Category: Reviews

Reviews and ratings of books and movies Toi has read or viewed for pleasure.

Categories
Mock Squid Soup Movies

CHEF #Review – Mock Squid Soup No.20 #cinephiles #film #food

Wikipedia

If anyone is interested in my experience of watching CHEF, click here to see my notes.

I’m following in the footsteps of Nancy Mock and MOCK and I hope I can keep up. I made a point not to read their reviews before watching this film so it would be a fresh experience for me. Let’s see how it all went.

This review will consist of me asking myself 10 questions and answering them to the best of my ability.

1. What is this film about?

Chef Carl is good, but he’s insecure. Not a good husband, not a good dad; being a great chef is all he has, but even his idea of what legitimizes a chef is a little askew. After a bad review and discovering the nature of social media in the worst way, Carl is forced to rethink his methods and downsize to a food truck.

2. What did I think of the title, poster, and or trailer?

The title is simple. Made me think the movie would be simple and subtly profound. I never watched the trailer. The poster looks fun.

3. What did I think of the main character(s) and how the actors performed them?

Well first off, this cast is ridiculous. Jon Favreau called in every big name he’s worked with, or wanted to work with, even down to cameos from real chefs and recording artists. No one did a bad job with their roles, but then they weren’t really challenging roles. I did think the boy, Emjay Anthony, did a great job standing his ground next to talents such as Dustin Hoffman, Scarlet Johansson, and Robert Downey Jr.

4. What did I think of the direction and cinematography?

Quadruple-threat-man, Favreau, did a nice job putting this all together. I liked the way he incorporated the social media elements. It was student-film-like in that way that feels natural and edgy, even if it’s not.

5. What did I think of the soundtrack and score?

The soundtrack was the second best thing about this film. The cooking scenes were the first, but I have a thing for cooking scenes. Sadly though, anyone who doesn’t like Jazz, Blues, and or Latin music won’t share my thoughts here.

Let’s all thank Nancy for sharing the soundtrack with us here.

6. What did I like about the story as a whole?

I like that the need to connect and create was at the center of it all. Chef Carl wasn’t able to create and it drove him crazy and because he wouldn’t connect, he stifled his own focus and execution.

7. What did I not like about the story?

Simple is usually good, but the simplicity of how everything worked out seemed generic. It was an enjoyable story, but it didn’t excite me.

8. Would I recommend this movie to others?

Probably, but I’d be picky about it. If anyone asked me if it was worth seeing, I’d say yes, but I don’t feel like I need to hurry out and share this with all my friends.

9. What would I rate this movie?

On a scale of 1 to 5 movie reels, I give this film 3 reels.

MOkay

10. Was there anything in this movie that could be related to me or anything I have written?

Yes, FOOD. I love food and try to include it in my writing though I don’t always do so well. I find that I often create recipes for stories or characters as part of my writing process. I’m no chef, but I understand Carl’s need to create, whether in the kitchen or at my desk.

Watch, rent, or buy this movie here.

Download the soundtrack here.

Mock Squid Soup – Film Society

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MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to introduce Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society. Each month, on the second Friday, we shall host a bloghop devoted to movie reviews. We invite others to participate and post their reviews…Don’t be shy; come join the fun! 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books FlashbackFriday

#FlashbackFriday: #Fantasy #Book Review: Breath of Air


Brought to you by, Michael G D’Agostino at A Life Examined, this is a time of the month (the last Friday) where you can republish an old post of yours that maybe didn’t get enough attention, you’re really proud of, or you think is still relevant, etc. I’ve chosen to share old book and movie reviews because those are always relevant.

Originally posted Friday, September 21, 2012.

Breath of Air (The Dryad Quartet), By Katie Jennings

I give this story a solid 4. Almost everything you could want in a story.

LikeIt

This is the story of an orphan named Capri who discovers that her suppressed dreams are actually memories and that she does actually have a family. You’d think that finding out something like that would be enough to carry a decent story, but Breath of Air takes this heartwarming tale for a good old fashion thrill ride. This wild, funny, and sometimes scary journey opens Capri up to a world of mystical and mythological beings and helps her cope with the idea that she may just be one of them.

Not my usual read, but so worth my time. I’m used to more intensity and less romance, but this wasn’t too much or too little of anything. I’m still wondering what happened to the fairies. Were they real or did I overlook something?

The whole story was delivered in a laid-back Sunday afternoon kind of approach, but that doesn’t mean it was slow or boring in any way. It was beautifully descriptive, but very simplistic making for an easy and enjoyable read. It took me a while to warm up to Capri, but I think it’s because I’m more like the character of Blythe. Once I realized just how important Capri was to the whole dynamic of the relationships around her, I fell in love with her. She’s just the kind of person I’d love to have as a friend.

There were several prince charming types, a charismatic one and a brooding loner one, readily available for rescues and romance, but it was the plethora of diverse and dominant female characters that stole the show, so to speak. Always a fan of mythology, I loved seeing how the characters and story plot would play out in this world of Euphorea.

Get a copy of this book here.

Please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Mock Squid Soup Movies

Ex Machina #Review – Mock Squid Soup No.19 #cinephiles #film #scifi

Wikipedia

Please note, this review contains mature themes.

Let’s recap my clues from last week:

Clue #1– It’s a fairly recent sci-fi release that’s quite dark (now on DVD).

Clue #2– It won an Oscar.

Clue #3– One of its stars appeared in another recent sci-fi release that did not win an Oscar.

So, I think most people figured this out pretty quickly, but let’s see if people thought I liked or didn’t like it.

If anyone is interested in my experience of watching Ex Machina, click here to see my notes.

This review will consist of me asking myself 10 questions and answering them to the best of my ability.

1. What is this film about?

Caleb works for a Google-like company and has just won the company’s lottery (no one really knows what it is). He’s flown to meet the mysterious billionaire owner of the company where he’s faced with a Turing test.

I’m just going to go ahead and say that I’ve watched and read a lot of stories about AI, machines, robots, etc… I’m always looking for the next story to challenge my mind (this annoyed me).

2. What did I think of the title, poster, and or trailer?

I remember seeing a small teaser for the film and then refusing to watch a full trailer. (I have a theory that trailers ruin movies that I really care about. I find that I enjoy movies more when I don’t feel like I’ve already seen the highlights or good parts.) Being a fan a tech tales, man playing god, and so on, I figured this would be a great film for me to catch one day.

3. What did I think of the main character(s) and how the actors performed them?

I like Oscar Isaac, but his character in this film was despicable. I guess that means he played the role well. The other two main actors are unknowns to me, but I guess they did okay. One played an android and the other a pawn. There wasn’t a lot of stretch or imagination to these roles. I don’t think these will be defining performances for these actors (at least I hope not).

4. What did I think of the direction and cinematography?

I like Alex Garland’s screen writing credits, but this film seemed lacking in direction. Maybe lacking isn’t quite the word… The film was focused to a fault. It just didn’t feel real in the slightest. I think he tried too hard to make it dark and eerie.

That’s pretty much all it was, dark and eerie. Plus, I thought there was a lot of unnecessary nudity.

5. What did I think of the soundtrack and score?

This movie almost made me dislike classical music. None of the music matched or felt appropriate to me. Again, it all felt like too much emphasis was put into making the setting dark and eerie.

6. What did I like about the story as a whole?

I like the theme of the story, but that’s pretty much it. I can at least say that I didn’t figure out the point of it all until the end. Usually I give a film points for that (so often I figure it out half way and am left disappointed), but not this film. I was still disappointed.

7. What did I not like about the story?

I just felt like it could have been better overall. The point of the film, to me, in the end was kind of lame. It all came down to sex and or manipulation through sexual arousal and false dependence. This is definitely a psychological thriller, but not one that comes off well.

8. Would I recommend this movie to others?

Probably not. I know a few people, who like me, will watch anything with this basic theme. I’d recommend it to those people just so we could compare our experiences. I get that some people will like this movie, but I’m not one of them.

9. What would I rate this movie?

On a scale of 1 to 5 movie reels, I give this film 2 reels.

MDidntLike

10. Was there anything in this movie that could be related to me or anything I have written?

I’ve dabbled a bit with the idea of smart tech and AI. It’s a great premise to build a story around. You can be for it, against it, afraid of it, and more. I’ve sprinkled in a bit of robot tech into the second book of my Eternal Curse Series and I’m sure I’ll make attempts to write about it more. For the most part, though, I simply like to read and watch it.

Watch, rent, or buy this movie here.

Mock Squid Soup – Film Society

41375-mocksquidsoup2
MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to introduce Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society. Each month, on the second Friday, we shall host a bloghop devoted to movie reviews. We invite others to participate and post their reviews…Don’t be shy; come join the fun! 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords