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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Priest (2011) in Movies
Oct 8, 2018
Stylish but badly executed
This film was such a disappointment. On paper the premise of priests versus vampires sounds like it could be fairly promising, but sadly in reality they just don’t manage to pull it off. Some of the set and costume design is quite good and the cgi is a lot better than I ever would’ve thought on something like this. However the plot is horrendous. It doesn’t make a massive amount of sense and has a very short run time to fit in any explanation. The ending too is also over far too quickly. It touches on how a alternate dystopian future would look if governed by the Church, and this for me was the most interesting part of this entire film. The problem is that they barely touch on this side which is such a shame.
The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) rated Snowpiercer (2013) in Movies
Oct 30, 2018
So I watched this movie based on the positive reviews....
I get the basic premise.... humanity is down to one single running train, and on that train there is a caste system, the poor ride in the back in poverty and the rich ride in front, living it up. Chris Evans must fight his way to the front in a bloody revolt. But I mean this is the very last of humanity, and yet still people are not valued.... I also get that the train is only so big, and must be kept at a perpetually maintained eco-system that is balanced. But yet, how it ended, was so abrupt and painful. They elude to the future, but really seems wasteful on so many levels.
Cumberland (1142 KP) rated Perfectly Normal in Books
Nov 30, 2018
Loved it
* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*
This was a great YA read, however I did have a couple of things I didn't like about it. It started off slow, and the teens were a little unrealistic at times.
Other than that the book was great. Things quickly took an unexpected turn making it impossible to put the book down. I also really liked that this book didn't focus on romance. The YA genre usually throws unnecessary teen romance around everywhere, so it was nice to read a book where the characters had other things going on.
I will warn future readers that this book does end in a cliff. I was still satisfied with the ending, but I'm definitely going to pick up the next book as soon as possible.
This was a great YA read, however I did have a couple of things I didn't like about it. It started off slow, and the teens were a little unrealistic at times.
Other than that the book was great. Things quickly took an unexpected turn making it impossible to put the book down. I also really liked that this book didn't focus on romance. The YA genre usually throws unnecessary teen romance around everywhere, so it was nice to read a book where the characters had other things going on.
I will warn future readers that this book does end in a cliff. I was still satisfied with the ending, but I'm definitely going to pick up the next book as soon as possible.
Carma (21 KP) rated The Way You Look Tonight (Seattle Sullivans, #2; The Sullivans, #10) in Books
Jun 17, 2019
Rafe is a private investigator that is quickly burning out. He decides to head out of town and thinks back to his summers at the lake growing up. Arriving at the cabin he sees that time hasn't been kind to the little house but what he sees next door sets his pulse racing.
Brooke can't believe it when she sees Rafe pull up next door after all these years. Growing up, her summers were always spent with the Sullivan family in one way or another. She may have had a little crush on Rafe, ok a big crush but never thought he paid much attention to her in that way.
Rafe and Brooke reminisce about the past while working on their future. Another wonderful Sullivan story for the permanent shelf. I absolutely wish I could someone join this glorious family.
Brooke can't believe it when she sees Rafe pull up next door after all these years. Growing up, her summers were always spent with the Sullivan family in one way or another. She may have had a little crush on Rafe, ok a big crush but never thought he paid much attention to her in that way.
Rafe and Brooke reminisce about the past while working on their future. Another wonderful Sullivan story for the permanent shelf. I absolutely wish I could someone join this glorious family.
"Dear Katniss Everdeen,
I desperately want to be like you ..."
So might read the opening words of my (imaginary) letter written by the protaganist of this series to the protaganist of the (more famous) Hunger Games series, as there are (more than) a few similarities in common: both novels are set in a dystopian future, both feature a female protaganist, both have some PG-rated romance thrown in, and both deal with themes of family.
Actually, on second thoughts: maybe I'm being a bit unfair on Tris Prior - if this novel had come along first (instead of [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775]), my imaginary letter may well have started with:
"Dear Tris Prior
I desperately want to be like you ..."
;-)
I desperately want to be like you ..."
So might read the opening words of my (imaginary) letter written by the protaganist of this series to the protaganist of the (more famous) Hunger Games series, as there are (more than) a few similarities in common: both novels are set in a dystopian future, both feature a female protaganist, both have some PG-rated romance thrown in, and both deal with themes of family.
Actually, on second thoughts: maybe I'm being a bit unfair on Tris Prior - if this novel had come along first (instead of [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775]), my imaginary letter may well have started with:
"Dear Tris Prior
I desperately want to be like you ..."
;-)
David McK (3562 KP) rated Sword of the Archon (Shader, #1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
The first in D.P. Prior's 'Shader' series, this is a self-published fantasy that is set upon a future Earth following a post-apocalyptic event in which magic has returned.
While I'm not usually averse to a bit of fantasy every now and then, I have to say: I found this one to be hard going. Despite a promising start, I found it to become somewhat overblown and drawn out and just not that engaging: I never really connected with any of the characters or the situations they faced.
There were times, even, when I was tempted to abandon it altogether / skip chapters, but stuck at it out of sheer bloody-mindedness rather than due to any interest in the story
I'm sorry to say so, but I doubt I'll pick up the second in the series. :(
While I'm not usually averse to a bit of fantasy every now and then, I have to say: I found this one to be hard going. Despite a promising start, I found it to become somewhat overblown and drawn out and just not that engaging: I never really connected with any of the characters or the situations they faced.
There were times, even, when I was tempted to abandon it altogether / skip chapters, but stuck at it out of sheer bloody-mindedness rather than due to any interest in the story
I'm sorry to say so, but I doubt I'll pick up the second in the series. :(
David McK (3562 KP) rated Terminator Omnibus Volume 1 in Books
Jan 30, 2019
I was going to start this by typing out the heavy-bass Terminator intro music, then realised I couldn't quite get it to sound right!
This is a collection of stories released early 90's, after Terminator 2 but before any of the newer entries in the franchise (T3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator: Salvation or Terminator: Genisys), so do show their age a bit.
They all also pretty much follow the same template - a group from the future sent back in time, with Terminator's following or already having been sent back, and then a protracted chase followed by a shoot-out - with the artwork varying between the differing authors/artists.
As a compilation, some of the stories are better than others: my pick for the best, probably, would be the story entitled 'One Shot', which seems to mirror the first film.
This is a collection of stories released early 90's, after Terminator 2 but before any of the newer entries in the franchise (T3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator: Salvation or Terminator: Genisys), so do show their age a bit.
They all also pretty much follow the same template - a group from the future sent back in time, with Terminator's following or already having been sent back, and then a protracted chase followed by a shoot-out - with the artwork varying between the differing authors/artists.
As a compilation, some of the stories are better than others: my pick for the best, probably, would be the story entitled 'One Shot', which seems to mirror the first film.
The Bandersnatch (199 KP) rated The Novice (Black Magician Trilogy, #2) in Books
Nov 7, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
The second Book in the Trilogy The Novice was published in 2002 and is followed by The Black Magician (2003). the continuing story follows Sonea through entering the guild and after experiencing abuse from her fellow students and having her guardianship changed from Rothen to the High Lord Akkarin. After beating a bully in a duel, Sonea is faced with an unknowing future under her serious and strange guardian.
I loved the second book especially How Sonea dealt with the class abuse form the other students and the threat of the high lord Akkarin after he finds out she knows his dirty little secret. And I especially loved Sonea defeating her bully in a duel showing both the bully and the guild she wasn't to be messed with especially since she took a lot of hell from most if not all of them.
I loved the second book especially How Sonea dealt with the class abuse form the other students and the threat of the high lord Akkarin after he finds out she knows his dirty little secret. And I especially loved Sonea defeating her bully in a duel showing both the bully and the guild she wasn't to be messed with especially since she took a lot of hell from most if not all of them.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Powersat (The Grand Tour #1) in Books
Nov 25, 2019
Dan Randolph has a dream - cheap power for all delivered via a series of orbital sun-powered 'Powersats' that will beam their energy down to Earth. However this is a huge project and there are any number of things that can go wrong. Dan will need to summon all his resources as a businessman and format astronaut to ensure his brainchild has a future.
This is a pretty solid start to the Grand Tour series of books, which seek to show the reader every corner of the solar system together with a gripping story. The science is accurate and plot is certainly gripping.
However this is a fairly workmanlike book, feeling a lot like Bova was writing with gritted teeth to actually get it finished. As a result it is a good but not great work of fiction.
This is a pretty solid start to the Grand Tour series of books, which seek to show the reader every corner of the solar system together with a gripping story. The science is accurate and plot is certainly gripping.
However this is a fairly workmanlike book, feeling a lot like Bova was writing with gritted teeth to actually get it finished. As a result it is a good but not great work of fiction.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies
Feb 1, 2020
A relatively simple tale of a recently turned vampire and his initiation into a sadistic group of other vampires (we assume that’s what they are as the V word isn’t said once in the film) is an atmospheric and compelling watch that stylistically is more like a western than anything else. Kathryn Bigelow’s use of a fair chunk of future husband James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ cast is largely successful (apart from some quite hammy overacting from Bill Paxton) and they make for thoroughly nasty adversaries (that bar scene being particularly brutal). I also liked the haunting Tangerine Dream score which adds nicely to the atmosphere but didn’t really buy the fact that vampirism could seemingly be so easily cured by a simple blood transfusion. That was a minor quibble though and overall I thought the film worked well.