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Awix (3310 KP) rated Frailty (2002) in Movies
Feb 12, 2019
Brooding Southern Gothic horror movie starring and directed by Bill Paxton. Two young boys don't quite know how to react when their father announces he has been chosen by God to become a demon hunter; this involves hitting people with a big axe a lot. Low-key stuff for the most part; Paxton does a good job of taking you into the world of this family and their rather peculiar take on what is 'normal', strong performances all round.
Sadly the film is virtually undone by a frame story featuring a pre-McConnaissance Matthew McConnaughey, leading up to a long-way-sub-Shyamalan twist ending; this one element is so convoluted and unconvincing it drags down what's otherwise an atmospheric and effective film into something resembling a forgettable episode of The X Files.
Sadly the film is virtually undone by a frame story featuring a pre-McConnaissance Matthew McConnaughey, leading up to a long-way-sub-Shyamalan twist ending; this one element is so convoluted and unconvincing it drags down what's otherwise an atmospheric and effective film into something resembling a forgettable episode of The X Files.
Danielle (103 KP) rated The Little Stranger (2018) in Movies
Feb 12, 2019
Acting (3 more)
Slow
Boring
Storyline
Snooze fest
I decided to watch this film because i enjoy horrors and the trailer made it look good. However i watched an hour of it then has to turn it off as it was extremely boring and slow paced. I did go back to it the next day to finish it as i wanted to know how it ended. I hoped it would pick up and be scary but sadly it wasnt. There where bits that seemed like they were supposed to be scary but they just weren't. The story seemed interesting but it left a lot of questions and didnt explain what was going on. As its based on a book i feel like the book may be better. However i havent read the book.
Dean (6925 KP) rated Streets of Rage II in Video Games
Feb 23, 2019
Great graphics (1 more)
Amazing soundtrack!
Epic Beat 'em up
This is a brilliant follow-up game to the first Streets of Rage title. It has improved on the original in every way. The graphics are great, bright and colourful. The characters are quite large on screen and have even more moves. The bosses are even better and varied. There are quite a lot of references to Streefighter 2 in terms of some of the moves and character design.
The soundtrack is awesome, even today it's probably considered one of the best games for its music. A great mix of dance, techno. Widely considered as one of the best beat 'em up games ever made. It runs Final Fight very close. Still available on the next gen consoles as a Sega classic game.
The soundtrack is awesome, even today it's probably considered one of the best games for its music. A great mix of dance, techno. Widely considered as one of the best beat 'em up games ever made. It runs Final Fight very close. Still available on the next gen consoles as a Sega classic game.
Bob (8 KP) rated Gloomhaven in Tabletop Games
Mar 6, 2019
Cool miniatures (2 more)
Tons of content in the box
Good game mechanics
Time between turns in 4 player can drag at times. (1 more)
Set up is a process
Lots of fun
Fun dungeon crawler with tons of in box content to discover and unlock through in game achievements. Our group had a lot of fun when we played our first 2 campaigns. It is truly enjoyable to crack the seal on new things that havent been revealed.
The problems we have run into though are the amount of time it takes to play and the fact that you should have the same group each play through, this has been our issue and caused us to all have to wait due to our group not being able to carve out enough time to commit to our 3rd campaign.
The problems we have run into though are the amount of time it takes to play and the fact that you should have the same group each play through, this has been our issue and caused us to all have to wait due to our group not being able to carve out enough time to commit to our 3rd campaign.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Troy (2004) in Movies
Mar 26, 2019
Hollywood retelling of the tale of Troy is just a bit better than you might expect in pretty much every department. Trojan prince Paris steals Greek queen Helen, leading to... does no-one read the Iliad any more? There's a lot of bother, let's put it that way.
Whole thing is handled in broad strokes and there are quite a few divergences from the traditional legend (the Trojan war lasts about a fortnight, not ten years, and you can forget any notion of Brad Pitt's Achilles being into, er, Greek-style romance, if you know what I mean), but overall this is fun, rousing stuff. Looking back on it now the various bits of political subtext not-so-subtly inserted into the film seem amusingly quaint more than anything else. A well-staged, classy blockbuster.
Whole thing is handled in broad strokes and there are quite a few divergences from the traditional legend (the Trojan war lasts about a fortnight, not ten years, and you can forget any notion of Brad Pitt's Achilles being into, er, Greek-style romance, if you know what I mean), but overall this is fun, rousing stuff. Looking back on it now the various bits of political subtext not-so-subtly inserted into the film seem amusingly quaint more than anything else. A well-staged, classy blockbuster.
ClareR (5667 KP) rated The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) in Books
Apr 2, 2019
I’ll be honest: my heart sank when I saw this book and realised there were 619 pages. By halfway through, I couldn’t believe that there were only 619 pages - I needed more!
The world building in this is immense and impressive - like Game of Thrones with more magic (I am in no way comparing storylines here!!).
I don’t know what I can say without giving too much away, so here goes. Each chapter is from a different characters viewpoint: Nahri, Ali, Darra (yes, he did ‘kind of’ die, but he’s back. Boy, is he back!), and we learn a lot more of the hatred between the Daevas and Geziris.
I honestly cannot wait for the third book to see how this will all pan out, because that ending is one heck of a cliffhanger!
The world building in this is immense and impressive - like Game of Thrones with more magic (I am in no way comparing storylines here!!).
I don’t know what I can say without giving too much away, so here goes. Each chapter is from a different characters viewpoint: Nahri, Ali, Darra (yes, he did ‘kind of’ die, but he’s back. Boy, is he back!), and we learn a lot more of the hatred between the Daevas and Geziris.
I honestly cannot wait for the third book to see how this will all pan out, because that ending is one heck of a cliffhanger!
Auburn (57 KP) rated The Afterward in Books
Apr 10, 2019
This books cover makes it seem like there a lot of characters. In fact it is mostly just the two main women and their love story. There are different characters who have background voices but they aren't a focus. Some come in and leave by the next page.
While I enjoyed the complex world building and the different interactions this wasn't what I was expecting. Most of the story focused on the love side. The growth of a love story instead of a fantasy story. The F/F relationship was adorable and we'll thought out but took over what I think was supposed to be a fantasy book with a side of romance.
I would highly recommend this to any readers who enjoy romance in a different world. For fans of Ashley Poston.
While I enjoyed the complex world building and the different interactions this wasn't what I was expecting. Most of the story focused on the love side. The growth of a love story instead of a fantasy story. The F/F relationship was adorable and we'll thought out but took over what I think was supposed to be a fantasy book with a side of romance.
I would highly recommend this to any readers who enjoy romance in a different world. For fans of Ashley Poston.
Auburn (57 KP) rated The Rancher's Baby in Books
Apr 10, 2019
This was a compellingly sweet read with a bit of mystery thrown in. The first pages draw you in and tell you that this won't just be a romance but actually have some content to keep you interested. That to me makes this stand out from other romances.
The characters aren't just one dimensional and they bring a backstory that gives the relationships substance.
Perfect for those who enjoy a mystery romance with substance that isn't just about the sexual attraction and nothing else. For those who don't want a lot of extras it may not be for you.
On a side note the cover to me doesn't do this book justice. To me it looks like an 80s cheap romance cover and takes away from the book, which is actually very good.
The characters aren't just one dimensional and they bring a backstory that gives the relationships substance.
Perfect for those who enjoy a mystery romance with substance that isn't just about the sexual attraction and nothing else. For those who don't want a lot of extras it may not be for you.
On a side note the cover to me doesn't do this book justice. To me it looks like an 80s cheap romance cover and takes away from the book, which is actually very good.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated Roping The Cowboy in Books
Apr 15, 2019
Cruel pranks, eye rolling quotes, & unlikable characters
I read this book as part of the Read Me Romance Podcast.
Well, this book probably is going to have the title of the worst book I read in 2019. I tend to enjoy the enemies to lovers trope in the romance genre because it usually means that there is a lot of banter between the characters. Banter is my weakness, & I LOVE when character banter and flirt. Unfortunately, this book was not something I could get behind. I'm honestly surprised I finished it and didn't DNF it.
The characters were not likable. Both of them were vindictive & rude to each other. There was nothing "cute" about their actions.
If you like cruel pranks, eye-rolling quotes, and unlikeable characters, then this book is for you.
Well, this book probably is going to have the title of the worst book I read in 2019. I tend to enjoy the enemies to lovers trope in the romance genre because it usually means that there is a lot of banter between the characters. Banter is my weakness, & I LOVE when character banter and flirt. Unfortunately, this book was not something I could get behind. I'm honestly surprised I finished it and didn't DNF it.
The characters were not likable. Both of them were vindictive & rude to each other. There was nothing "cute" about their actions.
If you like cruel pranks, eye-rolling quotes, and unlikeable characters, then this book is for you.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Сталкер [Stalker] (1979) in Movies
Apr 27, 2019
![Сталкер [Stalker] (1979)](/uploads/profile_image/707/bcd145ec-5561-4909-a7e6-e801874bb707.jpg?m=1528075150)
Famously cryptic Russian existential SF classic, or possibly just three men wandering about on some waste ground for two and a half hours. A 'stalker' leads a writer and a scientist into a heavily guarded zone which contains a room that supposedly gives existence to the fondest desires of anyone entering it. They discuss philosophy. A lot.
Not quite as challengingly impenetrable as some of Tarkovsky's work, but still challengingly dense and subtle. Almost all the actual SF content is left to the imagination of the viewer; the film is primarily about discussions of virtue, faith, psychology, and many other abstract things. Mesmerising to watch, but quite hard work; there's a good chance it's every bit as good as everyone else says, but I'm just too thick to figure that out.
Not quite as challengingly impenetrable as some of Tarkovsky's work, but still challengingly dense and subtle. Almost all the actual SF content is left to the imagination of the viewer; the film is primarily about discussions of virtue, faith, psychology, and many other abstract things. Mesmerising to watch, but quite hard work; there's a good chance it's every bit as good as everyone else says, but I'm just too thick to figure that out.