True Memoirs of an International Assassin (2016)

true-memoirs-of-an-international-assassin

True Memoirs of an International Assassin (2016)

Director:

Jeff Wadlow

Starring:

Kevin James

Kim Coates

Maurice Compte

Plot:

After a publisher changes a writer’s debut novel about a deadly assassin from fiction to nonfiction, the author finds himself thrust into the world of his lead character, and must take on the role of his character for his own survival.

Review:

I hadn’t heard anything about this movie, at least nothing that I could remember, until it showed up on my Netflix homepage. The blurb and the trailer were enough to get me to watch even though I’m not the biggest Kevin James fan. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up enjoying this.

The plot was silly but not to the point where it was ridiculous and unwatchable. There also wasn’t a ton of the stupid comedy that I associate James with so that made it even better for me.

I did find myself screaming at the screen when he met his publisher for the first time, but that was because it was all too believable and I didn’t want him to be taken advantage of.

By the end of the movie he’d changed but he hadn’t become the super assassin he’d written about, it was a believable change which I liked.

Honestly, I’d watch another movie like this in a heartbeat. It wasn’t amazing but it was fun, a nice fusion of action and comedy leaning more toward action.

4/5

Titans By: Edward W. Robertson

titans

 

Titans By: Edward W. Robertson

Plot:

Rob Dunbar is the world’s best history professor. And with good reason: he’s been alive for three thousand years, keeping his existence a secret since before the days of Athens.

But a stranger named Baxter has a better use for Rob’s vast expertise. Baxter’s looking to found a mining company in the Asteroid Belt. In exchange for Rob’s help, he’ll try to unravel the mystery of Rob’s origin.

As they’re getting their outfit off the ground, they come under covert attack by HemiCo, a powerful Mars-based corporation. And Rob learns Baxter has a secret of his own–he’s not human. He’s a highly illegal AI.

Developed by HemiCo in the wilds of Mars, the first AI escaped decades ago. They’ve been fighting a shadow war against their creators ever since. Dragged to Mars, Rob is thrown into the center of the fight–and becomes the unlikely leader of a revolution that will change the course of human history in the stars.

Review:

I picked this book up a while ago for free after listening to a podcast with the author and liking it. After finishing up Dark Matter season two I wanted some more space stuff and decided this would fit the bill.

I don’t normally read Space Opera, though I love to watch it, and I’ve been meaning to get into the genre. Sadly this book wasn’t really what I was looking for. Rob wasn’t very compelling as a main character and Baxter was just angry and stupid. The corporation side of things was interesting though.

The book started out slow and I put it down a few times. The second half things picked up and while the ending was good it didn’t really push me to raise the books ranking. I’m hoping that I can find another book to fill the void at the very least find a subgenre of Space Opera that I like.

3/5

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

star-trek-beyond

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Director:

Justin Lin

Starring:

Chris Pine

Zacchary Quinto

Karl Urban

Simon Pegg

Plot:

The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

Review:

Of the three movies I rented from Red Box during a particularly ambitious visit this was my favorite. That’s not saying too much though since I chose some eh movies.

If you want a Sci-Fi action movie than this has got you covered. There are alien planets, fighting in space, fighting with ships, a massive city in space, a roguish captain, basically everything you need for a space opera. It’s like they had a check list of typical Space Opera tropes and checked all the boxes, which is fine and right now there isn’t much of that out there in movie form.

If you’re looking for a Star Trek movie focused on diplomacy and science, basically The Next Generation, then there’s isn’t nearly as much for you. There’s almost a sort of nod to that at the very beginning as though the writers were saying if they did that it would be boring and not worth watching. Whatever. To each their own.

I like the new Star Trek movies as long as I don’t think about the Star Trek series/episodes that I love. If I go into it thinking Sci-Fi Action I enjoy the movies a lot better, it’s only after when I start to think about it that the movies start to bug me and that’s only because they make me feel like I’m never going to get a movie like what I loved.

3.5/5

Illusion Town (Harmony #13) By: Jayne Castle

illusion-town

Illusion Town (Harmony #13) By: Jayne Castle

Plot:

A new adventure begins on Harmony…

With its opulent casinos and hotels, the desert city of Illusion Town is totally unique—and will take you on a thrill ride you’ll never forget.

Hannah West isn’t the first woman to wake up in Illusion Town married to a man she barely knows, but she has no memory of the ceremony at all. For that matter, neither does Elias Coppersmith, her new husband. All either can remember is that they were on the run…

With Hannah’s dubious background and shaky para-psych profile, she could have done much worse. The cooly competent mining heir arouses her curiosity—as well as other parts of her mind and body. And even her dust bunny likes him.

But a honeymoon spent retracing their footsteps leads Hannah and Elias into the twisting underground catacombs, where secrets from both their pasts will come to light—and where the energy of their clashing auras will grow hot enough to burn…

Review:

I like this series, apparent by the fact that this is book thirteen and I’m still reading. However, I wasn’t very impressed with this one. The romance was very lacking and it felt like a whole amnesia plot was just shoved in there to force a marriage of convenience because that would be the thing to force them to look into what happened? What? Really? The amnesia and the marriage seemed very contrived and the explanation wasn’t believable. It left no room to devlope their romance and basically all you have for that is a couple short emails at the start of the book and the fact that Elias didn’t like when Hannah kept saying it was just an MC. From that I was supposed to believe that they loved each other? Didn’t do it for me.

World was still fun so there’s that at least.

3/5

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

x-men-apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Director:

Bryan Singer

Starring:

James McAvoy

Michael Fassbender

Jennifer Lawrence

Plot:

After the re-emergence of the world’s first mutant, world-destroyer Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.

Review:

The X-Men movies have gotten to be about as confusing as the X-Men comics. With the last movie the timeline was changed so I guess the first movies no longer matter, so the fact that Mystic, Lawrence, was going to become bad is no longer true? Maybe? I’m not sure and I don’t know if she is either which makes the ending a bit weird.

It’s probably best to completely forget the movies that don’t have McAvoy and the others in them because who the hell knows where they come into play if at all.

X-Men Apocalypse was fun, though it bounced around a lot and I was never quite sure where we were time wise. Quicksilver, Evan Peters, was again my favorite part even though I’ve seen a gif of his main scene several times at this point.

The ending was pretty massive, destruction on a worldwide scale, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next movie. However, this franchise barely registers with me now so it’s not something I’m dying to see.

3/5