Search

Search only in certain items:

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
2019 | Animation
Visually stunning and exhilarating, great to be back in the world of Berk (0 more)
Kinda not as epic feeling in scope, in comparison to the previous 2 films, something felt missing just a bit. (0 more)
Flying On Fumes: Bittersweet End to Dragons - 7/10
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is the final installment in the trilogy of films based on the books by Cressidia Cowell. It was written and directed by Dean Deblois, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal. With a returning cast starring Jay Burachel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, and Craig Ferguson.


One year after (How To Train Your Dragon 2) Hiccup (Jay Burachel) and friends defended Berk from the threat of Drago Bludvist; the group is still rescuing dragons and relocating them back to their village. Now however the villagers are dealing with a problem of overcrowding and overpopulation of dragons. Hiccup begins the process of finding a new home for everyone to relocate to, the fabled "Hidden World" of the dragons. The conflict of the film enters when the Vikings whose dragons Hiccup has been freeing, seek the help of Grimmel the Grisly (F. Murray Abraham), a dragon hunter responsible for the eradication and near extermination of all Night Furies. And also Toothless being enamoured with the discovery of a female White Fury dragon.


This movie was really good and while watching I had fun seeing the whole group dynamic and how everyone interacted with each other. It felt awesome seeing them again and how they all grew up a little over the last year. When comparing this movie to the others in the series, it felt like it fell short especially for being the last movie in the trilogy. I guess it was hard to surpass how great the last film was. While visually stunning and exhilarating at times it failed to be as great as it could have and felt like something was missing in this conclusion to an epic series. The atmosphere of the movie felt like it never quite matched the tone that they were trying to set with the seriousness of the plot. It's like only the main character felt the weight of the world on his shoulders but it is a kids movie after all. Like I said certainly enjoyable, I give it a 7/10.
  
Talented (Talented Saga, #1)
Talented (Talented Saga, #1)
Sophie Davis | 2012 | Dystopia, Young Adult (YA)
8
9.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
3.5 stars.

*I received this copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
 
Yet again I was drawn to the cover. Then I checked out the synopsis and I thought, “This should be good!” So I requested to read it and got the go ahead several days ago.
 
I’ll admit it took me a good 20%-25% to really get into it, mainly because of all the description and back story that was thrown in, but once that was out of the way I got quite into it.
 
Character wise, I have to admit that for the first 40% or so that Talia annoyed me. She seemed rather whiney and didn’t like it when Donovan or others didn’t go along with what she wanted to happen. At the same time Donovan seemed off, himself, though the reason behind that soon came to light. One person I did like was Erik, one third of Talia’s Hunter team. I liked him from the start but there was one scene; one lovely scene involving him and Talia after a mission that made me almost fall for him. It was so sweet. Then there’s Henri, the last member, and leader of their team. He seemed like a pretty great guy, taking care of them on missions and making sure they were up to scratch with their mental and physical abilities.
 
The world building was pretty good, with lots of detail to help you picture it in your head.
I was waiting for Natalia’s showdown with Ian Crane for most of the book, since that was what the synopsis mentioned, and it was mentioned in the last 30%, though the mission itself actually started with about 15% of the book to go.
 
As usual, I choose books for the romance aspect and I wasn’t disappointed. The thing between Talia and Erik was really good when it got going.
 
Overall, I liked this but the information overload at the beginning and the annoying character traits knocked it down half a star for me. A good first book into the series, though. I’m not in any hurry to continue the series but I may read the second book at some point.
  
Mongolian Death Worm (2010)
Mongolian Death Worm (2010)
2010 |
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Daniel is a treasure hunter searching for the burial grounds of Genghis Khan but has made his own enemies in the land but also knows how to handle himself, he isn’t the kindest of people always doing things for money over the right reasons, Alicia is a doctor that has been helping the locals of Mongolia with a virus outbreak and she is willing to die to save these people. Timur is the sheriff that is one of the few people that enjoys the company of Daniel and understands that he is harmless at heart.

Performance – Sean Patrick Flanery does seem to have fallen from the graces where he was about to make it to the big time but he is the star of this show. Victoria Pratt is fine in the supporting role with the brains and beauty needed for the film and George Cheung gives us the laughs when needed.

Story – The story does mix myth with legend when it comes to dealing with new inhabitants to a land that must face the idea that a myth isn’t just a myth and must work together to defeat a creature in this case a Mongolian Death Worm. This is an easy to watch story as it is mostly a group of people needing to battle an unknown enemy before they take over the local area.

Action/Horror – The action is mostly chases through the film which works when it comes to the enemies the people are facing with the horror side of the movie all coming from the creature feature idea which is always a lot of fun to watch.

Settings – The film is set in Mongolia but this looks like it could be anywhere in the USA or anywhere that has dirt roads.

Special Effects – The effects are better than I was expecting but still within the budget of a TV movie.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The film could have been filmed in any location it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Final Thoughts – This is a simple creature feature that is a lot better than what I was expecting without being one of the best creature features you will see, I do think the fact it isn’t laughably bad does hinder it though.

 

Overall: Solid creature feature.
  
The Current Between Us (Layne Family Duet #1)
The Current Between Us (Layne Family Duet #1)
Kindle Alexander | 2016 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
OMG!! I simply adore Kindle Alexander's work so please excuse me if you think I'm fangirling... because I will be! There are many reasons that I love her work but the main reason is her work is CLEAN. By clean, I mean that there are very few, if any, grammatical or spelling errors. The plot line is well thought out and presented. The characters are all believable, well rounded and grow with the story. So for those reasons alone, I look forward to reading a Kindle Alexander book every. single. time!

The Current Between Us however, simply overloaded my circuits! (See what I did there? Yeah, not funny, I apologise.) This is pure and simply a love story but with pizzazz! The connection between the two is instantaneous and HOT! I loved how Gage actually changed his ways for no other reason than he couldn't see the reason for keeping them now that he had met the love of his life. I loved how Trent was cautious and almost suspicious of the good thing that came into his life and I could totally see and understand his reaction regarding the differences between himself and Gage.

The supporting characters in this are also superb, Auntie Crazy (love that), Rhonny, Hunter (love him) and Emalynn - how can you not fall in love with each and every character in this book?

This story pulls you in, gets you thinking one way and then suckers you, right in the stomach. The world literally dropped out from beneath me when I read this part and saw the cracks forming. It was heartbreaking. I love that a book can get to me this way.

I'm not going to say anything else about the plot as I don't want to give away any spoilers and trust me when I say that you really should read this for yourself because it is cracking.

So, in summary, if you want a smokin' hot, romantic, gorgeous book that is also incredibly good value for money, then I can highly recommend any of Kindle Alexander's works!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
 
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jun 04, 2015