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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Thor: Ragnarok (2017) in Movies
Oct 30, 2017 (Updated Oct 30, 2017)
Amazing visuals (2 more)
Witty dialogue
Surprise appearances
Inconsistent tone (2 more)
Anti climax
Wasted villain
The Worst Avenger's Best Movie
Contains spoilers, click to show
After seeing Thor: Ragnarok, I feel like the filmmakers were so paranoid about not churning out another formulaic, checklist of a Marvel movie that they chucked a whole bunch of disparate ideas into this mixing pot of a film and hoped that some of it would work. To some extent they were right; some of it does work, but some of it really doesn't. The stuff that doesn't work would probably work okay in a separate movie, but here it just provides a lack of cohesion and brings a jolting change of tone to many of the film's scenes.
Let me elaborate on what I mean and there will be spoilers from this point on. This movie should have been at least three different movies:
There should have been a movie about Hela's return to Asgard, showing her recruiting Skurge and raising her army of the dead and showing Thor and Loki being forced to put their differences aside and having to work together to defeat their more powerful, evil sister.
There should have been another movie about Thor ending up on Sakaar and having to battle Hulk and other competitors and eventually starting an uprising against the Grandmaster.
Then there should have been a third movie about Ragnarok and striving to prevent that event from occurring and defeating Surtur.
The plot elements of Ragnarok could have been split into three movies and it would mean that certain characters wouldn't have been wasted and that the big events that take place would have had more weight and gravitas to them, instead of just being brushed off in favour of getting to the next punch-line.
For example, Odin dies in this film and Thor and Loki deal with it and move on in a matter of seconds. There are no emotional repercussions whatsoever. Another example is the Warriors Three appearing in a single scene, having no dialogue and being killed in a matter of seconds of being onscreen. They attempt a character arc with Skurge, but again Karl Urban is onscreen for such a small amount of time that no resolution is felt following his sacrifice at the end of the movie. As soon as Cate Blanchett starts to show some potential as a memorable Marvel villain, the movie cuts away to yet another scene of Hulk and Thor bantering on Sakaar. Idris Elba is wasted too, having barely any dialogue and a very dull subplot. Jeff Goldblum is used purely as a gimmick and again is wasted by not having anywhere near enough screen time. I normally like seeing Tessa Thompson in things, but even she phoned it in here, with her accent taking on multiple different tones and dialects from scene to scene. Then, at the end of the movie, it is like the filmmakers suddenly remembered, 'oh that's right we need to conclude that Ragnarok subplot that we started at the beginning of the movie.' You know the FU***NG TITLE OF THE MOVIE. And so that gets tacked on at the end to sort of bring a conclusion to all of the other multiple subplots and lazily wrap up the movie.
The sheer amount of ideas that they attempted to incorporate here, makes so many elements of the movie's plot feel underdeveloped and although most of these separate parts could have worked if they were split up and fleshed out, here they all just end up falling flat by the end of the movie making the film feel anti-climatic as a whole.
Don't get me wrong, there is also a lot here that works too. I thought the cameos from Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth and Sam Neill was awesome. I liked the Doctor Strange appearance. I like how they had Thor lose his eye and I especially like how they managed to keep that out of all of the trailer and marketing. The trailers did ruin some things though, if we didn't already know that Mjolnir was going to get destroyed through seeing the trailers, it would have had more of an impact and all the talk about the vicious rival that Thor would have to face in the gladiator ring would have been way more effective if we didn't already know that it was going to be the Hulk.
Let's end things on a high note, the visuals were spectacular and this movie is worth going to see in theatres just for this alone. The CGI was incredible and the soundtrack was pretty great too. Overall this is a fun movie, but if like me you have been invested in these characters for the last five years, to see some of them go out with a whimper and some long term story arcs come to a disappointing conclusion, is unsatisfying to say the least.
Let me elaborate on what I mean and there will be spoilers from this point on. This movie should have been at least three different movies:
There should have been a movie about Hela's return to Asgard, showing her recruiting Skurge and raising her army of the dead and showing Thor and Loki being forced to put their differences aside and having to work together to defeat their more powerful, evil sister.
There should have been another movie about Thor ending up on Sakaar and having to battle Hulk and other competitors and eventually starting an uprising against the Grandmaster.
Then there should have been a third movie about Ragnarok and striving to prevent that event from occurring and defeating Surtur.
The plot elements of Ragnarok could have been split into three movies and it would mean that certain characters wouldn't have been wasted and that the big events that take place would have had more weight and gravitas to them, instead of just being brushed off in favour of getting to the next punch-line.
For example, Odin dies in this film and Thor and Loki deal with it and move on in a matter of seconds. There are no emotional repercussions whatsoever. Another example is the Warriors Three appearing in a single scene, having no dialogue and being killed in a matter of seconds of being onscreen. They attempt a character arc with Skurge, but again Karl Urban is onscreen for such a small amount of time that no resolution is felt following his sacrifice at the end of the movie. As soon as Cate Blanchett starts to show some potential as a memorable Marvel villain, the movie cuts away to yet another scene of Hulk and Thor bantering on Sakaar. Idris Elba is wasted too, having barely any dialogue and a very dull subplot. Jeff Goldblum is used purely as a gimmick and again is wasted by not having anywhere near enough screen time. I normally like seeing Tessa Thompson in things, but even she phoned it in here, with her accent taking on multiple different tones and dialects from scene to scene. Then, at the end of the movie, it is like the filmmakers suddenly remembered, 'oh that's right we need to conclude that Ragnarok subplot that we started at the beginning of the movie.' You know the FU***NG TITLE OF THE MOVIE. And so that gets tacked on at the end to sort of bring a conclusion to all of the other multiple subplots and lazily wrap up the movie.
The sheer amount of ideas that they attempted to incorporate here, makes so many elements of the movie's plot feel underdeveloped and although most of these separate parts could have worked if they were split up and fleshed out, here they all just end up falling flat by the end of the movie making the film feel anti-climatic as a whole.
Don't get me wrong, there is also a lot here that works too. I thought the cameos from Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth and Sam Neill was awesome. I liked the Doctor Strange appearance. I like how they had Thor lose his eye and I especially like how they managed to keep that out of all of the trailer and marketing. The trailers did ruin some things though, if we didn't already know that Mjolnir was going to get destroyed through seeing the trailers, it would have had more of an impact and all the talk about the vicious rival that Thor would have to face in the gladiator ring would have been way more effective if we didn't already know that it was going to be the Hulk.
Let's end things on a high note, the visuals were spectacular and this movie is worth going to see in theatres just for this alone. The CGI was incredible and the soundtrack was pretty great too. Overall this is a fun movie, but if like me you have been invested in these characters for the last five years, to see some of them go out with a whimper and some long term story arcs come to a disappointing conclusion, is unsatisfying to say the least.
Hadley (567 KP) rated Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3) in Books
Apr 6, 2019
Written well (1 more)
Interesting characters
Contains spoilers, click to show
I was excited to read this book because Hannibal Lecter is one of my favorite fictional horror characters.
We get to follow Special Agent Clarice Starling through her troubles in the FBI,Hannibal Lecter's life while on the lamb (yes,that was intentional),one Italian detective's need for retribution,and a family's empire thirsty for revenge all inside of Harris' well-written 'Hannibal.'
The transition between this cast of characters is easily done with quick chapters,but Harris never loses a stride,keeping the momentum going from page to page.
The book begins with Special Agent Starling having made her place in the FBI. This soon becomes a controversy after a shootout pushes Starling into the headline spotlight,dubbed as the: Death Angel. Her career begins to fall apart,but not unnoticed by the one and only,Hannibal Lecter.
We meet a new and unforgettable character named Mason Verger. Verger is one of Lecter's earlier victims (pre-Silence of the Lambs),who survived and offers a high reward for the capture of his attacker. Verger is a memorable character --- "Mason Verger,noseless and lipless,with no soft tissue on his face,was all teeth,like a creature of the deep,deep ocean. Inured as we are to masks,the shock in seeing him is delayed. Shock comes with the recognition that this is a human face with a mind behind it. It churns you with its movement,the articulation of the jaw,the turning of the eye to see you. To see your normal face." But finding out the things he had done during his lifetime stays with the reader.
"I'm not ashamed anymore.I'll tell you about anything. It's all okay now. I got a walk on those trumped-up molestation counts if I did five hundred hours of community service,worked at the dog pound and got therapy from Dr. Lecter."
Even I couldn't blame Lecter for what he did to Mason.
"He went over to the mirror I looked at myself in,and kicked the bottom of it and took out a shard. I was flying. He came over and gave me the piece of glass and looked me in the eyes and suggested I might like to peel off my face with it."
Although most would have a revelation after such an attack,Mason continues to be the person he had always been,especially towards the children in his family's 'day care.'
"Do you know what will happen to Kitty Cat? The policemen will take Kitty Cat to the pound and a doctor there will give her a shot. Did you get a shot at day care? Did the nurse give you a shot? With a shiny needle? They'll give Kitty Cat a shot. She'll be so scared when she sees the needle. They'll stick it in and Kitty Cat will hurt and die."
Another interesting character we meet is named Rinaldo Pazzi,an Inspector in Florence,Italy. Pazzi is well known for working high profile cases,including the infamous serial killer,Il Mostro. It is Pazzi who identifies Lecter hiding in Florence. He makes a deal with Verger to help capture him for a nice lump sum,but at the chance of being killed by Lecter.
Eventually,we get a small insight into Lecter's psychological makeup by reliving the death of his sister,Mischa. This memory plays on and off throughout the rest of the book,but it's the only glimpse the reader gets into the dark side of Lecter's mind palace.
Harris beautifully transitioned from 'Silence of the Lambs' to 'Hannibal,' keeping readers on their toes from chapter to chapter. Interesting and dark characters intertwine to bring an end to Hannibal Lecter's series ('Hannibal Rising' is a prequel detailing Lecter's life as a young man).
I wouldn't say that you HAVE to read 'Silence of the Lambs' to understand the book 'Hannibal.' Harris did a great job of reminiscing over events that happened in 'Silence . . ." Yet,having read 'Silence. . .,' I will say you would get a better picture of Hannibal and Starling's view of one another,which would make the ending of 'Hannibal' make more sense to the reader.
Overall,I enjoyed 'Hannibal' more than 'Silence of the Lambs.' I find Starling's maturity in 'Hannibal' refreshing compared to her insecurities in 'Silence. . .' The book is very fluid,but a heavy read - this is not a read-in-a-day kind of book (484 pages). I found myself stopping and allowing what I read to settle in because it just seemed the right thing to do. My only annoyance was that during the entire part two that takes place in Florence,there is a lot of Italian being used without an english translation (I am not fluent,not even a little,so all of those sentences went right over my head). I feel like I may have missed out on some dialogue because of this.
We get to follow Special Agent Clarice Starling through her troubles in the FBI,Hannibal Lecter's life while on the lamb (yes,that was intentional),one Italian detective's need for retribution,and a family's empire thirsty for revenge all inside of Harris' well-written 'Hannibal.'
The transition between this cast of characters is easily done with quick chapters,but Harris never loses a stride,keeping the momentum going from page to page.
The book begins with Special Agent Starling having made her place in the FBI. This soon becomes a controversy after a shootout pushes Starling into the headline spotlight,dubbed as the: Death Angel. Her career begins to fall apart,but not unnoticed by the one and only,Hannibal Lecter.
We meet a new and unforgettable character named Mason Verger. Verger is one of Lecter's earlier victims (pre-Silence of the Lambs),who survived and offers a high reward for the capture of his attacker. Verger is a memorable character --- "Mason Verger,noseless and lipless,with no soft tissue on his face,was all teeth,like a creature of the deep,deep ocean. Inured as we are to masks,the shock in seeing him is delayed. Shock comes with the recognition that this is a human face with a mind behind it. It churns you with its movement,the articulation of the jaw,the turning of the eye to see you. To see your normal face." But finding out the things he had done during his lifetime stays with the reader.
"I'm not ashamed anymore.I'll tell you about anything. It's all okay now. I got a walk on those trumped-up molestation counts if I did five hundred hours of community service,worked at the dog pound and got therapy from Dr. Lecter."
Even I couldn't blame Lecter for what he did to Mason.
"He went over to the mirror I looked at myself in,and kicked the bottom of it and took out a shard. I was flying. He came over and gave me the piece of glass and looked me in the eyes and suggested I might like to peel off my face with it."
Although most would have a revelation after such an attack,Mason continues to be the person he had always been,especially towards the children in his family's 'day care.'
"Do you know what will happen to Kitty Cat? The policemen will take Kitty Cat to the pound and a doctor there will give her a shot. Did you get a shot at day care? Did the nurse give you a shot? With a shiny needle? They'll give Kitty Cat a shot. She'll be so scared when she sees the needle. They'll stick it in and Kitty Cat will hurt and die."
Another interesting character we meet is named Rinaldo Pazzi,an Inspector in Florence,Italy. Pazzi is well known for working high profile cases,including the infamous serial killer,Il Mostro. It is Pazzi who identifies Lecter hiding in Florence. He makes a deal with Verger to help capture him for a nice lump sum,but at the chance of being killed by Lecter.
Eventually,we get a small insight into Lecter's psychological makeup by reliving the death of his sister,Mischa. This memory plays on and off throughout the rest of the book,but it's the only glimpse the reader gets into the dark side of Lecter's mind palace.
Harris beautifully transitioned from 'Silence of the Lambs' to 'Hannibal,' keeping readers on their toes from chapter to chapter. Interesting and dark characters intertwine to bring an end to Hannibal Lecter's series ('Hannibal Rising' is a prequel detailing Lecter's life as a young man).
I wouldn't say that you HAVE to read 'Silence of the Lambs' to understand the book 'Hannibal.' Harris did a great job of reminiscing over events that happened in 'Silence . . ." Yet,having read 'Silence. . .,' I will say you would get a better picture of Hannibal and Starling's view of one another,which would make the ending of 'Hannibal' make more sense to the reader.
Overall,I enjoyed 'Hannibal' more than 'Silence of the Lambs.' I find Starling's maturity in 'Hannibal' refreshing compared to her insecurities in 'Silence. . .' The book is very fluid,but a heavy read - this is not a read-in-a-day kind of book (484 pages). I found myself stopping and allowing what I read to settle in because it just seemed the right thing to do. My only annoyance was that during the entire part two that takes place in Florence,there is a lot of Italian being used without an english translation (I am not fluent,not even a little,so all of those sentences went right over my head). I feel like I may have missed out on some dialogue because of this.
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Mary Poppins Returns (2018) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
Disney knocks it out of the park
It was 1964 when the world was introduced to a practically-perfect British nanny in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins. Back then, Julie Andrews starred as the eponymous character alongside Dick van Dyke and David Tomlinson. It was an instant hit and became one of Disney’s most-loved feature films.
That is, by everyone apart from the author of Mary Poppins, PL Travers. So incensed by what she felt was Disney’s misunderstanding of her source material, she banned all future work with the studio.
So, 54 years later and with Travers’ estate finally agreeing to a sequel (I wonder how much Disney executives had to pay for that), we get a sequel that no-one was really asking for. Mary Poppins Returns brings the titular character back into the hearts of newcomers and fans alike, but is the film as practically-perfect in every way like its lead? Or is it a bit of a dud?
Now an adult with three children, bank teller Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) learns that his house will be repossessed in five days unless he can pay back a loan. His only hope is to find a missing certificate that shows proof of valuable shares that his father left him years earlier. Just as all seems lost, Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) receive the surprise of a lifetime when Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), the beloved nanny from their childhood, arrives to save the day and take the Banks family on a magical, fun-filled adventure.
Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins? You’re right to be sceptical. After all, how can an American actress bring to life a character so quintessentially British? Remarkably, she does it, with a cracking British accent to match. Blunt is, as she is in all her films, picture-perfect and oozing charisma. In fact, the entire cast is fabulous with the likes of Colin Firth and Meryl Streep joining the party as a sneaky bank manager and Mary Poppins’ cousin respectively. We’ve also got Julie Walters popping up every now and then as Ellen the housekeeper.
The new Banks children are absolutely wonderful. Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson show a range of emotions that would make seasoned actors blush, but here they thrive and look like they were having a blast. And that’s a trait clearly shared by the entire cast. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s plucky lamp-lighter, Jack, is obviously having the time of his life and this makes the whimsical nature of Mary Poppins Returns even more apparent.
In its hey-day, Mary Poppins was a technical revolution. Mixing live-action with colourful animation made the screen burst alive with imagination. Of course, special effects have moved on in the 50+ years that Mary has been away from our screens, but you’ll be pleased to know that each sequence feels just as magical.
From under the sea adventures to topsy-turvy houses, the ‘action’ scenes are beautifully filmed by director Rob Marshall. One scene in particular, involving hundreds of lamp-lighters is absolutely astounding and exquisitely choreographed.
The finale is typical sickly-sweet Disney, but in a movie populated by cartoon penguins, Irish dogs and the meaning of childhood, why shouldn’t it be?
The setting of Depression-era London lives and breathes before your very eyes. The CGI and practical effects used to create the capital in 1935 is astonishing, and testament to the teams behind the film. That £130million budget was clearly very well spent.
Then there are the songs. We all know the masterpieces from the original, but will there be any here that children will still be singing along to when they grow older? That’s debatable, but there are three or four that have the potential to be future classics. Look out for Trip the Light Fantastic, which makes up part of the film’s best scenes.
The finale is typical sickly-sweet Disney, but in a movie populated by cartoon penguins, Irish dogs and the meaning of childhood, why shouldn’t it be? The world is filled with such atrocities, it’s nice to sit back, relax with the family and enjoy a film that allows you to escape into your own imagination.
Any downsides? Well, while the pacing is nearly spot on, there’s no denying that Mary Poppins Returns is a long film by family film standards. At 130 minutes, it feels like this sequel is perhaps more for fans of the original than the children that the older film was clearly made for.
But these are small gripes in a sequel that pleasantly surprises on each and every turn. While lacking in the typical Disney poignancy, the film’s message is read loud and clear. There’s no doubt that Mary Poppins Returns is yet another hit for the studio and you’re sure to leave the cinema with a huge smile on your face. Mary is back and she means business.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2018/12/23/mary-poppins-returns-review-disney-knocks-it-out-of-the-park/
That is, by everyone apart from the author of Mary Poppins, PL Travers. So incensed by what she felt was Disney’s misunderstanding of her source material, she banned all future work with the studio.
So, 54 years later and with Travers’ estate finally agreeing to a sequel (I wonder how much Disney executives had to pay for that), we get a sequel that no-one was really asking for. Mary Poppins Returns brings the titular character back into the hearts of newcomers and fans alike, but is the film as practically-perfect in every way like its lead? Or is it a bit of a dud?
Now an adult with three children, bank teller Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) learns that his house will be repossessed in five days unless he can pay back a loan. His only hope is to find a missing certificate that shows proof of valuable shares that his father left him years earlier. Just as all seems lost, Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) receive the surprise of a lifetime when Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), the beloved nanny from their childhood, arrives to save the day and take the Banks family on a magical, fun-filled adventure.
Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins? You’re right to be sceptical. After all, how can an American actress bring to life a character so quintessentially British? Remarkably, she does it, with a cracking British accent to match. Blunt is, as she is in all her films, picture-perfect and oozing charisma. In fact, the entire cast is fabulous with the likes of Colin Firth and Meryl Streep joining the party as a sneaky bank manager and Mary Poppins’ cousin respectively. We’ve also got Julie Walters popping up every now and then as Ellen the housekeeper.
The new Banks children are absolutely wonderful. Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and Joel Dawson show a range of emotions that would make seasoned actors blush, but here they thrive and look like they were having a blast. And that’s a trait clearly shared by the entire cast. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s plucky lamp-lighter, Jack, is obviously having the time of his life and this makes the whimsical nature of Mary Poppins Returns even more apparent.
In its hey-day, Mary Poppins was a technical revolution. Mixing live-action with colourful animation made the screen burst alive with imagination. Of course, special effects have moved on in the 50+ years that Mary has been away from our screens, but you’ll be pleased to know that each sequence feels just as magical.
From under the sea adventures to topsy-turvy houses, the ‘action’ scenes are beautifully filmed by director Rob Marshall. One scene in particular, involving hundreds of lamp-lighters is absolutely astounding and exquisitely choreographed.
The finale is typical sickly-sweet Disney, but in a movie populated by cartoon penguins, Irish dogs and the meaning of childhood, why shouldn’t it be?
The setting of Depression-era London lives and breathes before your very eyes. The CGI and practical effects used to create the capital in 1935 is astonishing, and testament to the teams behind the film. That £130million budget was clearly very well spent.
Then there are the songs. We all know the masterpieces from the original, but will there be any here that children will still be singing along to when they grow older? That’s debatable, but there are three or four that have the potential to be future classics. Look out for Trip the Light Fantastic, which makes up part of the film’s best scenes.
The finale is typical sickly-sweet Disney, but in a movie populated by cartoon penguins, Irish dogs and the meaning of childhood, why shouldn’t it be? The world is filled with such atrocities, it’s nice to sit back, relax with the family and enjoy a film that allows you to escape into your own imagination.
Any downsides? Well, while the pacing is nearly spot on, there’s no denying that Mary Poppins Returns is a long film by family film standards. At 130 minutes, it feels like this sequel is perhaps more for fans of the original than the children that the older film was clearly made for.
But these are small gripes in a sequel that pleasantly surprises on each and every turn. While lacking in the typical Disney poignancy, the film’s message is read loud and clear. There’s no doubt that Mary Poppins Returns is yet another hit for the studio and you’re sure to leave the cinema with a huge smile on your face. Mary is back and she means business.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2018/12/23/mary-poppins-returns-review-disney-knocks-it-out-of-the-park/
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Witches Gone Wicked in Books
Jun 11, 2019
All Clarissa wants to do is become a powerful witch, learn about her mother, and find her high school sweetheart, Derrick.
But it’s not that simple when she’s all but banned from using her volatile magic, her mother was apparently an evil dictator, and her high school sweetheart was swept away in a tornado. Oh, and she caused the tornado.
But, now that she’s a teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, she might have a chance to actually become part of the Witchkin community and achieve her goals.
Despite everyone despising her because of her mother, she’s making new friends like Josie, a video-gaming witch who loves all life, and Khaba, a Djinn with a kilt fetish. She’s also getting attention from the very sexy Julien Thistledown.
If only that jerk Felix Thatch would stop patronizing her and let her learn about her mother.
Witches Gone Wicked is essentially Harry Potter fanfiction,which had me skeptical at first, but it was really entertaining at the same time.
Womby’s is the Title I version of Hogwarts. It’s for witchkin too poor to afford other schools as well as ones who were kicked out of other schools. Clarissa, being an art teacher, feels the strain of this with an annual budget of $20. The previous art teacher apparently had the students make mud pie art because of lack of supplies. I really liked the idea of a Title I Hogwarts and found the entire school and the staff really interesting.
Josie and Khaba are really funny and entertaining. Khaba is a bit of a stereotype, but I didn’t mind it that much. Josie was fantastic. Gotta love someone who loves all life and has the guts to treat spiders like puppies.
My favorite character is perhaps Felix Thatch. He’s very sexy and funny and I love almost every scene including him. He’s definitely not a people person by any stretch, but he has a lot of integrity as a teacher and a person that Clarissa just refuses to see.
Clarissa is actually one of my least favorite characters. Her dislike and suspicion of Thatch is near identical to Harry Potter’s dislike of Snape. The only problem is she’s a full-grown woman!
Clarissa has a tendency to blindly trust everyone nice to her, not thinking for a second that anyone has ulterior motives. And she despises Thatch for being brutally honest with her despite proving time and time again that he has integrity as a person and a teacher.
Felix Thatch does the following:
Trains Clarissa to use her magic (granted, the principal ordered him to)
Emphasizes the importance of people wanting to take advantage of her
Makes students write apology letters to her
Lets one of his students read in his classroom during lunchtime
Expresses concern over said student’s habit of hugging male teachers because someone might try to take advantage of her friendly nature.
Meanwhile, Clarissa thinks Thatch:
is secretly trying to kill her
might be trying to enslave her using sex magic
condones student and teacher relationships
It’s completely insane! Hey, who’s the most likely to take advantage of you? Maybe not the guy who keeps warning you about people taking advantage of you.
Clarissa is sometimes funny and relatable. I like how much she cares about her students and her patience with the troublemakers in her class. That’s actually really admirable.
But half the time she’s juvenile and irrational and I just want to shake some sense into her.
She’s the daughter of a powerful witch who apparently terrorized the Witchkin community with evil and forbidden magic. Clarissa never knew her birth mother personally, but she’s treated with suspicion and fear because her mother killed and ruined the lives of basically everyone.
Because of her lineage and her volatile magic, Clarissa is under constant threat of being fired from Womby’s, drained of her magic, and turned into a Morty (Muggle).
So you think she would be really careful, right?
Lol no.
Clarissa goes around saying she wants to be the most powerful witch ever, uses magic when she’s not supposed to, and makes plans to break into the library’s restricted section. It’s a freaking miracle that she didn’t get drained and turned into a Morty.
Here’s another thing: why doesn’t she want to be drained? I really don’t get it. Because of her magic and her mother:
everyone hates her
her sister died
her high school sweetheart blew away in a tornado
Womby’s almost burned down
anyone can turn her into a sex slave
As far as I can tell, there are very few benefits to her having magic and a staggering amount of drawbacks. Call me a defeatist, but if I was Clarissa I would be begging to be drained. Her conviction that magic is her true identity isn’t good enough for me.
All in all, this book is definitely three out of five stars. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and really like Thatch. Some of the magic concepts are surprisingly sexy, which I definitely enjoyed. I just don’t like Clarissa.
But it’s not that simple when she’s all but banned from using her volatile magic, her mother was apparently an evil dictator, and her high school sweetheart was swept away in a tornado. Oh, and she caused the tornado.
But, now that she’s a teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, she might have a chance to actually become part of the Witchkin community and achieve her goals.
Despite everyone despising her because of her mother, she’s making new friends like Josie, a video-gaming witch who loves all life, and Khaba, a Djinn with a kilt fetish. She’s also getting attention from the very sexy Julien Thistledown.
If only that jerk Felix Thatch would stop patronizing her and let her learn about her mother.
Witches Gone Wicked is essentially Harry Potter fanfiction,which had me skeptical at first, but it was really entertaining at the same time.
Womby’s is the Title I version of Hogwarts. It’s for witchkin too poor to afford other schools as well as ones who were kicked out of other schools. Clarissa, being an art teacher, feels the strain of this with an annual budget of $20. The previous art teacher apparently had the students make mud pie art because of lack of supplies. I really liked the idea of a Title I Hogwarts and found the entire school and the staff really interesting.
Josie and Khaba are really funny and entertaining. Khaba is a bit of a stereotype, but I didn’t mind it that much. Josie was fantastic. Gotta love someone who loves all life and has the guts to treat spiders like puppies.
My favorite character is perhaps Felix Thatch. He’s very sexy and funny and I love almost every scene including him. He’s definitely not a people person by any stretch, but he has a lot of integrity as a teacher and a person that Clarissa just refuses to see.
Clarissa is actually one of my least favorite characters. Her dislike and suspicion of Thatch is near identical to Harry Potter’s dislike of Snape. The only problem is she’s a full-grown woman!
Clarissa has a tendency to blindly trust everyone nice to her, not thinking for a second that anyone has ulterior motives. And she despises Thatch for being brutally honest with her despite proving time and time again that he has integrity as a person and a teacher.
Felix Thatch does the following:
Trains Clarissa to use her magic (granted, the principal ordered him to)
Emphasizes the importance of people wanting to take advantage of her
Makes students write apology letters to her
Lets one of his students read in his classroom during lunchtime
Expresses concern over said student’s habit of hugging male teachers because someone might try to take advantage of her friendly nature.
Meanwhile, Clarissa thinks Thatch:
is secretly trying to kill her
might be trying to enslave her using sex magic
condones student and teacher relationships
It’s completely insane! Hey, who’s the most likely to take advantage of you? Maybe not the guy who keeps warning you about people taking advantage of you.
Clarissa is sometimes funny and relatable. I like how much she cares about her students and her patience with the troublemakers in her class. That’s actually really admirable.
But half the time she’s juvenile and irrational and I just want to shake some sense into her.
She’s the daughter of a powerful witch who apparently terrorized the Witchkin community with evil and forbidden magic. Clarissa never knew her birth mother personally, but she’s treated with suspicion and fear because her mother killed and ruined the lives of basically everyone.
Because of her lineage and her volatile magic, Clarissa is under constant threat of being fired from Womby’s, drained of her magic, and turned into a Morty (Muggle).
So you think she would be really careful, right?
Lol no.
Clarissa goes around saying she wants to be the most powerful witch ever, uses magic when she’s not supposed to, and makes plans to break into the library’s restricted section. It’s a freaking miracle that she didn’t get drained and turned into a Morty.
Here’s another thing: why doesn’t she want to be drained? I really don’t get it. Because of her magic and her mother:
everyone hates her
her sister died
her high school sweetheart blew away in a tornado
Womby’s almost burned down
anyone can turn her into a sex slave
As far as I can tell, there are very few benefits to her having magic and a staggering amount of drawbacks. Call me a defeatist, but if I was Clarissa I would be begging to be drained. Her conviction that magic is her true identity isn’t good enough for me.
All in all, this book is definitely three out of five stars. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and really like Thatch. Some of the magic concepts are surprisingly sexy, which I definitely enjoyed. I just don’t like Clarissa.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Odd Child Out (Jim Clemo #2) in Books
Feb 13, 2018
The second book in [a:Gilly Macmillan|8183303|Gilly Macmillan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1490347732p2/8183303.jpg]'s excellent DI Jim Clemo series finds Jim back in similar circumstances from the first--working against time to save a child. Jim has returned from leave after the Ben Finch case, and he's ready to redeem himself in the eyes DCI Fraser and his peers. He's assigned what looks to be a terrible accident: best pals Noah Sadler and Abdi Mahad are out late one evening when teenage Noah falls into a local canal, rendering him unconscious. Abdi refuses to speak about what happened, leaving the families (and police) to ponder what really occurred that evening. Complicating matters is the fact that Noah is already ill from cancer; plus Noah is British, while Abdi and his family are Somalian refugees, so Jim fears how this case will be presented in the press. By most accounts, Noah and Abdi are best friends, so what truly went down night?
<i>This is another gorgeous gem of a novel by Macmillan</i>, who offers yet one more beautifully-written mystery combined with lovely, perfectly drawn characters. This book touched me in so many ways, and <i>I just cannot keep raving enough about how well this author writes, or how she so excellently embodies her characters</i>. Again, this is no straightforward mystery, or simple fiction, but a wonderful combination of the two.
For me, this book really hit from home the beginning, as Jim mentions how an anti-immigration march by a neo-Nazi group has rocked Bristol, wrecking havoc on the police force, as well as emotions in the area. It's clear that racial tensions are high. As someone who was born in Charlottesville, VA, and lived in the suburbs of the area for the last nearly ten years, I felt this in my heart all too well. The backdrop of race stretches across the fabric of Macmillan's entire novel, and it's quite well done, in my opinion.
On one end, we have the Sadler family--well-off and British: Noah attends a posh private school, Fiona manages Noah and Noah's illness, and Ed is a photographer--often of refugees. In fact, we learn that he's even photographed the very camp where Abdi's parents and sister lived. The Sadler's life, however, is clouded by the tragedy of Noah's cancer, which has basically formed each family member into who they are today.
As for the Mahads, we see how their past experiences has created them, as well. <i>One of the strengths of this book is that we get small portions of narration from all of characters: the Sadlers, the Mahads, and Jim.</i> The bits and pieces you learn of the Mahad's origins--my goodness: it will break your heart. Macmillan captures the fear of the family because they are different due to the color of their skin and the country of their origin, yet you see their strength and pride shine across as well.
The main storyline of ODD CHILD OUT revolves around figuring out exactly what happened between the boys and how Noah ended up in the water. As mentioned, you get snippets from each character, as we slowly work up to that point of no return. We also get flashbacks to various pieces of earlier parts of their lives, and we start to realize that something has spooked the Mahad family--something is not as it seems. <i>It's not your conventional mystery, per se, but it's compelling and certainly intriguing.</i>
At its core, this is a heartbreaking book whose strength lies in its characters. It's a wonderful exploration on race and immigration and how difficult it is to be deemed "different" by our society. What I loved about this book, though, is that you could also wonder: is either family truly all that different at its core? Every parent will go to any length to protect their child, after all. I highly recommend picking this one up. It can be read as a stand-alone, but if you want more insight into Jim and his mindset, you should definitely read the first book, [b:What She Knew|25817531|What She Knew (Jim Clemo #1)|Gilly Macmillan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441801604s/25817531.jpg|41344566], which is also excellent (my review <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1421220730?comment=172068859#comment_form">here</a>;). I can't wait to see what Macmillan comes up with next! 4+ stars.
In a perfect swirl of ARC goodness, I received a copy of this novel from both Librarything and Edelweiss. A huge thanks to them and the publisher for a copy in return for an unbiased review. The book is available for purchase everywhere.
<center><a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">Blog</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcmoto">Twitter</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KristyHamiltonbooks">Google+</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/justacatandabook/">Instagram</a>; </center>
<i>This is another gorgeous gem of a novel by Macmillan</i>, who offers yet one more beautifully-written mystery combined with lovely, perfectly drawn characters. This book touched me in so many ways, and <i>I just cannot keep raving enough about how well this author writes, or how she so excellently embodies her characters</i>. Again, this is no straightforward mystery, or simple fiction, but a wonderful combination of the two.
For me, this book really hit from home the beginning, as Jim mentions how an anti-immigration march by a neo-Nazi group has rocked Bristol, wrecking havoc on the police force, as well as emotions in the area. It's clear that racial tensions are high. As someone who was born in Charlottesville, VA, and lived in the suburbs of the area for the last nearly ten years, I felt this in my heart all too well. The backdrop of race stretches across the fabric of Macmillan's entire novel, and it's quite well done, in my opinion.
On one end, we have the Sadler family--well-off and British: Noah attends a posh private school, Fiona manages Noah and Noah's illness, and Ed is a photographer--often of refugees. In fact, we learn that he's even photographed the very camp where Abdi's parents and sister lived. The Sadler's life, however, is clouded by the tragedy of Noah's cancer, which has basically formed each family member into who they are today.
As for the Mahads, we see how their past experiences has created them, as well. <i>One of the strengths of this book is that we get small portions of narration from all of characters: the Sadlers, the Mahads, and Jim.</i> The bits and pieces you learn of the Mahad's origins--my goodness: it will break your heart. Macmillan captures the fear of the family because they are different due to the color of their skin and the country of their origin, yet you see their strength and pride shine across as well.
The main storyline of ODD CHILD OUT revolves around figuring out exactly what happened between the boys and how Noah ended up in the water. As mentioned, you get snippets from each character, as we slowly work up to that point of no return. We also get flashbacks to various pieces of earlier parts of their lives, and we start to realize that something has spooked the Mahad family--something is not as it seems. <i>It's not your conventional mystery, per se, but it's compelling and certainly intriguing.</i>
At its core, this is a heartbreaking book whose strength lies in its characters. It's a wonderful exploration on race and immigration and how difficult it is to be deemed "different" by our society. What I loved about this book, though, is that you could also wonder: is either family truly all that different at its core? Every parent will go to any length to protect their child, after all. I highly recommend picking this one up. It can be read as a stand-alone, but if you want more insight into Jim and his mindset, you should definitely read the first book, [b:What She Knew|25817531|What She Knew (Jim Clemo #1)|Gilly Macmillan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441801604s/25817531.jpg|41344566], which is also excellent (my review <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1421220730?comment=172068859#comment_form">here</a>;). I can't wait to see what Macmillan comes up with next! 4+ stars.
In a perfect swirl of ARC goodness, I received a copy of this novel from both Librarything and Edelweiss. A huge thanks to them and the publisher for a copy in return for an unbiased review. The book is available for purchase everywhere.
<center><a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">Blog</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcmoto">Twitter</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KristyHamiltonbooks">Google+</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/justacatandabook/">Instagram</a>; </center>
Christina Haynes (148 KP) rated Bruja in Books
Jun 29, 2018
Bruja
This book is about Tessa's cousin Claudia. We travel with her to Peru to find a cure for her twin brother, Raphael.
After Lucinda's son, Daniel is killed in the last book, she some how manages to bring him back to life. But as some sort of zombie, demon creature. He then infects Raphael. Making him become the same kind of creature as Daniel. In order to cure him, we need to find ancient white magic. And that leads us to Peru.
The only person who can go is Claudia, even Tessa agrees after she has a vision, showing that if she goes they will all die. Why we don't know. But Claudia going to me was perfect.
Before I talk to you about Peru. Let me tell you a little about Claudia and why I liked her, because by the end of this book you will too. I really find her great character, and to be honest. I kind of like her more than Tessa.
Claudia is Tessa's cousin via her mother's sister. She's lived in the witches compound all her life. She was there when her grandmother ruled the cover and she was there when Lucinda took over and make it what it is today. A scary, terrible place to be.
She gave her life by agreeing to an oath with Lucinda, to keep her parents safe so they could leave the coven and compound. Her brother stayed with her, because he didn't want her to be alone, in that horrible place. But her parents are no where to been seen.
She found away to get Tessa to the compound so she could help to either be their leader or find the next one. Tessa wasn't happy with her but she did what she needed to do. She helped the Werewolf pack and Tessa fight the vampires, without been asked. She's helped Tessa a lot, along with other people, and for what? To be left by her parents. To be tied to Lucinda via a oath that keeps her apart of her coven, which allows Lucinda to drain her power.
She's the fiance of a terrible ass, because Lucinda made it happen, and now her brother is in danger of dying and she has to go to Peru with an ancient werewolf, she hardly knows.
Already to me Claudia is a great character.
Now back to Peru and the actual story. Claudia sets off to Peru to find ancient white magic. But finding it is the hard part, let alone actually getting it and bringing it back. She has very little time to find and bring it back as her brother is quickly getting worst! - She also wants to break this oath with her a Lucinda, so the rest of the witches who left with her can break theirs too.
When she gets to Peru we are introduced to another werewolf called 'Mr July' only kidding that's a nickname she makes up for him whilst she is drooling like a wolf... His name is Lucas. Together they go on search of this white magic. But when she arrives at the hotel, who is there, none other than... HER FIANCE the rude, snobby, old fashioned ass called Matt. But why is he there? She never told him, Tessa wouldn't. No one would... Only someone did. - Why is he there, and what the hell is he up too!?
Claudia starts to fall for Lucas, she tries not too. But it's very hard. She know nothing can happen, he's a Werewolf and she's well a witch. But if she wants to break the bond/oath with Lucinda she could mate with a werewolf... But she can't just find anyone, she wants to find the one. But even then to her that's not really an option... Yet.
She gets into a lot of trouble with a local coven and again Matt is involved. Lucas saves her life a few time and she saves his. This love story between them both, for me was a better story than Tessa and Dastien's.
This story I really liked, not only did I love the idea, but I loved the characters. I loved how it was just about Claudia and Lucas. I loved how we didn't have other people around, we had some of course. But not other people who were apart of the main goal. We had two people working together, whether they liked eachother or not. Just working together to save her brother. Lucas had nothing to do with Raphael. He doesn't even know him, but he helps Claudia anyway.
The ending was lovely and it made way for the next book. Which is back to being about Tessa. I hope we have more of Claudia. She's definitely my favourite character!
3☕ – NOT A BAD BOOK
Love, Christina ?
After Lucinda's son, Daniel is killed in the last book, she some how manages to bring him back to life. But as some sort of zombie, demon creature. He then infects Raphael. Making him become the same kind of creature as Daniel. In order to cure him, we need to find ancient white magic. And that leads us to Peru.
The only person who can go is Claudia, even Tessa agrees after she has a vision, showing that if she goes they will all die. Why we don't know. But Claudia going to me was perfect.
Before I talk to you about Peru. Let me tell you a little about Claudia and why I liked her, because by the end of this book you will too. I really find her great character, and to be honest. I kind of like her more than Tessa.
Claudia is Tessa's cousin via her mother's sister. She's lived in the witches compound all her life. She was there when her grandmother ruled the cover and she was there when Lucinda took over and make it what it is today. A scary, terrible place to be.
She gave her life by agreeing to an oath with Lucinda, to keep her parents safe so they could leave the coven and compound. Her brother stayed with her, because he didn't want her to be alone, in that horrible place. But her parents are no where to been seen.
She found away to get Tessa to the compound so she could help to either be their leader or find the next one. Tessa wasn't happy with her but she did what she needed to do. She helped the Werewolf pack and Tessa fight the vampires, without been asked. She's helped Tessa a lot, along with other people, and for what? To be left by her parents. To be tied to Lucinda via a oath that keeps her apart of her coven, which allows Lucinda to drain her power.
She's the fiance of a terrible ass, because Lucinda made it happen, and now her brother is in danger of dying and she has to go to Peru with an ancient werewolf, she hardly knows.
Already to me Claudia is a great character.
Now back to Peru and the actual story. Claudia sets off to Peru to find ancient white magic. But finding it is the hard part, let alone actually getting it and bringing it back. She has very little time to find and bring it back as her brother is quickly getting worst! - She also wants to break this oath with her a Lucinda, so the rest of the witches who left with her can break theirs too.
When she gets to Peru we are introduced to another werewolf called 'Mr July' only kidding that's a nickname she makes up for him whilst she is drooling like a wolf... His name is Lucas. Together they go on search of this white magic. But when she arrives at the hotel, who is there, none other than... HER FIANCE the rude, snobby, old fashioned ass called Matt. But why is he there? She never told him, Tessa wouldn't. No one would... Only someone did. - Why is he there, and what the hell is he up too!?
Claudia starts to fall for Lucas, she tries not too. But it's very hard. She know nothing can happen, he's a Werewolf and she's well a witch. But if she wants to break the bond/oath with Lucinda she could mate with a werewolf... But she can't just find anyone, she wants to find the one. But even then to her that's not really an option... Yet.
She gets into a lot of trouble with a local coven and again Matt is involved. Lucas saves her life a few time and she saves his. This love story between them both, for me was a better story than Tessa and Dastien's.
This story I really liked, not only did I love the idea, but I loved the characters. I loved how it was just about Claudia and Lucas. I loved how we didn't have other people around, we had some of course. But not other people who were apart of the main goal. We had two people working together, whether they liked eachother or not. Just working together to save her brother. Lucas had nothing to do with Raphael. He doesn't even know him, but he helps Claudia anyway.
The ending was lovely and it made way for the next book. Which is back to being about Tessa. I hope we have more of Claudia. She's definitely my favourite character!
3☕ – NOT A BAD BOOK
Love, Christina ?
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Nun (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
I’ve always been a sucker for supernatural thrillers that are based on “actual events”, even if the way it’s portrayed in the movies nowhere resembles the truth. For some reason, it’s always intriguing to watch a film and imagine that these things could potentially happen. This has always been the draw of The Conjuring films, which are loosely based on the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose paranormal investigations were the inspiration behind not only this series but the Amityville Horror. So, when I heard that The Nun was another movie set in the same cinematic universe as The Conjuring franchise I anxiously awaited the opportunity to review it.
The Nun begins with two nuns who are attempting to destroy an evil being that has cursed an abbey in a small Romanian village for hundreds of years. After a young man who goes by the name Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) discovers one of the nuns has hung herself, the Vatican summons Father Burke (Demián Bichir), who is known for his special skills in exorcisms and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a young nun-in-training to investigate the matter. With Frenchie as their guide, they travel to the abbey to uncover the mysteries of the nun’s suicide.
The Nun reintroduces us to a familiar demonic figure that was originally introduced in The Conjuring 2. Sadly, this is where the similarities to the other Conjuring films end. The Nun has its share of jump scares, but the entire film seems to be a compilation of various horror tropes including everything from crosses turning upside down to using holy water to get rid of demons. All the typical exorcism movie elements are there, but none of them really add any context to the story or answer any questions as to why the priest and nun were sent to investigate the suicide. There is no discernable path that the characters take to unravel the mystery, and it attempts to build suspense only to “Hollywood-up” the ending. They sacrificed suspense and mystery and replaced it with monster filled battles and cheesy one-liners. Instead of beautifully haunting ghosts and demons we got what I could only describe as nun-mummies which can now be taken down with shovels and shotguns. A shotgun was not part of Father Burke’s exorcism arsenal but towards the end of the movie you start to think maybe that should have been his weapon of choice all along (who needs a cross and holy water, when you have your trusty 12-gauge).
The setting is as beautiful as it is creepy, and it’s hard not to wonder how they could take such an amazing setting and dumb it down. The Nun herself is particularly creepy and the characters at first glance appear to be interesting which is why it’s so disappointing that the movie feels so much like a missed opportunity. The pacing of the movie is incredibly slow as well, with all the buildup of the investigation most of the time you are just waiting for something to happen. To make it even worse, most of the buildups lead the audience down a path of confusion and not only raise more questions that will never be answered, but also destroy any believability of the story.
Ultimately, fans of The Conjuring franchise will likely leave disappointed and with even more longing for The Conjuring 3 to be released. The movie lacks much of the suspense and outright terror that the previous movies in the series were well known for and ultimately feels like a spinoff movie that lacks any real connection to the movies preceding it. The Nun isn’t a terrible movie, and I didn’t leave feeling as though I had completely wasted an hour and a half of my time, it just really doesn’t do anything to break new ground or move the franchise along in any meaningful way. While there are parts of the movie that will have you jump, the reality is, that the scenes following these moments will keep you bewildered and likely cause you to forget what made you jump in the first place. It has some interesting concepts, but nothing that hasn’t been done better in similar movies before it. In the end it’s a movie that people will not likely hate but will not feel satisfied with either. I certainly wouldn’t recommend paying full price to see it, but it may be worth the Saturday matinee price or watching it when it comes to Blu-ray. If you want a good ghost or demon movie to get you in the Halloween spirit, this isn’t it. You’d be much better off watching the spectacularly classic Poltergeist or The Exorcist if you really want to be scared out of your wits.
What I liked: The setting and atmosphere, The Nun herself was pretty freaky
What I liked less: Disjointed story, Too many unanswered questions, Overall “meh” feeling
The Nun begins with two nuns who are attempting to destroy an evil being that has cursed an abbey in a small Romanian village for hundreds of years. After a young man who goes by the name Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) discovers one of the nuns has hung herself, the Vatican summons Father Burke (Demián Bichir), who is known for his special skills in exorcisms and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a young nun-in-training to investigate the matter. With Frenchie as their guide, they travel to the abbey to uncover the mysteries of the nun’s suicide.
The Nun reintroduces us to a familiar demonic figure that was originally introduced in The Conjuring 2. Sadly, this is where the similarities to the other Conjuring films end. The Nun has its share of jump scares, but the entire film seems to be a compilation of various horror tropes including everything from crosses turning upside down to using holy water to get rid of demons. All the typical exorcism movie elements are there, but none of them really add any context to the story or answer any questions as to why the priest and nun were sent to investigate the suicide. There is no discernable path that the characters take to unravel the mystery, and it attempts to build suspense only to “Hollywood-up” the ending. They sacrificed suspense and mystery and replaced it with monster filled battles and cheesy one-liners. Instead of beautifully haunting ghosts and demons we got what I could only describe as nun-mummies which can now be taken down with shovels and shotguns. A shotgun was not part of Father Burke’s exorcism arsenal but towards the end of the movie you start to think maybe that should have been his weapon of choice all along (who needs a cross and holy water, when you have your trusty 12-gauge).
The setting is as beautiful as it is creepy, and it’s hard not to wonder how they could take such an amazing setting and dumb it down. The Nun herself is particularly creepy and the characters at first glance appear to be interesting which is why it’s so disappointing that the movie feels so much like a missed opportunity. The pacing of the movie is incredibly slow as well, with all the buildup of the investigation most of the time you are just waiting for something to happen. To make it even worse, most of the buildups lead the audience down a path of confusion and not only raise more questions that will never be answered, but also destroy any believability of the story.
Ultimately, fans of The Conjuring franchise will likely leave disappointed and with even more longing for The Conjuring 3 to be released. The movie lacks much of the suspense and outright terror that the previous movies in the series were well known for and ultimately feels like a spinoff movie that lacks any real connection to the movies preceding it. The Nun isn’t a terrible movie, and I didn’t leave feeling as though I had completely wasted an hour and a half of my time, it just really doesn’t do anything to break new ground or move the franchise along in any meaningful way. While there are parts of the movie that will have you jump, the reality is, that the scenes following these moments will keep you bewildered and likely cause you to forget what made you jump in the first place. It has some interesting concepts, but nothing that hasn’t been done better in similar movies before it. In the end it’s a movie that people will not likely hate but will not feel satisfied with either. I certainly wouldn’t recommend paying full price to see it, but it may be worth the Saturday matinee price or watching it when it comes to Blu-ray. If you want a good ghost or demon movie to get you in the Halloween spirit, this isn’t it. You’d be much better off watching the spectacularly classic Poltergeist or The Exorcist if you really want to be scared out of your wits.
What I liked: The setting and atmosphere, The Nun herself was pretty freaky
What I liked less: Disjointed story, Too many unanswered questions, Overall “meh” feeling
Lindsay (1717 KP) rated An Amish Christmas Bakery (4 Stories) in Books
Nov 6, 2019
Cookies and Cheer by Amy Clipston:
Alyssa Byler dreaming of the next holiday window display for her work. As she draws out her idea for the window display and then she gets permission to create it. She needs to ask someone to make the cookie cutters for her. As Alyssa Byler get more ideas. Will they be all good. She asks Kyle Smoker to make the Cookie Cutters will happen when there is more demand?
Alyssa Byler seems to get pulled into the hustle and bustle and forget the most important thing about her lifestyle. As the season approves and gets busier. Everyone is trying to remind her of what import at this time when Christmas is coming.
Will she learn it and ask to be forgiven. Kyle and Alyssa's relationship grows. Will they make it through the rough patch. Celebrate the coming to Christ as it meant to be. Will Alyssa ask the one person to help give her a solution for her to be with her family and Kyle and help her friend Denise?
Loaves of Love by Beth Wiseman:
What would you do if you were left in charge of the bakery during the holiday season? Well, Katie is and she seems to be seeing someone. Though we learn that she is the only girl in a family of eight. So she got to help once her mother is put on bed rest after surgery.
Henry has finally has been able to feel up to ask Katie out on a date. Will, he finally asks her or will it be too late? Henry seems to have some issues with his feelings. He is a family friend of Katie and her family.
There seems to be a woman that comes into the bakery and asks Katie if she can get her order and have it ready by Friday. As she was about the work on the order and miss lunch when David comes in take Katie out to dinner. What will she do?
It seems things get more interesting as the story goes on. What happens between Katie and David? What will happen between Claire and Henry? Katie's brother Jonas stops by as well. What will happen when Katie takes the new oven gift from David?
The woman seems to have ordered twelve loaves of bread. What she does with them. You will be surprised. Katie seems to want her wood ovens after trying it and some mishaps. This woman seems to give Katie a loaf of bread.
The woman talks about the number of twelve. There seem to be quite a few things in the bible the number twelve. She just says the lord was to give it to her and that she calls the bread “Loaves of Love” and then leaves the bakery. You will not believe how it ends when Katie sees another loaf of bread on the counter?
Melting Hearts by Kathleen Fuller:
Have you ever thought you were friends with someone and it turns out they are not your friend? Well, It seems this is the case with Mattie. Does Mattie think she would be like her best friend? Though maybe she should decide for herself.
Mattie is asked to come to help her aunt when she calls her. Though she after a few weeks. She finds out that Peter is coming. Though her aunt and uncle doe not know she strongly dislikes him. Though she believes Peter is horrible.
Peter arrives and things get more interesting between Mattie and Peter. Does Mattie know her friend is using her? Mattie seems to believe that Peter is someone that bad and not to be trusted? But maybe he's a nice guy but can not admit it. Mattie seems to tear between her beliefs and her feelings.
Peter comes to help out with an additional job that Atlee as offered him. Peter seems to be around Mattie. You will be surprised at how this ends. Who will trust who? Mattie's aunt Caroline and her Uncle Atlee get some unexpected news. They are shocked by the news. I do not want to give away the ending to either of the couples mentioned. Is Lizzy more mean and curl and why?
Cakes and Kisses by Kelly Irvin:
How would you feel if you were picked on when doing your job? It boys that do it and find out they do it on purpose. Well, Ambrose gets treated differently. Most everyone likes him. You will be surprised to learn about him.
Martha seems to be at a loss when she finds out her mother passes away. Leaving her and her sister Elsie and her younger siblings to care for. Martha seems to have a bit hard time with the loss of her mother. But will she find love?
Ambrose and Martha seem like they like each other. What will happen when they want to spend more time together? Martha wants to help Ambrose learn to read. Will happen. Burke and Carina seem to want to help her and Ambrose out as well.
Alyssa Byler dreaming of the next holiday window display for her work. As she draws out her idea for the window display and then she gets permission to create it. She needs to ask someone to make the cookie cutters for her. As Alyssa Byler get more ideas. Will they be all good. She asks Kyle Smoker to make the Cookie Cutters will happen when there is more demand?
Alyssa Byler seems to get pulled into the hustle and bustle and forget the most important thing about her lifestyle. As the season approves and gets busier. Everyone is trying to remind her of what import at this time when Christmas is coming.
Will she learn it and ask to be forgiven. Kyle and Alyssa's relationship grows. Will they make it through the rough patch. Celebrate the coming to Christ as it meant to be. Will Alyssa ask the one person to help give her a solution for her to be with her family and Kyle and help her friend Denise?
Loaves of Love by Beth Wiseman:
What would you do if you were left in charge of the bakery during the holiday season? Well, Katie is and she seems to be seeing someone. Though we learn that she is the only girl in a family of eight. So she got to help once her mother is put on bed rest after surgery.
Henry has finally has been able to feel up to ask Katie out on a date. Will, he finally asks her or will it be too late? Henry seems to have some issues with his feelings. He is a family friend of Katie and her family.
There seems to be a woman that comes into the bakery and asks Katie if she can get her order and have it ready by Friday. As she was about the work on the order and miss lunch when David comes in take Katie out to dinner. What will she do?
It seems things get more interesting as the story goes on. What happens between Katie and David? What will happen between Claire and Henry? Katie's brother Jonas stops by as well. What will happen when Katie takes the new oven gift from David?
The woman seems to have ordered twelve loaves of bread. What she does with them. You will be surprised. Katie seems to want her wood ovens after trying it and some mishaps. This woman seems to give Katie a loaf of bread.
The woman talks about the number of twelve. There seem to be quite a few things in the bible the number twelve. She just says the lord was to give it to her and that she calls the bread “Loaves of Love” and then leaves the bakery. You will not believe how it ends when Katie sees another loaf of bread on the counter?
Melting Hearts by Kathleen Fuller:
Have you ever thought you were friends with someone and it turns out they are not your friend? Well, It seems this is the case with Mattie. Does Mattie think she would be like her best friend? Though maybe she should decide for herself.
Mattie is asked to come to help her aunt when she calls her. Though she after a few weeks. She finds out that Peter is coming. Though her aunt and uncle doe not know she strongly dislikes him. Though she believes Peter is horrible.
Peter arrives and things get more interesting between Mattie and Peter. Does Mattie know her friend is using her? Mattie seems to believe that Peter is someone that bad and not to be trusted? But maybe he's a nice guy but can not admit it. Mattie seems to tear between her beliefs and her feelings.
Peter comes to help out with an additional job that Atlee as offered him. Peter seems to be around Mattie. You will be surprised at how this ends. Who will trust who? Mattie's aunt Caroline and her Uncle Atlee get some unexpected news. They are shocked by the news. I do not want to give away the ending to either of the couples mentioned. Is Lizzy more mean and curl and why?
Cakes and Kisses by Kelly Irvin:
How would you feel if you were picked on when doing your job? It boys that do it and find out they do it on purpose. Well, Ambrose gets treated differently. Most everyone likes him. You will be surprised to learn about him.
Martha seems to be at a loss when she finds out her mother passes away. Leaving her and her sister Elsie and her younger siblings to care for. Martha seems to have a bit hard time with the loss of her mother. But will she find love?
Ambrose and Martha seem like they like each other. What will happen when they want to spend more time together? Martha wants to help Ambrose learn to read. Will happen. Burke and Carina seem to want to help her and Ambrose out as well.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Last Christmas (2019) in Movies
Nov 25, 2019
Alas, Christmas
Oh Dear! Now I wouldn't go as far as saying I had "high hopes" for this film, but as a real fan of the goo-fest that is "Love Actually" I at least thought this might fill some seasonal void in the run up to the festive season. "Best Christmas film of the decade!!" screams the marketing. Er... no.
This review will be spoiler free.
The plot: Kate (Emilia Clarke) is an immigrant from the former-Yugoslavia now living in London. She has a dead-end job working for "Santa" (Michelle Yeoh) in a Christmas shop in Covent Garden. She is perennially lubricated both with drink and other bodily fluids thanks to her hedonistic lifestyle. And she really likes George Michael.
But life just seems vacuous and to have no purpose for her anymore. Her composure is not helped by her mother (Emma Thompson) constantly fussing about her health, since Kate has only recently recovered from a serious illness.
Dropping into her life then comes Tom (Henry Golding). Smartly dressed and calmly reassuring, Tom seems to have the potential to start turning Kate's life around. But is she prepared to listen?
There are startling similarities here with Phoebe Waller-Bridge's triumphant tribute to hedonistic 30-something sex-addicted females everywhere.... "Fleabag". Kate is similarly louche, hopping from bed to bed in a heartbeat. She has a dysfunctional family and - most strikingly - she has a particularly difficult relationship with her high-achieving sister. This is not helped by a remarkable similarity between the actress playing Marta (Lydia Leonard ) and Fleabag's Clare (Sian Clifford). But whereas Fleabag is both brilliantly written, heart-rending and hilarious, this simply is not.
There were a total of two laughs in the movie for me. Period. Both were lines delivered by Emma Thompson, and if you've seen the film you probably know the ones. Now, I'm aware that Thompson co-wrote the script and she is, of course, a national acting treasure. But here the script is clunky and all of the "comic" scenes are so laboured and forced that they land like leaden weights.
And some of it makes no sense whatsoever. There is some strange Danish sauerkraut salesman (Peter Mygind) with a crush on "Santa". He suddenly appears in the shop acting like some escaped mental patient. When he first appears, acting bizarrely, you think, "oh, there must be some fascinating backstory between these two - a murky past they are trying to rekindle". But no! This is the first time they have EVER met? It's completely bonkers!
Much was made of this being Michelle Yeoh's "first comedy". Sorry, but if she proves anything here it is that she is not a comic actress.
Emilia Clarke is still looking to land in a decent mainstream role outside "Game of Thrones", after a failed Terminator sequel, a half-decent weepie ("Me Before You") and the commercial failure that was "Solo". Here she certainly looks curvaciously cute as the Christmas elf. But unfortunately cute can't save her from the car-crash of a script.
Similarly Henry Golding is well-dressed eye-candy for the ladies, almost doing a re-tread of his cool and laid-back character from the excellent "Crazy Rich Asians". Without the same need to be "zany", he fairs slightly better from the script. But again, this feels like one to shuffle into a quiet corner of his CV.
What can I say that's even remotely good about this? Three things:
1) London. It looks glorious, decked out in lights like some chocolate-box-cover cum tourist-board publicity shot. London is one of the most photogenic cities on the planet, and I could relate to Tom's mantra to "look up" and see all of the architectural quirks and foibles that exist around every corner in that wonderful city;
2) The payoff. Exactly when you get the payoff will depend on how much you know going in (if you've managed to avoid the trailer... continue to avoid it!) and how attentive you are. There's an "aha!" moment. And it's nicely played out.
3) There's a topical xenophobic Brexit angle, that's a little clumsy in the exposition but - in my view - is good for the telling.
This is a movie desperately trying to blend "Love Actually" with another Christmas classic (no... not "Die Hard"... but to say more would introduce spoilers!) But in my view it misses badly.
The director is Paul Feig, famous for "Bridesmaids" and "Spy" and infamous for the female "Ghostbusters" reboot.
There are clearly lovers of this film. At the time of writing it has made an impressive $51M on its $25M budget. But I went with another three cinema-goers from my family, all of differing ages and sentiments: and we all universally agreed on the rating for this one.
(For the graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/11/25/one-manns-movies-film-review-last-christmas-2019/ . Thanks).
This review will be spoiler free.
The plot: Kate (Emilia Clarke) is an immigrant from the former-Yugoslavia now living in London. She has a dead-end job working for "Santa" (Michelle Yeoh) in a Christmas shop in Covent Garden. She is perennially lubricated both with drink and other bodily fluids thanks to her hedonistic lifestyle. And she really likes George Michael.
But life just seems vacuous and to have no purpose for her anymore. Her composure is not helped by her mother (Emma Thompson) constantly fussing about her health, since Kate has only recently recovered from a serious illness.
Dropping into her life then comes Tom (Henry Golding). Smartly dressed and calmly reassuring, Tom seems to have the potential to start turning Kate's life around. But is she prepared to listen?
There are startling similarities here with Phoebe Waller-Bridge's triumphant tribute to hedonistic 30-something sex-addicted females everywhere.... "Fleabag". Kate is similarly louche, hopping from bed to bed in a heartbeat. She has a dysfunctional family and - most strikingly - she has a particularly difficult relationship with her high-achieving sister. This is not helped by a remarkable similarity between the actress playing Marta (Lydia Leonard ) and Fleabag's Clare (Sian Clifford). But whereas Fleabag is both brilliantly written, heart-rending and hilarious, this simply is not.
There were a total of two laughs in the movie for me. Period. Both were lines delivered by Emma Thompson, and if you've seen the film you probably know the ones. Now, I'm aware that Thompson co-wrote the script and she is, of course, a national acting treasure. But here the script is clunky and all of the "comic" scenes are so laboured and forced that they land like leaden weights.
And some of it makes no sense whatsoever. There is some strange Danish sauerkraut salesman (Peter Mygind) with a crush on "Santa". He suddenly appears in the shop acting like some escaped mental patient. When he first appears, acting bizarrely, you think, "oh, there must be some fascinating backstory between these two - a murky past they are trying to rekindle". But no! This is the first time they have EVER met? It's completely bonkers!
Much was made of this being Michelle Yeoh's "first comedy". Sorry, but if she proves anything here it is that she is not a comic actress.
Emilia Clarke is still looking to land in a decent mainstream role outside "Game of Thrones", after a failed Terminator sequel, a half-decent weepie ("Me Before You") and the commercial failure that was "Solo". Here she certainly looks curvaciously cute as the Christmas elf. But unfortunately cute can't save her from the car-crash of a script.
Similarly Henry Golding is well-dressed eye-candy for the ladies, almost doing a re-tread of his cool and laid-back character from the excellent "Crazy Rich Asians". Without the same need to be "zany", he fairs slightly better from the script. But again, this feels like one to shuffle into a quiet corner of his CV.
What can I say that's even remotely good about this? Three things:
1) London. It looks glorious, decked out in lights like some chocolate-box-cover cum tourist-board publicity shot. London is one of the most photogenic cities on the planet, and I could relate to Tom's mantra to "look up" and see all of the architectural quirks and foibles that exist around every corner in that wonderful city;
2) The payoff. Exactly when you get the payoff will depend on how much you know going in (if you've managed to avoid the trailer... continue to avoid it!) and how attentive you are. There's an "aha!" moment. And it's nicely played out.
3) There's a topical xenophobic Brexit angle, that's a little clumsy in the exposition but - in my view - is good for the telling.
This is a movie desperately trying to blend "Love Actually" with another Christmas classic (no... not "Die Hard"... but to say more would introduce spoilers!) But in my view it misses badly.
The director is Paul Feig, famous for "Bridesmaids" and "Spy" and infamous for the female "Ghostbusters" reboot.
There are clearly lovers of this film. At the time of writing it has made an impressive $51M on its $25M budget. But I went with another three cinema-goers from my family, all of differing ages and sentiments: and we all universally agreed on the rating for this one.
(For the graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/11/25/one-manns-movies-film-review-last-christmas-2019/ . Thanks).
Lee (2222 KP) rated Parasite (2019) in Movies
Jan 27, 2020 (Updated Jan 27, 2020)
About twenty or so years ago, before the age of social media and all the FOMO and spoilers that comes from having such easy access to the entire movie loving world, a delayed UK release for a movie that had already been out in the US for some months wasn't such a big deal. I can remember buying an imported region 1 DVD of The Blair Witch Project and watching it on Halloween night in the UK, in the comfort of my living room and on the day it was released in the cinema. I was pretty disappointed with what I saw, but that's not my point here. Recently, we seem to be regressing to that period in time once more - not with big releases such as Marvel movies, which we are usually lucky enough to sometimes get a day or so before the US, but with films that could be described as being a little less mainstream. The Lighthouse, Jojo Rabbit, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and the subject of this review, Parasite, have all been subject to such treatment and, along with the delayed release of Disney+, the UK currently seems to be getting a serious shafting. Parasite though is a movie for which I've heard nothing but praise for what seems like forever now. It has received six Oscar nominations and is now receiving a US disc release before it's even released in UK cinemas! Anyway, ranting aside, I did manage to avoid any spoilers for Parasite and was able to go in fairly unclear as to what to expect, and I would urge everyone else to do the same. Consequently, I will try to review it by giving away as little as possible.
Parasite tells the story of the Kim family, living in poverty in a cluttered South Korean basement. When we join them they are all desperately trying to find a spot in their home where they can pick up on a nearby public WiFi hot spot in order to connect their phones to Whatsapp (turns out, it's in the corner of the toilet!). Times are clearly tough and when the mother manages to get a small job putting together pizza boxes at home, the whole family chips in to help. They even have the pleasure of being able to view drunk men staggering down their street and urinating right outside the basement window while they try to eat at their dining room table.
A friend of the son comes to visit him one evening and tells him that he has to go away for a while. He currently has a job teaching English to the daughter of the wealthy Park family and wonders if Ki-woo would like to temporarily take over for him. Despite Ki-woo having no experience in tutoring, Ki-woo is assured by his friend that it will be easy money and, providing he can win over the confidence of the "simple" mother of the house, he'll have no problem. Sure enough, the confident Ki-woo, backed up by a certificate created for him in Photoshop by his sister, manages to land himself a regular tutoring job. Then, with the use of charm, lies and deception, Ki-woo soon manages to secure cushy jobs within the Park household for the rest of his family - art tutor, housekeeper and chauffeur - all being introduced as either old acquaintances or referrals from colleagues rather than family members. And so, the family find themselves having to lead double lives, juggling their own poverty stricken home-life together, along with the separate lives they lead while working for the Park family as work colleagues.
And that is really the basis of the movie. It's an elaborate scheme which, despite being deceptive and dishonest, is a lot of fun to see play out, and at times you really can get behind the Kim family and root for them. Things go comically wrong, in the kind of way that reminded me of a sitcom where a situation involves our stars getting themselves deeper and deeper into something, no matter how hard they try to go along with it and come up with a solution. And then things start to go horribly, even horrifically wrong, courtesy of a number of little twists and shocks.
Don't let the fact that Parasite is a subtitled movie put you off and believe all the hype you come across, as this is a must see movie and I was gripped, on the edge of my seat and thoroughly entertained for the most part. There is a very clear message played out concerning the rich/poor divide - obvious at times, when you see the contrasting effect that a serious storm has on each family - and much subtler at other times. There are some elements though, surrounding the ending of the movie, which I didn't quite buy into and that stopped this from being a full 10 out of 10 from me. I felt there was a clear point where this could and should have ended earlier, but still an incredible movie all the same.
Parasite tells the story of the Kim family, living in poverty in a cluttered South Korean basement. When we join them they are all desperately trying to find a spot in their home where they can pick up on a nearby public WiFi hot spot in order to connect their phones to Whatsapp (turns out, it's in the corner of the toilet!). Times are clearly tough and when the mother manages to get a small job putting together pizza boxes at home, the whole family chips in to help. They even have the pleasure of being able to view drunk men staggering down their street and urinating right outside the basement window while they try to eat at their dining room table.
A friend of the son comes to visit him one evening and tells him that he has to go away for a while. He currently has a job teaching English to the daughter of the wealthy Park family and wonders if Ki-woo would like to temporarily take over for him. Despite Ki-woo having no experience in tutoring, Ki-woo is assured by his friend that it will be easy money and, providing he can win over the confidence of the "simple" mother of the house, he'll have no problem. Sure enough, the confident Ki-woo, backed up by a certificate created for him in Photoshop by his sister, manages to land himself a regular tutoring job. Then, with the use of charm, lies and deception, Ki-woo soon manages to secure cushy jobs within the Park household for the rest of his family - art tutor, housekeeper and chauffeur - all being introduced as either old acquaintances or referrals from colleagues rather than family members. And so, the family find themselves having to lead double lives, juggling their own poverty stricken home-life together, along with the separate lives they lead while working for the Park family as work colleagues.
And that is really the basis of the movie. It's an elaborate scheme which, despite being deceptive and dishonest, is a lot of fun to see play out, and at times you really can get behind the Kim family and root for them. Things go comically wrong, in the kind of way that reminded me of a sitcom where a situation involves our stars getting themselves deeper and deeper into something, no matter how hard they try to go along with it and come up with a solution. And then things start to go horribly, even horrifically wrong, courtesy of a number of little twists and shocks.
Don't let the fact that Parasite is a subtitled movie put you off and believe all the hype you come across, as this is a must see movie and I was gripped, on the edge of my seat and thoroughly entertained for the most part. There is a very clear message played out concerning the rich/poor divide - obvious at times, when you see the contrasting effect that a serious storm has on each family - and much subtler at other times. There are some elements though, surrounding the ending of the movie, which I didn't quite buy into and that stopped this from being a full 10 out of 10 from me. I felt there was a clear point where this could and should have ended earlier, but still an incredible movie all the same.