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Butterfly child (6 KP) rated Killing Floor: (Jack Reacher 1) in Books
Feb 26, 2018
OK characterisation (1 more)
Good mystery build up
Intriguiging lead character.
I wasn't sure about this book when I first started it. I had heard great things about it, but I like to make my own mind up. Although it had some action from the start, it was still quite slow but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. A really good read, I passed onto my mum to read too! We quite like reading the same books sometimes so we can discuss it after reading. Its quite a nice mum/daughter activity.
I know the Jack Reacher series is quite old, and now has to movies but I guess I was quite late to the party. I have managed to avoid hearing much about the series, other than lots of positive comments about the books. So I was quite excited to get started.
The debut Jack Reacher novel kicks off with a good mystery and an intriguing character. I did find it was quite slow, and even though Jack is meant to be a bit of a mystery, I finished the book still not really feeling connected to the character, and for me, when reading its about feeling connected to the characters and the books which makes me carry on reading a series.
Although, I didn't fully connected with Jack Reacher, I did like the story and some of the background characters.
I like fiction, and I am a fan of Harry Potter and sci-fi and lots of things that dispel belief, but I like it in that context when you are expecting magic and some things to not make sense. The idea of why Jack was in Margate, Georgia and his connection the dead body felt a little strange. It added a level of something to the story but I am not sure why. This was my only issue with it, and I have only read the first book, so maybe more will be explained as the series goes on. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt, as overall I did really enjoy the book.
It's an 'ok' start to a series, and Jack Reachers mysterious life kept me intrigued enough to want to carry on with the series and pass it onto my mum. I am excited to move onto book 2.
I know the Jack Reacher series is quite old, and now has to movies but I guess I was quite late to the party. I have managed to avoid hearing much about the series, other than lots of positive comments about the books. So I was quite excited to get started.
The debut Jack Reacher novel kicks off with a good mystery and an intriguing character. I did find it was quite slow, and even though Jack is meant to be a bit of a mystery, I finished the book still not really feeling connected to the character, and for me, when reading its about feeling connected to the characters and the books which makes me carry on reading a series.
Although, I didn't fully connected with Jack Reacher, I did like the story and some of the background characters.
I like fiction, and I am a fan of Harry Potter and sci-fi and lots of things that dispel belief, but I like it in that context when you are expecting magic and some things to not make sense. The idea of why Jack was in Margate, Georgia and his connection the dead body felt a little strange. It added a level of something to the story but I am not sure why. This was my only issue with it, and I have only read the first book, so maybe more will be explained as the series goes on. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt, as overall I did really enjoy the book.
It's an 'ok' start to a series, and Jack Reachers mysterious life kept me intrigued enough to want to carry on with the series and pass it onto my mum. I am excited to move onto book 2.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Polar (2019) in Movies
Jul 5, 2020
The Black Kaiser - 8/10
Polar is a 2019 neo-noir/action movie based on the Dark Horse Comics, webcomic series Polar: Came From The Cold, written by Victor Santos. It is directed by Jonas Akerlund and written by Jayson Rothwell. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Hudgens, Katheryn Winnick, and Matt Lucas.
Duncan Vizla, a.k.a. "the Black Kaiser" (Mads Mikkelsen), is an assassin for the Damocles corporation. It is company policy that all assassins retire at age 50. He checks with a doctor about his health which is good and his accountant about his wealth; which having made the maximum pension fund contributions as possible, has him set for life. In 14 days, on his 50th birthday, he'll be entitled to a payout of $8 million dollars. Mr. Blut (Matt Lucas), has Vivian (Katheryn Winnick), Duncan's handler, contact him for one last mission. Unbeknownst to Duncan this is a plan to have him killed to avoid paying out his pension.
This me was awesome despite what critics say. I read a lot of bad comments talking about it being abhorrent and vulgar. It is rated TV-MA and not for kids and it is very adult. Plus it is a movie about assassins, people who kill for money, so what do you expect. I was surprised how much I liked the Black Kaiser character, since he didn't speak much during the film. Almost felt like a spaghetti-western in some ways, with the silent gunslinger aspect to it. I thought the film was very well done when it came to the acting, the action, and the plot. I'm sure that there are points to what the critics have said but the movie was too awesome for me to care. One thing, the main bad guy i didn't much care for. He did get me to not like him and with acting that's harder than getting people to like you. Also I enjoyed the group of assassins who are employed with the Damocles corporation, for the most part they were pretty interesting and diverse and added something extra to the film. And I was not prepared for Vanessa Hudgen's character but she had a surprising role and did very well too. I give this movie a 8/10.
Duncan Vizla, a.k.a. "the Black Kaiser" (Mads Mikkelsen), is an assassin for the Damocles corporation. It is company policy that all assassins retire at age 50. He checks with a doctor about his health which is good and his accountant about his wealth; which having made the maximum pension fund contributions as possible, has him set for life. In 14 days, on his 50th birthday, he'll be entitled to a payout of $8 million dollars. Mr. Blut (Matt Lucas), has Vivian (Katheryn Winnick), Duncan's handler, contact him for one last mission. Unbeknownst to Duncan this is a plan to have him killed to avoid paying out his pension.
This me was awesome despite what critics say. I read a lot of bad comments talking about it being abhorrent and vulgar. It is rated TV-MA and not for kids and it is very adult. Plus it is a movie about assassins, people who kill for money, so what do you expect. I was surprised how much I liked the Black Kaiser character, since he didn't speak much during the film. Almost felt like a spaghetti-western in some ways, with the silent gunslinger aspect to it. I thought the film was very well done when it came to the acting, the action, and the plot. I'm sure that there are points to what the critics have said but the movie was too awesome for me to care. One thing, the main bad guy i didn't much care for. He did get me to not like him and with acting that's harder than getting people to like you. Also I enjoyed the group of assassins who are employed with the Damocles corporation, for the most part they were pretty interesting and diverse and added something extra to the film. And I was not prepared for Vanessa Hudgen's character but she had a surprising role and did very well too. I give this movie a 8/10.
Anna Marie Green (7 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Monster Hunter World in Video Games
Jul 3, 2018 (Updated Jul 3, 2018)
Fantastic Gameplay Possibilities (4 more)
Intelligent Monster AI
Climbing Difficulty
Good Community Management
It's Damn Good Fun (If you have $30, buy it.)
Feels Incomplete (2 more)
Experienced Players Lack Challenge
Mediocre Story
Monster Hunter, One Year Later
Monster Hunter: World was Capcom's fiest big success in the Western market. After years of cult status on the DS, they finally broke through to the world of consoles and had so much success that they dubbed MH:W their benchmark for future games.
But should they?
MH:W is, at its core, is a dungeon crawler designed to feel open-world within its own constraints. With beautiful environments such as the Coral Highlands and the toxic areas festering beneath the Rotten Vale, MHW looks and feels much more massive than the trodden paths you follow. Your first hunts feel thrilling as you take different paths to chase your limping prey, and a cycle of different weather, monsters, and endemic life keep you invested in immersion.
But after hunting a tempered Nergigante for the 20th time, things do begin to fall out of place. You experience the malaise of a Saitama-like hero. Have you become too strong?
Challenging fights become the norm. The occasional arch-tempered monster appears, but scaled damage isn't always the same thing as new difficulty.
In the handheld games, there were dozens of monsters with distinct abilities and variations. MH: Generations had 73 large monsters to hunt. You could even play as a palico.
But that variety just isn't in MH:W.
Granted, the game is an experiment and has provided some good content for no extra cost to the players, which is a feat of its own in comparison to all the other big game developers (EA, Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda). They also do an excellent job managing weekly challenges and encouraging community between players. Kulve Taroth hunts were a blast and the free meal in the Hub was an excellent bribe.
MH:W still needs more monsters and at least one new environment. Since its release in January 2018, only three monsters have been added to the game: Deviljho, Kulve Taroth, and Lunastra. Behemoth from Final Fantasy is also making an appearance this July. That's a monster every two months. Don't get me wrong here— that's a fair schedule for content release. Overwatch clocks in at about three months for every hero, so two months is a respectable jog for the quality of the quality of the game. Still, even Overwatch -with it's full player-controlled roster- can become a bit of a slog without those regular updates.
The easiest fix? Capcom needs to finally add in G-Ranks with weapon rarities 9 and 10, and the terrifying monsters to match. The other MH games have generally had these ranks, and the MH:W G updates have been teasing us in rumors since the release, yet we haven't seen any evidence of their existence. A massive content update containing new unique weapons trees, rarity 8 varieties of dead-end trees, armor transmogs, new endemic life and monsters, better armor designs, and more material choices... Capcom has incredible potential on their table that could rekindle gamers' interest in helping the Fifth solve the new mysteries of the New World.
Or, god forbid, suffer the gamers by making them by Monster Hunter: World 2 just to feel like they actually completed the first game.
But should they?
MH:W is, at its core, is a dungeon crawler designed to feel open-world within its own constraints. With beautiful environments such as the Coral Highlands and the toxic areas festering beneath the Rotten Vale, MHW looks and feels much more massive than the trodden paths you follow. Your first hunts feel thrilling as you take different paths to chase your limping prey, and a cycle of different weather, monsters, and endemic life keep you invested in immersion.
But after hunting a tempered Nergigante for the 20th time, things do begin to fall out of place. You experience the malaise of a Saitama-like hero. Have you become too strong?
Challenging fights become the norm. The occasional arch-tempered monster appears, but scaled damage isn't always the same thing as new difficulty.
In the handheld games, there were dozens of monsters with distinct abilities and variations. MH: Generations had 73 large monsters to hunt. You could even play as a palico.
But that variety just isn't in MH:W.
Granted, the game is an experiment and has provided some good content for no extra cost to the players, which is a feat of its own in comparison to all the other big game developers (EA, Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda). They also do an excellent job managing weekly challenges and encouraging community between players. Kulve Taroth hunts were a blast and the free meal in the Hub was an excellent bribe.
MH:W still needs more monsters and at least one new environment. Since its release in January 2018, only three monsters have been added to the game: Deviljho, Kulve Taroth, and Lunastra. Behemoth from Final Fantasy is also making an appearance this July. That's a monster every two months. Don't get me wrong here— that's a fair schedule for content release. Overwatch clocks in at about three months for every hero, so two months is a respectable jog for the quality of the quality of the game. Still, even Overwatch -with it's full player-controlled roster- can become a bit of a slog without those regular updates.
The easiest fix? Capcom needs to finally add in G-Ranks with weapon rarities 9 and 10, and the terrifying monsters to match. The other MH games have generally had these ranks, and the MH:W G updates have been teasing us in rumors since the release, yet we haven't seen any evidence of their existence. A massive content update containing new unique weapons trees, rarity 8 varieties of dead-end trees, armor transmogs, new endemic life and monsters, better armor designs, and more material choices... Capcom has incredible potential on their table that could rekindle gamers' interest in helping the Fifth solve the new mysteries of the New World.
Or, god forbid, suffer the gamers by making them by Monster Hunter: World 2 just to feel like they actually completed the first game.
Animated Essential Atlas
Medical and Education
App
The Focus Animated Essential Atlas of Anatomy and Physiology includes a full chapter on: -Cell –...
HLD (99 KP) rated Samsung Galaxy S9 in Tech
Jun 13, 2018
Screen resolution is top notch - just remember to change it from the factory default (4 more)
Curved screen took a while to get used to, but is lovely and useful
The camera is sublime
Finger print scanner is in a great position
The sound quality is quite good. The dolby surround sound option makes playing games on it really fun
Battery life could be improved. But I run everything I can on normal/high settings (2 more)
Going from a larger phone to the standard S9 is taking some getting used to. Constant mistyping plagues my conversations
Bixby button - Why?!
An absolute beaut of a phone
The phone I had before was the oneplus 3T, which I was thoroughly happy with. I only upgraded because I got a discount through my work. Although, I am glad I did. It's faster, smoother, the quality of the display is superb, and most functionality that you aren't happy with you can change!
You will curse that Bixby button, however. I suggest downloading a third party app that either disables the button, or enables you to change the functionality.
If you enjoy gaming on your phone, the S9 will run anything nicely. The S9 plus does have more RAM, bigger screen, and second camera, so if that's what you're interested in, then maybe shell out the few extra bucks for the larger phone.
You will curse that Bixby button, however. I suggest downloading a third party app that either disables the button, or enables you to change the functionality.
If you enjoy gaming on your phone, the S9 will run anything nicely. The S9 plus does have more RAM, bigger screen, and second camera, so if that's what you're interested in, then maybe shell out the few extra bucks for the larger phone.
Kayleigh (12 KP) rated The Clock Of Life in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Firstly, thank you to Nancy Klann-Moren for approaching me to read and review this book. Congratulations are also in order, as The Clock of Life was nominated for the general fiction/novel section of the Indie Book Awards.
This book gets a middling 3 stars from me. I found the character development to be really detailed, and I felt as though I knew the characters by the end. As the blurb already mentions, the main focus of the book is on Jason Lee. Starting from when he began school and ending with a relationship and career choice as a teenager, this book is Jason's journey through childhood.
The reason it didn't rate any higher for me though is that I found it to be fairly slow paced, and at times weighed down with politics that as an English woman, I didn't completely connect with. Plotwise, while things did happen, it didn't become exciting until right at the end.
The message about race is a good one, and the book highlights how far attitudes towards race have come. I did enjoy it, although maybe not in the way I enjoyed a book like The Hunger Games, where I felt a sense of satisfaction and couldn't wait to read more. If you like bildungsromans/coming-of-age stories, I'd definitely recommend it.
This book gets a middling 3 stars from me. I found the character development to be really detailed, and I felt as though I knew the characters by the end. As the blurb already mentions, the main focus of the book is on Jason Lee. Starting from when he began school and ending with a relationship and career choice as a teenager, this book is Jason's journey through childhood.
The reason it didn't rate any higher for me though is that I found it to be fairly slow paced, and at times weighed down with politics that as an English woman, I didn't completely connect with. Plotwise, while things did happen, it didn't become exciting until right at the end.
The message about race is a good one, and the book highlights how far attitudes towards race have come. I did enjoy it, although maybe not in the way I enjoyed a book like The Hunger Games, where I felt a sense of satisfaction and couldn't wait to read more. If you like bildungsromans/coming-of-age stories, I'd definitely recommend it.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2353 KP) rated Murder on the Half Shell in Books
Feb 5, 2020
Life’s Not Quite a Beach
Penelope Sutherland and her catering crew are working on a period mystery filming on an island in Florida. Penelope has hired a few locals to help out, including two teen girls who work part time as servers. After a party one Friday night, the teens disappear. Suspicion falls on Emilio, one of the chefs that Penelope studied under at culinary school. Penelope doesn’t want to believe her old teacher is guilty, but there is something in his past that makes Penelope doubt her judgement. Where are the girls? Who is responsible for what is going on?
It’s been a few years since I read the first in this series, and I didn’t remember who everyone was. Sadly, this book assumes you remember the relationships, and it took me longer than it should have to figure out those connections. The characters are good, but they don’t feel fully developed to me. I was pulled into the plot, however, with the missing teens making it easy to care about the outcome. There are plenty of twists and turns, and the climax was satisfying. Being able to visit a beach location during the winter was a great treat, and I found the balance of the mystery with the slower life of the island was well done. This is a quick read, and I enjoyed it.
It’s been a few years since I read the first in this series, and I didn’t remember who everyone was. Sadly, this book assumes you remember the relationships, and it took me longer than it should have to figure out those connections. The characters are good, but they don’t feel fully developed to me. I was pulled into the plot, however, with the missing teens making it easy to care about the outcome. There are plenty of twists and turns, and the climax was satisfying. Being able to visit a beach location during the winter was a great treat, and I found the balance of the mystery with the slower life of the island was well done. This is a quick read, and I enjoyed it.
Broadside: How We Regained the Ashes
Book
The photograph was splashed all over the front pages of the newspapers: Stuart Broad's astonished...
Enough is Plenty: The Year on the Dingle Peninsula
Book
Foreword by Alice Taylor.An emigrant to England in the 1970s, Felicity Hayes-McCoy knew she'd return...