes, and their beginning backstories, together well. The heroes must come together to go against Loki and his intergalactic strike team. The team comes together after a brief hiccup of inner fighting, to save New York from the Chitauri and more importantly, Thanos. We get our first glimpse at the purple faced titan and what is to come from him and his army. Loki and the Tesseract play center stage in this first Avengers movie, but I don't think it will be the last time Loki plays center stage.
  
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
The start and the ending (0 more)
The middle (0 more)
Almost the perfect film
Contains spoilers, click to show
So having just watched captain marvel and the final 'End Game' trailer I felt a need to rewatch this film, and to change my underwear - my god that trailer!!!....So this is probably my 5th or 6th watch of 'war' and it keeps getting better. It starts at a pace that barely let's up all the way through. There's a slight pacing issue in the middle but that's just because the action let's up in lieu of story - I'm nitpicking really. Then we get duelling battles on titan and wakanda which was really great. When Thor, rocket and groot turn up I lost my shit!!! Then the ending! My god the ending. I mean I knew their would be 'casualties' but bloody hell. I expected capt or iron man to die but half the avengers and pretty all the guardian's was unexpected!!! And then the credits scene with captain marvels signal! Unbelievable...such a dark ending but perfect cliffhanger...I really cannot wait until 26th April.
  
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
Many heroes working on many levels to take down Thanos (0 more)
Too spread out and not fighting together (0 more)
A great big cast of heroes take on the big bad Mad Titan
Infinity War was promised to be the big hero movie of the year. Reading from the comics it was looking like a bloodbath, I was curious to see how it would translate to the movies. It didn't slack on fight scenes, just about every represented Avenger was involved in at least 1 fight. Seeing Cap in his Nomad suit and facial hair was enough to get this girl's heart pumping. I preferred IW to Endgame with this being more action filled overall. While IW is darker than a normal avengers movie, it is with a purpose. This isn't a movie where the normal quips and jokes would fit in. While I didn't like the fact that the heroes were spread out over the world, I understand in the bigger scheme of things that it was needed. A great lead in movie to Endgame's payoff.
  
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian: Bk. 5
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian: Bk. 5
Rick Riordan | 2013 | Children
10
9.1 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating
The great prophecy tells that the fate of the world will rest in Percy Jackson’s hands when he turns sixteen. In the summer leading up to his sixteenth birthday Kronos’s evil army of monsters rampages through New York, with only Percy and his demigod friends to try and defeat them. What will become of the great prophecy, in the final instalment of the Percy Jackson series.
I loved this book! I put off reading it for ages because I struggled to get through the battle of the labyrinth, but once I picked up the last Olympian, I couldn’t put it down. I loved all the action, the fighting between Percy and Kronos. It was amazing getting to see more of everyone’s past, especially Luke and Annabeth’s. Seeing the demigods speak to their godly parents was so new and a wonderful thing to see. I have to say that my favourite part of the book was the humour. Even in the middle of an epic battle with the Titan lord someone would find something funny to say or Percy would come up with a comedic anecdote. I can’t wait to start reading the Heroes of Olympus series!