Saturday, August 24, 2024

Movie review: Twisters 2


Twisters 2 is billed as a stand-alone sequel to the 1996 Twister. The main lead, Kate Carter, loses 3 of her friends tragically in a tornado chasing experiment that went spectacularly wrong. She gives up her ambitions and goes to work at a NOAA office in New York. Five years later, she is called back into the field by her friend Javi, who was with her on that fateful day. He offers her a week-long assignment to test a new tornado scanning system. Tornadoes are on the rise and specifically in Oklahoma.

Since I really enjoyed the first movie with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, I thought I would enjoy Twisters 2 which promised to have ‘more teeth’ (to quote Jurassic Park). Honestly, if all you want is special effects and more tornadoes than any regular storm chaser can stomach, this is the movie for you. If you want real acting and a plot, skip it. The leading lady is, alas, the ubiquitous skinny blonde with no real expression beyond staring into the distance. Note: staring is not acting. As a result, the rest of the enormous and wildly diverse cast act their hearts out and come across as frenzied in comparison. Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate is eminently forgettable while her opposite, the male heartthrob lead Glenn Powell (currently creating a Hollywood storm) vacillates between megawatt smiles for his followers on social media and clumsy attempts to be sensitive. The actors who are gems do manage to stand out despite the lack of screen time and significant lines. Worthy of mention are Daryl McCormack as Kate’s longtime friend Javi, who really deserved more on screen, and Sasha Lily Lane as team member and drone pilot, wearing the tattiest dreadlocks imaginable. The other various team members and groupies merge into a mass of manufactured hysteria every time a tornado peeks over the horizon. Adults in the room include Harry Hadden-Paton as the Brit reporter tagging along and Maura Tierney who is so good she can convey volumes with just a glance.

The very thin underlying plot is how an unscrupulous developer is cruising along in the wake of the tornadoes’ havoc, buying up properties from families devastated by the event. This could have been fleshed out into something spectacular and worthy of watching. Instead, we are forced to swallow total high school science project guff about putting sodium polyacrylate beads into the tornado that will decrease it almost instantly; well, as instantly as screen time and science fiction allow. ‘Terrible dialogue and the acting was a joke,’ said one movie reviewer and I have to agree. So much potential was wasted on casting that put ‘diversity’ (whatever that means these days) before talent, so you get a giant cast that looks like a United Nations convention with very little memorable coming out of it, bar McCormack and Tierney.

The special effects are spectacular and, as I said, if that’s all you want, you’ll get it. The tornadoes have improved since Helen and Bill went chasing after them in a beat-up old pick-up. Watching on the big screen will definitely show audiences how savage these aerial ‘beasts’ can be, but even watching on a smaller TV screen does not diminish the effects. The various tornado events include a tornado happening at a rodeo which was spectacularly filmed. I love disaster movies, but this one was 2 hours too long. I have watched many disaster movies over and over, 2012 and San Andreas being two examples. But these movies had stories with heart. Sadly, the director Lee Isaac Chung (who says he watched many Spielberg movies) missed the point of why and how a Spielberg movie works and the reason it succeeds.


Friday, August 16, 2024

10 Things You Might Not Know About Author Karen Charles

 


A teacher and her family struggle to survive tumultuous riots, escalating violence, and civil unrest in this thrilling release from Karen Charles, and as their loyalties are put to the ultimate test, horrifying revelations and the cataclysmic Northridge earthquake irrevocably change their lives forever…

Title: Blazing Upheaval

Author: Karen Charles

Publication Date: July 25, 2024

Pages: 172

Genre: Thriller

In the heart of the tumultuous Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, a dedicated teacher finds herself thrust into a hazardous situation. Struggling to navigate the chaos and reach safety on the freeway, she faces dangerous obstacles that jeopardize her life. An unexpected rescue during a brutal attack plunges her, her family, and two other families into a chilling series of enigmatic events and escalating violence.

As the city grapples with unrest, they are entangled in a web of mysteries swiftly building in intensity. In the turmoil, their bonds of family, loyalty, and love are put to the ultimate test. The tension mounts relentlessly until an unforeseen revelation, coinciding with the cataclysmic Northridge earthquake, irrevocably changes their lives forever.

This gripping true-story thriller delivers suspenseful twists and heart-pounding moments, weaving a narrative of family resilience, solidarity, and enduring love in the face of daunting circumstances. It is a tale that illuminates the strength found within the human spirit when confronted with extraordinary challenges.

Blazing Upheaval is available at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BMM6BXLG

 

Book Excerpt:

With renewed focus, her heart pounding against her ribcage, Tiffany emerged from the fray. She realized she was only a few blocks from the I-5 freeway, her haven of safety. She pressed the gas pedal, her car surging ahead with newfound urgency.

Tiffany came to an abrupt stop at the red light at the intersection where she would make a left turn onto the freeway entrance. Loud yelling frightened her. Three men surrounded her car. They bounced it up and down. Alarm gripped her racing heart as she understood the hatred in their eyes. They pulled on the locked doors. They pounded on the windows. She felt shock and disbelief as she realized the rioters wanted to harm her! She was helpless! She was trapped!


10 Things You Might Not Know About Karen Charles


1.    Blazing Upheaval is based on my six years of teaching in the inner city of Los Angeles while living in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley.

2.   I spent the first six years of my life in a clearing in the jungles of Liberia, West Africa. My dad was in charge of a leper colony and my mom was in charge of a boys’ boarding school. We moved to Nigeria where I lived until I was sixteen years old.

3.   I have traveled in nineteen foreign countries.

4.   I flew a Cessna twin-engine plane at the age of fifteen.

5.   My first published writing was a poem about the African crown bird. Their beauty and elegance enthralled me. My mom sent my poem to Jack and Jill Children’s magazine and they published it.

6.   I own a condo in Puerto Vallarta where one of my characters in the thriller Fateful Connections lived.

7.   I own and manage an Airbnb on a beautiful bay in Washington State.

8.   I have a children’s book published and three thrillers.

9.   I have six kids, fourteen grandkids, two great-grandkids, and another grandkid on the way.

10.      In the winter months when the Airbnb business is a little slower, I find time to concentrate on writing.



About the Author

Karen Charles transforms real-life narratives into gripping fiction thrillers. Her novels intricately weave the threads of truth into a tapestry of suspense, intrigue, and riveting storytelling. An educator by profession, she is renowned for her thriller “Fateful Connections,” which unfolds against the backdrop of 9/11. “Blazing Upheaval” promises to deliver another chilling, heart-pounding experience. Karen and her husband reside on the serene shores of a beautiful bay in Washington, where she draws inspiration for her compelling narratives. Explore her insights and musings on the writer’s life through her blogs on “My Life As A Writer” at www.weaveofsuspense.com.

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ http://weaveofsuspense.com 

Twitter ➜ http://www.twitter.com/karenra24229683 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/karen.rabe.7/




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