Awix (3310 KP) rated When the Tripods Came (The Tripods #4) in Books
Sep 18, 2019
A bit dated, but that's the least of the book's issues. A prequel to the main series was really not required, and the main catalyst for writing it seems to have been the Tripods TV show which was broadcast three or four years earlier. (The TV show the Masters use to take over the world bears a suspicious resemblance to the TV adaptation of the first two books.) It's not really meta, more sort of peeved: peeved at critics of the show's shortcomings, but also peeved at the makers of the show for not doing a better job. As well as being dated, the relationship subplots of the book feel a bit proforma, but the depiction of the world slowly sliding out of human control and the end of modern civilisation is vividly presented in the usual compelling fashion. Whether it should all feel a bit more downbeat and bleak is probably a question of personal taste; Christopher's prose retains its good manners as well as its readability.
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Japanese Media at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Consuming the Past
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Tess of the Road
7.0
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Meet Tess, a brave new heroine from beloved epic fantasy author Rachel Hartman. "Surprising,...
fantasy young adult
Microbial Biotechnology: Technological Challenges and Developmental Trends
Bhima Bhukya and Anjana Devi Tangutur
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The new volume takes an interdisciplinary look at current technical challenges and recent...
DC'S Legends of Tomorrow - Season 1
6.8
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As the world crumbles, the Time Master Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) takes matters into his own hands;...
Springer Handbook of Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Peter Teunissen and Oliver Montenbruck
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This Handbook presents a complete and rigorous overview of the fundamentals, methods and...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) in Movies
Apr 22, 2021
Story wise, H20 is a direct sequel to the first two movies, ignoring everything that came in between, a good decision considering how convoluted the overarching story became before. Existing in a post Scream world means that H20 has its fair share of meta moments, as EVERY horror immediately following Wes Craven's classic did. It's all a little on the nose, but any horror fan surely can't help but crack a smile during the hugely unsubtle nod to Psycho.
Unfortunately, there are some downfalls. The script leaves a lot to be desired, flitting between quoting the original Halloween (a lot) and just being plain overdramatic. The pacing is also a little iffy - considering the runtime clocks in at under 90 minutes, H20 flirts with boredom more than once. When Michael Myers is finally in the midst of things, it's hard not to be distracted by his weird looking (and frequently changing) mask.
Overall though, H20 is a good time that doesn't take itself too seriously. A pretty middle of the road slasher, but far from the worst in the series.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Final Destination (2000) in Movies
Oct 3, 2020
In many places somewhat more awesome then I remember, but suffers on subsequent visits because of how increasingly over-the-top these immediately began to get with the deaths in the sequels compared to the more humble ones here - which still finds a morbidity in their simplicity, but no one's being cooked alive in a tanning bed, you feel? Still has a lot going for it, the garrote in the shower is every bit as grisly as you recall and remains one of the hardest-to-watch executions in the entire series. But what actually rings better for me this time around is the heavily portentous teen melodrama packed tight with insane amounts of hilarious foreshadowing and a palpable sense of fear + paranoia (through Wong's clean direction and these astute performances [Sawa in particular is real outstanding]) all over the fact that death just really fucking hates these kids lol. Accomplishes as much playful winking as is legal without going full meta. Still one of the all-timer horror movie premises which honestly should have spawned an infinite number of sequels, but the writing around it is genuinely ingenious here, too. Still prefer the sequels for being leaner and meaner though.
DC's Legends Of Tomorrow
7.6
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TV Show Watch
As the world crumbles, the Time Master Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) takes matters into his own hands;...