Decided to join in.
Verdre - 43/50 Books | 121/50 Movies
Books:
1. Hackers by David Bischoff - ★★ - Just watch the movie. The novelization sucks every bit of charm out of it.
2. The Martian by Andy Weir - ★★ - Would have been a solid story about an astronaut being abandoned on Mars and forced to figure out how to survive until a rescue could be mounted if it wasn't told in such an awful voice.
3. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - ★★★
4. Forstbite by Richelle Mead - ★
5. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - ★
6. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead - ★★★
7. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead - ★
8. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead - ★
9. Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon - ★★★ - A zombie book where I wasn't expecting one. Solid.
10. Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon - ★★★
11. Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov by Robert Chandler - ★★★★ - A good, varied collection of Russian fairy tales plus a few stories that were somewhat modern takes on them.
12. The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp - ★★ - Started off as an entertaining indiana jones/swords and sorcery sort of story. Falls apart in the last quarter or so because of an awful rape plot that is handled horribly.
13. Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence - ★★★ - Solid ending to the series.
14. Annihilation by Jeff VaderMeer - ★★★★ - Essentially Roadside Picnic 2, but done very well.
15. Blackdog by K.V. Johansen - ★★★
16. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson - ★★ - Average Sanderson book made way too long.
17. Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell - ★★ - Fun little Musketeer-like story, but early on it has one of the most awkward info dumps I've ever seen. Then the author tries to ground the action of a the story only to later ignore all his grounding for crazy feats.
18. The Thousand Names by Django Wexler - ★★ - Girl pretends to be boy and joins the army. Stuff happens. Stuff is entertaining for a time. Then stuff gets tedious.
19. Spice & Wolf, Book 8: The Town of Strife I by Isuna Hasekura - ★★
20. Spice & Wolf, Book 9: The Town of Strife II by Isuna Hasekura - ★★ - 8 is literally half a book and 9 is the other portion. There's a character added and it completely ruins the dynamic that made all of the previous books so good. Disappointing as hell.
21. Spice & Wolf, Book 10 by Isuna Hasekura - ★★★ - A step up, but only just - the additional character is still there, but isn't quite so present.
22. All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka - ★★★★ - Narag let me borrow this and it was actually pretty good. Handled retreading every day well and even the dreaded training montage. Mostly got 4 stars for the author's explanation of his inspiration.
23. The Tainted City (Shattered Sigil, #2) by Courtney Schafer - ★★
24. Sworn in Steel (Tales of the Kin, #2) by Douglas Hulick - ★★ - Both this and Tainted City are sequels to books I read a few years ago. After reading them I'm left with the impression that the previous books weren't as good as I remembered.
25. The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey - ★★★ -
26. The Silkworm by JK Rowling - ★★★ - A good sequel, but certain aspects of it veer a bit too far into pulp for my taste.
27. Authority by Jeff VanderMeer - ★★★ - Solid, but I think I'd rather Annihilation had been a stand alone book.
28. The Maze Runner by James Dashner - ★★ -
29. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner - ★★ -
30. The Death Cure by James Dashner - ★★ -
31. Skin Game by Jim Butcher - ★★ - Opens with a bad gag from a 5 year old episode of The Office. Runs it into the ground throughout the book. And I was tired of the Winter Knight crap before it even started.
32. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas - ★★★ - It's Veronica Mars in book form.
33. Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer - ★★ - I thought the series went down in quality with each book. What began as a wonderful Roadside Picnic-esque story ends in this.
34. Wrath of Flight by Stephen Zimmerman - ★★
35. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling - ★★★ - Not even half as charming as it should have been, but otherwise enjoyable.
36. I See By My Outfit by Peter S. Beagle - ★★★★ - A cross country road trip in the prose of Beagle. I couldn't ask for much more. Loved it.
37. Some Boys by Patty Blount - ★★★ - Fiction story about the bizarre cases of communities rallying around rapists.
38. Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo - ★★★★ - This has one of the worst titles I have ever come across, but it's really a nice little melancholy story about a girl working in a cemetery selling plots, dealing with her absentee parents and a personal tragedy.
39. Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny - ★★★
40. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman - ★★★ - This needed breathing room and should have been a full novel. As a novella it's rushed and never given the time it needs.
41. Vampire Hunter D Volume 10: Dark Nocturne by Hideyuki Kikuchi - ★★
42. Proxima by Stephen Baxter - ★★★
43. Vampire Hunter D Volume 11: Pale Fallen Angel by Hideyuki Kikuchi - ★★★
Movies:
1. Stripes - ★★★½
2. The Raid - ★★★½ - This would have been a solid 4 star, but I really didn't like the last 10 minutes or so.
3. The Girl Who Played with Fire - ★★★
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest - ★ - I didn't like the book and I sure didn't like the movie.
5. Wolfhound - ★★★★ - The box says it's "Conan the Barbarian meets Lord of the Rings", but that's ridiculous as it has nothing in common with LotR. It's Conan the Barbarian meets Clash of the Titans. A pretty faithful take on 80s sword and sorcery out of Russia. Though the first 6 minutes or so are ripped off from the beginning of Conan the Barbarian. The most astonishing thing is that it manages to capture the feel of those 80s movies so well, which is something everyone seems to struggle with when making their homages.
6. Dan in Real Life - ★★★½ - One of the very few movies that isn't just Steve Carell as some variation of Michael Scott.
7. Near Dark - ★★★ - If there is such a thing as Twilight done right, this would kind of be it. (In that there is a romance between a human and a vampire.) Plus Bill Paxton is a biker vampire.
8. Jack the Giant Slayer - ★★ - Better than it should be.
9. Admission - ★★½
10. Oblivion - ★★★
11. Revolutionary Road - ★★★ - Very good acting.
12. Body Snatchers (1993) - ★½ - The only thing notable about this is that Meg Tilly is unrecognizable.
13. Край/The Edge - ★★★½ - Broken Russian war hero exiled to Soviet labor camp finds himself through awesome trains and punching people. Or something like that.
14. Klondike - ★★★½ - Mediocre with moments of what could have been.
15. The Chocolate Farmer - Documentary about a cocoa farmer's struggle to keep his farm and traditions alive in the modern world.
16. The Boxing Girls of Kabul - ★★★★ - Documentary about three Afghan girls' struggle to become boxers in the face of their culture.
17. Speed for Thespians - ★ - A play on a bus. Why did I watch this?
18. A Guy Thing - ★★½ - Mediocre romcom.
19. Охота на Пиранью/Hunting for Piranha - ★★★ - Surprisingly good action movie. Makes very few pretenses to having a story.
20. Dallas Buyers Club -★★★★½ - Could be the role of McConaughey's career.
21. White Line Fever - ★★½ - Oh god, they got machismo everywhere.
22. Interview - ★★½ - Vaguely entertaining at the end. Vaguely bad plenty of other times.
23. Never Talk to Strangers - ½ - Pretty sure Antonio Banderas has never been in a movie worse than this.
24. Revolver - ★ - Might have been entertaining if the story hadn't been there. Waste of a Statham.
25. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - ★★★ - What the first Hunger Games should have been.
26. Escape Plan - ★★★ - Best Arnold movie since the 90s. (That's a very low bar.)
27. Youre Next - ½ - It is, in fact, a movie.
28. Ender's Game - ★★½ - Not as bad as it could have been, which is surprising.
29. Out of the Furnace - ★★★ - Doesn't quite live up to its cast, but Woody Harrelson is great white trash and he has a hilarious moment near the end.
30. Some Girls - ★★
31. Iron Man 3 - ★★★½ - The best Iron Man movie as far as I'm concerned, outside of the pointless panic attacks.
32. Monsters University - ★★★½
33. After Earth - ★ - Half a star better than You're Next. That says a lot of things.
34. 21 Jump Street - ★★★ - Narag demanded I watch this. I didn't regret it, but I still don't like Channing Tatum.
35. White House Down - ★ - I thought this was Olympus Has Fallen. Then there was Channing Tatum and oh god I wish this had been Olympus Has Fallen. It can't decide whether it wants to be Die Hard or a straight up comedy.
36. This Is the End - ★★★
37. True Adolescents - ★★★
38. Noah - ★★★ - Aronofsky's worst movie, but still decent. Pacing issues.
39. The Heat - ★ - A bad Sandra Bullock comedy with no real redeeming features.
40. House of Fools - ★★★ - Loosely based on a true story. Set in a mental institution during the Chechen war, it shows the lives of the patients as they deal with being abandoned by their care takers and having the institution overrun with soldiers. First half has problems, but it's salvaged by the second half.
41. The Internship - ★★½ - You know exactly what's going to happens when they get put on a team of misfits. Only works because of the actors' charm.
42. The Thing (1982) - ★★★ - Solid. Didn't love it. (Don't really understand the love for it.)
43. Trance - ★ - Why would Rosario Dawson go full frontal for this bad of a movie? It's pure stylishness on a convoluted base.
44. August: Osage County - ★★★½ - Good to great acting by nearly everyone. Nice to see Julia Roberts actually trying again. Meryl Streep's performance reminded me of some of the acting by the mental patients in House of Fools. Over done.
45. Frozen - ★★★ - Nice little movie.
46. Artifact - ★★ - Jared Leto acting like a 14 year old raging against his parents. His complaints are legitimate, but he fails to articulate them.
47. Enemy at the Gates - ★★★ - Good sniper movie held down by basically everything else. Weisz doesn't even get to play a character, just the idea of strife between two bros.
48. Fuse, Memoirs of the Hunter Girl - ★★★★
49. Wolf Children - ★★★★
50. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - ★★★½
51. The Prestige - ★★½ - Goofy.
52. Silver Linings Playbooks - ★★★★ - Saw this after American Hustle, thinking I'd hate it and in the screamy beginning I really did, but it came together very well.
53. Django Unchained - ★★½ - One of the first Tarantino movies that I've liked in a really long time... but then it wouldn't end.
54. Cockneys vs Zombies - ★★★ - In the vein of Shaun of the Dead.
55. Byzantium - ★★★
56. Godzilla - ★★★
57. Once Upon a Time in the West - ★★★★½ - Really good western. Half a star is for the horrific train whistle because what the hell.
58. Stalker - ★★★
59. Solaris - ★★★ - Narag said I didn't have to like Stalker or Solaris, it was just important that I watched them. So I'm gonna go with that.
60. Maleficent - ★★★½ - Worth watching just for Jolie's lovely performance.
61. Confessions Of A Window Cleaner - ★★
62. Confessions Of A Driving Instructor - ★★
63. Barquero - ★★★ - Machismo squared.
64. Non-Stop - ★★½ -
65. 2 Guns - ★★★ -
66. The East - ★★★ -
67. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - ★★★ -
68. Kick-Ass 2 - ★★★ -
69. The Worlds End - ★★★ -
70. 300: Rise of an Empire - ★★½ - Disappointing.
71. Transformers: Age of Extinction - ★★★★
72. Into the Storm - ★★ - Syfy Twister sequel
73. About Time - ★★½ - Cloying. YOLO
74. Up in the Air - ★★★
75. Trainwreck: My Life as an Idoit - ½
76. Rush - ★★★
77. Need for Speed - ★★ - Straight to DVD Fast and the Furious
78. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - ★ - 40 watts of crap.
79. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - ★½ - Better than the first one. Still awful.
80. Divergent - ★½ - ?? why to everyone involved.
81. Getaway - ★ - Why did I watch this? Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez showing the same level of acting chops.
82. The Book Thief - ★★★½ - On the whole, a lovely little movie. Better than the book just for the fact that it excises most of the awful Death POV narration. It would have gotten that last half a star if it had cut it out completely.
83. Home - ★★★★ - A very good russian drama about an abusive family coming back together to celebrate the patriarch's 100th birthday. Strong performances from everyone in the cast. It does go off the rails at the very end of the movie, but I'm willing to forgive that.
84. Veronica Mars - ★★★
85. The Lone Ranger - ★★★ - Lone Pirate of the Caribbean
86. The Truth About Emanuel - ★★★
87. Grudge Match - ★ - Bad comedy drowning in heart warming moments with a dash of bad boxing.
88. Stalingrad - ★★ - A lot of Pearl Harbor mixed with a little bit of 300. The almost Amelie-like bits with the narrator were nice, though.
89. Brest Fortress - ★★★
90. Adult World - ★★★ - This is a bad movie. Emma Roberts' acting is all over the place. But I still liked it.
91. A Walk Among the Tombstones - ★★ - Taken Era Neeson that isn't much like Taken at all. Slow detective story that could have been good but is ultimately ruined by bad humor and a street wise kid.
92. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - ★★★
93. The Equalizer - ★★★
94. Legend (Director's Cut) - ★★★★★
95. Neighbors - ★ - Zac Efron is actually not the worst thing about this movie.
96. The Best Offer - ★★★½
97. Chef - ★★½
98. Edge of Tomorrow - ★★★★
99. Dracula Untold - ★★ - Dracula is a superhero and this is his origin story.
100. Delivery Man - ★
101. The Monuments Men - ★★
102. Her - ★★★★
103. Lone Survivor - ★★
104. Fury - ★★★★
105. The Raid 2 - ★★ - A fumbling attempt at a movie in the vein of Kung Fu Hustle. Wait, why is this called The Raid?
106. Pompeii - ★
107. The Lego Movie - ★★★
108. Interstellar - ★★★★ - Contact: The Remake
109. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - ★★★
110. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - ★★★
111. Begin Again - ★★
112. The Giver - ★★
113. Hercules - ★★★
114. Trust Me - ★★★
115. Frequencies - ★★★
116. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - ★★★
117. The Hobbit 3 - ★★★
118. The Expendables 3 - ★★ - This movie was pretty bad - except for one thing: Mel Gibson. Gibson's parts might as well come from some other, good movie.
119. Draft Day - ★★
120. All Is Bright - ★★★
121. The Grand Budapest Hotel - ★★★★ - This is rather like a children's story and that's wonderful.