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Voices (Irish Knights Hockey #1)

Joey Parker

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Charlie I’m tired. My life has been filled with disappointments, sadness, and pain. I’m hated...

Contemporary Dark MM Romance Hurt / Comfort Mental Health Issues

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Straight Outta Compton (2015) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

The moment I heard they were making a film about N.W.A., I knew I had to see it. Like many, I didn’t listen to their music during their height of their popularity. Unlike many, I am willing to admit that. But it doesn’t mean that their music didn’t influence me in significant ways when I was in my teens. So naturally, I was excited about this movie. I only wish it would have lived up to my expectations.

Straight Outta Compton tells the story of N.W.A.’s formation, but it’s more than just that. It tells of the trials and tribulations the members of the group went through to become the icons they were. It tells of both the struggle with their oppressors, as well as each other. We start the film in 1986 with an introduction to the three main guys that everyone knows: Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkings) and Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.). They soon form Ruthless records putting out their first single, which gets the attention of Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti), their future manager. The movie then tells of their rise to stardom, and ultimate falling out, all the way through to the passing of Eazy-E.

Straight Outta Compton sets out to do a lot of things, some of which it doesn’t get exactly right. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is good. It just felt… unnatural at times. The actors themselves did a great job portraying the real-life people they were representing, but I don’t think they had the chemistry as an ensemble. I noticed it really early on in the movie, when Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were at Dre’ aunt’s house. The flow of the conversation just didn’t feel comfortable. It didn’t feel like the natural conversations I had with my friends when I was around the same age, as they were putting clear distance (time) between each of the character’s lines, just so you can make out what they were saying. And Hawkings and Jackson, Jr. just seemed really awkward in delivering their lines to each other. I know that this is needed often in movies, but I have seen similar scenes in other movies where I didn’t have this feeling.

There were also many things that the movie put into your face, but then didn’t really finish telling you what it was about, or make you believe in the connection. For example, the movie starts with Dre having a girl and baby, and you see her for all of 10 seconds, and then you see her a little later when she is leaving him. Dre also has very minimal time with his brother in the beginning of the film, again a short time later they interact for a few moments on screen (over the phone), and then there is supposed to be a moving scene where Dre finds out his brother was killed. I say supposed to be because as with the film where Dre’s girl left him, you are supposed to feel something for the character here, but there wasn’t enough for you to go on. There wasn’t the emotional connection to the relationship between Dre and his girl/brother for you to feel connected to the movie and character. These are just a few examples, another could be a menacing threat to Jerry Heller at his home, but the movie never really wraps back around to it. Most people are supposed to know, or maybe you are supposed to infer from the plotline at the time, but it seemed a little abrupt to me. Now, I hear that the running time of this film, 147 minutes, is actually a far cry from the original 210 minutes. This could explain a lot of where I felt the film just kind of failed at follow through. Hopefully we get to see this on the home release.

Ultimately, this was a great movie. It was amazing to sit in the theater and listen to people sing along with the iconic songs that were released not only from the super group themselves, but even from Eazy-E, Ice Cube and others. Plus, there were many great easter eggs throughout the film, including appearances of the characters Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Warren G, Suge Knight and many others. There was plenty of humor, but still managing to portray the struggle they went through well. One of things I was worried about was O’Shea Jackson, Jr. I originally thought they only cast him as his father because of the looks, but he really did hold his own. I definitely see a future in acting, and possibly in music too, just like his father.

Should you go see it in theaters? If you are a super fan, then definitely. Even if you are not, definitely check it out as it tells a great story about what was considered at one point the most dangerous group in music. This is definitely one that will be added to my collection upon home release, especially if there is an uncut version.

Kudos

Bamba Post Office (Free) - Wrap gifts, write a card and send it to the postman

Education and Games

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

•••Join 2+ million Bamba customers - kids learn through play with Bamba!••• Kids love...

Dating DNA Plus

Dating, Entertainment and Social Networking

1.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

App

Dating DNA is the #1 dating app in the iTunes store with 100% FREE SERVICE. NO Monthly Fees! NO...

Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Pretense in Tabletop Games

Sep 24, 2019

Pretense

2015 | Bluff, Deduction, Party Game, Real-time

7.3

(3 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Have you ever invented something that already exists? I have. I invented the mechanism that is used in fast food joints where you can fill up the cups with just enough ice and pop (yes, it’s POP) per size of cup. So it only fills up enough ice and pop to fill a Small cup, for example. I invented that!! Until I saw that it was in use a year later after not doing anything about it. In any case, Pretense is a game that I should have invented. It’s one of those ideas where you think to yourself, “Well gall-darnit, why didn’t I think of that??”

This is a Button Shy game so you know it will be compact and fit into one of those nylon wallet things. Mine, however, was Kickstarted and came in and still resides in a clear plastic bag. No wallet. Oh well. It’s a small set of cards that you deal out to attendees of your game night when they arrive. Each player then reads their role cards to themselves and the game is on.

A game of Pretense is a meta-game that lasts the entire game night (or longer if you are hard core). When you have your role card you are trying to get someone to satisfy your role’s requirement so that you may catch them, announce your role, and then take their role card to assume their requirements. The “winner” is the person at the end of the game with the most amount of won role cards.

As you can see from the Klutz card above, if someone mentions that you suck at keeping your rolled dice on the table, you can announce that you are the Klutz, take their role card and continue playing as someone else. Well gall-darnit, why didn’t I think of that? It’s genius!

And it IS genius. It is a simple and sleek design that keeps everyone on their toes for the entire evening, trying to catch each other saying or doing something outrageous or quite normal – just to slap it in their faces and flaunt their gaming supremacy.

Components. Again, I have the Kickstarter Button Shy version of Pretense and it’s some cards in a basic clear plastic bag… well, sleeve. The cards are fine quality, and the art on them is quite good. They all have the same portraiture but with different subjects, and a nameplate above the game details. No issues on components or art here.

Pretense is a game that I can pull out with minimal (or no) explanation and have people plotting and sneaking all night long. I believe the boxed AEG version also provides role token (a la Werewolf) so everyone knows which roles are in play, but that’s no fun. It’s catching people when they aren’t thinking about what they’re doing that really makes this one shine. It will never make my Top 100 list, but I will also never let it go. I do love it and it has led to many hilarious accusations and subterfuge, so it will be mine for all time. As this game is difficult to really rate (due to it being more of an activity and not so much a game), I have left off any numeric values. This is a good time and you should defo try it out.