Night Swim

Posted by cat2002116 on January 20, 2024
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

When I saw this movie advertised, I was immediately interested in watching it, as it seemed like an interesting horror movie that might be a bit more unique.

Like most horror movies, this started with quite a tense scene. A little girl, Rebecca, was drawn to the pool outside her house, since she’d seen her brother’s toy boat that he had (presumably) lost earlier. She ultimately ends up falling into the water, and my assumption was that something would end up pulling her under and killing her. Which was what happened…but there was a suitably creepy moment where Rebecca’s mother, Kay, speaks to her above the water. It sounded weird even before Rebecca surfaced to respond…but when she came up and Kay wasn’t there, it was immediately obvious that something more sinister was going on.

I actually thought this movie would be quite a unique one, considering that the monster wasn’t actually shown for a good portion of it. I thought the family moving into the new place were nice people, even if they did feel a bit bland. I wasn’t sure what Eve’s job actually was…and Elliot came across as a fairly stereotypical child in a horror movie who knows that something is going on, but doesn’t tell the adults around him. And Izzy constantly threatening her brother didn’t make her an endearing person at all, even if I suspect it was meant to give the movie a bit of sibling rivalry.

Once the pool creature was actually shown, I felt hugely disappointed. I would have preferred it if the entity hadn’t been shown at all, because when it was…it just looked like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. Not scary or creepy at all.

One of the only unique things I found about this movie was the use of the illusions. At first, I thought there was going to be a clever way of using the reflections in the water to create illusions to deceive the victims…but there was no real explanation as to what was going on with those visions. I also felt that the pool creature broke its own rules when it took the cat’s life, given the ultimate revelation that it was supposed to be a life for a life.

On the whole, there was a lot of potential in this movie, but it fell short with characters who felt kind of bland, and a monster who lost any fear factor the moment it was shown on screen. It did a couple of things well…but sadly, not enough to make me want to watch this movie a second time.

Doctor Who: Christmas Special 2023

Posted by cat2002116 on January 8, 2024
Posted in: Reviews, Science Fiction, Television. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I watched the first special with David Tennant’s return as the Doctor. I didn’t watch the other two, but because I was with my family for Christmas Day, we ended up watching the Christmas special.

I always like the Doctor Who episodes that have a bit of mystery behind them, and that’s the impression I originally got at the start of this episode. A baby being left at a church, basically abandoned, trying to find her birth parents as an adult? I was hoping that mystery would be a big part of this episode.

Unfortunately, the special was more about goblins…which wasn’t that bad, although there was very little in the way of subtlety. It was immediately obvious that there was something nefarious about the bad luck that was plaguing Ruby, since there were little arms moving and little voices chattering away.

Speaking of Ruby…I felt like she was a cross between Rose and Clara. I liked her to an extent, but considering that the Doctor is once again played by a younger actor, I am worried that there’s going to be romance shoehorned into the new series…and honestly, it would be nice to have TV series that don’t have romance pushed in each time.

I did find it a bit hard to get behind this new version of the Doctor, as he didn’t have quite the same energy as I’m used to seeing from the Doctor. I kind of hope that the actor will settle a bit more into the role in later episodes.

I did like the goblin song…and I enjoyed hearing the Doctor joining in the song, even if it was a bit cringeworthy. I also particularly liked being able to see what would have happened to her mother and grandmother if Ruby had never actually existed.

I did enjoy this episode, although I don’t think it’s one I’ll rush to watch again. I’d be interested to see how the new Doctor and his compnion fare in the new series of Doctor Who.

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom

Posted by cat2002116 on December 23, 2023
Posted in: Fantasy, Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I watched the first Aquaman movie when it came out, so when I saw the second one advertised, I was immediately interested in going to see it.

I really enjoyed this movie. I particularly enjoyed seeing Arthur interacting with his son, and how he reacted to seeing Arthur Junior having the same abilities as him. It was a really sweet moment when he talked about how much he wished he had someone to talk to when his own abilities had started. Though, to be honest, I did question how a baby would handle those kinds of abilities…and part of me was worried that something bad was going to happen to the fish tank, like the fish would end up getting out or something.

My favourite parts of this movie were definitely the interactions between Arthur and Orm. The previous Aquaman movie had ended with Arthur obviously regretful over not being able to have a good relationship with his brother…and it was a lot of fun to see how they worked together. Although, I have to say that I thought Arthur was pretty mean when he encouraged Orm to eat a cockroach! It was sweet how Orm just trusted him, but…come on! (Unless Aquaman really does eat cockroaches and I’m just misremembering, but….)

I do think it would have been nice to see a bit more of some of the other Justice League members in this movie. Even if they’d just appeared briefly as cameos, I think it would have been good to see them…especially as I don’t know which universe this movie is supposed to take place in, given the mess that the Flash caused in his movie.

I did like the reappearance of the Black Manta as one of the main antagonists, since he was one of the antagonists in the previous movie, and it made a lot of sense that he still wants to kill Arthur. Besides, the common foe made even more sense for Arthur and Orm to be working together. I would have liked a bit more detail about how the others had joined the Black Manta, though. Especially Stingray. I was really interested in knowing what her whole deal was. I did like learning about Doctor Singh’s fascination with Atlantis…and how he never actually intended to hurt anyone from Atlantis and just wanted to see it. I was happy that he had the chance to actually see Atlantis.

On the whole, I did really enjoy this movie. I liked seeing Arthur’s relationship with his parents and with his son…and I really liked being able to see Orm and Arthur actually working together. Plus, it was incredibly sweet that he and Arthur came from such very different worlds and Orm was learning about the surface world from his older brother. This is definitely a film I would love to watch again!

Wonka

Posted by cat2002116 on December 17, 2023
Posted in: Family, Fantasy, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I did watch the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…and I even got to watch it with the actress who played Veruca Salt a couple of years ago, which was a lot of fun. So when I saw this prequel movie advertised, I was definitely interested in watching it.

I did feel that Willy Wonka wasn’t quite as…crazy as he appeared in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yes, this was a prequel movie, but it was kind of hard to imagine this version of Willy Wonka progressing to a point where he was the version portrayed by Gene Wilder. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the movie…but there’d have to be a lot more between this one and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to see Willy Wonka’s progression.

I did enjoy the nods to the original movie, with Slugworth and some of the songs. It was interesting to see how much chocolate had corrupted Slugworth and his friends, to the point of them being considered a cartel. And I really did like seeing three of the Horrible Histories actors in this movie, as they’re a lot of fun in other things I’ve seen them in…and this was no exception.

I really did enjoy the friendship that developed between Wonka and Noodle and the way she helped him learn to read, while he helped her to dream of a better life. It was also really good to see some of Wonka’s history, particularly with his previous relationship with his mother and how that affected him in the present. I also enjoyed seeing the original appearance of the Oompa Loompa, although it was a shame not to see more than one properly. In the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it’s indicated that Wonka saved the Oompa Loompas…but again, that seems to be something that needs to be explored in a further continuation of the canon.

I will say that the evil characters in this movie were very obviously evil. There was no subtlety or attempt to hide who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. On the one hand, it made it easy to root for the good guys. On the other, I find villains with a bit more depth to be more interesting.

I did enjoy the songs in this movie, both old and new ones. And I definitely enjoyed the different types of chocolate and the ingredients Wonka came up with. On the whole, I definitely enjoyed watching this movie. I do think that there’s more of Willy Wonka’s story that could be explored, especially as Slugworth had to crop up at some point again to become Wonka’s competitor.

If you enjoyed the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, I would think you’d probably enjoy this one. It’s not a perfect movie, but it is a nice addition to the franchise and I found it an entertaining movie.

Doctor Who: The Star Beast

Posted by cat2002116 on December 7, 2023
Posted in: Reviews, Science Fiction, Television. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I’ve watched bits and pieces of the new Doctor Who series. I watched all of Christopher Eccleston’s run…and most of David Tennant’s. I didn’t watch much of Matt Smith’s and only saw a few episodes with Peter Capaldi in. And I didn’t see any of Jodie Whittaker’s run. But since this special had the return of both David Tennant, along with Donna…who was a much better character than I initially thought she’d be…I decided I wanted to watch the new special.

It was a bit confusing to see the return of David Tennant as the Doctor, despite it being hinted at back in the anniversary special with a comment about revisiting ‘the old favourites’. I was really happy to see a reappearance of Donna, though. She was one of my favourite companions in the new Doctor Who series and had such a heartbreaking ending…so it was really awesome to see her make an appearance again, complete with her husband and daughter.

I loved the relationship between Donna and Rose, and her easy acceptance of her daughter. I also really liked the fact that Wilf was still alive in the universe, despite the actor having passed away. Given the relationship that formed between David Tennant’s Doctor and Donna’s grandfather, I thought it was really good that he was still around, albeit in more shared housing.

I thought it was really interesting to see that Donna forgetting everything also apparently included her being blind to everything going on…even though she knew she’d lost her memory, and her mother seemed to be doing her best to ‘help’ that forgetting along.

I do have to be honest that I didn’t trust the Meep from its very first appearance. I can’t deny that the alien was really very cute, though, even as I distrusted it.

Anyway, I really liked being able to see Donna and the Doctor meeting up again…and I especially liked seeing Donna’s family, with her husband and her daughter. There were a lot of emotions raised from watching this episode…and while I haven’t been watching the more recent series of Doctor Who, I’m interested in seeing how things go after the cliffhanger of this episode.

Grand Guignol Orchestra

Posted by cat2002116 on November 29, 2023
Posted in: Books, Horror, Manga, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment


I really love manga books. I haven’t read any in a while, but after I got sent three out of five books in a series as part of a Yuletide book exchance, I was immediately excited to read them…and I have to say that these books did not disappoint.

The idea of zombies and a zombie virus being spread through the infected biting/consuming healthy people isn’t a new one, but I thought the idea of them becoming like dolls was a really interesting one…as was the fact that there’s an orchestra who travels around the country, playing music and fighting the zombies.

The first book did a really good job of introducing me to the world and the main characters. I have to be honest, I also assumed Lucille was a woman at first as well! I enjoyed seeing the relationship that developed through the first three books in this series, although by the time I finished book three, I really didn’t know what to make of Lucille or Gwindel. Kohaku actually felt like the character with the least to hide…although I’m sure there’ll be more revealed in the last two books about his past, especially as it’s made clear that the orchestra is made up of criminals.

I found it really interesting to learn more about Lucille’s past and see hints of his relationships with his sister and his cousin. Compared to her original appearance, I was really surprised by how Cordy looked and acted when she was the Queen. I’m not really sure what kind of thing could have changed her personality so drastically, but it definitely seemed like she had no care or compassion left, even for her brother or her cousin.

When I saw the covers for the first time, I was immediately struck by how gorgeous the artwork was, and while the artwork in the book wasn’t coloured, I still thought it looked really pretty…especially when it came to the design of characters like Lucille.

The first book had a really emotional scene right at the end of the first chapter, where the guignols received their minds back…however temporarily. It was really sad to see the temporary reunion between the children and their parents, as well as between Vivian and Sid, since it was made very clear that the guignols would still end up dying.

In book three, I liked learning about Gwindel’s past…although it was kind of sad to see. After all, his daughter fell victim to the disease…and it definitely gave him more depth as a character.

On the whole, I did enjoy reading these three books in the series. And I’d be interested in reading the next two books in this series in the future.

The Malevolent Seven

Posted by cat2002116 on November 27, 2023
Posted in: Books, Fantasy, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I read the first book of the Greatcoats series…and most of the second one…and really enjoyed the writing, so when I went to the Forbidden Planet store and saw this book, I was immediately intrigued. After all, antiheroes and reformed villains are among my favourite things (hence why I love Loki so much).

I did enjoy reading this book, though I can’t really say that it was as easy to read as some others. For instance, there was a lot of information dumping and repetitiveness…especially with Cade reiterating, over and over again, how he wasn’t one of the good guys. Despite that whole ‘the lady doth protest too much’, though, I did find him to be an interesting, engaging character…and I especially liked how the wonderists shown at the beginning of the book weren’t actually those who ended up being what the book was about, even though two of them were.

I found it interesting to see the relationship between Cade and Corrigan, even though I really didn’t like Corrigan for most of the book. Cade put on a really good front of being a bad guy, but being able to see events from his POV made it easier to see that he was a better person than he would have had the reader believe. Corrigan, I spent most of the book expecting him to betray everyone else…and even if I had a stronger respect for him by the end of the book, I could never quite shake that feeling that he would eventually turn on the rest of them.

As for the other wonderists in this book, I found Galass and Shame to both be really interesting, well-rounded characters. The whole concept of someone being awakened to an attunement to blood magic and having to figure out how to control something that sends most people insane was a really intriguing one. And I really enjoyed Shame’s interactions with Cade on her first appearance…and how he helped her, knowing that it was right, even if the whole reason he did so was because of Aradeus. And speaking of Aradeus…he was definitely more like the swashbuckling hero that Cade claimed so vehemently that the rest of them weren’t. He was someone who could have come across as really creepy and a lech…but by the end of the book, I felt that he was one of the better characters.

All told, I really did enjoy reading this book. While it wasn’t as good as the Greatcoats series, the main character was engaging enough to make me want to see more of him in future books…and I’m especially keen to see more of the history of characters like Corrigan, since there was a scene earlier that indicated there was something more tragic that had happened in his past. I definitely would have liked to see more details about that.

Thanksgiving

Posted by cat2002116 on November 22, 2023
Posted in: Horror, Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

So, yeah, when I saw this movie advertised, I was immediately interested in watching it…probably to no one’s surprise, since I watch so many horror movies. I knew it was going to be a slasher movie and that a killer would be picking off victims…but the trailer made me think that there might be more going on than just a masked killer picking off a group of teenagers.

Sadly, I was disappointed by this movie.

I’ll start with the opening scenes, which pretty much guaranteed I wasn’t going to care about any of the characters. From the crowd gathered outside the store for the Black Friday sale, to the owner of the store sitting at home enjoying Thanksgiving dinner and not caring enough to be at the store (complete with evil stepmother), to the teens who got let into the store before every other customer and proceeded to flaunt the fact they were there…there was only one character who really seemed to feel bad about the utter carnage that had been caused. Bobby tried to help a man who was bleeding out (after a consumer snatched a product from the wounded guy), only to get hurt himself…but did anyone else make even a token effort to help those who’d been trampled/crushed/hurt? Well…no. Maybe if they’d shown a shred of decency and compassion, they wouldn’t have been picked off by a murderer. And maybe I wouldn’t have been watching the movie waiting for each of these awful people to get their comeuppance. The killer actually showed more compassion than any of their victims ever had, considering they fed the cat after killing one of their victims.

There was a lot of gore…a lot of violent deaths…in this movie. Here in the UK, it was given an 18 rating and it definitely deserved that. Not sure that amount of gore was really that necessary, though! Less is more, filmmakers. At a certain point, I just get desensitized to the gore and violent deaths.

While there were attempts to provide red herrings in this movie, they didn’t really go anywhere; and, in fact, my oldest nibling correctly identified the killer when they saw the trailer. So the mystery/thriller/big reveal just…fell flat. And the killer was a better, more sympathetic character than the victims they were killing. And it’s really not necessary for the killer to explain an earlier comment they made about a victim making a good dinner as having a double meaning! Subtlety, you don’t exist in this movie.

So, to be quite honest, this movie was disappointing. None of the characters were particularly likable, and I really only kept watching to see them all get their comeuppance. I felt character development was dropped in favour of making the deaths as gory and gruesome as possible.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Posted by cat2002116 on November 18, 2023
Posted in: Dystopian, Movies, Reviews, Young Adult. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I read the book this movie is based on back when it first came out, so I was immediately excited to watch the movie when it came out this year…and I spent a few months looking forward to it, right from the first trailer I saw of the movie.

From almost the very first scene of this movie, I was drawn into this movie. The original Hunger Games trilogy (books and movies) cemented President Snow as one of the main villainous characters, but in this movie, Coriolanus comes across as a bit more of a sympathetic character. One of the most interesting parts of this movie was the friendship between Coriolanus and Sejanus. While it could have been a case of Coriolanus using Sejanus to get to his family’s wealth, I never really got that impression…and their closeness was one of the good parts of this movie, at least for me.

Obviously, the movie was violent, given that the whole concept of the Hunger Games was that children from each of the twelve districts were sent into an arena to kill each other. Dr. Gaul was a suitably disturbing character, given that she was the designer of the arenas. I think someone has to be disturbed to send children into those arenas to die. Dean Highbottom was much more interesting than I was expecting him to be, as he was very clearly affected by the games and had obviously turned to morphling to dull the emotions brought about by being one of those responsible for implementing the idea of the Hunger Games…although as revealed by the end of the movie, he had never expected his idea to be taken up and it had in fact been Coriolanus’ father who had officially put forward the proposal for the Hunger Games.

In the original trilogy, the Capitol seems to just be this luxurious, fun, fancy place…and I thought it was really good that this movie showed that there were much darker parts to that place, even outside of the Hunger Games. After all, the Snow family had no money at all…were facing eviction and hunger. And Coriolanus kept faking that they still had plenty in both money and food, putting on a front for his fellow classmates. As Lucy Gray put it, “I thought everyone in the Capitol had plenty to eat.” Or words to that effect, since I don’t recall the exact quote.

Speaking of Lucy Gray…she didn’t seem to come across quite as manipulative and strong as she did in the book. In the book, I was never quite sure if she had real feelings for Coriolanus, or if she was just using him. In the movie, the romance seemed to feel more ‘real’, almost.

There was a lot that went on in this movie…a lot that happened both in the Hunger Games and outside of them. I would definitely recommend this movie as one to watch, as I found it really good and entertaining. Even though I knew how things would end, it didn’t stop me from caring about the characters and the storyline as if I didn’t know how things were going to end. If you enjoyed the original trilogy, books or movies, I think you’ll probably enjoy this movie.

The Marvels

Posted by cat2002116 on November 13, 2023
Posted in: Movies, Reviews, Superhero. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Probably to no one’s surprise…I decided to go and see this movie on its opening weekend. I was a bit hesitant, because while I do like superhero movies, Marvel has kind of gone a little bit downhill for me. I can’t really say why that’s the case, though, because I’ve been into Marvel ever since I saw the first Thor movie…and haven’t missed a movie since then, though the same cannot be said for the TV series.

I did enjoy the fact that this movie was focused around Carol, Monica and Kamala. I hadn’t seen much of Monica since WandaVision (one of the few Marvel TV series I have watched all the way through) and I was really keen to see her in action, after she got powers and then went to join Fury.

I have not seen Ms. Marvel, to be honest, but I found Kamala a really easy character to empathise with…not least because she was drawing comics and really liked writing fan fiction/fantasising, which is something I can really get behind. Her hero worship of Captain Marvel was really cute…and I loved the fact that she actually got to meet her hero and fight alongside her.

I loved the whole concept of Carol, Monica and Kamala switching places each time they used their powers. It was such a unique idea, and a really great way of getting Kamala involved when her age really should have meant she stayed behind. I also really enjoyed seeing the conflicts between Carol and Monica, especially as I’d wondered what had happened between them after Captain Marvel and then Monica being blipped away and returning.

There were definitely Disney elements involved in this movie, such as the planet where everyone communicated through singing. It was an interesting concept, but I honestly couldn’t see any company outside of Disney actually putting that idea into practice. I actually really liked Yan’s character, especially as he seemed to have a lot of respect for them. I really liked how he told Kamala how to use what she had to fight, but didn’t try to baby her or protect her.

I also really loved seeing Goose again. I loved her so much in Captain Marvel and getting to see her in this movie, actually playing quite a big role, was awesome. I also thought that Dar-Benn was a really interesting character…and someone I would have liked to learn more about.

I did feel like there was a lot going on in this movie that worked really well and I really enjoyed watching it. I did laugh at various points and I did care a lot about the characters. One thing Marvel does well is give their villains a sympathetic backstory…and I thought they did that really well in this movie.

I would definitely recommend seeing this if you enjoy Marvel. And there is a mid-credits scene…but only a soundbite at the end, so you might not want to stick around for that.