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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2484 KP) rated Trixie Belden and the Mystery at Maypenny's (Trixie Belden, #31) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

When International Pine wants to expand their furniture factory in Sleepyside, the town and the Bob-Whites become divided. But it’s Mr. Maypenny who may be effected the most. What is happening on his property?

Sadly, this is a weak entry in the series. The mystery is shoehorned in with Trixie getting most of her answers in a few data dumps late in the book. The factory plot takes center stage most of the time and gives a good view of the pro-jobs side of things but leaves the environmental side of things weak. On the other hand, the characters are strong and we get to see more of Dan than normal.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/08/book-review-mystery-at-maypennys-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) in Movies

Feb 14, 2018 (Updated Feb 14, 2018)

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)

1995 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

7.0

(4 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Turtle Recall

Hugely confident reinvention not just of Gamera the flying turtle but also, maybe, the whole kaiju movie genre. Japan is plagued by man-eating Gyaos birds, finds unexpected assistance when floating island turns out to be giant flying turtle with plasma fireball breath. Stage is set for climactic showdown between Gamera and the last, colossal Gyaos in downtown Tokyo (of course).

Altogether much lighter on its feet than Toho's Godzilla movies from the same period; makers have clearly studied the tropes of the genre and reinvent and deploy them to great effect. Hugely enjoyable monster action sequences, solid work from the human cast as well (Steven Seagal's daughter Ayako Fujitani is clearly the one in the family with acting talent). The two sequels are possibly even better.

Kudos

Madbatdan82 (341 KP) rated Backdraft (1991) in Movies

Jun 18, 2019

Backdraft (1991)

1991 | Action, Drama, Mystery

7.6

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

The fire sequences and half of the acting (0 more)

The other half of the acting (0 more)

You go - we go

I remember first seeing this film when I was about 9 or 10 and loved it! I thought Kurt Russell was God and went through a stage of wanting to be a fireman. Now 'a few years' later I can objectively review it...Kurt Russell is still God!!! Along with his performance theres equally awesome ones from Robert de Niro & Donald Sutherland. Some of the other performances are a bit bad (Billy Baldwin I'm looking at you!) but the real star of the show here is the fire sequences. They are truly amazing and manage to put you in the scene so that you feel you're in the middle of the fire with them. A true classic.

Kudos

David McK (3713 KP) rated Life, the Universe and Everything in Books

Jan 28, 2019

The third of the Hitch-Hikers Guide books, which starts with Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent still stuck on a prehistoric Earth.

It's not long, however, before they are back in 'our' time, roped into an attempt to save the Universe for destruction by an army of robots made by an alien race. Of course, they fail spectacularly in all their attempts to stop the robots gathering the items they need to release their masters, who were imprisoned inside a 'Slo-Time envelope' following a long and protracted war aeons ago.

To be honest, I found this book to be rather surreal. Despite a few good moments, it was never really laugh-out-loud funny, ending in a blatant attempt for a sequel (which, to be fair, I probably will read at some stage).

Kudos

Sara Cox (1845 KP) rated Aladdin (2019) in Movies

Mar 25, 2020

Aladdin (2019)

2019 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical

7.2

(157 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Costumes (0 more)

Songs lacked something (1 more)

Unnecessary order of events changes

Sorely Disappointed

I really wanted to enjoy this. I loved the stage show and adore the animation. From the onset this let me down. I hung on until the Prince Ali song, because if this couldn't be done right what could? Not only was a bit miffed at the fact that things were not in the order of the other 2 versions (both done by Disney so I don't understand why you would fix something that isn't broken), but the songs lacked something: flare, brightness, the thing that gives me the urge to sing and jig along. The was constant throughout the film, it seemed to lack colour (not actually colour but it seemed a bit dull). Sorely disappointed.