LOAC Essentials: Vol. 4: Alley OOP 1939
Book
"a darned good read" - The Comics Journal In 1939, Vincent Trout Hamlin had been writing and drawing...
Little Red Hood
Sarah Ardizzone and Marjolaine Leray
Book
She started life as a little red scribble and then, there she was: a little red hood. The wolf is...
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) in Movies
May 20, 2020
Much like 10 Cloverfield Lane, Paradox started life as a non-Cloverfield property. My only real issue with it's predecessor is that the link to the original film felt tacked onto the end, after the (excellent) main bulk of the story was done. My main issue with Paradox, is that the links are weaved in from the get go, but it's painfully obvious that the original plot was retconned to fit the overall Cloverfield narrative, and it doesn't quite flow properly.
This is most evident in the scenes that take place on Earth, and centre around Roger Davies' character. They just feel a bit out of place, even if they do have a monster movie kind of vibe.
The stuff that takes place up in space isn't too awful. A crew of scientists are orbiting earth in a space station, using a partical accelerator to find new sources of energy, energy that Earth desperately needs as reserves run low, and global war seems imminent. Of course, it doesn't all go to plan, and the crew find themselves in a parallel dimension, space and time is ripped apart etc etc.
To cut it short, lots of weird shit starts to happen aboard the station. It comes across like a poor man's Event Horizon. The pacing is a little off and the obligatory twist near the films climax is a bit silly and unearned, but honestly, there are worse sci-fi 'horror' films out there. There's some good effects work on show, and the cast are mostly likeable.
It's an entertaining enough film, but honestly, the Cloverfield links sort of spoil it a little. I love the original, and I loved 10 Cloverfield Lane, but I sincerely hope that if the franchise continues to move forward, they do some proper big budget sequels, and stop retconning other films!
Marriage of Inconvenience: Knitting in the City Book 7
10.0
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From the USA Today Bestselling Series There are three things you need to know about Kat Tanner...
Cook Happy, Cook Healthy
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Delicious recipes to make life just that bit healthier and a lot easier. "Most of the food you put...
All That Glitters
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The debut novel from the winner of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here 2015 Three years ago Issy...
Home (Songbird, #4)
9.0
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Rachel Myers never meant to stay in Payton. Her eyes were set on bigger things than waitressing at...
Contemporary Romance
Love Potions (Warlocks MacGregor #1)
6.0
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A little magickal mischief never hurt anyone… Erik MacGregor is from a clan of ancient Scottish...
Paranormal Romance Scotland
Merissa (13521 KP) rated The Lucky Ones (Unpredictable #2) in Books
Nov 10, 2025
Keston has a chip on his shoulder that he wears loud and proud. He did have a rough time of it, but still. Bailey is the opposite - he also had a rough time of it, but hides behind a cheerful mask. Both of them still have problems and issues they're dealing with. And both of them either don't communicate or miscommunicate!
As with all of this author's books, there is plenty of emotion and real-life problems to be overcome. Nothing is ever easy, and I love that about these books. It gives me enough 'fairytale' while still being grounded. There is steam aplenty between these two, but also a deeper, emotional connection, if only they would trust enough to allow it.
A great read that I thoroughly enjoyed and definitely recommend.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 10, 2025
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)
There were a lot of teaser trailers for this and sadly it meant a lot of the scenes were pre-seen in some way, shape or form. I was surprised that none of them had any extra footage that was held back. I loved the vet clip and cat training montage, but there wasn't a single new moment to make them even better.
These two scenes in particular stuck out for another reason, they really highlighted the music. It's fun and a little jazzy, but it's also slightly too loud when combined with the speech which means it doesn't feel like it's in the background anymore.
The film starts out with Max getting used to the fact that there's now a child in his home. Initially he's apprehensive but soon he warms to Liam and goes out of his way to protect him from the dangers of the world. His hypersensitivity to everything has made him nervous and he needs to overcome this if he's going to deal with Liam going to pre-school.
Meanwhile, Captain Snowball is involved in his first case, a kitten that's been catnapped... well, a white tiger who has been chained and tormented by a circus. Snowball and Daisy must execute the perfect heist and free Hu from the evil Sergei's clutches.
Our third storyline doesn't fit in with the other two so well but it's possibly my favourite. Max has asked Gidget to look after his favourite toy and in a terrible accident it bounces out of her window and ends up landing in a neighbour's front room. That neighbour is definitely a cat person. Gidget must enlist the help of Chloe to learn how to be a cat so she can infiltrate her home and rescue the toy. This leads to my favourite scene in the whole film. Plan B has to be the best plan anyone has ever come up with, and Gidget really does deserve the admiration for it.
Secret Life Of Pets 2 is another amusing addition to the Illumination catalogue, and it's certainly not the worst. I've seen it twice and it's entertaining enough to watch more than once (although probably not as close together as I saw it). There are enough moments to keep everyone engaged, there are worse ways to spend some time.
What you should do
I think this will be a good option for a family outing, well worth seeing and it seems to be particularly popular with the kids.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I think I'd want Chloe, even though I'm a bit of a dog person.