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Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)
2018 | Animation, Comedy
After having spent the first two films focused on the common story of Dracula with a comedic spin and family focused story line. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation introduces the tale of Van Helsing and his family who have spent ages trying to exterminate Dracula and all the monsters of the world.

 

After centuries of running the Hotel Transylvania and escaping extinction, Drac (Adam Sandler), his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), and crew of oddball and lovable friends and family embark on their first vacation aboard a monstrous filled cruise ship headed for the lost city of Atlantis by way of the Bermuda Triangle. Feeling lonely, ready to find love again, Drac ends up ‘zinging’ with the human cruise director, Ericka (Kathryn Hahn). As you may recall from the first installment, to ‘zing’ only happens once in a monster’s life when two individuals first meet eyes, they find their true love and in that moment are meant to spend the rest of their lives together. Attempting to keep their rendezvous and connection a secret from Mavis, Drac decides to recruit his loyal subjects to help him distract his daughter. As the ship starts narrowing in on the Las Vegas-esque lost city of Atlantis, Mavis grows very suspicious of what her father is up to. She decides to start tracking his every move and realizes their vacation is not all it’s cracked up to be.

 

From the imaginative mind of Director Genndy Tartokovsky. HT3 is dazzling animated film that brings all the laughs, and humor that one can expect when Adam Sandler and his motley crew of usual suspects are involved. When you involve such talent as Steven Duscemi, Adam Sandberg, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, Kevin James, and Mel Brooks to helm the character voices, it’s guaranteed to be a fun filled ride that will keep you laughing from one moment to the next. A wise cracking, witty summer treat that teaches the importance of seeing past our differences and accepting people/monster’s for who they are and realize we’re not so different to begin with.
  
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Merissa (12051 KP) rated Sufferborn in Books

Jan 27, 2020  
Sufferborn
Sufferborn
J.C. Hartcarver | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sufferborn is the story of elves and humans, how they live, and what happens when their worlds overlap. We start off in the past where Orinleah has just given birth and Daghahen is found by his brother. We learn Orinleah gives the boy a name that is banned from most of the tribes, Dorhen, meaning 'stranger'. Apparently, it means his life will not be long but be very arduous. Why she names him this isn't exactly clear as she seems so happy about it.

The pacing of this book is overall very slow. There are moments when it picks up but then it slows down again. This is good in the majority of the cases as there is always a lot going on, so it gives you time to grasp the situation as well as learning more about the characters. I would say that personally I would have found chapter headings to be helpful, just so I could find out who was talking and when, but that's probably just me.

And there are a LOT of characters too! The main ones end up being Daghahen, Dorhen, and Kalea, but trust me when I say there is a whole caboodle of characters there that will draw your attention. In fact, even in the last few chapters, you are introduced to new characters to take into book two with you.

With the slow pace and the amount of characters, it comes as no surprise this is a long book, typical of Fantasy. I wouldn't call it a Fantasy Romance as I felt the romance between Dorhen and Kalea actually wasn't that important. I mean, obviously it is or Kalea wouldn't have gone looking for him, but on the whole, there is so much more to the story than "just" romance. I would call it Dark Fantasy as there is plenty of violence and the threat of rape and/or rape scenes.

It ends on a cliffhanger so fair warning and I haven't found anything online to say when the next book is available. If Dark Fantasy ticks your box then I would recommend it.
  
    Chabadabada

    Chabadabada

    Book and Entertainment

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    Who doesn’t know the story of Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault? “Chabadabada” is a modern and...

Abide With Me : A Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
One simply has to adore a nun who writes detective romance stories, has a murder club to help her with amateur sleuthing, and looks to famous literary detectives for advice. (0 more)
A young journalist is visiting Gwenafwy Abby, presumably writing a story on the new directions the church is taking. When she is found dead, Sister Agatha does not believe the theory of an accidental death. She starts a new notebook and dives into the case chasing down clues. Does the young woman’s death have something to do with scathing articles she has written in the past? Or, could it be an ex-boyfriend who just happens to show up in town, and just who was it seen entering the woman’s cottage after her death?Sister Agatha is a bit of a handful. She doesn’t do anything by half measures. One simply has to adore a nun who writes detective romance stories, has a murder club to help her with amateur sleuthing, and looks to famous literary detectives for advice. What would Miss Marple do??? Agatha’s weakness for cake lends itself to wonderful descriptions of mouthwatering traditional Welsh food. In this story, nearly everyone close to the Abby is a suspect. As much as Agatha and the reader want the killer to be found out and caught, it is likely that it will be heartbreaking for the nuns. Agatha keeps her moxie to the thrilling end of the investigation though.These are characters I would love to sit and visit with. From the put upon police department and store clerks to the individual sisters at the Abby. Maybe spend a few days learning to make cheese, especially since Gouda is my family’s fave.I loved the social commentary on modern technology and how it fits into a cloistered setting. Mostly I just giggled over the names of the shops in town, I won’t spoil them all, but, my favorites are The Fatted Calf farm to table market and Lettuce Eat Vegan.So why should you read this book? Because it is quirky, brilliant, softboiled Cozy at its best. The cast of characters and their personal stories will have you scrambling to read the first two books, or waiting impatiently for the next one.
  
Touching The Void
Touching The Void
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
At school a little while ago we looked at an extract from this book, and I decided I may as well read the rest of the book too.

If you don't already know, Joe Simpson suffered a serious leg injury while climbing a previously unreached summit in the Peruvian Andes, 1985. His partner, Simon Yates, had a life-changing decision to make that would determine who would live and who would not.

Joe tells his story in excruciating detail, with snippets from his partner's point of view, too. He uses a lot of technical language as would be expected, which can sometimes go straight over the reader's head. He describes his emotions, his physical pain after the injury, and the setting that he found himself in.

Things go well at first, but during the descent there is serious trouble. Joe and Simon work together to lower Joe with his disformed leg, and it works for some time. But eventually, Simon has to decide whether to cut the rope or not.

After his first injury, Joe manages to survive an unbelievably long fall. But now he's stuck in the crevasse, alone, with no hopes of returning to camp alive. Meanwhile, Simon is having to overcome his guilt and travel alone, with several frostbitten fingers and no food or water. The journey that both men must take is truly amazing and although you know the general outcome, you find yourself reading on and on to see what happens next.

Although it seems like a pretty short book, it took me slightly longer than expected to finish it. The technicalities meant nothing to me most of the time, making it slightly hard to visualise the scene in detail. But I was still able to appreciate the difficulties and obstacles that the climbers had to overcome, and I am amazed at how they did it.

The photos included throughout the book were really helpful for scene-setting, and show how stunning the views were over the mountain range.
 
I don't read biographies that often, so I knew it wouldn't be my favourite book. But it was good, and if you like this sort of thing then I would definitely recommend it. 3.5 stars I think.
  
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Lee (2222 KP) rated Pet Sematary (2019) in Movies

Apr 2, 2019 (Updated Apr 5, 2019)  
Pet Sematary (2019)
Pet Sematary (2019)
2019 | Horror
Not only have I not read the Stephen King book that Pet Sematary is based on, I haven't even seen the original 1989 movie either. As much as I feel ashamed for completely missing out on both of those, it also meant that I was able to head into this movie with nothing to compare it to and no idea of what to expect, other than a bit of creepy-burial-ground-raising-the-dead type stuff that the first trailer covered. One quick note on the trailers before I begin though - the most recent one, which luckily I only saw after I had seen the movie, pretty much gives away the entire plot. Granted, if you're a fan of Stephen Kings work, or even the original movie, then you're going to know what to expect anyway. But, if you're like me - someone who enjoys a good horror movie, but doesn't read books and has gaping holes in his movie viewing history, then try and give the trailers a miss on this occasion before heading into the cinema.

Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) is a Boston doctor who moves his family to the (hopefully) less chaotic setting of rural Maine - wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz), 8 year old daughter Ellie (Jeté Laurence), toddler Gage and friendly family cat Church. However, the family soon discover that their house is located right alongside a road which is prone to noisy trucks suddenly speeding past - our first jump scare and something already given away by the trailers! Those trucks also have a tendency to end the lives of any local pets who might happen to wander out in front of them, so it's pretty handy that there happens to be a Native American graveyard out in the woods at the back of the Creed's new house.

The local children make good use of the area, carrying out a funeral procession while wearing masks before burying deceased pets there, and they have also erected a sign - "Pet Sematary", which is nailed to one of the trees outside of it. Unfortunately, it's not too long before Church falls victim to a passing truck, at which point friendly neighbour Jud (John Lithgow) tells Louis of a special burial ritual which can be carried out on an area of ground located even further into the forest. It's a ritual that can bring the dead back to life so, in order to avoid upsetting daughter Ellie, Louis keeps the death a secret until he and Jud can head out late that night to perform the ritual with Church. Sure enough, Church is back with the family the next morning - alive, but looking very disheveled and in a seriously grumpy mood. He's not quite the cute little bundle of joy he once was - as Jud puts it, "Sometimes dead is better".

After banging on earlier about spoilers for movies, I feel it would be wrong of me to go and do the same thing here. If you're familiar with the story, then you'll know what happens anyway, although there is a moderate change of detail in this particular version which has already had a few die hard Stephen King fans up in arms. I'll just say that the special properties of the burial ground get used on a few more occasions during the course of the movie, with increasingly devastating consequences, and I personally felt that the change to the source material totally worked within the confines of this version of the story.

Ok, so what did I think of the movie overall? Well, I found Pet Sematary to be pretty intense, even more so than 'Us' recently. There were a couple of guys to the side of me in the cinema who were sitting forward on the edge of their seat for the majority of the movie just hyperventilating - I thought they were going to have a heart attack at one point! Yes, there are some jump scares, but this was more the kind of nightmare horror that I loved while watching 'Us' and it had me gripped to my seat for a good 80% or so of its run-time. Everyone involved in the movie is on top form - the children are outstanding, as is Jason Clarke, John Lithgow, even the cat! The dread-filled atmosphere, the tragedy and the horror of it all, it really resonated with me and I came away from this exhausted but happy!
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) Apr 2, 2019

Did the trailer ruin the film at all? I've just seen the trailer for the first time before a showing of Us, and it looked like it spoilt the whole thing!

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Lee (2222 KP) Apr 3, 2019

@Sarah yes, it does! Luckily I only watched the latest trailer after seeing the movie, I don't think the first trailer, which was the only one I'd seen, had any spoilers in it. Unbelievable really, maybe they think everybody already knows the exact plot so they can just happily reference all the plot points in the trailer

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Hadley (567 KP) rated American Gods in Books

Jun 5, 2020  
American Gods
American Gods
Neil Gaiman | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Mad Sweeney (1 more)
Gaiman's writing and descriptions
No character development (2 more)
Dehumanizes women
The ending
The gods of the old world still exist in Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel "American Gods."

A science fiction/ fantasy story set in today's America, American Gods tries to answer the question of what happens when people stop believing in the past gods, and start worshiping new ones?

Shadow is our main character, who we meet while he's attempting to get released from prison after three years of incarceration - - - afterall, he has a job, wife and life waiting for him on the outside. And even though he's built up a strong exterior while in prison, everything comes crashing down after he receives news that his wife and best friend have died in a car accident.

Cue Wednesday, an old, odd man who gives Shadow a job after his release from prison - - - with strings attached: Shadow can't ask any questions, he must protect his employer at all costs, and if people need to be hurt, he must hurt them. Although Wednesday doesn't tell him exactly what is going on, Shadow agrees to his duties and begins a road trip with the eccentric old man, meeting an array of colorful characters along the way. But soon, Shadow begins to realize that his employer may be a mythical god in disguise, yet, oddly Shadow never really questions it or anything in the entire book for that matter.

The novel takes an odd turn early on when Shadow's dead wife, Laura, comes back to life in a zombified way. While Shadow is staying in a cheap hotel room, and Wednesday sharing a room with a young hotel employee in another, Shadow sees his wife in the clothing she was buried in, but he doesn't flinch - - - he carries a very calm conversation with dead Laura, he even goes down to the lobby to buy her a pack of cigarettes, and the next morning, he still doesn't seem bothered by it when he sees her muddy footprints on the floor. Wednesday tries to convince Shadow it was a dream, but makes snarky remarks that tells Shadow that even he knows it wasn't a dream. The two simply move on on their road trip, no questions asked.

But during this road trip, Shadow's suspicions are confirmed. He gets to see not only Wednesday, but two others in their true god-form, and afterwards, Wednesday confirms that he is indeed the Norse god, Odin.

Gaiman's take on mythological gods living in today's society is interesting, but disappointing. From recognizable gods to the forgotten ones, readers with a liking to history would probably enjoy this story most.

American Gods centers on the question of what happens to gods when they are no longer worshipped, and Gaiman merely focuses on male gods, while making all female characters (gods and humans) either prostitutes and/or sexual objects which is really off-putting for me as a female reader. And Gaiman's character development in the novel for gods and humans is nowhere to be seen thus lending very little plot development that is actually believable or enjoyable. I was unable to bring myself to care about our main character, Shadow, nor the plight with his zombie wife.And speaking of Laura, the disappointing character traits makes her not just unlikable, but also an unnecessary character overall.

I just can't recommend this book: the novel is good for the first 100 pages, but you could easily skip the next 450 pages that is just filler, and not miss much of the story. Gaiman also dehumanizes women, introduces characters in a way that would make them seem an important part of the story to only drop them out of it as quickly as they came in, and the ending is just a huge disappointment. All in all, Gaiman had a great idea, but the execution he used was poorly done - - - some parts even seem like Gaiman wrote them in a completely different state of mind, contradicting story lines and character traits altogether.

I did, however, have three favorite characters that weren't utilized enough for me to rate the story higher than I have: Mad Sweeney, Ibis and Jacquel. Mad Sweeney is a giant leprechaun that can pull gold coins out of the air; Ibis and Jacquel are Anubis and Jackel from Egyptian mythology, who run a funeral home in Cairo, Illinois today.

American Gods takes place only over a few months, which is surprising with how long the novel is. But the story is a buildup with no climax. Most characters come and go before readers can even decide if they like them or not,and that paired up with severe lack of character development leaves most of the main characters pretty forgettable. With this special edition containing 1200 more words, the story is still not worth it in the end. Gaiman is still a great writer, but this is not the book to recommend to anyone who wants to begin reading his work.
  
28 Weeks Later... (2007)
28 Weeks Later... (2007)
2007 | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
7
7.3 (30 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: 28 Weeks Later starts by having a group of survivors in a boarded up farm house with tension rising a shock visit from a young boy leads to the infected attack the house and lone survivor Don (Carlyle) escaping leaving his wife behind. We are then lead into a flash-forward telling us how Britain is attempting to rebuild after the rage virus 28 Weeks Later. With Britain still being rebuilt Don’s children Tammy (Poots) and Andy (Muggleton) are the first children to return, even though the safety zone is still run by the military.

We find out that bringing kids back was a bad idea as the two go running off into the city outside the safety zone which leads to them discovering their infected but not turned mother. The mother locked up in quarantine Don goes to visit but this only leads to the virus taking over the safety zone and all hell letting lose. We follow solider Doyle (Renner) and scientist Scarlet (Byrne) as they try to save the children from the infected.

28 Weeks Later does what many sequels fail to do, creates a fresh look at the aftermath of the epidemic without dragging our characters from the original back even though their story is complete. It also takes the idea that the outbreak is over and focusing on the rebuilding works really well too. On its down side it does fall into the same old survivors running from infected because of a stupid mistake. It doesn’t manage to bring the characters into the interesting zone because it goes into the idea of the children needing saving which takes away what was created. It is enjoy action horror but not to the same level as the original. (7/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Robert Carlyle: Don the husband who abandons his wife then brings his kids to London to help rebuild the city from within the safe zone. Robert does a solid job and everyone will remember that opening sequence. (7/10)

 don

Rose Byrne: Scarlet scientist who is trying to help figure out the virus, she isn’t happy they have bought kids back because they don’t fully understand the virus and once the outbreak happens again she goes out her way to save them. Rose gives a solid performance but doesn’t shine as much as she could. (6/10)

 

Jeremy Renner: Doyle slick sniper who is one of the protectors of the city but once the outbreak happens he joins in the rescue attempts while the virus ends up with a shoot on site policy that orders demand. Jeremy does a good job and we get early ideas of what he will be like as Hawkeye. (7/10)

 renner

Imogen Poots: Tammy daughter of Don who keeps looking after her brother and together they go into the restricted zone which ends up causing all the problems. Imogen does a good job in the early role. (7/10)

 poots

Support Cast: 28 Weeks Later has a bigger supporting cast but in the end they all make the typical errors in an infected outbreak.

 

Director Review: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo – Juan does take the film in a slightly different direction which is good but he loses the suspense the first one had. (7/10)

 

Horror: 28 Weeks Later continues to use infected as its horror using survivor horror elements. (9/10)

Settings: 28 Weeks Later uses London as its setting well using the more iconic locations for the audience. (8/10)
Special Effects: 28 Weeks Later does take the effects to the next level with the helicopter scene showing how far they have come. (9/10)

Suggestion: 28 Weeks Later is one for all the horror fans to enjoy, it doesn’t quite reach the same levels as its predecessor but is still a good watch. (Horror Fans Watch)

 

Best Part: Opening sequences is very intense.

Worst Part: typical supporting characters.

Action Scene Of The Film: Opening sequences

Kill Of The Film: Helicopter

Scariest Scene: Locked in the basement.

 

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Left open for one but we haven’t had one yet.

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $64 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

Tagline: The Threat Is Everywhere

 

Overall: Solid Sequel

https://moviesreview101.com/2015/03/15/28-weeks-later-2007/