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ClareR (6242 KP) rated The Poison Bed in Books
Jun 17, 2018
Murder and Intrigue in the Jacobean Court.
Based on a true story, this is set in the Court of James I of England and Wales (James VI of Scotland). Robert Carr is a favourite of the King. There has long been much discussion about how far his favouritism went, and about how he possibly had homosexual tendencies.
Anyway, this story is based around the true story of how Frances Howard and her husband Robert Carr were charged with the murder of Thomas Overbury, and kept in the Tower of London for quite some time. This whole story illustrates the power of the Howards (particularly Frances' Great Uncle) and the intrigue of the Royal Court. Everyone has great aspirations, and will do whatever it takes to achieve them.
The characters, I felt, were well drawn and either unpleasant or terribly naive - no middle ground. I do like historical fiction, especially when it appears to be well researched, as this does. It's important to give the characters life as well, and that's what this book does really well. An exciting, intriguing story. Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the publisher for the chance to read this book.
Anyway, this story is based around the true story of how Frances Howard and her husband Robert Carr were charged with the murder of Thomas Overbury, and kept in the Tower of London for quite some time. This whole story illustrates the power of the Howards (particularly Frances' Great Uncle) and the intrigue of the Royal Court. Everyone has great aspirations, and will do whatever it takes to achieve them.
The characters, I felt, were well drawn and either unpleasant or terribly naive - no middle ground. I do like historical fiction, especially when it appears to be well researched, as this does. It's important to give the characters life as well, and that's what this book does really well. An exciting, intriguing story. Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and the publisher for the chance to read this book.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated American Made (2017) in Movies
Apr 27, 2020
Born To Be Wild
American Made- is a highly entertaining movie, thats based on a true story.
The plot: Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America and soon finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States. The operation spawns the birth of the Medellin cartel and almost brings down the Reagan White House.
If you havent watched this movie and like "Narcos", "Mindhuter", "Zodiac" and "Manhunt" than you will like this movie.
The plot: Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the burgeoning communist threat in Central America and soon finds himself in charge of one of the biggest covert CIA operations in the history of the United States. The operation spawns the birth of the Medellin cartel and almost brings down the Reagan White House.
If you havent watched this movie and like "Narcos", "Mindhuter", "Zodiac" and "Manhunt" than you will like this movie.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
7.7
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Book
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a part-autobiographical, part-fictional account by Dave...
Memoir Creative-Fiction Fiction Cancer Life & Death Parenting
Dean (6927 KP) rated A Confession in TV
Oct 7, 2019
Interesting True crime drama
A good drama based on a true story. A detective makes a decision to try and find a missing girl that will have repercussions for the case. The first few episodes were good as the police do the detective work to try and find a missing girl. They establish a suspect and try their best to find out where she is and what happened to her. The latter episodes deal with the court case and legal disputes over certain evidence. The beginning is like many other crime dramas, very tense trying to find a suspect and build up evidence. However the 2nd half of the series is bogged down by the legal red tape over the law of questioning suspects. Hard to believe that the law still hasn't been changed yet around this ruling. It is more interesting as it's a true crime drama though.
Bubblesreview (110 KP) rated The Tattooist of Auschwitz in Books
Feb 5, 2019
Descriptive (2 more)
Easy to read
Eye opener
Hard to read at times (emotional) (1 more)
Not entirely realistic
Heart grabbing
This book is a really good read, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story which is based on true events and real people. I like how the characters renained hopeful of a future considering their unfortunate situation. However, like others have said I feel like the author down played the intensity of everything, despite this, some parts were still get hard to read. Overall, 9/10. Would read again and recommend.
And Every Word Is True
Book
Truman Capote’s bestselling book “In Cold Blood” has captivated worldwide audiences for over...
True Crime
Lee (2222 KP) rated Only The Brave (2017) in Movies
Nov 14, 2017
A true story that deserved to be told
Only the Brave is based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots - the first ever municipal fire crew to be certified as Hotshots, which is the name given to the brave firefighters that tackle wildfires on the ground. It's another true story I wasn't aware of, and as with many of the others that have had movies made of them recently, it is just as deserving to be told. My appreciation of the movie, in particular how it all ended, was certainly improved based on the fact that I had no prior knowledge of the story.
Although, we do get to see a number of wildfires throughout the movie and get to fully appreciate the scale and danger that they present to both firefighters and residents in the path of destruction, Only the Brave never descends into an over-the-top disaster blockbuster. Instead, the movies main focus is often on the team of firefighter themselves, their family lives, and how they juggle all of that along with such an intensely demanding work life. At times though, this side of the movie doesn't work so well as we constantly meander through some of the less interesting parts of the lives of the crew, and I felt the whole movie could have benefited by shaving about 30 minutes from its run time. There's a great, all-star cast to help things along though - Josh Brolin is supervisor Eric Marsh, Miles Teller one of his rookies, and that's just the start of it. Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly, and Andie MacDowell all feature in strong supporting roles.
Despite its slow start and extended run time, I definitely found Only the Brave an enjoyable and emotional story.
Although, we do get to see a number of wildfires throughout the movie and get to fully appreciate the scale and danger that they present to both firefighters and residents in the path of destruction, Only the Brave never descends into an over-the-top disaster blockbuster. Instead, the movies main focus is often on the team of firefighter themselves, their family lives, and how they juggle all of that along with such an intensely demanding work life. At times though, this side of the movie doesn't work so well as we constantly meander through some of the less interesting parts of the lives of the crew, and I felt the whole movie could have benefited by shaving about 30 minutes from its run time. There's a great, all-star cast to help things along though - Josh Brolin is supervisor Eric Marsh, Miles Teller one of his rookies, and that's just the start of it. Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly, and Andie MacDowell all feature in strong supporting roles.
Despite its slow start and extended run time, I definitely found Only the Brave an enjoyable and emotional story.
Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three
10.0
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Book
Based on a true story, this edition of Devil's Knot will tie-in to a major motion picture starring...
Bostonian916 (449 KP) rated The 5th Quarter (2010) in Movies
Aug 17, 2020
Based on an inspirational true story about the death of a young man and the repercussions on his family.
While the story is true and quite good, there are events in the movie that I feel were added for cinematic effect, which in and of itself isn't terrible, but in the broad scheme of the movie they were absolutely not needed.
The story is good enough when told that it didn't need some of the filler that was added and unfortunately some of the filler was never actually tied into the actual story, which I found disappointing. Also, while I understand that it was done in an effort to appeal to a larger audience, some of the language in the film was more vulgar than what I though was appropriate for a film that touted itself with religion as the underlying grace.
If you've read many of my reviews, you know that I don't necessarily have a problem with vulgarity in general, but when a movie makes a claim as one thing and then presents itself as another, that's a bit of a crux for me personally.
Beyond that, Aidan Quinn and Andie MacDowell were both brilliant in their respective roles.
While the story is true and quite good, there are events in the movie that I feel were added for cinematic effect, which in and of itself isn't terrible, but in the broad scheme of the movie they were absolutely not needed.
The story is good enough when told that it didn't need some of the filler that was added and unfortunately some of the filler was never actually tied into the actual story, which I found disappointing. Also, while I understand that it was done in an effort to appeal to a larger audience, some of the language in the film was more vulgar than what I though was appropriate for a film that touted itself with religion as the underlying grace.
If you've read many of my reviews, you know that I don't necessarily have a problem with vulgarity in general, but when a movie makes a claim as one thing and then presents itself as another, that's a bit of a crux for me personally.
Beyond that, Aidan Quinn and Andie MacDowell were both brilliant in their respective roles.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Spotlight (2015) in Movies
Apr 8, 2020
I genuinely think this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. I'm a real sucker for 'based on a true story' films, especially when the content is so riveting and this film really hit the mark. This cast is phenomenal, each character had a purpose, had meaning, had heart. The plot is obviously so intriguing and it keeps you pulled in. You find yourself rooting for Spotlight throughout the film and you can feel how much each of these characters love the story, are passionate about the story, through the screen. And Mark Ruffalo? He was the stand out to me, no doubt. He has this screen presence that is unlike most actors I've seen. I love this film.