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Darren (1599 KP) rated Freaks Of Nature (2015) in Movies
Nov 29, 2019
Verdict: Silly Sci-Fi Horror Comedy
Story: Freaks of Nature starts as we head to Dillford, where humans, vampires and zombies leave side by side, we follow three high school students, Dag (Braun) who doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, Petra (Davis) that has been crushing a vampire, hoping to get turned into one herself and Ned (Fadem) a school geek that is destiny for better things, but is tired of his parents dreams in his brother, deciding he wants to become a vampire.
When aliens arrive in the town, the vampires and zombies go on a feeding craze, where Dag, Petra and Ned, must stand together in an attempt to survive the alien invasion even if they are different species now, they must put these difference behind them to survive.
Thoughts on Freaks of Nature
Characters – Dag comes from a normal family that sees him being in the middle of the high school hierarchy, he gets picked on by the jocks and just wants to be something more, waiting for the day he can be with his dream girl. Petra is dreaming of a vampire party, which sees her getting turned into one, looking for a chance to learn about her new blood lust. She hasn’t always fitted in, which has never bothered her. Ned is the smartest kid in school, his parents are more interested in their jock son, which sees them ignoring him more often than not, making him want to become dumber like the zombies. We do meet a host of other characters that are different a mix of humans, vampires and zombies each with their own stigma.
Performances – Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis and Josh Fadem in the leading roles do bring out the colourful side of their characters even if they fit the generic types for a high school movie. We do have some big name comic actors that get their moments to shine too.
Story – The story here follows three high school kids growing up in a world of humans, vampires and zombies when aliens visit causing chaos as the three unlikely friends must come together to save themselves and the town. This is meant to be more of a parody, more than a serious story, which for the most part is fine, it plays out like a zombie survival story when the outbreak just starts, finding a hiding place before figuring out what to do, while trying to deal with high school problems the three are facing. It isn’t as clever of a story as it thinks, which does leave parts of it feeling flat by the end.
Comedy/Horror/Sci-Fi – The comedy is meant to be more parody, which tries to poke fun at the invasion genre, while the horror is meant to be about the creatures in horror, rather than being scary in anyway, with the aliens being the sci-fi side of the film, which is the biggest threat, but not focused on enough.
Settings – The film is set in a small town which does bring the characters together through the problems they will be facing, how certain stories around town bring them together.
Scene of the Movie – Opening attack.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Doesn’t get enough laughs for a comedy.
Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that just doesn’t get enough laughs and ends up feeling flat by the end of the film.
Overall: Flat Comedy.
Story: Freaks of Nature starts as we head to Dillford, where humans, vampires and zombies leave side by side, we follow three high school students, Dag (Braun) who doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, Petra (Davis) that has been crushing a vampire, hoping to get turned into one herself and Ned (Fadem) a school geek that is destiny for better things, but is tired of his parents dreams in his brother, deciding he wants to become a vampire.
When aliens arrive in the town, the vampires and zombies go on a feeding craze, where Dag, Petra and Ned, must stand together in an attempt to survive the alien invasion even if they are different species now, they must put these difference behind them to survive.
Thoughts on Freaks of Nature
Characters – Dag comes from a normal family that sees him being in the middle of the high school hierarchy, he gets picked on by the jocks and just wants to be something more, waiting for the day he can be with his dream girl. Petra is dreaming of a vampire party, which sees her getting turned into one, looking for a chance to learn about her new blood lust. She hasn’t always fitted in, which has never bothered her. Ned is the smartest kid in school, his parents are more interested in their jock son, which sees them ignoring him more often than not, making him want to become dumber like the zombies. We do meet a host of other characters that are different a mix of humans, vampires and zombies each with their own stigma.
Performances – Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis and Josh Fadem in the leading roles do bring out the colourful side of their characters even if they fit the generic types for a high school movie. We do have some big name comic actors that get their moments to shine too.
Story – The story here follows three high school kids growing up in a world of humans, vampires and zombies when aliens visit causing chaos as the three unlikely friends must come together to save themselves and the town. This is meant to be more of a parody, more than a serious story, which for the most part is fine, it plays out like a zombie survival story when the outbreak just starts, finding a hiding place before figuring out what to do, while trying to deal with high school problems the three are facing. It isn’t as clever of a story as it thinks, which does leave parts of it feeling flat by the end.
Comedy/Horror/Sci-Fi – The comedy is meant to be more parody, which tries to poke fun at the invasion genre, while the horror is meant to be about the creatures in horror, rather than being scary in anyway, with the aliens being the sci-fi side of the film, which is the biggest threat, but not focused on enough.
Settings – The film is set in a small town which does bring the characters together through the problems they will be facing, how certain stories around town bring them together.
Scene of the Movie – Opening attack.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Doesn’t get enough laughs for a comedy.
Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that just doesn’t get enough laughs and ends up feeling flat by the end of the film.
Overall: Flat Comedy.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Dakota and the American Dream in Books
Apr 24, 2020
"Dakota was tired of playing catch with his mother at the park," so he rested on a bench but was soon distracted by a peculiar talking squirrel. Chasing after the strange creature, Dakota finds himself in a fantasy world full of anthropomorphic animals. Before he knows what is happening, Dakota finds himself working for Corporate America with its odd rules and unhappy employees.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
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Louise (64 KP) rated Horrorstör in Books
Jul 2, 2018
I was super excited about reading this book, when I first read the synopsis of a haunted Ikea style superstore I was instantly intrigued and couldn’t wait to pick it up. I showed my friend the book and she too wanted to read this book on the synopsis alone. There is something quite thrilling about a superstore being haunted especially as I have an Ikea around the corner from where I live.
Lets talk about the design of this book first of all, when I picked it up it looked and felt just like a shopping catalogue,the book also had french flaps and on the inside of the cover there was a layout of the store and list of areas, such as kitchens, bedrooms, wardrobes etc etc. Every chapter had a product advertisement that become more and more sinister throughout the book.
This book was definitely intense and got very creepy and definitely scary in parts but I didn’t feel any connection with the characters, This could be that it was told from a third person perspective or that none of them had personalities.All of the characters were just boring. The reason why it was haunted was quite interesting and I really liked that aspect of the story. The ending, I think is a bit 50/50 you are either going to love it or hate it and I didn’t like it.When I finished this book there was one question on my mind WHY? This book is described as a parody/humor which I found wasn’t the case at all and I perhaps sniggered once.
Overall I enjoyed the book and loved the aesthetic side of it but it just didn’t blow me away. I recommend this for people who want a quick read with elements of horror.
I rated this 2.5 out of 5 stars
Lets talk about the design of this book first of all, when I picked it up it looked and felt just like a shopping catalogue,the book also had french flaps and on the inside of the cover there was a layout of the store and list of areas, such as kitchens, bedrooms, wardrobes etc etc. Every chapter had a product advertisement that become more and more sinister throughout the book.
This book was definitely intense and got very creepy and definitely scary in parts but I didn’t feel any connection with the characters, This could be that it was told from a third person perspective or that none of them had personalities.All of the characters were just boring. The reason why it was haunted was quite interesting and I really liked that aspect of the story. The ending, I think is a bit 50/50 you are either going to love it or hate it and I didn’t like it.When I finished this book there was one question on my mind WHY? This book is described as a parody/humor which I found wasn’t the case at all and I perhaps sniggered once.
Overall I enjoyed the book and loved the aesthetic side of it but it just didn’t blow me away. I recommend this for people who want a quick read with elements of horror.
I rated this 2.5 out of 5 stars
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019) in Movies
Jan 11, 2019
A painful watch
I have to admit, I’m a little undecided about this. On one hand I found it informative and amusing, but on the other I found it such a difficult and painful thing to watch.
The performances in this were great, especially Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear. There were some hilarious takes on some of the politicians, it didn’t shy away from allowing them to come across as conceited a-holes, and the impression of Boris Johnson wasmost notable. Yes it was probably verging on parody, but it brought some much needed humour to the film. It’s well shot and scripted, and it is undoubtedly very smart and has obviously picked up a few pointers from the likes of House of Cards. It was interesting to see the story of someone I’ve never even heard of (politics isn’t my strong point I’ll admit) and to see what happened in the background of Brexit - or at least this film’s version of events... I am concerned that this has tried to summarise Brexit in the space over 2 hours and doesn’t seem to include as much detail as it should.
My main issue with this though is that as a Remainer, this is a painful thing to watch. Considering Brexit is still very much ongoing and fresh for anyone in the UK, it raises the question of whether we really needed to see this film right now. It’s not exactly putting our minds at ease, and instead seems to be raising more questions and causing more ructions. But then conversely, I can see the reasons why it would be the perfect time to release this, because we haven’t even left yet. It’s very divisive, and I honestly can’t quite decide exactly how I feel about this. It’s definitely informative and well made, just very difficult to swallow.
The performances in this were great, especially Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear. There were some hilarious takes on some of the politicians, it didn’t shy away from allowing them to come across as conceited a-holes, and the impression of Boris Johnson wasmost notable. Yes it was probably verging on parody, but it brought some much needed humour to the film. It’s well shot and scripted, and it is undoubtedly very smart and has obviously picked up a few pointers from the likes of House of Cards. It was interesting to see the story of someone I’ve never even heard of (politics isn’t my strong point I’ll admit) and to see what happened in the background of Brexit - or at least this film’s version of events... I am concerned that this has tried to summarise Brexit in the space over 2 hours and doesn’t seem to include as much detail as it should.
My main issue with this though is that as a Remainer, this is a painful thing to watch. Considering Brexit is still very much ongoing and fresh for anyone in the UK, it raises the question of whether we really needed to see this film right now. It’s not exactly putting our minds at ease, and instead seems to be raising more questions and causing more ructions. But then conversely, I can see the reasons why it would be the perfect time to release this, because we haven’t even left yet. It’s very divisive, and I honestly can’t quite decide exactly how I feel about this. It’s definitely informative and well made, just very difficult to swallow.
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