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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Institute in Books

Nov 26, 2019

The Institute

Stephen King | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller

7.8

(8 Ratings)

Book Rating

Would make a great film

Supernatural abilities and horrific events are nothing new for Stephen King, but this is the first time we've seen his take on The Maze Runner/X-Men and most other recent YA novels or films. And it's really rather good.

I wouldn't say it's up there with his knockout classics or epic stories, but this is a hugely entertaining read with some endearing and well developed characters. Even the kids in this are a lot more likeable than most other whinging teens that feature as protagonists in other novels, and it's just proof that King really does know how to do characters. The story itself is interesting and a neat new take on the supernatural/superhero powers that we're so used to seeing nowadays. My biggest issue is the ending. It's not terrible or even bad at all, it just comes across as very anticlimactic after the huge build up and is rather a bit of a letdown. It just seems a little too clean and wrapped up all too quickly.

Still I struggled to put this down, especially the further I got into it, and if you like stories about supernatural abilities then this is definitely one to read.

Kudos

Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated The Grinch (2018) in Movies

Dec 8, 2019 (Updated Dec 8, 2019)

The Grinch (2018)

2018 | Animation, Family, Sci-Fi

6.9

(54 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Unnecessary to say the least...

Where to start with Illuminations take on this classic Christmas tale. It felt very uninspiring, underwhelming and unnecessary.

From the get go the narration from Pharrell Williams was very poor and don't get me started on the music. Every time I felt like I could get into this movie the next awful track came on and ruined the moment.

There were very few likeable Characters, with the exception of Max the dog and a screaming goat that had my 3 year old laughing, I believe this is very much their target audience though.

It is very hard not to compare it to Jim Carrey's version or even the 1966 original short which are much darker, creepier and grumpier, all of the things you would expect from The Grinch. This version looks too clean cut, the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch is too friendly in my opinion and the whole thing just feels like a sugar coated version aimed at very young children.

I personally believe there was no real need for this movie to have ever been made other than to cash in on a brilliant Christmas story, that has already been told in much better ways than this.