Taken 2

Taken 2 (2012)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lenore has separated from her second husband leaving her at a loss for what to do when she had planned a trip with her daughter Kim to try and re-connect and get away from things after the events of Taken. The two end up meeting up with Bryan in Instabul following the end of a job he'd taken there with the intent of a family holiday - except Bryan has a few enemies as a result of his rescue operation in Paris to get Kim back. He manages to keep Kim out of the line of fire this time, but it's Lenore, and he himself who are taken this time, and it's back down to his unique skillset to make sure Kim stays out of their net while trying to get the two of them out at the same time.

Taken 1

Taken 1 (2008)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bryan is a retired CIA agent trying to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter who has a mother that appears to have no boundaries when it comes to telling her no, and a step-father who literally buys her a fancy horse for her birthday (not a pony, a full on dressage horse with shiny black leather tack and everything). There is little solace to be had when her Paris trip, that she lied to get her father to sign the forms to allow her to go in the first place, goes south and she's taken while on the line with her father (perhaps her one saving grace leading to her rescue attempt). Bryan will stop at nothing to get his little girl back, and he has just the training to do, but he's also up against a ticking clock.

Hard Kill

Hard Kill (2020)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This movie has highs and lows in action, but it's all very methodically paced. We're used to seeing Bruce Willis handling a gun thanks to series like Die Hard, but here he plays a mild mannered doctor used to trying to save lives and delivering bad news that falls into the temptation of picking up a gun for the first time when it seems justice will never be served after his home is invaded and his family attacked. By some miracle, his face is never seen clearly, either by witnesses or by cameras, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a trail left behind to be followed, putting him and his family in danger once again, hopefully for the last time. Of course, by another miracle, the cops are willing to go with his story even though it's all rather obvious at that point, and believe his claims that the Reaper is gone for good.

Sweet Escapes

Sweet Escapes (Android)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Previews of the game would lead you to believe there will be challenges involving actually decorating cakes and others sweets. In reality, this could not be further from the truth. This falls in line with many other match 3 type games (Disney Getaway Blast, Frozen Adventures, Frozen: Freefall, Homescapes, Gardenscapes, Meow Match, Matchington Mansion) that then allow you to choose from a set of (usually about 3) options to decorate your shop and progress the story line. Cute, but very misleading.

Redecor

Redecor (Android)

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The previews would have you believe that you're updating something, but in reality this is very similar to Design Home, except the previews and clicking on where things to go are more difficult. It also provided a handful of push alerts shortly after playing for the first time despite attempts to disable, so it won't be staying on the potential play list.

EverMerge

EverMerge (Android)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

While this is similar to other merge style games (Mergical, Merge Magic, Merge Dragon, or Park of Monsters), it is also slightly different as you have to find the correct mergers to make the new characters (all based on fairytales) and gather ingredients for them to do tasks for you, helping to unlock more areas and build other things in the game. While the difference in play is enjoyable, this game has one very big drawback - constant push alerts and no way to differ, silence, or turn them off. These alerts go off at all times of the day; worse than an alarm clock and even during work hours when phone is on silent. For this reason alone, I cannot continue to play this game no matter how enjoyable I find it and it's getting uninstalled.

Hidden Legacy 5.1: The Cool Aunt

Hidden Legacy 5.1: The Cool Aunt by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm really glad I had this ready and waiting as soon as I finished Emerald Blaze because that epilogue raised a lot of concerns. Still concerning, because Great Grandma should not be able to leave her facility - it's a "very nice jail" for a reason. Then again, she's also not supposed to have phone privileges. They're doing really great there, aren't they... good thing Arabella was the one to tag after the nurse this time. Connor might have leveled the hospital - except for the portion where he'd need to keep it standing for Nevada and the baby to be safe.

View all my reviews

Hidden Legacy 5: Emerald Blaze

Hidden Legacy 5: Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


These two are a roller coaster. Things rarely are what they seem to be, but at least there seems to be a glimmer of things getting better as House Baylor and House Rogan are back on solid ground and a team front again. Victoria is still causing issues, but at least the preconceived obstacles keeping Catalina away from Alessandro seem to have been resolved. Of course now we have Rogan's not-cousin added back into the mix, now as a Prime, and if that ending is what it hints at with the baby.... there's potential for some very bad things coming in the next book.

View all my reviews

Hidden Legacy 4.2: Pay Me

Hidden Legacy 4.2: Pay Me by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 2 of 5 stars 

Ouch.... Catalina and Arabella go together to deliver finds to their clients and collect payment. As another fairly new house, and as a family of telepaths without the backing some of the longer-term Houses have, they seem to crumple fairly easily under Catalina and Arabella's poise. Does not hurt that these two have weathered and grown a significant bit from their days of hiding through becoming an established House themselves.       

View all my reviews

Hidden Legacy 4.1: A Misunderstanding

Hidden Legacy 4.1: A Misunderstanding by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Found this little snippet looking up the next book and couldn't help but read it. This was a deleted scene from Sapphire Flames told from Arabella's point of view covering how Leon and Grandma Frida ended up involving Brick in a grand scheme to save the baby.... who wasn't a baby.... Good for a quick read and some laughs.

View all my reviews

In Death 50: Golden in Death

In Death 50: Golden in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars 

You would think at 50 books the series might get old, but this is still a pleasure to come back to. Eve especially continues to evolve. We even get to see a big of Harvo in the field instead of just in the lab, which is rather entertaining as she manages to find an impressive number of hairs to ID and help pin Eve's killer. Roarke isn't as involved in this case, but when he does come in, it's with just the right touch.

View all my reviews

Mercy Thompson 12: Smoke Bitten

Mercy Thompson 12: Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It was good diving back into one of my favorite series. A couple of times really wanted to smack Adam in this book. Small wonder he was acting so out of character a lot of the time. Of course it wouldn't be so easy to be done with the witches, and now with Underhill literally in their backyard... hopefully that year and a day is up before anything else escapes or explodes on them, but somehow doubt it with Mercy and her pack's track record.

View all my reviews

Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups

Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups (2012)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

We never do learn where Santa Paws' partner comes from and other than maybe two scenes in the entire movie, we never see her. Santa Paws is a well known fixture both from this movie, but also the original Santa Paws and Santa Buddies, which also begs the question, where is Puppy Paws? Or is he a younger sibling to this bunch, and these original pups are the ones who are missing? Regardless, these pups have to learn some hard and fast lessons when their greed for magic causes them to erase Christmas spirit in an entire town, echoing out across the world and causing problems all the way back home in the North Pole. As usual, Eli and Eddy are deployed to track down the wayward Pole residents and fix whatever has gone very wrong.

Black Dagger Brotherhood 17.5: Where Winter Finds You

Black Dagger Brotherhood 17.5: Where Winter Finds You by J.R. Ward

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Between life generally being chaotic and the actual book itself, I had little motivation to really dig into this. Once I did get far enough in however, it was a quick read to finish. Trez and Therese's story is a little more confusing than most, especially when you add Lassiter and his shenanigans into the mix. As with all the books in this series, it ends on a better note, but getting there is rather rough.

View all my reviews

Cats & Magic

Cats & Magic (Android)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The trailers for this made it look like it might be similar to other merge games already on the market, but in reality it's more of an RPG where you search for items and build things to collect your cats and progress through the story. Unsure right now how long I'll end up playing this if it'll stick more long term, but it's entertaining and the cats are adorable.

The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited

The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited (2020)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Daisuke Kanbe is rather slick in how he handles things, but he's also rather naive as he believes everything can be solved with money. When he runs into roadblocks where information or balances are denied to him, he's rather lost at what to do. Haru Katou on the other hand, is well seasoned and would be on the more elite teams except for issues with gunfire, which are a rather sore spot for him. It results in a lot of head butting on top of friction with the newest detective - who could have had any department assignment he wanted. This series is still pretty new, but it shows a lot of promise.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Makoto discovers a very odd ability to literally leap through time, leading to a rather frivolous lifestyle until she realizes that maybe other people are hurting in her adventures. She then sets to trying to make things better with her newfound ability.... only every time she tried to fix something, everything becomes exponentially worse. It takes the intervention of her friend, Chiaki, who it turns out isn't from her time at all, to fix everything she's done wrong, at the cost of his own ability to return home. Finally having some understanding of how everything works, Makoto is able to use one last leap to allow Chiaki to go home, though it appears maybe she doesn't really want him to leave after all. There's not really an ending to this movie as the whole time paradox and the limited number of jumps seem to leave it hanging in the air if these two friends will be reunited in the future or not.

Your Name

Your Name (2016)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a cute film where two teenagers are swapping bodies in their sleep, except apparently not on a parallel timeline, leading to some confusion when they try to search for each other. It seems as if fate has other plans for them and horrors of history may have been corrected only for these two to never meet. But can you really forget someone when you've lived part of their life?

Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass (2012)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some of these cases are truly horrifying, but I guess that's why the "psycho-pass" is seen as so bad in these suspects. However, is the Sibyl System really that much better? The series of checks and balances seem to work for most, but result in an unusually harsh system for any who don't conform to the standard. By some miracle or luck, it seems that any obstacle thrown at Akane so far has not "tainted" her psycho-pass, even when she does seem to start understanding the "dogs" of the Ministry that she works with as they try to solve their hardest case yet.

Psycho-Pass: The Movie

Psycho-Pass: The Movie (2015)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The movie itself is interesting, but there are obvious references that may not make the most sense if you haven't watched the first season of the anime yet. Akane Tsunemori is sent into a different country to find out what a previous co-worker and subordinate, Shinya Kogami, is doing supposedly helping a rebellion. What she finds turns out to be much bigger, and she was the lead to get the rest of her team, and country, in to take over - which doesn't sit so well with the honest-to-a-fault inspector. 

Santa Paws 1: The Search for Santa Paws

Santa Paws 1: The Search for Santa Paws (2010)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a cute Disney film where Santa is in part grieving over a lost friend, but finds a new one in a toy gifted to him brought to life. Turns out losing the magic crystals from the North Pole is even worse than anticipated. A lot of people learn a great deal about Christmas spirit and find their places in the world.... a few others get some unwelcome surprises when they're ways are brought to light and maybe they aren't as good as they pretend to be.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Android)

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Android)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to really like this game as I like Harry Potter, but this RPG just didn't do it for me. With all the costs, wait times, and very boxed in responses, it felt more like a harsh script than game play. Perhaps if there was more flexibility in the story than a direct A to Z with no variants it might be more entertaining.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

When I think of Star Trek, this is usually the segment that first comes to mind. It was what commonly was airing on TV if I stumbled across an episode growing up, and of course Patrick Stewart is memorable (one of my favorite actors). The Enterprise is already active and in flight when this arc picks up, starting with Riker joining the crew and moving on from there. This cast also includes Data (A.I.), Worf (Klingon), and La Forge (human with his distinctive visor to see differently as he's blind) - three characters who have very distinct appearances for their race and functions on the Enterprise crew. While I might generally enjoy the overall story and it's different adaptations, it's unlikely to change that this is what I fall back on as my staple when I think of this particular series.

Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma

Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma (2020)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is just beginning, but so far is interesting. Authors essentially have a second life in another realm where they can merge if called to help save books from being erased. In the process, they may enlist other authors to help them in their quest, or may be at risk of being "tainted" or erased themselves along the way. The group is rather odd and they don't always get along, but there's a lot of potentially and the stories change constantly since each book they enter is a different world itself aside from the main story.

Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket (2019)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While of course there are similarities to the original anime, this is largely following the original manga much better than the first attempt at adapting this story did. There are some changes which may or may not make as much sense from the original story lines, but so far, the art has been updated significantly and the story is much more detailed, making it even more enjoyable than the first. Almost hard to believe given the original series was in my bucket of favorites already.

World Above: Cloud Harbor

World Above: Cloud Harbor (Android)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is similar to other merge games like Park of Monsters, Mergical, Merge Magic, and Merge Dragon. It's a little on the glitchy side though and the merges aren't as smooth as some other games I've played. It does have locked areas like other versions as well, though it doesn't seem to rely as heavily on locked content and paid ways to unlock the land. At least not yet. Unlikely I will be interested in playing this game long enough to find if that changes further down the road.

Klondike: The Lost Expedition

Klondike: The Lost Expedition (Android)

My Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Like with many apps recently, the ads do not match the actual game play. At least not as far as I've gotten with it. It actually reminds me a bit of Farmville back in the day. There's a lot of various farming and making of things to continue with game play. It's interesting, but can't say it'll hold my attention for very long out of all the games I've tried.

Marvel Cinematic Universe 22: Captain Marvel 1

MCU 22: Captain Marvel 1 (2019)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


I can't say Carol Danvers has ever been my favorite character, and this isn't the most thrilling movie out of the series, but they do have some interesting scenes and it's a good story to build up her character introducing her to this reality. Perhaps my favorite character though is actually Goose, the cat, and Fury's interactions with it. Can't help but feel bad for some of the Skrulls this round, though that hasn't always been the case for any of the old comic followers. For now at least, they appear to be on the side of the "good guys" as Fury would put it.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


Enterprise makes up the sixth segment of the Star Trek saga, covering what would be seasons 20-23 in total. Captain Archer and his crew are piloting the first warp 5 engine to explore space and make first contact with other species. Some of those meetings go well, others.... not so much. The Klingons especially always seem to be keen on causing trouble. The series is so expansive it can be difficult to keep straight which segment or reboot pertains to which story arc. They all have similarities and differences at the end of the day, though the Star Trek universe has always been entertaining and diverse.

Disney Getaway Blast!

Disney Getaway Blast! (Android)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


The design seems to take an almost chibi-style version of the Disney cast, and places them an island. You must complete various match levels similar to games like Frozen Adventures or Frozen: Free Fall and use the progress earned from beating these levels to complete quests and tasks within the game, unlocking more characters along the way. Personally, I really don't need another match and build type game, but the kids absolutely love being able to play this on their tablets in between digital class time now that school is all remote for the remainder of this school year.

Minority Report

Minority Report (2002)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


John Anderton leads the Precrime unit, catching murderers before they can commit their crimes. All is well and good with this practice until one vision turns Anderton into the criminal and he needs to learn how to beat his own system to stay alive and find his "Minority Report," the vision from the lead pre-cog, Agatha, that might tell a different story and prove his innocence. Turns out there are more loops in the precrime system then they might have been aware of before.

Jumanji 4: The Next Level

Jumanji 4: The Next Level (2019)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jumanji is now a video game rather than the board game it's been in movies past. You still are dragged into the game if you start playing until the end, but with a little tweak... each computer generated character has a set number of lives they can die and come back as a video game character, where in the original, dying one time would be fatal on it's own. Your character might not necessarily be human either, which may come as another surprise. Some characters have played the game multiple times, others are new to the experience, and others may choose to stay rather than returning to the real world. An odd choice, but to each their own in this strange adventure. Just be sure to watch out for the wildlife, among other things...

Dolittle

Dolittle (2020)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Robert Downy Jr. stars as the newest adaptation for Dr. Dolittle. He's more than a little quirky, maybe even a little bit crazy, and all very entertaining. He ends up following the same expedition that claimed his late wife along with his apprentice and a strange menagerie of animals in a quest to save Queen Victoria. Good thing he has all these animals on his side and everyone else seems to write him off as crazy, resulting in a lot of severe underestimation of his resources.

Onward

Onward (2020)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Barley and Ian end up on a very strange adventure as they try to bring their father back to life... only partially successfully resulting in a lot of hilarity on their strange adventure. In a very odd way, it ends up bringing their family closer together even while potentially pulling it apart.

Air Bud 1

Air Bud 1 (1997)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The first and original of the Air Bud movies. Buddy runs away from his abusive clown owner, finding an unlikely home with a boy who is displaced in a new home and missing his father. Their unlikely meeting and shared love for playing ball makes them the best of friends. Unfortunately, the spotlight also brings Buddy's previous owner back into play wanting to make a quick buck of the now-famous mascot. It's up to Buddy's new family, and their extended town family, to bring Buddy home.

Bolt

Bolt (2008)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Bolt thinks he's something of a super-dog thanks to growing up confined to a movie set where reality is distorted. When he gets separated from home, he must find his way back while discovering exactly what it means to be a normal dog. Everyone tells me our own pup, Yuki, looks like Bolt, and they aren't entirely incorrect aside from the bolt mark on the side, and even Bolt's ends up being the result of a good make-up job.

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild (2020)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


A more recent adaption of the book, it's well done though a lot of the dogs are obviously done with CGI, especially Buck. Neither my mother-in-law or I remembered deaths in the book, but despite the occasional sad note in the story, it's overall very positive and an interesting take on domestic meeting wild and the line blurring between the two.

DC Extended Universe 8: Birds of Prey & the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

DCEU 8: Birds of Prey & the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a rather odd movie, and the title is more than a mouthful. Harley Quinn joins up rather oddly with a strange gang of misfits, every single one of them female. There seems to be a never ending slew of trouble and people they've gotten in deep with. Harley doesn't have to be with the Joker to still be a little crazy.... but then she did willingly follow Joker into the acid bath that twisted her brain even further to match his. It's good for a few laughs, but still leaves you wondering what exactly you just watched, too.

DC Extended Universe 7: Shazam!

DCEU 7: Shazam! (2019)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


There wasn't anything overly thrilling or exciting in this movie. If anything, the main character comes off as very awkward and a little obsessed. Borders almost on a drama/comedy scale than an action scale for a superhero movie. Also lighter than a lot of the other DC hero moves tend to be. Didn't expect much of the movie since we heard a lot of negative reviews beforehand, but being part of the DC Universe, still felt like we needed to give it a chance and hopefully also be able to see how it ties in to the rest of the universe building into the Justice League.

Frozen Adventures

Frozen Adventures (Android)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This game merges the idea of Frozen: Free Fall with the blast style game with the design mode of games like Word Villas or Homescapes to walk through the world of Frozen 2. Seems to be missing a game sync option, which means transferring devices will lose your game data. Otherwise, it seems to walk through design options for different areas of Arendelle as the sisters get ready for a party in their kingdom. Expect to see the rest of the cast come in as needed to walk through the adventure, though it seems like Anna, Elsa, or Olaf will be the ones who will end up as character power-ups, or so it seems from the early portion of the game.

Black Dagger Brotherhood 17: The Savior

Black Dagger Brotherhood 17: The Savior by J.R. Ward

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Takes me awhile to finish books these days. Admittedly I've been reading more short stories online then full books as of late. This has been in the pile of books in series I've followed to read sooner or later for awhile though. As usual, slow to get going, but once I have a solid block of time to really dig in, it's a fast read. Wasn't entirely sure how it was going to turn out this round given this series usually focuses on one relationship per book but Murhder appears to have everything going wrong for him non-stop. Still a little surprised more pieces haven't come together with the whole John/Darius situation going on, especially with Lassiter now holding the reigns of the ultimate powers for the race now so-to-speak. It seems like the sort of thing he'd eat up and love to pick apart, though he's also surprisingly been much more.... tame... in a behind-the-scenes but still over-the-top way if the last scene with his chaps are anything to go by. At the end of the day, the format stays true to what you'd expect from a Black Dagger Brotherhood book. Throe seemed to get what was coming his way finally, though now it seems what he unleashed has a mind of it's own and the Brotherhood may have lost their best shot at figuring out what it was before it got even more out of hand. John dodged a real bullet there once, but how many more last minute daring rescues does the Brotherhood really have up their sleeve?

View all my reviews

Psy-Changeling 18: Wolf Rain

Psy-Changeling 18: Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another book finished thanks to travel time for work combined with my preference for reading when I have some coherent downtime available. This was a fast read to pick up respectively even with shorter travel time.

Alexei may think his family is cursed, but that's not going to stop Memory. Likewise, Memory may think that she's broken and harmful to the Psy Net, but Alexei isn't going to let that negative view stand. These two end up good for each other on so many levels that it leaves for a very entertaining ride as they both learn about each other and themselves. Both of their pasts will come up to various degrees, and it will take some fast SnowDancer action to keep Memory's past from stealing their future. At the end of the day though, it seems as if Memory could be a rather large missing piece to the puzzle of how to save the Psy Net from total collapse. Time will tell how that continue to unfurl in future books as this world continues to build and evolve with each new installment.

View all my reviews

Park of Monster

Park of Monster (Android)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Another merge game similar to Mergical, Merge Magic and Merge Dragon. Of the four, it's my least favorite unfortunately. The graphics are bulky and unattractive. The storage buildings are not entirely intuitive. The merge works tend to lag be somewhat stubborn with actually merging. The merge numbers also seem to not add up entirely. Most of the other games, if you merge 5+ of the items, you get double or more of the merged up items you are creating. This one seems to debate how many items you'll get for each merge. The level challenges are easy, tough that's to be more expected earlier on in the game. So far, that's about all it has going for it, making it likely this will not be one of the games kept for very long.

Mergical

Mergical (Android)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Similar in style to Merge Magic and Merge Dragons. The game play is a little more bulky and the merges can be difficult to trigger at times which is aggravating. The gardeners also seem to take more time with their progress than most others, though the levels so far seem easier to make sense of and earn chests on than the other games.

Dropdom

Dropdom (Android)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Kind of a reversed Tetris idea here. The idea was intriguing and sounded amusing, so thought I'd give it a try. Very similar to Slidey in some regards, just with more of a Tetris feel and no cats or shamans. Not sure this is one I'll keep, but it's entertaining.

Black Dagger Brotherhood 16.5: Prisoner of Night

Black Dagger Brotherhood 16.5: Prisoner of Night by J.R. Ward

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Work ate my life and it took me far too long to finish reading this. A long plane ride for a work trip gave me just the opportunity to finish however. Ahmare and Duran aren't as interesting as the Brotherhood initially, but they draw attention the more that their story unfolds. Neither had a very easy lot in life for very different reasons, but they come together into an odd sort of family as they save Ahmare's brother and find Duran's one friend from the compound he grew up in as they make their grand escape, freeing several others along the way and even making a new friend among the guards who were supposed to potentially kill them. It's likely all of their little rag-tag group will have nightmares for some time for various reasons. Of course, it wouldn't be a Black Dagger Brotherhood book without some pair being made through the story.

View all my reviews

Onnect

Onnect (Android)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The timer can be a little annoying, but the match rules and variants with the images can be highly addictive as an easy game that still manages to get your brain thinking and give just enough challenge to stay entertaining without being overwhelming. Not something I'd pay for VIP status to drop the bombs or ads for, but still entertaining.

Design Home

Design Home (Android)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is an interesting take on the freemium game play. Instead of playing puzzles to choose from a set of 3-5 items for your design, you can earn money and diamonds to buy various items to complete your designs. Completed designs are submitted for voting and those votes can additionally earn you items to design with. Likewise, design markers earn additional items and bonuses for your projects. As with most freemium games, there are items and packages you can buy as well, but those cost real money. Something you'll want to keep an eye on to avoid if you want to play solely for free, which may limit some of the challenges you can enter as some of the items can get rather pricey to finish the designs.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The kids rented this by accident, so of course we had to watch it to get the money worth. Still, it was definitely on the side of stranger movies I have watched. Also lead to an odd discussion about how apparently guys relate to these kind of daydreams and totally get where Walter is coming from in this movie where to me it just seemed like he was beyond delusional and needed help, even if I also got the purpose of the daydreams and how they progressively fade as he chooses to actually live and take charge of his life. Something to say supposedly about a negative assets manager for Life magazine needing to learn how to really live, while at the same time also discovering exactly who he is and what his life and work means to those around him.

Word Villas

Word Villas (Android)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've been pleasantly surprised with this game. It does have some of the standard freemium play-by-play you come to expect, but you aren't locked into them like in many other games if you really want to advance. The word spin is a refreshing changing of space from the blaster/match-3 puzzles. There are also several special events run throughout the time line for events (like the Super Bowl) and holidays (like Chinese New Year or Christmas). There are a variety of decor items to choose from as well, and the choices can be changed later on.... so long as you have the coins to pay for it - though they aren't nearly as difficult to com by in this game than in many others I've tried over time. It also has daily rewards you can save up if you need/want the hint helpers for the puzzles at any given time.

Joker

Joker (2019)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is the story of Arthur Fleck and how he transforms from a rather disturbed stand up comedian and clown into the serial killer known as the Joker. Not overly thrilling or engaging, but there are throw backs to the original story line and Joker design that will draw in any longer-standing Batman fan. The film does pick up significantly towards the end as Arthur's world ultimately unravels and he takes on the Joker persona full time.

Divergent 3: Allegiant

Divergent 3: Allegiant (2016)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Tris and Four take their small group beyond the wall trying to escape a return to the Factions under Four's mother, Evelyn. In the process, they learn more about Chicago and what their lives mean to those beyond the wall, forcing them to return home once again to save their city and hope to once again make a stand that all of their lives matter. There are some hints through the series that make it somewhat reminiscent of The Hunger Games.

Divergent 2: Insurgent

Divergent 2: Insurgent (2015)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Tris is on the run with Four, but you can't run forever when all of the other Factions have been forced under Erudite's control. It seems a stroke of luck the Candor is willing to give them refuge only after undergoing their truth trials to prove their innocence. Jeanine couldn't have expected that her hunt for Tris would not bring her the ultimate control and return to regiment she craves, but instead brings her entire world crashing down with questions of what lies beyond the city wall now at the forefront as Divergents are no longer feared and hunted.

Divergent 1

Divergent 1 (2014)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Tris knows she's different, but it's only as her world turns upside down that she discovers just how much. She has to learn very quickly that her parents knew of her difference and her closest ally, Four, who helps her fit in with Dauntless after she chooses to leave Abnegation, will have to learn how to escape and search for a way to return back home. A task that will be increasingly difficult as Jeanine has taken over Erudite and the rest of the Factions from there.