Prior to watching The Odyssey, I had heard numerous glowing reviews and had heard so much hype about it, that my expectations were sky high. And although I enjoyed the movie, I don’t think it quite lived up to the hype.
The best parts of the movie were related to the visuals. The battle scenes, in particular the entrance into Troy with the Trojan Horse and the sacking of the city afterward were exceptional. Great care was done in shooting these battle scenes and they really delivered. There were also really cool aspects of the movie. Odysseus’s journey into Hades looked great on the big screen. The part with the cyclops was also epic and well crafted. The same is true for some of the scenes at sea, in particular the whirlpool.
The parts I didn’t enjoy as much involved the casting and the acting in general. I’ve never been a fan of Matt Damon, and he played Odysseus in a stiff and wooden manner, as he does with most of his roles. Tom Holland as Telemachus came off frail and weak. Zendaya did not have the presence or the acting chops to play a goddess. Elliott Page looked like a kid play acting as a Greek warrior. Then there was the dialogue. The use of modern language I thought was stupid and did not allow for the creation of an immersive world of Ancient Greece. I thought Odysseus being sad about the sacking of Troy didn’t make much sense for someone of that time period, but at least in that case, I understood what the director was going for, so it wasn’t so bad.
Despite these criticisms, the movie overall is very good. It could have been better but it is well worth watching.
The only exposure I had to Andy Weir prior to listening to this audio book was watching the movie adaptation of The Martian, which I really enjoyed. But I had heard mixed things about Andy Weir’s writing so I wasn’t sure what to expect. This novel delivered way beyond my expectations. In fact, it is one of the very best science fiction novels I have ever read.
I tend to be critical more often than not in my reviews, but I can’t really think of anything to criticize here. The concept is compelling. The writing, especially the way the author develops the narrator’s voice and maintains it throughout the novel is excellent from a pure writing craftmanship perspective. The character development is also top notch, including the alien character in the novel. It was interesting how the author introduced a really serious character flaw into Ryland Grace, the story’s main protagonist, about three quarters of the way into the novel, but at this point the reader got to know Ryland so well that it didn’t crush his character as it might have had this same information been revealed earlier. Then Ryland has a redemption arc fulfilled by the end of the novel.
Normally, I’m not too into the hard science in a novel, and much of this was above my head, but the author did a really good job of explaining the science in the novel that made what was happening more understandable and enjoyable. And the narrator for the audio version did an amazing job as well, adding to the experience. This is an excellent novel that I would highly recommend.
I had heard quite a bit about Larry Correia and this series prior to reading this first novel, so my expectations were high and this novel delivered. What really strikes me about this novel is the writing style. It is unapologetic in its enthusiasm for guns, fighting supernatural creatures, and testosterone. Although men are the target audience, I think this also can appeal to a wider audience because the story telling and characterization are strong enough to carry it through to all demographics.
The story starts with Owen Pitt throwing his werewolf boss out of a window to his death (something I’m sure many people fantasize about). That leads to him joining Monster Hunter International, a company that specializes in killing things that are otherworldly. The main plotline is a Portuguese conquistador from the 16th century becoming a cursed creature with the sole intent of ripping open the fabric of the universe in order to rule this world, and bring on the apocalypse in the process. Owen is getting visions in his dream linking him to this Cursed One. To complicate matters, the Cursed One has seven master vampires doing his bidding, which apparently is unheard of in this story world.
Although I liked this novel, I thought it was a bit longer than it needed to be. I think some trimming would have benefited the novel. I also thought the fighting scenes were not as good as the non-fighting scenes, although the overall quality of the storytelling in general is quite high. Overall, this was an enjoyable novel that I would recommend.
When I first heard they were making a sequel to Black Phone—which I thought was a phenomenal horror movie—I wasn’t terribly excited about the prospect. I thought the entire story was told and there was no need to make another movie, other than for the typical money grab that Hollywood is so fond of. Despite that, I tried to keep an open mind when watching Black Phone 2.
The movie exceeded my expectations. Now, I still believe that this movie did not need to be made, but with that caveat, they did some good things with this movie. Right off the top, I think the main actors who played brother and sister, Finn and Gwen, are both talented actors who hit the right notes in this movie. They have good chemistry together and carried the movie well. I also thought there was good horror elements throughout, with an exciting ending. Having said that, there were some definite gaps in the logic. Probably my biggest issue was that they wanted to have this cool setting—a youth camp in Colorado in the dead of winter—but the writers couldn’t be bothered to give a plausible explanation of why they were at this camp at that time.
Overall, I did enjoy this movie, and although I would say it’s unnecessary to drop everything you’re doing and watch this movie, it is worthwhile to see it.
Weapons was an interesting story. The premise behind it (a witch takes control of people and can use them as weapons) is interesting, but what I really enjoyed about the movie was the way the story unfolded and how the story was told. The story has a good mystery component and part of why it is mysterious is that only bits of are revealed as each main character’s story is told. Each primary character has their own chapter in the movie where the movie is shown from their point of view. More of the movie is revealed progressively from these different character perspectives.
In the movie, a classroom full of children disappear one day when they all leave their houses at the same exact time and all run in the same direction. It does get bit wonky here, because the police and FBI are too stupid to properly investigate this case whereas a parent seems to have no problem breaking down the investigation. Mostly this story is logical and doesn’t make me have to suspend disbelief too much. The conclusion is a bit brutal but also well done. With seemingly every major horror release being a sequel, it was nice get a novel movie that can stand on its own without being part of an existing series.
