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Open Water (2003)
Open Water (2003)
2003 | Horror
Admirable for what it had to work with, and I guess it gets points for being one of the most realistic shark movies out there - but why the hell did this terrify everyone back in the day lmfao. It amounts to a somehow pointedly slow 81 minutes (less after credits) of a couple bickering at sea while... like, occasionally seeing a jellyfish or maybe half a second of a shark from far away. This actually works better as an (intentional) comedy than a horror film, and the beginning of this feels like a weird ass porno, too - complete with millimeters away from couples full-frontal nudity in a dingy hotel room. The one thing this has going for it is that they're in *real* ocean water with *real* sharks, and on that front there are some real motherfucker shots in this that made me jump just on principle. There's also just some really terrific footage of various sea + land creatures in this that help add to the realism. When all is said and done I have to give props to that brutally hopeless coda though, Jesus Christ - made my skin crawl and actually made this whole product grow on me a lot more than my initial measure. But it fucks around too much and even though it does what it can decently well, it isn't enough. While I still think it's too unfair of a reaction, I can clearly see why everyone hates this now.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) in Movies

Apr 23, 2019 (Updated Apr 23, 2019)  
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
2015 | Action, Sci-Fi
Marvel #11 admirably resists the temptation to simply provide more of the same crash-bang-wallop and has a go at a story with more of a focus on character and ideas (it still includes a lot of very familiar crash-bang-wallop, naturally). This being a Marvel Comics story, two of the world's most brilliant minds decide it is a very good idea to use an alien weapon of unknown provenance to create an immensely powerful global defence system; everyone is still highly surprised when this goes wrong and spawns genocidal robot Ultron. Just another day at the office if you're in the Avengers, I suppose.

The usual supremely accomplished blend of lavish set-pieces, character bits and jokes; with nine Avengers on the roster for the climax of the story, plus various supporting turns, you can almost feel Joss Whedon's script and direction buckling under the pressure of fitting everything in, to say nothing of the various bits of meta-plot carpentry required to set up the next batch of films. Nevertheless, a film which meets all reasonable expectations - even if it isn't one of Marvel's absolute first rank, it's still within touching distance.
  
Salt & Blood (Darker Desires #2)
Salt & Blood (Darker Desires #2)
Tesla Storm | 2022 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!


Vivianna Sky and Adrian Graves have got a lot of demons to work through with themselves and others. When there is an unexplained phenomenon feeding off the life force of unborn children and expectant mothers, causing their lives and families to fall apart they must do everything they can to stop any more tragedies from happening.


This is book number 2 of the darker desires series, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far and I'm hoping that there is more to come from V and Adrian's story (please Tesla?)


The writing is so smooth it just flows and if I didn't have responsibilities I would of quite happily read this in a day I just wish I could have l the stories at once to read straight after one another.


The battle scenes are extremely well described and graphic and there are some sexual scenes but they are tastefully written and didn't make me feel uncomfortable at any point reading them


Another brilliant novel from Tesla Storm


A recommended read from me


** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
  
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Dana (24 KP) rated Extraordinary Means in Books

Mar 23, 2018  
EM
Extraordinary Means
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
To be completely honest, I didn't know how I would feel about this book. I am not normally into the contemporary type novels, but hold crap, this one was extraordinary. (See what I did there?)

I was lucky enough to get to meet the author at Yall West this year in Santa Monica. She is very nice and was kind enough to sign my book!! Yay!!!

Not only were the characters well drawn out, they felt very real in the way Robyn wrote them. They were the outcasts who didn't care about being different. They just were who they were and didn't let others control what they thought about themselves.

People will probably compare this to The Fault in Our Stars because both are about sick kids dealing with their disease, but in a way, I liked this book better. It felt more real and honest. I am not saying that I didn't like TFIOS, because I very much enjoyed it. But there is just something about the way this was written made me feel more of a connection to it.

For me, the language of the story felt very organic as well. There weren't too many instances where it felt forced or like it was trying too hard to be more mature than it needed to be. It had a perfect balance for the kind of messages the story was trying to show the audience.

This story talked a lot about the fragility of life and how people shouldn't waste it. No matter what stage you are in at any point in your life, whether it be in high school studying to perfect your SAT scores or sitting in a forest contemplating life and existence, people shouldn't take what they have for granted. I think this was one of the most important messages in this story. To not waste your life studying, but to actually try to live it.

The story went by very quickly, but it was a good kind of quickly. It didn't drag on for too long, but it also didn't rush past important parts of the story. It had very good pacing to it.

I would recommend this to anyone. It doesn't matter if you absolutely love contemporary teen fiction or not, this is just an amazing novel that everyone should read.

I am going to put on one of my favorite quotations from the book now, so if you don't want to read it, stop reading this review now:

"There's a difference between being dead and dying. We're all dying. Some of us die for ninety years, and some of us die for nineteen. But each morning everyone on this planet wakes up one day closer to their death. Everyone. So living and dying are actually different words for the same thing, if you think about it."