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Empire of Wild
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Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year - ever since he...
All the Broken Places
10.0
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From the author of the globally bestselling, multi-million-copy classic, The Boy in the Striped...
WW2 Post WW2
David McK (3425 KP) rated Top Gun: Maverick (2022) in Movies
Jun 5, 2022 (Updated Jun 17, 2023)
Legacy Sequel entry number ...?
Legacy Sequels.
That's a term for what seems to be becoming more and more the norm in Hollywood of late: sequels of films made decades ago, that don't necessarily *need* said sequel. Some examples:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Jurassic World
Mary Poppins Returns
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
and now 'Top Gun: Maverick', with Tom Cruise returning to one of his signature roles from the mid-80s, as Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell.
No Kelly McGillis this time around, with her spot (and role in the proceedings) instead being taken by Jennifer Connolly's admirals daughter Penny (name dropped, but never shown in the original).
Yes, there's a definite argument to be made that, shall we call it, 'the mission' here has been done before (try watching the original Star Wars, retroactively titled 'A New Hope' and play spot the similarities), and yes, the plot may be predictable, but when it's all this much fun ...
(and no, you don't need to have seen the original, although that may help)
That's a term for what seems to be becoming more and more the norm in Hollywood of late: sequels of films made decades ago, that don't necessarily *need* said sequel. Some examples:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Jurassic World
Mary Poppins Returns
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
and now 'Top Gun: Maverick', with Tom Cruise returning to one of his signature roles from the mid-80s, as Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell.
No Kelly McGillis this time around, with her spot (and role in the proceedings) instead being taken by Jennifer Connolly's admirals daughter Penny (name dropped, but never shown in the original).
Yes, there's a definite argument to be made that, shall we call it, 'the mission' here has been done before (try watching the original Star Wars, retroactively titled 'A New Hope' and play spot the similarities), and yes, the plot may be predictable, but when it's all this much fun ...
(and no, you don't need to have seen the original, although that may help)
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated One Split Second in Books
Jan 15, 2024
11 of 220
Book
One Split Second
By Caroline Bond
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One split second ... the moment that changed their lives forever.
When a car carrying five friends home from a party crashes into a wall, the consequences are devastating - not just for the young people directly involved, but also for their families and the wider community.
No one escapes unscathed, but some are more deeply scarred than others. Those affected are left to question who was to blame for the accident, and what price they will pay.
This moving story of an accident and its aftermath explores our understanding of love and loyalty, grief and forgiveness.
Wow! This is so emotionally charged the impact that one event can have on so many lives is incredible. This is a heartbreaking story of how 5 teenagers, a party , an argument and car accident completely shakes the lives of them and their families. I have to admit I shed a tear at the end. As humans we are so strong and it take’s something drastic for us to see how strong!!
Book
One Split Second
By Caroline Bond
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One split second ... the moment that changed their lives forever.
When a car carrying five friends home from a party crashes into a wall, the consequences are devastating - not just for the young people directly involved, but also for their families and the wider community.
No one escapes unscathed, but some are more deeply scarred than others. Those affected are left to question who was to blame for the accident, and what price they will pay.
This moving story of an accident and its aftermath explores our understanding of love and loyalty, grief and forgiveness.
Wow! This is so emotionally charged the impact that one event can have on so many lives is incredible. This is a heartbreaking story of how 5 teenagers, a party , an argument and car accident completely shakes the lives of them and their families. I have to admit I shed a tear at the end. As humans we are so strong and it take’s something drastic for us to see how strong!!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated One Split Second in Books
Jan 15, 2024
11 of 220
Book
One Split Second
By Caroline Bond
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One split second ... the moment that changed their lives forever.
When a car carrying five friends home from a party crashes into a wall, the consequences are devastating - not just for the young people directly involved, but also for their families and the wider community.
No one escapes unscathed, but some are more deeply scarred than others. Those affected are left to question who was to blame for the accident, and what price they will pay.
This moving story of an accident and its aftermath explores our understanding of love and loyalty, grief and forgiveness.
Wow! This is so emotionally charged the impact that one event can have on so many lives is incredible. This is a heartbreaking story of how 5 teenagers, a party , an argument and car accident completely shakes the lives of them and their families. I have to admit I shed a tear at the end. As humans we are so strong and it take’s something drastic for us to see how strong!!
Book
One Split Second
By Caroline Bond
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One split second ... the moment that changed their lives forever.
When a car carrying five friends home from a party crashes into a wall, the consequences are devastating - not just for the young people directly involved, but also for their families and the wider community.
No one escapes unscathed, but some are more deeply scarred than others. Those affected are left to question who was to blame for the accident, and what price they will pay.
This moving story of an accident and its aftermath explores our understanding of love and loyalty, grief and forgiveness.
Wow! This is so emotionally charged the impact that one event can have on so many lives is incredible. This is a heartbreaking story of how 5 teenagers, a party , an argument and car accident completely shakes the lives of them and their families. I have to admit I shed a tear at the end. As humans we are so strong and it take’s something drastic for us to see how strong!!
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Gatecrash (2021) in Movies
Feb 19, 2021
Enjoyably strange
Gatecrash is a 2021 psychological thriller from Lawrence Gough, based on a play by Terry Hughes. It opens with a rather beautiful and picturesque shot of the English countryside at dusk, when a speeding car disturbs the peace and alongside a prominent score, promises us a rather tense and thrilling start to the film.
And in this aspect it doesn’t disappoint. Gatecrash disposes with any preamble and pitches us straight into the action. A couple return to a rather maze-like and futuristically styled home in the middle of an argument, but what at first seems like a domestic argument is in fact much more serious: the husband, Steve (Ben Cura), has just committed a hit and run. He’s drunk, abusive and wants his wife, Nicole (Olivia Bonamy), to take the blame. And it wasn’t just an innocent accident as Steve not only knocked someone over, he drove over them again in his rush to flee.
The first 15 minutes follows this argument and then as it ends as Nicole and Steve separate inside the house; him to clean up any evidence from the accident and her to discretely take a pregnancy test. This soon begins to drag, and fortunately we’re saved by a sinister phone call from the landline, that appears to be coming from Steve’s mobile, that he hasn’t seen since the hit and run. This soon escalates into something verging on horror territory as we follow Nicole around their now claustrophobic house.
It’s this middle act that I enjoyed the most as Gatecrash turns into a tense and almost terrifying thriller, as Nicole and Steve have to face off against a mysterious and menacing police officer (Samuel West) who arrives on their doorstep. West is possibly my favourite part of this film, his character is completely over the top and ridiculous yet still portrays this strange, ominous air. It’s strange to find a character who is immensely fun to watch yet still manages to terrify you. He’s further helped by his character’s unexplained and questionable motives that give this thriller an intriguing air of mystery.
Following on from the aftermath of the hit and run, the film jumps to a later time after Nicole has had her baby and again the couple are visited by another mysterious stranger, this one called Sid (Anton Lesser). At first Sid seems like a kind, lovely old man but his unusual air and conversation soon unveil yet more hidden and sinister motives that culminate in a tense finale.
It’s this final act that I was least keen on. At first the dialogue between Sid, Nicole and Steve is gripping but it seems to drag on and keep going round in circles before it finally gets to some dramatic piece of action. This dragging dialogue is definitely Gatecrash’s biggest flaw, and this is in no doubt down to it’s theatre origins. On the stage I can see dialogue like this working well, but as a film it needs a lot more oomph to keep our attention. The cast do well to keep us entertained though, Olivia Bonamy puts in a very understated performance as Nicole and Ben Cura was delightful to watch as Steve purely because the character is a rather despicable excuse for a man. And fortunately Gough’s cinematography works well with the few action scenes to try and make up for the slumps in the dialogue heavy earlier scenes.
Overall Gatecrash is a fairly enjoyable thriller and is worth watching purely for its general air of mystery and the tense and exciting second act.
And in this aspect it doesn’t disappoint. Gatecrash disposes with any preamble and pitches us straight into the action. A couple return to a rather maze-like and futuristically styled home in the middle of an argument, but what at first seems like a domestic argument is in fact much more serious: the husband, Steve (Ben Cura), has just committed a hit and run. He’s drunk, abusive and wants his wife, Nicole (Olivia Bonamy), to take the blame. And it wasn’t just an innocent accident as Steve not only knocked someone over, he drove over them again in his rush to flee.
The first 15 minutes follows this argument and then as it ends as Nicole and Steve separate inside the house; him to clean up any evidence from the accident and her to discretely take a pregnancy test. This soon begins to drag, and fortunately we’re saved by a sinister phone call from the landline, that appears to be coming from Steve’s mobile, that he hasn’t seen since the hit and run. This soon escalates into something verging on horror territory as we follow Nicole around their now claustrophobic house.
It’s this middle act that I enjoyed the most as Gatecrash turns into a tense and almost terrifying thriller, as Nicole and Steve have to face off against a mysterious and menacing police officer (Samuel West) who arrives on their doorstep. West is possibly my favourite part of this film, his character is completely over the top and ridiculous yet still portrays this strange, ominous air. It’s strange to find a character who is immensely fun to watch yet still manages to terrify you. He’s further helped by his character’s unexplained and questionable motives that give this thriller an intriguing air of mystery.
Following on from the aftermath of the hit and run, the film jumps to a later time after Nicole has had her baby and again the couple are visited by another mysterious stranger, this one called Sid (Anton Lesser). At first Sid seems like a kind, lovely old man but his unusual air and conversation soon unveil yet more hidden and sinister motives that culminate in a tense finale.
It’s this final act that I was least keen on. At first the dialogue between Sid, Nicole and Steve is gripping but it seems to drag on and keep going round in circles before it finally gets to some dramatic piece of action. This dragging dialogue is definitely Gatecrash’s biggest flaw, and this is in no doubt down to it’s theatre origins. On the stage I can see dialogue like this working well, but as a film it needs a lot more oomph to keep our attention. The cast do well to keep us entertained though, Olivia Bonamy puts in a very understated performance as Nicole and Ben Cura was delightful to watch as Steve purely because the character is a rather despicable excuse for a man. And fortunately Gough’s cinematography works well with the few action scenes to try and make up for the slumps in the dialogue heavy earlier scenes.
Overall Gatecrash is a fairly enjoyable thriller and is worth watching purely for its general air of mystery and the tense and exciting second act.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Kisscut (Grant County, #2) in Books
Jun 18, 2019
A disturbingly good thriller
The second in the Grant County series this book continues with the high shock value of the crimes involved. Seriously if you are squeamish or don’t want to be reading about rape, genital mutilation, paedophilia, child abuse, and/or suicide then you should probably avoid.
In this outing medical examiner Sara Linton and her on / off partner police chief Jeffery Tolliver investigate a tragic teenage argument that leads to the uncovering of a series of very dark secrets in the town. But with those around the victim closing ranks it’s tough to get to the bottom of who is responsible for some pretty disturbing stuff.
We get to see a bit more of the Sara and Jeffrey relationship dynamic; but more interesting in this book is the ongoing recovery of Detective Lena Adams. The horrendous experiences that were covered in the previous book in the series “Blindsighted” are taking their toll on Lena. I would recommend reading this series in order to fully get the back story to this.
Despite the uncomfortable nature of some of the subject matter this is another well written thriller from Slaughter.
In this outing medical examiner Sara Linton and her on / off partner police chief Jeffery Tolliver investigate a tragic teenage argument that leads to the uncovering of a series of very dark secrets in the town. But with those around the victim closing ranks it’s tough to get to the bottom of who is responsible for some pretty disturbing stuff.
We get to see a bit more of the Sara and Jeffrey relationship dynamic; but more interesting in this book is the ongoing recovery of Detective Lena Adams. The horrendous experiences that were covered in the previous book in the series “Blindsighted” are taking their toll on Lena. I would recommend reading this series in order to fully get the back story to this.
Despite the uncomfortable nature of some of the subject matter this is another well written thriller from Slaughter.
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