Kiss: 1977-1980
Book
KISS is an American arena-rock group that formed in the early 1970s in New York City and is most...
African Photographer J. A. Green: Reimagining the Indigenous and the Colonial
Martha G. Anderson and Lisa Aronson
Book
J. A. Green (1873-1905) was one of the most prolific and accomplished indigenous photographers to be...
On The Road with Janis Joplin
Book
One of Parade's Top Ten Rock n' Roll Reads As a road manager and filmmaker, John Byrne Cooke helped...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Napoleon (2023) in Movies
Dec 6, 2023
Directed by Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR), NAPOLEON tells the tale of the titular Frenchman who rises to great power only to fall to great defeat. It is a story ripe for a fascinating film, this just isn’t that film.
There are many, many things that work in this movie, like the performance of Oscar Winner Joaquin Phoenix (THE JOKER) as Napoleon. He plays him as an enigmatic figure who is over-compensating for a lack of…something. Bravery? Self-Confidence? Height? That’s the problem, the film never delves into it, it just gives us a quirky character - strongly played by Phoenix - who is, obviously, using his power and skills as a General to cover up a flaw…whatever that is.
Vanessa Kirby (Oscar Nominated for PIECES OF A WOMAN a few years back) is equally strong and enigmatic as Napoleon’s Empress, Josephine. Kirby’s performance is, probably, the strongest in the film as she plays Josephine as strong and independent, living by her own rules and knowing that she has the powerful Napoleon at her beck-and-call. But, again, we never really find out the person behind the facade and her scenes with Phoenix/Napoleon fall flat for there never is any really love or passion between the 2 of them, just a “baby boy” fawning all over Josephine and a manipulative (we think) social climber using this “baby boy”.
4x Oscar Nominee (but never a winner) Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR) knows how to produce an EPIC and he puts together some EPIC Battle Scenes and Napoleon’s Emperor Inauguration scene is one to behold (which is why you should see this film on the largest screen possible) but these scenes seem isolated and separated from the rest of the film.
And, there, is where the problem of the film is. We have an interesting performance by Phoenix, a strong performance by Kirby and EPIC scenes from Scott, but they all seem isolated and in their own film and never quite gel together to build any emotional connection. All seem cold, flat and calculated. There is none of the passion that Napoleon says he has for France.
Go to marvel at the craft of the film, leave feeling unfulfilled, emotionally by NAPOLEON.
Letter Grade: B-
6 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
The Cardinal's Whores
Book
Blackmail. Betrayal. Lust. Just standard fare in the court of Henry the Eighth. Joan Larke...
Historical Romance Suspense
Sculptural Secrets for Mosaics: Creating 3-D Bases for Mosaic Application
Book
With easy-to-follow guidance and over 175 photographs, this book helps mosaic artists to meet the...
Angels Can't Swim
Book
Angels Can’t Swim is an original, honest coming-of-age novella that examines what goes on behind...
Coming of Age Sexual Abuse Coming Out Pregnancy
Adam Colclough (3 KP) rated Harry's Game in Books
Mar 6, 2018
For the most part thrillers are the literary equivalent of Danish pastry, enjoyable but not made to last. A few, and ‘Harry’s Game’ is one, are more substantial fare, food for the mind that may give you indigestion.
On one level it is a book in the tradition established by Frederick Forsythe, fiction played out as fact allowing the author to draw on his journalistic background. Seymour goes beyond this by creating characters who aren’t simply stock heroes and villains. Instead they are human beings engaged in a struggle that is squalid and futile rather than heroic and purposeful.
This combines to give a grimly believable picture of daily life in Northern Ireland at a time when a single word or action out of place could have deadly consequences. He also writes well about the machinations behind the scenes on both sides, with the British political and military establishment struggling to fight an undeclared war they don’t understand; and the IRA high command masking the brutality of their actions behind misty eyed romanticism.
Brutal, believable and still relevant more than forty years after it was first published this is a novel that is very much worth reading, even if doing so can be unsettling.
Lenard (726 KP) rated Fantasy Island (2020) in Movies
Feb 24, 2020
India Hicks: Island Style
Book
From India Hicks, a beautifully illustrated guide to achieving her famously undone, gloriously...