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Barker's Row
Barker's Row
2018 | Card Game
Excellent Art (1 more)
Nice Components
Repetitive After A While (0 more)
Fun Game - Especially With A Sideshow Performer In The Group
I got the Kickstarter for Barker's Row because I have friends who work in sideshow and I knew they would like the theme. The theme of the game is very strong through the game and it was fun to play with these folks.

Without them, the game is a straightforward card drafting and hand management affair where luck can have a strong effect on who wins in the end. If you have good Attraction cards with useful powers then you can make multiple calls and pull way ahead of everyone else. This is, however, true for a good number of games that involves an element of luck.

I really enjoyed playing this game because of the theme and because some of the cards are fun. The art is excellent and the pieces are good quality. The "Rube" meeples all have different people on them so you can fill your grandstand with all kinds of strange people coming to see your shows.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Le Dernier Combat (The Final Battle) (1983) in Movies

Apr 16, 2019 (Updated Apr 16, 2019)  
Le Dernier Combat (The Final Battle) (1983)
Le Dernier Combat (The Final Battle) (1983)
1983 | Drama, Sci-Fi
7
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Luc Besson's debut shows his interest in (fairly) high-concept SF and fantasy, ability to tell a story visually, and tendency towards startling excess (although not as much as in some later films). Civilisation has collapsed, the world has run out of colours (everything is in black and white), and some strange phenomenon has destroyed everyone's powers of speech. A wanderer (Jolivet) attempts to defend a hospital from the depredations of a brute (Reno) - given the premise of the film, it's hard to have a plot much more detailed than that.

Filmed on location in disused bits of Paris on a very low budget, the film clearly owes a debt to the likes of the Mad Max films, though it can't replicate their kinetic action. More of a curiosity than anything else, its message - we have to find a way to really communicate if we want to survive - may be a bit glib and simplistic, but this is Besson we're talking about, after all. Definitely stylish, and with enough unexpected touches to keep it quite watchable.
  
Final Shadows (A Bishop Files Novel, Book 3)
Final Shadows (A Bishop Files Novel, Book 3)
Kay Hooper | 2019 | Mystery, Paranormal
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I adore Kay Hooper and the Bishop/SCU/Haven stories. That being said, these Bishop Files novels don’t seem to have the same….punch, if you will, as the main stories. This was a disappointing end to the trilogy, and a disappointing installment in the Bishop/SCU universe.

Almost the entire book is the characters talking. Explaining what happened over the last two books and why, explaining what’s going to happen and why, explaining what they need to do to end the “war.” SO.MUCH.TALKING. Even when action moments took place, they were over far too quickly, and then – you guessed it – back to talking, because evidently they found it necessary to dissect every little moment. Not even Bishop or Miranda were excluded from this overly descriptive narrative. At this point in the series, did we really need a rehash of what everyone’s powers/abilities are?

The ending of this book made me say “What?? UGH. That’s how it’s ending?”

Looking forward to eventually returning to the main SCU storyline.
  
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
2003 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
So as we left our heroes, the last human city, Zion, is coming under imminent threat from the army of robot "squiddies" hurling toward them at lightning speed and Neo has discovered he has superhuman powers and can do lots of cool stuff.

After Agent Smith visits the Oracle at the beginning of the film, he really disappears along with Neo while the large dogfight between the humans who are using these Avatar/Aliens type robot machine things to defend Zion.

Most of the battle scenes are mediocre at best. The whole time I was thinking I had seen all of this done better in other movies.



The scenes between Neo and Trinity at the end tie the story of the three films together somewhat, but the ultimate climax is not very interesting and somewhat of a letdown.

Ultimately, Warner Brothers wanted to make The Matrix a film trilogy, and although the original will always maintain its status as truly revolutionary, the sequels will always be remembered as disappointments.

  
Show all 4 comments.
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Ellis (87 KP) Jun 2, 2019

Really good review here, you made some really true and valid points especially about the battle scenes

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Andy K (10821 KP) Jun 2, 2019

Wow thanks a lot!

I may be good, but Sherlock Holmes is better. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle weaves unusual and fantastical tales about the globally beloved detective in this collection of stories. Each is short and can be devoured in less than an hour. They are some of his more famous short works and highly enjoyable.

Doyle paints a narrative through the eyes of Holmes' companion, Dr. Watson and makes the tale more accessible to the average reader. Holmes' sharp mannerisms and lofty thoughts would not be as intriguing if Watson's nobler sentiments and smoothing words did not soften him. Each mystery slowly unfolds before the reader's eyes and if their powers of deduction are keen, they may even discover some clues or Holmes' motives before they're expressly detailed.

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson were beloved in their time and are now classics for a reason. This is a wonderful collection of stories and highly recommended to fans of detective stories, classic novels, or have never read a story about Sherlock Holmes before and wish to give them a shot. (You won't be disappointed.)
  
Super Powereds: Year 1
Super Powereds: Year 1
Drew Hayes | 2014 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A twist on the classic super hero story
This is an interesting in-depth look at a Hero Certification Program and how young Supers become full-fledged Heroes. Gifted with incredible powers, the Supers have to complete 4 years of rigorous training to be allowed an internship under an existing Hero.

The Powereds, on the other hand, have to be contained and avoided--they have no control over their abilities. And that's fine if your ability is, say, shooting water out of your fingers... But what if you control the flow of gravity, or absorb electricity?

When a mysterious treatment turns 5 Powereds into Supers, you can bet there is chaos, mischief, and at least a little destruction to boot!

I loved this book because it was well-written, with interesting and deep characters. There are no Mary Sues here, and even the professors become real as opposed to just static authority figures.

Additionally. I bought this book for Kindle for $4, and it's like 700 pages long. Can't beat that price!

I reccommend this book to everyone!
  
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Deborah (162 KP) rated White Rose Dies in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
WR
White Rose Dies
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Main problem is that as its heart it assumes that the skeletons found in the reign of Charles II are the so-called Princes in the Tower and that they were murdered, neither of which I believe to be true. There isn't a shred of evidence that they were killed by anyone and the skeletons in questions we can't even be sure of the gender of. The author claims they are where Thomas More said they were buried, but in fact they were supposedly found exactly where More said they weren't! Said skeleton were also supposedly tipped on a rubbish heap and then later recovered, so there can be no absolute certainty that the bones interred in Westminster Abbey are the same ones. Of course science could answer so many of our questions now, but these bones have been refused permission for further examination - presumably as the powers that be realise that this will put paid to what they see as a good story on their tourist trail!
  
Iron Angel (Deepgate Codex #2)
Iron Angel (Deepgate Codex #2)
Alan Campbell | 2009 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first novel in the Deepgate Codex trilogy, Scar Night, explored the immediate surroundings of the suspended city of Deepgate. This second entry follows the fallout from the battle of Deepgate as the balance between the powers of the world realign themselves.

As with Scar Night, Campbell's imagination creates some stunning characters and imagery; the Soft Men, John Anchor, a nightmarish journey through hell. The descriptions are extremely evocative, the whole having a sort of Gothic Steampunk feel to it.

This is, however, weaker than Scar Night, partly because there is just so much Campbell is keen to show us that the detail gets lost, and at times the story grinds to a halt for some lingering descriptions of something that although interesting has no real bearing on the story and just means momentum is lost. The result is unfortunately a bit of a mess.

Not a bad book by any means, but a case of an author's enthusiasm for their own creations reducing the focus on developing an interesting and coherent story
  
The Black Cauldron (1985)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
1985 | Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
9
7.5 (55 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Dark Disney Movie
In the 80's disney released alot of dark twisted movie. Like "The Watcher in the Woods", "Dragonslayer", "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Return to Oz". This movie is. Including with those movies. This movie is dark and twisted. But at the same time, its a excellent animation movie. About love, betrayal, mystical power and evil vs. good. Its like "Robin Hood" mix with "The Sword in the Stone". Combine those two films you get this film.

The plot: In the land of Prydain, lowly pig herder Taran (Grant Bardsley) dreams of becoming a gallant knight. Young Taran receives his heroic calling when the evil Horned King (John Hurt) kidnaps Hen-Wren, a prophesying pig that had been entrusted to Taran. Now, with help from his furry sidekick Gurgi and Princess Eilonwy, Taran must locate the magical black cauldron before the Horned King is able to use its mystical powers to summon an army of the undead.

Its a very underrated animation film, that i highly recordmend watching it.