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Cassie Osbourne (6 KP) rated Alice (The Chronicles of Alice #1) in Books
Nov 9, 2018
'Alice' is a dark and twisted reimagining of Lewis Carrol's classic children's story 'Alice in Wonderland' in which Alice (after escaping from the asylum she has been imprisoned in for ten years) has to navigate to Old City with her friend Hatch to slay the Jabberwock. Now, I am a lover of all things dark and creepy in a book, and I have to say that Christina Henry's retelling did not disappoint! The tie-ins and references to the original story were very, very clever and I'm sure that I could have spotted more if I had read or been a fan of the classic.
The main protagonists, Alice and Hatcher, are so well developed (and I'm sure will only get more so in the sequel). Both have compelling backstories and challenges to overcome as the story unfolds and the information is leaked in small, tiny fragments as their memories resurface. I also really enjoyed the comments in italics which were not explicitly attributed to Alice's thoughts as it made her madness (whether real or perceived) to be even more present as part of her character. If you love a good villain as I do then, boy, is this book for you! Sinister antagonists and 'bosses' lurk around every corner to delight and terrify you. I have to say that Cheshire and the Catapiller were my favourite characters - I just loved how smug and manipulative they were. However, I do have to mention that after all the build-up that Henry gives the Walrus and the Rabbit, when we meet them it is, very sadly, a bit of an anti-climax and the Jabberwock (who was supposed to be the Big Bad in the novel), it seemed was defeated too quickly and simplistically. I didn't especially buy it and would have liked a full chapter of it as I thought that the Jabberwock was excellent when we did meet him, so I just wanted a bit more time between him and Alice.
The atmosphere and overall writing-style in the book were both strong. As mentioned previously, everything was dark and strange (and strangeness is something that you would expect in a retelling of 'Alice in Wonderland'). I think the chapters in the Butterfly were well described and felt very real. Those chapters and the chapters in Cheshire's office were my favourites.
Regarding enjoyment and intrigue, there's nothing much to add apart from how much I utterly loved it and was gripped by the adventures. Every single chapter ended with a very Dicken's style cliffhanger, making the book almost impossible to put down and break away from the world that Henry creates. I finished it in pretty much one day, only stopping two chapters before the end because it was 1 am, and I had to be awake for work at 7 am so needed to get some sleep. Every chapter left me with the same thought - "f*** me, this book is good", and that is not a feeling that I've had while reading a book for a very, very long time. For all the lovers of dark tales out there, this is the book for you.
Characters: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 10/10
Logic: 7/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
The main protagonists, Alice and Hatcher, are so well developed (and I'm sure will only get more so in the sequel). Both have compelling backstories and challenges to overcome as the story unfolds and the information is leaked in small, tiny fragments as their memories resurface. I also really enjoyed the comments in italics which were not explicitly attributed to Alice's thoughts as it made her madness (whether real or perceived) to be even more present as part of her character. If you love a good villain as I do then, boy, is this book for you! Sinister antagonists and 'bosses' lurk around every corner to delight and terrify you. I have to say that Cheshire and the Catapiller were my favourite characters - I just loved how smug and manipulative they were. However, I do have to mention that after all the build-up that Henry gives the Walrus and the Rabbit, when we meet them it is, very sadly, a bit of an anti-climax and the Jabberwock (who was supposed to be the Big Bad in the novel), it seemed was defeated too quickly and simplistically. I didn't especially buy it and would have liked a full chapter of it as I thought that the Jabberwock was excellent when we did meet him, so I just wanted a bit more time between him and Alice.
The atmosphere and overall writing-style in the book were both strong. As mentioned previously, everything was dark and strange (and strangeness is something that you would expect in a retelling of 'Alice in Wonderland'). I think the chapters in the Butterfly were well described and felt very real. Those chapters and the chapters in Cheshire's office were my favourites.
Regarding enjoyment and intrigue, there's nothing much to add apart from how much I utterly loved it and was gripped by the adventures. Every single chapter ended with a very Dicken's style cliffhanger, making the book almost impossible to put down and break away from the world that Henry creates. I finished it in pretty much one day, only stopping two chapters before the end because it was 1 am, and I had to be awake for work at 7 am so needed to get some sleep. Every chapter left me with the same thought - "f*** me, this book is good", and that is not a feeling that I've had while reading a book for a very, very long time. For all the lovers of dark tales out there, this is the book for you.
Characters: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 10/10
Logic: 7/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated The Predator (2018) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Writer/Director Shane Black returns to the Predator franchise and looks to jumpstart the franchise in “The Predator”. Black played Hawkins in the classic original film and has since gone on to find success on the other side of the camera with hits like “Iron Man 3”, “The Nice Guys” and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”. Black has also written many genre action films so his take on the iconic Predator has been eagerly awaited by fans who are eager to see the series get back on track.
The film centers on a crashed Predator ship which is witnessed by an American Sniper on assignment named “McKenna” (Boyd Holbrook). While able to recover artifacts from the crashed ships escape pod, McKenna also sees his team brutally taken out by the pilot and soon finds himself targeted by a secret organization due to his knowledge of the otherworldly guest.
At the same time, a Biologist named Casey (Olivia Munn), is brought to a secret locale where she gets an up close encounter with the ship’s pilot in captivity and learns that a government organization has been tracking the visitors and that their visits have increased in recent years.
At the same time McKenna is ushered off to a bus full of unhinged soldiers who are to be locked away due to their numerous issues. Unbeknownst to his superiors; McKenna has mailed the recovered technology to his son who thanks to being on the Autism Spectrum, is able to figure out aspects of the tech which he believes to be a game.
This all leads to a series of brutal encounters as an enhanced Predator arrives and with two of the deadly creatures on the loose, the unhinged soldiers are largely the best hope humanity has of surviving what is to come.
While aspects of the plot seem a bit muddled and at times a bit to linear; the film for the most part works for what fans want and in many places gives them the sequel they have waited for. There is a lot of humor in the film which reportedly divided early test audiences but the action is as brutal and graphic as one would want and expect from the series.
The film does have some big gaps in logic such as how a Biologist can be so comfy and skilled with Assault Weapons and seems to have no issues throwing herself into combat situations and the larger plot points of the Predator objective is intriguing and will open up much debate amongst fans.
The last third of the film was reshot and you can tell at times how parts seem a bit out of synch from early parts of the film especially in the appearance of some characters whose look changes during the film which clearly indicates when segments of the film were shot.
I know the film will likely divide some fans who do not like the humor and wanted a more evade and survive style plot but Black has crafted an interesting opening chapter which is said to be the first of a planned trilogy.
While far from perfect, “The Predator” does give fans some interesting characters and plenty of laughs to go with the action and is a worthy entry into the series as long as you are willing to overlook the issues and enjoy the ride.
http://sknr.net/2018/09/11/the-predator/
The film centers on a crashed Predator ship which is witnessed by an American Sniper on assignment named “McKenna” (Boyd Holbrook). While able to recover artifacts from the crashed ships escape pod, McKenna also sees his team brutally taken out by the pilot and soon finds himself targeted by a secret organization due to his knowledge of the otherworldly guest.
At the same time, a Biologist named Casey (Olivia Munn), is brought to a secret locale where she gets an up close encounter with the ship’s pilot in captivity and learns that a government organization has been tracking the visitors and that their visits have increased in recent years.
At the same time McKenna is ushered off to a bus full of unhinged soldiers who are to be locked away due to their numerous issues. Unbeknownst to his superiors; McKenna has mailed the recovered technology to his son who thanks to being on the Autism Spectrum, is able to figure out aspects of the tech which he believes to be a game.
This all leads to a series of brutal encounters as an enhanced Predator arrives and with two of the deadly creatures on the loose, the unhinged soldiers are largely the best hope humanity has of surviving what is to come.
While aspects of the plot seem a bit muddled and at times a bit to linear; the film for the most part works for what fans want and in many places gives them the sequel they have waited for. There is a lot of humor in the film which reportedly divided early test audiences but the action is as brutal and graphic as one would want and expect from the series.
The film does have some big gaps in logic such as how a Biologist can be so comfy and skilled with Assault Weapons and seems to have no issues throwing herself into combat situations and the larger plot points of the Predator objective is intriguing and will open up much debate amongst fans.
The last third of the film was reshot and you can tell at times how parts seem a bit out of synch from early parts of the film especially in the appearance of some characters whose look changes during the film which clearly indicates when segments of the film were shot.
I know the film will likely divide some fans who do not like the humor and wanted a more evade and survive style plot but Black has crafted an interesting opening chapter which is said to be the first of a planned trilogy.
While far from perfect, “The Predator” does give fans some interesting characters and plenty of laughs to go with the action and is a worthy entry into the series as long as you are willing to overlook the issues and enjoy the ride.
http://sknr.net/2018/09/11/the-predator/
Kayleigh (12 KP) rated George's Marvellous Medicine in Books
Jan 2, 2019
This was always my favourite Roald Dahl book, and I’ve re-remembered why now! It’s deliciously naughty, and everybody can imagine gleefully mixing up a concoction to make a disliked person yell “Oweeeee!”
A couple of years ago, I was an au pair in France for three children: a boy aged 9 and two girls, aged 5 years and 9 months old, respectively. I remember I had a little bit of trouble getting the children to settle down and listen to me reading a book, and alas, with the girls, I wasn’t actually successful. They were really intelligent kids, speaking French and German, with English as their third language. With the boy though – I’ll call him L, as I haven’t asked permission to use his name – he ended up loving this book. While there were some words I thought it necessary to replace so that he’d understand, he got really into it, and every day was asking me to read him another chapter.
It’s all slightly cheeky, and very funny. There have certainly been people over the years I’d love to make a magical medicine for, and I remember L getting more and more excited as he firstly wondered what was going to happen to Grandma, and then was fascinated by all the effects the medicine had.
There’s a real childish logic to how George goes about concocting his marvellous medicine, which I know appeals to many kids. She’s got rotten teeth, so he’ll put toothpaste in, and if that doesn’t work, he’ll paint them red with nail varnish. Genius! Here’s one of his ideas:
<blockquote>“The first one he took down was a large box of SUPERWHITE FOR AUTOMATIC WASHING-MACHINES. DIRT, it said, WILL DISAPPEAR LIKE MAGIC. George didn’t know whether Grandma was automatic or not, but she was certainly a dirty old woman.”</blockquote>
Quentin Blake’s illustrations really add to the story, particularly in the second half of the book, when the child reading it can see just how big the characters are getting.
The imagination is powerful, but even more so when mixed with these visual aids – see the picture to the right. I think the great thing about the detail of these illustrations – particularly Grandma’s face – is that you can project feelings onto them. In the context of the story it’s really easy to see her as a disgusting “old bird”, but if it was slightly different, judging from the front page you could see her as slightly mischievous too. Or is that just me?! However, I’m digressing. For an adult reading the book, the words dance off the tongue just like George, imagining he’s casting a spell over his cauldron. I found that L’s attention was thoroughly captured and he loved hearing the ‘special effects’ of all the whooshes and woweeees. There’s also the magical and triumphant aspects – he’s somehow created this cool concoction that has meant he’s got his own back on his grouchy old Grandma and helped out his dad by enlarging all the animals. I think kids love those feeling of pride and revenge they get on George’s behalf, while at the same time getting vivid images in their head that they’ll remember for a long time – I know I did!
This review is also on my <a href="http://awowords.wordpress.com">blog</a>; - if you liked it, please check it out!
A couple of years ago, I was an au pair in France for three children: a boy aged 9 and two girls, aged 5 years and 9 months old, respectively. I remember I had a little bit of trouble getting the children to settle down and listen to me reading a book, and alas, with the girls, I wasn’t actually successful. They were really intelligent kids, speaking French and German, with English as their third language. With the boy though – I’ll call him L, as I haven’t asked permission to use his name – he ended up loving this book. While there were some words I thought it necessary to replace so that he’d understand, he got really into it, and every day was asking me to read him another chapter.
It’s all slightly cheeky, and very funny. There have certainly been people over the years I’d love to make a magical medicine for, and I remember L getting more and more excited as he firstly wondered what was going to happen to Grandma, and then was fascinated by all the effects the medicine had.
There’s a real childish logic to how George goes about concocting his marvellous medicine, which I know appeals to many kids. She’s got rotten teeth, so he’ll put toothpaste in, and if that doesn’t work, he’ll paint them red with nail varnish. Genius! Here’s one of his ideas:
<blockquote>“The first one he took down was a large box of SUPERWHITE FOR AUTOMATIC WASHING-MACHINES. DIRT, it said, WILL DISAPPEAR LIKE MAGIC. George didn’t know whether Grandma was automatic or not, but she was certainly a dirty old woman.”</blockquote>
Quentin Blake’s illustrations really add to the story, particularly in the second half of the book, when the child reading it can see just how big the characters are getting.
The imagination is powerful, but even more so when mixed with these visual aids – see the picture to the right. I think the great thing about the detail of these illustrations – particularly Grandma’s face – is that you can project feelings onto them. In the context of the story it’s really easy to see her as a disgusting “old bird”, but if it was slightly different, judging from the front page you could see her as slightly mischievous too. Or is that just me?! However, I’m digressing. For an adult reading the book, the words dance off the tongue just like George, imagining he’s casting a spell over his cauldron. I found that L’s attention was thoroughly captured and he loved hearing the ‘special effects’ of all the whooshes and woweeees. There’s also the magical and triumphant aspects – he’s somehow created this cool concoction that has meant he’s got his own back on his grouchy old Grandma and helped out his dad by enlarging all the animals. I think kids love those feeling of pride and revenge they get on George’s behalf, while at the same time getting vivid images in their head that they’ll remember for a long time – I know I did!
This review is also on my <a href="http://awowords.wordpress.com">blog</a>; - if you liked it, please check it out!
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Ringu 2 (Ring 2) (2005) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
When the American version of the classic Japanese horror film “Ringu” became a smash hit at the box office it did not take a rocket scientist to realize that “The Ring” would soon generate a sequel.
The film had all of the elements for success, a creepy supernatural tale, a twisting and complex storyline that kept viewers guessing, and plenty of frights that made even the most jaded horror viewers squirm.
Sadly, the newest film in the series The Ring Two plays as an uninspired effort that seems to exist simply to cash in on the first film with little to no effort to add to the series.
The film opens with Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), having left Seattle with her son Aidan (David Dorfman), in an effort to put the horrors of their experiences in the first film behind them. Settling into a bland but comfortable existence in a coastal town named Astoria.
Rachel spends her days working for the tiny local paper though it is obvious that she is struggling to cope with the step down from working for a major metropolitan paper. When an unexplained homicide occurs, the local media crew is excited as for once, they will have a real story to cover. That is all of the staff aside t for Rachel who finds details of the murder disturbingly familiar to what she has witnessed in the past.
A study of the crime scene discovers a copy of the tape from the first film, that when viewed causes the viewer to die in seven days. Rachel is convinced that destroying the tape will end the terror once and for all, but despite her best efforts bizarre events continue.
The fact that her son has become ill and is acting odd, (even for him), is cause for Rachel to try to determine what is causing the changes. What is missing though is the energy and eeriness that drove the first film. Instead the audience gets paper thin characters, a very slow and plodding story, and very few frights.
The film has a couple of good scares but they are very few and far apart. The film also has gigantic lapses in logic as characters act as if their brains are in a deep freeze. During one moment, Rachel is told by her son to drive, instead she decides to stop and chat. Something goes awry, and Rachel is again told to drive, yet again she decides to stop and chat oblivious to what has happened.
All of this could be forgiven but not the very tired fallbacks that the film uses instead of offering anything fresh. What made the first film so good was the way it kept surprising the audience by coming up with new twists and turns as well as clever misdirection that kept viewers on edge and guessing what was to come next.
This time out, the cleverness and originality of the first film seems to have been sucked out of the film in favor of a few gimmick effects and a paper thin plot that seems to have been culled from other films. Add this all up, and sadly The Ring franchise has become an imitator rather than an innovator and this effort will leave fans in the cold.
The film had all of the elements for success, a creepy supernatural tale, a twisting and complex storyline that kept viewers guessing, and plenty of frights that made even the most jaded horror viewers squirm.
Sadly, the newest film in the series The Ring Two plays as an uninspired effort that seems to exist simply to cash in on the first film with little to no effort to add to the series.
The film opens with Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), having left Seattle with her son Aidan (David Dorfman), in an effort to put the horrors of their experiences in the first film behind them. Settling into a bland but comfortable existence in a coastal town named Astoria.
Rachel spends her days working for the tiny local paper though it is obvious that she is struggling to cope with the step down from working for a major metropolitan paper. When an unexplained homicide occurs, the local media crew is excited as for once, they will have a real story to cover. That is all of the staff aside t for Rachel who finds details of the murder disturbingly familiar to what she has witnessed in the past.
A study of the crime scene discovers a copy of the tape from the first film, that when viewed causes the viewer to die in seven days. Rachel is convinced that destroying the tape will end the terror once and for all, but despite her best efforts bizarre events continue.
The fact that her son has become ill and is acting odd, (even for him), is cause for Rachel to try to determine what is causing the changes. What is missing though is the energy and eeriness that drove the first film. Instead the audience gets paper thin characters, a very slow and plodding story, and very few frights.
The film has a couple of good scares but they are very few and far apart. The film also has gigantic lapses in logic as characters act as if their brains are in a deep freeze. During one moment, Rachel is told by her son to drive, instead she decides to stop and chat. Something goes awry, and Rachel is again told to drive, yet again she decides to stop and chat oblivious to what has happened.
All of this could be forgiven but not the very tired fallbacks that the film uses instead of offering anything fresh. What made the first film so good was the way it kept surprising the audience by coming up with new twists and turns as well as clever misdirection that kept viewers on edge and guessing what was to come next.
This time out, the cleverness and originality of the first film seems to have been sucked out of the film in favor of a few gimmick effects and a paper thin plot that seems to have been culled from other films. Add this all up, and sadly The Ring franchise has become an imitator rather than an innovator and this effort will leave fans in the cold.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Tournament in Books
Nov 27, 2019
Australian author Matthew Reilly is known for his fast paced, edge of your seat, suspension of belief thrillers. This book is a considerable change from that, being a slower and more thoughtful tale of 16th century murder and intrigue.
Reilly's books, under the usual all-out action sequences, always convey a good plot and storyline and have strong characterisation. Here those are to the fore. The main players are a young Princess Elizabeth; daughter of King Henry VIII and soon to be Elizabeth I and her teacher, Roger Ascham. Sultan Sulieman the Magnificent has invited all the best chess players across Europe to play to decide which nation can claim to have the ultimate chess champions. Elizabeth and Roger accompany England's entrant both to avoid the black death but also because Ascham wants to give Elizabeth a wide education just in case she becomes queen.
After a few adventures on the way the party arrives, along with the representatives of the other nations. Court intrigue and politics abound and everyone has their own agenda. When there is a high profile murder, Sulieman requests the aid of Ascham - known for his insight and ability to resolve problems using logic - to find the culprit before there is an international scandal. As the bodies pile up, Ascham and young Elizabeth face dangerous and unknown enemies and uncover plots and dark secrets.
The medieval detective story is not entirely new for Reilly. Previous he has written a couple of short stories that are available for download from his website - www.mattewreilly.com - with this theme. Dead Prince concerns the death of the Dauphin in France and is investigated by the king's architect. Roger Ascham and the King's Missing Girl is a story that precedes The Tournament by a few months and effectively introduces Ascham and his skills as he tracks down a serial kidnapper and murderer in Cambridge.
Reilly acknowledges at the end of the book that he was influenced by works such as The Name of the Rose and indeed this has much of the same flavour. The plot is complex and has the chess match running through it (and indeed sections of the book are named after chess pieces). Everything is very well handled by Reilly and everything unravels nicely in the finale of the book.
This has also been well researched. With many real historical figures included (not only Elizabeth, Ascham and Sulieman but a supporting cast that includes Ivan the Terrible and Michelangelo) and the feel of all the descriptions is very authentic.
One aspect that has to be mentioned is that, since Reilly wanted to explore something that may have influenced Elizabeth in her future life, there are a fair number of events of a sexual nature that occur. Some of these have a direct bearing on the plot, others are so that Elizabeth can form opinions on sex and marriage. Reilly has printed a warning at the start of the book that this is not for younger readers, and I can fully endorse that.
I can imagine that a number of Reilly fans will not enjoy this book - the pace is slow and methodical rather than headlong and there are very few 'action' sequences to speak of. However I would recommend this book to anybody who likes historical detective style stories.
Reilly's books, under the usual all-out action sequences, always convey a good plot and storyline and have strong characterisation. Here those are to the fore. The main players are a young Princess Elizabeth; daughter of King Henry VIII and soon to be Elizabeth I and her teacher, Roger Ascham. Sultan Sulieman the Magnificent has invited all the best chess players across Europe to play to decide which nation can claim to have the ultimate chess champions. Elizabeth and Roger accompany England's entrant both to avoid the black death but also because Ascham wants to give Elizabeth a wide education just in case she becomes queen.
After a few adventures on the way the party arrives, along with the representatives of the other nations. Court intrigue and politics abound and everyone has their own agenda. When there is a high profile murder, Sulieman requests the aid of Ascham - known for his insight and ability to resolve problems using logic - to find the culprit before there is an international scandal. As the bodies pile up, Ascham and young Elizabeth face dangerous and unknown enemies and uncover plots and dark secrets.
The medieval detective story is not entirely new for Reilly. Previous he has written a couple of short stories that are available for download from his website - www.mattewreilly.com - with this theme. Dead Prince concerns the death of the Dauphin in France and is investigated by the king's architect. Roger Ascham and the King's Missing Girl is a story that precedes The Tournament by a few months and effectively introduces Ascham and his skills as he tracks down a serial kidnapper and murderer in Cambridge.
Reilly acknowledges at the end of the book that he was influenced by works such as The Name of the Rose and indeed this has much of the same flavour. The plot is complex and has the chess match running through it (and indeed sections of the book are named after chess pieces). Everything is very well handled by Reilly and everything unravels nicely in the finale of the book.
This has also been well researched. With many real historical figures included (not only Elizabeth, Ascham and Sulieman but a supporting cast that includes Ivan the Terrible and Michelangelo) and the feel of all the descriptions is very authentic.
One aspect that has to be mentioned is that, since Reilly wanted to explore something that may have influenced Elizabeth in her future life, there are a fair number of events of a sexual nature that occur. Some of these have a direct bearing on the plot, others are so that Elizabeth can form opinions on sex and marriage. Reilly has printed a warning at the start of the book that this is not for younger readers, and I can fully endorse that.
I can imagine that a number of Reilly fans will not enjoy this book - the pace is slow and methodical rather than headlong and there are very few 'action' sequences to speak of. However I would recommend this book to anybody who likes historical detective style stories.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Moore Field School and the Mystery in Books
Feb 3, 2020
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#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2886460268">Moore Field School and the Mystery</a> - ★
<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Book-Review-Banner-31.png"/>;
Moore Field School and the Mystery by Liam Moiser is the first book of the Moore Field School series. We follow the main character Samantha, whose parents are teachers at her school, Moore Field School.
When Moore Field School is about to close down, the headmistress, Miss Moore, moves the school to Lakeview to start again. And Samantha and her parents move too.
Before the first term, the students go to a camp, where they hear about a haunted house. Samantha and her best friend, Jessica, somehow end up in the middle of this mystery.
My first thoughts of this book were that I find this little school cute, and the mystery of the haunted house quite interesting.
However, other than that, I am afraid not many things really appealed to me.
First of all, Samantha doesn’t look like or act like a little girl. She has conversations with her parents in a very unusual way. Who talks to their parents in such a way, in a middle grade book for children?
<b><i>“Okay, since you are both insisting, I’ll go and get my musical sheets whilst you settle yourselves down in the living room.” Samantha smiled; she really did want her father and mother to listen to her music. </i></b>
Aside from the characters and their language, there are a lot of scenes and acts in the book that I cannot find the logic of:
Miss Moore, the headmistress, is closing the school down because of the lack of pupils going into the private school. She is then moving the school into another town, which is a few hundred miles away. And she wants the old students to keep going to this school. Why would I want my child to keep going to a school that will now be hundreds of miles away? And yet, parents agree to this…
Both parents and teachers don’t seem to care too much about their pupils. Samatha and Jessica wander off, almost drown, get lost twice, and when they return, they are simply greeted as if nothing major happened. Also, the teacher that was supposed to be guarding them and fell asleep and lost them twice gets out of the whole mess without being in any trouble.
I really wish I enjoyed this book, but it made me cringe and wince all the way through on how pompous and unrealistic it was. Luckily, it is quite short, so I got through it quite fast. Whew.
I don't think I will be reading the rest of the series unfortunately.
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#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2886460268">Moore Field School and the Mystery</a> - ★
<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Book-Review-Banner-31.png"/>;
Moore Field School and the Mystery by Liam Moiser is the first book of the Moore Field School series. We follow the main character Samantha, whose parents are teachers at her school, Moore Field School.
When Moore Field School is about to close down, the headmistress, Miss Moore, moves the school to Lakeview to start again. And Samantha and her parents move too.
Before the first term, the students go to a camp, where they hear about a haunted house. Samantha and her best friend, Jessica, somehow end up in the middle of this mystery.
My first thoughts of this book were that I find this little school cute, and the mystery of the haunted house quite interesting.
However, other than that, I am afraid not many things really appealed to me.
First of all, Samantha doesn’t look like or act like a little girl. She has conversations with her parents in a very unusual way. Who talks to their parents in such a way, in a middle grade book for children?
<b><i>“Okay, since you are both insisting, I’ll go and get my musical sheets whilst you settle yourselves down in the living room.” Samantha smiled; she really did want her father and mother to listen to her music. </i></b>
Aside from the characters and their language, there are a lot of scenes and acts in the book that I cannot find the logic of:
Miss Moore, the headmistress, is closing the school down because of the lack of pupils going into the private school. She is then moving the school into another town, which is a few hundred miles away. And she wants the old students to keep going to this school. Why would I want my child to keep going to a school that will now be hundreds of miles away? And yet, parents agree to this…
Both parents and teachers don’t seem to care too much about their pupils. Samatha and Jessica wander off, almost drown, get lost twice, and when they return, they are simply greeted as if nothing major happened. Also, the teacher that was supposed to be guarding them and fell asleep and lost them twice gets out of the whole mess without being in any trouble.
I really wish I enjoyed this book, but it made me cringe and wince all the way through on how pompous and unrealistic it was. Luckily, it is quite short, so I got through it quite fast. Whew.
I don't think I will be reading the rest of the series unfortunately.
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Turning (2020) in Movies
Mar 2, 2020
On reflection, I'm going to have to apologise to Like A Boss for saying it was the worst film I saw in January.
Another adaptation of another classic novel... I'll get this broken record fixed at some point, I promise. Though not until after Dolittle, oh and The Invisible Man, oh and The True History Of The Kelly Gang... you know what? Never mind!
Kate is looking for a different challenge and so she quits her teaching job to become governess to a young girl living on her uncle's estate with his housekeeper after her parent's tragic death. Life in the house is strange even before her brother arrives home suddenly from boarding school. There's something untoward going on but everything defies logic. Can she get out without it slowly eating away at her sanity?
But Emma, this is a horror and you don't like going to horrors at the cinema! No, you're right, but I'm still trying to be brave... but my god do I wish I'd picked a better film.
The first thing I would query is the time jump this film makes from its source material. I can understand wanting to modernise something to get a new audience, I really can, but its setting in 1994 didn't make a lot of sense and at the same time wasn't very noticeable. Within the house and grounds you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a period thriller because there was little to remind you it wasn't. Why not just go the whole hog and set it in the present day? The house could still have been off the grid, it would have allowed for extra backstory being inserted by her researching (I suspect the inclusion of Kate's friend was to allow for extra story details) and then in the climax of the film she could have been cut off from her access to the outside world. There's nothing quite like making an audience fear the technology they hold dear like that.
1 hour and 34 minutes, that was the entire runtime. Normally that's something to be applauded, but in this instance it was an agonising 94 minutes of programming. There was nothing in the film that gripped me, mild intrigue at times, but there was nothing to sustain that interest through any major sections of the film. Jump scares seemed to be the way it wanted to go but even I, the scardiest scaredy cat there ever was, could see them coming, meaning they made no impact.
Both Mackenzie Davis and Finn Wolfhard are good actors but there was no chemistry on screen. I felt no genuine tension between the two at all even though Miles was the certainly playing the creeper card a lot.
If you're talking about The Turning then you have to address the style of ending. A film that leaves you able to interpret what you want from certain events is something to be treasured and is a stroke of genius when done correctly. It's a great marketing tool because your audience are still thinking about the film and discussing it with people long after they've seen it. But for that discussion to be positive you need to have a film that hooks you in and The Turning just didn't do that for me.
Sometimes suspense works better as the written word.
Originally posted on: http://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-turning-movie-review.html
Another adaptation of another classic novel... I'll get this broken record fixed at some point, I promise. Though not until after Dolittle, oh and The Invisible Man, oh and The True History Of The Kelly Gang... you know what? Never mind!
Kate is looking for a different challenge and so she quits her teaching job to become governess to a young girl living on her uncle's estate with his housekeeper after her parent's tragic death. Life in the house is strange even before her brother arrives home suddenly from boarding school. There's something untoward going on but everything defies logic. Can she get out without it slowly eating away at her sanity?
But Emma, this is a horror and you don't like going to horrors at the cinema! No, you're right, but I'm still trying to be brave... but my god do I wish I'd picked a better film.
The first thing I would query is the time jump this film makes from its source material. I can understand wanting to modernise something to get a new audience, I really can, but its setting in 1994 didn't make a lot of sense and at the same time wasn't very noticeable. Within the house and grounds you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a period thriller because there was little to remind you it wasn't. Why not just go the whole hog and set it in the present day? The house could still have been off the grid, it would have allowed for extra backstory being inserted by her researching (I suspect the inclusion of Kate's friend was to allow for extra story details) and then in the climax of the film she could have been cut off from her access to the outside world. There's nothing quite like making an audience fear the technology they hold dear like that.
1 hour and 34 minutes, that was the entire runtime. Normally that's something to be applauded, but in this instance it was an agonising 94 minutes of programming. There was nothing in the film that gripped me, mild intrigue at times, but there was nothing to sustain that interest through any major sections of the film. Jump scares seemed to be the way it wanted to go but even I, the scardiest scaredy cat there ever was, could see them coming, meaning they made no impact.
Both Mackenzie Davis and Finn Wolfhard are good actors but there was no chemistry on screen. I felt no genuine tension between the two at all even though Miles was the certainly playing the creeper card a lot.
If you're talking about The Turning then you have to address the style of ending. A film that leaves you able to interpret what you want from certain events is something to be treasured and is a stroke of genius when done correctly. It's a great marketing tool because your audience are still thinking about the film and discussing it with people long after they've seen it. But for that discussion to be positive you need to have a film that hooks you in and The Turning just didn't do that for me.
Sometimes suspense works better as the written word.
Originally posted on: http://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-turning-movie-review.html
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated The Man Who Knew Infinity (2016) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
In 1914, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel) traveled from his poverty-stricken existence in Madras, India to Trinity College, Cambridge in the hope that he would have his theories published and be recognized for the mathematical genius he was. While there, despite facing racism, hostility and severe illness, he formed an important relationship with G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons) that would lead to breakthroughs in mathematics that are still relevant today.
It would be easy to prattle on about the tremendous talent onscreen in The Man Who Knew Infinity and with a supporting cast that features some of Britain’s best; we get exactly what we’d expect from the likes of Jeremy Irons, Toby Jones and Kevin McNally. All at the top of their game, they serve the story well with nuanced and well-rounded performances, and I’m certainly not going to take anything away from the exceptional jobs they’ve all done here. All the praise this film deserves however, needs to be directed at Dev Patel. In his role as Ramanujan, he’s completely stepped out of the shadow of his big-screen debut in Slumdog Millionaire and has proved his worth as a leading man capable of carrying the weight of an entire feature. Distancing himself also from the lovable, bumbling hotel owner in The Best Exotic Marigold movies, with Ramanujan he is allowed the room to display an incredible range, from quiet intensity to outspoken, unbridled passion and determination. Kudos also to the writers for not going The Big Short route (e.g. talking down to the uninitiated with ridiculous cutaways), but by using simple logic and examples to help convey complex information relevant to the plot.
For the performances alone, this is a solid entry in the biopic genre, but structurally speaking, it’s the editing that lets the film down. This very easily could have emerged as the next A Beautiful Mind, but between a bloated first act, a middling and wandering second act and a truncated final third, The Man Who Knew Infinity falls just short of greatness. Not only is no attention paid to Ramanujan’s achievements as a child, but too much time is given to details and subplots that are arguably inconsequential to the main narrative. This is especially evident in the inclusion of Bertrand Russell (who lived such a rich and fascinating life himself, it would take several films to do that story justice) and his being here feels like just a hollow excuse to include a cameo from another figure of historical importance. The biggest disservice though comes with the ending where we are denied a much needed catharsis and are left to suffer through a slap-dash, halfhearted montage. A restructuring from a more seasoned hand would have undoubtedly led to stronger word-of-mouth and perhaps a wider release. I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this is a case of “too many cooks” as the film has a staggering 43 credited producers. I get that independent features can be forced to source their funding from many places, but you can’t tell me that with all those opinions flying about that some of the original intent didn’t get lost in the noise.
As an aside, what Stephen Fry is doing here is beyond me. He’s given two scenes with perhaps a half a dozen lines, leaving his incomparable persona entirely wasted on a completely throwaway character. It’s a pity he wasn’t given a meatier role as one of Ramanujan’s antagonists.
It would be easy to prattle on about the tremendous talent onscreen in The Man Who Knew Infinity and with a supporting cast that features some of Britain’s best; we get exactly what we’d expect from the likes of Jeremy Irons, Toby Jones and Kevin McNally. All at the top of their game, they serve the story well with nuanced and well-rounded performances, and I’m certainly not going to take anything away from the exceptional jobs they’ve all done here. All the praise this film deserves however, needs to be directed at Dev Patel. In his role as Ramanujan, he’s completely stepped out of the shadow of his big-screen debut in Slumdog Millionaire and has proved his worth as a leading man capable of carrying the weight of an entire feature. Distancing himself also from the lovable, bumbling hotel owner in The Best Exotic Marigold movies, with Ramanujan he is allowed the room to display an incredible range, from quiet intensity to outspoken, unbridled passion and determination. Kudos also to the writers for not going The Big Short route (e.g. talking down to the uninitiated with ridiculous cutaways), but by using simple logic and examples to help convey complex information relevant to the plot.
For the performances alone, this is a solid entry in the biopic genre, but structurally speaking, it’s the editing that lets the film down. This very easily could have emerged as the next A Beautiful Mind, but between a bloated first act, a middling and wandering second act and a truncated final third, The Man Who Knew Infinity falls just short of greatness. Not only is no attention paid to Ramanujan’s achievements as a child, but too much time is given to details and subplots that are arguably inconsequential to the main narrative. This is especially evident in the inclusion of Bertrand Russell (who lived such a rich and fascinating life himself, it would take several films to do that story justice) and his being here feels like just a hollow excuse to include a cameo from another figure of historical importance. The biggest disservice though comes with the ending where we are denied a much needed catharsis and are left to suffer through a slap-dash, halfhearted montage. A restructuring from a more seasoned hand would have undoubtedly led to stronger word-of-mouth and perhaps a wider release. I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this is a case of “too many cooks” as the film has a staggering 43 credited producers. I get that independent features can be forced to source their funding from many places, but you can’t tell me that with all those opinions flying about that some of the original intent didn’t get lost in the noise.
As an aside, what Stephen Fry is doing here is beyond me. He’s given two scenes with perhaps a half a dozen lines, leaving his incomparable persona entirely wasted on a completely throwaway character. It’s a pity he wasn’t given a meatier role as one of Ramanujan’s antagonists.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020 (Updated Nov 1, 2020)
Not Much More Than The Same Goofy Undead Routine
Contains spoilers, click to show
This movie was pretty entertaining when I saw it in theaters but I was more than a little disappointed in the movie as a whole, especially when it was 10 years in the making, and because of how much I loved the original movie. As I mentioned above this movie started off strong with the introduction about how the zombies were changing or evolving. The 3 types were: Homers, which were so dumb they were almost not a threat, Hawkings, which were smarter than the average zombie, and Ninjas, which are the silent and stealthy types. The whole montage of them whooping zombie ass on the lawn of the White House was awesome too. The movie was going smooth to be but I didn't like how the plot felt recycled because of the girls leaving them and stealing their car just like the first one. I can see a lot of people being annoyed with the dumb blonde character Madison, but to me her scenes were generally pretty funny and I couldn't help but bust out laughing with that seat belt scene. The one character that I never really liked in the movie was Avan Jogia's character Berkeley. He was just a plot device that got the story moving and never really did anything except be a pacifist hippie who played the guitar and the love interest for Little Rock. She totally winds up stealing the car from Wichita and leaving her stranded. A lot of the movie I think probably sounded better on paper then it wound up coming out in the film. Like for example the new type of zombie called the T-800's (after the terminator) were tougher to kill, they showed how it dodge bullets like Neo from Matrix and even took a lot of bullets and kept on going until it had it's head smashed in. But the movie lost at lot of those good things along the way. The Homers come out again in a few scenes, they mention a Hawking but it didn't really do anything special, and they never showed a ninja. Also the T-800's who were so un-killable earlier are shown to be easily killable later. When the gang is at the hippie strong hold Babylon, which in itself is ridiculous, they do a plan to take out the horde of T-800's coming their way. There is a part where they are being swarmed by them and they have no weapons other than melee ones and are easily killing all the T-800s around them. Yeah the whole hippie stronghold place was a big stretch for me too. I mean it had walls to protected them and rules for new people like no guns (which they confiscate and melt), but there's no way they could be there for 10 years with no weapons surviving in the zombie apocalypse. Just like the character Madison surviving in the mall living in a freezer in Pinkberry for 10 years. It's just a lot of the logic went out the window. But still it was an above average zombie movie and that's why I give it a 6/10.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Witness in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
A classic ‘game’ from my childhood (seriously, we played it all the time) was Telephone. You know the one – someone whispers something to their neighbor, that person whispers it to their neighbor, and so on until it’s made its way around the group. Hilarity ensues when the final person reveals what they heard – usually a far cry from the original message! So when Travis pulled out Witness, a modern twist on Telephone, I knew that all my years of training would finally amount to something!
Witness is a cooperative game of memory and deduction set in the world of the 1940’s comic “Blake and Mortimer.” You and your compatriots are working together to solve mysteries! But there’s a catch – you each only know certain information, and are limited in how you are allowed to disclose it to each other. If you could just say it outright, there’d be no fun! Each player gets a character book filled with cases and information. Everyone reads their information for the chosen case, and then, like in Telephone, and in a certain order, players whisper their information to the player next to them. Play continues until everyone has heard (through the grapevine, of course) all 4 players’ information. After all information has been relayed, players get a chance to write down any notes from what they remember – but only after everything has been said! Players then open the Questions booklet to their specific case and answer three questions about their specific puzzle. Players receive points for correct answers, and as a team, are attempting to achieve the highest score possible!
I think that Witness is such a neat game. It’s a fun mechanic – you’re trying to remember all of your information to accurately pass it on, only to hear more information to add to what you already need to remember, to then pass it on again! It definitely makes for some funny misheard information! Another aspect of Witness that I like is that it goes beyond a regular game of Telephone in the fact that there’s an end goal – you’re trying to piece together all of the information as you hear it second- or even third-hand to correctly answer some questions. There’s more pressure to communicate accurately because you and your team are striving for a compilation of perfect information to help you score the most endgame points. Witness ups the stakes more than your average game of Telephone, and that’s what makes it interesting and engaging for me.
The major downside of Witness is that it is a game for EXACTLY 4 players. You can’t play with 3. You can’t play with 5. It absolutely 100% must be played with 4 players. And sometimes that’s just not possible. We all know those game nights where maybe only 2 or 3 people are available. Or maybe those times when you invite a large number of people over and they all come. In either scenario, Witness is out, and that is a bummer because it is such a neat game. Since the information is divided between 4 books, there’s unfortunately no way to adapt it for other player counts. So you can either play Witness or you can’t – there’s no ‘maybe.’
Overall, I enjoy playing Witness. I think it’s a unique approach to a simple game. Unfortunately, I believe this game is out of print, but if you can get your hands on a copy, or you see it on a friend’s shelf, give it a play! Whispering to your neighbor and solving little logic puzzles never seemed so fun! Purple Phoenix Games gives Witness a mysterious 11 / 18.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/witness-review/
Witness is a cooperative game of memory and deduction set in the world of the 1940’s comic “Blake and Mortimer.” You and your compatriots are working together to solve mysteries! But there’s a catch – you each only know certain information, and are limited in how you are allowed to disclose it to each other. If you could just say it outright, there’d be no fun! Each player gets a character book filled with cases and information. Everyone reads their information for the chosen case, and then, like in Telephone, and in a certain order, players whisper their information to the player next to them. Play continues until everyone has heard (through the grapevine, of course) all 4 players’ information. After all information has been relayed, players get a chance to write down any notes from what they remember – but only after everything has been said! Players then open the Questions booklet to their specific case and answer three questions about their specific puzzle. Players receive points for correct answers, and as a team, are attempting to achieve the highest score possible!
I think that Witness is such a neat game. It’s a fun mechanic – you’re trying to remember all of your information to accurately pass it on, only to hear more information to add to what you already need to remember, to then pass it on again! It definitely makes for some funny misheard information! Another aspect of Witness that I like is that it goes beyond a regular game of Telephone in the fact that there’s an end goal – you’re trying to piece together all of the information as you hear it second- or even third-hand to correctly answer some questions. There’s more pressure to communicate accurately because you and your team are striving for a compilation of perfect information to help you score the most endgame points. Witness ups the stakes more than your average game of Telephone, and that’s what makes it interesting and engaging for me.
The major downside of Witness is that it is a game for EXACTLY 4 players. You can’t play with 3. You can’t play with 5. It absolutely 100% must be played with 4 players. And sometimes that’s just not possible. We all know those game nights where maybe only 2 or 3 people are available. Or maybe those times when you invite a large number of people over and they all come. In either scenario, Witness is out, and that is a bummer because it is such a neat game. Since the information is divided between 4 books, there’s unfortunately no way to adapt it for other player counts. So you can either play Witness or you can’t – there’s no ‘maybe.’
Overall, I enjoy playing Witness. I think it’s a unique approach to a simple game. Unfortunately, I believe this game is out of print, but if you can get your hands on a copy, or you see it on a friend’s shelf, give it a play! Whispering to your neighbor and solving little logic puzzles never seemed so fun! Purple Phoenix Games gives Witness a mysterious 11 / 18.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/witness-review/