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    Domino for iPhone

    Domino for iPhone

    Games and Entertainment

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    App

    Play the Latin American version of the classic game of Dominoes against virtual players or real...

    Daddy Yankee

    Daddy Yankee

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    YouTube Channel

    Icono y rey urbano, este es el canal oficial de música de Daddy Yankee en YouTube. Daddy Yankee es...

Dogs Don't Wear Pants (2019)
Dogs Don't Wear Pants (2019)
2019 | Drama, International, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The film reminded me a lot of the Mexican Leap Year, despite being a more pop version, as its Latin counterpart is rawer, denser and sadder. It doesn't mean that this film doesn't have its moments of rawness, density and sadness, but it is aesthetically more beautiful, it has a certain American film standard. The scenes of Juha trying to hold on to his wife's memories are very sad. The actors make the movie work, the duo, as strange as it may seem, managed to forge a nice chemistry. There is a lot that was left open and that could be better worked on in countless points, Juha's relationship with her daughter is just one of them. The ending left me with mixed feelings, but I got into the mood. The film only gets lost when it tries to emulate some points of Hollywood cinema, otherwise it made a good film. Krista Kosonen steals the scenes in which she appears, an actress who deserves much more than being an extra in Blade Runner.
  
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David McK (3425 KP) rated John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) in Movies

Sep 5, 2019 (Updated Mar 27, 2023)  
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
2019 | Action, Crime, Thriller
I'm going to start by saying that I originally wondered why this film was subtitled Parabellum, until a character in the film quotes the famous line: 'if you desire peace, prepare for war' in its original Latin (with English subtitles).

And that is pretty much what this film is about, picking up almost directly after Chapter 2 and with Keanu's super assassin John Wick now with a 14 million USD price on his head after killing a man on company (sacred) ground - i.e. The Continental Hotel - in the previous instalment.

I'm still a little hazy on the society itself - just how much are those hitman tokens worth? They constantly seem to change value! - and on why the world and its neighbour seems to be some sort of assassin, leading me almost to wonder are we in some sort of Matrix reality (not helped by Keanu even saying he needs 'Guns. Lots of guns'), but - putting that aside - this is still quite an enjoyable, albeit very violent, action movie.
  
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Season of Storms in Books

Apr 23, 2018 (Updated Apr 25, 2018)  
Season of Storms
Season of Storms
Andrzej Sapkowski | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Some good short stories contained within (0 more)
2-d characters (2 more)
fantasy-by-numbers
Frequent incongruent Latin/French phrases
More a set of short stories than a novel in its own right
* I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. Formatting issues (many) have not been factored into the review *


To my knowledge, the books of The Witcher are split into the short story collection prequels (one of which I have read) and the full books (which I have not read). This book is somewhere in between being neither strictly a collection of short stories nor a focussed standalone novel in its own right. Chronologically, this book falls in between the stories contained in The Last Wish) though it is impossible to say quite where it falls (as mention of the stryga is made near the end, which begins the Last Wish I have to assume it comes after the flashback stories from that tome but before the overarching story linking them all).
It may be because I haven't read the full novels, but I find the Witcher to be a thoroughly bland and unexciting character and I have no connection with him. He has next to no personality and contributes nothing to the dialogue of the book. Similarly, all other characters are very disposable - they are either supposedly strong-willed sorceresses (who smell of flowers and throw themselves at the Witcher and are bedded instantly) or they are otherwise instantly forgettable.
I think Sapkwoski was trying to give the sorcerers a sense of academic snobbery but they frequently use Latin phrases, which just gets irritating very quickly. Similarly French words and phrases are thrown in willy-nilly without translation which gets annoying as well. This seems even more unusual when you realise the story was written in Polish and translated into English, with some parts kept in French or Latin. And then further when it is meant to be in a different world where French wouldn't be a thing.
The story essentially follows Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) who loses his swords and goes on a quest to get them back, and just happens along the way to meet people who need his skills (like on Neighbours where one character leaves and another comes in through the door at exactly the same moment). This aspect makes me think this was meant to be a series of short stories stitched together. But unfortunately here those short stories are not finished up within themselves and you have a number of unsatisfying loose ends in the back of your head throughout.
As with The Last Wish, I found the ending very confusing and had no idea what had happened. It may be that other works fill in the gap and I will have that filled in time, but if so that makes this not a satisfying read in its own right.
Overall, I don't mind Sapkowski's writing in general, other than a few irritating bad habits and I like the overriding idea of the stories but find the execution, character development and overall world-building somewhat clumsy and throw-away. But as I say, this may be because (I think) I have read these in chronological order, rather than published order. I will fill in the gaps and work out if that is the case.