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Dr. Panda Home

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Wake up and get ready! There are lots of things to do in Dr. Panda Home!! With over 20 different...

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Beauty and the Beast (2017) in Movies

Jul 27, 2017

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

2017 | Fantasy, Musical, Romance

7.9

(405 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Gaston & Le Fou (0 more)

Emma Watson (2 more)

The Beast

CGI

Just watch the original animated version instead

The original animated version is one of my all time favourite films from when I was a kid, so this was always going to be a hard sell.

Sadly it lived up to my very low expectations, they've really messed this up. One major problem is the casting. Emma Watson is just not right for Belle, I've said this from the second she was cast & I'm afraid she hasn't proven me wrong. Even some of the other fantastic actors like Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson seem strangely out of place as the voices. The second major issue is the CGI. The beast looks ridiculous (and what's with his voice?!) and the household appliances just don't translate over well into CGI. The only saving graces for this film were the fact that it gave you a sense of nostalgia for the original (something it seemed to rely on) and the only decent casting was Luke Evans and Josh Gad as Gaston and Le Fou. They're the only ones that seemed to be having fun and are the only thing I enjoyed, and it's them alone that deserve the very few stars I've given this.

Kudos

Lee (2222 KP) Jul 27, 2017

Another one I totally agree with you on! I was beginning to think I was the only one that hated this! I didn't mind the beast, until he started trying to be friendly - I nearly burst out laughing when he 'smiled', it just looked so ridiculous. My 11 year old daughter enjoyed it, so I put it all down to me just being a middle aged grump, but this is definitely not as good as the animated version.

Kudos

Sam (74 KP) rated Echo Boy in Books

Mar 27, 2019

I think I’m starting to become a fan of dystopia thanks to Matt Haig. Echo Boy was an exciting read and full of surprises.

Set in 2115, Echos are a normal household item. They look like humans, act like humans, but are robots created to help with human tasks. Audrey’s father hates new technology, despite his own brother, Alex, owning Castle Industries – one of the largest technology companies.

Echos are definitely not all they seem though, especially when Alissa, the Echo who teaches Audrey at home, kills both of her parents.

Echo Boy isn’t like anything I’ve read before. It’s young adult dystopia (which I usually avoid) but it’s actually quite adult in the ways it deals with grief and uncovering the truth. It was exactly what I expected from Matt Haig though because even though it’s a dystopia it still takes a serious view on the issues of the real world.

It also focuses a lot on the problems in being part of a generation who are obsessed with technology, such as the over-reliance on it and the susceptibility of it going wrong.

I absolutely loved Echo Boy. It brought me back to YA and is another brilliant novel by Matt Haig.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2579 KP) rated The Ghost of Christmas Past (Molly Murphy #17) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

December of 1906 finds Molly Murphy Sullivan hoping that the new year will bring some changes and good news. When she, her husband Daniel, and their son Liam get invited to a house party for Christmas on the Hudson, Molly thinks this might help take her mind off everything going on in her life. However, she finds the household has a weird tension to it, with relationships she can’t quite read. Then she learns that a child disappeared from this house 10 years before right before Christmas. Molly is determined to figure out what happened, but has it been too long?

As is often the case, we start out with some updates on the series regulars before Molly fully plunges into the mystery, but once she does, I was hooked. In fact, as soon as I got off work, I sat down to finish. While I don’t feel like Daniel has grown, I love the rest of the cast, and the new characters are very strong. There is a more serious tone than you might expect from a Christmas mystery, but the contrast works well in this case.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-ghost-of-christmas-past-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.