Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having not read the book of this, I can only really judge it based on the movie… but I felt the movie was really good. It was very emotional in parts, which made it hard to watch certain scenes… but I’m glad I gave it a chance, despite it not being part of my usual genres.

I liked Sophia as a character, though I would have liked to learn about her family – they didn’t really seem to be mentioned apart from in passing. It was good to see Luke’s relationship with his mother and I liked his character, as well as the interactions Sophia and Luke had with each other.

I liked seeing the parallels of Luke and Sophia’s relationship with Ira and Ruth’s. I especially liked seeing the friendship that formed between Sophia and Ira. There were some really sweet scenes throughout the movie that took place between the two of them.

I felt that the movie did do a good job showcasing just how dangerous bull riding can be… even if it is exciting to watch if you don’t have a personal connection to said rider. There was a stark contrast between how Sophia reacted the first time she saw Luke riding the bull and later on.

I felt that the use of voice-overs worked really well, though I wasn’t sure how much detail Ira had gone into in his letters to Ruth. I did also notice a few continuity errors. Nothing too major… but still things I noticed.

There were a lot of scenes in this movie that affected me a lot emotionally, both in the flashbacks and in the present time. I thought the actors did a good job playing the characters and playing off each other.

This movie did a really good job of drawing me in and causing me to become emotionally invested in the plot and the characters. I liked the ending of the movie, too, and felt it fit in well with the rest of the storyline and the characters.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I originally watched this movie when it first came out at the cinema, but watching it on television now, I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time.

Robots… and the three Laws of Robotics… aren’t a new concept, but I felt this was a fairly unique take on them. One thing I felt worked particularly well was the fact that the robots didn’t look human. They were humanoid, and in particular the newer models, but they could never be mistaken for human.

I found Detective Spooner to be a really good character. Apart from the fact that I like Will Smith as an actor, I thought it was an intriguing element to have an officer in the future dislike robots so much, it actually affects his work. As the film revealed more of his past, his dislike of robots made a lot more sense and gave him more depth as a character.

I especially liked Sonny’s character in this movie. I had a lot of empathy for him and I found his interactions with Spooner to be among the most interesting in this movie.

I did also like Calvin’s character, though there wasn’t as much of her background there. I saw the chemistry between her and Spooner and it was nice to see that there was very little actual romance.

I thought it was good to get a glimpse into what the world might look like in the future and the futuristic technology came across really well. It was also good to see how people did rely so much on technology; I think that’s true of the present time, too.

There were other characters who I would have liked to see more of. This film worked quite well as an action thriller, though. It was good to see that there was some humour in the movie as well… but the action definitely kept me engaged and I cared about the characters and their situation. Even having seen the movie already, there were some really intense scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat. And it’s a movie I would enjoy watching again.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although this movie doesn’t tend to be the kind of genre I usually watch, I was quite intrigued by the concept of this movie… by the trailer of it.

I’ve seen a couple of different adaptions of the stories of Sherlock Holmes, but I found this one to be especially intriguing. I thought it was good to see Sherlock Holmes at the end of his career and suffering from ailments, even while still trying to hold onto his mind and remember the details of his last case.

I felt Ian McKellan did a really good job of playing Sherlock Holmes and I felt he portrayed the character’s frustrations really well. It was also good to see the differences in the flashbacks to how Holmes was in the present day of the movie.

It was interesting to see Sherlock Holmes caring for the bees. I’m not particularly fond of buzzing things at all… but I can tolerate bees far better than wasps.

One of my favourite parts of this film was the relationship/friendship that built up between Holmes and Roger. I would have liked to see more of Roger’s relationship with his mother, but it was good to see him developing a closeness with Sherlock Holmes.

I found the flashbacks to be really intriguing, both to the final case and to his trip to Japan. I thought it was good to see elements of the Japanese culture and I could definitely understand Holmes wanting to fix his memories. It was good to see something of his intellect still showing through even later on his life.

I was a bit disappointed not to see more of Holmes’ friendship with Watson and there were quite a few elements of this movie that made me a bit sad. I did think there was good use made of foreshadowing and I did definitely find this movie entertaining and engaging to watch. It’s not the sort of thing I normally enjoy, but I’m glad I chose to branch out.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I haven’t read the book this film is based on, or seen the Swedish adaptation of said movie… so this review is entirely based on the English adaptation.

The first thing I should say about this movie is that the blurb is fairly inaccurate. It suggests that the film’s plot is quite different to what it actually is. That having been said… this is a movie I have seen more than once. And watching it again with my friend made me remember how much I liked it.

Nick and Annie came from two vastly different worlds and I felt that the movie showcased that really well. Maybe half of the film was spent on showing the characters in their normal, everyday lives. Although it took a while for the movie to get to what the blurb promised, I felt the first half was just as intriguing as the second.

I found it easier to empathise with Nick than Annie. If I’d had any interactions with someone like Annie at school, she would have terrified me. At the same time, I appreciated being shown her home life. And it was interesting to see that she seemed to spend most of her life hiding.

Pete was a character I did feel sorry for… though he did come across as weak for a lot of the movie. Several of the minor characters were well-defined and I was able to empathise with them, even if I didn’t agree with what they said and did.

A lot of this movie made for really intense viewing. It was good to see Nick’s reactions to what was happening to him. I thought that the way he affected reality was shown in a really unique way.

I felt that the bond between Nick and Annie came across really well. There were parts of this movie that were difficult to watch and the whole storyline and characters affected me a lot.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. Even though it did work, I wasn’t very fond of it. Still, I did enjoy watching this movie. It was emotionally moving and well-acted. Ignore the blurb. Give it a try.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I haven’t really watched the other movies in this franchise, but I was drawn in by the trailer of this one… and I’ve also enjoyed Chris Pratt’s work in previous films I’ve seen him in.

It was good to see the way the theme park worked and there were some fairly sweet scenes with children having the opportunity to ride some of the smaller dinosaurs.

I could, in many ways, understand the desire to keep people’s interest in a world where everything is overtaken by the next thing. I felt that lack of interest was demonstrated quite well in the way Zach kept using his phone… or making eyes at the pretty girls, instead of paying attention to the attraction. It was pretty cool to see the use of theme park-style rides, along with the almost museum-like quality of seeing the different types of dinosaurs.

One of my favourite parts of the movie was probably the raptors. It was good to see Owen’s interactions with them and the fact that he respected them as animals, while still caring for them.

I enjoyed seeing the brotherly relationship between Zach and Gray, especially towards the end of the movie. There were times I could empathise really well with the both of them… and it was pretty cool to see that they were resourceful, as well as the nods to the previous Jurassic Park movies.

There were some quite jumpy moments in this movie and several scenes that were really creepy. Although the gore level is quite low, there are still dinosaurs attacking people in this movie… and it’s fairly clear what’s happening.

Although the romance worked reasonably well, I did think that the movie did fall into the trap of the ‘kiss at the wrong time’. I did think that a lot of the characters had good parts to play and most of them came across as integral to the story.

I felt this movie was really entertaining and able to keep my attention focused throughout. I recognised quite a few of the actors in this and felt they played well off each other. This is probably a film I would watch again.