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Google Maps - GPS Navigation
Google Maps - GPS Navigation
Navigation, Utilities
8
8.7 (141 Ratings)
App Rating
Essential app, but still needs a little work
This is the most important app on my phone - especially for walking routes and using public transport. My only gripe is the fact it still lacks in terms of disability access - a general issue across the UK. So as a 'local guide' I've begun manually uploading the information.

While walking, I tend to have Google Maps reciting the directions to me through my ear phones. A lot of the time it stops and I keep wondering if the app has switched off. No doubt, it beats all competition in terms of navigation, but it needs to update quicker. And Google needs to stop telling me to 'add an image' to places. I'm not taking a picture of a shop like a weirdo.
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Krampus (2015) in Movies

Nov 26, 2017  
Krampus (2015)
Krampus (2015)
2015 | Comedy, Horror
A refreshingly different Christmas film
A Christmas horror film really shouldn't work, but for the most part it actually does. It's strange, as you usually associate Christmas films with sickly sweet happiness, but this is the complete opposite and it's a nice change.

It's funny, dark and doesn't take itself too seriously. The physical effects and make-up are very good, although some of the CGI is questionable in parts. It has a great cast and I loved the idea behind Krampus and also the strange ending. My only criticism would be that it could have been a lot scarier. It was creepy at times but I think it concentrated more on the laughs than the horror, which is a shame as a scary Christmas horror film would be truly terrifying.
  
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Phil (7 KP) rated Huckleberry Finn in Books

May 23, 2017  
HF
Huckleberry Finn
Harold Beaver | 2017 | Essays
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Exciting world, interesting themes that are still relevant today (0 more)
Some of the talking is painful to read (0 more)
Would be hard to meet expectations
Huckleberry Finn is a story about deciding your values. Mark Twain has a lot to say about everything, from slavery, to how we view adults vs children, to general decency. It's a great read if you want to be challenged on morality and the process of judgement and trust. It is, however, really hard to get through some conversations where half the words have to be taken on context. Being a classic of literature, I had built this up unfairly in my mind, so I had to drop the score assuming you'd do the same.
Would be perfect for anyone learning Southerner though, looking for a cheap immersion course.
  
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
2016 | Animation, Comedy
Well written (2 more)
Voice acting
Great Animation
A fun movie for everybody
The only kind of movie that I have ever fell asleep watching in the cinema, is a kid’s movie, but there is no chance of you falling asleep during this one. Funny, witty and a lot of fun. The animation is fantastic, the voice acting is on point and if you are a pet owner the whole thing becomes more relatable and even funnier. This is how to make a great kids film, it doesn’t just totally appeal to the kids and ignore the adults watching, but it is also totally family friendly and the characters are all well written, well voiced and they all bounce off of each other very well to make probably the best kids movie I’ve seen this year.
  
Drive (2011)
Drive (2011)
2011 | Crime, Thriller
The performances are universally strong (4 more)
Stylish, patient direction
Understated when most films would go big
Unlike "Baby Driver", which has many similarities with this film, the central relationship is never suggested to be anything more than some casual relationship that gives the main character a chance at redemption
Carey Mulligan is as luminous as ever
It's about as deep as a puddle in a parking lot (1 more)
It is generally very overrated
A good, yet unacknowledged, remake of "The Driver"
Well, it's a remake of Walter Hill's "The Driver". Not officially, sure, but it just is. It annoys me that this was never really acknowledged, but it's a good one, so there's that.

Otherwise, it's a flimsy, but good little crime thriller that's generally overrated. Shouldn't stop anyone from seeing it though.
  
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Dean (6926 KP) rated Nerve (2016) in Movies

Aug 24, 2017 (Updated Aug 19, 2018)  
Nerve (2016)
Nerve (2016)
2016 | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
Emma Roberts (1 more)
Good cinematography
Are you a Watcher or Player?
A cool, fun, sexy and visually slick thriller. I hadn't heard much about this before seeing it but found it very enjoyable. It's a new spin on the truth or dare game, this time with the Internet community choosing to be a Watcher or Player. People film themselves doing a few dares as watchers pay them to complete the dare. Soon though the dares escalate and become very dangerous.
I like the visual style of the film, bathed in neon light a lot of the time, which makes it feel more like a game. Also makes a slight point about how people behave online compared to real life. Overall not that original but still an entertaining film nevertheless.
  
Get Your Sh*t Together
Get Your Sh*t Together
Sarah Knight | 2016 | Mind, Body & Spiritual
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not accessible, geared for certain audiences
I have to say I struggled to read this. Sarah Knight obviously comes from a very privileged background and gears her rhetoric to certain socio-economic classes. While at times she attempts humour, it falls a little flat as it sounds like she's trying too hard.

That being said, some of the advice is useful such as time management and prioritizing - however this sounds like a lot of other self help books and she doesn't seem like the 'anti-guru' she claims to be. It's a little pretentious, constantly talking about her Caribbean housing, when many don't even have disposable income.

She briefly mentions half way through that this book is not intended for such working-class people. That should have been at the front of the book.
  
The Art of Slip-Stitch Knitting
The Art of Slip-Stitch Knitting
Faina Gobertein | 2015 | Sport & Leisure
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I know very little about slip stitch. Looking through this book I was impressed. there were a lot of stitch patterns and stitches I’ve never heard of before.

Everything about this book was artistic and well designed. From the photography of the knitted items to the type face and layout of the text.

The patterns themselves were awesome. Normally when I look through a book I tend to like some or most of the patterns. This book, I like all of them. Not only were they elegant, interesting, and unique, some of them were really pushing the boundaries of what you can do with stitch patterns and construction.

This is definitely more of an advanced book. But if you’re looking for something new, exciting, stunning, and challenging, this is the book for you.
  
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
1996 | Action, Mystery
Disclaimer: I hadn't seen this movie prior to watching it this evening. Maybe I saw pieces of it at some point, but not all of it. The only MI film I'd watched (in full) prior to this was the last one.
This film was predictable to me, though, to be fair, a lot of films have copied it, so I'm sure if I'd have seen it when it initially came out, I may have been surprised.
Some of the action scenes weren't completely believable, and the visual fx were very strange looking on bluray. Paramount should probably get around to remastering these here pretty soon.
The one scene I was impressed with was the whole hanging in the safe in Langley. It's also the scene that's been mimicked in other films the most.
  
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ClareR (5726 KP) rated My Mother’s Secret in Books

May 13, 2018 (Updated May 13, 2018)  
My Mother’s Secret
My Mother’s Secret
Sanjida Kay | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Lizzie Bradshaw witnessed a terrible crime and had to pay the ultimate price. Emma Taylor has a terrible secret that she seems to have hidden even from herself. Stella Taylor, Emma’s teenaged daughter, knows that something is going on with her mum.
This is such a good story with lots of twists and turns. It’s quite sad, really. Even when you think everything is going to be all right, well, it’s not.
I didn’t see the end coming at all!!
Kay writes teenagers really well: how confused they are, and ultimately, vulnerable. Speaking of vulnerability, Emma is a sad character who clearly has a lot of issues.
A very entertaining story.
Thanks to The Pigeonhole for their serialisations of this book, and the publisher Corvus for making it available!