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Darren (1599 KP) rated Aloha (2015) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019  
Aloha (2015)
Aloha (2015)
2015 | Action, Comedy
1
3.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Aloha starts Brian Gilcrest (Cooper) who dreams of going into space but his dreams go sour after teaming up with billionaire Carson Welch (Murray) before getting a chance to go back to Hawaii. He is now a representative for Carson due to a war injury who has to deal with his ex-girlfriend Tracy (McAdams) but has to follow orders from captain Allison Ng (Stone), while meeting back up with former friends.

Brian working for Carson as he wants to introduce a space program to Hawaii but first Brian needs to negotiate with the locals. All this while Brian ends up in the middle of a love triangle with Allison and Tracy.

Aloha is a film that just never pulled my attention, be it the bland characters slow moving love triangle or whatever Carson was meant to be doing. I personally am not sure what was meant to be happening, everything that did happen just seemed to be very slow moving and offering nothing to really root for. You simply jut didn’t care what was happening. (2/10)

Actor Review

Bradley Cooper: Brain is an injured war veteran who has sided with billionaire Carson to look into making space travel happen, he has to return to Hawaii where he ends up having to see his ex-girlfriend and be followed around by the golden soldier of the local military. He is here to help create a deal to make space travel in Hawaii. Bradley gives a very average performance not getting a chance to show his real talent. (5/10)brian

Emma Stone: Allison is the most prized soldier of General Dixon who has to show Brian around, she admires him and doesn’t want you to forget she is a quarter Hawaii. While many people criticised the character created she was one of the better things in this film. (6/10)allison

Rachel McAdams: Tracy is the ex-girlfriend of Brian who lives on Hawaii with her new husband and family, when the two get to spend time together they get the closure they never really got. Rachel gives a plain performance that really doesn’t seem to do much. (4/10)

Bill Murray: Carson is the billionaire who is looking to make his own space program on the island of Hawaii and he give Brian one last chance to prove himself to him. Bill tries to bring his quirkiness to this role without really pulling it off. (5/10)

Support Cast: Aloha has the standard attempted comedic actors trying to pull this off but they had little to work with.

Director Review: Cameron Crowe – Cameron has given us some great films in the past but now he has managed to give us his worst. (2/10)

Comedy: Aloha doesn’t have many laughs at all can hardly be called a comedy. (2/10)

Romance: Aloha tries to give us an engaging love triangle but doesn’t really succeed to make us care enough. (3/10)

Settings: Aloha tries to give our location something special with the idea of putting it all on Hawaii for the beautiful setting and doesn’t even get that right. (3/10)

Suggestion: Aloha is one too miss this year, if anyone says to watch just say no. (Just Say No)

Best Part: The end.

Worst Part: It is over an Hour and half.

Funniest Scene: Woody and Brian’s ‘Conversation’.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Please God No.

Post Credits Scene: I didn’t both to look.

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $20 Million

Budget: $37 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Tagline: Sometimes you have to say goodbye before you can say hello.

Overall: Just watch paint dry it will be more entertaining.

https://moviesreview101.com/2015/11/07/emma-stone-weekend-aloha-2015/
  
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Gail (4 KP) rated Incapable in Books

Jun 4, 2018  
I
Incapable
Marie Skye | 2016
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ok I know it has to be 5 stars but holy gravy train this book was AMAZING! The character build, the drama, the romance and holy macaroons the SEX! This was panty dripping good. This follows Grayson and Emmalin as they battle past demons and try to find their way to love. Emmalin is working hard to just scrape by. She doesn’t go looking for anything but a break from the hard life. What she finds is a man willing to lay down roads paved in gold for her. She can’t let him take over her life she has worked to hard to be independent and free to allow him in. Grayson slowly breaks down her walls but situations keep happening and she just builds them back up.
Grayson has to been the most amazing man in fiction right now. The guy oozes sex-appeal and dominance. The way he commanded her with that deep voice(in my head) just had me wishing I was her. He had his flaws but they just made him perfect. He gave more to others than any billionaire in any book I have read to date. The guy was possessive in all the right areas.
I want to spoil this for you so bad but I wont because this book if worth the read. I should be in bed getting rest for work but man I couldn’t put this book down. Marie Skye you just got yourself put on my all time favorite author list. To others it’s not much but to me that’s an achievement because I am high maintenance when it comes to books. THANK YOU!
  
Healing Kiss
Healing Kiss
Amanda Uhl | 2023 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
HEALING KISS is a contemporary romance with paranormal elements. Lilian is able to store energy and use it to heal others, especially those who are quite literally on the same wavelength as her. It is not a finite source though and does have an impact. She returns to Cleveland to save her sister from dying. She has been on the run for the past two years from a dodgy company that wants to use her talents against her will. Tristan is a billionaire with trust issues and a mother who is dying. When these two bump into each other, it sets off events that neither of them could have foreseen.

This was a slow starter for me but once I got into the groove, the rest of the book flew by. There is quite a bit of angst, both in general and between our two main characters. Angelina was made into too big a deal for my liking and I found myself skipping over the scenes with her in them, which is a shame as they help to move the story forwards, but I just found I couldn't help myself!

The build-up to the end and the epilogue were fantastic and I really hope to read Hannah's story. This was a thoroughly enjoyable story with a fresh look at talents and how they work. Definitely recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 5, 2023
  
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KittyMiku (138 KP) rated Playing Games in Books

May 23, 2019  
Playing Games
Playing Games
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Playing Games by Liliana Rhodes is a romance novel that is short and quick to read. Cassie Monroe needs a job and when her roommate helps get her into her dream job, she finds herself falling for her boss. Torn between her dream and her heart, Cassie has to find a happy medium to get all that she wants, but will it be as easy as that? Especially since there is another woman already in his life, will Cassie be able to overcome that or will she have to back down? Cassie will have to realize that love is unpredictable and sometimes has a few strings attached.



Rhodes is able to give the reader a great romance story that won’t take forever to read. However, I found it very anticlimactic and would have loved the extra drama that could be introduced but never was. Though the book was short and only a couple hours if that of reading and lacked the drama most good romance novels have, it does introduce characters that seem to be a part of Rhodes Billionaire novels that she has created and released as a series. If this book is any foreshadowing, I feel that the other books will be a bit disappointing.



I believe I found the part revolving around the other woman and the situation the Cassie’s lover is in to be extremely relatable. After all not, not everyone can enter a relationship without something for the past being there. To see how hard it is to trust someone else with something that means the world to you, made the book feel like it was speaking from the heart. Then you get to see how something that could seem so major to others would not be a huge deal to the person who loves you. I would have loved to read more about the family Cassie adopts as her own instead of it ending only to move onto the next couple in the series. I believe that there could be more added onto this book by adding some additional details and maybe adding a little more conflict to the characters instead of having that love at first sight situation.



The details in the book were well enough that it was able to be easily followed, however with lack of a major conflict and drama that could have kept it completely entertaining; I would not recommend this book to many people. In fact, I believe the book only made 2 stars on my 4 star rating lists. Yes it satisfied my weird need of romance, but it also left something to be desired. I really would have loved more in the book and feel that maybe it was rushed or not well thought about. The idea was great, but the execution wasn’t all that it could have been. I am even now finding it difficult to write this review as the review itself isn’t as long as I would like it to be.



However, even with these flaws, that make it low in my own tastes, I believe Playing Games could be a good book to those who don’t like to read for long session. If you are looking for a quick book to read that has that romantic air to it, the Playing Games is right up your alley. It doesn’t take more than a couple hours to read, has the romantic gestures and the idea of love being unpredictable, and pretty straightforward without the drama. If this sounds like the perfect book to you, please feel free to go grab it. I got my copy on Amazon for my kindle.
  
Office Grump
Office Grump
Nicole Snow | 2020 | Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a bit too long (0 more)
This one starts with Sabrina late for work after missing her bus only to be told they're letting her go from her position due to "right-sizing" - her bosses term for down sizing - and she heads to her favourite coffee shop for a commiseration bear claw and cinnamon coffee that she consumes on her favourite park bench. Only she gets interrupted by the attractive but grumpy Magnus Heron who wants the bench for his work. Neither leaves the best impression on the other but it does linger and Magnus decides the feisty girl may just be the perfect person for his EA position. Sabrina grudgingly takes the job but as they get to know each other feelings begin to emerge between them.

This was a long book but I didn't mind that most of the time because I was enjoying reading Brina and Mag's romance slowly blossom. It did take a while for anything to happen - somewhere around the 35% mark - and then it was kicked to the background again for quite a while and i honestly do not blame Brina for telling him where to go several times for the way he treats her sometimes.

I did like this. It took a long time to get to that HEA but it was good reading - if i little too long in my opinion. It did make me cry towards the end, though, because i had come to care for these people and i wanted them to work out. I even grew to like teenage Jordan, whose emotions were up in the air like nobodies business after his mums mugging - which was understandable. He didn't know Magnus so to suddenly find yourself living with a billionaire you've never really met had to be hard.

I'm also intrigued by Brina's best friend and roommate - Paige, I think it was. Is she going to be getting her own book? She had about as much spark in her as Brina so it would be fun to see what guy ends up taming her.
  
Fallen Angel
Fallen Angel
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Genre: Contemporary Adult

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.27

My Rating: 2.5

“What do you see when you look into my eyes?” I asked breathlessly and not entirely sure where the question had come from.

“All there is to know,” was his reply. “What do you see when you look into my eyes, Brooke?” he whispered, there was a slight anger to his voice.

I trembled. “An abyss and danger,” was all I could say.


I found Fallen Angel when I was looking for angel/mortal romance novels. Even though Fallen Angel was listed as a mafia romance and not not the supernatural romance I was looking for, I picked it up anyway. And at first it was great.

It immediately started out with a strong love story. Brooke is in the midst of an existential crisis after breaking up with her long-time boyfriend. When she visits her best friend Sam in New York, she ends up meeting billionaire Robert Stone, a handsome CEO who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. To the point of being a jerk about it. But at least he’s self aware about that.

“I’m worried that I might hurt you. I have a knack of doing that when people get too close to me, a defense mechanism, I guess.”

No one pretends Robert is a great boyfriend, which I love. There are too many alpha billionaires out there that are disturbingly abusive while everyone pretends it’s a normal relationship. Not here. Robert’s actually one of the first to admit that he’s not a good boyfriend and he’s never had a real relationship. Which is great. I love flawed heroes. And when Robert does get better at communicating his feelings, it’s worth it.

“I love you, Brooke. You’ll never know just how much because there are no words.”

 

And Brooke is strong enough to handle him. She stands up to Robert when he disses Sam for being gay (which, by the way, I hated a lot. You can be a flawed badass without being a homophobe. Ugh. Major turn-off for me) and when he makes a big deal about her wearing a revealing dress.

“I wore it for you and not for anyone else. If people can see my body, so what? You’re the only one touching it,” I told him.

Brooke’s even a trained kick boxer. She’s incredibly strong and perfect to help Robert get over his past.

Then the story falls flat.

tired-and-bored-boy-sleep-014

After their second fight and make up, the story gets monotonous real fast. A lot of sex scenes– which, to be fair, were actually hot and well-written– and a lot of the mundane stuff. Brooke hanging out with Sam and Scott, Brooke working, Brooke attending one event or another with Robert. The story just dragged. And with the actual story dragging, the amount of comma splices and run-on sentences became more noticeable to me and book was practically unreadable. I had to make myself finish because I had already invested so much time into it.

It’s not like there wasn’t potential for more plot. There’s a jealous ex girlfriend out to steal Robert back and Brooke’s ex boyfriend can’t accept their break up. Brooke takes a troubled teen under her wing and isn’t this supposed to be a mafia romance?

And yet the majority of the middle of the book is sex, clothes, work days, and how great Brooke is for Robert. On top of that, Brooke loses a lot of the strength and independence I saw earlier in the book. In fact, she turned into a love sick teen.

Our souls, so entwined, were part of each other, true soul mates. Not even death would separate us.

marrypoppinsareyouill

To make matters worse, Robert’s criminal background isn’t revealed until three quarters of the way through the story! And since he got out of illegal activities years before he met Brooke, it’s really anticlimactic. Brooke makes a huge deal out of it and almost leaves him because of his past, which makes me dislike her even more. The criminal element actually seems more like an after thought to this so-called mafia romance. I’m really surprised it has such a high rating on Goodreads because I found it pretty disappointing. My rating is 2.5 stars because of the strong beginning, but I definitely won’t be reading any more of the Fallen Angel series.
  
Mine Forever
Mine Forever
J.S. Scott | 2019
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What do you do when the love of your life is almost kidnapped by druggies? You do everything you can to convince her to come home with you, of course. Which is exactly what Simon does with Kara. But even with Kara reluctantly living with Simon again, things aren’t perfect. Kara won’t accept anything less than a relationship and Simon is still trying to figure out how to be in one. Can Simon put his past behind him so he can finally have happiness with Kara?

Like Mine for Tonight and Mine for Now, Mine Forever is a fantastic erotic romance. I like it even better than the second one because aside from getting Kara to move in with Simon again,the under-developed druggie plot has all but disappeared. and Kara is showing that she’s not willing to take any crap from Simon, even refusing sex until he opened up to her about his past. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of hot sex scenes that can make you blush, but Kara still needs Simon to open up.

And Simon, despite being an alpha male, is still awkward and endearing. 15479193670_d73f1ff314_mIt’s really obvious that he has no idea what to do in a relationship, to the point of absurdity. I mean, you have to be living under a rock not to know that flowers and chocolates are basic gifts for Valentine’s Day. As much as I like an awkward love interest, I really didn’t like how Simon handled Valentine’s Day. Getting help from his female employees is good and so is being nervous and wanting to make things right with Kara, but buying an entire carload of Valentine’s Day merchandise? That was a little to ridiculous for me. First of all, it’s unrealistic. Nervous binge-shopping and being a billionaire don’t go hand in hand. Binge-shopping leads to a broke hoarder real quick, I don’t care how high your salary is. Second of all, does he even know Kara? She’s hardly a material girl. Why would a large quantity of material goods make her happy? But Simon does express his love with gifts, so I guess that does fit.

We finally learn how Simon got his scars in this book. The suspense had actually been killing me to find out and the reason did not disappoint. Honestly, I’d have relationship problems too if I went through the same thing. And now that he’s opened up to Kara he can finally begin healing for real.

This book is one of my favorites of the series, right up there with the first one. You can’t find it by itself anymore. You’ll have to buy the entire Billionaire’s Obsession series. But if you like contemporary romance that flirts with the erotica genre, then you’ll like this series.
  
Turtles All The Way Down
Turtles All The Way Down
John Green | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.4 (60 Ratings)
Book Rating
SPOILER FREE!

This is the second book I ever read from John Green and I love everything about it. There is just something about John Green's writing that just keeps me going and going and not wanting to stop.

This story is exactly what I needed this weekend. Mix of mystery, romance, and a little bit of humor. The story was smoothly put together into place nicely where I have a full understanding of what's going on and enough action going on where it kept me reading.

We have a story where a 16-year-old Aza who is the main character and her best friend Daisy are investigating a fugitive who is a billionaire who is missing and there is a hundred thousand dollar reward leading to the fugitive named Russel Pickett. Aza used to hang out with the fugitive's son name Davis when they were kids. Aza and Davis reconnect with each other and build a relationship. Thru the whole book, we are in Aza's point of view on things and what she is dealing with.

Aza has severe Anxiety issue when it comes to health. John Green did a wonderful job writing about Aza and how she feels and what she is thinking. I truly enjoyed reading about her and how she deals with her life and everyone around her. Her relationship with her mother and her best friend and Davis is wonderful to read seeing the character growth thru out the book with them. 

I would like to share that I absolutely love Daisy, Aza'a best friend! If Daisy was in the real world her and I would have been good friends. I love that she is a Star Wars fanatic and who she is as a person makes me smile and laugh where you need a Daisy in your life. The character growth between her and Aza was amazing to me, they are two different people who are best friends which reminds me of my best friend that I grew up with.

I was so curious to what happened to the missing fugitive and also wondering what the relationship with the characters would end up towards the end of the book. I am very pleased with this book and highly recommend it!