Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (2853)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated An Eternal Lei in Books

Mar 28, 2022 (Updated Mar 28, 2022)  
An Eternal Lei
An Eternal Lei
Naomi Hirahara | 2022 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Woman in the Surf
It’s October 2020, and like most of the island of Kaua’i, Leilani Santiago has been forced to close down her family’s shave ice business. When she and her sisters save a woman from drowning one afternoon, Leilani is very curious since this woman is a stranger. Why was she on the island? With nothing else to do, Leilani starts to investigate. As she does, she begins to wonder if the woman was almost killed or just had an accident. What will she uncover?

I wasn’t sure I was ready to pick up a book set during the pandemic we’ve been dealing with the last couple of years, but I found I enjoyed this one. The pandemic is part of the backdrop, and it avoids many of the controversies we’ve had to deal with. We get several sub-plots, but I found they kept me engaged and didn’t distract from the main mystery. I was engrossed the entire time and couldn’t wait to see how everything was going to be resolved. The characters are strong, and seeing them react to the pandemic as well as the mystery really helped develop them. The characters speak in a form of Pidgin, but after the first few pages, I was used to it, and I had no trouble reading the story. This was a good virtual visit to Hawai’i.
  
40x40

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Reckoning in Video Games

Jun 19, 2019  
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Reckoning
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Reckoning
Shooter
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Video Game Rating
It is hard to believe that it is already time for the fourth and final DLC pack for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare but the Reckoning DLC is here and completes Advanced Warfare in a big way.

The collection consists of four maps and the great finale of the Exo-Zombies series and is a very diverse and satisfying collection which can be purchased by itself or as part of a Season Pass.

The four maps are as follows…

 

Overwatch

Set in a luxury hotel, this map has plenty of courtyard battles and intense opulence to house your action. The highlight for me is seeing the Plasma Fountains ignite and using them to torch enemies that get in the kill zone.

The map has an emphasis on medium and long ranged combat so be prepared for plenty of sniping and camping when you enter the fray.

Quarantine

This was a really creative and fun map that was set in a Bio Lab where players have to battle amongst the labs and parking lots all the while avoiding an incinerator that comes on line during prolonged battles.

The close quarters really is great for Run and Gun players who want to reach the score streak and unleash and assault of ship-fired rounds on their enemies.

Fracture

Battling on an ice flow complete with drilling rigs and tubing Is a logistical challenge in and of itself. Now add in cracking ice, plenty of areas for enemies to hide and strike from and you will see why this is a real action-packed zone.

This was the first map that I played in the collection and I can say it is always one of my favorites when its turn in the rotation arises.

Swarm

This map is a real challenge as it has very close-set buildings and areas for enemies to hide and strike from. The long streets and numerous windows and ledges make this a place where ranged shooters, snipers, campers, and more thrive. It can be frustrating but getting the drop on a row of shooters who are waiting for the next person on the street below to come into range is highly satisfying.

Of course the maps are not the only thing this collection offers as the star-studded Exo-Zombies campaign comes to a conclusion as you battle deep in the heart of an underwater city against an unending legion of Undead.

I got right up to the end my second time playing it before our team was taken out but it was a very enjoyable and intense experience.

The Reckoning does not try to reinvent the wheel but instead focuses on giving core fans of the series more of what they love, intense action and new and creative ways to take down other players in detailed maps with plenty of challenge.

While it will not convert you if you were not a fan of Advanced Warfare, it will be a satisfying chapter for those who are fans.

http://sknr.net/2015/09/18/call-of-duty-advanced-warfare-reckoning/
  
40x40

Darren (1599 KP) rated The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) in Movies

Oct 2, 2019  
The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
2018 | Crime, Drama, Thriller
4
6.2 (27 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Characters – Lisbeth Salander is the famous hacker that will stand up against any man that is causing a woman abuse, she will leave her brand on them. She is called for difficult hacking jobs, which sees her take something from the Americans, this makes her a wanted suspect in Sweden and her on the run looking for answers to clear her name. Mikael Blomkvist is still the only person that Lisbeth will trust, he tries to operate from a distant and investigates the trust behind what is happening. Ed Needham is the American that has his system hacked, a government man, he heads to Sweden to get it back and finds nothing but barriers from the Swedish government. Camilla Salander is the long lost sister of Lisbeth, she thought to be dead, but now she is involved in a criminal gang known as The Spiders, targeting Lisbeth for what she wants.

Performances – Claire Foy does feel mis-cast in this role, she doesn’t seem to have a tough enough look to make this character effect as the two previous stars. Sverrir Gudnason had large shoes to fill and he doesn’t do a strong enough job in the Mikael role, while Sylvia Hoeks does what she can with her role without being anything overly special, while LaKeith Stanfield doesn’t seem to feel like the character he is meant to be playing.

Story – The story here is the fourth story in the Dragon Tattoo world, the second in English and is the first not written by the original author. We follow Lisbeth who once again finds herself needing to take on secret organisation that what something that could put the world in danger and this time it becomes more personal, with her sister being the enemy. This story does feel like it has borrowed from many other films and while it still puts Lisbeth is an anti-hero role, we only seem to find ourselves in one direction where Lisbeth is always one step ahead of everything happening, despite the fact we get to see just how twisted the Spiders are, it paints one image of them only to leave us facing a different softer enemy.

Action/Crime – The action was pretty much all given away in the trailer, we have the motorbike chase across the ice, the car chases and shoot outs, each feels very similar and doesn’t have the suspense required in a thriller.

Settings – The film does try to bring everything back to Lisbeth’s backstory with the settings showing the off the grid life she current lives compared to the one she could have lived, the snowy roads add a little to the chases, but not that much overall.


Scene of the Movie – Ice lake escape.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Spider’s not hinting at wanting to do to what they did to the guy without a nose, to the new Lisbeth group.

Final Thoughts – This does feel like a cash grab on a franchise that has never taken off on the American side of things, we get everything scaled back leaving us feeling disappointed by the end of the film.

Overall: No thrills to be seen here.
  
    Algodoo

    Algodoo

    Entertainment and Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Become an inventor with Algodoo - Start designing and testing your ideas in seconds. Algodoo is...