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Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018)
Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Horror
I can sum this film up in one easy way: it's Shaun Of The Dead meets Attack The Block meets St Trinians, but nowhere near as good as that film combo should be.

To say I'm a little bit heartbroken about this would be an understatement. This was one of my top picks from the autumn cinema offerings and now I'm just sad that it made the cut.

"Slaughterhouse Rulez looks like St Trinians, mixed with the aliens from Attack The Block meets the hellmouth from Sunnydale... and what's not to love about that?!" - quote from me in pre-release excitement.

Evidently, everything.

The general premise of the story seemed like a good one, and the trio of top acting talent felt like it would carry the film even if the story turned out to be flimsy. Here's my problem, I didn't enjoy any of their characters. I didn't find The Bat or Meredith Houseman likeable, even as comic relief, and while Woody Chapman was probably the best of the three I still found him annoying.

By far the best characters were brought to life by the younger cast members. Don and Willoughby have a great dynamic throughout and along with the interactions as a group when they join up with the girls to investigate they saved this from being a complete flop for me.

I take very rough notes in the screenings while I'm watching. It's generally me vaguely pointing a pen at the page and scribbling key words down. I think that my favourite during this one was "imitation Draco".

What I did notice from my scribblings is that I made more than one note about Shaun Of The Dead. Someone gets tooled up with a cricket bat, there's a very familiar moment with the car, and at one point I'm reminded of Dylan Moran being dragged through the pub window. Oh, and he gets the group together and heads out to the cadet range.

I said at the beginning that it's like Shaun Of The Dead meets Attack The Block meets St Trinians, I'm afraid that my suggestion would be to watch those instead. The sad thing is that I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if the big three hadn't been in it. Anticipation can be a bitch sometimes.

What you should do

I think this one is better viewed at home with some friends, probably with a drinking game.
  
Fearless (Fe@rleSS_) (2020)
Fearless (Fe@rleSS_) (2020)
2020 | Animation, Comedy, Family
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
On a whim I put this one on, computer games mixed with aliens... why not!

Miles, username Fe@rleSS_, is nearly at the end of his favourite video game, just one level stands between him and the win. The game gives him a special boost... of babies, super babies, it might not be what he expected but it's what he's got and the game is about to get a lot more real. The babies land in a ship in his backyard and his job is now intergalactic babysitter, with the added danger of a villain on their tails.

Fe@rleSS_ has a great cast of talent and the voices fit well with all the characters, but despite that there's little to help this film along. It doesn't matter how well you can perform lines what you've been given is so bland. There are some amusing moments but nothing that raised more than a small nasal exhale laugh.

The animation is nice, fun design and easy to follow, everything is just right... it really does sit exactly in the middle, not awful enough to moan about and not spectacular enough to rave about. It's not great when you start shrugging your shoulders when you talk about things.

My main issue with the film overall is the story. The idea is that something from Miles' game comes to the real world, fine, it's got the Jumanji sound to it. But in practice it doesn't look like that at all. For anyone who isn't young enough not to care about anything but the action it is entirely frustrating. There are many ways to make game life come to the real world, we see it in so many different things, so I don't understand why you wouldn't use something like that. The film makes it appear like it's all in the real world, but when you couple that with the video game aspect it doesn't make sense. The whole baby angle also doesn't make any sense, even if they are adorable.

There's a cute little message of "even dads can be superheroes", though not responsible ones who protect their kids from space battles... beyond that nothing jumped out at me at all. I'm going to be filing it under "it didn't annoy me, but I wouldn't stop and watch it if it was on."


Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/08/fearless-movie-review.html
  
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1980 | Fantasy, Sci-Fi
May The Force Be With You: The Middle
Empire Strikes Back- i heard that this movie is peoples, all time greatest/best sequel and the best movie out of the oringal trilogy. To me, no. Episode 4 and 6 are better. Their are excellent sences like.. the battle at Hoth, when Han gets Frozen and the battle between Dark Vader and Luke. The rest of the movie is slow and boring.

The plot: The adventure continues in this "Star Wars" sequel. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) face attack by the Imperial forces and its AT-AT walkers on the ice planet Hoth. While Han and Leia escape in the Millennium Falcon, Luke travels to Dagobah in search of Yoda. Only with the Jedi master's help will Luke survive when the dark side of the Force beckons him into the ultimate duel with Darth Vader (David Prowse).

To me their are better movie sequels than this one like.. "Back To The Future Part II", "Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers", "The Dark Knight", "Captain America: The Winter Soilder", "Toy Story 2", "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" and "Aliens". All of these sequels are 10x better than Empire Strikes Back.

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated

AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated

AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
Darth Vader – No. 3 Villain

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
"I am your father." – Nominated
"Do, or do not. There is no try." – Nominated

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th
Anniversary Edition) – Nominated.

Darth Vader was ranked as the third-greatest film villain of all time in the American Film Institute's 2003 list of the 100 greatest heroes and villains, and Wizard magazine selected the ending of The Empire Strikes Back as the greatest cliffhanger of all time.

The line "No, I am your father" is often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father." The line was selected as one of the 400 nominees for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes, a list of the greatest American film quotes.

I think Empire Strikes Back, even though its good. Its overrated and hyped up, to the point were its not just not as good as people say it is.

Like i said its good, but not excellent.
  
War of the Worlds (2005)
War of the Worlds (2005)
2005 | Action, Sci-Fi
In a summer season of grand blockbusters, War of the Worlds” is perhaps the biggest dud in years, and is a failure of epic proportions. The film is a remake of the classic 1953 film of the same name which like the new one is inspired from the H.G. Wells novel of 1898.

The new version is directed by Steven Spielberg, and stars Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, a divorced dockworker who is spending some time with his estranged children, Robbie (Justin Chatwin), and Rachael (Dakota Fanning), while his ex-wife and her new husband take a trip.

The children are very cold to Ray as they feel they were dumped on their mother as Ray only cares about himself. When a series of freak electrical storms hits various cities around the world, Ray attempts to comfort his children who are disturbed by the storm as well as the fact that all electronic devices have ceased to function.

Ray leaves the children at home and ventures into the neighborhood and is soon facing a waking nightmare as giant machines burst from the ground laying waste to everything in their paths.

Ray gathers his family and flees in a working vehicle trying to stay one step ahead of the alien machines in an attempt to find safety and reunite the children with their mother in Boston.

As basic as the above plot outline is, it is pretty much the entire plot of the film. There is little else to it aside from a few interruptions such as the family seeking shelter in a couple of houses or facing an angry mob as they attempt to reach a ferry.

While a thin plot can be excused for many action films, what cannot be excused are the painfully bad lack of any excitement in the film and the lack of any compelling action or suspense.

We are supposed to believe that the world is being destroyed by the alien’s but aside from a few blasted bridges, and small buildings, we see a surprising lack of carnage. There are no sequences of classic landmarks being reduced to rubble, there are no scenes of vast armies locked in a desperate struggle against the invaders.

Instead, we get a sequence of helicopters firing, and a line of soldiers firing, but they never show us what they are shooting at, nor do we see the alien retaliation behind a bright explosion and a few vehicles emerging on fire. This is particularly frustrating when you consider that the 1954 version at least showed a few tanks being blasted outright.

Another issue I had with the film was the painfully obvious superimposed backdrops as during the films limited action scenes; the background was clearly inserted into the shot as it was so fuzzy that it did not fit in with the events in the foreground.

While I am willing to dismiss this as stylistic nitpicking what cannot be ignored is that for most of the films running length, the cast does little more than stand around waiting for something to happen.

There are no great segments of character development, no insight into why the aliens waited all this time to attack when they could have done so centuries earlier, why they want the planet, and numerous other plot holes, some of which are so glaring. One of my favorites was the guy who was able to use a video camera to record the opening attacks when it was clearly shown that all electronic devices were rendered useless.

Much has been made of Cruise’s recent off screen actions and I must say that those have been far more interesting and engaging than his performance here. Cruise spends the majority of the film in a wide-eyed gaze or frantically moving and yelling. His character like his annoyingly bratty daughter are so unsympathetic, I found myself hoping that the aliens would take them out and end our suffering.

I hate stated prior that I thought this film may have problems as in light of films such as “ID4”, the story would seem bland to modern audiences unless the action was increased and there was a dynamic story with interesting characters. Sadly all of those are missing from a film that also has one of the worst endings in recent history.

There is no build up, no final confrontation, no moment of high tension to get to the payoff; it just ends with a whimper. One would think that a grand battle or an effects royale is in store instead, it plays out in a very matter of fact fashion with shockingly little action or suspense.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that between the weak acting, tired, thin plot, and infrequent and underwhelming action and effects, this is a film that exists only due to the talents of Cruise and Spielberg., That being said, I have to wonder how and why they could not have picked a better product than this stale offering.
  
Paper Girls: Volume 1
Paper Girls: Volume 1
8
8.4 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is really tricky to review as I don't want to give too much away, but I want people to read it because I found it good but also at the same time, I am not 100% sure what I just read.

I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, it was weird but in a good way. I haven't read a graphic novel for a while and this just appealed to me... especially as it's written by the same author as Saga.

It all starts with four 12-year-old girls in 1988 doing their paper rounds on the aftermath of Halloween, they get caught up in a war of the worlds, time traveling galactic war between monsters, demons, aliens and a godlike man. With everybody vanishing, the presence of pterodactyls and not knowing who to trust or which way to turn,will they survive?

There are a lot of things that I enjoyed about this graphic novel, first off I shall start with the artwork the palette mostly consists of purples,pinks and blues and the drawings fit in with the 80's theme. I loved that it was set in the 80's and that the girls were doing paper rounds on their bikes and had cassette tapes, I really just like anything set in this era. The characters are all very different and each have their own personalities, they are sassy, have attitude and funny at the same time.

There are some things that let this down for me, not many but I think are quite important. First off there was not much background stories to the girls or character development. There is also the fact that the things they encounter are not fully explained or where they actually come from. The plot also can be a bit jumpy in parts and can be slightly confusing. I am hoping that the second volume gives us more of an understanding as to where the characters are coming from, what they are fighting and more world/character building.

This is the is a bind up of issues 1-5 and I will definitely be reading the second volume as I have a feeling this is just going to get better and better. Even though this is a story of four 12 year olds girls there is strong language and violence so not suitable for children or the easily offended.

Overall I rated this 4 out of 5 stars

**I received a copy of this graphic novel from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review**
  
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Leigh J (71 KP) rated Dreamcatcher (2003) in Movies

Nov 24, 2019 (Updated Nov 24, 2019)  
Dreamcatcher (2003)
Dreamcatcher (2003)
2003 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Stephen King does The Thing
Contains spoilers, click to show
4 friends make their yearly trek to a Cabin in a remote part of Maine to eat, drink, be merry and Hunt. However Jonesy, Pete, Beaver and Henry are not just any ordinary group of friends. For as long as they can remember, there has been a psychic link between them, strengthened further by the addition of Duddits, a mentally disabled young boy who they rescued from bullies one day after school when they were all kids. Their link as a group of 5 is so strong that they even rescue a young girl who has been missing for a while. Now the boys have grown up and this trip is their chance to let loose and blow off some steam, minus Duddits who is still mentally a young boy. Whilst out hunting, they come across a distressed and dazed man who tells them he got lost in the woods whilst out with his Hunting group... and the man is obviously ill. He has a suspicious injury to his face and he can't stop burping and farting, which are so horrible that they make the guys nauseous. Soon enough, they guys discover the man is in a blood soaked Bathroom, dead, and an Alien Weasel looking creature thrashing around in the toilet bowl. And there's a red fungus growing on (and in) everything. Could this really be an Alien invasion? Can the 4 friends strike back against these otherworldly enemies? And what will happen when the most malevolent one of these Aliens decides that Jonesy would be a great place for him to be able to wreak havoc from?

Dreamcatcher is an adaptation of the Book of the same name from Stephen King. I'm now VERY happy I read the Book before I watched this Movie as some things in the Book don't come across that clear in the Movie. Not a lot of people enjoy the Book and feel it's quite out there for Stephen King but I really enjoyed it, and the same can be said for the Movie! The story is really captivating, especially the friendships between the guys and the interaction between Jonesy and Mr Gray (his new invader) and I really appreciated the very "Thing" quality this Movie has (I literally have no idea why it reminds me of The Thing but it just does!) Definitely worth a watch, but it's not going to be for everyone as I would recommend reading the Book first.
  
Contains spoilers, click to show
So I've done a small comment on each but overall most of the were pretty good! I have several new authors to read and loved a select few! If you are looking for pure naughtiness it's definitely in this book!

12a

Feathers by Petra j knox

Wow this was hot and heavy. Kicks off this collection nicely 😍

12b
All the devils are here by Kendra Moreno

Ok so that made Lucifer even more attractive. Will be reading more of Kendra.

12c
Doctors orders by Golden Angel

Ok do classes like this exist?? I think I'd play doctor with mitch.

12d
Her Alien Renegades by Lucy Carter Anderson

Ok well not sure what to make of this one big blue aliens and a crazy human ready to accept her fate so easy 🙈🤣

12e primal: The first hunt by Kinkaid knight

Apart from almost a page of her describing his dick it wasn't too bad. I will give her her books ago I'm interested enough to want to read more.

12f
Desire In her reflection by Nichole Riley

Well that's not like any ladies nights I've been too 🤣🤣. I'll be looking into Nichole more!

12g
Bow by N.K. Stackhouse

Think I like this one and I'd definitely be the Dom!!

12h
Picture purr- fect by Emma Cole

So far this has to be my favourite! It was brilliantly written for a short and wow!!!
Will definitely be reading more by Emma Cole!

12i
Primal innocence by Caia Daniels

I kinda got bored just a little. It was a rather sweet way to lose her virginity though.

12j
Rebel by Savannah Rose

Well that was a super fast read not sure how much you can get from it

12k
Snatch me by C.F. Rabbiosi

Another good one personally I love the idea of this shirt lol I'll be looking her up!

12L

The good girl by Chloe Jane

Very much shirt and sweet

12m
Voyeur by Bea Paige

Ok so I now have a new favourite!! That was just soooo good!!

12n

What a show by Jennifer Stone

Not one I enjoyed something about it just didn't click with me

12o
When night and day collide by Kandi vale

The best till last!! The whole reason I brought the book and I'm so glad I did! What a birthday present for Kisa! Any excuse to get me some Dolor and I'm there! I'm no patiently waiting for Kandi Vale s next book 😍😍
  
The Tomorrow War (2021)
The Tomorrow War (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
7
7.3 (19 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Amazon Prime’s purchase of The Tomorrow War from Paramount was a bold move as the FX-laden film starring Chris Pratt reportedly cost around $200 million to purchase and follows prior purchases of Paramount films by the streamer.

Pratt stars as an ex-soldier named Dan Forester who has just been turned down for a research job he has been seeking and must remain teaching science to less than enthusiastic students.

While watching a Soccer match with his wife, daughter, and friends, the world is stunned when a group of armed individuals appear in a flash of light and tell the televised audience that they have come from thirty years in the future and are seeking help to save humanity.

It is soon learned that an Alien threat they call the White Spikes suddenly appeared and has humanity on the verge of extinction. The nations of the world send forces into the future to help fight the war but with a very high casualty rate; a worldwide draft is soon instituted to replenish the numbers.

Dan is eventually drafted and told he has 24 hours to get things in order before he is deployed for seven days at which time he will be returned. Dan contemplates running and seeks out his estranged father (J.K. Simmons); who has a deep disdain for governments and conducts himself in a shady fashion to the point where Dan will not let him anywhere near his daughter.

Dan eventually deploys and finds a nightmare version of the future where cities are in ruin and the deadly and very tough enemy is everywhere.

As the tension mounts; Dan must team up with the leader of the resistance to develop a way to fight the aliens and save humanity before it is too late.

The film features some good FX and action and while there were many times I questioned why a different course of action was not attempted; the film eventually attempts to address many questions later in the film.

While the final act may seem overblown and too convenient; the film works as an enjoyable and action-filled escape as long as you are willing to just go along with the ride and not ask too many questions along the way.

While there are elements of prior Science Fiction and Horror films evident; the cast and premise work well and the movie is a step above most offerings that are sold to streaming services and is well worth a watch.
  
A Quiet Place (2018)
A Quiet Place (2018)
2018 | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.



When the trailer for this one was running I honestly thought I was going to be scared witless. It made me so uneasy that I was seriously contemplating not going to see it. I don't mind watching horror films, but I feel a lot more comfortable about it when I'm at home in a brightly lit room.

I sucked it up though and went anyway figuring that having a double bill with something I knew would definitely entertain me would be an easy way to calm my nerves.

We start the film 89 (was is 89? I've got a brain like a sieve) days into the events of A Quiet Place. The monsters are here, and those that are left are doing their best to stay quiet and survive. I've already reached a point where I am a little grumbly. When it announced where it was in the story I was hoping for some kind of jumping timeline showing you a before and after style tale... because surely they're not just going to gloss over the whole "how" of the aliens coming to Earth... Oh.

I can't really fault the bit in the middle of the film. I found it quite enjoyable. There are lots of questions that you wonder about, that I always wonder about in apocalyptic movies. But that's where you have to give them leeway for artistic license I guess.

The part of the story that this film tells is good, and you can follow the journey of the family understanding everything even with the limited dialogue. There's some superb acting at work from everyone involved and I've been recommending it to anyone that asks about it.

With quite a few of us in the cinema it was amusing to see everyone's reaction throughout the movie. Every time someone crinkled a packet or opened a fizzy drink there were noticeable pauses as if we'd all just thought "Oh my god that was too loud" before realising that it's just a movie we're watching.

The main reason this one gets a three star rating and not a four is not only for the lack of origin story but for what I consider to be a cheesy ending suitable for a comedy action film and not what I had been to see. The locked and loaded ending was the sort of thing you'd expect to see in a Guardians Of The Galaxy movie where the end credit are punctuated by shots of our heroes going into battle. A perplexing end.
  
AVP - Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
AVP - Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
2004 | Action, Horror, Mystery
For over a decade fans of the “Alien” and “Predator” films series have been tempted by various rumors regarding a proposed film that would match the two titans in an epic onscreen clash to determine who is the ultimate Sci-Fi bad guy.

Sadly none of the rumors panned out as one script after another was rejected ranging from issues over proposed budgets in excess of $200 million to lack of a human character dynamic. Fans continued to follow the series in the only ways that they could, comics, books, and games all the while hoping that someday a film would come.

Thankfully the wait is over as “Alien VS Predator” has come to fruition under the guidance of writer/director Paul Anderson who has an impressive science fiction track record with “Event Horizon” and “Resident Evil” amongst his credits. While some fans debated if Anderson was the right person for the project, few can dispute his passion for the series.

The film stars Lance Henriksen as Billionaire Charles Weyland, who discovers a large pyramid beneath the ice in Antarctica thanks to one of his satellites. Knowing that this could be the find of a lifetime, Weyland assembles a team of drillers, archeologists, climbers, and support personal and rushes to the harsh location to investigate the location before any other interested parties can discover his find and claim it for themselves.

Upon arriving at the location, the team discovers a massive pyramid that shows connections to all of the other pyramids on earth causing the team to believe that they have proof that the pyramids of earth were influenced by an outside culture whom the natives worshipped.

The presence of human remains in a sacrificial chamber only helps to strengthen this belief and the team continues to explore the pyramid to see what other grand treasures lay within. Upon arrival, the team has unknowingly awakened a captive alien queen from stasis and long dormant machines awaken and begin harvesting the eggs from the captive queen, Each egg is filled with a deadly face hugger that will not only kill the host it attaches itself to, but will produce an alien who is as deadly as it is relentless.

As if this was not bad enough for the team, a ship enters earth orbit and a landing craft of young predator males hurries to the pyramid. The predators are aware of the human’s presence and arrive ready for battle. It is learned that the predators use the aliens as a coming of age ritual as they are very deadly and seen as a worthy test of a young males worth.

Before long, the humans are caught in nightmare come to life as Weyland, his guide Lex (Sanaa Lathan), and the rest of the team are caught in the middle of a deadly battle between the aliens and predators with death and destruction all around them. The team has no idea what the creatures are, but they know that they are very deadly and their dwindling numbers only underscores this fact and their need to escape from the pyramid, which has become like a gigantic puzzle as it is constantly reconfiguring itself causing passages that were once wide open to become blocked.

To compound the peril of the situation, the team is 2000 ft below the ice and a storm is raging on the surface making the escape and elements as deadly as the bizarre creatures.

“AVP” combines the old-fashioned monster and haunted house movies of old to create a thrilling blend of action and Science fiction that is sure to delight fans. My biggest fault with the film was that it was not long enough as the 100 minute running time passed quickly and I was left wanting even more as good as the action sequences were I had hoped that there would be more of them. The film is also light on scares and tension as Anderson seems to have decided that the audience for this film would know about the title creatures already so time did not need to be spent on reintroductions.

The action sequences in the film are solid and they had the audience in my press screener cheering loudly and often as the two cinematic titans waged war. The pacing of the film is brisk and the lighting and visuals of the film are used well to create the atmosphere, I found the sequences were flashlights and laser sites probed the dark areas of the pyramid to be fascinating to watch as the eerie glow was appropriate to the mood of the film.

True the film does not have much in the way of complex plot, character development, or much for the cast to do other than be middlemen to the title creatures, but Anderson stays true to the source material and delivers a solid tale the largely protects the continuity of the “Alien” series and paves the way for future installments.

While some may find issue with the toned down nature of the films violence compared to others in the series, I found that I was still able to enjoy the film and I am sure a rematch between the title characters is something fans everywhere will be waiting for.