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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Host (2006) in Movies

Sep 21, 2020

The Host (2006)

2006 | Comedy, Drama, Horror

7.0

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Profoundly idiosyncratic, but also overlong and sloppy. Should it be sufficient that this has something to say about Korean culture, excessive US force, and familial relationships when it dawdles *this* excessively and is more passive about its (still very sound) ideals than anything? Mainly tries to be a satiric spin on the prototypical monster movie, but ends up being this pseudo-Del-Toro-esque comedy that doesn't really have all that much of a benefit as opposed to if it were played straight. There is stuff to value here: that monster is pretty fucking cool, the cast act their hearts out, and there's some okay cinematography every now and again. But most of the positives fizzle out as this drones on. One of those monster movies that center around the characters over the monster itself - which would be fine - if they weren't such nonentities in their own story, defined by a single quirk each. The plot isn't much better as it fails to reconcile with the scope of itself - throwing in deus ex machinas that are supposedly momentous but just sorta come right out of nowhere, acting like they had sufficient buildup but... they didn't? Desperately wanted to love this, as everybody involved shows full commitment to this project, but it just does too many things wrong. Kind of a chore, predictable, and of very little consequence. A way better monster movie - at least - than 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘙𝘪𝘮: 𝘜𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Kudos

Death Worm

Games and Entertainment

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Meet the highly anticipated iOS version of the *ORIGINAL* Death Worm game (a Top-50 indie game of...

Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah (1991) in Movies

Mar 7, 2018

Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah (1991)

1991 | Adventure, Sci-Fi

6.1

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Eighteenth Godzilla movie (fifth Ghidorah movie, if anyone cares) goes back to campy basics following the relative underperformance of Godzilla Vs Biollante. Owes a lot to 60s and 70s Godzilla movies, but also to American SF movies of the 80s - Back to the Future and Terminator have clearly been an influence. Despite all this the film has an undeniably anti-American subtext (in the future, Japan will become the world's biggest superpower, causing jealous Americans to hatch evil plot to stop this) which is actually quite amusing (possibly less so if you're actually from the USA).

Interesting story, some of the special effects are a little variable but the monster battles are undeniably good fun. Given that Godzilla was a bad guy monster in all the films from this period, and Ghidorah is nearly always the bad guy monster, the question of how to resolve the plot without the bad guy monster winning is reasonably elegant. Some surprisingly edgy moments for a Godzilla movie, too - looks, albeit obliquely, at events connected to the Second World War in a way which previous films would never have dreamt of. Definitely from close to the top of the Godzilla stack.

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Merissa (12929 KP) rated Stephan's Monster (Vampires of Vadin #2) in Books

Dec 14, 2018

Stephan's Monster (Vampires of Vadin #2)

Shelby Rhodes | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Stephan's Monster (Vampires of Vadin #2) by Shelby Rhodes

Stephen's Monster is the second book in the Vampires of Vadin, and it goes off in a different direction than I thought it would! I was hoping for Asher and Kaiden's story, but no. Instead I get Jayden and Stephen, an opposite's attract couple, with deep and dark similarities. They are drawn to each other, and Stephen tries to help Jayden overcome his 'monster'.

Whilst these two have backgrounds as heartbreaking as you could imagine, this is not a heartbreaking story. Instead, it is one of acceptance, of love, and even of hope. Stephen's obsession with pink made me laugh, as Jayden's monster made me cry. So many highs and lows in this book, and I loved every word.

Nice to reunite with Adrian and Xavier from book one, plus other characters. If you enjoy dark romances with tortured heroes, then I can absolutely and utterly recommend this book!

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

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Dean (6927 KP) rated The Witcher - Season 1 in TV

Jan 13, 2020

The Witcher - Season 1

2019 | Action, Drama, Fantasy

7.6

(13 Ratings)

TV Season Rating

Magic & Monsters (0 more)

Henry Cavill's monotone voice (0 more)

Toss a coin to your Witcher

I can't say I know anything of the games or books. Saw this pop up on Netflix and hoped for something to fill the GoT void. With Magic and a monster hunter I hoped for great things especially as it seems to have a big budget. Although it is good and entertaining it wasn't the grand scale epic I thought it might be. For a monster hunter there are few episodes with any grand beasts. Some of them were a little underwhelming. It can be a bit slow in some episodes and Cavill's dull tones do become a bit annoying after a while. Thankfully it did pick up towards the end. Hopefully if they do a second series we will see a bit more monster action.