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KyleQ (267 KP) rated Halloween Ends (2022) in Movies
Apr 2, 2023
Surprisingly a step-up, the best of the trilogy.
Halloween Ends introduces us to Corey (Rohan Campbell), a young man with a dark image for having ended the life of a boy (he claims it was an accident.)
Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is trying to move on, along with Allyson (Andi Matichak), but Michael Myers still lurks in the shadows.
Halloween Ends is overall a mixed bag, but I was surprised that I mostly enjoyed it.
Rohan Campbell is great in his role, and Matichak gives her best performance.
The film has a darker more serious tone, I loved it.
Now for the downsides.
Laurie was annoying, her dumb, philosophical narrations are cringe-inducing, and she does little throughout the film.
Michael is practically pointless. He's shown as weak, and helpless.
The final moments with Michael are a letdown, the last 20 minutes or so are dull and disappointing.
Honestly, Halloween Ends would've worked way better as an original horror film centered around Corey,
All the throwbacks to the franchise and the final fight between Michael and Laurie felt tired and spiritless.
Worth a watch, but definitely not perfect.
Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is trying to move on, along with Allyson (Andi Matichak), but Michael Myers still lurks in the shadows.
Halloween Ends is overall a mixed bag, but I was surprised that I mostly enjoyed it.
Rohan Campbell is great in his role, and Matichak gives her best performance.
The film has a darker more serious tone, I loved it.
Now for the downsides.
Laurie was annoying, her dumb, philosophical narrations are cringe-inducing, and she does little throughout the film.
Michael is practically pointless. He's shown as weak, and helpless.
The final moments with Michael are a letdown, the last 20 minutes or so are dull and disappointing.
Honestly, Halloween Ends would've worked way better as an original horror film centered around Corey,
All the throwbacks to the franchise and the final fight between Michael and Laurie felt tired and spiritless.
Worth a watch, but definitely not perfect.
Merissa (13169 KP) rated Kindred (The Darkwoods Trilogy #2) in Books
Mar 31, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)
This story continues 7 months from the end of Book 1 but it takes you straight back into the story. The second book in a trilogy can sometimes be a weak link, only really there to link book 1 to book 3, but not this one. This story continues along with the story but gives you more insight into the characters, both main and secondary, and their feelings for each other and the others whose lives intertwine with theirs.
There are a few twists and turns in this story, some that you can see building up and others that blindside you. It is emotionally laden without being bogged down and takes you along with Adria onto her journey into madness. Isaac is still coming into his own and is not sure about much apart from Adria but something will happen which makes him take a stand and I feel that he grows so much because of it.
This whole story is quite simply blowing me away and I have already started Book 3 - The Ballad of Aramei.
* Verified Purchase ~ January 2013 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
July 19, 2017
There are a few twists and turns in this story, some that you can see building up and others that blindside you. It is emotionally laden without being bogged down and takes you along with Adria onto her journey into madness. Isaac is still coming into his own and is not sure about much apart from Adria but something will happen which makes him take a stand and I feel that he grows so much because of it.
This whole story is quite simply blowing me away and I have already started Book 3 - The Ballad of Aramei.
* Verified Purchase ~ January 2013 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
July 19, 2017
Merissa (13169 KP) rated Oubliette (Cloud Prophet Trilogy #2) in Books
Apr 6, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)
This book follows immediately on from Anathema and you are straight back in the action. Reychel is thrust through a portal which opens up in The Southern Kingdom. This takes her away from everything she knows, or thought she knew, and lands her firmly in the middle of haven't got a clue. They are expecting her however and once more she feels the pressure of being The Prophet when she really doesn't know how to use her gift.
Once again there are plots and subplots which delight you as you read. Who can Reychel (and the reader) trust? Nothing is as it seems but there is still a job to be done. What will Reychel and the others do?
This story once again was a wonder to read. It is intricate yet simple. The storyline is straightforward and yet there is so much to it. In all, this story is a delightful paradox and I am enjoying every moment. I have just purchased Severed which is the third in the trilogy so look out for a review of that one coming soon.
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 3, 2016
Once again there are plots and subplots which delight you as you read. Who can Reychel (and the reader) trust? Nothing is as it seems but there is still a job to be done. What will Reychel and the others do?
This story once again was a wonder to read. It is intricate yet simple. The storyline is straightforward and yet there is so much to it. In all, this story is a delightful paradox and I am enjoying every moment. I have just purchased Severed which is the third in the trilogy so look out for a review of that one coming soon.
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
August 3, 2016
ClareR (5950 KP) rated Daughters of War in Books
Oct 27, 2021
Daughters of War is set during the Nazi occupation of France and tells the story of three sisters: Hélène, Elise and Florence.
Hélène, the eldest, is a nurse and does her best to protect her two younger sisters, although Elise is determined to play her part in the Resistance. Florence is happy to hide away in their cottage, longing for the day that France will be free again.
I loved the relationships between the sisters - they’re all sp different from one another - and they pull together in times of need and danger.
And there’s plenty of danger here, both in their village and in the places that Hélène and Elise must go to as their roles in the Resistance dictate.
And the secret they uncover about Florence is pretty shocking and totally unexpected for the sisters.
This was a really enjoyable read on The Pigeonhole. There’s a great mix of emotion, adrenaline and danger. This is the first book in a planned trilogy, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the sisters go next in the next two books.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the publisher for serialising this book - I loved it.
Hélène, the eldest, is a nurse and does her best to protect her two younger sisters, although Elise is determined to play her part in the Resistance. Florence is happy to hide away in their cottage, longing for the day that France will be free again.
I loved the relationships between the sisters - they’re all sp different from one another - and they pull together in times of need and danger.
And there’s plenty of danger here, both in their village and in the places that Hélène and Elise must go to as their roles in the Resistance dictate.
And the secret they uncover about Florence is pretty shocking and totally unexpected for the sisters.
This was a really enjoyable read on The Pigeonhole. There’s a great mix of emotion, adrenaline and danger. This is the first book in a planned trilogy, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the sisters go next in the next two books.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the publisher for serialising this book - I loved it.
David McK (3600 KP) rated Shield of Thunder (Troy #2) in Books
Jan 8, 2023
The mid part in David Gemmell's final trilogy of books, all of which were a re-telling of the epic story of the Fall of Troy, and which were finished by his wife after he passed away while still writing the final installment ( Fall of Kings).
This is also very much a book of discrete parts, starting by focusing largely on Odysseus in the first section and the new characters of Banokles, Kalliades and Piria, before moving onto Troy proper (and recurring characters from the first book) in the second part and then taking a large jump forward in time to the third (and final) part, when war has broken out between the Greek kingdoms of the 'Great Green'.
For my part, I actually found the first section of the book the most enjoyable; the section that concerned itself mostly with Odysseus. While the next section was necessary to show how the war (eventually) came about, and with third part to show the impact that war would have, I felt that (unfortunately) at times it fell almost too much into that age-old trap for the mid-part of trilogies: all build-up, with no real pay-off.
This is also very much a book of discrete parts, starting by focusing largely on Odysseus in the first section and the new characters of Banokles, Kalliades and Piria, before moving onto Troy proper (and recurring characters from the first book) in the second part and then taking a large jump forward in time to the third (and final) part, when war has broken out between the Greek kingdoms of the 'Great Green'.
For my part, I actually found the first section of the book the most enjoyable; the section that concerned itself mostly with Odysseus. While the next section was necessary to show how the war (eventually) came about, and with third part to show the impact that war would have, I felt that (unfortunately) at times it fell almost too much into that age-old trap for the mid-part of trilogies: all build-up, with no real pay-off.
David McK (3600 KP) rated The Matrix Resurrections (2021) in Movies
Feb 9, 2022 (Updated Oct 1, 2023)
Unnecessary sequel
Summer of 1999.
Pre Millennium.
Just at the start of our current high-tech always-on society.
And The Matrix was released, becoming hugely influential in the process and popularising the concept of 'bullet time'.
Both the sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions) were released during 'the year of the Matrix' in 2003, doubling down on the philosophical ponderings of the first movie (in particular, during Reloaded, with the whole still-to-this-day confusing Architect scenes), with Revolutions also seemingly leaving the trilogy with nowhere to go.
Until nearly 20 years later, when one of the two Wachowski siblings decided to resurrect both Neo and Trinity in this.
I's very much a film of two halves, with the first half in particular hugely self-referential (lots of nods and winks to the audience, and even clips from the earlier films shown on TV screens within the movie), while the second half settles down more into your standard action fare.
Whilst enjoyable enough, it lacks anything to match the sheer pizzaz of the first movie, or even the Freeway chase/burly brawl/chateau fight from the second or the Neo Vs Smith showdown in the third.
Pre Millennium.
Just at the start of our current high-tech always-on society.
And The Matrix was released, becoming hugely influential in the process and popularising the concept of 'bullet time'.
Both the sequels (Reloaded and Revolutions) were released during 'the year of the Matrix' in 2003, doubling down on the philosophical ponderings of the first movie (in particular, during Reloaded, with the whole still-to-this-day confusing Architect scenes), with Revolutions also seemingly leaving the trilogy with nowhere to go.
Until nearly 20 years later, when one of the two Wachowski siblings decided to resurrect both Neo and Trinity in this.
I's very much a film of two halves, with the first half in particular hugely self-referential (lots of nods and winks to the audience, and even clips from the earlier films shown on TV screens within the movie), while the second half settles down more into your standard action fare.
Whilst enjoyable enough, it lacks anything to match the sheer pizzaz of the first movie, or even the Freeway chase/burly brawl/chateau fight from the second or the Neo Vs Smith showdown in the third.
David McK (3600 KP) rated Tenet (2020) in Movies
Sep 30, 2022
Massive letdown from Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan has a bit of a name for himself, and a bit of a following.
While I haven't seen all of his films, I have (mostly) quite enjoyed the ones I have seen - The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, The Prestige, Insomnia, Dunkirk and Interstellar - so it's always an event when he releases a new movie.
This particular one had the mis(?)fortune to be released in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when large gatherings put health at risk and when cinemas were struggling after being closed for months on end.
I never saw it on the big screen as a result.
Having now seen it (on Amazon Prime), I'm quite glad that I didn't pay (and put my health at risk) to see it in the cinema - honestly, I found it mostly dull, incomprehensible (in that I couldn't make out half the dialogue) and interminable in length, despite the occasional 'money-on-the-screen' sequence
If you want to see a good 'backwards' story, watch the Backwards episode of Red Dwarf (season 3, episode 1) instead.
While I haven't seen all of his films, I have (mostly) quite enjoyed the ones I have seen - The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, The Prestige, Insomnia, Dunkirk and Interstellar - so it's always an event when he releases a new movie.
This particular one had the mis(?)fortune to be released in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when large gatherings put health at risk and when cinemas were struggling after being closed for months on end.
I never saw it on the big screen as a result.
Having now seen it (on Amazon Prime), I'm quite glad that I didn't pay (and put my health at risk) to see it in the cinema - honestly, I found it mostly dull, incomprehensible (in that I couldn't make out half the dialogue) and interminable in length, despite the occasional 'money-on-the-screen' sequence
If you want to see a good 'backwards' story, watch the Backwards episode of Red Dwarf (season 3, episode 1) instead.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Evil Dead (2013) in Movies
Jun 26, 2022 (Updated Jun 26, 2022)
The Evil Dead trilogy is beloved by many a horror fan the world over, and rightly so. I wouldn't envy the person who was made responsible for continuing the franchise after Sam Raimi, but Fede Alverez does an admirable job in giving us a film that has its own identity, but still retains the fingerprints of what came before. The first 30 minutes or so are a little cookie-cutter 2010s horror, with plenty of characters that are unlikable, flashes of weirdness here and there, and some questionable dialogue. When everything kicks off though, holy shit, it kicks off. There is no holding back when it comes to the gore and the last 45 minutes move at a break neck pace. It climaxes in a finale that is truly something to behold, sirens blaring, blood raining from the sky, all executed in a hellish fashion. The production values are top notch as well, which ties everything together nicely.
Overall, Evil Dead is a horrifically entertaining remake that goes in its own direction and doesn't give a fuck, and ultimately ensures that there isn't a weak entry in the whole series, something that not many horror franchises can boast.
Overall, Evil Dead is a horrifically entertaining remake that goes in its own direction and doesn't give a fuck, and ultimately ensures that there isn't a weak entry in the whole series, something that not many horror franchises can boast.
The Child Left in the Dark
8.0
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PART TWO OF TAKE HER BACK TRILOGY - The Child Left in the Dark is the follow-up to the stunning, The...
The Voice That Twists the Knife
8.0
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I am the voice in your head coming to twist the knife in the darkness. You took everything from me....