Search
Search results
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Fake It Till You Break It in Books
Jan 23, 2020
From the moment I read the synopsis, I wanted to read Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen. Fake dating that might backfire on the characters in the end? That sounded like pure fun (for the reader, probably not the characters), and Nguyen delivered. Some people may think the book is predictable and full of clichés, which can definitely be the case depending on reading preferences (and mood).
But if anyone is looking for a light and funny young adult contemporary romance to read, Fake It Till You Break It is the perfect new release from Swoon Reads. Knowing each other since childhood, Mia and Jake have constantly been in each others presence thanks to their mothers being friends. From dentist visits to brunch and even vacation, theyve done practically everything together growing up.
But now that theyre old enough to be in romantic relationships, their moms think the two of them will be perfect (and bonus: they can continue hanging out together if everything goes well). Tiring? Mia and Jake seem to think so. To get their moms off their backs about being the perfect couple, the two devise a plan: pretend to date, then break it off bad enough that theyll be out of each others lives forever. So much for their moms trying to get them together, right?
Spoiler: Jokes on Mia and Jake.
Mia and Jake were cute together and I loved their individual viewpoints throughout the book as they evolved from we hate each other to maybe we dont hate each other. Their voices were easily distinguishable and not confusing between chapters while adding to the story overall. Both of their moms were so much fun to read despite the irritation Mia and Jake felt with the constant pushing for them to be together.
Fake It Till You Break is such a cute and pure romance, and I highly encourage giving Nguyens book a chance if you enjoy the fake dating trope and good banter, and you want a light read for the summer.
<a href="http://theartsstl.com/jenn-p-nguyen-fake-it-till-you-break-it-swoon-reads/">This review is originally posted on The Arts STL</a>
But if anyone is looking for a light and funny young adult contemporary romance to read, Fake It Till You Break It is the perfect new release from Swoon Reads. Knowing each other since childhood, Mia and Jake have constantly been in each others presence thanks to their mothers being friends. From dentist visits to brunch and even vacation, theyve done practically everything together growing up.
But now that theyre old enough to be in romantic relationships, their moms think the two of them will be perfect (and bonus: they can continue hanging out together if everything goes well). Tiring? Mia and Jake seem to think so. To get their moms off their backs about being the perfect couple, the two devise a plan: pretend to date, then break it off bad enough that theyll be out of each others lives forever. So much for their moms trying to get them together, right?
Spoiler: Jokes on Mia and Jake.
Mia and Jake were cute together and I loved their individual viewpoints throughout the book as they evolved from we hate each other to maybe we dont hate each other. Their voices were easily distinguishable and not confusing between chapters while adding to the story overall. Both of their moms were so much fun to read despite the irritation Mia and Jake felt with the constant pushing for them to be together.
Fake It Till You Break is such a cute and pure romance, and I highly encourage giving Nguyens book a chance if you enjoy the fake dating trope and good banter, and you want a light read for the summer.
<a href="http://theartsstl.com/jenn-p-nguyen-fake-it-till-you-break-it-swoon-reads/">This review is originally posted on The Arts STL</a>
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
It is an inevitability in life that eventually you will watch all the films in the Harry Potter world, whether you want to or not. Mostly, I want to, but do find them a little difficult to hold in my mind as separate entities. I remember that I saw each one and generally enjoyed the magic and inventiveness of them, but pushed to identify which set piece happens in which film would probably stump me.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first of the extended world of J. K. Rowling’s wizarding wonderland, is no exception. Couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened, having seen it once over a year ago. But I can tell you I thought it was slightly better than I thought it would be. And the same goes for the sequel, which I thought had a nice balance of the dark and light elements, and some really entertaining sequences.
Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander particularly impresses me in this context, being such a mild mannered hero, with a twinkle in his eye and hidden depths: an interesting character to observe. As do Johnny Depp, as the titular Grindelwald, and Jude Law as a younger Dumbledore – two ageing actors it is becoming increasingly hard to cast these days, but who are very well placed here. There is also some nice support from Ezra Miller and Katherine Waterston, both of who I wish would do more high profile stuff and Zoë Kravitz, who keeps popping up on my radar.
Of course, the effects are pretty good: this franchise has a few quid. And David Yates knows his way around this stuff competently enough by now, it being his 6th film in the Potter universe. He is also already signed on for a further 3 of these, making it a very lively franchise, with one film a year scheduled for the foreseeable future. I have no argument with them. They don’t change the world, but as distracting entertainment they are perfectly fine. I know I’d be chuffed as a parent of a youngish child that at least something semi intelligent and magical was out there.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first of the extended world of J. K. Rowling’s wizarding wonderland, is no exception. Couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened, having seen it once over a year ago. But I can tell you I thought it was slightly better than I thought it would be. And the same goes for the sequel, which I thought had a nice balance of the dark and light elements, and some really entertaining sequences.
Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander particularly impresses me in this context, being such a mild mannered hero, with a twinkle in his eye and hidden depths: an interesting character to observe. As do Johnny Depp, as the titular Grindelwald, and Jude Law as a younger Dumbledore – two ageing actors it is becoming increasingly hard to cast these days, but who are very well placed here. There is also some nice support from Ezra Miller and Katherine Waterston, both of who I wish would do more high profile stuff and Zoë Kravitz, who keeps popping up on my radar.
Of course, the effects are pretty good: this franchise has a few quid. And David Yates knows his way around this stuff competently enough by now, it being his 6th film in the Potter universe. He is also already signed on for a further 3 of these, making it a very lively franchise, with one film a year scheduled for the foreseeable future. I have no argument with them. They don’t change the world, but as distracting entertainment they are perfectly fine. I know I’d be chuffed as a parent of a youngish child that at least something semi intelligent and magical was out there.
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Impact Wrestling in TV
Apr 5, 2020
Hard to Kill
2002 - the beginning
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the company was known as TNA it was officially changed to IMPACT (the company's weekly named staple show) in 2018.
Beginning as NWA/TNA Total Nonstop Action being associated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), though not as a merged promotion.
In 2004 the company dropped the NWA co. Branding & ran soley as TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships in agreement with the NWA.
2007 - Becoming their own
both parties parted ways and the company created the TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017 and, in March of that year, was fully rebranded under its current name after its main television series.
Falling on hard times -
From its inception, the promotion had been considered the second-largest in the United States behind WWE.
Impact was viewed by some to have fallen behind longtime rival Ring of Honor in 2017, with the loss of their U.S. television contract with Spike in 2014, as well as monetary and personnel issues, being noted as factors to their decline.
2017 - Anthem sports & entertainment purchase TNA!
January 4th 2017, Anthem sports announced they had bought Majority interest in TNA & had formed Anthem wrestling exhibitions LLC. Having already owned Fight Network, a 24/7 multiplatform service dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, TNA was a perfect fit that was sure to attain more attention.
Soon after, the TNA name was dropped & the promotion would simply be known as IMPACT WRESTLING!
2018 - Rebirth
Impact has since made a fantastic recovery & although has not quite reached the height of it's earlier Glory days, it has sustained an international television distribution with Anthems majority purchase of AXS TV, which subsequently began carrying Impact programming.
Though, with the formation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that year, and that promotion's high-profile U.S television deal with TNT (which is seen in more households than AXS), Impact is still viewed as a smaller promotion by comparison.
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the company was known as TNA it was officially changed to IMPACT (the company's weekly named staple show) in 2018.
Beginning as NWA/TNA Total Nonstop Action being associated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), though not as a merged promotion.
In 2004 the company dropped the NWA co. Branding & ran soley as TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships in agreement with the NWA.
2007 - Becoming their own
both parties parted ways and the company created the TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017 and, in March of that year, was fully rebranded under its current name after its main television series.
Falling on hard times -
From its inception, the promotion had been considered the second-largest in the United States behind WWE.
Impact was viewed by some to have fallen behind longtime rival Ring of Honor in 2017, with the loss of their U.S. television contract with Spike in 2014, as well as monetary and personnel issues, being noted as factors to their decline.
2017 - Anthem sports & entertainment purchase TNA!
January 4th 2017, Anthem sports announced they had bought Majority interest in TNA & had formed Anthem wrestling exhibitions LLC. Having already owned Fight Network, a 24/7 multiplatform service dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, TNA was a perfect fit that was sure to attain more attention.
Soon after, the TNA name was dropped & the promotion would simply be known as IMPACT WRESTLING!
2018 - Rebirth
Impact has since made a fantastic recovery & although has not quite reached the height of it's earlier Glory days, it has sustained an international television distribution with Anthems majority purchase of AXS TV, which subsequently began carrying Impact programming.
Though, with the formation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that year, and that promotion's high-profile U.S television deal with TNT (which is seen in more households than AXS), Impact is still viewed as a smaller promotion by comparison.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) in Movies
Jul 31, 2019
Over the top hyperbole is nothing new for the “Fast and the Furious:” franchises as ever since the series shifted gears from Street Racing to action series with the fourth film; the stunts keep getting larger and more outrageous with each offering.
With the 9th film in the series currently filming; the first Spin-Off film “Hobbs and Shaw” has arrived and combines Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), with his rival Shaw (Jason Statham) as they are reluctantly forced to work with one another to stop a deadly viral agent from being unleashed on the world.
The fact that an enhanced individual with a score to settle named Brixton (Idris Elba) is intent on stopping them no matter what leads is pretty much all the plot viewers are going to get as it provides the reason for the cast to race and punch through London and other locales along the way.
The film has some glaring plot holes which are so large you could drive any of the tricked out vehicles the film features through and one in particular seems to over complicate the narrative when it is clear that a certain character that has been monitoring them all along knows the truth and can easily clear things up.
The two stars work well with one another but are not really given much to do other than glare and chest thump with each other early on but as the film goes on they are allowed to display a bit more comedy which does help the film along with a two-hour run time.
The film does have tons of over the top stunts many of which strain plausibility even by action film standards but you know what you are getting into when you sign on and if you are coming to a Fast and Furious film expecting realism than you obviously have not seen any of the prior films in the series.
That being said the finale is absurd and clearly pandering to Dwayne Johnson but it was nice to see some new wrinkles to his character and some diversity to the series added in.
http://sknr.net/2019/07/31/hobbs-and-shaw/
With the 9th film in the series currently filming; the first Spin-Off film “Hobbs and Shaw” has arrived and combines Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), with his rival Shaw (Jason Statham) as they are reluctantly forced to work with one another to stop a deadly viral agent from being unleashed on the world.
The fact that an enhanced individual with a score to settle named Brixton (Idris Elba) is intent on stopping them no matter what leads is pretty much all the plot viewers are going to get as it provides the reason for the cast to race and punch through London and other locales along the way.
The film has some glaring plot holes which are so large you could drive any of the tricked out vehicles the film features through and one in particular seems to over complicate the narrative when it is clear that a certain character that has been monitoring them all along knows the truth and can easily clear things up.
The two stars work well with one another but are not really given much to do other than glare and chest thump with each other early on but as the film goes on they are allowed to display a bit more comedy which does help the film along with a two-hour run time.
The film does have tons of over the top stunts many of which strain plausibility even by action film standards but you know what you are getting into when you sign on and if you are coming to a Fast and Furious film expecting realism than you obviously have not seen any of the prior films in the series.
That being said the finale is absurd and clearly pandering to Dwayne Johnson but it was nice to see some new wrinkles to his character and some diversity to the series added in.
http://sknr.net/2019/07/31/hobbs-and-shaw/
Let's Just Say it Wasn't Pretty
10.0
Rate It
Book
From Academy Award winner and bestselling author Diane Keaton comes a candid, hilarious, and deeply...
EO
Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics
Book
Federal, state, county, and municipal police forces all have their own codes of conduct, yet the...
SIMS Pocket
Business and Productivity
App
The SIMS Pocket Edition application is an iPhone application that when used with the SIMS iServer...
A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim's Hajj of Defiance
Book
This is the Islam you've never been allowed to see. Daringly reported from its frontlines and...
Kalila and Dimna: (From the Panchatantra, Jatakas, Bidpai, Kalilah and Dimnah and Lights of Canopus): v. 2: Fables of Conflict and Intrigue
Michael Wood, Ramsay Wood and Gillian Whitworth
Book
Kalila and Dimna or The Panchatantra (also known in Europe since 1483 as The Fables of Bidpai) is a...
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Child's Play (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
Predictably Gruesome, But Entertaining
Child's Play is a 2019 slasher/horror movie directed by Lars Klevberg and written by Tyler Burton Smith. It was produced by Orion Pictures, KatzSmith Productions, and BRON Creative and distributed by United Artists Releasing. The film stars Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry, and Mark Hamill.
A revolutionary line of high-tech dolls, designed to be life-long companions to their owners, called Buddi, is launched by the Kaslan Corporation. Buddi dolls learn from their surroundings and act accordingly by connecting and operating other Kaslan products making it a success with children world wide. Before committing suicide after being fired at a Buddi assembly plant in Vietnam, an employee disables all of the doll's safety protocols on the doll he is assembling. In Chicago, Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza), a retail clerk, encourages her son, Andy (Gabriel Bateman), to make new friends as she prepares for his upcoming birthday. She blackmails her boss to procure a Buddi doll as an early birthday gift but once Andy activates it, the doll begins to display violent tendencies.
This movie was pretty good, and that goes for remakes/reboots. I think everyone has seen a bad Chucky movie and this is not one. I really didn't like the redesign or new look of the Chucky doll but it grew on me as the movie progressed. Also I guess I'm just so used to his voice being different, that I also didn't think Mark Hamill's voice fit either, until the movie progressed further. I agree with certain critics that complained about the inconsistent tone, and how it lacked the principal's perverse originality. It definitely didn't have the me vibe of the original but I like how it made it, its own thing. But I think this was a very successful remake. The acting from Gabriel Bateman was really good and I wound up really liking Mark Hamill's performance as well. He actually made me feel sorry for the doll. I give this movie a 7/10. And I say you should definitely check it out, especially if you are a fan of the Child's Play movies.
A revolutionary line of high-tech dolls, designed to be life-long companions to their owners, called Buddi, is launched by the Kaslan Corporation. Buddi dolls learn from their surroundings and act accordingly by connecting and operating other Kaslan products making it a success with children world wide. Before committing suicide after being fired at a Buddi assembly plant in Vietnam, an employee disables all of the doll's safety protocols on the doll he is assembling. In Chicago, Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza), a retail clerk, encourages her son, Andy (Gabriel Bateman), to make new friends as she prepares for his upcoming birthday. She blackmails her boss to procure a Buddi doll as an early birthday gift but once Andy activates it, the doll begins to display violent tendencies.
This movie was pretty good, and that goes for remakes/reboots. I think everyone has seen a bad Chucky movie and this is not one. I really didn't like the redesign or new look of the Chucky doll but it grew on me as the movie progressed. Also I guess I'm just so used to his voice being different, that I also didn't think Mark Hamill's voice fit either, until the movie progressed further. I agree with certain critics that complained about the inconsistent tone, and how it lacked the principal's perverse originality. It definitely didn't have the me vibe of the original but I like how it made it, its own thing. But I think this was a very successful remake. The acting from Gabriel Bateman was really good and I wound up really liking Mark Hamill's performance as well. He actually made me feel sorry for the doll. I give this movie a 7/10. And I say you should definitely check it out, especially if you are a fan of the Child's Play movies.