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Lilyn G - Sci-Fi & Scary (91 KP) rated Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in Movies
May 9, 2018
More entertaining than I expected.
Avengers: Infinity War was surprisingly entertaining. I’m not a huge fan of the Avengers series, especially the big multi-cast productions. I fully expected to go into this one and be bored to tears. However, when it came to movies available in the cinema that we could also take the nine-year-old to… Pickings were slim. So, superheroes it was. And yeah, even though there were a few scenes that weren’t nearly as funny as they were intended to be, it was an enjoyable watch.
I will say this: I did not understand what all the fuss was about the end. I saw people tweeting about crying and whatnot. I felt absolutely nothing. It’s a Marvel movie. The sequel is due out in a year. We all know they’re going to find a way to undo at least half of what happened in Avengers: Infinity War. Dramatic scenes lose much of their power when you know the chance of most of it not being negated in the next movie is practically nil. This Marvel money train is going to chug on until something happens to derail it completely.
I liked the interaction between most of the characters. I felt like they did a better job of making it seem a bit more realistic. I also like how some of the decisions and actions from the previous movies are coming back to bite the Avengers in the butt. Iron Man and Dr. Strange have a bit of a fun relationship. As for Spiderman… Well, he’s slowly winning me over. I still have absolutely zero desire to watch a movie just starring him, but he plays the impulsive teen angle well. Hulk, though, Sweet Baby Cthulhu, I’m getting tired of that character. I didn’t like the direction they took him in the Thor movie, and then for Banner to be the way he was in this one… ugh.
There were several scenes that made me gasp. A few where I was like “NO NO NO NO!” at the screen. Non-stop action and dialogue that wasn’t too groan-worthy do a lot. A lot happier with this movie than I ever expected to be. It’s not nearly as good as Black Panther was, but a solid offering nonetheless.
I will say this: I did not understand what all the fuss was about the end. I saw people tweeting about crying and whatnot. I felt absolutely nothing. It’s a Marvel movie. The sequel is due out in a year. We all know they’re going to find a way to undo at least half of what happened in Avengers: Infinity War. Dramatic scenes lose much of their power when you know the chance of most of it not being negated in the next movie is practically nil. This Marvel money train is going to chug on until something happens to derail it completely.
I liked the interaction between most of the characters. I felt like they did a better job of making it seem a bit more realistic. I also like how some of the decisions and actions from the previous movies are coming back to bite the Avengers in the butt. Iron Man and Dr. Strange have a bit of a fun relationship. As for Spiderman… Well, he’s slowly winning me over. I still have absolutely zero desire to watch a movie just starring him, but he plays the impulsive teen angle well. Hulk, though, Sweet Baby Cthulhu, I’m getting tired of that character. I didn’t like the direction they took him in the Thor movie, and then for Banner to be the way he was in this one… ugh.
There were several scenes that made me gasp. A few where I was like “NO NO NO NO!” at the screen. Non-stop action and dialogue that wasn’t too groan-worthy do a lot. A lot happier with this movie than I ever expected to be. It’s not nearly as good as Black Panther was, but a solid offering nonetheless.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated But I Don't Want a Haircut in Books
Jan 9, 2020
But I Dont Want A Haircut by Bobbie Taylor & Jenny Kreoska is a great book to get before a childs first haircut. According to the section about the authors, this book was written by two hairdressers. These two specialize in childrens haircuts making them (and this book by extenuation) a viable resource for parents of a scared child.
Joeys hair has gotten so long that he cant see and his parents decide it is time for a haircut. Unfortunately, Joey is afraid of the hairdresser and doesn't want to go. He voices his concerns about things like the hairdresser having sharp teeth and claws. Joeys parents reassure him that he has nothing to worry about and that the hairdresser will be careful. Once they get to the salon Joey decides it doesn't look that bad and that the hairdresser looks nice. She even sits on the floor with him to brush his hair and offers to use an electric razor when the scissors scare him. By the time everything is done Joey is happy, relaxed, and looking forward to his next haircut.
I love how this book acknowledges Joeys fears about the hairdresser without acting like the fears are silly. Joey is reassured that there is nothing to worry about and is able to relax thanks to the approach used. What I did not like was that while the idea behind this book is great unless you have a childrens salon nearby the book might give children false expectations. Parents/caregivers will need to be sure to still discuss what to expect from the salon they will actually be going to.
This book is designed to reassure children going in for a haircut who are scared. Parents can read this to their children but it is simple enough that a child should be able to read this short book on their own. I rate this book 3 out of 4. This is because this is a very cute book and although I would love to give it a perfect score I can not. The rhymes did not flow very well in a few places (although I doubt a child would care) and the warning I gave in my least favorite part. I still want to emphasize that this book is a great resource.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nightreaderreviews
https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/i-dont-want-haircut
Joeys hair has gotten so long that he cant see and his parents decide it is time for a haircut. Unfortunately, Joey is afraid of the hairdresser and doesn't want to go. He voices his concerns about things like the hairdresser having sharp teeth and claws. Joeys parents reassure him that he has nothing to worry about and that the hairdresser will be careful. Once they get to the salon Joey decides it doesn't look that bad and that the hairdresser looks nice. She even sits on the floor with him to brush his hair and offers to use an electric razor when the scissors scare him. By the time everything is done Joey is happy, relaxed, and looking forward to his next haircut.
I love how this book acknowledges Joeys fears about the hairdresser without acting like the fears are silly. Joey is reassured that there is nothing to worry about and is able to relax thanks to the approach used. What I did not like was that while the idea behind this book is great unless you have a childrens salon nearby the book might give children false expectations. Parents/caregivers will need to be sure to still discuss what to expect from the salon they will actually be going to.
This book is designed to reassure children going in for a haircut who are scared. Parents can read this to their children but it is simple enough that a child should be able to read this short book on their own. I rate this book 3 out of 4. This is because this is a very cute book and although I would love to give it a perfect score I can not. The rhymes did not flow very well in a few places (although I doubt a child would care) and the warning I gave in my least favorite part. I still want to emphasize that this book is a great resource.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nightreaderreviews
https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/i-dont-want-haircut
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Pact in Books
Jul 1, 2021
This novel tells the story of six friends: Talitha, Xav, Felix, Amber, Daniel, Megan. How one night changed their lives forever. This book was quite a slow burner for me, at least in the beginning. All of the characters have a say in this book, and I found all of them very compelling. It is a character-driven novel and I really liked to see how the characters interacted and what they were ready to do to save themselves. 🙂 I felt extremely sorry for Megan throughout this book and I don’t really agree with her decisions. She is really amazing and I think she could have achieved so much without these “friends” of hers.
The narrative of this novel was a little slow for my liking, but I was extremely keen to find out what is going to happen with Megan. I enjoyed the way the author kept me guessing and the suspense growing, and all the twists and turns were a welcome distraction to break the monotony that built up sometimes. The topics discussed were dangerous driving, alcoholism, survival, rich privilege, friendships, belonging, mental health issues, guilt, relationships between friends and families, and many more.
The writing style of this book is easy to read, enjoyable and creative, but something is missing. It is one of the “softer” books by this author, I could say. I am more used to her dark secrets, never-ending suspense and gripping from the first-page kind books, and this book was a little behind with it. I did like the ending of this novel, which was filled with action and rounded this story extremely well. 🙂 The chapters are pretty short, so the pages just fly by. I have pretty bad car anxiety, especially when it comes to accidents and reckless drivers, so parts of this book did not sit well with me because of these nuances. (I was able to enjoy this book never the less, I just screamed at the characters in my head. 😀 ) So if you suffer from it like me, proceed with caution. 😉
So, to conclude, I enjoyed this novel. The characters are very well developed and truly enchanting. They all have to offer so much to this book and I loved reading about them and their lives. The plot has plenty of intrigue, well placed twists and unexpected surprises and kept me guessing.
The narrative of this novel was a little slow for my liking, but I was extremely keen to find out what is going to happen with Megan. I enjoyed the way the author kept me guessing and the suspense growing, and all the twists and turns were a welcome distraction to break the monotony that built up sometimes. The topics discussed were dangerous driving, alcoholism, survival, rich privilege, friendships, belonging, mental health issues, guilt, relationships between friends and families, and many more.
The writing style of this book is easy to read, enjoyable and creative, but something is missing. It is one of the “softer” books by this author, I could say. I am more used to her dark secrets, never-ending suspense and gripping from the first-page kind books, and this book was a little behind with it. I did like the ending of this novel, which was filled with action and rounded this story extremely well. 🙂 The chapters are pretty short, so the pages just fly by. I have pretty bad car anxiety, especially when it comes to accidents and reckless drivers, so parts of this book did not sit well with me because of these nuances. (I was able to enjoy this book never the less, I just screamed at the characters in my head. 😀 ) So if you suffer from it like me, proceed with caution. 😉
So, to conclude, I enjoyed this novel. The characters are very well developed and truly enchanting. They all have to offer so much to this book and I loved reading about them and their lives. The plot has plenty of intrigue, well placed twists and unexpected surprises and kept me guessing.
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated The Prodigy (2019) in Movies
Sep 25, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
A woman is seen running away from something or someone and ends up being almost hit by an elderly driver, we discover the woman has had her hand cut off, how did this happen? Why did it happen?
Forward to the present day and a pregnant woman is going into early labour, in between scenes of her giving birth we see this guy who gets shot down by police, he is holding a severed hand (remember the lady at the beginning?)....
Within months of baby Miles being born, his mother starts to notice strange things such as not crying during his shots and even saying words. It is put down to him being a genius. However, he is not really a genius at all he noticeably quite evil. This is evident when he squashes a bug in his bare hands at 5 years old, harms his babysitter at age 8, and starts speaking a strange language in his sleep.
One day Miles end up receiving psychiatric help after beating a child in his class with a wrench. Nobody can understand what's going on though and it seems Miles is hearing voices in his head and reacting to what they tell him to do. Miles' mother Sarah is eventually informed that Miles has a spirit living inside of him and that spirit is dangerous, Sarah refuses to believe this at first but after a disturbing situation happens at home she begins to believe that it must be true and after a series of events, finally gets him help to try and rid him of the evil inside of him.
I do find it shocking sometimes what they get young children to say in movies, but especially in this one. Considering the type of movie it is though its understandable and the boy who plays Miles does a fantastic job, down to the facial expressions, so you always know when it is Miles and when it's the spirit.
The movie very much reminds me of 'orphan' - another film with an evil adult/child. The ending was quite a bummer though and makes everything that happened in the movie a complete waste of time. It was interesting watching it unfold though and the end does leave it open for a sequel.
Forward to the present day and a pregnant woman is going into early labour, in between scenes of her giving birth we see this guy who gets shot down by police, he is holding a severed hand (remember the lady at the beginning?)....
Within months of baby Miles being born, his mother starts to notice strange things such as not crying during his shots and even saying words. It is put down to him being a genius. However, he is not really a genius at all he noticeably quite evil. This is evident when he squashes a bug in his bare hands at 5 years old, harms his babysitter at age 8, and starts speaking a strange language in his sleep.
One day Miles end up receiving psychiatric help after beating a child in his class with a wrench. Nobody can understand what's going on though and it seems Miles is hearing voices in his head and reacting to what they tell him to do. Miles' mother Sarah is eventually informed that Miles has a spirit living inside of him and that spirit is dangerous, Sarah refuses to believe this at first but after a disturbing situation happens at home she begins to believe that it must be true and after a series of events, finally gets him help to try and rid him of the evil inside of him.
I do find it shocking sometimes what they get young children to say in movies, but especially in this one. Considering the type of movie it is though its understandable and the boy who plays Miles does a fantastic job, down to the facial expressions, so you always know when it is Miles and when it's the spirit.
The movie very much reminds me of 'orphan' - another film with an evil adult/child. The ending was quite a bummer though and makes everything that happened in the movie a complete waste of time. It was interesting watching it unfold though and the end does leave it open for a sequel.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated More Than Just a Pretty Face in Books
Jan 12, 2021
*I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
This is the first book I've read where the main characters are Muslims. It's a good insight into the religion and the various ways people follow it.
So this starts with Danyal. He's not the best in school, but, as quite a few people point out, he's got a pretty face. It's not that he's stupid or anything. He just has other interests in life such as cooking, which he is very good at and wants to become a chef. His father doesn't agree with his career choice and they have several tense conversations. His mother, on the other hand, cannot wait to marry him off to someone who would be good for the family.
I've just struggled to write the above description without giving too much away about this story.
I did enjoy this. Danyal, as I mentioned above, may not be the brightest guy but I really grew to like him. He was quick witted and passionate about what he cared about. His Renaissance Man speech showed that perfectly. History was far from his favourite subject but the Bengal famine became something he wanted to let people know about and he did it in a way that didn't judge so much as inform. Very well thought out.
I also quite liked the romance. It was a very slow burn. They spent quite a lot of time together but mostly as friends. The more time they spent together, laughing, studying and cooking, the more the feelings grew and I was willing them to get together properly, family be damned. It took a long time, though, with other factors getting in the way.
This book was a great insight for those of us who aren't Muslim into what the religion is like and the broad range of ways you can follow it. Sohrab was very invested in the religion, Intezar wasn't following it that much, if at all, and Danyal was like a happy medium.
This was enjoyable but, for me, it was a little too focused on the history and Churchill for the Renaissance Man challenge. I know it was a big part of the plot but History for me, like Danyal, bores me. I wanted more of the romance.
This is the first book I've read where the main characters are Muslims. It's a good insight into the religion and the various ways people follow it.
So this starts with Danyal. He's not the best in school, but, as quite a few people point out, he's got a pretty face. It's not that he's stupid or anything. He just has other interests in life such as cooking, which he is very good at and wants to become a chef. His father doesn't agree with his career choice and they have several tense conversations. His mother, on the other hand, cannot wait to marry him off to someone who would be good for the family.
I've just struggled to write the above description without giving too much away about this story.
I did enjoy this. Danyal, as I mentioned above, may not be the brightest guy but I really grew to like him. He was quick witted and passionate about what he cared about. His Renaissance Man speech showed that perfectly. History was far from his favourite subject but the Bengal famine became something he wanted to let people know about and he did it in a way that didn't judge so much as inform. Very well thought out.
I also quite liked the romance. It was a very slow burn. They spent quite a lot of time together but mostly as friends. The more time they spent together, laughing, studying and cooking, the more the feelings grew and I was willing them to get together properly, family be damned. It took a long time, though, with other factors getting in the way.
This book was a great insight for those of us who aren't Muslim into what the religion is like and the broad range of ways you can follow it. Sohrab was very invested in the religion, Intezar wasn't following it that much, if at all, and Danyal was like a happy medium.
This was enjoyable but, for me, it was a little too focused on the history and Churchill for the Renaissance Man challenge. I know it was a big part of the plot but History for me, like Danyal, bores me. I wanted more of the romance.
Mothergamer (1601 KP) rated the PlayStation 3 version of Fallout New Vegas in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
Once I finished Fallout 3, I went on to playing Fallout New Vegas. I really liked the opening introduction to the game's main story line because it hooks you in right away showing just a glimpse of the underlying chaos in the Mojave wasteland with a pretty badass introduction narrated by Ron Perlman. Then you get to meet your main character the Courier who is in a messed up situation as they're getting mugged for a platinum chick they're delivering and some jerk in a checkered suit is explaining that the Courier has made their last delivery and while it may seem like bad luck, it's just that the game was rigged from the start. I knew right then it was going to get worse and it did as he shot the Courier in the head. I admit my initial thought was, how the heck is this going to work if the main character is dead? I got my answer fairly quickly as it showed the Courier waking up in a bed with an old man hovering over her looking concerned and asking if she was alright. The man introduced himself as Doc Mitchell and explains how the Courier survived thanks to a Securitron robot named Victor and the adventure of Fallout New Vegas begins in a town called Goodsprings.
Goodsprings of course gives you a chance to explore and get familiar with the game controls and how everything works. The controls are much better here than they were in Fallout 3 which made me happy. It also introduces you to the people in the town and you get a couple of quests from them. You also get a chance to speak with Victor the robot who saved your life. Honestly, I found Victor to be really creepy. He seemed friendly enough with his cowboy icon face and talking in a friendly cowboy drawl, but there was just something weird about him. It also didn't help that he kept popping up in odd places during my adventures and seemed to be following me. He did own up to it which I will give him, but he was creepy.
Once the tutorial introduction and quests are finished, you get to really explore the Mojave with the main goal being to find Benny; the man who stole the platinum chip from you and shot you leaving you for dead to get answers. For me it was to get answers, get the platinum chip back, and beat the crap out of him. I was still pretty ticked off about that whole ordeal with him shooting me.
To say that the world of Fallout New Vegas is big is an understatement. It is huge and you get an immediate sense of just how vast the Mojave wasteland is as you explore it. There are three big main factions fighting for control of the Mojave and the Hoover Dam and your decisions throughout the story affect which side you will help. There's the NCR a military expansion government, Caesar's Legion a group of Roman style slavers, and Mr. House the mysterious ruler of New Vegas.
There are so many side quests to do alongside the main story quests which isn't a bad thing. A lot of them were fun to do and the companion quests are interesting especially for the character of Boone. I liked Boone a great deal. There was a complexity to him that was intriguing and as my Courier got to know him better there was an understanding of why he was the way he was and a path towards him atoning for some of his past. It made for a great companion story and by the end of Boone's personal quest I liked him even more.
While I enjoyed Fallout New Vegas, there were many frustrating issues with it that had me swearing up a storm when they happened. The major thing were the constant dropped frame rates and freezing that caused the game to crash. When the game worked, it was a lot of fun to play. It just killed it for me when the game would freeze every couple of hours. I make sure to save my game often anyway with my games and I think that games like New Vegas are why. I did all the tricks too with clearing the cache on the PS3 and rebooting and it would still crash after a bit of time. That's incredibly irritating when I want to fully enjoy a game.
Then there's the weird quest bugs. I couldn't finish a quest for a couple of my companions because in one the quest item was nowhere to be found and in the other a quest the NPC I needed to complete the quest had disappeared completely. There were also occasions where I would get stuck in a wall or my companion would and I would have to reload my last save. I understand that there are going to be bugs and glitches in a game sometimes, they happen. However, the vast amount of glitches, bugs, and technical difficulties is inexcusable. I know that Obsidian the developers that worked on New Vegas apologized for all of that, but the thing is slapping a band aid on it is not going to cut it. For as long as the game has been out and the patches they had to fix the game, it should be fixed and yet those irritating issues remain.
Speaking of the DLC quests, I wanted to like all of them. I really did, but there were so many flaws. I only really liked two of the quests out of four. That's saying something. One of them I just could not stand at all. That was the Dead Money quest. I could not stand Dead Money. It was very clunky with the navigation and hard to see at some points. Getting gassed and waking up in a strange place without any of my gear and some crazy ex Brotherhood of Steel jerk was not good. As part of the story you also have a slave collar around your neck that happens to be on the same frequency as the radios in the surrounding areas and if you don't destroy the radios the collar will explode and kill you. This is an exercise in futility as every damn five minutes the collar beeps and you have to figure out exactly where the radio is. I found this tedious and slow which made this quest one of the worst I have ever played and I played Dragon Age The Descent. Yeah, I said it. The ending was a little satisfying, but not much because you don't really get anything out of it except a little payback to the egomaniac who put me through that nonsense.
Old World Blues was alright, but I hated the fact that once again I'm basically drugged and wake up in a strange place without all my gear. Seriously, was this the same writer for Dead Money? So I had to figure out where I was and I met the insane scientists in robot bodies who had brought me there. The thing that kept Old World Blues moderately entertaining for me was the humor. There were moments that had me laughing especially when one of the scientists claimed that my toes looked like tiny penises. There were some cool places to explore and some interesting things to see. The big thing that makes Old World Blues shine are the smartly written jokes and the humor about trying to understand another species and the differences between you. That's what made it fun for me.
The Lonesome Road was disappointing for me. It started out strongly with the introduction of this other mysterious courier, Ulysses demanding you show up to answer for what happened in a place called The Divide. There isn't really a strong urge to explore and it just seems to be travel from point A to point B. During that time you get to hear Ulysses drone on and on about the NCR, the Legion, and how you were the catalyst for nuclear missiles blowing up in the Divide. I like history a lot, but Ulysses made it freaking boring because he kept harping on the same thing repeatedly. It shows just how nuts Ulysses is because essentially he's blaming a mailman for something that had nothing to do with them. What happened in the Divide was an accident and while yes the Courier was delivering the package (a detonator) that awoke and caused all that, they had no idea what it was. The NCR did however and probably the Legion, so that's on them. Look, I get it. Ulysses had something very traumatizing happen to him and he needed something or someone to blame in order to be able to wrap his head around it, but when I was there face to face with him all I could think was, this whole thing was not my fault and you're crazy! I mean he wanted to punish a bunch of innocent people for the traumatizing thing for just a chance to wipe out the NCR and the Legion; that does not sound like someone who is operating at full capacity. Luckily, my speech, intelligence, and science perks were high enough that I convinced him peacefully that destroying all those people would help and even earned his respect. It's obvious in the writing that they meant for Ulysses to be a companion, but I guess they couldn't quite figure out how to make it work and this is what happened. It was okay, but it wasn't perfect and they could have made this a great story instead of a mediocre one.
Once I finished all those, I wrapped up the game with the final quest which was the battle for Hoover Dam. I had decided to help the NCR because while they're far from perfect I felt that they were a better choice than the group of rapist slavers that represented Caesar's Legion. I also liked and respected the fact that the NCR seemed to be protecting the idea of democracy and while they had their flaws, they were at least trying to do something good. The battle for the dam was epic and because I had successfully convinced the minor factions to join the NCR I had a lot of help battling Caesar's Legion. I totally loved the Boomers with their salvaged airplane taking out Legion soldiers from the sky. We fought hard and the battle was won; the NCR still had control of the dam. The game ends then showing all the different things that happen to the people and areas in the Mojave depending on your choices. Overall, the ending was pretty good and I was glad to see that many of my choices helped a lot of people who needed it. I can honestly say that I enjoyed playing Fallout New Vegas in spite of the technical issues and I'm glad I only paid 10 bucks for it. When the game works, it is worth playing and there is lots of adventuring to do with a great main story and solid side stories. Play through it at least once is my take on it.
Goodsprings of course gives you a chance to explore and get familiar with the game controls and how everything works. The controls are much better here than they were in Fallout 3 which made me happy. It also introduces you to the people in the town and you get a couple of quests from them. You also get a chance to speak with Victor the robot who saved your life. Honestly, I found Victor to be really creepy. He seemed friendly enough with his cowboy icon face and talking in a friendly cowboy drawl, but there was just something weird about him. It also didn't help that he kept popping up in odd places during my adventures and seemed to be following me. He did own up to it which I will give him, but he was creepy.
Once the tutorial introduction and quests are finished, you get to really explore the Mojave with the main goal being to find Benny; the man who stole the platinum chip from you and shot you leaving you for dead to get answers. For me it was to get answers, get the platinum chip back, and beat the crap out of him. I was still pretty ticked off about that whole ordeal with him shooting me.
To say that the world of Fallout New Vegas is big is an understatement. It is huge and you get an immediate sense of just how vast the Mojave wasteland is as you explore it. There are three big main factions fighting for control of the Mojave and the Hoover Dam and your decisions throughout the story affect which side you will help. There's the NCR a military expansion government, Caesar's Legion a group of Roman style slavers, and Mr. House the mysterious ruler of New Vegas.
There are so many side quests to do alongside the main story quests which isn't a bad thing. A lot of them were fun to do and the companion quests are interesting especially for the character of Boone. I liked Boone a great deal. There was a complexity to him that was intriguing and as my Courier got to know him better there was an understanding of why he was the way he was and a path towards him atoning for some of his past. It made for a great companion story and by the end of Boone's personal quest I liked him even more.
While I enjoyed Fallout New Vegas, there were many frustrating issues with it that had me swearing up a storm when they happened. The major thing were the constant dropped frame rates and freezing that caused the game to crash. When the game worked, it was a lot of fun to play. It just killed it for me when the game would freeze every couple of hours. I make sure to save my game often anyway with my games and I think that games like New Vegas are why. I did all the tricks too with clearing the cache on the PS3 and rebooting and it would still crash after a bit of time. That's incredibly irritating when I want to fully enjoy a game.
Then there's the weird quest bugs. I couldn't finish a quest for a couple of my companions because in one the quest item was nowhere to be found and in the other a quest the NPC I needed to complete the quest had disappeared completely. There were also occasions where I would get stuck in a wall or my companion would and I would have to reload my last save. I understand that there are going to be bugs and glitches in a game sometimes, they happen. However, the vast amount of glitches, bugs, and technical difficulties is inexcusable. I know that Obsidian the developers that worked on New Vegas apologized for all of that, but the thing is slapping a band aid on it is not going to cut it. For as long as the game has been out and the patches they had to fix the game, it should be fixed and yet those irritating issues remain.
Speaking of the DLC quests, I wanted to like all of them. I really did, but there were so many flaws. I only really liked two of the quests out of four. That's saying something. One of them I just could not stand at all. That was the Dead Money quest. I could not stand Dead Money. It was very clunky with the navigation and hard to see at some points. Getting gassed and waking up in a strange place without any of my gear and some crazy ex Brotherhood of Steel jerk was not good. As part of the story you also have a slave collar around your neck that happens to be on the same frequency as the radios in the surrounding areas and if you don't destroy the radios the collar will explode and kill you. This is an exercise in futility as every damn five minutes the collar beeps and you have to figure out exactly where the radio is. I found this tedious and slow which made this quest one of the worst I have ever played and I played Dragon Age The Descent. Yeah, I said it. The ending was a little satisfying, but not much because you don't really get anything out of it except a little payback to the egomaniac who put me through that nonsense.
Old World Blues was alright, but I hated the fact that once again I'm basically drugged and wake up in a strange place without all my gear. Seriously, was this the same writer for Dead Money? So I had to figure out where I was and I met the insane scientists in robot bodies who had brought me there. The thing that kept Old World Blues moderately entertaining for me was the humor. There were moments that had me laughing especially when one of the scientists claimed that my toes looked like tiny penises. There were some cool places to explore and some interesting things to see. The big thing that makes Old World Blues shine are the smartly written jokes and the humor about trying to understand another species and the differences between you. That's what made it fun for me.
The Lonesome Road was disappointing for me. It started out strongly with the introduction of this other mysterious courier, Ulysses demanding you show up to answer for what happened in a place called The Divide. There isn't really a strong urge to explore and it just seems to be travel from point A to point B. During that time you get to hear Ulysses drone on and on about the NCR, the Legion, and how you were the catalyst for nuclear missiles blowing up in the Divide. I like history a lot, but Ulysses made it freaking boring because he kept harping on the same thing repeatedly. It shows just how nuts Ulysses is because essentially he's blaming a mailman for something that had nothing to do with them. What happened in the Divide was an accident and while yes the Courier was delivering the package (a detonator) that awoke and caused all that, they had no idea what it was. The NCR did however and probably the Legion, so that's on them. Look, I get it. Ulysses had something very traumatizing happen to him and he needed something or someone to blame in order to be able to wrap his head around it, but when I was there face to face with him all I could think was, this whole thing was not my fault and you're crazy! I mean he wanted to punish a bunch of innocent people for the traumatizing thing for just a chance to wipe out the NCR and the Legion; that does not sound like someone who is operating at full capacity. Luckily, my speech, intelligence, and science perks were high enough that I convinced him peacefully that destroying all those people would help and even earned his respect. It's obvious in the writing that they meant for Ulysses to be a companion, but I guess they couldn't quite figure out how to make it work and this is what happened. It was okay, but it wasn't perfect and they could have made this a great story instead of a mediocre one.
Once I finished all those, I wrapped up the game with the final quest which was the battle for Hoover Dam. I had decided to help the NCR because while they're far from perfect I felt that they were a better choice than the group of rapist slavers that represented Caesar's Legion. I also liked and respected the fact that the NCR seemed to be protecting the idea of democracy and while they had their flaws, they were at least trying to do something good. The battle for the dam was epic and because I had successfully convinced the minor factions to join the NCR I had a lot of help battling Caesar's Legion. I totally loved the Boomers with their salvaged airplane taking out Legion soldiers from the sky. We fought hard and the battle was won; the NCR still had control of the dam. The game ends then showing all the different things that happen to the people and areas in the Mojave depending on your choices. Overall, the ending was pretty good and I was glad to see that many of my choices helped a lot of people who needed it. I can honestly say that I enjoyed playing Fallout New Vegas in spite of the technical issues and I'm glad I only paid 10 bucks for it. When the game works, it is worth playing and there is lots of adventuring to do with a great main story and solid side stories. Play through it at least once is my take on it.
Debbiereadsbook (1569 KP) rated At War with a Broken Heart in Books
Feb 26, 2019
get the tissues ready, you'll need them!
Davet and his younger brother moved to Bideford, in Cornwall to be away from their abusive parents. Davet runs a coffee shop and Fie goes every day for his coffee before starting in his pottery shop. Sid is a local police officer who also frequents the coffee shop, mostly when Fie is there too. All three men have crushed on each other for several years. When Davet is dealt a devastating blow, Fie and Sid have to rally round Davet, to keep the younger man from crumbling. Can they really make this work, the three of them?
I was warned, you know? Warned that I would need a box of tissues, for this one and boy did I need them!
Davet's blow is shocking in it's extreme, and it broke my heart for him. But also, for Fie and Sid, watching their man ( and they WERE a three, even before they voiced it!) fall apart around them and not really being able to help. BUT Davet's parents turning up galvanised them into doing what DAVET needed, rather than what they thought they should be doing, if that makes sense?
It's mmt overly explicit for a three way book, but that's not needed here. HERE it's about three men falling in, and acting on that love, even if it takes a tragedy for them to see it. That loves shines right from the start and it really is a joy to watch them fall, almost one after the other, like dominoes!
All three men have their say, so we get it all. We get Fie's dawning realisation to what Davet might feel for him, and how he deals with his survivors guilt, or not most days. We get Davet's heartbreak, but equally his joy when they finally give in to each other and how HE deals with everyone and everything in his own way. And we get Sid and his internal wrangling with himself over his relationship with his dad, and whether the three of them can REALLY be together.
It's full of Ms Donovan's witty one liners, quirky characters and her damaged and tortured men. Ms Donovan's boys do like to play with their food and I'm so glad we got a little food fight here!
I started this book at 10.15pm, after a long busy shift at work, full of a nasty cold. A few pages before sleep, is the lie you tell yourself and the next thing you know, it's 2.30am, your head is pounding, and you've ran out of book.
So, it can only get . . .
5 full and shiny stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
I was warned, you know? Warned that I would need a box of tissues, for this one and boy did I need them!
Davet's blow is shocking in it's extreme, and it broke my heart for him. But also, for Fie and Sid, watching their man ( and they WERE a three, even before they voiced it!) fall apart around them and not really being able to help. BUT Davet's parents turning up galvanised them into doing what DAVET needed, rather than what they thought they should be doing, if that makes sense?
It's mmt overly explicit for a three way book, but that's not needed here. HERE it's about three men falling in, and acting on that love, even if it takes a tragedy for them to see it. That loves shines right from the start and it really is a joy to watch them fall, almost one after the other, like dominoes!
All three men have their say, so we get it all. We get Fie's dawning realisation to what Davet might feel for him, and how he deals with his survivors guilt, or not most days. We get Davet's heartbreak, but equally his joy when they finally give in to each other and how HE deals with everyone and everything in his own way. And we get Sid and his internal wrangling with himself over his relationship with his dad, and whether the three of them can REALLY be together.
It's full of Ms Donovan's witty one liners, quirky characters and her damaged and tortured men. Ms Donovan's boys do like to play with their food and I'm so glad we got a little food fight here!
I started this book at 10.15pm, after a long busy shift at work, full of a nasty cold. A few pages before sleep, is the lie you tell yourself and the next thing you know, it's 2.30am, your head is pounding, and you've ran out of book.
So, it can only get . . .
5 full and shiny stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated What Richard Did (2013) in Movies
Mar 26, 2018
Could Have Been Better
Teenage Richard Carlsen (Jack Reynor) is faced with terrible consequences after events at a party go awry. What Richard Did makes the mistake of assuming that its plot alone would be enough to hold the interest of the audience. Lack of intrigue is its ultimate downfall.
Acting: 10
One thing that wasn't lacking was strong acting performances. The cast was excellent from the top down. Reynor shines in his role as Richard having to express and master an array of emotions. He effortlessly controls scenes, evoking the proper emotion from the audience.
Beginning: 7
Characters: 10
Cinematography/Visuals: 8
A multitude of beautiful one-shots were captured throughout the film. It helps when the ocean and sunsets are your backdrop, but those images still have to be captured just right at an appealing angle. Shot of the cast having an innocent good time at their parties helps you to warm up to the crew instantly and remember similar times.
Conflict: 4
While there is some initial friction when we uncover what the heart of the story is about, things taper out from there. There wasn't enough conflict to keep me interested. The movie moves straightforward towards its resolution like an arrow, not really creating much more intrigue along the way.
Genre: 6
I give it credit for its fork in the road, but I have definitely seen better dramas. Dramatic film is supposed to leave an impact and this one...just left me. There was potential there for more.
Memorability: 2
I would have scored this even lower, however, I like the depths of humanity that were touched on through Richard's character. The film explores the reality of what a crisis would probably look like: Us looking out for ourselves first before we think of others. Besides that, there was nothing else that stood out for me.
Pace: 7
As I stated earlier, the film goes through a long lull that it never fully rebounds from. The lack of conflict slows things way down and makes it hard to remain engaged. Had there been more points of intrigue or crisis depth, the pace would probably have righted itself.
Plot: 10
Resolution: 4
If it's one thing I hate, it's ambiguous endings that leave you scratching your head. Expect that here. I won't ruin it, but I will say that I was hoping to have some questions answered by the time the credits started rolling. Unfortunately, the ending left me completely and utterly in the dark.
Overall: 68
I was hoping to like this a lot more and was sadly disappointed. It's not a top notch drama, but easily could have been with just a few more cogs in the wheel. Definitely one you can skip.
Acting: 10
One thing that wasn't lacking was strong acting performances. The cast was excellent from the top down. Reynor shines in his role as Richard having to express and master an array of emotions. He effortlessly controls scenes, evoking the proper emotion from the audience.
Beginning: 7
Characters: 10
Cinematography/Visuals: 8
A multitude of beautiful one-shots were captured throughout the film. It helps when the ocean and sunsets are your backdrop, but those images still have to be captured just right at an appealing angle. Shot of the cast having an innocent good time at their parties helps you to warm up to the crew instantly and remember similar times.
Conflict: 4
While there is some initial friction when we uncover what the heart of the story is about, things taper out from there. There wasn't enough conflict to keep me interested. The movie moves straightforward towards its resolution like an arrow, not really creating much more intrigue along the way.
Genre: 6
I give it credit for its fork in the road, but I have definitely seen better dramas. Dramatic film is supposed to leave an impact and this one...just left me. There was potential there for more.
Memorability: 2
I would have scored this even lower, however, I like the depths of humanity that were touched on through Richard's character. The film explores the reality of what a crisis would probably look like: Us looking out for ourselves first before we think of others. Besides that, there was nothing else that stood out for me.
Pace: 7
As I stated earlier, the film goes through a long lull that it never fully rebounds from. The lack of conflict slows things way down and makes it hard to remain engaged. Had there been more points of intrigue or crisis depth, the pace would probably have righted itself.
Plot: 10
Resolution: 4
If it's one thing I hate, it's ambiguous endings that leave you scratching your head. Expect that here. I won't ruin it, but I will say that I was hoping to have some questions answered by the time the credits started rolling. Unfortunately, the ending left me completely and utterly in the dark.
Overall: 68
I was hoping to like this a lot more and was sadly disappointed. It's not a top notch drama, but easily could have been with just a few more cogs in the wheel. Definitely one you can skip.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Alienated (2016) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: Alienated starts as we follow married couple Nate (Katt) & Paige (Burry) as they go about their everyday lives, we see the ups and downs in their communication which every couple has. When Nate believes he sees a space craft and Paige brushes off Nate’s request to watch the video leading to a fight between the two. We see how they have to rebuild their friendship and whether Paige wants to believe Nate did really see a spacecraft.
Alienated gives us a very interesting drama that bottles down to what people want to believe when a loved one believes in something. I will admit that I was expecting more sci-fi element involved as this while very entertaining follows only the conversations between the couple. This showed how to make an ultra-interesting film between the characters giving them a natural feel throughout.
Actor Review
George Katt: Nate is an artist meaning he spends most of his time at home, he is a conspiracy theorist making him believe. He has a smaller social circle compared to his wife and once he believes he sees a spacecraft the relationship with his wife is pushed to the limits as they deal with what is real. George is great in this role as we
Jen Burry: Paige is the successful business woman who comes home everyday to her husband Nate who can easily be pushed into believing in many different conspiracies. She wants to be noticed more by her husband instead of dealing with his theories on a daily basis. Jen is great in this role showing great chemistry with George.
Taylor Negron: Griffin is the neighbour of the couple, he comes off very strange but we don’t see too much of the character. Taylor is good giving us mystery about the character.
Director Review: Brian Ackley – Brian gives us one of the most interesting story driven film of the year.
Thriller: Alienated keeps us on edge as we wait to see what is the truth throughout.
Settings: Alienated keeps the setting in the home of the couple showing how this could come off as an everyday conversation but it could also be something bigger.
Suggestion: Alienated is one to try, I do think the casual fans might find this slightly hard to enjoy but once you start you just don’t want to stop. (Try It)
Best Part: Natural feeling throughout.
Worst Part: Not everything you think it will be.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes
Overall: Very interesting thriller that takes away the action only to give us an engrossing story.
https://moviesreview101.com/2016/02/25/alienated-2015/
Alienated gives us a very interesting drama that bottles down to what people want to believe when a loved one believes in something. I will admit that I was expecting more sci-fi element involved as this while very entertaining follows only the conversations between the couple. This showed how to make an ultra-interesting film between the characters giving them a natural feel throughout.
Actor Review
George Katt: Nate is an artist meaning he spends most of his time at home, he is a conspiracy theorist making him believe. He has a smaller social circle compared to his wife and once he believes he sees a spacecraft the relationship with his wife is pushed to the limits as they deal with what is real. George is great in this role as we
Jen Burry: Paige is the successful business woman who comes home everyday to her husband Nate who can easily be pushed into believing in many different conspiracies. She wants to be noticed more by her husband instead of dealing with his theories on a daily basis. Jen is great in this role showing great chemistry with George.
Taylor Negron: Griffin is the neighbour of the couple, he comes off very strange but we don’t see too much of the character. Taylor is good giving us mystery about the character.
Director Review: Brian Ackley – Brian gives us one of the most interesting story driven film of the year.
Thriller: Alienated keeps us on edge as we wait to see what is the truth throughout.
Settings: Alienated keeps the setting in the home of the couple showing how this could come off as an everyday conversation but it could also be something bigger.
Suggestion: Alienated is one to try, I do think the casual fans might find this slightly hard to enjoy but once you start you just don’t want to stop. (Try It)
Best Part: Natural feeling throughout.
Worst Part: Not everything you think it will be.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes
Overall: Very interesting thriller that takes away the action only to give us an engrossing story.
https://moviesreview101.com/2016/02/25/alienated-2015/
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Heartbeat Thief in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
Strangely enough, I enjoyed <i>The Heartbeat Thief</i>. Senza is the most perfect character I've ever met she's flawless, admired, wealthy, loved, intelligent. She knows it, but she doesn't want to flaunt it, which is what I really liked about Senza as a character. She hates going to parties and balls, and she dreads getting married off to a man that she doesn't want. I think I have a thing for characters who have an inner rebel in them.
Senza seems to have a perfect life until her grandmother dies. After that, she seems lost and obviously wants to carve her own path in life instead of letting her mother take the reins from her. Her discovery of eternal life is almost like a deal with a devil. She has to sacrifice her life to become immortal and keep her looks forever, but she has to carefully steal the heartbeats of another if she wants to keep her immortality. If she's not careful, those around her would be able to find out about her and accuse of witchcraft or something equally sinister.
<blockquote>Your spell must be fed, one heartbeat at a time. You must learn to steal them from the living. One here, one there. A person will not notice a skipped beat, and they must never know it is you who is making them skip. And you must do it, or the spell will fade and die.</blockquote>
Krafton's latest novel is a book I'm just interested in how the story will play out. Senza doesn't really come across as a selfish person in general until she decides to play with the strings of fate. As time goes by, she has to disguise herself from those around her so they don't find out what she did. Senza goes from place to place and she meets all kinds of people from all walks of life throughout the book. There's not exactly a clear plot going on here, and I almost expected a tragic ending where karma decided to finally bite back at Senza.
<i>The Heartbeat Thief</i> is a book with a unique storyline where one eventually realizes just what kind of price is really paid when death is defied. It's nicely done for a book where there's a character who doesn't have any flaws whatsoever.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-heartbeat-thief-by-aj-krafton/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Strangely enough, I enjoyed <i>The Heartbeat Thief</i>. Senza is the most perfect character I've ever met she's flawless, admired, wealthy, loved, intelligent. She knows it, but she doesn't want to flaunt it, which is what I really liked about Senza as a character. She hates going to parties and balls, and she dreads getting married off to a man that she doesn't want. I think I have a thing for characters who have an inner rebel in them.
Senza seems to have a perfect life until her grandmother dies. After that, she seems lost and obviously wants to carve her own path in life instead of letting her mother take the reins from her. Her discovery of eternal life is almost like a deal with a devil. She has to sacrifice her life to become immortal and keep her looks forever, but she has to carefully steal the heartbeats of another if she wants to keep her immortality. If she's not careful, those around her would be able to find out about her and accuse of witchcraft or something equally sinister.
<blockquote>Your spell must be fed, one heartbeat at a time. You must learn to steal them from the living. One here, one there. A person will not notice a skipped beat, and they must never know it is you who is making them skip. And you must do it, or the spell will fade and die.</blockquote>
Krafton's latest novel is a book I'm just interested in how the story will play out. Senza doesn't really come across as a selfish person in general until she decides to play with the strings of fate. As time goes by, she has to disguise herself from those around her so they don't find out what she did. Senza goes from place to place and she meets all kinds of people from all walks of life throughout the book. There's not exactly a clear plot going on here, and I almost expected a tragic ending where karma decided to finally bite back at Senza.
<i>The Heartbeat Thief</i> is a book with a unique storyline where one eventually realizes just what kind of price is really paid when death is defied. It's nicely done for a book where there's a character who doesn't have any flaws whatsoever.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-heartbeat-thief-by-aj-krafton/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>