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Free Guy (2021)
Free Guy (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
I play video games fairly regularly, so it's no surprise that I absolutely love the concept of Free Guy. A whole ass movie exploring the daily ins and outs of an NPC existing in a Grand Theft Auto style world is something that interests me, and it's feels quite unique. Unfortunately, that uniqueness is bogged down by a whole lot of over familiar execution. The time loop style plot trope, the over the top douchebag villain (even when it's Taika Waititi), events in the movie being presented through familiar real life news stations or YouTube, the inclusion of multiple popular IPs thrown in for a cheap thrill - for a movie that carries a fresh premise, it manages to feel wholly unoriginal.
These negatives would usually be enough to complely write off the finished product, but luckily, Free Guy is entertaining as hell. It has some decent action set pieces, never tries to be something it's not, and even managed to wrangle a few laughs out of me. Most importantly, it's fun.

Free Guy has plenty of flaws, but it's shortcomings are just about balanced out by the good, and it will surely appeal to the majority of people who see it. A decent enough switch-off watch.
  
Chaos (The Society #6)
Chaos (The Society #6)
Mason Sabre | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
170 of 250
Kindle
Choas ( The Society book 6)
By Mason Sabre

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

What happens when fate decides to throw you a curveball?Kirsty Adams works for the Humans. To some that is seen like betrayal of her kind. She is Fae—a member of the Unseelie court. But Kirsty wants what is best for her family and her children, and that means going against what people say.Except one day …Everything at work changes and Kirsty is thrown into the unknown. Facing the truth of who she works for and what he is capable of. Kirsty must choose between the life she is trying to make and the one that seems to be calling to her. Join Kirsty as her eyes are slowly opened, and for the first time, she just might understand what is at stake. Chaos is the latest action-packed paranormal novella from Mason Sabre.

This series is just so good and keeps getting better! We find out more of what’s happening to Stephen and Helena also more of what Lee is up to! I’m hoping the happy ending is coming for both of them!
  
W
Witness
Caroline Mitchell | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
25 of 220
Kindle
Witness
By Caroline Mitchell
⭐️⭐️⭐️

To Rebecca it was a brave decision that led to her freedom from domestic abuse. To Solomon it was the ultimate betrayal.

It’s been ten years since Rebecca’s testimony saw Solomon locked away. Enough time for the nightmares to recede, the nerves to relax; enough time to rebuild her life and put the past behind her.

Then one day a phone rings in her bedroom—but it’s not her phone. Solomon has been in her home, and has a very simple message for her: for each of the ten years he has spent in jail, Rebecca must witness a crime. And, to make matters worse, she has to choose the victims.

Fail to respond and you get hurt. Talk to the police and you die. Ready to play? You have sixty seconds to decide…

As the crimes grow more severe, the victims closer to home, Rebecca is forced to confront a past she had hoped was gone forever.

This was good. Well written and an interesting story that kept you reading. Didn’t get me overly excited but I did enjoy the read. A new author for me. Does contain Domestic abuse and controlling behaviour.
  
 Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy #1)
Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy #1)
David Gemmell | 2006 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<2022 update>

Still as good as ever. I've yet to find someone to match Gemmell for this style of work.

<<2011 review>>

While perhaps more famous for his Drenai series of books (that began with 'Legend'), throughout his life David Gemmell wrote many other books as well.

At the time of his death in 2006, he was working on a novel called "Fall of Kings": the final part of a trilogy that began with with this novel. The trilogy, as a whole, was a re-working of the story of Troy: set during the early bronze age and with some famous (as well as some not-so-famous) characters from that legend all making an appearance. This first novel introduces us to some of those characters and sets the scene for what is to come ...

As it's a Gemmell book, it's a pretty safe bet what to expect: the man was famous for writing heroic fantasy, with his characters as (nearly always) flawed in some respect: the main characters in this book (particularly Helikaon) are no exception to that rule. While it could be argued that the novel could do with a bit of trimming in some of the slower sections, this is still an impressive piece of work.
  
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Dean (6927 KP) rated Elvis (2022) in Movies

Jul 6, 2022  
Elvis (2022)
Elvis (2022)
2022 | Biography, Drama, Musical
6
7.8 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Great songs (1 more)
Austin Butler
Feels even longer than 2.5hrs (1 more)
Not a detailed bio epic
We can't go on together...
Saw the trailer and the style and vibe of the film interested me, not knowing a great deal about Elvis I thought it would be interesting to know more.
It's great to find out more about him, how he started out and his inspiration. Still not sure how accurate some details are and some sections of his life are barely covered. So maybe not the full story you might expect, despite the 2.5hrs run time. Some how it felt even longer.
It does feel a little disjointed at times switching between Elvis story and also that of his manager Col Tom Parker. The songs are great and Austin Butler gives a great performance. The first half of the film about his rise was intriguing the second half towards the end of his career was a lot slower.
So it's very stylish and interesting, although big fans of Elvis might be a little disappointed on how much of Elvis it a actually covers. Also how accurate it is as well. For others it was a good incite if maybe not as detailed as you might expect.
  
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
2016 | Action, Family, Sci-Fi
5
5.8 (22 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Alice Through the Looking Glass starts as Alice (Wasikowska) returns from one of her voyages around the world only to find her dreams of seeing the world have been taken from her. Escaping the real world Wonderland calls Alice back with Queen Mirana (Hathaway) and the rest of the characters need Alice to bring the Hatter (Depp) back to his senses after he falls through memories of his loss.

Alice must travel back through time to save the Hatter’ family and bring him back to his colourful ways. Alice finds herself having to go to Time (Cohen) himself to find a way to save the Hatter where she finds herself coming across an old foe Iracebeth (Carter) who wants to use time to control the kingdoms regaining her crown.

Alice Through the Looking Glass does what Oz the Great and Powerful and Wicked have done to The Wizard of Oz by making us want to sympathise with the villainous characters by showing us how they got driven into evil ways because of the bad decisions by the good one. The travel through time works because it does explain certain moments from the story like why Hatter and co have been waiting so long for the tea party. In the end this just tries slightly too much to not bring any new villainous threat to the world to show Alice the important lesson in the real life she is living.

 

Actor Review

 

Johnny Depp: Hatter Tarrant Hightopp has gone into a deep depression when he learns to remember the fate of his family, Alice is trying to go through his past to stop this event so we get to meet Hatter as he was younger and struggling to decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps. Johnny continues his streak of quirky roles but does get over shadowed by Mia.

Mia Wasikowska: Alice is now an adventurer who travels the world only to return home and find her future gone and being forced to give up her dreams. When she returns to Wonderland she must battle the forces of time to save her old friend Hatter and learn to accept her own changes in her life. Mia is good in this role but it is strange seeing an older version of Alice.

Helena Bonham Carter: Iracebeth is the evil queen who lost her crown in the first film, she wants to use time to change the past keeping her power over the kingdoms, but this time we learn about what drove her to be the way she is. Helena continues her blatant rip off performance from Queenie in Blackadder.

Anne Hathaway: Mirana is the good queen of the kingdom who asks Alice to help the Hatter only for us to learn about her younger ways. Anne is very basic in this supporting performance where she doesn’t get much to work with.

Support Cast: Alice Through the Looking Glass has a big supporting cast with Sacha Baron Cohen shining as Time itself chasing Alice down through time.

Director Review: James Bobin – James gives us a solid sequel but seems to mix Oz the Great and Powerful with time travel.

 

Adventure: Alice Through the Looking Glass does put Alice on an adventure she could only dream of through time itself.

Family: Alice Through the Looking Glass does feel slightly too dark for the youngest members of family to enjoy.

Fantasy: Alice Through the Looking Glass builds on the fantasy world created on the first outing looking deeper into the backstory of the characters involved.

Settings: Alice Through the Looking Glass brings us back to the Wonderland location with the inclusion of the time warehouse location.
Special Effects: Alice Through the Looking Glass is a film you can almost feel the green screen behind the actors.

Suggestion: Alice Through the Looking Glass is only one to try really I don’t think it is one that is that special. (Try It)

 

Best Part: Time is a good character.

Worst Part: Just feels like a copy of Oz the Great and the Powerful with time travel.

 

Believability: No

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: No

Budget: $170 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

Tagline: This spring, it’s time for a little madness.

 

Overall: Simple sequel that offers nothing new to the overall Wonderland world.

https://moviesreview101.com/2016/06/23/alice-through-the-looking-glass-2016/
  
    The Pointless Book 3 App

    The Pointless Book 3 App

    Book, Entertainment and Stickers

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    ***From the creators of the #1 bestselling apps THE POINTLESS BOOK and THE POINTLESS BOOK 2 comes...

Klaus (2019)
Klaus (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
New Christmas films always make me a little sceptical, a lot don't seem to take things very seriously and that means something naff that isn't always good. Seeing the trailer for Klaus made me hopeful though, I love an origin story.

Jesper has had a privileged life up until this point, when daddy is in charge of the business you can skate by with the minimum of effort. Things are about to change though, his father has had enough of his loafing around.

One year. 6,000 letters. This is what Jesper must achieve or he'll be cast out of the life of comfort he knows. That sounds doable, right? It does until you find out he's being sent to the farthest reaches where many postmen have gone before and soon fled. The town aren't the communicative type unless it involves and insult and a projectile weapon. Jesper is set on giving up until he spots a house out on the very edge of the map, this home belongs to a reclusive woodsman named Klaus.

At first glance the animation on Klaus looked too simplistic, in a world where computer animation and effects exist you sometimes forget that something doesn't have to be overcomplicated to be good. By the end I was amazed at how much this "simple" looking film managed to get across. The contrast between the bright happy world and the dark glum one in Smeerensburg is wonderful to behold, the colours (or lack thereof) get across the despair, and mixed with the characters it shows you exactly what sort of situation Jesper is dealing with.

What I particularly like about the amination is how well each scene is crafted outside of the characters. It's so atmospheric, the fog over the town, the mist in the forest, the way the light works with the weather, it's magical.

Smeerensburg's townsfolk match their surroundings perfectly and I'd really like to congratulate the person who came up with that crazed little stabby girl, she might be my favourite character of all. Seeing how the changes unfold throughout the film was lovely, each one brought with it a thrill that warmed this cold heart on a winter's day.

"A true act of goodwill always sparks another."

The story itself is a staple of Christmas films, love and friendship conquering selfishness, but it's a very charming way to look at it. I liked that the obligatory love interest storyline was actually not the main point, the friendship made for a much better focus. Klaus weaves a wonderful tale of how simple deeds can change the world... yes, I'm being overly dramatic!

I wasn't prepared for how much this was going to get to me, I've watched it twice this weekend and I'll be watching it again before Christmas is here. Thank you, Netflix. I'm adding this to my regular Christmas watching rotation.

Originally posted on: http://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/12/klaus-movie-review.html