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Awix (3310 KP) rated Dirty Dancing (1987) in Movies
Sep 14, 2020 (Updated Sep 14, 2020)
(My partner made me watch it after I forced her to sit through one Hammer horror too many.) Cheese-tastic dance movie. Innocent young girl experiences dance-oriented sexual awakening at a grim holiday camp in 1963. This mostly takes the form of her just standing there looking bemused while Patrick Swayze performs whole-body pelvic thrusts in her direction.
'The ultimate chick flick' (according to her indoors anyway) but looks just like a rather corny terpsichorean melodrama to me, not especially well-acted or directed - very reminiscent of films from the period in which it is set, although with a bit of slightly grittier content. That said, the soundtrack ping-pongs back and forth between the early 60s and the late 80s. In the end I did enjoy it a lot, although probably not for the reasons the makers intended (I particularly liked the moment where a bit of suspect editing makes it look like one guy is playing a sax solo on a trumpet). Silly, harmless fun.
'The ultimate chick flick' (according to her indoors anyway) but looks just like a rather corny terpsichorean melodrama to me, not especially well-acted or directed - very reminiscent of films from the period in which it is set, although with a bit of slightly grittier content. That said, the soundtrack ping-pongs back and forth between the early 60s and the late 80s. In the end I did enjoy it a lot, although probably not for the reasons the makers intended (I particularly liked the moment where a bit of suspect editing makes it look like one guy is playing a sax solo on a trumpet). Silly, harmless fun.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Consider me charmed, as far as ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ/๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข ripoffs go - you could do a whole lot worse. Story is intermittently intriguing but way too slight for what this wants to be, with lore and creature design *this* vivid it needed to be way more fleshed out. But I also recognize that if this were made today, they would have needlessly stretched out and sterilized this one-movie story into five distended cash grabs - er, I mean - 'movies' until any sense of purpose and enjoyability becomes unrecognizable, so I abstain. I'd much rather this have become a franchise as opposed to ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ด, firstly because Freddie Highmore can actually act (he's awesome here in both roles) whereas Eddie Redmayne is perhaps the only Oscar nominee who's never given a good performance. Looks absolutely dazzling, and the voice acting is A-class - just a really fun time all-around. Simple but effective, and I haven't even mentioned how many goblins get gruesomely murdered/dismembered/burned/eaten alive/melted/stabbed/ran over in this.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Town (2010) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
First half is flawed, as clichรฉd as a bank heist movie could possibly get - but that second half is a goddamned powerhouse (the only *half* conventional ending notwithstanding). Just sucks it took that long to become what it wanted to be the whole time. There's a really terrific story in here about parasitic men on both sides of the law playing with the lives of women like toys to either save their own asses, bring them down with them, or simply just because they can - all encased in a seedy, abusive popcorn heister of bullets and gracious amounts of Boston expletives - but I'm not sure this was ready to fully be that film. Think I'm willing to mostly forgive for how amazing Affleck is in this, and how amazing *everyone* is in this for that matter - along with how admittedly rousing the second hour is. But for the most part this takes nearly every predictable route you'd expect it to. Not really much more or less generic than ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐บ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, just a lot less gutted.
Kristina (502 KP) rated Six of Crows in Books
Dec 7, 2020
I've seen recommendations for Six of Crows repeatedly throughout the last year or two. Favorite Series? Six of Crows. Best female assassin? Six of Crows. Best fantasy book? Six of Crows. There has been a lot of hype around this series, from what I've seen. I finally decided to give it a try - it's not necessarily part of my usual read, but I figured, if I could love the Throne of Glass series, then certainly I could get into this. I did. I enjoyed it, even with the many different point of views and third person perspective. However - and here is where I make my enemies - I didn't absolutely love it. Perhaps, like TOG, it gets better with each book, but while this first installment gets 3 stars from me (and it's a steady 3 stars, honestly), I don't believe I could rate it any higher than that. I do plan on continuing the series, full of hope that I might eventually begin to love it, but until then, I suppose I'll have to go with: "I liked it."
Very enjoyable
This is the second book of Dawn O'Porter's that I've read after first trying The Cows, and I enjoyed both of them equally. Both of these books have similar themes but yet completely different stories, and O'Porter is obviously on a mission to promote female empowerment and strength (and rightly so).
The writing style in this is very good. I was gripped from the start and couldn't put this down. The main characters are all relatable in different ways, and even if you haven't necessarily experienced exactly the same things as them there's still a lot of yourself that you can recognise in all of them. To begin with, Ruby and Beth aren't exactly likeable characters mainly because as readers, we can see the problems with how they treat themselves (and others) and it's a bit frustrating. However you soon grow to love them and whilst the story itself is entirely predictable, it's still a joy to read. It promotes such a powerful message about loving and accepting yourself and about female empowerment, and you can't really go wrong with this.
The writing style in this is very good. I was gripped from the start and couldn't put this down. The main characters are all relatable in different ways, and even if you haven't necessarily experienced exactly the same things as them there's still a lot of yourself that you can recognise in all of them. To begin with, Ruby and Beth aren't exactly likeable characters mainly because as readers, we can see the problems with how they treat themselves (and others) and it's a bit frustrating. However you soon grow to love them and whilst the story itself is entirely predictable, it's still a joy to read. It promotes such a powerful message about loving and accepting yourself and about female empowerment, and you can't really go wrong with this.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons - The Movie (2020) in Movies
Jan 12, 2021
Not all of these DC animated movies are going to be as good as The Dark Knight Returns and Knights & Dragons is solid proof of that.
Its a straight down the middle entry for DC, it's got some enjoyable action sequences and the animation looks decent enough, although recently, a lot of these movies are starting to look the same. It doesn't have a unique feel to it in that regard.
Deathstroke has always been a compelling anti-hero, but compelling enough to carry a full length feature? I'm not so sure, and I still remain unsure. There's a fair amount of depth on show here concerning his family life, but honestly, the plot is a bit of a snore fest at times, although I did like to see some more minor characters such as Lady Shiva and Bronze Tiger get some screentime.
Its not the worst DC animated film out there, and is still worth a watch for fans of the brand, but it's not essential viewing.
Its a straight down the middle entry for DC, it's got some enjoyable action sequences and the animation looks decent enough, although recently, a lot of these movies are starting to look the same. It doesn't have a unique feel to it in that regard.
Deathstroke has always been a compelling anti-hero, but compelling enough to carry a full length feature? I'm not so sure, and I still remain unsure. There's a fair amount of depth on show here concerning his family life, but honestly, the plot is a bit of a snore fest at times, although I did like to see some more minor characters such as Lady Shiva and Bronze Tiger get some screentime.
Its not the worst DC animated film out there, and is still worth a watch for fans of the brand, but it's not essential viewing.
Erika (17788 KP) rated The Mandalorian - Season 2 in TV
Dec 19, 2020
Better than the first season (1 more)
Less filler episodes
This season was considerably better than the first. I decided to do a spoiler - free review. There were introductions of a lot of Clone Wars/Rebels characters, all of which I really liked. There was also the return of an original trilogy character that was teased in the first season. They've also included some EU content, which is now canon, and referred to Operation Cinder.
We've also finally gotten the Child's name, so that ridiculousness of 'Baby Yoda' can go away now, please.
I had issues with how they presented a very well-known, central character, introduced into the series. I think that they should have used the voice of the original character and cast someone who is younger and looks extremely similar to the elder actor. I hope that if they continue showing this central character, that they consider casting the actor (cough cough, he's already got a Disney contract) to play the correctly-aged character, rather than a slightly-shoddy digital version over some rando actor.
We've also finally gotten the Child's name, so that ridiculousness of 'Baby Yoda' can go away now, please.
I had issues with how they presented a very well-known, central character, introduced into the series. I think that they should have used the voice of the original character and cast someone who is younger and looks extremely similar to the elder actor. I hope that if they continue showing this central character, that they consider casting the actor (cough cough, he's already got a Disney contract) to play the correctly-aged character, rather than a slightly-shoddy digital version over some rando actor.
Lenard (726 KP) rated Pokรฉmon: Detective Pikachu (2019) in Movies
Jun 27, 2019
First, I confess I had no interest in Pokemon, the cards, the games, the plush toys, or anything related to the Pocket Monsters and Gotta Catch Em All Fever. I thought Bulbasaur was a Squirtle and Cubone was a member of the Mewtwo phenomenon. However, unlike the animated film, I was slightly impressed by the live action/animated hybrid. While the central mystery Detective Pikachu is on the trail of is a red herring, the story is heartwarming and almost made me miss my dad. Tim, after his mom died, spends a lot of time alone and dreams of being a Pokemon trainer, but as we see his emotionlessness inhibits his ability to connect to the little monsters. HIs dad, a world famous detective, tries to connect with him, but he is a constantly absent presence in his life. When Harry is reported dead from a car accident, Tim comes to Ryme City and meets Harry's Pokemon Pikachu who believes Harry didn't die. The true story is very incisive about the lengths we go to protect the things and people we love.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The 15:17 To Paris (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Three Americans discover a terrorist plot aboard a train while in France.
This was an interesting movie. I liked the fact that the actual people involved played their parts, it made it feel a little rough but also made it seem a lot more real. I can't really pick it apart too much, I enjoyed the progression and you engage well with the main players... but I do have one point to raise that ruined the end of the film for me, and lost it a star...
The last thing we see is the reenactment of the Legion Of Honour ceremony where they were presented with medals by French president Franรงois Hollande. They spliced in original file footage of the event with the film, which had it just been added at the end would have made a lovely ending. What they did was mix it with "re-shot" footage so that they could get the actor family reaction shots in, which meant a different quality of film and a very dodgy stand in for Hollande.
This was an interesting movie. I liked the fact that the actual people involved played their parts, it made it feel a little rough but also made it seem a lot more real. I can't really pick it apart too much, I enjoyed the progression and you engage well with the main players... but I do have one point to raise that ruined the end of the film for me, and lost it a star...
The last thing we see is the reenactment of the Legion Of Honour ceremony where they were presented with medals by French president Franรงois Hollande. They spliced in original file footage of the event with the film, which had it just been added at the end would have made a lovely ending. What they did was mix it with "re-shot" footage so that they could get the actor family reaction shots in, which meant a different quality of film and a very dodgy stand in for Hollande.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Unfriended: Dark Web (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
After seeing Searching I was left enjoying the format of watching something from the perspective of the screen. This film managed to undo that enjoyment. Even though both, by the nature of the story lines, had people walking in and out of shot, Dark Web was a lot more chaotic and at times quite difficult to focus on with there being several people involved in each scene.
It's a passable horror film (it doesn't really feel like a horror film, but I'm at a loss as to where else is could be classified), and while I didn't see where the ending was going to go, you can make an educated guess that it's only going to come out one way... badly.
The story intrigued me enough to let me sit through the film, but I don't think I'd need to see it again. With the back and forth on the screen and the annoying digitised baddie appearing I don't think I would actually be able to see it again without getting a headache.
It's a passable horror film (it doesn't really feel like a horror film, but I'm at a loss as to where else is could be classified), and while I didn't see where the ending was going to go, you can make an educated guess that it's only going to come out one way... badly.
The story intrigued me enough to let me sit through the film, but I don't think I'd need to see it again. With the back and forth on the screen and the annoying digitised baddie appearing I don't think I would actually be able to see it again without getting a headache.