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Awix (3310 KP) rated Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) in Movies
Mar 14, 2018 (Updated Mar 15, 2018)
Lavish juggernaut follow-up to 1984 original is essentially the James Cameron school of sequel-making incarnate: all the stuff from the first film, only busier, bigger, and louder. Two more time-travelling killers appear in the present day intent on eliminating future-saviour John Connor; lots of stuff blows up.
An extremely accomplished film, in technical terms at least, but once you get past all the pyrotechnic highs and gosh-wow CGI (which was admittedly game-changing 27 years ago), it's basically the same story told rather less effectively from a narrative point of view - man vs machine is a more effective conflict than machine vs slightly more advanced machine, which is what we have here, and the whole subplot forming the basis of the second half only undermines the atmosphere of inevitable doom that was so important to the success of the original film. Bigger than Terminator, but by no means better - builds off the first movie, but adds nothing to it.
An extremely accomplished film, in technical terms at least, but once you get past all the pyrotechnic highs and gosh-wow CGI (which was admittedly game-changing 27 years ago), it's basically the same story told rather less effectively from a narrative point of view - man vs machine is a more effective conflict than machine vs slightly more advanced machine, which is what we have here, and the whole subplot forming the basis of the second half only undermines the atmosphere of inevitable doom that was so important to the success of the original film. Bigger than Terminator, but by no means better - builds off the first movie, but adds nothing to it.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Terminator Genisys (2015) in Movies
Mar 15, 2018
Auction-prize Terminator movie appears to have been made by dyslexics, but that's the least of its worries. A film of two unequal halves: opening section, in which the events of the 1984 movie are cheerfully revisited and rewritten, has a sort of demented energy which makes it rather watchable. The rest of it, in which the action inexplicably shifts to a near future where the nascent Skynet is some kind of app or Windows update, is essentially incoherent cobblers.
Film is not just incoherent, but openly and knowingly incoherent, with elements of backstory and actual plot left unexplained, presumably to be revisited in a future sequel. Action and acting is okay; makes relatively little use of Arnie, all things considered. Hits all the right buttons to keep fans of the series from rising up in a violent revolt (though it's possibly a near thing); it will probably simply bore, confuse, or repel anyone unfamiliar with the earlier movies.
Film is not just incoherent, but openly and knowingly incoherent, with elements of backstory and actual plot left unexplained, presumably to be revisited in a future sequel. Action and acting is okay; makes relatively little use of Arnie, all things considered. Hits all the right buttons to keep fans of the series from rising up in a violent revolt (though it's possibly a near thing); it will probably simply bore, confuse, or repel anyone unfamiliar with the earlier movies.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) in Movies
Mar 27, 2018 (Updated Mar 28, 2018)
What-time-d'you-call-this-then late-arriving sequel to Guillermo del Toro's 2013 love letter to Japanese tokusatsu movies. A new generation of giant robot pilots must stop a new attempt to wipe out the human race using giant monsters.
The plot is fairly forgettable and possibly incoherent, as is most of the acting (though Scott Eastwood makes something of an impression in an underwritten part), but you go to this kind of film to see enormous robots and kaiju smacking each other about the head with bits of skyscraper, and this movie delivers that in spades. Possibly the first western movie to capture the real spirit of Japanese monster movies, and that makes up for a lot. The world-building isn't as interesting as in the first one, but it retains a few compellingly weird touches. Pure popcorn entertainment, but made with real energy and actually quite charming in a puppyish way.
The plot is fairly forgettable and possibly incoherent, as is most of the acting (though Scott Eastwood makes something of an impression in an underwritten part), but you go to this kind of film to see enormous robots and kaiju smacking each other about the head with bits of skyscraper, and this movie delivers that in spades. Possibly the first western movie to capture the real spirit of Japanese monster movies, and that makes up for a lot. The world-building isn't as interesting as in the first one, but it retains a few compellingly weird touches. Pure popcorn entertainment, but made with real energy and actually quite charming in a puppyish way.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Vengeance of She (1968) in Movies
Feb 26, 2018 (Updated Feb 26, 2018)
Bargain basement Hammer fantasy sequel manages to ditch almost everything that gave the original film its class. Plot is basically a role-reversal of the original film; Richardson's character has gone mad (we are invited to infer) and regressed to the personality of his previous incarnation (film doesn't actually make sense otherwise); awaits the arrival of the reincarnation of Ursula Andress (not that Berova looks that much like her); cult of sorcerers offer to speed her arrival in return for the secret of immortality.
Basically just quite pedestrian and dull, with lots of messing about on a rich man's yacht that doesn't do a great deal to advance the plot. Some potentially interesting ideas are ignored in favour of potboiler romance and fantasy melodrama. Production values basically scream that the movie was made on a very low budget. Andre Morell is the best thing in it, and he's not in it all that much.
Basically just quite pedestrian and dull, with lots of messing about on a rich man's yacht that doesn't do a great deal to advance the plot. Some potentially interesting ideas are ignored in favour of potboiler romance and fantasy melodrama. Production values basically scream that the movie was made on a very low budget. Andre Morell is the best thing in it, and he's not in it all that much.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2340 KP) rated A Muddied Murder (A Greenhouse Mystery #1) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Megan Sawyer’s plans to revitalize her family’s farm and open a small store and café are constantly hitting the road block of Simon Duvall. Simon is the head of the local zoning commission, and he keeps failing her on every inspection. After the latest one, Megan finds Simon murdered in the farm’s barn. Naturally, the police are looking at Megan as a suspect, but all Megan can wonder is why Simon was killed in the barn.
This is a wonderful debut! There are some secrets in Megan’s family that come to light over the course of the book and add another layer to the story. I can’t wait to see where that goes next. The mystery of Simon’s murder is also very well done with plenty of surprises along the way. Top that off with great characters. I can’t wait to return for the sequel.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/06/book-review-muddied-murder-by-wendy.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
This is a wonderful debut! There are some secrets in Megan’s family that come to light over the course of the book and add another layer to the story. I can’t wait to see where that goes next. The mystery of Simon’s murder is also very well done with plenty of surprises along the way. Top that off with great characters. I can’t wait to return for the sequel.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/06/book-review-muddied-murder-by-wendy.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018
The Way to a Man's Heart is through his Sex Dungeon
Crushingly predictable glossy romance in which a shy everygirl manages to win the heart of a handsome, wealthy man, with regular sequences of soft-core humping included in an attempt to disguise how formulaic it all is.
Manages the surprising trick of making bondage seem quite dull; I found my attention wandering, and wondering who it was that kept Mr Grey's sex dungeon so shiny clean - has his cleaner also signed an NDA? Essentially hobbled as a piece of erotica by the fact that, in the end, this is still a mainstream film and so there are certain things they can't show. In the end this really has all the sizzling erotic frisson of a game of dominoes with Jacob Rees-Mogg. Extra point knocked off for the fact it doesn't bother with a proper climax (so to speak), choosing to leave that for the inevitable sequel.
Manages the surprising trick of making bondage seem quite dull; I found my attention wandering, and wondering who it was that kept Mr Grey's sex dungeon so shiny clean - has his cleaner also signed an NDA? Essentially hobbled as a piece of erotica by the fact that, in the end, this is still a mainstream film and so there are certain things they can't show. In the end this really has all the sizzling erotic frisson of a game of dominoes with Jacob Rees-Mogg. Extra point knocked off for the fact it doesn't bother with a proper climax (so to speak), choosing to leave that for the inevitable sequel.
Dallas Tomberlin (1 KP) rated Renegades in Books
Jun 2, 2018
This is the best book I've read all year! It completely kept my attention the whole time i was reading it. I was very disappointed when it ended and I found out I had to wait months for the sequel to come out. It'll definitely be well worth the wait though.
Nova Artino/Mclain aka Nightmare/Insomnia was a very likeable character. I loved her. She's definitely not one of the bad guys even though she was raised by "villians" and went undercover as a Renagade.
I really liked Adrian as well. He was also very likeable. Many of the main supporting characters were likable, I just wished we could have learned more about them and seen them more.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. I cannot wait until Arch Enemies will be released so I can see where it takes Nova and Adrian and their gang.
Nova Artino/Mclain aka Nightmare/Insomnia was a very likeable character. I loved her. She's definitely not one of the bad guys even though she was raised by "villians" and went undercover as a Renagade.
I really liked Adrian as well. He was also very likeable. Many of the main supporting characters were likable, I just wished we could have learned more about them and seen them more.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book. I cannot wait until Arch Enemies will be released so I can see where it takes Nova and Adrian and their gang.
Joe Julians (221 KP) rated The X-Files - Fight the Future (1998) in Movies
Jun 26, 2018
Full review here -
A solid leap to the big screen for The X-Files. The movie benefits from having this be a story that while linked to what came before it, is able to stand on its own feet and not be too confusing for new viewers. The effects hold up 20 years on and the budget it was given clearly shows. Yes, this may just seem like an extended episode of the show but for me, it does enough to make the decision to create a film out of this franchise worthwhile. Some aspects don't work, I don't like that Scully is once again in need of saving for example but on the whole, this is an enjoyable feature and miles ahead in quality of the sequel that came along 10 years later.
Just an aside, the above video review does contain a spoiler-filled rant about the latest season of the show.
A solid leap to the big screen for The X-Files. The movie benefits from having this be a story that while linked to what came before it, is able to stand on its own feet and not be too confusing for new viewers. The effects hold up 20 years on and the budget it was given clearly shows. Yes, this may just seem like an extended episode of the show but for me, it does enough to make the decision to create a film out of this franchise worthwhile. Some aspects don't work, I don't like that Scully is once again in need of saving for example but on the whole, this is an enjoyable feature and miles ahead in quality of the sequel that came along 10 years later.
Just an aside, the above video review does contain a spoiler-filled rant about the latest season of the show.
Paul Smedley (141 KP) rated Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) in Movies
Jun 20, 2018
Stop. Eject.
Well! I was really looking forward to this film as I loved the first one but this is god awful.
I love Jon Boyega but in this he doesn’t seem to be acting and seems like he’s in a rush to go home.
Charlie Day is another person I love to see in films and programmes but I cannot understand why he read the script on this one and agreed to go ahead with it.
The story is ridiculous, the acting is dire and I liked nothing about it other than Burn Gorman. His character remains the same and he is a delight to watch. The rest of the film is just full of ‘cringeworthy what the f@&£ness’
Watch the first, enjoy the first and imagine there was no sequel and that it ended where it did.
Trust me, you do not want to know where they took the story; it’s diabolical and you wouldn’t believe me!
I love Jon Boyega but in this he doesn’t seem to be acting and seems like he’s in a rush to go home.
Charlie Day is another person I love to see in films and programmes but I cannot understand why he read the script on this one and agreed to go ahead with it.
The story is ridiculous, the acting is dire and I liked nothing about it other than Burn Gorman. His character remains the same and he is a delight to watch. The rest of the film is just full of ‘cringeworthy what the f@&£ness’
Watch the first, enjoy the first and imagine there was no sequel and that it ended where it did.
Trust me, you do not want to know where they took the story; it’s diabolical and you wouldn’t believe me!
Anna Marie Green (7 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Prey in Video Games
Jul 15, 2018
Excellent Graphics (4 more)
Character
Puzzle Challenge
Game Difficulty
Fun Mechanics
Can be Predictable (1 more)
Wonky Objective Icons
Don't Turn Away
Prey is the sequel to half-life that we'll never get from Valve.
Whether you want to sneak past a Thermal Phantom or atrack a Technopath head-on (which I do not recommend), Prey packs a flexible and versatile gameplay experience with difficulty levels that make you feel like a champion. The maze of Talos is bound to hold dark secrets, tragedies, and ridiculous jokes that will keep you entertained when you're lost for the 18th time.
With a great soundtrack that keeps you on you toes, monsters that scare the living daylights out of you, and that Bethesda charm that causes cups to vibrate (it's definitely more of a feature in this game— you'll see what I mean) Prey is one of the best games of 2017 and deserves some love in 2018.
Mooncrash is a terrifying and equally enrapturing DLC.
Whether you want to sneak past a Thermal Phantom or atrack a Technopath head-on (which I do not recommend), Prey packs a flexible and versatile gameplay experience with difficulty levels that make you feel like a champion. The maze of Talos is bound to hold dark secrets, tragedies, and ridiculous jokes that will keep you entertained when you're lost for the 18th time.
With a great soundtrack that keeps you on you toes, monsters that scare the living daylights out of you, and that Bethesda charm that causes cups to vibrate (it's definitely more of a feature in this game— you'll see what I mean) Prey is one of the best games of 2017 and deserves some love in 2018.
Mooncrash is a terrifying and equally enrapturing DLC.