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Awix (3310 KP) rated Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) in Movies
Jun 6, 2018 (Updated Jun 7, 2018)
Star Trek: the Motion Picture - more gruelling to make, or to watch? We may never know the answer. Actually, viewed these days, it's not quite that bad - Enterprise crew reconvene after big cloud is sighted on a course for Earth. Many conversations ensue, intercut with stately special effects sequences which feel like they go on forever. Mainly because they do.
To be honest, if you stop thinking about TMP as a movie and view it instead as the most lavish TV pilot in history, many of its problems are a bit more understandable. It explains why the crew take ages getting back together, and why they don't really seem like their old selves until near the end. It explains why much time is devoted to introducing new characters (even if they don't, in the end, make it out of the movie alive - although Will and Ilia were sort of reincarnated as Will and Deanna some years later). It doesn't really explain why the plot is so derivative of TV Trek, but you can't have everything I suppose.
It is true you can get a very good sense of the history of Star Trek without ever watching this movie, and also that the first three minutes may actually be the most engaging bit of it. But if you're watching it at all, you'll most likely have enough affection for the original characters to overlook the numerous flaws in the film.
To be honest, if you stop thinking about TMP as a movie and view it instead as the most lavish TV pilot in history, many of its problems are a bit more understandable. It explains why the crew take ages getting back together, and why they don't really seem like their old selves until near the end. It explains why much time is devoted to introducing new characters (even if they don't, in the end, make it out of the movie alive - although Will and Ilia were sort of reincarnated as Will and Deanna some years later). It doesn't really explain why the plot is so derivative of TV Trek, but you can't have everything I suppose.
It is true you can get a very good sense of the history of Star Trek without ever watching this movie, and also that the first three minutes may actually be the most engaging bit of it. But if you're watching it at all, you'll most likely have enough affection for the original characters to overlook the numerous flaws in the film.
Merissa (13169 KP) rated Skin Deep (Dark World, #1) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Kailin works as a counselor at a Drug Rehab Centre but you don't actually spend much time there. Logan is a policeman working for Omega who deal with Paranormal incidences. Kailin ends up being in the middle of an Omega investigation as she makes her own inquiries.
Kailin is a brilliant main female as she states her case, doesn't back down but isn't stupid enough to continue championing something that is a lost cause already. She has relationship issues with family and friends but those she lets in, get close to her. Logan makes the perfect foil for Kailin. He is also young for his profession and has his own secrets and problems.
There is a lot of action in this book - drug issues, torture, disappearance to just name a few. It isn't all physical though - both Logan and Kailin have mental and emotional issues to work through. This is a 'busy' book, with a story that goes all the way through without any dull moments. Some of the things that happen you can guess but there is a lot that will leave you wondering just where out of left field it came from. There is also the hint and promise of romance that runs through it.
Thoroughly enjoyable and a definite page turner. Recommended for all Urban Fantasy/Paranormal fans out there.
Kailin works as a counselor at a Drug Rehab Centre but you don't actually spend much time there. Logan is a policeman working for Omega who deal with Paranormal incidences. Kailin ends up being in the middle of an Omega investigation as she makes her own inquiries.
Kailin is a brilliant main female as she states her case, doesn't back down but isn't stupid enough to continue championing something that is a lost cause already. She has relationship issues with family and friends but those she lets in, get close to her. Logan makes the perfect foil for Kailin. He is also young for his profession and has his own secrets and problems.
There is a lot of action in this book - drug issues, torture, disappearance to just name a few. It isn't all physical though - both Logan and Kailin have mental and emotional issues to work through. This is a 'busy' book, with a story that goes all the way through without any dull moments. Some of the things that happen you can guess but there is a lot that will leave you wondering just where out of left field it came from. There is also the hint and promise of romance that runs through it.
Thoroughly enjoyable and a definite page turner. Recommended for all Urban Fantasy/Paranormal fans out there.
Deborah (162 KP) rated The Children of Henry VIII in Books
Dec 21, 2018
I was surprised to see that this book, covering a fair subject - the four known children of Henry VIII - had only about 200 pages of actual text. A rather different prospect to Guy's weighty biography of Mary Queen of Scots. As reams of paper and oceans of ink of already been expended on the Tudors, I'm not sure quite what the impetus behind this book was. It's not that it wasn't well written, because it was, but that I felt that it offered up almost nothing new. As an introduction to the subject to a reader new to the period I think I would recommend it, but to someone for whom this is already an area of interest, you've probably heard it all before.
The one new point that Guy does bring up, is the theory that Henry VIII belonged to a rare blood group, which resulted in problems with offspring surviving. We can see that no one woman appears to have more than one surviving child by him, but I would have liked a little more detail to support this - how did Henry come by his rare blood group? He was one of several siblings who survived infancy and his surviving sisters themselves had more than one surviving child.
A good brief guide to the subject, probably more suited to a reader fairly new to the subject. I felt disappointed as there was nothing new in here for me.
The one new point that Guy does bring up, is the theory that Henry VIII belonged to a rare blood group, which resulted in problems with offspring surviving. We can see that no one woman appears to have more than one surviving child by him, but I would have liked a little more detail to support this - how did Henry come by his rare blood group? He was one of several siblings who survived infancy and his surviving sisters themselves had more than one surviving child.
A good brief guide to the subject, probably more suited to a reader fairly new to the subject. I felt disappointed as there was nothing new in here for me.
ClareR (5950 KP) rated Nothing to Hide (DC Constance Fairchild #2) in Books
Jul 27, 2019
Nothing to Hide is the second book in a series about DC Constance (Con) Fairchild. I haven’t read the first book - but I will be reading it. Not having read the first book didn’t cause me any problems with understanding and enjoying this one.
It’s a police procedural of sorts: Con is suspended because of something that happened in the previous book, and trouble seems to follow her. First the tabloids won’t leave her alone and are camped outside her flat, and then she finds the barely alive body of a young black man in her bins. He has had his tongue and testicles removed.
Even though she is suspended, Con finds herself involved in the investigation of this case. She travels up to Edinburgh where the boys mother lives, via a visit to her estranged mother. There she meets the enigmatic Reverend Dr Edward Masters, the leader of the Church of the Coming Light.
I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) stop reading this - it was fast paced, exciting and completely engrossing. The supporting characters were great to read too (a bit of other-worldly guidance from two very well written characters).
I can’t wait for the next in the series, and I shall be definitely looking for a copy of the first book!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for another excellent read, and to the author, James Oswald, for reading along with us!
It’s a police procedural of sorts: Con is suspended because of something that happened in the previous book, and trouble seems to follow her. First the tabloids won’t leave her alone and are camped outside her flat, and then she finds the barely alive body of a young black man in her bins. He has had his tongue and testicles removed.
Even though she is suspended, Con finds herself involved in the investigation of this case. She travels up to Edinburgh where the boys mother lives, via a visit to her estranged mother. There she meets the enigmatic Reverend Dr Edward Masters, the leader of the Church of the Coming Light.
I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) stop reading this - it was fast paced, exciting and completely engrossing. The supporting characters were great to read too (a bit of other-worldly guidance from two very well written characters).
I can’t wait for the next in the series, and I shall be definitely looking for a copy of the first book!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for another excellent read, and to the author, James Oswald, for reading along with us!
Versusyours (757 KP) rated Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads in TV
Nov 5, 2019
Clever writing (2 more)
Relatable characters
Social history
A snapshot of changing social attitudes and relationships in Britain during the 1970s
A continuation of the earlier series The Likely Lads sees the changes in outlooks on life during the early 1970s and the world that is changing around them. Terry returns from the Army with a lack of a world view and a divorced whilst Bob is engaged and has entered the property ladder with lesuire activities and tastes to match. The two friends are both searching for answers about how they fit into a world that is moving to fast, does Bob want the life he is working towards? Is a Terry happy to be stuck in his ways and be skeptical of any change? The episodes are well written and show the way in which young people at the time were struggling to move away from the way there parents lived their lives and the changes that were a result of a more permissive society. The problems of the 1970s are still in essence the same worries that we still see today and the dynamics between the 2 main characters are played so well due to the clever writing and the continuing storyline that runs through the 2 seasons.
A great slice of British life from the period that has aged well due to the human elements of the relationships and the lack of understanding of the path that life is taking you on.
A great slice of British life from the period that has aged well due to the human elements of the relationships and the lack of understanding of the path that life is taking you on.
JT (287 KP) rated Good Boys (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Kids, they say the funniest things – or in the case of Good Boys, some of the dirtiest and rudest you’ll hear leave a tweens mouth. Baby faced Jacob Tremblay plays Max, a young boy approaching the outer reaches of puberty. His childhood friends Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon) equally have problems of their own. One is losing his parents to divorce and the other is fighting a tough exterior to pursue an ambition to sing.
In a basic plot, the trio, who call themselves the ‘beanbag boys’, need to replace Max’s Dad’s drone after using it to do some aerial reconnaissance. The boys are desperate to learn the right way to kiss a girl after being invited to a party by the cool kids at school.
The group find themselves in all sorts of trouble on a four mile adventure to the mall, from infiltrating a drug deal in a frat house to the sale of a sex doll – not to mention the most effective way to put back a dislocated shoulder.
Good Boys is littered with harmless gags but the script does feel a little bland and awkward at times. Its foul-mouthed humour can become stale and it’s by no means on the same level as Superbad or even American Pie for that matter.
What you do get is a film with the occasional laugh and the odd heartwarming moment. A solid cameo by Stephen Merchant is one of the few highlights.
In a basic plot, the trio, who call themselves the ‘beanbag boys’, need to replace Max’s Dad’s drone after using it to do some aerial reconnaissance. The boys are desperate to learn the right way to kiss a girl after being invited to a party by the cool kids at school.
The group find themselves in all sorts of trouble on a four mile adventure to the mall, from infiltrating a drug deal in a frat house to the sale of a sex doll – not to mention the most effective way to put back a dislocated shoulder.
Good Boys is littered with harmless gags but the script does feel a little bland and awkward at times. Its foul-mouthed humour can become stale and it’s by no means on the same level as Superbad or even American Pie for that matter.
What you do get is a film with the occasional laugh and the odd heartwarming moment. A solid cameo by Stephen Merchant is one of the few highlights.
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