Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (3329)

Content

Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Cloverfield (2008) in Movies

Oct 5, 2020

Cloverfield (2008)

2008 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi

7.3

(48 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Cloverfield is, at heart a found footage Kaiju movie with the twist that you don't see much of the main monster until the end of the film. Unlike Kaiju films like Godzilla or even Pacific rim, Cloverfield does not concentrate on the monster but on the people affected by it's rampage and the found footage aspect of the film helps bring us in close with a small group of survivors as they try to work out what is happening and try to find their friends.
I knew some one who absolutely hated this film for the very fact that the monster is rarely seen, although he clamed that you never actually saw the monster, which isn't true so I don't think he watched all the way to the end. He had a point though, if you want to watch a film where monsters fight it out amongst themselves then this probably won't be for you.
The monster is really nothing more than a plot device and the fact that it is only revealed in parts and not fully seen until the end helps to keep the film centred on the people and helps add a touch of reality to the film, after all if you lived in Japan during a Kaiju attack you would be more interested in saving your own life than weather you were about to be eaten by Godzilla or Ghidorah.
Being a found footage film, Cloverfield suffers slightly from the usual shaky camera work and occasional low sound but these are kept to a minimum. The film also manages to avoid relying on night vision or infra red so the footage is, for the most part, much clearer than other films of this style and doesn't keep switching formats which make the film less distracting than others.
Over all Cloverfield is a good monster/survival film which leaves some questions to be answered in the sequels (or not )

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated 47 Meters Down (2017) in Movies

Jul 11, 2019

The British horror film “47 Meters Down” tells the tale of two young women on vacation in Mexico who get far more of a thrill then they bargained for during a shark cage swim session. Sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt) meet two charming young men as they try to lick Lisa’s post-break up wounds during a night out somewhere Mexico. When the guys offer to take them out on a shark swim adventure, Kate pushes Lisa to go ahead and do it in an effort to prove she is not as boring as her ex claims.

The film spends about twenty minutes building up this background story, but fails to create any moments for the audience to connect with the characters.

The whole premise is built around what clearly is a poor decision as a rusty old boat pulls into the marina to board the sisters. At this point forward, the entire rest of the film is shot primarily from Lisa’s point of view deep inside the ocean.

As the cage the girls are in first lowers down, there are a few shots of sharks that are very beautiful and thrilling. But after the predictable breakage of the winch holding the cage to the boat ensues, the girls sink to the bottom and attempt to fight for survival.

At this point forward it becomes a bit frustrating to watch because the entire film is very dark and you only get a few glimpses of a shark here or there. If there had been a bit more character build up or story line including rescue efforts, this may have been a theater worthy view. Audiences definitely won’t get as much excitement as they did from other shark films like that of “Jaws” or “Sharknado.” Mostly because this film attempts to take on a more realistic feel. Unfortunately it falls a bit flat and the audience finds comedy in what was supposed to be serious.

I give “47 meters Down” 1 out of 5 stars.

Kudos

Becs (244 KP) rated Max Einstein: Rebels with a Cause in Books

Oct 8, 2019

Max Einstein: Rebels with a Cause

James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein | 2019 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

fast-paced (2 more)

adventure packed

lessons that are taught within

Amazing sequel to Max Einstein: the Genius Experiment

You can also find this review on my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com

TRIGGER WARNINGS: a bit of violence, anger issues, absent parent(s), manipulation, kidnapping

REVIEW:
Rebels with a Cause is book two (2) of the Max Einstein series and it was just as great as book one (1)! The adventures that were packed into this little novel along side Max Einstein still being a great role model was seriously so refreshing.

In Rebels with a Cause, we get to see more of Max thinking on her feet and implementing crazy plans to save not only herself, but her team and the world as well. You also learn more about the villains in this novel, which made for an interesting addition to the plot!

Again, James Patterson really knows how to write a captivating story that is not only well-written but fast-paces as well. There are more math/science lessons in Rebels with a Cause and I really enjoyed that they were applied to real life problems. The way that each were explained were written in an extremely easy to understand way so that the reader, young or old, can know what is being put into the solution.

The task that Max and her team were given to fix was a water crisis and I really loved that this was the main problem in the story. Having clean water available to all is a real world crisis. Water is an extremely important part of the human survival and this topic really hit the spot while reading. James wrote Rebels with a Cause again with a fast-paced, adventure packed, and informative nature. I highly recommend to all!

"I believe that Ghandi's views were the most enlightened among all the political men of our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit; not to use violence in fighting for a cause, but by non-participation and what we believe is evil. - Albert Einstein”