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Lee (2222 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies
Dec 20, 2019
I have very mixed feelings following The Rise of Skywalker, the concluding chapter of not just another trilogy of Star Wars movies but also the conclusion of the Skywalker saga. Starting this trilogy, I was comforted by the familiarity presented in The Force Awakens and I felt that movie got the balance right between it's handling of the past and the introduction of new characters, scenarios and threats. But, I’m one of those people that was ultimately disappointed by The Last Jedi. Not the kind that fanboy rages about Star Wars and my entire childhood being ruined, as there are actually a lot of things I liked about it, but I do feel it deviated too much from some of the direction introduced in the previous movie and the movies prior to that. So I went into The Rise of Skywalker not quite as excited as I've been previously, but still cautiously optimistic following a trailer which managed to give me goosebumps pretty much every time I saw it.
As a final chapter, The Rise of Skywalker has a lot resting on it's shoulders. Concluding, and wrapping things up, while not completely ignoring the ideas put forth in The Last Jedi, JJ Abrams is however clearly more interested in revisiting some of his own ideas from The Force Awakens. But I felt that maybe he was relying a little too much on that familiarity aspect at times, as he tries to please everyone.
In The Rise of Skywalker, the resistance are still outnumbered by the First Order and Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader. Meanwhile, Rey is training with Leia, becoming more confident and powerful, while Finn, Poe and Chewie are out in the Millennium Falcon gathering intel from spies. But an old threat from the past has returned, as a message goes out across the galaxy from an unknown region - Emperor Palpatine is warning of revenge, supported by a powerful fleet of ships.
To go into much more detail would involve spoilers, but lets just say that the first half of the movie involves a search to find something which is going to help them find something else, which is going to lead to the location of the emperor. The quest takes us from location to location, with the odd rescue along the way and the occasional new character popping up. Rey and Ren still have a bond which means that they can manipulate and battle each other from anywhere in the galaxy as Ren and his knights seek out Rey and her team in order to destroy them. There's a lot going on in that first half, and it all felt a bit messy. It's fair to say, I was very bored by this first half.
Around that half way mark though, the journey takes us to a world in the Endor system, where the remains of the second Death Star lies out at sea, among towering waves. It's there that an epic battle between Rey and Ren takes place, which you no doubt will have seen snippets of in the trailers or marketing material. Waves crash around them and the visuals, the choreography, the score, it all came together and really kick started the second half off for me. I still can't quite put my finger on it, but from that point on I felt a real shift (in the force?) and I began to really enjoy the rest of the movie, right up until the huge, inevitable and breathtaking final battle.
As mentioned earlier, there are certainly a lot of characters to take care of in this movie, including plenty of newcomers, all fighting for attention and screen-time. Some of the seemingly important characters introduced to us previously in this trilogy feel a bit lost at times, while we do still manage to find time for a very welcome return by Landon Calrissian. Rey and Ren are both outstanding once again and a special mention goes out to Richard E Grant, who I thought was brilliant as head of the First Order fleet, Allegiant General Pride. Scenes involving Carrie Fisher are beautifully handled, but I felt that the fan service went a little bit too far with some of the scenes involving Luke Skywalker.
The level of craftsmanship and design that goes into a Star Wars movie is always incredible and The Rise of Skywalker is no exception, elevated by a powerful John Williams score and some amazing visuals. I'm really not sure what I was expecting from this final chapter but, despite it all coming good for me in the end, I do feel slightly disappointed overall by the wildly differing halves of the movie. Still, there's nothing quite like seeing a new Star Wars movie on the big screen at Christmas time!
As a final chapter, The Rise of Skywalker has a lot resting on it's shoulders. Concluding, and wrapping things up, while not completely ignoring the ideas put forth in The Last Jedi, JJ Abrams is however clearly more interested in revisiting some of his own ideas from The Force Awakens. But I felt that maybe he was relying a little too much on that familiarity aspect at times, as he tries to please everyone.
In The Rise of Skywalker, the resistance are still outnumbered by the First Order and Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader. Meanwhile, Rey is training with Leia, becoming more confident and powerful, while Finn, Poe and Chewie are out in the Millennium Falcon gathering intel from spies. But an old threat from the past has returned, as a message goes out across the galaxy from an unknown region - Emperor Palpatine is warning of revenge, supported by a powerful fleet of ships.
To go into much more detail would involve spoilers, but lets just say that the first half of the movie involves a search to find something which is going to help them find something else, which is going to lead to the location of the emperor. The quest takes us from location to location, with the odd rescue along the way and the occasional new character popping up. Rey and Ren still have a bond which means that they can manipulate and battle each other from anywhere in the galaxy as Ren and his knights seek out Rey and her team in order to destroy them. There's a lot going on in that first half, and it all felt a bit messy. It's fair to say, I was very bored by this first half.
Around that half way mark though, the journey takes us to a world in the Endor system, where the remains of the second Death Star lies out at sea, among towering waves. It's there that an epic battle between Rey and Ren takes place, which you no doubt will have seen snippets of in the trailers or marketing material. Waves crash around them and the visuals, the choreography, the score, it all came together and really kick started the second half off for me. I still can't quite put my finger on it, but from that point on I felt a real shift (in the force?) and I began to really enjoy the rest of the movie, right up until the huge, inevitable and breathtaking final battle.
As mentioned earlier, there are certainly a lot of characters to take care of in this movie, including plenty of newcomers, all fighting for attention and screen-time. Some of the seemingly important characters introduced to us previously in this trilogy feel a bit lost at times, while we do still manage to find time for a very welcome return by Landon Calrissian. Rey and Ren are both outstanding once again and a special mention goes out to Richard E Grant, who I thought was brilliant as head of the First Order fleet, Allegiant General Pride. Scenes involving Carrie Fisher are beautifully handled, but I felt that the fan service went a little bit too far with some of the scenes involving Luke Skywalker.
The level of craftsmanship and design that goes into a Star Wars movie is always incredible and The Rise of Skywalker is no exception, elevated by a powerful John Williams score and some amazing visuals. I'm really not sure what I was expecting from this final chapter but, despite it all coming good for me in the end, I do feel slightly disappointed overall by the wildly differing halves of the movie. Still, there's nothing quite like seeing a new Star Wars movie on the big screen at Christmas time!
Darren (1599 KP) rated A Ghost Story (2017) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: A Ghost Story starts as we follow couple C (Affleck) and M (Mara), they live a happy life in their home even though they are planning to move, but when C dies the perfect world becomes shattered. M dealing with the loss of her husband but C not going into the light and returning home to watch over his wife with a bed sheet covering him.
When M leaves the home, C is seemingly stuck bound to the house for all time as he goes through different households and his only communication comes from a fellow ghost trapped in the neighbouring house, but C is determined to stay for the one he loves even through all the changes the environment around him goes through.
Thoughts on A Ghost Story
Characters – C is the husband of M that dies, he finds himself coming back as a ghost to watch over his wife but soon finds himself alone once she leaves their home, he sees different lives enter his as he waits for her to return. M is the wife that can’t cope with her husband’s death, she tries to move on but without any hope, so to get away completely she leaves the home. The two do make for a good screen couple.
Performances – Rooney Mara is good in her role even if she is only in part of the film, it is Casey Affleck who must wear a sheet for the most part of this movie that doesn’t say anything but lives a lonely life watching other lives.
Story – The story here is difficult to describe as for the most part we just follow C the ghost with the bed sheet over his head watching every moment of this one location, wait for a chance to be with his love again. This isn’t a horror though it plays into deeper meanings that when you watch the full film you will get rewarded by, but it can be slow getting there. This is a story that will make you think about life and death which is one you need to watch to enjoy.
Fantasy/Romance – The fantasy elements of this film come on strong for the second half as we see the journey the sheeted C goes on, the romance side of the film looks at the idea of eternal love that people could have.
Settings – The whole film is set in once location, the background may well change but our character can’t leave the area he finds himself bound too.
Special Effects – Not many effects are used but the ones that are do help the films journey.
Scene of the Movie – The Beginning?
That Moment That Annoyed Me – There is a really long scene of Rooney Mara eating, I think it could have been near 10 minutes long.
Budget: $100,000
Final Thoughts – This is a very different movie, it shows the idea of eternal love from the side of a deceased character. It will make you think and by the end you will feel like you experienced something different.
Overall: Interesting movie that makes you think.
https://moviesreview101.com/2017/09/24/a-ghost-story-2017/
When M leaves the home, C is seemingly stuck bound to the house for all time as he goes through different households and his only communication comes from a fellow ghost trapped in the neighbouring house, but C is determined to stay for the one he loves even through all the changes the environment around him goes through.
Thoughts on A Ghost Story
Characters – C is the husband of M that dies, he finds himself coming back as a ghost to watch over his wife but soon finds himself alone once she leaves their home, he sees different lives enter his as he waits for her to return. M is the wife that can’t cope with her husband’s death, she tries to move on but without any hope, so to get away completely she leaves the home. The two do make for a good screen couple.
Performances – Rooney Mara is good in her role even if she is only in part of the film, it is Casey Affleck who must wear a sheet for the most part of this movie that doesn’t say anything but lives a lonely life watching other lives.
Story – The story here is difficult to describe as for the most part we just follow C the ghost with the bed sheet over his head watching every moment of this one location, wait for a chance to be with his love again. This isn’t a horror though it plays into deeper meanings that when you watch the full film you will get rewarded by, but it can be slow getting there. This is a story that will make you think about life and death which is one you need to watch to enjoy.
Fantasy/Romance – The fantasy elements of this film come on strong for the second half as we see the journey the sheeted C goes on, the romance side of the film looks at the idea of eternal love that people could have.
Settings – The whole film is set in once location, the background may well change but our character can’t leave the area he finds himself bound too.
Special Effects – Not many effects are used but the ones that are do help the films journey.
Scene of the Movie – The Beginning?
That Moment That Annoyed Me – There is a really long scene of Rooney Mara eating, I think it could have been near 10 minutes long.
Budget: $100,000
Final Thoughts – This is a very different movie, it shows the idea of eternal love from the side of a deceased character. It will make you think and by the end you will feel like you experienced something different.
Overall: Interesting movie that makes you think.
https://moviesreview101.com/2017/09/24/a-ghost-story-2017/
Data Mining for Business Analytics: Concepts, Techniques, and Applications with JMP Pro
Galit Shmueli, Nitin R. Patel, Peter C. Bruce and Mia L. Stephens
Book
Data Mining for Business Analytics: Concepts, Techniques, and Applications with JMP Pro(R) presents...
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Chalk Man in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Big thanks to Janel @ Keeper of Pages for sending me her copy of the book!
This is one of those books that’s been getting a lot of attention in the bookish world, so of course, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! While it only took me a couple of sessions to get through the whole thing, I wasn’t that thrilled by it. The hype wasn’t worth it for me.
I immediately knew this novel wasn’t going to be a 5 star read because I didn’t like the way it was written from page 1. It’s one of those novels that’s told in flashbacks, but rather than transporting us back in time to live the events as they happened, we were told it as though we were being read a story. I feel like this way of writing really makes you take a step back from the events and you don’t get the chance to experience them along with the characters. So anything that’s meant to be tense or exciting didn’t feel that way for me.
As for characters, I honestly didn’t have an opinion on any of them. You would have thought that our main character / narrator Eddie would have left some kind of impression on me, but he didn’t. I genuinely have nothing to say about him… he was unforgettable. The only thing I can think to mention is that his relationship with his housemate Chloe seriously cringy.
<spoiler>For me, there were too many characters in this book that were irrelevant. Including Mr. Halloran – “The Chalk Man”. He was literally only a character to make the title make sense and to have an extremely obvious ‘distraction’ to the real bad guy.</spoiler>
I didn’t mind the story in this one, but the synopsis had me ready for something so much more exciting and sinister. It kept me interested for the most part, but I wasn’t enthralled. I had the ‘baddie’ sussed in a matter of chapters, so from there, all I was trying to work out was their motive. It was pretty good at keeping you on your toes in that sense.
Some books try so hard to be exciting and this is one of them. It seemed to me, that each chapter had new drama in it. Less is sometimes more! Don’t forget that! We don’t need drama, after drama, after drama to keep us entertained. It got tedious and took any realism away from the story.
In the end, this novel was extremely underwhelming for me. I didn’t find it exciting and I didn’t think the story was particularly unique. I think this would be a good novel for non-mystery readers, but I’ve just read too many similar stories.
This is one of those books that’s been getting a lot of attention in the bookish world, so of course, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! While it only took me a couple of sessions to get through the whole thing, I wasn’t that thrilled by it. The hype wasn’t worth it for me.
I immediately knew this novel wasn’t going to be a 5 star read because I didn’t like the way it was written from page 1. It’s one of those novels that’s told in flashbacks, but rather than transporting us back in time to live the events as they happened, we were told it as though we were being read a story. I feel like this way of writing really makes you take a step back from the events and you don’t get the chance to experience them along with the characters. So anything that’s meant to be tense or exciting didn’t feel that way for me.
As for characters, I honestly didn’t have an opinion on any of them. You would have thought that our main character / narrator Eddie would have left some kind of impression on me, but he didn’t. I genuinely have nothing to say about him… he was unforgettable. The only thing I can think to mention is that his relationship with his housemate Chloe seriously cringy.
<spoiler>For me, there were too many characters in this book that were irrelevant. Including Mr. Halloran – “The Chalk Man”. He was literally only a character to make the title make sense and to have an extremely obvious ‘distraction’ to the real bad guy.</spoiler>
I didn’t mind the story in this one, but the synopsis had me ready for something so much more exciting and sinister. It kept me interested for the most part, but I wasn’t enthralled. I had the ‘baddie’ sussed in a matter of chapters, so from there, all I was trying to work out was their motive. It was pretty good at keeping you on your toes in that sense.
Some books try so hard to be exciting and this is one of them. It seemed to me, that each chapter had new drama in it. Less is sometimes more! Don’t forget that! We don’t need drama, after drama, after drama to keep us entertained. It got tedious and took any realism away from the story.
In the end, this novel was extremely underwhelming for me. I didn’t find it exciting and I didn’t think the story was particularly unique. I think this would be a good novel for non-mystery readers, but I’ve just read too many similar stories.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Aldabas: Doors of Cartagena in Tabletop Games
May 16, 2021
I’m just going to come right out with it so I can get it out of the way. This game has some really nice knockers. Yes, it is kid-friendly – I am referencing the door knockers that adorn the Doors of Cartagena. These ornate knockers have historically signified professions held by the residence’s inhabitants and can still be found in this Colombian city today. So how does this translate into a board game? Well, let’s dive into the world of Aldabas: Doors of Cartagena.
In Aldabas, players are (loose) urban planners in historic Cartagena attempting to build their city block with the most influential people in town. By drafting the most strategic door cards the winning player is they who scores the most points at the end of the game.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, place out 12 coins per player on the table, create the door offer dock, shuffle the Doors deck, and give each player five Doors and one Vault board. Each player then chooses one card from their hand to secretly place under their vault for endgame scoring. Place the shuffled Doors deck next to the Dock and deal one card to each space beneath the Dock. The game is now setup and ready to play!
On a turn the active player will take two actions. The actions are: Take Two Coins, Buy One Door, and Place One Door. Obviously, the first action has the player adding two coins from the supply to their play area (called the purse). To Buy One Door the player simply chooses one of the Door cards from the Dock area and pays its cost to the supply. The two cards on the leftmost spaces of the Dock are free, while the other cards cost coins according to their placement at the Dock. Once a card has been purchased, a new card is revealed and added to the rightmost space, sliding all other Doors cards to the left.
To Place One Door, the active player will choose a Doors card from their hand and place it on their block they are building in front of them. The Vault card acts as the bottom leftmost space, with the block encompassing a 4×3 grid above it and to the right (as shown below). Once the Door is placed, any special power it offers is triggered immediately, as are the Doors cards’ powers adjacently below and beside the newly placed Door card.
The catch here is that when placing Doors, it is illegal to place them orthogonally adjacent to Doors of the same color, and the spaces both below and to the left of the placed Door cannot be empty. Essentially, Doors need to be placed in a cone starting from the Vault. Play continues in this fashion with players taking turns until either the supply runs out of coins, a player fills up their 4×3 grid with Doors, or the Dock cannot be refilled because the Doors deck is empty. Then final scoring occurs, which is based on individual cards as well as any suit-specific bonuses offered.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so final components may be different in many different ways upon a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, this game looks GORGEOUS on the table. The colors are all super vibrant, and the great knockers really pop. Excellent theme and art here carry an already-spiffy game. The game is basically a bunch of cards and some coin tokens. They are all fine quality, especially for a prototype. I have no issues at all. I love the way this looks!
So I love the way it looks, but do I love the way it plays? I think it’s a good little game. It reminds me a little of Viceroy with the color combinations and placement rules. While Viceroy is good, Aldabas is much better in almost all ways. Aldabas plays quicker and has more easily digestible rules. If you check Viceroy’s profile on BGG you will see that many users enjoy it, and it currently sits just above rank 1000. So when I say Aldabas gives a similar feel but delivers a more enjoyable game experience, I expect Aldabas to perform better in the BGG rankings, if that’s your thing.
The special powers on the Doors cards, though I didn’t really mention them, range from VPs at game end, to moving coins to and from the Vault onto Doors to make them more valuable, to gaining coins from the supply or stealing them from other players, to offering discounts on purchasing Doors from the Dock. There are some other fun rules used in scoring, but I will let you experience those on your own with your backed copy.
So final word from me on this one is that I highly recommend it and hope you give it a shot. It offers lots of strategic game play with a medium-sized table footprint, but boy it looks great on that table! Turns are fast, and everyone is in the game until end scoring, so I never felt there was a runaway winner issue. If you are like me, you will definitely want to be adding this to your collection. Big recommendations from me, I know you will enjoy it.
In Aldabas, players are (loose) urban planners in historic Cartagena attempting to build their city block with the most influential people in town. By drafting the most strategic door cards the winning player is they who scores the most points at the end of the game.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, place out 12 coins per player on the table, create the door offer dock, shuffle the Doors deck, and give each player five Doors and one Vault board. Each player then chooses one card from their hand to secretly place under their vault for endgame scoring. Place the shuffled Doors deck next to the Dock and deal one card to each space beneath the Dock. The game is now setup and ready to play!
On a turn the active player will take two actions. The actions are: Take Two Coins, Buy One Door, and Place One Door. Obviously, the first action has the player adding two coins from the supply to their play area (called the purse). To Buy One Door the player simply chooses one of the Door cards from the Dock area and pays its cost to the supply. The two cards on the leftmost spaces of the Dock are free, while the other cards cost coins according to their placement at the Dock. Once a card has been purchased, a new card is revealed and added to the rightmost space, sliding all other Doors cards to the left.
To Place One Door, the active player will choose a Doors card from their hand and place it on their block they are building in front of them. The Vault card acts as the bottom leftmost space, with the block encompassing a 4×3 grid above it and to the right (as shown below). Once the Door is placed, any special power it offers is triggered immediately, as are the Doors cards’ powers adjacently below and beside the newly placed Door card.
The catch here is that when placing Doors, it is illegal to place them orthogonally adjacent to Doors of the same color, and the spaces both below and to the left of the placed Door cannot be empty. Essentially, Doors need to be placed in a cone starting from the Vault. Play continues in this fashion with players taking turns until either the supply runs out of coins, a player fills up their 4×3 grid with Doors, or the Dock cannot be refilled because the Doors deck is empty. Then final scoring occurs, which is based on individual cards as well as any suit-specific bonuses offered.
Components. Again, this is a prototype copy of the game, so final components may be different in many different ways upon a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, this game looks GORGEOUS on the table. The colors are all super vibrant, and the great knockers really pop. Excellent theme and art here carry an already-spiffy game. The game is basically a bunch of cards and some coin tokens. They are all fine quality, especially for a prototype. I have no issues at all. I love the way this looks!
So I love the way it looks, but do I love the way it plays? I think it’s a good little game. It reminds me a little of Viceroy with the color combinations and placement rules. While Viceroy is good, Aldabas is much better in almost all ways. Aldabas plays quicker and has more easily digestible rules. If you check Viceroy’s profile on BGG you will see that many users enjoy it, and it currently sits just above rank 1000. So when I say Aldabas gives a similar feel but delivers a more enjoyable game experience, I expect Aldabas to perform better in the BGG rankings, if that’s your thing.
The special powers on the Doors cards, though I didn’t really mention them, range from VPs at game end, to moving coins to and from the Vault onto Doors to make them more valuable, to gaining coins from the supply or stealing them from other players, to offering discounts on purchasing Doors from the Dock. There are some other fun rules used in scoring, but I will let you experience those on your own with your backed copy.
So final word from me on this one is that I highly recommend it and hope you give it a shot. It offers lots of strategic game play with a medium-sized table footprint, but boy it looks great on that table! Turns are fast, and everyone is in the game until end scoring, so I never felt there was a runaway winner issue. If you are like me, you will definitely want to be adding this to your collection. Big recommendations from me, I know you will enjoy it.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Iron Man 3 (2013) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
For Tony Stark, (Robert Downey Jr.), life has become very complicated for the self-proclaimed genius, philanthropist, billionaire, and playboy. In the new film “Iron Man 3”, Stark is wracked by insomnia and dread following the battle he waged to save New York in “The Avengers”.
Stark throws himself into his work and endlessly creates new Iron Man suits as well as system upgrades which currently have him at the Mark 42 version which is a huge jump from the Mark VII he was last seen in which was itself a prototype.
When a terrorist named The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley), has unleashed a series of bizarre bombings on the world and has opening challenged the President (William Sadler), Stark is caught up in his own fears, most notably protecting his beloved Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow).
When his friend Happy (John Farveau) is caught in an explosion, Stark openly challenges the Mandarin which results in a devastating helicopter upon Stark and Potts. With the world thinking he has died, Stark sets out to stop the Mandarin at all costs and find a way to battle his inner demons and fears to save the ones he loves and do what he knows is right.
The movie is big on laughs and character as we see a more well-rounded Stark this time out. He is haunted by demons of his past yet committed to improving himself and doing what is right. The film takes a bit of time to get up to speed, but thanks to Downey’s performance you maintain your interest as you are always waiting for what he will do next as he is in total command of the character and never lets the quirks or humor of his situation overshadow his humanity or undermine his performance.
I would have liked to have seen Downey is his armor more kicking butt and taking names, but thankfully the finale is very enjoyable. The converted 3D in the film is very good as although I am not a fan of 3D conversions this was the best I have seen to date as ash, snow, and debris did seem to float into the audience the way it does in films that are shot properly in the new 3D technology.
The supporting cast for the film is very strong especially Kingsley and Guy Pearce and I enjoyed the effort that Writer/Director Shane Black put into allowing the characters time to grow. I was a bit disappointed that Don Cheadle was not given a lot to do in his role especially when playing Iron Patriot/War Machine. The battle at the end of “Iron Man 2” where he and Iron Man took on legions of bad guys had me hoping for more this time out.
That being said, this is a very enjoyable summer movie that shows the franchise is not slowing down or taking the easy road out. There has been discussion that Downey Jr. may step away after the next Avengers film but hopefully that is not to be the case as I could not imagine another actor capturing the role as perfectly as he has.
Following a bonus post credits scene, we are told in the best James Bond style that Tony Stark will return, and you can bet legions of fans will be waiting.
http://sknr.net/2013/05/03/iron-man-3/
Stark throws himself into his work and endlessly creates new Iron Man suits as well as system upgrades which currently have him at the Mark 42 version which is a huge jump from the Mark VII he was last seen in which was itself a prototype.
When a terrorist named The Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley), has unleashed a series of bizarre bombings on the world and has opening challenged the President (William Sadler), Stark is caught up in his own fears, most notably protecting his beloved Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow).
When his friend Happy (John Farveau) is caught in an explosion, Stark openly challenges the Mandarin which results in a devastating helicopter upon Stark and Potts. With the world thinking he has died, Stark sets out to stop the Mandarin at all costs and find a way to battle his inner demons and fears to save the ones he loves and do what he knows is right.
The movie is big on laughs and character as we see a more well-rounded Stark this time out. He is haunted by demons of his past yet committed to improving himself and doing what is right. The film takes a bit of time to get up to speed, but thanks to Downey’s performance you maintain your interest as you are always waiting for what he will do next as he is in total command of the character and never lets the quirks or humor of his situation overshadow his humanity or undermine his performance.
I would have liked to have seen Downey is his armor more kicking butt and taking names, but thankfully the finale is very enjoyable. The converted 3D in the film is very good as although I am not a fan of 3D conversions this was the best I have seen to date as ash, snow, and debris did seem to float into the audience the way it does in films that are shot properly in the new 3D technology.
The supporting cast for the film is very strong especially Kingsley and Guy Pearce and I enjoyed the effort that Writer/Director Shane Black put into allowing the characters time to grow. I was a bit disappointed that Don Cheadle was not given a lot to do in his role especially when playing Iron Patriot/War Machine. The battle at the end of “Iron Man 2” where he and Iron Man took on legions of bad guys had me hoping for more this time out.
That being said, this is a very enjoyable summer movie that shows the franchise is not slowing down or taking the easy road out. There has been discussion that Downey Jr. may step away after the next Avengers film but hopefully that is not to be the case as I could not imagine another actor capturing the role as perfectly as he has.
Following a bonus post credits scene, we are told in the best James Bond style that Tony Stark will return, and you can bet legions of fans will be waiting.
http://sknr.net/2013/05/03/iron-man-3/
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Raven King in Books
Feb 1, 2018
The fourth and final book in Stiefvater's "Raven Cycle" series picks up shortly after the third. Obviously, if you haven't read the three previous books, you should, and you shouldn't continue reading this review, as there will be spoilers. Gansey, of course, is still after the elusive Glendower, a buried king whom he believes will change his life. Blue, daughter of a psychic, is not-psychic, but still an amplifier of those who are, and still destined to kill her true love upon their first kiss. The pair--now in love--are joined by their usual gang: Ronan Lynch, dreamer of all things magical; Adam, a survivor, who is tied to the magical forest of Cabeswater in mysterious ways; Noah, who is dead; Maura, Blue's mother; and many more. In fact, we gain several more characters in this final installment, namely far more involvement from fellow Aglionby Academy student, Henry. Together, this group is focusing on the frenzied search to find Gansey's beloved king.
I'm not really even sure what I can say about this book. This whole series is amazing and crazy. I need to re-read all four books at some point, now that all are released. This novel actually started out a bit slow for me. It was, as weird as it sounds, almost a bit too fantastical, filled with almost too bizarre magic and plot. However, as things continued to unfold, pieces fell into place, and I was consumed by the story and its characters, per usual. Overall, I found this a fitting end to a beloved series. I will insert a caveat that it doesn't tie up loose ends for some of the ancillary characters and some pieces may leave you a bit befuddled. But some of the magic of these books is that everything doesn't make sense to the characters, so I give it a pass when it doesn't all make sense to us as well. I'd recommend the series-- it's an amazing trip to another world, and I certainly have grown to love the characters. I'll miss them!
I'm not really even sure what I can say about this book. This whole series is amazing and crazy. I need to re-read all four books at some point, now that all are released. This novel actually started out a bit slow for me. It was, as weird as it sounds, almost a bit too fantastical, filled with almost too bizarre magic and plot. However, as things continued to unfold, pieces fell into place, and I was consumed by the story and its characters, per usual. Overall, I found this a fitting end to a beloved series. I will insert a caveat that it doesn't tie up loose ends for some of the ancillary characters and some pieces may leave you a bit befuddled. But some of the magic of these books is that everything doesn't make sense to the characters, so I give it a pass when it doesn't all make sense to us as well. I'd recommend the series-- it's an amazing trip to another world, and I certainly have grown to love the characters. I'll miss them!
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