Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Light of My Life (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Acting: 10
Casey Afleck is sensational in his role as Dad. You can feel the love he has for his daughter Rag (Anna Pniowsky) and see how torn he is between trying to be strong for her while trying not to break down himself. Pniowsky is solid as well playing the daughter. She reads the role with a defiant attitude, as a girl having to quickly grow up in a crazy world. They work perfectly together onscreen.
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
Cinematography/Visuals: 6
Conflict: 6
Casey Afleck, also the director, effectively builds tension throughout the journey. However, there are a number of times where you expect something to happen and it doesn’t. Ultimately, the conflict wasn’t quite so strong as I would have hoped.
Entertainment Value: 5
Because not as much action is happening in a movie that’s almost two hours, my level of being entertained was up and down. I did find myself checking out quite a few times especially when it’s the rinse and repeat of finding a campground, scouting, and laying down for the night. I just wish there were a few more close scrapes to keep me guessing.
Memorability: 3
This type of movie has been done before on the big screen and in video games. Unfortunately there’s not quite enough here to make it stand out. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely not a bad movie. It just lacks the necessary oompf to be much more than “just ok”.
Pace: 6
Attempts to move steadily before it slows down to a crawl again and again. There is no sense of urgency in the film and it drove me mad at times. Would have been much happier with the pace had the runtime been shorter.
Plot: 10
Resolution: 6
Decent ending, but…just decent. I question the decision of closure. Like a lot of the other facets of the movie, I was hoping for more.
Overall: 72
Light of My Life made me smile at times, but infuriated me at times when I knew I was watching something that could be better. It’s a decent movie and a few tweaks would have really done the trick for me. Now that I’ve seen it once, it’s not one I need to check out again.
Ross (3284 KP) rated King of Thorns in Books
Sep 5, 2017
In this book we see Jorg seemingy become more regal, less of a renegade loose canon, though this turns out not to be through his choice.
Similar to the first book, the story line is split between the "present", 4 years after the events of the Prince of Thorns and a separate timeline following immediately from the first book. The way these are woven together allows a good rate of reveals of key events and information along the way, while also leaving enough mystery behind for later.
The plot follows Jorg on his wedding day trying to defend his land from the would-be emperor, the prince of Arrow, and also in the past on a tour of the outlying countries trying to solve various problems.
The post-apocalyptic element hinted at in the first book is further explored here, but not in a way to detract from the important points of the story.
Overall this is an excellent follow-up with top-notch storytelling and engaging action, with the prince/king we love to hate and hate to hate.
Dana (24 KP) rated 7 Days to Die in Video Games
Sep 8, 2017
First, it's open world (sort of, you do have a huge map you can explore, but there are limits). It is a massive world where you must discover or build your own place of residence or loot cities, avoid toxic air environments, try not to freeze to death in the snow lands, die of heat in the deserts, among other things.
The one thing that makes it unique is that every 7 days, massive hordes of zombies (growing in size every additional 7 days) rush you to try and kill you. You better fortify your base or you won't last long.
Overall, I'm still addicted to this game a month after purchase. It still creeps me out and provides entertainment,.
b.Young (97 KP) rated The Moon Dwellers (The Dwellers #1) in Books
May 6, 2018
David Estes has created a unique post-apocalyptic world under the surface of the Earth in which the remaining people live. There are 3 underground realms: Sun, Moon, and Star that fittingly describe the amount of light that each level recieves and thus dictates the class of people that reside on each level.
The story is of 17-year-old Adele who is sentenced to life in the Pen for her parent's treasonous acts, since the abduction of her parents and sister by the Enforcers.
After learning that her family is, in fact, alive, she plots to escape her prison and rescue her family, but not before making a couple of friends in the Pen and developing some very weird feelings for the President of the Sun Realm's son (who apparently has developed the same feelings for her) whom she has never met!
An rollercoaster ride of emotions are what awaits you whilst reading this exciting tale! And I can't wait to read the second installment of The Dwellers Series!
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