
Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir
Book
POINT TO POINT NAVIGATION refers to a form of navigation Gore Vidal resorted to as a first mate in...

Communication, Digital Media and Everyday Life
Tony Chalkley, Mitchell Hobbs, Adam Brown and Toija Cinque
Book
Communication, Digital Media and Everyday Life (Second Edition) uses stories to explain the journey...

Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Hating Game in Books
Feb 12, 2023
Book
The Hating Game
By Sally Thorne
⭐️
Now a film starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell, globally bestselling author Sally Thorne's hilarious workplace comedy is all about the fine line between love and hate.
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman sit across from each other every day . . . and they hate each other.
Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. HATE. Lucy can't understand Joshua's joyless, uptight approach to his job and refusal to smile. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy's overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and desire to be liked.
Now they're up for the same promotion and Lucy, usually a determined people-pleaser, has had enough: it's time to take him down. But as the tension between Lucy and Joshua reaches its boiling point, it's clear that the real battle has only just begun . . .
I can’t even try! The only reason I continued was because I had already DNFd 2 books this month. I don’t trash books as we all like different things but my hod my brain was numb! It should not have taken me this long to read a basic book. I’m so sorry to anyone who finds this not to their liking but I’m glad it’s over!
Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era
Book
James Bawden: Seeing the way people behave when they're around you, is it still fun being Cary...

Kayleigh (12 KP) rated The Mortal Instruments 1: City of Bones in Books
Jan 2, 2019
I’d say this book was a bit of a slow-burner. I was enjoying it, but I wasn’t whipping through the pages as much as I would usually – until the end, anyway. At the moment, I’m hating how much YA stuff depends on a romance, and I think I was a little wary that this is what City of Bones would be all about. Clary (short for Clarissa – knowing that helped me pronounce her name) has two love interests – her best friend, Simon, who is in love with her; and Jace, the new boy she meets. As this blogger here writes (which I agree with), the love interests are fairly stereotypical and underdeveloped. With this much ‘choice’, I thought it was fairly inevitable that the book would sink into romantic fantasy, which would not have impressed me. It was about two-thirds in, then, when the ‘twist’ starts to unfold (no spoilers!), that I was able to start properly enjoying it and let myself be taken along for the ride.
Not all the characters were developed fully (as I mentioned before), so I did find myself not caring when certain people were hurt (namely, Alec). Then there were some elements that weren’t fully explained. A good example is when Jace mysteriously knows it’s Clary’s birthday, although I’m pretty sure she never told him and nobody else, even Simon, refers to it.
However, the plot moved at a good pace and I was blown away by the numerous twists at the end, only one or two of which I was expecting. I was fully immersed into the world the characters moved in, and had great fun reading about their adventures along the way. I’ll definitely be reading the next books in the series, and may even treat myself to see the film, considering it’s out a few days before my birthday!
Speaking of the film, I’ve just watched the trailer for the first time, and I’m not sure. While I can see that she’s supposed to be seeing unusual things, Clary’s mouth seems to be wide open for the whole time! It does look action-packed though – what do you think?

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Halloween Ends (2022) in Movies
Oct 14, 2022 (Updated Oct 14, 2022)
Ends” and it looks to bring closure to the character of Laurie Strode
(Jamie Lee Curtis) and the terror of Michael Myers.
The film takes place about four years after the events of “Halloween
Kills” and Michael has not been seen since leaving some to speculate that
he died while others are convinced he is still out there. The fear brought
on by Myers still hangs over the community and suicides and other horrific
aftermaths of his terror keeps the community from healing and moving on.
Laurie has decided to write a book about her experiences and while raising
her Granddaughter Allyson (And Matichak), she is coming to peace with her
life and has even awkwardly flirted with Officer Hawkins (Will Patton).
When a young man named Corey (Rohan Campbell), is involved in a tragic
event, he is marked as a psycho by the community and is often the subject
of abuse from the locals. Laurie sees a person in need and introduces him
to Allyson which starts a relationship that should help both of them heal
and move on.
When Corey is roughed up by locals, he discovers Michael is indeed alive
and well and Michael sees something in Corey due to his past and lets him
live. This sparks a change in Corey as he starts to manifest a darker side
where killing and revenge are his motivations and Michael is his mentor.
At this point it seemed as if the film would be a tale of revenge and
Michael would be grooming a potential replacement but it actually becomes
a bit convoluted as the film seems to be unsure of which storylines to
advance. After a slow start in the carnage department, the body count
rises quickly but without the pacing and tension normally associated with
the best films in the series.
It all leads up to a final confrontation between Michael and Laurie which
should delight fans as Curtis is truly magnificent and there brutal and
deadly dance had the audience cheering during my press screening.
While one device I saw coming a mile away as it was clear someone would be
dealing with it, the film does deliver even if the plot is more muddled
than fans would like. While it does not reach the greatness of the new
reboot, “Halloween Ends” is a fitting finale and is better than several of
the films in the series that followed it, the biggest issue is that the
first film in the trilogy set such a high standard, it was nearly
impossible of the next two films to measure up.
3 stars out of 5

Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists
Book
The latest edition of this highly successful volume presents a unique understanding of the role of...

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Adrift (2018) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
In the glorious surroundings of Tahiti, the American footloose traveller Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley, “Divergent trilogy“, “The Descendents) meets British footloose traveller Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin, “Journey’s End“, “Me Before You“) and a nautical-based love beckons. Richard is hired by his friends Peter (Jeffrey Thomas) and Christine (Elizabeth Hawthorne) to sail their luxury 44 foot yacht Hazana from Tahiti to Tami’s home city of San Diego. But they hadn’t reckoned on the decidedly un-romantic attentions of Raymond and severely battered and bruised it’s a battle for survival on the vast expanse of the Pacific.
I was intrigued by this film as it seems to have divided the professional critics’ opinions: Kevin Maher in The Times gave it five stars… five! Conversely Edward Porter in The Sunday Times gave it two stars. After seeing the film, I’m with Mr Maher on this one (breaking convention as I haven’t exactly been in tune with this reviewer recently!).
As a story with romantic undertones, the film will live or die on your belief in this aspect. And fortunately the romance works. There is real chemistry between the pair despite them striking you as an odd couple. This is in no small part to the quality of the acting: Claflin proves again that he is a safe pair of hands as a male lead, but it’s Shailene Woodley, who has to carry large portions of the film single-handedly, who again demonstrates just how excellent an actress she is. The camera of Tarentino favourite Robert Richardson (“The Hateful Eight“, “Django Unchained”) stays tightly on Woodley’s features dramatically capturing her tiniest of grimaces.
Woodley is also deliciously un-Hollywood, getting to where she has through acting talent as much as her looks. Yes, she has a great body (liberally, perhaps a tad lasciviously, featured here both above and under the water) but her face is gloriously assymettical with little wrinkles appearing unexpectedly when she grins. She’s a good role model for young girls that perfection is not a pre–requisite for success. (What’s perhaps less good, role-model-wise, is that Woodley allegedly ate only 350 calories a day to get to the emaciated state seen at the end of the film! But to compensate, it’s notable that she looks so much better/sexier at the start of the film than at the end).
It’s also interesting to note that the 27-year old Woodley is also a co-producer on the film, a sign perhaps that as well as being the ‘Meryl Streep of the future'(TM), she is also likely to become a significant mover and shaker in Hollywood when getting there.
A bit like “The Shallows“, it’s unapologetically a B movie, but it’s delivered with such style and chutzpah that it drives its way through the apallingly cheesy dialogue just as the poor Hazana bashes its way throught the mountainous seas. It’s even self-mocking, with Tami rolling her eyes at the corniness of Richard’s, very English, attempts at romantic dialogue. The script is more successful in establishing back-stories for Tami and Richard, demonstrating a degree of parallelism that perhaps better explains their mutual attraction. The irony of fate taking Tami back to her damaged past is exquisite.
A controversial and brave decision by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur is to constantly flashback between the survival scenes and Tami and Richard’s courtship that leads up to the cataclismic event. This can be a little distracting, but given the gut-wrenching twist in the third act a linear storytelling would simply have not worked. It’s very well done too, with matched cross-cuts that really work well. Kormákur’s previous film “Everest” was his biggest hit to date, and I noted the cheeky addition of the book “Everest” on the bookshelf on Richard’s boat! (As an aside, “Everest” is for some reason the film review on One Mann’s Movies that has been viewed more often than any other… no idea why… must be down to search engine results!)
Extraordinarily, it’s a true story with the closing frames of the film being genuinely moving.
With many similarities to the excellent Robert Redford thriller “All Is Lost”, this is a robust and enthralling thriller-cum-romance that unusually delivers on both counts. The romance is believable and the thrills suitably thrilling, especially when a panic-ridden Tami is separated from her one patch of dry land. Although slightly let down by some dodgy dialogue, sitting amongst all the big-hitter summer blockbusters this is a movie you should definitely seek out.

Darren (1599 KP) rated The Expendables (2010) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Once home Barney is given a new assignment, to take out General Garza (Zayas) and James Munroe (Roberts) who are controlling an asset the government require, this soon turns into the five-man army taking on a full army.
Thoughts on The Expendables
Characters – Barney Ross is the leader of the mercenaries, he does play by a rule book, which sees him needing make a difficult decision with one of his team. He takes the latest job once he realizes that sometimes the impossible can make a big difference being a better all-around combat asset. Lee Christmas is Barney’s second in command, the one that Barney will turn to most, during this story he finds himself having lady problems and shows a man what will happen if you beat one up, he is also the knife expert on the team. Yin is the smallest member of the team, he is the martial artist of the team and is always worried about enough money for his family. Gunner is the member of the team which gets kicked out because he wants too much brutality in the missions, he has a drug problem which needs to be cleaned up before he could ever be considered back on the team. Eric Roberts is the businessman that has taken over the island, he is paying for everything even if it makes enemies out of the locals, he will strike fear into them with fear. Paine is the strongest member of Munroe’s team, he has been waiting for a challenge which Barney and his team will offer him.
Performances – This movie does have an all-star cast of action heroes, Sylvester Stallone does take centre stage here and does what he knows how to be, a lead action star, Jason Statham does this too, with a little more subtle side to his outside the business performance. These two both get the best action moments in the film. Jet Li does well with the action, but gets wasted outside of these moments, while Dolph Lundgren does what he can with a character that does have plenty more to offer to this film. Eric Roberts fits the generic villainous role, he doesn’t get enough time to make his character as memorable as he could have been.
Story – The story follows a group of mercenaries that are hired to solve the militant control of a small island in the Gulf of Mexico. When it comes to the story, we don’t need too much, this film is more designed to show of the action stars of the movie industry. By keeping everything on the simple side we get an enjoyable story to see unfold, though it would have been nice to get some sort of character development about the crew. This story is easy to watch without ever needing to test us.
Action/Adventure – The action in the film is wildly over the top with a mix of guns, knives and hand to hand combat, all you would want from the cast we have here. The adventure side of the film does take our crew to a new island that they haven’t heard of before to make the events of the film happen.
Settings – The film mixes the home that the men have back in America with the island that needs freeing, showing how they can and will adapt to any landscape they are placed in.
Scene of the Movie – Fly by.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t get enough Jet Li.
Final Thoughts – This is one movie that is purely for the action fans, it goes well over the top and deliveries you favourite action stars doing what they do best, shooting gun and fighting.
Overall: Fun Filled Action Film.

Maddi Zoe (6 KP) rated The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) in Movies
Feb 8, 2018
As in the second film, they changed A LOT I hoped they would miss one certain part of the third book out (if you've read the book, you'll know which part), but they left it in, and I bawled like a baby. But again, they still changed it.
Dylan O'Brien's acting is still second to none, I still say he is the best young actor of our generation. And of course all the acting from the others is outstanding too.
The movie starts in action, carries on with action, and has action going pretty much every minute of the movie. It's very fast paced. But that works for this series.
Without giving away spoilers, you might come away from the movie having a feeling similar to those who have seen Titanic and think "he could have fit on that door."... if you watch the movie, you'll know what I mean.
If you're generally an emotional person, take tissues. I regret not taking any. I had to hold back from crying out loud. I was sobbing, right at the end.
And also right at the end there's some little easter eggs that keen fans might notice, which I enjoyed.