Passengers

Posted by cat2002116 on January 25, 2017
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

passengers

(This review may contain spoilers).

When I saw this movie advertised originally, it was one I particularly wanted to see. I have to say, however, it wasn’t quite the film I was expecting; even though I did think it was entertaining to watch.

It was easy to empathise with Jim and his feelings of intense loneliness. While Arthur was around and their interactions were interesting to see, considering one was human and the other was an android. I felt the actor did a really good job of portraying Jim’s dilemma over whether or not to wake Aurora; and even though his actions were ethically wrong, I could understand what drove him.

I did feel there was a lot less action than I was expecting. While it was good to learn about why Aurora and Jim wanted to travel to the planet, I felt the middle of the movie dragged quite a bit.

It was good to see Jim make use of his engineering skills, but considering how long he’d been awake for, I felt he should have realised something was wrong much earlier than he did.

I did feel there were some good moments of foreshadowing in this movie and I especially liked the gravity rides in space. It was good to see something of how the ship worked, so that – as a viewer – I could tell something was going wrong, even though the characters seemed completely oblivious.

I did find the movie engaging enough to keep my attention towards the end and I did learn enough about the characters to care about what was happening to them. While I think it would have been good to see more of what was going wrong, I did think it was good to see a real relationship form between the two main characters.

I don’t think this is a movie I’d watch again, although I did enjoy it the first time through. But if you like science fiction movies that are more character-driven than action-driven, I would suggest giving this a chance.

Divine By Choice

Posted by cat2002116 on January 11, 2017
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divine-by-choice

(This review may contain spoilers).
In the first book of this series, it was well-established that Rhiannon was… not a nice person. I wouldn’t say she was a nice person in this book, but by the time I got to the end, I felt able to understand her a bit better. I didn’t feel she was protected by Epona in the way she should have been and I had quite a hard time reconciling Epona being a benevolent goddess with how Rhiannon’s Ascension Ceremony had gone. In fact, there was quite a bit I found hard to read about this book.
It was interesting to see Shannon have to get used to being back on Earth and how everything was muted… almost like a pale imitation copy of Partholon. And since I’d read the first book, I knew the mirrors of the characters in Partholon… though I still felt this book had too much in the way of information dumping.
I liked the fact there was magic when Shannon returned to Earth, even though it wasn’t quite the same as it had been in her home. And it was really good to see the way she connected to the trees and how they had their own personalities… to the point one particular ‘young’ tree came across as very childlike in its enthusiasm.
I also liked being able to see Shannon’s interactions with her father, though I would have liked to see a bit more in the way Rhiannon had affected parts of Shannon’s life. Perhaps my biggest issue with this book came with the way Shannon interacted with Clint. I felt their ‘relationship’ was glossed over and I was disappointed in how quickly Shannon seemed to forget about her husband. Mirror image or not… I was disappointed in the way she seemed to take on some of Rhiannon’s characteristics. And for that reason and others, I found this book harder to read than the previous one in this series.
I did feel Epona didn’t have the compassion in this book that she’d had in the previous one. There’s more that’s sketchy about this book and if you read the first one, I would suggest you go into this one prepared for Shannon’s speech about faithfulness to be completely disregarded in this book.

Moana

Posted by cat2002116 on January 11, 2017
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moana

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was the first movie my three-year-old nephew saw at the cinema. I’ve always liked family films, along with the myriad of other genres I enjoy, and this one wasn’t any different… though I could see some of the stereotypes previous viewers had picked up on in the movie.

While this movie was fairly light-hearted, I did like that there were some serious aspects to it as well. While Maui came across as a light-hearted, uncomplicated person at first, there were parts of his past that made it clear why he did the things he did… even though he did make a few mistakes. And I felt he treated Moana like she was expendable for a lot of the movie.

There were some really nice songs during this movie and it was good to see Moana’s relationships with her parents and grandmother. I liked how her grandmother gave her advice without telling her what to do… allowing her to make her own decisions.

It was good to see how Moana was drawn to the ocean, even as a young child, and to get answers as to why that was. While it was good to see she knew her own mind and what she wanted to do, and was clearly a strong female character, she also made mistakes and didn’t get everything right the first time… which I felt made her a more relatable character. And I also liked seeing how the ocean had its own personality. And the rooster was incredibly amusing. I would have liked to see the pig take on a bigger role, though, even though it was good to see something of a departure from the usual animal friends in Disney.

This movie was entertaining and my niece and nephew both enjoyed it; my niece to the point of wanting to listen to the soundtrack repeatedly. While I probably wouldn’t buy this on DVD when it comes out, I wouldn’t mind watching it again in the future.

Divine By Mistake

Posted by cat2002116 on January 11, 2017
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divine-by-mistake

(This review may contain spoilers).
I’ve always loved books where characters are taken from modern-day Earth to another world… and this book was no different; though I have to say, it was a nice change to have a fully adult woman finding herself in a completely different world, rather than a teenager.
I liked Shannon. I found her easy to engage with, but I did feel there was a lack of foreshadowing. The mirrors of the people she knew (like Alanna and Rhiannon’s father) were only mentioned as they became relevant, rather than myself, as a reader, having the chance to figure out for myself how the mirrors were similar to their counterparts.
I thought it was interesting to note the contrast between how the residents of the world had viewed Rhiannon and how Shannon occasionally used that to her advantage. I did feel there was a bit too much repetition in the book, especially when it came to the amount of hot guys Shannon kept dreaming about. At first, it was amusing to see how she was. Later, it started to get a little annoying, even though I did like the little snippets of conversation between her and Epona. It was nice to see her relationship grow with the goddess; and particularly interesting to see the way the culture varied to modern Earth’s.
I would have liked to see a bit more in the way of culture shock for Shannon. While the society was highly advanced, it still came across as very medieval like and I would have found it easier to empathise with Shannon if her reactions had been a bit more realistic, after the initial shock and insistence she had to be in a dream.
I did like the relationship that formed between Shannon and ClanFintan and it was good to see the way their love for each other grew. It did feel realistic to me and I liked the uniqueness of ClanFintan being a centaur. Plus, it was nice to see Shannon interacting with the other centaurs, such as Dougal and Victoria.
While a lot of the book was devoted to the romance and on Shannon finding her place in Partholon, it was good there was a lot of action and danger. And I felt that Shannon showed herself to be a good, compassionate leader… helped obviously by her upbringing that was so different to Rhiannon’s.
I found this book engaging and easy to read. I have read other books by this author before, but I much prefer the adult to the young adult/teenage series.

 

Star Wars: Rogue One

Posted by cat2002116 on January 11, 2017
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star-wars-rogue-one

(This review may contain spoilers).

At the time of writing this review, I have now seen this movie twice. The first time was at the midnight showing and the second time was two days ago with my niece.

Considering I’ve been a long-time fan of Star Wars, I was immediately interested in seeing this movie and the trailer just sparked that desire even further.

Personally, I actually really liked this movie. While there wasn’t a lot about the Jedi, I liked that the movie seemed to reach much further than just a small part of the galaxy. And it was really good to see the link-ins with A New Hope.

I liked the elements of humour in this movie, especially when it came to K-2SO. I enjoyed seeing his interactions with Cassian and it was nice to see the personality in him, since C-3PO and R2-D2 had their own personalities in the original trilogy.

I did like Jyn’s personality, but I would have liked to see more of how it developed over the movie. I didn’t really feel like her goals aligned with that of the Rebel Alliance’s; there didn’t seem to be a real ‘I’m on their side’ moment. But I did like her interactions with the other characters and I did care about what happened to her. And it was nice to see little snippets of her relationship with her father.

I especially liked Chirrut and his interactions with Baze. I would have liked a bit more detail of their history together, but I felt like that with a lot of the characters. I did like the sense that the Rebel Alliance wasn’t just about the ‘good guys’ versus the ‘bad guys’; it was nice to see them making the tough choices and doing things that weren’t necessarily seen as good at the time.

This was a movie I enjoyed watching and my niece did as well. It was a good link-in to the Star Wars franchise and this is a movie I would watch again in the future and probably buy on DVD.

 

The Diabolic

Posted by cat2002116 on January 11, 2017
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the-diabolic

(This review may contain spoilers).
When I originally read the blurb of this book, I thought it sounded like a really interesting idea. I found Nemesis to be really engaging, even though a lot of how she acted at first was very savage and wild. It was interesting to see how she viewed her relationship to Sidonia… but more than that, I liked seeing how Sidonia viewed Nemesis.
It was really intriguing to see how things went with Nemesis trying to learn how to act like Sidonia; at least as close to doing so as she could. I almost forgot that she was a more wild breed of human, until she acted with single-minded purpose to protect Sidonia.
I liked the fact that, although there was some romance towards the end of the book, I didn’t feel like it defined Nemesis. She didn’t seem to change outside of what felt like a natural evolution of her character and although she had to act the part, I liked seeing her able to take care of herself, even if she did have to hide what she was and just how capable she was.
There was a lot of action in this book, but I liked that there was a lot of intrigue, too. I really didn’t like the Emperor or his mother, even though I was able to understand her a bit better by the end of the book. And while I did see some of the things in this book coming, there were enough surprises that the plot didn’t seem boring.
I did think there were a lot of contradictions in the society and I found the Emperor’s attitude towards technology to be quite hard to understand. It was interesting to get glimpses of the other families, but I would have liked to see a bit more depth to some of the secondary characters. I felt like Nemesis should have been trying harder to make allies, at least, even though I knew she would struggle at making friends. But it was nice to see her start to form connections to characters other than Sidonia.
I found this book entertaining and easy to read. Nemesis was easy to relate to and I liked the way she evolved as a character. I probably would read the next book/s in this series in the future.

Pay The Ghost

Posted by cat2002116 on January 11, 2017
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pay-the-ghost

(This review may contain spoilers).

As horror films go, I actually found this one to be quite entertaining to watch. It was easy to empathise with Mike and Kristen losing their child, especially since that’s a scary experience for parents, even when said child’s just wandered off and is quickly found again.

The very first scene was quite an effective one, as it was disturbing to watch, but did a really good job of setting the scene. While I did feel it was deliberate emotional manipulation to show the children in a dangerous situation, there’s no question it did work.

It was good to see the joint effects losing Charlie had on his parents and how they had to deal with his loss. I thought it was good to see the links with the ‘Pay The Ghost’, though by the end of the movie, I was somewhat confused by how the rules worked. I felt it went from a movie with a faint supernatural slant to a completely otherworldly film. It was good to learn about the ghost and get some answers by the end of the movie, rather than everything left to the imagination, but the ghost seemed to be more powerful than I was expecting.

I felt the movie was entertaining to watch, but I wouldn’t really be bothered about watching it again. There were a few good scenes, but although it did explain most of what was going on with the ghost, I felt that the feel of the movie changed a lot towards the end, despite the fact I thought the actors portrayed the characters they were playing really well. I did, however, feel that the police officer involved in the case wasn’t as competent as he could have been. Obviously, while it was understandable he wouldn’t believe in the supernatural, I felt he fell into the trap of assuming the main character was involved in something without looking deeper. In the words of Sherlock: ‘Once you take out the impossible, whatever remains, however implausible, must be the truth’. Or something like that.

 

The Shadow of a King

Posted by cat2002116 on December 21, 2016
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the-shadow-of-a-king

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I was really intrigued by the plot of this book, since I’ve long been interested in mythology and Arthurian legends in particular for as long as I can remember.
It was good to see that this book centred on Uther and I did like the fact that the book showed his past with Morgana, who I did feel sympathy for, even though she wasn’t a very nice person for a lot of the book. I would have liked to see a bit more of Uther’s relationship with Arthur. I felt a lot of this book was information dumping. I didn’t get a chance to see Uther’s relationship with Arthur; all I really saw was a couple of interactions.
I liked being able to see something of the culture of the Druids, though for a lot of the book, I didn’t feel their motivations and goals were very clear. I could understand why Uther was so frustrated with them. And while I did think Merlyn was an interesting character, I found it hard to take him seriously through most of the book.
I was a bit confused as to why Uther was more or less abandoned in the monastery. By the end of the book, I was very lost about what was the past and what was the present. I would have liked to see more of the confusion earlier in the book, where it was more appropriate, rather than at the end, when Uther’s mind was more clear. And I was completely confused about why he’d been left in the monastery and pretty much abandoned by Merlyn and his knights.
I really did like the link-ins with the legends of King Arthur, such as with the Stranger. While some of the tension was lost in the fact the events weren’t taking place in real-time, I did feel like the characters were in real danger; and it was easy to see how deep the tension ran each night the Stranger put in his appearance.
I think the book would have been easier to read if it hadn’t been constantly switching between past and present. It was hard to get too involved in one storyline when the book switched to the other. This isn’t a book I intend to read again in the future.

Thunderheart

Posted by cat2002116 on December 20, 2016
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thunderheart

(This review may contain spoilers).

I only found out about this movie due to reading something another person wrote about it.

While this movie was an older one, I did find it engaging with some really good moments of humour. Crow Horse made me smile more than once in his interactions with Ray and the others.

I did like Ray’s character in this movie, but although the actor was a good one; and, I felt, brought a lot of emotion to the role, I didn’t feel he was the right choice from an ethnic standpoint, given Ray’s Sioux heritage.

I thought it was really good to see the conflicts that existed between the different people who lived on the reservation, but I did think there were a few too many characters and it was hard to differentiate between the people Ray and Cooch worked with. I also found it hard to understand why there were so many roadblocks at that time.

I did find Maggie an interesting character and it was good to learn bits and pieces about her past, though by the end of the movie, I was left with some questions; partly about her and partly about the children she had living with her.

I liked being able to see bits and pieces of the culture, mixed in with the way the people were forced to conform to ways that weren’t their own. I did feel a lot of sympathy for Crow Horse when I learned about the way he’d been brought up and I could understand why ARM seemed like such a breath of fresh air.

I did like that this movie was a bit of a mix of genres, but I liked the journey Ray went on and I really enjoyed his interactions and friendship with Crow Horse. There was a lot of action and I liked the symbolism/use of the culture in the movie.

Oliver Queen’s Dossier

Posted by cat2002116 on December 20, 2016
Posted in: Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

oliver-queens-dossier

(This review may contain spoilers).
Being interested in Arrow, I was immediately intrigued by the idea of a dossier created by the main character about his allies, enemies, etc. in the show. I thought it was a really good idea.
I especially liked the way the dossier was laid out. While I missed some of the information, due to the ‘files’ overlapping, I did think it read very well. However, some of the files were especially hard to read, such as those with the black background and only slightly lighter writing. And I noticed at least two areas when articles in newspapers were repeated, which distracted me and caused me to lose my suspension of disbelief.
I was particularly engaged by the Post-It notes with Oliver’s little asides written on. While some of those were serious in nature, a few did make me smile. However, it wasn’t very clear how the dossier was organised, as there were questions raised that Oliver would have already known the answer to; such as querying if Slade Wilson survived in Deathstroke’s section.
I did like that there was a wide variety of documents, but I felt some of the writing could have been a bigger font. It did contain a lot of information I hadn’t caught up with, as I’m still a bit behind in the series, and it was something of a surprise to learn Detective Lance had changed his views on the vigilante so drastically again.
I really liked the more artistic rendering of the characters. While it was good to see so many pictures from the show, I did question how those would have been taken. And it was especially interesting to learn about the different types of arrows Oliver used; even though I felt some of them might not have been that practical in everyday use.
While I did enjoy reading the dossier and felt it would be a good fit for anyone interested in the show, there were parts of it physically hard to read and some errors I was surprised weren’t caught before publication.