Smashbomb

Hey Influencers (be prepared for a long post!)

Since we got so much positive feedback on the End of Year Polls idea - we’ve decided to do it again!

But obviously, we want to check with you, our influencers, before we make anything final. So below are the Nominations we have for each category - and we want your opinions!

The way each nomination is chosen for each category, to begin with, is easy - we simply have the most positively rated items that came out in the year 2020 (excluding Apps, Shows & YouTube Channels)! But, if you think something should be swapped or changed let us know!

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App:
- Hearthstone (8.8)
- Netflix (8.7)
- Amazon (8.9)
- Amazon Kindle (9.1)
- Spotify (8.6)

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Book:
- Matt Haig - The Midnight Library (8.6)
- Sharon J. Bolton - The Split (9.0)
- Kate Elizabeth Russell - My Dark Vanessa (9.5)
- Danny Tobey - The God Game (9.0)
- Maggie O’Farrell - Hamnet (9.3)

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Movie:
- 1917 (8.8)
- The Invisible Man (7.8)
- Onward (8.3)
- The Gentlemen (8.3)
- Bad Boys For Life (7.7)

---

Music:
- Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By (10)
- Blossoms - Foolish Loving Spaces (7.5)
- Idles - Ultra Mono (9.0)
- Tame Impala - Slow Rush (8.0)
- Starflyer 59 - Miami EP (9.0)

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Podcast:
- Sword and Scale (7.1)
- Loot Tine Postcast (7.9)
- No Such Thing as Fish (8.9)
- And That’s Why We Drink (8.8)
- True Crime Garage (8.6)

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Show:
- Wicked (8.7)
- We Will Rock You (8.0)
- The Lion King (9.5)
- The Exorcist (8.7)
- Les Miserables (8.0)

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Tabletop:
- Calico (9.0)
- Faza (9.0)
- Chronicles of Crime: 1400 (9.0)
- Macaron (9.0)
- Tales of Evil (9.0)

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Tech:
- iPad Pro (7.4)
- MacBook (7.2)
- Dell XPS 13 (7.2)
- Nest Learning Thermostat (8.4)
- Amazon Echo Plus (8.4)

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TV:
- Locke and Key (7.8)
- Tiger King (7.7)
- Umbrella Academy - Season 2 (9.0)
- The Haunting of Bly Manor (8.1)
- Lovecraft Country (8.7)

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Videogames:
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (8.7)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (8.5)
- The Last of Us Part II (7.4)
- Ghost of Tsushima (8.8)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (8.0)

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YouTube Channels:
- Ted-Ed (8.3)
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (7.6)
- Walt Disney Studios (8.7)
- BBC News (8.2)
- 20th Century Fox (9.3)

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There will be one poll for each category, narrowing each of the 5 nominations down to one winner over the course of 2 weeks!

Would love to hear what everyone thinks below!

Kudos

Show all 15 comments.

Smashbomb (4683 KP) Dec 7, 2020

@Melika Jeddi - Yes you're completely right - that's why the list above is of the items with both the MOST + HIGHEST ratings! :)

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) Dec 7, 2020

The Queen's Gambit 100% should be in TV. And yeah, Tenet in Movies maybe.

Kudos

Smashbomb (4683 KP) created a post in Smashbomb Partners

Dec 3, 2020

Hey Partners (be prepared for a long post!)

Since we got so much positive feedback on the End of Year Polls idea - we’ve decided to do it again!

But obviously, we want to check with you, our Partners, before we make anything final. So below are the Nominations we have for each category - and we want your opinions!

The way each nomination is chosen for each category, to begin with, is easy - we simply have the most positively rated items that came out in the year 2020 (excluding Apps, Shows & YouTube Channels)! But, if you think something should be swapped or changed let us know!

---

App:
- Hearthstone (8.8)
- Netflix (8.7)
- Amazon (8.9)
- Amazon Kindle (9.1)
- Spotify (8.6)

---

Book:
- Matt Haig - The Midnight Library (8.6)
- Sharon J. Bolton - The Split (9.0)
- Kate Elizabeth Russell - My Dark Vanessa (9.5)
- Danny Tobey - The God Game (9.0)
- Maggie O’Farrell - Hamnet (9.3)

---

Movie:
- 1917 (8.8)
- The Invisible Man (7.8)
- Onward (8.3)
- The Gentlemen (8.3)
- Bad Boys For Life (7.7)

---

Music:
- Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By (10)
- Blossoms - Foolish Loving Spaces (7.5)
- Idles - Ultra Mono (9.0)
- Tame Impala - Slow Rush (8.0)
- Starflyer 59 - Miami EP (9.0)

---

Podcast:
- Sword and Scale (7.1)
- Loot Tine Postcast (7.9)
- No Such Thing as Fish (8.9)
- And That’s Why We Drink (8.8)
- True Crime Garage (8.6)

---

Show:
- Wicked (8.7)
- We Will Rock You (8.0)
- The Lion King (9.5)
- The Exorcist (8.7)
- Les Miserables (8.0)

---

Tabletop:
- Calico (9.0)
- Faza (9.0)
- Chronicles of Crime: 1400 (9.0)
- Macaron (9.0)
- Tales of Evil (9.0)

---

Tech:
- iPad Pro (7.4)
- MacBook (7.2)
- Dell XPS 13 (7.2)
- Nest Learning Thermostat (8.4)
- Amazon Echo Plus (8.4)

---

TV:
- Locke and Key (7.8)
- Tiger King (7.7)
- Umbrella Academy - Season 2 (9.0)
- The Haunting of Bly Manor (8.1)
- Lovecraft Country (8.7)

---

Videogames:
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (8.7)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (8.5)
- The Last of Us Part II (7.4)
- Ghost of Tsushima (8.8)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (8.0)

---

YouTube Channels:
- Ted-Ed (8.3)
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (7.6)
- Walt Disney Studios (8.7)
- BBC News (8.2)
- 20th Century Fox (9.3)

---

There will be one poll for each category, narrowing each of the 5 nominations down to one winner over the course of 2 weeks!

Would love to hear what everyone thinks below!

Kudos

Show all 3 comments.

Hadley (567 KP) Dec 4, 2020

I think this is a great way to pick for the polls.

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) Dec 7, 2020

The Queen's Gambit is a glaring omission from TV :)

Kudos

Kate (482 KP) rated Taking The Reins in Books

Oct 20, 2020

Taking The Reins

Katrina Abbott | 2014 | Romance, Young Adult (YA)

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

For a young audience (0 more)

I liked the blurb on this book but as I started reading I realised it was intended for a much younger audience but I continued anyway. I like to read a book and give an honest review. Some may read the review and decide it is a book they would like to read. It is based in an all girls school and from Brooklyn's first interation with her soon-to-be soon friends I expected the worst. This could be because I am an old reader and know how life, books, tv shows and films usually go. The girls in these books, etc can usually be bitchy and end up being mean to each other espcially when they have a new girl at the school. Brooklyn is the new girl. Due to my expectations of how I thought the book/story was going to play out I was always on edge.
It was a story of realtionships - friendship and romantic relationships. It was nice for the book to end up being a nice story. It was nice to see girls working together and there was a good sense of camaraderie.
I wasn't gripped and this could be because I was not the target audience. The book is part of a series and it would of been nice to have a book prior to this to get a feeling of How Brooklyn used to be. She does try to explain what the old her would of done/said in situations and what the new Brooklyn did/said but I couldn't get a real feel of how she used to be. But the series is called the The Rosewoods so all books would have to be based at the school.
As this was part of a series the story ended up abruptly. I thought it may of ended at the end of the school year but no it ended before Halloween which is not lomger after school starts.
This is a great book for a young audience of I would say early teens.

Kudos

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Sorry to Bother You (2018) in Movies

Sep 25, 2019

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

2018 | Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

7.0

(23 Ratings)

Movie Rating

I... well, that took a turn.

Where to start? This felt like I was watching an episode of Dimension 404/Electric Dreams/Black Mirror... take your pick, and that's kind of my first problem with it. There are a lot of things that don't need to be there for it to work. It could easily have been an episode of something and had more of an impact (for a good reason).

Credit where credit is due though, I have never seen anything quite like this before. I'd like to say I hope I never do again but with my cinema policy of seeing nearly everything that comes out it's bound to happen. I just can't really work out how to sum it up. It starts with a little humour and an intriguing idea and then it takes such a bizarre turn that I lost any enjoyment I'd had for the rest of the film.

Cassius making calls and then being physically put into the life of that person was a triumph for the film. It was funny and worked with the off the wall nature of the entire production. Watching his rise at the company is actually an uplifting sequence of events. From his very first interview through to power caller there's a certain amount of joy watching him succeed. How I wish that feeling hadn't ended.

When we go to the party with Cassius and Mr ___ my enjoyment started to slide. It was an awkward kind of humour that I really don't like. Most of the elements seemed to be unnecessary and by the end we'd just reached gratuitous. Then of course we get the biggest twist of the film. That's when I really lost it.

I just can't think of anything else I want to say about this film.

What you should do

Lots of people seem to like it... but I'm not one of them. Just watch some of the TV shows listed above instead.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

I don't want anything from this film apart from the two hours of my life it took.