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Darren (1599 KP) rated Dixieland (2015) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Story: One Last Score starts as young man Kermit (Zylka) is release from prison and returning to the preverbal wrong side of the tracks where the families struggle to make ends meet. He returns home to his mother Arletta (Hill) who wants him to stay out of trouble, his neighbour Rachel (Keough) who is working to help care for her sick mother, with her latest job being as a stripper.
Kermit and Rachel strike up a friendship for the bonding of their own struggles, supporting each other through this tough time. This brings Kermit back to the life of crime, the one he promised to star away from in an attempt to escape the dead-end town with Rachel.
Thoughts on One Last Score
Characters – Kermit is the former criminal that returns to his trailer park home to try and rebuild his life, he wants to be a barber, but is drawn back into his life of crime as he falls in love with Rachel and the two want to escape their dead-end town. Rachel is trying to help her mother paying for medical bills which leads her to a life of stripping, the two bond and plan to escape this life and start over.
Performances – Chris Zylka is good in the leading role, he works well with Riley as we see just how desperate his makes his character feel in what seems like a hopeless situation. Riley Keough shows her talent in this role as the woman that is left with her back against the wall.
Story – The story here shows the tough lives people can be living in America with little money, we see how two people that have turned to a life they didn’t want try to make ends meet in an attempt to escape this style of living. This shows us how another side of America lives which isn’t the side that gets shown enough, the side that are forced into lives they can’t handle, that are dangerous and at times illegal. The pace of the story is slow, but that does help the final pay off in the story which makes you think at times.
Crime – The crime world that Kermit is going into is only scratched on the surface, while we know he doesn’t want to be deeper in, this shows us how on the lines he wants to be to survive.
Settings – The film shows us with the settings the poorer parts of America, the ones living in the trailer parks trying just to get by each day, this helps us understand the characters struggles.
Scene of the Movie – The Lake.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The strange interviews through the movie, while I understand it reflects real life people, we lose something about the characters we are following.
Final Thoughts – This is a slow burning story that shows the tough times in America, it shows the desperation for two people to escape in a job they would never want to do, but must do.
Overall: Bleak view on America
Kermit and Rachel strike up a friendship for the bonding of their own struggles, supporting each other through this tough time. This brings Kermit back to the life of crime, the one he promised to star away from in an attempt to escape the dead-end town with Rachel.
Thoughts on One Last Score
Characters – Kermit is the former criminal that returns to his trailer park home to try and rebuild his life, he wants to be a barber, but is drawn back into his life of crime as he falls in love with Rachel and the two want to escape their dead-end town. Rachel is trying to help her mother paying for medical bills which leads her to a life of stripping, the two bond and plan to escape this life and start over.
Performances – Chris Zylka is good in the leading role, he works well with Riley as we see just how desperate his makes his character feel in what seems like a hopeless situation. Riley Keough shows her talent in this role as the woman that is left with her back against the wall.
Story – The story here shows the tough lives people can be living in America with little money, we see how two people that have turned to a life they didn’t want try to make ends meet in an attempt to escape this style of living. This shows us how another side of America lives which isn’t the side that gets shown enough, the side that are forced into lives they can’t handle, that are dangerous and at times illegal. The pace of the story is slow, but that does help the final pay off in the story which makes you think at times.
Crime – The crime world that Kermit is going into is only scratched on the surface, while we know he doesn’t want to be deeper in, this shows us how on the lines he wants to be to survive.
Settings – The film shows us with the settings the poorer parts of America, the ones living in the trailer parks trying just to get by each day, this helps us understand the characters struggles.
Scene of the Movie – The Lake.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The strange interviews through the movie, while I understand it reflects real life people, we lose something about the characters we are following.
Final Thoughts – This is a slow burning story that shows the tough times in America, it shows the desperation for two people to escape in a job they would never want to do, but must do.
Overall: Bleak view on America
Darren (1599 KP) rated Wicked Witches (2019) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Story: One Last Score starts as young man Kermit (Zylka) is release from prison and returning to the preverbal wrong side of the tracks where the families struggle to make ends meet. He returns home to his mother Arletta (Hill) who wants him to stay out of trouble, his neighbour Rachel (Keough) who is working to help care for her sick mother, with her latest job being as a stripper.
Kermit and Rachel strike up a friendship for the bonding of their own struggles, supporting each other through this tough time. This brings Kermit back to the life of crime, the one he promised to star away from in an attempt to escape the dead-end town with Rachel.
Thoughts on One Last Score
Characters – Kermit is the former criminal that returns to his trailer park home to try and rebuild his life, he wants to be a barber, but is drawn back into his life of crime as he falls in love with Rachel and the two want to escape their dead-end town. Rachel is trying to help her mother paying for medical bills which leads her to a life of stripping, the two bond and plan to escape this life and start over.
Performances – Chris Zylka is good in the leading role, he works well with Riley as we see just how desperate his makes his character feel in what seems like a hopeless situation. Riley Keough shows her talent in this role as the woman that is left with her back against the wall.
Story – The story here shows the tough lives people can be living in America with little money, we see how two people that have turned to a life they didn’t want try to make ends meet in an attempt to escape this style of living. This shows us how another side of America lives which isn’t the side that gets shown enough, the side that are forced into lives they can’t handle, that are dangerous and at times illegal. The pace of the story is slow, but that does help the final pay off in the story which makes you think at times.
Crime – The crime world that Kermit is going into is only scratched on the surface, while we know he doesn’t want to be deeper in, this shows us how on the lines he wants to be to survive.
Settings – The film shows us with the settings the poorer parts of America, the ones living in the trailer parks trying just to get by each day, this helps us understand the characters struggles.
Scene of the Movie – The Lake.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The strange interviews through the movie, while I understand it reflects real life people, we lose something about the characters we are following.
Final Thoughts – This is a slow burning story that shows the tough times in America, it shows the desperation for two people to escape in a job they would never want to do, but must do.
Overall: Bleak view on America
Kermit and Rachel strike up a friendship for the bonding of their own struggles, supporting each other through this tough time. This brings Kermit back to the life of crime, the one he promised to star away from in an attempt to escape the dead-end town with Rachel.
Thoughts on One Last Score
Characters – Kermit is the former criminal that returns to his trailer park home to try and rebuild his life, he wants to be a barber, but is drawn back into his life of crime as he falls in love with Rachel and the two want to escape their dead-end town. Rachel is trying to help her mother paying for medical bills which leads her to a life of stripping, the two bond and plan to escape this life and start over.
Performances – Chris Zylka is good in the leading role, he works well with Riley as we see just how desperate his makes his character feel in what seems like a hopeless situation. Riley Keough shows her talent in this role as the woman that is left with her back against the wall.
Story – The story here shows the tough lives people can be living in America with little money, we see how two people that have turned to a life they didn’t want try to make ends meet in an attempt to escape this style of living. This shows us how another side of America lives which isn’t the side that gets shown enough, the side that are forced into lives they can’t handle, that are dangerous and at times illegal. The pace of the story is slow, but that does help the final pay off in the story which makes you think at times.
Crime – The crime world that Kermit is going into is only scratched on the surface, while we know he doesn’t want to be deeper in, this shows us how on the lines he wants to be to survive.
Settings – The film shows us with the settings the poorer parts of America, the ones living in the trailer parks trying just to get by each day, this helps us understand the characters struggles.
Scene of the Movie – The Lake.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The strange interviews through the movie, while I understand it reflects real life people, we lose something about the characters we are following.
Final Thoughts – This is a slow burning story that shows the tough times in America, it shows the desperation for two people to escape in a job they would never want to do, but must do.
Overall: Bleak view on America
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) in Movies
Nov 6, 2019
Good (enough) conclusion to the Franchise
After a few attempts at resurrecting this franchise, James Cameron has (wisely) decided to bury the franchise with one last TERMINATOR film starring the original Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE is a direct sequel to T2: JUDGEMENT DAY (or so says Producer/Writer Cameron) as it ignores the 3rd and 4th movies in this series (as well as the television show THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES).
And that is a wise move as it simplifies things and just lets us get on to what a Terminator movie does best - fantastic action sequences, state of the art CGI, a killer robot that will stop at nothing to accomplish it's mission, and a plucky hero or 2 to battle said killer robot.
Oh...did I mention that they recruit a Terminator to help them stop the Terminator?
And it all works well...enough. Set in this year (2019), TERMINATOR: DARK FATE tells the tale of what happens next after Sarah and John Connor stopped Judgement Day in the 2nd Terminator film. A deadly - even more dangerous - Terminator (version 9!) returns to 2019 to kill a single woman (Natalie Reyes). This time she is helped by an augmented human from the future (Mackenzie Davis) and...Sarah Connor! Returning to this film, all buffed up and aging, is a craggy voiced Linda Hamilton as Sarah, who brings an adequate amount of world-weary, "been there, done that" attitude to the proceedings that pretty much carry the first half of the film.
And...just as the film was beginning to sag in the middle, along comes Arnold.
Playing an aging Terminator (which is explained, well enough, in the plot), Arnold plays the Terminator (who has been living with humans for over 20 years) with a wink in his eye and a sense of humor about him. Yep...this is a Terminator with a funny bone. And - I'll be darned - it works! Thanks to the performance of Mr. Schwarzenegger. He knows exactly what kind of film he is in and brings the right amount of energy, muscle and humor to the proceedings. He pretty much carries this film on his broad shoulders for the 2nd half - and he carries it with ease.
Credit Director Tim Miller (DEADPOOL) for keeping things light, simple and moving along crisply. He, too, understands the type of film he is making (and the audience that will go see this type of film) so he keeps the dialogue light and snappy, the plot at it's simplest and the action as high as he can go - blowing things up at a moment's notice. It's not sublte art by any stretch of the imagination, but it is art - in a way - and art that he does well.
If this is the last Terminator film (and I hope it is), then it is going out on a high (enough) note. I was surprisingly entertained (and not preached to) and, I think that is all I could have hoped for in a Terminator flick.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
And that is a wise move as it simplifies things and just lets us get on to what a Terminator movie does best - fantastic action sequences, state of the art CGI, a killer robot that will stop at nothing to accomplish it's mission, and a plucky hero or 2 to battle said killer robot.
Oh...did I mention that they recruit a Terminator to help them stop the Terminator?
And it all works well...enough. Set in this year (2019), TERMINATOR: DARK FATE tells the tale of what happens next after Sarah and John Connor stopped Judgement Day in the 2nd Terminator film. A deadly - even more dangerous - Terminator (version 9!) returns to 2019 to kill a single woman (Natalie Reyes). This time she is helped by an augmented human from the future (Mackenzie Davis) and...Sarah Connor! Returning to this film, all buffed up and aging, is a craggy voiced Linda Hamilton as Sarah, who brings an adequate amount of world-weary, "been there, done that" attitude to the proceedings that pretty much carry the first half of the film.
And...just as the film was beginning to sag in the middle, along comes Arnold.
Playing an aging Terminator (which is explained, well enough, in the plot), Arnold plays the Terminator (who has been living with humans for over 20 years) with a wink in his eye and a sense of humor about him. Yep...this is a Terminator with a funny bone. And - I'll be darned - it works! Thanks to the performance of Mr. Schwarzenegger. He knows exactly what kind of film he is in and brings the right amount of energy, muscle and humor to the proceedings. He pretty much carries this film on his broad shoulders for the 2nd half - and he carries it with ease.
Credit Director Tim Miller (DEADPOOL) for keeping things light, simple and moving along crisply. He, too, understands the type of film he is making (and the audience that will go see this type of film) so he keeps the dialogue light and snappy, the plot at it's simplest and the action as high as he can go - blowing things up at a moment's notice. It's not sublte art by any stretch of the imagination, but it is art - in a way - and art that he does well.
If this is the last Terminator film (and I hope it is), then it is going out on a high (enough) note. I was surprisingly entertained (and not preached to) and, I think that is all I could have hoped for in a Terminator flick.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Perfect Genesis: Adolescence in Books
Nov 21, 2019
This is a book of many levels and many emotions. Superficially it is a far-future science fiction book where societies have been engineered by some planet-spanning intelligence to create stable and sustainable places for humans to live. Under this runs a strong current of philosophy and meta physics about exactly what this means for the individuals involved - and the news isn't good.
The plot follows Leonardo Khalid, a genetically engineered genius who has dedicated his life to improving life for mankind. However when he is taken critically ill he agrees to undergo a procedure to scan and record is brain. He is warned that during the process he will appear to inhabit a very real and long lasting dream as his brain is stimulated.
The dream is extremely vivid - so much so that we don't see it just from Leonardo's point of view. So is it a dream? Or a very real future world that he has somehow been projected into? Leonardo certainly believes he is in a dream, but does that condone some of his more morally questionable actions?
There are plenty of questions raised by this book. As Hogan says in a brief introduction, this book is supposed to stay with the reader long after they have read it, and it will certainly do that. At times it is an uncomfortable read - the dream societies place little value on human life and women in particular are treated very badly. Death, violence and sexual exploitation are daily hazards for the members of the societies described, but these are engineered places, not designed to benefit the individual human but to ensure the longevity of the society itself. They have been created with cold and clinical efficiency with no regard for the individual members of the citizenry.
This is a huge dichotomy and the heart of the book. The story itself - Leonardo exploring the land of his dream and overcoming the various obstacles that hinder him and his companions - skates along the top at a good pace, fizzing between plot points and twists, summoning the reader on to read just one more page. But underneath the dark heart will be throwing up awkward questions.
Exploitation of all sorts abounds, particularly sexual exploitation (not all of it men exploiting women). These sections can be an uncomfortable read but they are supposed to be - the questions around power and the abuse of power are valid and the reader is not supposed to be entirely sympathetic with any of the characters or their actions - even Leornardo. The civilisations are frequently brutal, either because of a dangerous environment or a ruthless ruler. People get hurt, people get abused, people die (sometimes horribly) but always the society lives on.
Read this book if you want to have a fantastic story exploring different places but at the same time have something to think about. By the end you will have seen what can happen if the concept of an ideal society is pursued to its limits. And it's not a utopia.
And yes this book will stay with me for a while. Definitely one of the best reads of 2014. Thoroughly recommended.
Rating: Sexual scenes, sexual violence and some torture.
The plot follows Leonardo Khalid, a genetically engineered genius who has dedicated his life to improving life for mankind. However when he is taken critically ill he agrees to undergo a procedure to scan and record is brain. He is warned that during the process he will appear to inhabit a very real and long lasting dream as his brain is stimulated.
The dream is extremely vivid - so much so that we don't see it just from Leonardo's point of view. So is it a dream? Or a very real future world that he has somehow been projected into? Leonardo certainly believes he is in a dream, but does that condone some of his more morally questionable actions?
There are plenty of questions raised by this book. As Hogan says in a brief introduction, this book is supposed to stay with the reader long after they have read it, and it will certainly do that. At times it is an uncomfortable read - the dream societies place little value on human life and women in particular are treated very badly. Death, violence and sexual exploitation are daily hazards for the members of the societies described, but these are engineered places, not designed to benefit the individual human but to ensure the longevity of the society itself. They have been created with cold and clinical efficiency with no regard for the individual members of the citizenry.
This is a huge dichotomy and the heart of the book. The story itself - Leonardo exploring the land of his dream and overcoming the various obstacles that hinder him and his companions - skates along the top at a good pace, fizzing between plot points and twists, summoning the reader on to read just one more page. But underneath the dark heart will be throwing up awkward questions.
Exploitation of all sorts abounds, particularly sexual exploitation (not all of it men exploiting women). These sections can be an uncomfortable read but they are supposed to be - the questions around power and the abuse of power are valid and the reader is not supposed to be entirely sympathetic with any of the characters or their actions - even Leornardo. The civilisations are frequently brutal, either because of a dangerous environment or a ruthless ruler. People get hurt, people get abused, people die (sometimes horribly) but always the society lives on.
Read this book if you want to have a fantastic story exploring different places but at the same time have something to think about. By the end you will have seen what can happen if the concept of an ideal society is pursued to its limits. And it's not a utopia.
And yes this book will stay with me for a while. Definitely one of the best reads of 2014. Thoroughly recommended.
Rating: Sexual scenes, sexual violence and some torture.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The Lost Girls of Paris in Books
Feb 3, 2020
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In the 1940’s, with the world at war, Eleanor Trigg leads a mysterious ring of secret female agents in London. Twelve of these women are sent to Paris to aid the resistance.
<b>They never return home!</b>
Shortly after the war ends, passing through New York’s Grand Central Station, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase beneath a bench. The case is filled with a dozen photographs, each of a different woman.
Setting out to find the women in the pictures, Grace is drawn into the mystery of the lost girls of Paris, their fierce friendship, unthinkable bravery – and, ultimately, the worst kind of betrayal.
Eleanor is a woman that men fear and women hate. Wherever she goes, fear follows. However, in a world of men who lead and men who are in war, she starts a programme in London where she recruits women, prepares them and deploys them to help in the war. The women have to aid the man, transmit radio messages and blend in with the french people. Eleanor makes sure they are prepared for every possible scenario, and she would’ve joined them, if they let her. As much as she seems cruel, she loves her girls like her daughters, and when things go horribly wrong, she blames herself.
Marie never imagined she would be recruited by Eleanor. Leaving her daughter behind and going into the unknown, she is deployed in Paris for a very dangerous mission. But can friendships so easily made survive the dark days of war? And what happens when Marie is one of those twelve women that disappear without a trace, never to be seen again…
And then Grace finds the suitcase full of photos of women and she can’t help but wonder what happened to them. The paths of these three women will indirectly cross over, leaving us, readers, with an amazing story to follow.
The writing is incredible and it transports you right in the 1940’s. Feelings and emotions are overflowing. I am not completely sure how I felt with the ending, as it ended too predictable for my taste, with a lot of unrealistic scenes and no character development, really.
But even despite all that, it warmed my heart and made me rethink my life decisions. The Lost Girls of Paris is a book about women who are brave and loyal. Women who are not afraid to stand up and fight. Women who have everything to lose and nothing to regret. A tale of pure emotion.
Thank you to the team at HarperCollins – HQ, for sending me a paperback ARC copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
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<img src="https://i2.wp.com/diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Book-Review-Banner-3.png?resize=1024%2C576&ssl=1"/>;
In the 1940’s, with the world at war, Eleanor Trigg leads a mysterious ring of secret female agents in London. Twelve of these women are sent to Paris to aid the resistance.
<b>They never return home!</b>
Shortly after the war ends, passing through New York’s Grand Central Station, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase beneath a bench. The case is filled with a dozen photographs, each of a different woman.
Setting out to find the women in the pictures, Grace is drawn into the mystery of the lost girls of Paris, their fierce friendship, unthinkable bravery – and, ultimately, the worst kind of betrayal.
Eleanor is a woman that men fear and women hate. Wherever she goes, fear follows. However, in a world of men who lead and men who are in war, she starts a programme in London where she recruits women, prepares them and deploys them to help in the war. The women have to aid the man, transmit radio messages and blend in with the french people. Eleanor makes sure they are prepared for every possible scenario, and she would’ve joined them, if they let her. As much as she seems cruel, she loves her girls like her daughters, and when things go horribly wrong, she blames herself.
Marie never imagined she would be recruited by Eleanor. Leaving her daughter behind and going into the unknown, she is deployed in Paris for a very dangerous mission. But can friendships so easily made survive the dark days of war? And what happens when Marie is one of those twelve women that disappear without a trace, never to be seen again…
And then Grace finds the suitcase full of photos of women and she can’t help but wonder what happened to them. The paths of these three women will indirectly cross over, leaving us, readers, with an amazing story to follow.
The writing is incredible and it transports you right in the 1940’s. Feelings and emotions are overflowing. I am not completely sure how I felt with the ending, as it ended too predictable for my taste, with a lot of unrealistic scenes and no character development, really.
But even despite all that, it warmed my heart and made me rethink my life decisions. The Lost Girls of Paris is a book about women who are brave and loyal. Women who are not afraid to stand up and fight. Women who have everything to lose and nothing to regret. A tale of pure emotion.
Thank you to the team at HarperCollins – HQ, for sending me a paperback ARC copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Brightburn (2019) in Movies
Jan 9, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Brightburn is a mostly solid 'superhero' horror that sets out what it means to do. The narrative plays out a bit like an issue of Marvel's What If? - in this case, what if an alien baby crashed to earth, much like Superman, but grew up to be a danger to mankind.
One of the main issues I had with Brightburn rears it head pretty early on - it doesn't spend a huge amount of time establishing 12 year old Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) before hurtling straight into his turn to evil. It's not the biggest deal I guess, the movie does enough to set up the main bulk of the plot, but I can't help but feel that the execution would have been more effective if the set up had been a bit more drawn out.
We're also introduced to Brandon's parents, the people who found him when he was a baby and raised him as their own, Tori and Kyle, played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman. Both actors are great throughout, but their characters are a bit iffy. There's a lot silliness going on - Tori takes an abnormally long time to accept that Brandon in dangerous, even when loved ones are being murdered around her - she purposefully keeps information from Kyle about Brandon nearly stumbling across the spaceship he arrived in, even though that should really be something shared considering how Brandon is an alien and all that - at one point, Kyle tries to get one over on Brandon by shooting him in the head when he's not looking, despite clearly stating earlier on in the movie that Brandon has never even bled throughout his whole life...
It sounds like nitpicking, but it's just silliness that is very obviously included to easily advance the plot, and it's a little distracting.
The special effects used are mostly good, but they are purposely done quickly to avoid much room for scrutiny, however, there are some really great shots throughout Brightburn, especially in the third act. Brandon's costume design is suitably creepy, his mask looks almost Mothman-esque, and his glowing red eyes make him a genuinely sinister looking villain.
The violence in Brightburn really packs a punch as well... It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's creative, and brutal. The movie leans a little into jump scare territory, but just about toes the line, and provides a decent enough unsettling atmosphere to justify it.
On a final note, it always refreshing when a Hollywood film like this has the balls to end in the way it does. The movie sets up Brandon for defeat and failure, and it just doesn't happen. The bad guys win and that's that. The ending credits feature news reports showing Brandon in the following weeks wreaking havoc all over the place, and it sets up a sequel which I don't think will happen due to box office reasons. Which is a shame, because even though Brightburn has its flaws, it still kept me involved.
Worth checking out for superhero and horror fans alike.
One of the main issues I had with Brightburn rears it head pretty early on - it doesn't spend a huge amount of time establishing 12 year old Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) before hurtling straight into his turn to evil. It's not the biggest deal I guess, the movie does enough to set up the main bulk of the plot, but I can't help but feel that the execution would have been more effective if the set up had been a bit more drawn out.
We're also introduced to Brandon's parents, the people who found him when he was a baby and raised him as their own, Tori and Kyle, played by Elizabeth Banks and David Denman. Both actors are great throughout, but their characters are a bit iffy. There's a lot silliness going on - Tori takes an abnormally long time to accept that Brandon in dangerous, even when loved ones are being murdered around her - she purposefully keeps information from Kyle about Brandon nearly stumbling across the spaceship he arrived in, even though that should really be something shared considering how Brandon is an alien and all that - at one point, Kyle tries to get one over on Brandon by shooting him in the head when he's not looking, despite clearly stating earlier on in the movie that Brandon has never even bled throughout his whole life...
It sounds like nitpicking, but it's just silliness that is very obviously included to easily advance the plot, and it's a little distracting.
The special effects used are mostly good, but they are purposely done quickly to avoid much room for scrutiny, however, there are some really great shots throughout Brightburn, especially in the third act. Brandon's costume design is suitably creepy, his mask looks almost Mothman-esque, and his glowing red eyes make him a genuinely sinister looking villain.
The violence in Brightburn really packs a punch as well... It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's creative, and brutal. The movie leans a little into jump scare territory, but just about toes the line, and provides a decent enough unsettling atmosphere to justify it.
On a final note, it always refreshing when a Hollywood film like this has the balls to end in the way it does. The movie sets up Brandon for defeat and failure, and it just doesn't happen. The bad guys win and that's that. The ending credits feature news reports showing Brandon in the following weeks wreaking havoc all over the place, and it sets up a sequel which I don't think will happen due to box office reasons. Which is a shame, because even though Brightburn has its flaws, it still kept me involved.
Worth checking out for superhero and horror fans alike.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Micro in Books
Jan 9, 2020
The book Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Prestom was great. I may be a little biased because Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors but at the same time I hold his work to a specific standard that he must meet or else I'm disappointed. Like most of his work Micro touches on some topics that as a society we should be aware of. It warns us of some disasters that new technology, being worked on or possibly already created, can cause. It id also an eye opener to the dangers of that our inventions pose.
In Micro a group of young graduate students at a college or approached by the head of a company called Nanigen. The graduate students are invited out to the Nanigen lab in Hawaii to see for themselves the work being done there and to see if they want to work for the company. Out of curiosity all the approached graduate students agree to go but their trip to Hawaii becomes more than what they bargain for.
Nanigen is studying the micro world mainly looking for chemicals that micro animals are making that could be useful to humans in some way. Also like many scientific companies in the private sector Nanigen is doing top secret work for the government. Greed gets in the way for some of the scientist already working for the company and the trip becomes extremely dangerous and even deadly for the graduate students. Having to deal with micro-bots and new technology never heard of before the students must fight to survive a world very different from our own.
What I like most about the book was one of the same features that keeps me reading Michael Crichton's work. The author does his research very thoroughly. The book may be a work of science fiction but there is a bibliography in the back for the curious reader to be able to learn more about the fascinating topics brought up in the book. For being a work of fiction the animals, plants, chemicals, technology,and scientific concepts are not. What I liked least about the book was how similar to another one of his books it was and how predictable some parts felt to me. Again though, I am very familiar with Michael Crichton's work and that would probably explain why it felt so predictable. I cannot hold that against the book.
Overall I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 and would highly recommend it. It has a very strong story and is believable which is an important factor for science fiction. The target readers for this book would start around high school age if not older. I feel like high school students will get the basic concept of what book was talking about but they might be lost on some of the finer detail. It all just depends on if the book is being read for the story or if the reader is interested in science specifically microbiology and nanotechnology.
I feel like I need to note on here that Richard Preston finishing the book did not harm it in any way.
In Micro a group of young graduate students at a college or approached by the head of a company called Nanigen. The graduate students are invited out to the Nanigen lab in Hawaii to see for themselves the work being done there and to see if they want to work for the company. Out of curiosity all the approached graduate students agree to go but their trip to Hawaii becomes more than what they bargain for.
Nanigen is studying the micro world mainly looking for chemicals that micro animals are making that could be useful to humans in some way. Also like many scientific companies in the private sector Nanigen is doing top secret work for the government. Greed gets in the way for some of the scientist already working for the company and the trip becomes extremely dangerous and even deadly for the graduate students. Having to deal with micro-bots and new technology never heard of before the students must fight to survive a world very different from our own.
What I like most about the book was one of the same features that keeps me reading Michael Crichton's work. The author does his research very thoroughly. The book may be a work of science fiction but there is a bibliography in the back for the curious reader to be able to learn more about the fascinating topics brought up in the book. For being a work of fiction the animals, plants, chemicals, technology,and scientific concepts are not. What I liked least about the book was how similar to another one of his books it was and how predictable some parts felt to me. Again though, I am very familiar with Michael Crichton's work and that would probably explain why it felt so predictable. I cannot hold that against the book.
Overall I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 and would highly recommend it. It has a very strong story and is believable which is an important factor for science fiction. The target readers for this book would start around high school age if not older. I feel like high school students will get the basic concept of what book was talking about but they might be lost on some of the finer detail. It all just depends on if the book is being read for the story or if the reader is interested in science specifically microbiology and nanotechnology.
I feel like I need to note on here that Richard Preston finishing the book did not harm it in any way.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Invisible Man (1933) in Movies
Mar 2, 2020
Verdict: Classic
Story: The Invisible Man starts as the heavily bandaged man Dr Jack Griffin (Rains) stumbles through a snow storm to a tavern demanding a room to try and fix the problem he faces, the fact he is now invisible, which strikes fear into the tavern and town.
Dr Cranley (Travers) and Dr Kemp (Harrigan) are trying to figure out what happened to Jack, even though he has started to become insane with the side effects of becoming invisible, showing just how dangerous he has become.
Thoughts on The Invisible Man
Characters – Dr Jack Griffin has become invisible after performing an experiment on himself, he covers himself up not to scare people, making himself look like an injured man, as he tries to find a cure, only it makes him act crazier become a psycho that is willing to kill to escape. Flora is the partner of Jack’s who is trying to make sure he is safe, getting worried believing he will still having good in him. Dr Kemp is one of the scientists that gets caught up in the middle of trying to help Jack and being scared of what he could be, unlike Dr Cranley that knows more of the secrets of the substance he has been using.
Performances – Claude Rains is haunting and disturbing in the leading role, he shows how easily he can snap and how desperate he has been to fix himself. Elsewhere the cast are strong, most reacting to the action more than anything else.
Story – The story follows a man that has become invisible and is desperately trying to recover from his experiment, which has caused him to get more aggressive towards people in life, causing the locals to go in search for him to get stop him. This is an interesting story that shows how people will come together to solve a problem and will be left in fear of the unexplained. While the story might show a villainous figure, it would have been nice to see the science behind what caused what happened, only this might have been difficult to achieve for the time this was made. This is a story that does show hunting for what can’t be seen is interesting to see.
Horror/Sci-Fi – The horror comes from the shock value of seeing Jack without the bandages for the first time and just what he could get up to without being seen, while the sci-fi side of the film does show us just how the unexplained could become terrifying.
Settings – The film does use the settings to show how Jack can go into hiding, or where he could go for answers.
Special Effects – The effects are amazing for the time, when we see the unbandaging sequence it is truly shocking to see.
Scene of the Movie – Jack shows us beneath the bandages.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t learn enough of the science.
Final Thoughts – This is a true classic of cinema, bringing us one of the first horror icons in the genre in the 1930s and is a film you need to check out.
Overall: Horror Classic.
Story: The Invisible Man starts as the heavily bandaged man Dr Jack Griffin (Rains) stumbles through a snow storm to a tavern demanding a room to try and fix the problem he faces, the fact he is now invisible, which strikes fear into the tavern and town.
Dr Cranley (Travers) and Dr Kemp (Harrigan) are trying to figure out what happened to Jack, even though he has started to become insane with the side effects of becoming invisible, showing just how dangerous he has become.
Thoughts on The Invisible Man
Characters – Dr Jack Griffin has become invisible after performing an experiment on himself, he covers himself up not to scare people, making himself look like an injured man, as he tries to find a cure, only it makes him act crazier become a psycho that is willing to kill to escape. Flora is the partner of Jack’s who is trying to make sure he is safe, getting worried believing he will still having good in him. Dr Kemp is one of the scientists that gets caught up in the middle of trying to help Jack and being scared of what he could be, unlike Dr Cranley that knows more of the secrets of the substance he has been using.
Performances – Claude Rains is haunting and disturbing in the leading role, he shows how easily he can snap and how desperate he has been to fix himself. Elsewhere the cast are strong, most reacting to the action more than anything else.
Story – The story follows a man that has become invisible and is desperately trying to recover from his experiment, which has caused him to get more aggressive towards people in life, causing the locals to go in search for him to get stop him. This is an interesting story that shows how people will come together to solve a problem and will be left in fear of the unexplained. While the story might show a villainous figure, it would have been nice to see the science behind what caused what happened, only this might have been difficult to achieve for the time this was made. This is a story that does show hunting for what can’t be seen is interesting to see.
Horror/Sci-Fi – The horror comes from the shock value of seeing Jack without the bandages for the first time and just what he could get up to without being seen, while the sci-fi side of the film does show us just how the unexplained could become terrifying.
Settings – The film does use the settings to show how Jack can go into hiding, or where he could go for answers.
Special Effects – The effects are amazing for the time, when we see the unbandaging sequence it is truly shocking to see.
Scene of the Movie – Jack shows us beneath the bandages.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t learn enough of the science.
Final Thoughts – This is a true classic of cinema, bringing us one of the first horror icons in the genre in the 1930s and is a film you need to check out.
Overall: Horror Classic.
JT (287 KP) rated Buried (2010) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Shot with a low budget and entirely in one location (inside Paul’s coffin), Buried is a very intense and gripping movie, which plays on the age-old human fear of being buried alive and takes it to whole new levels.
Paul not only has to deal with thoughts of his almost imminent demise, but he also has to endure the psychological torment that comes with realising that your loved ones are in terrible danger and that the people whom your life depends upon don’t really care about your fate. This is the story of Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), an American contractor working on an assignment in Iraq, who wakes up in something which looks like a makeshift wooden coffin, alone, and with no recollection of when and how he ended up there. All he remembers is that he and his colleagues were attacked by a group of Iraqi insurgents.
Understandably, he begins to panic, frantically trying to escape before realising that he won’t be able to do it on his own. Whoever buried him left a mobile phone, a lighter, a knife, a torch and some glow sticks in the coffin, and such items quickly become Paul’s connection to the outside world and his only hope of survival.
This situation is so exceptional (thankfully) that the film’s real challenge is to try and represent it as realistically as possible. What would you do? Would you let the nerves get the better of you, or would your will to live step in instead, and make you stay focused in trying to save yourself?
Ryan Reynolds does an excellent job in this, his Paul Conroy is human, desperate, scared, with no superhero pretence. The direction, by Rodrigo Cortes, is vivid, realistic, and makes good use of the limited space that the coffin setting allows to show; anxious people should try watching this anyway because, while it is undoubtedly claustrophobic, Paul’s determination to stay alive and the pull of wanting to know what’s going on outside keeps the mind occupied.
The voice of Hostage Work Group operator Dan Brenner (Robert Paterson) is possibly a little too “staged” and “actorish”, making it sound somewhat fake but also sinister, going to heighten the feeling of dread. Buried manages to be scary, tense, and yet ironic in representing the ignorance, incompetence and cowardice behind the behaviours of people we are supposed to trust in dangerous situations.
The whole film maintains a focused and realistic eye on the suffering of the protagonist – because we are supposed to feel what he feels, to be there with him in his fight for life- except maybe in a few moments when it slips into “mainstream”, cheap stratagems to reiterate that Paul is a good man who doesn’t deserve his fate (for example, when he calls his ill, senile mother who lives in a home and can’t even remember him).
Definitely best watched in a cinema screen rather than on DVD, this is a film which is very well done, and interesting; you will want to see what happens of Paul but also how his story is told from the confines of his coffin buried underground.
Paul not only has to deal with thoughts of his almost imminent demise, but he also has to endure the psychological torment that comes with realising that your loved ones are in terrible danger and that the people whom your life depends upon don’t really care about your fate. This is the story of Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), an American contractor working on an assignment in Iraq, who wakes up in something which looks like a makeshift wooden coffin, alone, and with no recollection of when and how he ended up there. All he remembers is that he and his colleagues were attacked by a group of Iraqi insurgents.
Understandably, he begins to panic, frantically trying to escape before realising that he won’t be able to do it on his own. Whoever buried him left a mobile phone, a lighter, a knife, a torch and some glow sticks in the coffin, and such items quickly become Paul’s connection to the outside world and his only hope of survival.
This situation is so exceptional (thankfully) that the film’s real challenge is to try and represent it as realistically as possible. What would you do? Would you let the nerves get the better of you, or would your will to live step in instead, and make you stay focused in trying to save yourself?
Ryan Reynolds does an excellent job in this, his Paul Conroy is human, desperate, scared, with no superhero pretence. The direction, by Rodrigo Cortes, is vivid, realistic, and makes good use of the limited space that the coffin setting allows to show; anxious people should try watching this anyway because, while it is undoubtedly claustrophobic, Paul’s determination to stay alive and the pull of wanting to know what’s going on outside keeps the mind occupied.
The voice of Hostage Work Group operator Dan Brenner (Robert Paterson) is possibly a little too “staged” and “actorish”, making it sound somewhat fake but also sinister, going to heighten the feeling of dread. Buried manages to be scary, tense, and yet ironic in representing the ignorance, incompetence and cowardice behind the behaviours of people we are supposed to trust in dangerous situations.
The whole film maintains a focused and realistic eye on the suffering of the protagonist – because we are supposed to feel what he feels, to be there with him in his fight for life- except maybe in a few moments when it slips into “mainstream”, cheap stratagems to reiterate that Paul is a good man who doesn’t deserve his fate (for example, when he calls his ill, senile mother who lives in a home and can’t even remember him).
Definitely best watched in a cinema screen rather than on DVD, this is a film which is very well done, and interesting; you will want to see what happens of Paul but also how his story is told from the confines of his coffin buried underground.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Core Fulcrum in Books
Apr 6, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
The Core Fulcrum by Prashanti Talluri has multiple details that made me think it was largely inspired by Harry Potter. The school has rooms that move daily which were a big reminder of Harry Potter but there were multiple little things as well.
Snowball and Goldie are two kittens that have just started the fifth grade. Like the school's humans are used to there are classes that everyone has to take an optional class. It is one of these optional classes that Snowball, Goldie, and some of their friends choose that sends them on an amazing and scary adventure. They all choose to take part in the class called “Curiosity Kills the Cat”, but so does their class bully Hisky.
In this class, after passing a test they learn of the Core Fulcrum. They learn that the Core Fulcrum is a powerful artifact that is responsible for all the cat’s extraordinary abilities. The problem is that the Core Fulcrum is missing and that could cause major issues for all cats unless it is found soon. Their solution is to enlist the help of kittens in school to join the dangerous search for this all-important item. Can they find it before it it's too late and the rats figure out how to use it?
I like how it acknowledges how cats essentially got their independence from humans (although I can’t help but wonder what happened to the people). It was also interesting how the casts and rats have created separate kingdoms from each other and even seem to war with each other to some extent. Honestly things like the snakes that bite their tails to function as seat belts just seemed a bit farfetched, along with busses that seem to be living animals at the same time (or maybe just created to mimic animal abilities, I am not sure). Then there was how the cats were in harnesses to practice for their version of the Olympics yet they were going through tunnels without getting tangled and finishing in around fifteen seconds seemed unrealistic even for cats.
This is a children's book all the way. I don’t think may people past middle school would be all that interested in it or find it very enjoyable. It may even be questionable for some middle school readers. It all depends on how well a reader can accept the strangeness of this book. I rate this book 2 out of 4. This is because the base story is good but the details just felt awkward. I just don’t think anyone but younger readers are going to be into it. I could be wrong though.
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Snowball and Goldie are two kittens that have just started the fifth grade. Like the school's humans are used to there are classes that everyone has to take an optional class. It is one of these optional classes that Snowball, Goldie, and some of their friends choose that sends them on an amazing and scary adventure. They all choose to take part in the class called “Curiosity Kills the Cat”, but so does their class bully Hisky.
In this class, after passing a test they learn of the Core Fulcrum. They learn that the Core Fulcrum is a powerful artifact that is responsible for all the cat’s extraordinary abilities. The problem is that the Core Fulcrum is missing and that could cause major issues for all cats unless it is found soon. Their solution is to enlist the help of kittens in school to join the dangerous search for this all-important item. Can they find it before it it's too late and the rats figure out how to use it?
I like how it acknowledges how cats essentially got their independence from humans (although I can’t help but wonder what happened to the people). It was also interesting how the casts and rats have created separate kingdoms from each other and even seem to war with each other to some extent. Honestly things like the snakes that bite their tails to function as seat belts just seemed a bit farfetched, along with busses that seem to be living animals at the same time (or maybe just created to mimic animal abilities, I am not sure). Then there was how the cats were in harnesses to practice for their version of the Olympics yet they were going through tunnels without getting tangled and finishing in around fifteen seconds seemed unrealistic even for cats.
This is a children's book all the way. I don’t think may people past middle school would be all that interested in it or find it very enjoyable. It may even be questionable for some middle school readers. It all depends on how well a reader can accept the strangeness of this book. I rate this book 2 out of 4. This is because the base story is good but the details just felt awkward. I just don’t think anyone but younger readers are going to be into it. I could be wrong though.
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https://smashbomb.com/nightreader
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/