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Miguel Rios De Leon (2 KP) rated Life (2017) in Movies
Jan 9, 2018
Rachel (4 KP) rated Passengers (2016) in Movies
Apr 9, 2018
Dave Maclean recommended Chariots of the Gods in Books (curated)
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Cell (2016) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
Oh god I wish I hadn't seen it. I think I've said before that Stephen King things I've seen feel like they've got to a point and discovered that they needed to end... and that's when... BOOM... aliens! This film felt like it was going quite well until the end... surprise surprise.
David McK (3219 KP) rated Aliens: The Female War in Books
Jan 30, 2019
The third book in Dark Horse's spin-off series of novels and comics to include Billie and Wilks, this also throws Ripley into the mix, and finishes the story first began in [b:Aliens: Earth Hive|343281|Aliens Earth Hive|Steve Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1366133734s/343281.jpg|333628] and continued in [b:Aliens: Nightmare Asylum|20873|Aliens Nightmare Asylum|Steve Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388857061s/20873.jpg|22061]. Wheres the 1979 film 'Alien' had a single Alien stalking the crew of the Nostromo after they picked up the transmission, with the 1986 film 'Aliens' then introducing the concept of the Alien Queen, this extrapolates even further than that with the introduction of an Alien Queen Mother providing the deus ex machina for the plot.
Talking of the plot: this is maybe a bit slower than those previous two novels, with more emphasis on character development (I know, I know: is such a thing even possible in these types of books?).
As before, not going to set the literary world alight nor win any awards, but an enjoyable enough quick diversion for a day or two.
Talking of the plot: this is maybe a bit slower than those previous two novels, with more emphasis on character development (I know, I know: is such a thing even possible in these types of books?).
As before, not going to set the literary world alight nor win any awards, but an enjoyable enough quick diversion for a day or two.
Coleman Balogh (20 KP) rated Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space in Tabletop Games
Dec 17, 2018 (Updated Dec 17, 2018)
Minimalistic art (2 more)
Great maps
Unsettling fear and paranoia
An unsung masterpiece
This game is one of my absolute favorites. Its quiet, unsettling, and nerve-wracking. I like to describe it as a mixture between Battleship, Minesweeper, and The Thing. Humans are racing to outrun aliens on a shared map system. Random chance allows you to bluff or biff making noises as you try to escape. Can you fool the aliens into believing the fake sounds or will they track you down? Who is an alien anyway?! The addition of item cards and secret identities take the game to the next level. I love the malfunctioning escape pod too. This is a perfectly distilled minimalistic horror game and I AM HERE FOR IT.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated District 9 (2009) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Aliens made first contact twenty years ago as they parked their mother ship over Johannesburg, South Africa. These aliens are incredibly insect-like while their facial features are similar to a prawn, which is where their derogatory nickname comes from. When the aliens are found on their ship malnourished and basically on the brink of death, they were transported by the MNU (Multi-National United) to camps down in Johannesburg. These camps were soon fenced off to separate the aliens from humans and labeled as District 9. As time went on, however, the camps became slums and the aliens became bottom feeders as they spent most of their time digging through the trash.
The MNU, who have no interest in the well-being of the aliens, decide they should relocate 1.8 million aliens to a new camp, District 10, located outside the Johannesburg city limits since the people of Johannesburg think the aliens have worn out their welcome. Wikus van der Mirwe is put in charge of evicting the aliens, but it's soon revealed that the aliens have been searching and building towards something the past two decades. Wikus is just trying to do his job the best that he can until he's exposed to a black fluid that was stored in an alien canister. Soon after, his world is turned upside down and he becomes the most wanted man in the world.
District 9 is one of the most advertised films of the year, probably due to Peter Jackson's involvement. The film seemed to materialize without much of a trace beforehand a few months ago with that first teaser trailer that included the interrogation of one of the aliens. A viral marketing campaign began as images of new posters and production stills found their way onto the internet. The buildup was giving the impression that it was one of the most incredible and original sci-fi films to ever grace the screen and, truth be told, it might just be.
The film starts off a bit slow at first using that documentary-style you've probably come to expect from the trailers, but the tension begins to rise as we begin to see more and more of the "prawns." It doesn't take long for things to get interesting and you know the film is building towards something big once the evictions start and Wikus is exposed. The most entertaining aspect of the film is the alien technology. When we're introduced to one of their weapons, wondering how much damage it's going to cause is half the fun. Then when you finally see it come into play, it's nothing short of extraordinary. The film definitely earns its R-rating. F-bombs are littered throughout the film, but it all seems like a natural response to the circumstances of what's happened with District 9. The gore is pretty ridiculous, too; ridiculous in a good way. Humans explode as blood and body chunks splatter everywhere. It's insane how many scenes make you go, "AUGH!" or "OHHHH!" in the film.
Everything else is top notch, as well. The actors are all pretty much unknown, which was a great route to take with a film like this. Not recognizing anyone in the film made it a lot more believable. There really isn't a bad actor in the bunch either, but Sharlto Copley as Wikus steals the film since we're around him the entire time. The scenes where he's on the phone with his wife are generally rather heartbreaking as you feel for what Wikus is going through and it rides on his performance. The story is also pretty incredible. It starts off rather simple with the aliens just wanting to go home and the MNU wanting to keep them around so they can discover the secrets of their technology, but it slowly unravels into something more. Perhaps the biggest element of the film is its special effects. They have to be rather astounding to make these aliens and their technology believable. Since Peter Jackson is involved, you can pretty much expect the CG to be superb. There was a scene or two that mainly involved one of the alien ships being a big part of the scene where the CG was noticeable. The effects looked generally as realistic as they needed to be 95% of the time though, which is a big thing in a film like this. Bad CG can ruin a good film. I Am Legend is a great example, but it's safe to say that most people won't find an issue with it in District 9.
District 9 is quite possibly the best sci-fi film I've seen in a long, long time. The only film that really rivals it is Moon, but I never thought 2009 would be such a good year for the sci-fi genre. District 9 delivers with incredible action sequences, fantastic special effects, a great story, and superb acting. I have no doubt in my mind that it'll be in my top five films of the year. It isn't every day that a film lives up to its hype, but this one surely does that and then some.
The MNU, who have no interest in the well-being of the aliens, decide they should relocate 1.8 million aliens to a new camp, District 10, located outside the Johannesburg city limits since the people of Johannesburg think the aliens have worn out their welcome. Wikus van der Mirwe is put in charge of evicting the aliens, but it's soon revealed that the aliens have been searching and building towards something the past two decades. Wikus is just trying to do his job the best that he can until he's exposed to a black fluid that was stored in an alien canister. Soon after, his world is turned upside down and he becomes the most wanted man in the world.
District 9 is one of the most advertised films of the year, probably due to Peter Jackson's involvement. The film seemed to materialize without much of a trace beforehand a few months ago with that first teaser trailer that included the interrogation of one of the aliens. A viral marketing campaign began as images of new posters and production stills found their way onto the internet. The buildup was giving the impression that it was one of the most incredible and original sci-fi films to ever grace the screen and, truth be told, it might just be.
The film starts off a bit slow at first using that documentary-style you've probably come to expect from the trailers, but the tension begins to rise as we begin to see more and more of the "prawns." It doesn't take long for things to get interesting and you know the film is building towards something big once the evictions start and Wikus is exposed. The most entertaining aspect of the film is the alien technology. When we're introduced to one of their weapons, wondering how much damage it's going to cause is half the fun. Then when you finally see it come into play, it's nothing short of extraordinary. The film definitely earns its R-rating. F-bombs are littered throughout the film, but it all seems like a natural response to the circumstances of what's happened with District 9. The gore is pretty ridiculous, too; ridiculous in a good way. Humans explode as blood and body chunks splatter everywhere. It's insane how many scenes make you go, "AUGH!" or "OHHHH!" in the film.
Everything else is top notch, as well. The actors are all pretty much unknown, which was a great route to take with a film like this. Not recognizing anyone in the film made it a lot more believable. There really isn't a bad actor in the bunch either, but Sharlto Copley as Wikus steals the film since we're around him the entire time. The scenes where he's on the phone with his wife are generally rather heartbreaking as you feel for what Wikus is going through and it rides on his performance. The story is also pretty incredible. It starts off rather simple with the aliens just wanting to go home and the MNU wanting to keep them around so they can discover the secrets of their technology, but it slowly unravels into something more. Perhaps the biggest element of the film is its special effects. They have to be rather astounding to make these aliens and their technology believable. Since Peter Jackson is involved, you can pretty much expect the CG to be superb. There was a scene or two that mainly involved one of the alien ships being a big part of the scene where the CG was noticeable. The effects looked generally as realistic as they needed to be 95% of the time though, which is a big thing in a film like this. Bad CG can ruin a good film. I Am Legend is a great example, but it's safe to say that most people won't find an issue with it in District 9.
District 9 is quite possibly the best sci-fi film I've seen in a long, long time. The only film that really rivals it is Moon, but I never thought 2009 would be such a good year for the sci-fi genre. District 9 delivers with incredible action sequences, fantastic special effects, a great story, and superb acting. I have no doubt in my mind that it'll be in my top five films of the year. It isn't every day that a film lives up to its hype, but this one surely does that and then some.
Jessica Cashen (1 KP) rated The Vanishing Spark of Dusk in Books
May 16, 2018
Well written book with a great plot and characters. This book has action, romance, aliens and space pirates. Sara Baysinger is very imaginative, i love the Universe she created. The book can be slow going at times.....but so worth the read! I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.
Carla Wheeler (6 KP) rated Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (1991) in Movies
Mar 2, 2019
Its a film. Jim, not as masterpiece.
If you're a star trek fan, you've already seen this. If you're not, you likely won't watch it. I thoroughly enjoy the movies versus the series. It shows the depths of the years of friendship these people really had. #rip spock, #rip mccoy, #rip scotty
Carleane Tang (791 KP) rated Rick and Morty - Season 3 in TV
Oct 25, 2019
Geeky warped fun
If you've never seen Rick and Morty your missing out. Season 3 continues the theme of bad hunter and cool sci-fi twist all wrapped up in a great cartoon.
Rick and Morty is about a Space+time scientist and his grandson who go on various adventures battleling aliens and alter egos.
Rick and Morty is about a Space+time scientist and his grandson who go on various adventures battleling aliens and alter egos.