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David McK (3649 KP) rated Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, #9) in Books

Jan 30, 2019

Back in the late-to-mid 80s, the band R.E.M. sang

'That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes ... It's the end of the world as we know it'

They might as well have been talking about this, the final book in Rachel Caine's <I>Weather Warden</I> series.

Again, picking up directly from the end of the last book, this has Joanne and David still on board the liner sailing home from their showdown with 'bad Bob', and with the 2 lead characters stripped of their powers. Not long before making landfall, however, the Earth starts to wake up and is not best pleased, instigating what basically amounts to Armageddon. The majority of the book deals with the Wardens attempts to placate the Earth and cancel this from happening, with Joanne and David regaining their powers in the process.

I was, I must admit, quite surprised at one point when one of the key characters of the series was called off (just over the 1/2 way mark): I hadn't really seen that coming. However, when they do (finally) make contact with Mother Earth, I found that portion of the plot to be resolved almost too easily, after what had went before.

The series, as a whole, had both it's peaks and troughs: while this entry may not (IMO) live up to some of the previous entries, nor was it the worst of them all.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated Passengers (2016) in Movies

Jan 21, 2019

Passengers (2016)

2016 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

7.3

(39 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Who needs moral culpability when you have J-Law in her pants?

Contains spoilers, click to show

Good-looking SF movie that goes to prove that all you need is two good-looking charismatic stars and a very misleading ad campaign and people will flock to see your film, no matter how creepy and rapey the story actually is. Male passenger (Pratt) on a long-haul space flight wakes up early due to an accident, finds himself facing the prospect of living out his life alone on the ship (trip will take nearly a century, everyone else is still in hypersleep). He goes a bit mad from isolation, becomes obsessed with a female corpsicle (Lawrence), and decides to wake her up so he will have company even though he is condemning her to the same fate as him. Naturally he neglects to mention his own culpability in all this, even after they get it on.

And people call this a romance?!? A paean to stalking, more like. All the other flaws in Passengers (and there are a few: the premises of the film don't quite hang together, for example) fall away compared to the simple fact that the protagonist does several truly horrible things, for which he is never really held to account. Obligatory shots of Lawrence in a swimsuit/lingerie happen along as well, of course. I'd say it was the usual sort of no-brainer inoffensive tosh, but it really leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Kudos

Leigh J (71 KP) rated The Final Girls (2015) in Movies

Dec 3, 2019

The Final Girls (2015)

2015 | Comedy, Horror

6.9

(14 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Cruel, Cruel Summer

Still grieving for the death of her Scream Queen Mother, Max is coaxed into attending a screening of her Mother's Movies (called Camp Bloodbath) where she will also answer any questions the fans have. However, whilst they're all watching the Movie, an accidental fire breaks out. Max and her group of friends all escape from it and mysteriously wake up in a Forest... the Forest in the Camp Bloodbath Movies. Even more strange... alll the Camp Bloodbath characters are also there, and Max comes face to face with her deceased Mother. But the killer is also there, and Max and her friends know who's going to be murdered and when. They also get caught in a timeloop if they don't go along with the Movie's plot. But can they intervene in any way? Will Max be able to change the plot and possibly save her Mother? Or will the Killer start to come after them?

Final Girls is very tongue in cheek whilst also dealing with the fatality of Max's Mother and Max's subsequent grief with sensitivity and tact. It's a Slasher with a unique perspective and I totally appreciate that it stands apart from what's become the norm. It's definitely a must see for those of us who enjoy Movies like Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp, but for me it's a one watch wonder. I'm very glad I've seen it but don't really see myself reaching for it.