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Darren (1599 KP) rated 1917 (2020) in Movies
Jan 10, 2020
Verdict: Sensational
Story: 1917 starts as Lance Corporal Blake (Chapman) is assigned to pick one man, Lance Corporal Schofield (MacKay) to get a new mission from General Erinmore (Firth), their mission is to travel across enemy lines to deliver a message to stop a battalion of soldiers walking into a trap set by the Germans.
The two must travel at speed, with time against them, walking into the unknown, knowing they need to get to the battalion to hopeful save the soldiers including Blake’s own brother.
Thoughts on 1917
Characters – We do only focus on two main soldiers, Lance Corporal Blake whose brother is in one of the battalions the two are trying to stop attacking, he is more of a talking, can’t wait to get home, very close to his family, while Lance Corporal Schofield has been in the war longer, seen more horrors, keeps his horrors to himself and isn’t as excited about return home, for his own reason, which we learn through the journey. The two must work together to try and get to the battalions, each step is taking them to the unknown, needing to prepared for anything. We do meet other military people, whose job is to help the two continue their journey if they cross paths.
Performances – George MacKay is brilliant, proving yet again this guy is one of the best rising stars in the industry today, while Dean-Charles Chapman is excellent too, they two do have chemistry that shows off both their strengths in the characters they are playing.
Story – The story follows two soldiers that must travel into no man’s land in an attempt to try and stop an attack, which would see thousands of soldiers walking into an ambush. The story is kept very simple, it is showing as if we are following the two’s every step, seeing each obstacle they must face along the way, which shows the different horrors of war. We don’t get overly close to the two soldiers, while learning a little bit, not having a cheery conversation like other war films. This is one story that is easy to follow, we get the music which prepares us for anything that happens, as well as having a chance to keep us guessing about if, or how they get to their destination.
War – When it comes to the war side of the film, we get to see the environment the men would have been living between the fights, the surroundings that would have been left in the aftermath of the battles.
Settings – The film shows the war effects on the land, we see the destroyed town, the claustrophobic trenches, the fear of no man’s land, it is beautiful and haunting to see the settings.
Scene of the Movie – The line run.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes the camerawork can leave us losing our position in the scenes.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the best war films you will ever see, it is shot like one take, which makes us follow their journey, adding the tension to every single moment of the film.
Overall: Simply Breath Taking.
Story: 1917 starts as Lance Corporal Blake (Chapman) is assigned to pick one man, Lance Corporal Schofield (MacKay) to get a new mission from General Erinmore (Firth), their mission is to travel across enemy lines to deliver a message to stop a battalion of soldiers walking into a trap set by the Germans.
The two must travel at speed, with time against them, walking into the unknown, knowing they need to get to the battalion to hopeful save the soldiers including Blake’s own brother.
Thoughts on 1917
Characters – We do only focus on two main soldiers, Lance Corporal Blake whose brother is in one of the battalions the two are trying to stop attacking, he is more of a talking, can’t wait to get home, very close to his family, while Lance Corporal Schofield has been in the war longer, seen more horrors, keeps his horrors to himself and isn’t as excited about return home, for his own reason, which we learn through the journey. The two must work together to try and get to the battalions, each step is taking them to the unknown, needing to prepared for anything. We do meet other military people, whose job is to help the two continue their journey if they cross paths.
Performances – George MacKay is brilliant, proving yet again this guy is one of the best rising stars in the industry today, while Dean-Charles Chapman is excellent too, they two do have chemistry that shows off both their strengths in the characters they are playing.
Story – The story follows two soldiers that must travel into no man’s land in an attempt to try and stop an attack, which would see thousands of soldiers walking into an ambush. The story is kept very simple, it is showing as if we are following the two’s every step, seeing each obstacle they must face along the way, which shows the different horrors of war. We don’t get overly close to the two soldiers, while learning a little bit, not having a cheery conversation like other war films. This is one story that is easy to follow, we get the music which prepares us for anything that happens, as well as having a chance to keep us guessing about if, or how they get to their destination.
War – When it comes to the war side of the film, we get to see the environment the men would have been living between the fights, the surroundings that would have been left in the aftermath of the battles.
Settings – The film shows the war effects on the land, we see the destroyed town, the claustrophobic trenches, the fear of no man’s land, it is beautiful and haunting to see the settings.
Scene of the Movie – The line run.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes the camerawork can leave us losing our position in the scenes.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the best war films you will ever see, it is shot like one take, which makes us follow their journey, adding the tension to every single moment of the film.
Overall: Simply Breath Taking.
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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Traveller-Inceptio ( Traveller Book 1) in Books
Mar 18, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Traveller Inceptio: Traveller Book 1 by Rob Shackleford is a hard book to put into just one genre. It is both an adventure and a romance while also being science fiction and historical fiction. Overall an odd combination.
A group of friends working towards advanced college degrees decide to work on some research together. They are even able o secure funding from a major security company, Helguard. Their goal is to create new scanning equipment to be used by security in places such as airports. The team works extremely well together and soon they have a working prototype. However, something goes wrong with the machine and a mass of wires fuse together, causing a completely different result. When they turn the machine on and tell it to scan something, the item disappears instead.
After some research, it is discovered that the machine is sending items to the exact same location, just 1,000 years into the past. This discovery naturally gets the attention of governments around the world and the military who try to take over the project. Military men are trained in the ways of the Saxons and are sent back in time to become part of their society and provide reports and pictures of a time period that was originally poorly documented. There are many dangers that the travelers face for this project, but the main one is that the Saxons are currently at war with the Vikings.
What I liked best was the one member of the original team who was largely responsible for the creation of the transporter never claimed it. I am unsure if this is because he remains unaware of what he did, or out of fear because he was messing where he did not belong, either way, this is what stuck with me the most. There was a lot of technical speak, along with war and battle pans that were confusing and boring. The war or battle aspect of the book was very drawn out, though I have never been one to enjoy play-by-play fight scenes.
This is more of an adult book. The length and technical stuff would probably be a bit daunting for younger readers. It is also rather detailed in the more graphic fight scenes (gore) and rape, which might make some readers uncomfortable. I rate this book 2 out of 4. The more interesting parts of this book, such as when Michael is becoming part of the Saxon culture moves quickly and is enjoyable. The duller areas such as the fights and technical speak are dry and really bring this otherwise interesting book down.
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A group of friends working towards advanced college degrees decide to work on some research together. They are even able o secure funding from a major security company, Helguard. Their goal is to create new scanning equipment to be used by security in places such as airports. The team works extremely well together and soon they have a working prototype. However, something goes wrong with the machine and a mass of wires fuse together, causing a completely different result. When they turn the machine on and tell it to scan something, the item disappears instead.
After some research, it is discovered that the machine is sending items to the exact same location, just 1,000 years into the past. This discovery naturally gets the attention of governments around the world and the military who try to take over the project. Military men are trained in the ways of the Saxons and are sent back in time to become part of their society and provide reports and pictures of a time period that was originally poorly documented. There are many dangers that the travelers face for this project, but the main one is that the Saxons are currently at war with the Vikings.
What I liked best was the one member of the original team who was largely responsible for the creation of the transporter never claimed it. I am unsure if this is because he remains unaware of what he did, or out of fear because he was messing where he did not belong, either way, this is what stuck with me the most. There was a lot of technical speak, along with war and battle pans that were confusing and boring. The war or battle aspect of the book was very drawn out, though I have never been one to enjoy play-by-play fight scenes.
This is more of an adult book. The length and technical stuff would probably be a bit daunting for younger readers. It is also rather detailed in the more graphic fight scenes (gore) and rape, which might make some readers uncomfortable. I rate this book 2 out of 4. The more interesting parts of this book, such as when Michael is becoming part of the Saxon culture moves quickly and is enjoyable. The duller areas such as the fights and technical speak are dry and really bring this otherwise interesting book down.
https://www.facebook.com/nightreaderreviews/
https://smashbomb.com/nightreader
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Rambo: Last Blood (2019) in Movies
Sep 26, 2019
Characters – John Rambo is the war veteran we all know, he has retired to a small ranch away from the world, where he has created a series of tunnels, he has helped raise Gabrielle and wants her to achieve what he couldn’t in life, with college in her future. When she goes missing, John turns the switch he keeps on the off button, becoming the soldier that will kill anybody in his way, dealing with the traumas of war and not caring about the consequences, he starts a war with the Mexican gang, one that he is prepared to end. Gabrielle is like a daughter to John, he help raise her with her love of horse riding helping their bond, she is ready for college, but the one question she wants more than anything is why her father left her, which sees her go against John’s request to Mexico in search for him. She gets drugged at forced into prostitution, with no way of escaping her captors. Victor and Hugo Martinez are running the operation, they use the girls up and sell them, they use the gang numbers to deal with any unwanted attention, including John and if a girl escapes, they will make them pay. They are pretty much routine Mexican villains though.
Performances – Sylvester Stallone is back in one of his favourite franchises, he does keep John looking a lot more like a true veteran that is still haunted by his nightmares of war, even if he is mumbling his way through the film. Yvette Monreal fills her role with ease, naïve young girl, while both Oscar Jaenada and Sergio Peris-Mencheta don’t put a foot wrong in the villainous roles.
Story – The story here follows a retired calm John Rambo that is called into action when his adoptive daughter gets taken by a gang in Mexico and he will go to any lengths to get his revenge at save her. When it comes to this style of action film, the story doesn’t need to be very deep at all, in fact the basic plot is broken down as war veteran takes on gang who took family member, lots of bodies left lying. We do get glimpses at the idea that John is still dealing with the traumas of his experiences in war, though they are very small, if we didn’t have these, we could have easily have had just another older military person doing the same thing, it didn’t need to be Rambo for the most part. Saying this, it was nice to see Rambo returning to what made his actions popular in the First Blood, with his stealth ability over the countless bullets flying around. This is everything you want and need from a Rambo movie when it comes to the story.
Action/Western – The action in the film does take it time to get going, but when Rambo starts, my word this is one of the most graphic action movies you will see, certain sequences will make John Wick’s kills look like a Disney movie.
Settings – The film does use the Mexico setting for the fish out of water when it comes to John wanting to take the fight to them, so he makes them bring to the fight to him, showing us how deadly he is when he knows the land. The settings are key to the final act of the movie.
Special Effects – The effects are brutal, when it comes to the injuries people were wincing in the cinema at certain moments, they don’t hold back in anyway.
Scene of the Movie – Whole final act.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain stories don’t seem to get an ending.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the most violent action films that you will ever see, it uses the brutal action to highlight Rambo’s military skills and doesn’t hold back in anyway.
Overall: Graphic, Violent, Rambo’s Back.
Performances – Sylvester Stallone is back in one of his favourite franchises, he does keep John looking a lot more like a true veteran that is still haunted by his nightmares of war, even if he is mumbling his way through the film. Yvette Monreal fills her role with ease, naïve young girl, while both Oscar Jaenada and Sergio Peris-Mencheta don’t put a foot wrong in the villainous roles.
Story – The story here follows a retired calm John Rambo that is called into action when his adoptive daughter gets taken by a gang in Mexico and he will go to any lengths to get his revenge at save her. When it comes to this style of action film, the story doesn’t need to be very deep at all, in fact the basic plot is broken down as war veteran takes on gang who took family member, lots of bodies left lying. We do get glimpses at the idea that John is still dealing with the traumas of his experiences in war, though they are very small, if we didn’t have these, we could have easily have had just another older military person doing the same thing, it didn’t need to be Rambo for the most part. Saying this, it was nice to see Rambo returning to what made his actions popular in the First Blood, with his stealth ability over the countless bullets flying around. This is everything you want and need from a Rambo movie when it comes to the story.
Action/Western – The action in the film does take it time to get going, but when Rambo starts, my word this is one of the most graphic action movies you will see, certain sequences will make John Wick’s kills look like a Disney movie.
Settings – The film does use the Mexico setting for the fish out of water when it comes to John wanting to take the fight to them, so he makes them bring to the fight to him, showing us how deadly he is when he knows the land. The settings are key to the final act of the movie.
Special Effects – The effects are brutal, when it comes to the injuries people were wincing in the cinema at certain moments, they don’t hold back in anyway.
Scene of the Movie – Whole final act.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain stories don’t seem to get an ending.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the most violent action films that you will ever see, it uses the brutal action to highlight Rambo’s military skills and doesn’t hold back in anyway.
Overall: Graphic, Violent, Rambo’s Back.
ClareR (6250 KP) rated A Long Petal of the Sea in Books
Jan 14, 2020
My first, and not my last, Isabel Allende book!
A Long Petal of the Sea is my first foray into the books of Isabel Allende, and after reading this, it most certainly wont be my last.
This is the sweeping historical story of the Dalmau family, their role in the Spanish Civil War, their escape in to France (which was horrific), and their journey to Chile as refugees on the ship ‘Winnipeg’ arranged by the poet Pablo Neruda.
It’s a devastating and yet heartwarming look at humanity and it’s ability to endure. I hadn’t known about the concentration-style camps that the French forced the Spanish refugees in to after Franco and his right wing party won the Civil War. It looks as though people have always been able to destroy one another in inhuman ways (this is no surprise to me, by the way). We see more of the use of concentration camps in Chile after the military coup.
The main characters, Victor and Roser Dalmau continue to see Chile as their home, over and above Spain. They show us that home is where your friends, family and community are - and that you can make this home anywhere.
This book really is a joy to read. I’ve learnt so much of the history of this time, as well as having the pleasure of just reading a great story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for my copy of this book to read.
This is the sweeping historical story of the Dalmau family, their role in the Spanish Civil War, their escape in to France (which was horrific), and their journey to Chile as refugees on the ship ‘Winnipeg’ arranged by the poet Pablo Neruda.
It’s a devastating and yet heartwarming look at humanity and it’s ability to endure. I hadn’t known about the concentration-style camps that the French forced the Spanish refugees in to after Franco and his right wing party won the Civil War. It looks as though people have always been able to destroy one another in inhuman ways (this is no surprise to me, by the way). We see more of the use of concentration camps in Chile after the military coup.
The main characters, Victor and Roser Dalmau continue to see Chile as their home, over and above Spain. They show us that home is where your friends, family and community are - and that you can make this home anywhere.
This book really is a joy to read. I’ve learnt so much of the history of this time, as well as having the pleasure of just reading a great story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for my copy of this book to read.
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