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Welcome to Marwen (2018)
Welcome to Marwen (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama
Cap’t Hogie (Steve Carell) is saved from of Nazi’s, after his plane crashed in a swamp in Belgium, by a squad women. They are able to take the beaten and battered Hogie back to their town of Marwen. Or at least that the story Mark Hogancamp (also Steve Carell) has conjured in his art installation outside his trailer home. Mark himself was found by a bartender, Wendy (Stefanie von Pfetten), after he was beaten with an inch of his life by a group of white supremacist. Hogancamp was a successful sketch artist and now can hardly write his own name. He also has little to no memory of the life before the beating. But he is still and artist and now his art lives in the dolls he uses to create a fantasy story that mirrors his real life.

The group of women dolls that seem to always save his Hogie character are all based on the women his life. There is G.I. Julie, aka Julie (Janelle Monae), his rehab partner after his accident and Roberta (Merritt Wever), the friendly neighborhood hobby story clerk. Plus there is Anna (Gwendoline Christie) nurse who brings Hogie his mail and supplies in real life and Carlala (Eiza Gonzalez) his coworker in real life. These make up the majority of his bad ass Nazi killing crew in Marwen. The newest addition is his neighbor Nicole (Leslie Mann) who he think might help him defeat the Nazi’s in Marwen for good and be a special new friend in real life. He will need both his Marwen crew and his real life friends as the sentencing for his real life attackers gets closer and his fragile mental health is pushed to a stressful breaking point.

This unique story is based on the real life of world famous photographic artist Mark Hogancamp. Mark was brutally beaten because he made a smart comment about liking to wear women’s shoes. It’s also a story of overcoming addiction and mental health issues. He turned the disaster into a passion for creating art and using fantasy to cope with tragedy.

This was a really interesting way of telling a one of a kind true story. I thought that director, Robert Zemeckis (Forest Gump, Flight) used both real life and the fantasy world of Marwen to create one story. There were times when the story really didn’t flow great between the two worlds but overall was really original filmmaking. The pace and flow were a little off with the transitions. I thought the animation was exceptionally done. The story also had a bunch of topics it tackled, from mental health and memory loss to addiction but also had a good mix of humor. Carell dual performances were really well done and the supporting cast was also good. Films that are original and try new and interesting things are always worth a view in my opinion. I could see the content not really being for everyone but I thought the overall story left me feeling good.
  
    Glitché

    Glitché

    Photo & Video and Entertainment

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    Glitché is the ultimate tool for creating cutting-edge photo and video artistry. #1 Photo & Video...

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
2019 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Performances and tone (0 more)
Predictable (0 more)
A mixed bag of a film, both engaging and tiresome
Dan Gilroys teams up again with jake Gyllenhaal but this time with far less success than 2014's nightcrawler. Velvet Buzzsaw follows a small group of the LA art world as the mysterious paintings of dease are released into the world. As seen in the trailer the paintings are able to move and even come out and grab you and here is where my issues with the film start.

In my opinion in horror it's best to have some kind of rules so you know what to be scared of. Even the slightest hint of ghosts or the supernatural will do at separating horror from something more psychological. Here it's unclear as to why these paintings have these properties as everything feels like the real world and for the first act the film it balances on this in between of something psychological and actual physically alive paintings. And for the most part these horror sections are terribly predictable as soon as we see a main character alone with one of the paintings it's pretty clear as to what's gonna happen.

Where the movie excels is in between these horror parts when we get more of Morf(played by gyllenhaal in scintillating form) trying to figure out what's going on while experiencing haunting visual and auditory hallucinations. This descent into paranoia and almost madness is far more engaging than the cheap thrills the film seems more eager to give us. More of these characters being entranced yet horrified by these pictures and subtle things going wrong would have made for a far creepier experience.

Overall what could have been a really interesting psychological thriller ended up being a slightly above par horror movie with good performances all round and a interesting premise and while the horror elements were my least favourite part they were very creative and any horror fan would be sure to get a kick out of it
  
The Last Titan
The Last Titan
Craig Wainwright | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Review can be found on my blog: www.diaryofdifference.com
A whole new alien world, with fresh new characters and unique superpowers, this is a refreshing adventure read.

This is a story about Daniel – a normal guy that lives on Earth. Well, normal apart from the fact that he is on the run from the government and a local gangster. This is also a story about Andromeda, who comes to Earth, and tell Daniel he’s an alien and has superpowers – and it’s her job to train him and protect him.

A story and a world where silver can hurt you, and incredible strength is a thing, this was such a refreshing read for me.

Craig has mastered the art of scene and character descriptions, and I can’t resist but share with you his description of Daniel:

‘He was six foot seven inches tall, with a well-defined, lithe, athletic physique. Always clean shaven and well presented, with short, closely cropped, light brown hair and a rosy tinge to his flawless complexion…’

I loved how Daniel’s character developed in what he became, but his mindset didn’t really change throughout the book. And on the contrary – Andromeda’s character progress stays the same, but she matures gradually after each chapter.

And as a pair, both of them keep the balance in the book so perfectly even, it’s so satisfying to read those parts.

This book will introduce you to a new world on another planet, new cities and clans, and superpowers, and types of ruling. This book is the Game Of Thrones in space.

If you love adventure books, and alien invasions, and new worlds, and of course, superpowers, then go ahead and give this book a chance. You won’t be disappointed!

I am so glad I had the chance to be among the first ones to read this story. Thanks to the author, Craig Wainwright, who sent me a copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
  
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Joe Swanberg recommended Crumb (1994) in Movies (curated)

 
Crumb (1994)
Crumb (1994)
1994 | Documentary
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"It’s in my top five list of best films ever made. I just think it’s perfect. It’s an amazing portrait of an artist, an amazing portrait of a family, Crumb is an incredible central character. I feel like whenever I watch that movie — I sort of watch it every couple years — I start talking like him afterwards. I mean he really infects me in a way that totally changes the way that I look at the world. All great artists have that sort of ability. When I read some of my favorite novelists after I put down one of their books, I’m thinking in their words. I’m seeing the world through their eyes and it’s the same with Crumb. I’m a big fan of his comics, but that film does such an amazing job putting you kind of in his headspace. It also looks amazing, it’s shot on film, Zwigoff does an incredible job framing Crumb’s world, and the Jazz music. it’s just great, I just think it’s great. I think the movie’s a pleasure to watch. I mean, his brother Charles is f—ing incredible, man. Like, the idea that this family produced not one great artist, three great artists. And that Crumb was actually the one who was political enough and sophisticated enough and just barely enough of a people person that his art got seen. But, you know, Charles and Matt also were like really pushing the boundaries of the stuff and also hugely influential on Crumb’s stuff. You don’t get Robert without Charles. You just never sort of have access to those stories the way that this documentary has access to that family. It’s a lot to think about, the artwork that we end up getting as a culture, you know, often times is less about what’s better, and more about how savvy the artist is and how able they are to kind of be in the right place at the right time so that there’s an audience for the work."

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