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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Banana Splits Movie (2019) in Movies
Jan 4, 2021
The Banana Splits Movie, a horror-fied reimagining of the late 60s/early 70s Hanna-Barbera tv show, knows exactly what it's trying to be. It's silly and tongue in cheek, but toes the line pretty well in pretty much every aspect, not going overboard in either direction, and ultimately delivers a good time for anyone who enjoys a cheesy slasher.
The premise is deliciously simple - a family attend a taping of the titular Banana Splits show, their youngest sons favourite, and end up fighting for survival alongside fellow audience members and backstage crew, when the famous child friendly animatronic stars of the show go haywire and embark on a killing spree. I'm certain it's been said before, but imagine Five Nights at Freddy's crossed over with Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and you're pretty much there.
It's got a decent amount of gore (mostly done practically which is always a thumbs up), some imaginative kills and set pieces, and a good cast - the nice characters are likeable, the assholes are suitably unlikable (and die horribly of course) - it plays it's safe in that regard, but there's also some half decent character development in place, so I can't grumble too much.
The writing isn't great, and the pacing is a little iffy, could have done with maybe being a little shorter, but honestly, if you go into this fully on board with the premise, then you're almost guaranteed to have a fun and bloody time. Good luck getting that theme song out of your head...
The premise is deliciously simple - a family attend a taping of the titular Banana Splits show, their youngest sons favourite, and end up fighting for survival alongside fellow audience members and backstage crew, when the famous child friendly animatronic stars of the show go haywire and embark on a killing spree. I'm certain it's been said before, but imagine Five Nights at Freddy's crossed over with Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and you're pretty much there.
It's got a decent amount of gore (mostly done practically which is always a thumbs up), some imaginative kills and set pieces, and a good cast - the nice characters are likeable, the assholes are suitably unlikable (and die horribly of course) - it plays it's safe in that regard, but there's also some half decent character development in place, so I can't grumble too much.
The writing isn't great, and the pacing is a little iffy, could have done with maybe being a little shorter, but honestly, if you go into this fully on board with the premise, then you're almost guaranteed to have a fun and bloody time. Good luck getting that theme song out of your head...
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Justice League International, Vol. 4 in Books
Nov 30, 2020
The 80s. I know, right? What the heck happened??! When did things get so confusing and angstastically heavy?! I mean, beside the frelled up election result for 2016??
Thankfully, despite all of that, there are many good outlets to remind us how to have fun and to also remind us that WE actually used to be FUN! Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis truly know how to have fun times with the likes of Batman, Blue Beetle, and Martian Manhunter, just to name a few of the characters within.
The art, from artists Mike McKone, Ty Templeton, and Kevin Maguire was equally enjoyable, further enhancing the suing fun times. The only art I wasn't wowed by was Bill Willingham's. Not that it was bad or anything of the sort, I just thought it wasn't one of his stronger contributions. But, yeah, the other guys were all aces!
The only reason it didn't warrant Five Stars, or even Four for that matter, was the last issue in the TPB: "Teenage Biker Mega-Death!" (Vol. 1, Issue #30). The story itself was a weaker offering from Giffen and DeMatteis, only made weaker by the art from Willingham. The "big bad" of the story was neither <i>big</i> nor really very <i>bad</i>! Again, not the worst, but not the best.
Overall, though, this is yet another great example of how to make comics fun and enjoyable! If only they had gone this route for 2017's JUSTICE LEAGUE film!
Thankfully, despite all of that, there are many good outlets to remind us how to have fun and to also remind us that WE actually used to be FUN! Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis truly know how to have fun times with the likes of Batman, Blue Beetle, and Martian Manhunter, just to name a few of the characters within.
The art, from artists Mike McKone, Ty Templeton, and Kevin Maguire was equally enjoyable, further enhancing the suing fun times. The only art I wasn't wowed by was Bill Willingham's. Not that it was bad or anything of the sort, I just thought it wasn't one of his stronger contributions. But, yeah, the other guys were all aces!
The only reason it didn't warrant Five Stars, or even Four for that matter, was the last issue in the TPB: "Teenage Biker Mega-Death!" (Vol. 1, Issue #30). The story itself was a weaker offering from Giffen and DeMatteis, only made weaker by the art from Willingham. The "big bad" of the story was neither <i>big</i> nor really very <i>bad</i>! Again, not the worst, but not the best.
Overall, though, this is yet another great example of how to make comics fun and enjoyable! If only they had gone this route for 2017's JUSTICE LEAGUE film!
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Don't Look for Me in Books
Oct 8, 2020
One of my favorite thrillers this year
Five years ago, Molly and John Clarke's youngest daughter died. It changed their family forever, devastating Molly and John. Molly blames herself. Their son, Evan, is now at boarding school and eldest daughter Nicole, 21, has a fractured relationship with her mom. Then Molly disappears coming back from visiting Evan. Everyone says she left on purpose, backed up by the note they find. The police call it a "walk away." Molly's car was abandoned by a gas station, the note discovered at a nearby hotel. But what really happened to Molly? Nicole is convinced her mother wouldn't just walk away from them, no matter how bad things had become.
"This was her fault and now she had to make it right. She had to find her mother."
Oh my gosh. I read this book in one breathless day, despite working for 12 hours. It's an utterly and completely spellbinding thriller. I read the last half in one sitting, desperate to know what became of Molly. Walker gives us a twisty thriller that is filled with surprises. It's dramatic, beyond readable, and heartbreaking at times. Told from Molly and Nicole's point of views, it's amazing. I love a book that can shock me, and this is that book.
I'm not going to offer much more, as it's best to go into this one blind. Just know that, hands down, it's one of the best thrillers I've read this year. 4.5+ stars. Pick up this book!
"This was her fault and now she had to make it right. She had to find her mother."
Oh my gosh. I read this book in one breathless day, despite working for 12 hours. It's an utterly and completely spellbinding thriller. I read the last half in one sitting, desperate to know what became of Molly. Walker gives us a twisty thriller that is filled with surprises. It's dramatic, beyond readable, and heartbreaking at times. Told from Molly and Nicole's point of views, it's amazing. I love a book that can shock me, and this is that book.
I'm not going to offer much more, as it's best to go into this one blind. Just know that, hands down, it's one of the best thrillers I've read this year. 4.5+ stars. Pick up this book!
Apple Tree - Hangman For Kids
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Apple Tree, a Hangman-like word game for kids, can now be enjoyed on your iPhone or the iPod Touch! ...
Flowers: Beautiful Life, Volume 2 by Jimmy Greene
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Mario Party in Video Games
Nov 5, 2019
Ready To Party
Mario Party- you got to love it but at the same time you got to hate it. Cough - Chance Time. Anways Mario Party is a game that if you havent played yet, than i highly reccordmend it. Its fun, entertaining, fustrating, you will get a blister from rotating your plam from those rotating minigames and also chance time.
Lets talk more about it...
Mario Party is a party video game with six playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, or Donkey Kong. In the game's storyline, Mario and his friends argue about which of them is the Super Star. To settle their dispute, they set out for adventure to determine which of them is best.
Upon starting a board, players each hit a dice block to determine turn order, with the highest number going first on each turn and the lowest number going last.
Blue spaces give three coins to any player who lands on them, and red spaces take away three coins (both increased to six coins during the last five turns). Bowser also has his own spaces on the board map which hinder the players' progress.
Each player's goal is to collect the most stars. Purchasing stars requires coins, which can be earned through mini-games that are played once at the end of each turn. Each mini-game is chosen randomly. Mario Party features more than 50 mini-games, divided into several categories:
1. 4-player mini-game: each player competes against one another
2. 1 vs. 3 mini-game: a team of three players competes against a lone competitor.
3. 2 vs. 2 mini-game: competing teams of two against two.
4. 1-player mini-game: a lone player works toward a goal to win the mini-game.
Several characters appear throughout each board map, and each character can have an effect on players who reach them. Stars can be purchased from Toad for 20 coins. Boo can steal coins or a star from another player on behalf of anyone who requests it; stealing coins is free, but stealing a star costs 50 coins. Koopa Troopa appears at the starting point on board maps and will give 10 coins to each player who passes him. Bowser tries to foil the efforts of any player who passes him by taking coins.
Three bonus stars are awarded at the end of each board map: two are given to the player(s) who collected the most coins in mini-games and throughout the board map game, and the third is given to the player(s) who landed on the most "?" spaces.
In Mario Party, certain minigames required players to rotate the Nintendo 64 controller's analog stick as fast as they can. Some players reportedly got blisters, friction burns and lacerations from rotating the analog stick using the palms of their hands instead of using their thumb.
complaints were received by New York's attorney general's office and Nintendo of America eventually agreed to a settlement, which included providing gloves for anyone who had hurt their hand(s) while playing the game and paying the state's $75,000 legal fees. At the time, providing gloves for the estimated 1.2 million users of the game who might have been affected could have cost Nintendo up to $80 million.
The analog stick rotation has been used sparingly since Mario Party 2. Despite Nintendo's current analog sticks being better suited to play these games than the hard plastic of the N64 controller, Mario Party has not been re-released for the Virtual Console. For the Wii Virtual Console, Nintendo skipped it and instead re-released Mario Party 2, which was later also made available for the Wii U Virtual Console.
Mario Party is a must play game, like i said before its fun, enteraining, fustrating and you can either play with your friends or your family.
Lets talk more about it...
Mario Party is a party video game with six playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, or Donkey Kong. In the game's storyline, Mario and his friends argue about which of them is the Super Star. To settle their dispute, they set out for adventure to determine which of them is best.
Upon starting a board, players each hit a dice block to determine turn order, with the highest number going first on each turn and the lowest number going last.
Blue spaces give three coins to any player who lands on them, and red spaces take away three coins (both increased to six coins during the last five turns). Bowser also has his own spaces on the board map which hinder the players' progress.
Each player's goal is to collect the most stars. Purchasing stars requires coins, which can be earned through mini-games that are played once at the end of each turn. Each mini-game is chosen randomly. Mario Party features more than 50 mini-games, divided into several categories:
1. 4-player mini-game: each player competes against one another
2. 1 vs. 3 mini-game: a team of three players competes against a lone competitor.
3. 2 vs. 2 mini-game: competing teams of two against two.
4. 1-player mini-game: a lone player works toward a goal to win the mini-game.
Several characters appear throughout each board map, and each character can have an effect on players who reach them. Stars can be purchased from Toad for 20 coins. Boo can steal coins or a star from another player on behalf of anyone who requests it; stealing coins is free, but stealing a star costs 50 coins. Koopa Troopa appears at the starting point on board maps and will give 10 coins to each player who passes him. Bowser tries to foil the efforts of any player who passes him by taking coins.
Three bonus stars are awarded at the end of each board map: two are given to the player(s) who collected the most coins in mini-games and throughout the board map game, and the third is given to the player(s) who landed on the most "?" spaces.
In Mario Party, certain minigames required players to rotate the Nintendo 64 controller's analog stick as fast as they can. Some players reportedly got blisters, friction burns and lacerations from rotating the analog stick using the palms of their hands instead of using their thumb.
complaints were received by New York's attorney general's office and Nintendo of America eventually agreed to a settlement, which included providing gloves for anyone who had hurt their hand(s) while playing the game and paying the state's $75,000 legal fees. At the time, providing gloves for the estimated 1.2 million users of the game who might have been affected could have cost Nintendo up to $80 million.
The analog stick rotation has been used sparingly since Mario Party 2. Despite Nintendo's current analog sticks being better suited to play these games than the hard plastic of the N64 controller, Mario Party has not been re-released for the Virtual Console. For the Wii Virtual Console, Nintendo skipped it and instead re-released Mario Party 2, which was later also made available for the Wii U Virtual Console.
Mario Party is a must play game, like i said before its fun, enteraining, fustrating and you can either play with your friends or your family.
emotionary + by Funny Feelings ®
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This truly unique dictionary is a world first. Emotionary guides users through five primary emotions...
RavenclawPrincess913 (253 KP) rated Star Splitter in Books
Jul 14, 2023
Star Splitter by Matthew J Kirby was one of my favorite books I have read this year. My favorite character in this book would be Duncan, the ships captains sixteen year old son. I like the character due to him being a great friend with an amazing personality. I also love how him and the main character Jessica formed a friendship and how protective he was over her. My favorite part of the book was when they were together. I really loved the part when he saved her. I also loved all the other parts with them together which made the book interesting. This book was very well written kept me interested, and I loved the plot. I honestly had a hard time putting the book down. The author should write more books like this one.
Even though I loved this book and gave it a five out of five stars, the ending made me mad. I just don't like how it ended. It leaves many questions unanswered. Also, the back and forth between Jessica one and Jessica two got me very confused at times. One scene I disliked was when the two crew members talked about Jessica and her family behind her back. Also, the scene where her father killed the ships doctor was scary to me. Her dad's transfer was corrupted, which made him very violent. Another part I didn't like was the fact that Jessica's mother is the reason the ship was destroyed since she didn't leave Jessica's violent Dad locked up like she was supposed to. In my opinion, Jessica and her mother should have just left the ship alone and left her corrupted father behind. Jessica's relationship with her parents was bad from the start, but I imagine this made it even worse. Duncan also had a bad relationship with his dad, so I'm pretty sure them having that in common helped their relationship grow. In conclusion, I can definitely see myself rereading this book. If you love young adult science fiction with teleportation to another planet, you would love this book too.
Star Splitter was my favorite book read this year, so here's some fun facts about the book. Jessica refers to Carver 1061c as Hades, which I found hilarious and very fitting after everything that happened. Jessica's Mom was a geologist, and her dad a biological studying Hades surface. The rest you will just have to read to find out.
Even though I loved this book and gave it a five out of five stars, the ending made me mad. I just don't like how it ended. It leaves many questions unanswered. Also, the back and forth between Jessica one and Jessica two got me very confused at times. One scene I disliked was when the two crew members talked about Jessica and her family behind her back. Also, the scene where her father killed the ships doctor was scary to me. Her dad's transfer was corrupted, which made him very violent. Another part I didn't like was the fact that Jessica's mother is the reason the ship was destroyed since she didn't leave Jessica's violent Dad locked up like she was supposed to. In my opinion, Jessica and her mother should have just left the ship alone and left her corrupted father behind. Jessica's relationship with her parents was bad from the start, but I imagine this made it even worse. Duncan also had a bad relationship with his dad, so I'm pretty sure them having that in common helped their relationship grow. In conclusion, I can definitely see myself rereading this book. If you love young adult science fiction with teleportation to another planet, you would love this book too.
Star Splitter was my favorite book read this year, so here's some fun facts about the book. Jessica refers to Carver 1061c as Hades, which I found hilarious and very fitting after everything that happened. Jessica's Mom was a geologist, and her dad a biological studying Hades surface. The rest you will just have to read to find out.
Inky Books (3 KP) rated Eona: The Last Dragoneye (Eon, #2) in Books
Jun 21, 2018
When I was young, well, younger, I was obsessed with dragons. I would read anything with dragons in it. So when I found Eon, and saw that there was another book in the series I was so happy.
Back in that time when all I had to worry about was getting good grades and reading books, I would have given this book five stars. Now, however, that I’ve come to read some of the finer offerings this genre has to give, I find myself disappointed. Let this be a lesson to anyone: never re-read your favorite childhood book series (unless it’s Harry Potter or Eragon).
To be 100% honest, this book was a mess from start to finish. I found that the writing wasn’t descriptive enough for me to fully appreciate what the author was trying to do. There was also a lot of world building in a small space, and it didn’t work at all. There needed to be more time for that. I felt that 80% of the book was action. Yes, action is good, but there was too much and not enough time left for characters to develop.
Now my major problem is the main character, Eona. She continues to lie and deceive and deny that she’s doing it throughout the book. It’s very annoying and the author should have been able to come up with other events to keep me interested. Also, bringing all those lies out at the end? Yeah, well, that didn’t work for as much as a shock factor as intended. It was easy to see the outcome.
There are only two things going for this book. The first being the overall plot with the dragons. I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil it, but I think that was a good way to get the book to end. The second is all the mythology and the world history that was weaved into the plot. I really liked learning about those pieces of the world.
All of that being said, I’ve finally decided on just 3 stars. While I did like it at one point in my life, I don’t as much now. I like parts of the book, but it overall lost all importance in my opinion. I won’t be reading it again unless I forget, for some reason, about how confusing the plot ended up being.
Back in that time when all I had to worry about was getting good grades and reading books, I would have given this book five stars. Now, however, that I’ve come to read some of the finer offerings this genre has to give, I find myself disappointed. Let this be a lesson to anyone: never re-read your favorite childhood book series (unless it’s Harry Potter or Eragon).
To be 100% honest, this book was a mess from start to finish. I found that the writing wasn’t descriptive enough for me to fully appreciate what the author was trying to do. There was also a lot of world building in a small space, and it didn’t work at all. There needed to be more time for that. I felt that 80% of the book was action. Yes, action is good, but there was too much and not enough time left for characters to develop.
Now my major problem is the main character, Eona. She continues to lie and deceive and deny that she’s doing it throughout the book. It’s very annoying and the author should have been able to come up with other events to keep me interested. Also, bringing all those lies out at the end? Yeah, well, that didn’t work for as much as a shock factor as intended. It was easy to see the outcome.
There are only two things going for this book. The first being the overall plot with the dragons. I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil it, but I think that was a good way to get the book to end. The second is all the mythology and the world history that was weaved into the plot. I really liked learning about those pieces of the world.
All of that being said, I’ve finally decided on just 3 stars. While I did like it at one point in my life, I don’t as much now. I like parts of the book, but it overall lost all importance in my opinion. I won’t be reading it again unless I forget, for some reason, about how confusing the plot ended up being.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Night Swim (2024) in Movies
Jan 5, 2024
The first major release of 2024 has arrived in the form of “Night Swim” and the Blumhouse production looks to follow on the success of “M3gan” and
their other recent hit “Five Nights at Freddy’s”.
The movie stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon as Ray and Eve Walter; a married couple trying to raise their two children and deal with Ray’s M.S.
diagnosis. Ray is a former Major League Baseball player and holds out hope that he can overcome his situation and make a return to his profession even if those around him do not.
A life on the road has caused Ray to miss many events such as the birth of their daughter as well as be distant from their son. A new job at a prestigious school offers Eve a chance to have the needed insurance for Ray and work to do while she completes her degree.
The family opt to purchase a home with a pool versus renting as the ability to finally have some stability and use the pool for therapy is a welcome combination. This is enhanced by the discovery that the pool is
actually filled by a natural water source which Ray believes is healing him and rapidly putting him on the road to recovery.
Things are not as they seem as the pool holds some dark and deadly secrets that go back for decades and the family soon finds themselves dealing
with forces beyond their control as they desperately try to survive.
The film has an interesting premise though at times I did think about various other films and some of the shock moments failed to get me as they did others in the audience but I am not one who startles easily.
The cast was strong but at times I found myself not caring as much for the outcomes of certain characters as I was more concerned with the overall
explanation behind the supernatural elements of the film.
Despite this, it was an enjoyable watch that provided something a bit different than the usual monster or psycho on the loose horror film and Co-Writer/ Director Bryce McGuire has adapted his short film well into a
film which provides just enough of what the core audience wants to make it an effective horror entry.
3 stars out of 5
their other recent hit “Five Nights at Freddy’s”.
The movie stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon as Ray and Eve Walter; a married couple trying to raise their two children and deal with Ray’s M.S.
diagnosis. Ray is a former Major League Baseball player and holds out hope that he can overcome his situation and make a return to his profession even if those around him do not.
A life on the road has caused Ray to miss many events such as the birth of their daughter as well as be distant from their son. A new job at a prestigious school offers Eve a chance to have the needed insurance for Ray and work to do while she completes her degree.
The family opt to purchase a home with a pool versus renting as the ability to finally have some stability and use the pool for therapy is a welcome combination. This is enhanced by the discovery that the pool is
actually filled by a natural water source which Ray believes is healing him and rapidly putting him on the road to recovery.
Things are not as they seem as the pool holds some dark and deadly secrets that go back for decades and the family soon finds themselves dealing
with forces beyond their control as they desperately try to survive.
The film has an interesting premise though at times I did think about various other films and some of the shock moments failed to get me as they did others in the audience but I am not one who startles easily.
The cast was strong but at times I found myself not caring as much for the outcomes of certain characters as I was more concerned with the overall
explanation behind the supernatural elements of the film.
Despite this, it was an enjoyable watch that provided something a bit different than the usual monster or psycho on the loose horror film and Co-Writer/ Director Bryce McGuire has adapted his short film well into a
film which provides just enough of what the core audience wants to make it an effective horror entry.
3 stars out of 5