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Ande Thomas (69 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books
May 30, 2019
Oof. I get the draw. Cram a ton of your favorite 80's trivia into a futuristic plot and call it a day. And it is great fun knowing the things the characters praise as obscure puzzles and information. But there are problems. 1) Without the nostalgia of vomiting 80's references, there's little to glean from the story itself. 2) The <b>extremely</b> problematic relationship that the hero pursues that gives a platform for incel's everywhere. 3) An action oriented plot that kind of just sputters out. Rough finish. Great story if you see toxic online behavior as "misunderstood," though.
The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) rated The Matrix (1999) in Movies
Mar 28, 2018
The storyline (2 more)
The Idea
Cinematic Effects
Existential Sci Fi at it's best.
A modern classic, everyone should see this once, and decide for themselves: the Red Pill or the Blue Pill.... a little bit of Trivia: All of the references to street corners (for example, Wells and Lake) are real intersections in Chicago, Illinois, The Wachowskis' hometown. The subway train has signs for "Loop," another Chicago reference.
Chicago is my hometown, and the best city in America.... but I'm Biased.
Chicago is my hometown, and the best city in America.... but I'm Biased.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated 8 Out of 10 Cats Board Game in Tabletop Games
Mar 7, 2018
A highly entertaining party game
It's not often that you find a fun trivia game that isn't actually based on what you know, but 8 out of 10 cats really pulls it off.
It manages to replicate the tv show in an easily understandable and fun format, that can be played by all the family. It's not reliant on how smart you are but rather concentrates on your opinions and common sense. It's a great party game to play with multiple teams, it involves everyone and it isn't very long either. The final round (to complete before you are crowned the winner) is quite difficult, but thankfully not enough to make you want to give up in exasperation. Such a fun game.
It manages to replicate the tv show in an easily understandable and fun format, that can be played by all the family. It's not reliant on how smart you are but rather concentrates on your opinions and common sense. It's a great party game to play with multiple teams, it involves everyone and it isn't very long either. The final round (to complete before you are crowned the winner) is quite difficult, but thankfully not enough to make you want to give up in exasperation. Such a fun game.
Karica Truebenbach (156 KP) rated Origin in Books
Oct 4, 2018
Learning new things (1 more)
Puzzles
Anti-climactic reveal (1 more)
Kinda lame
Same book, different name
I didn't hate it. The big reveal was a huge letdown for me, and IMHO, would not have caused a huge crisis for religious leaders. The killer was fairly obvious to me, also. That was super disappointing for me because I love a good twist, but this one didn't have it. Also, the whole mess with the royal family (aside from the touching scene at the end with the bishop) seemed kind of messy and superfluous.
Honestly, I haven't loved these last 2 Dan Brown books. The trivia and puzzles are great, and I love "accidentally" learning new things, but perhaps the same old, same old formula is wearing on me.
Honestly, I haven't loved these last 2 Dan Brown books. The trivia and puzzles are great, and I love "accidentally" learning new things, but perhaps the same old, same old formula is wearing on me.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated The Vikings (1958) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Mar 5, 2020)
In a productive period seeing him make four or five films a year, Douglas returned to work for Richard Fleischer in his pursuit for the great epic that would finally win him the Oscar. The Vikings was a star-studded spectacle that despite some memorable scenes between himself and Tony Curtis, falls a little flat as a satisfying film in entirety. A box office hit, but a critical flop, it has to be counted as somewhat of a failure, except for the fact it is one of the better known moments in his career, thanks largely to the powerful visual of Douglas with a dead eye and scar; proving you merely point a camera at him and get magic. My favourite trivia around this film is that Douglas offered a prize for best beard on the first day of shooting, only to turn up himself entirely clean shaven.
Jenny Lee Lindberg recommended track Bird and Flag by The Sea and Cake in Fawn by The Sea and Cake in Music (curated)
David McK (3169 KP) rated The Princess Bride (1987) in Movies
Sep 5, 2019
'Hello. My name is Inigo Montaya. You killed my father. Prepare to die'
'Inconceivable!'
'Why do you keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means'
'You fell prey to one of the great mistakes. There are two: one is never get involved in a land war in Asia ...' (I'm paraphrasing the intro there)
'Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist' (cue getting attacked by just that ...)
One of those perfectly cast movies, framed as been told by an elderly grandfather to his sick grandson, this is a 1980s classic and - quite obviously, in retrospect - almost perfectly provided the template for Antonio Bandera's Zorro (or Puss in Boots) in the character of Inigo Montaya, as portrayed here by Mandy Patinkin (who also, trivia fans, has the film's sole swear word: 'I want my father back, you son of a ...')
'Inconceivable!'
'Why do you keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means'
'You fell prey to one of the great mistakes. There are two: one is never get involved in a land war in Asia ...' (I'm paraphrasing the intro there)
'Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist' (cue getting attacked by just that ...)
One of those perfectly cast movies, framed as been told by an elderly grandfather to his sick grandson, this is a 1980s classic and - quite obviously, in retrospect - almost perfectly provided the template for Antonio Bandera's Zorro (or Puss in Boots) in the character of Inigo Montaya, as portrayed here by Mandy Patinkin (who also, trivia fans, has the film's sole swear word: 'I want my father back, you son of a ...')
Jules (151 KP) rated IMDb Movies & TV in Apps
Dec 14, 2018
One of the handiest apps
This is always one app I download straight away! Absolutely love it. Has a very vast database and you can almost always find the name of practically every extra in anything and oftentimes can find uncredited people.
Most pages have a full biography of actors and crew alike. More popular people have lots of photos too. It also comes in handy for trivia and when you recognise someone and just can't figure out why.
It's easy to use and all pages for TV shows have an episode list complete with original release dates. Episode pages also exist with a generalisation of the plot, often having more than one written by other people.
Only downside is that sometimes the biography doesn't have enough information on but a name can be all that's needed for a Google search.
100% recommend to everyone!
Most pages have a full biography of actors and crew alike. More popular people have lots of photos too. It also comes in handy for trivia and when you recognise someone and just can't figure out why.
It's easy to use and all pages for TV shows have an episode list complete with original release dates. Episode pages also exist with a generalisation of the plot, often having more than one written by other people.
Only downside is that sometimes the biography doesn't have enough information on but a name can be all that's needed for a Google search.
100% recommend to everyone!
David McK (3169 KP) rated Flashman (The Flashman Papers, #1) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
First entry in George MacDonald Frase's Flashman series, in which he (re)introduces us to Harry Flashman: a totally reprehensible anti-hero, who (through the entire series) cheats, lies and connives his way through Victorian society and the great events of the era: in this case, the disastrous retreat from Kabul.
By all accounts, the history of the books are actually pretty accurate: most of the people Flashman meets and interacts with were real personages of note, and the novels contain several footnotes providing yet more historical info on the events described. While it is taken to extremes, I think it's also fairly safe to say that the character of Flashman and the way he behaves probably isn't really that far away from the way some members of society did ...
(oh, and trivia note: MacDonald Fraser wrote the screenplays for 1973s "The Three Musketeers" and it's sequel "The Four Musketeers" as well as the James Bond film "Octopussy", amongst others)
By all accounts, the history of the books are actually pretty accurate: most of the people Flashman meets and interacts with were real personages of note, and the novels contain several footnotes providing yet more historical info on the events described. While it is taken to extremes, I think it's also fairly safe to say that the character of Flashman and the way he behaves probably isn't really that far away from the way some members of society did ...
(oh, and trivia note: MacDonald Fraser wrote the screenplays for 1973s "The Three Musketeers" and it's sequel "The Four Musketeers" as well as the James Bond film "Octopussy", amongst others)
101 Video Games to Play Before You Grow Up:The unofficial must-play video game list for kids by Ben Bertoli is a great introduction guide to video games that adults may have played while growing up, and will be a great platform for families to meet and have fun. This book begins with a comprehensive table of contents for quick and easy reference. There are fill in boxes to note if you played it, "my rating", "My favorite moment" and "Notes for each game. It has great divisions such as action adventure, sports, and party games. Each game in the list includes platform, rating, other suggested games, and interesting trivia.
The book is printed in bright colors with cartoony type characters which is eye catching. The book is a quick read and a useful reference guide to throw in with your game consoles. Perfect for sharing with kids, revisiting memory lane, or for avid gaming fans.
I give this book 4/5 stars
I received this book fromQuarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, Jr. and Walter Foster Jr via NetGalley
The book is printed in bright colors with cartoony type characters which is eye catching. The book is a quick read and a useful reference guide to throw in with your game consoles. Perfect for sharing with kids, revisiting memory lane, or for avid gaming fans.
I give this book 4/5 stars
I received this book fromQuarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, Jr. and Walter Foster Jr via NetGalley