Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Lindsay (1727 KP) rated Upper West Side Story in Books

Aug 30, 2018 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)  
UW
Upper West Side Story
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Have you ever read a book about justice that going on in your world that important to all. You thought it was dealt with in a movement that happens 50 years.

You see it still going on today. Well, a book called "Upper West Side Story", bring it to light and questions if our race is still an uphill battle among us. I got this feeling while I was reading the story. We meet a mother who will do anything to protect her son. This story really turns out to be a well written about a boy who is white and a friend with a black boy. We learn about friendships. Matt and Curtis are best friends. Everything changes after a freak accident.

The real issues come out during this time. It affects the whole family but mostly Matt. Viola losses everything but does the community realize that Matt is a child of Viola as well as Curtis is to Bettina. It happens during a time when they were fooling around or goofing around. Racial issues and political issues arise will they overcome or will the charges damaged all including the boy and his family.
  
40x40

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Memento (2000) in Movies

Jul 26, 2019 (Updated Jul 26, 2019)  
Memento (2000)
Memento (2000)
2000 | Mystery, Thriller
Dont Trust Ink
Contains spoilers, click to show
Memento- is a fantasic, phenomal film. It has twist, turns, suspense, mystery, drama, romance, you name it memento has.

Memento came out in 2000 and was christohper nolan's second film he directed. This film really put nolan on the map of best directors.

The plot: Leonard (Guy Pearce) is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty, however, of locating his wife's killer is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.

The 90% of the movie is backwards. Meaning the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end. Their are scenes where its in black and white, i think those sences are in the present. You will be confused the first time and probley the second time you watch it. But after the threed or fourth time you understand, but still have questions.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. Its in my top ten best movies of all time.

Memento is a must see film.
  
Show all 3 comments.
40x40

Kaz (232 KP) Jul 28, 2019

This is a fantastic film. I have an option to watch this in chronological order, but I don't think it has as much impact as watching it in the order intended.

40x40

Sarah (7799 KP) Jul 28, 2019

One of my faves too. Such a great film.

    Chess

    Chess

    Games and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Chess is #1 popular game in the world. According to FIDE, about 600 million people play chess and it...

Oppenheimer (2023)
Oppenheimer (2023)
2023 | Biography, Drama, History
8
8.8 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
"Today I am become death, the destroyer of worlds ..."
I meant to see this during the summer of 2023, but missed it.

Only saw it on a re-release, following loads of Oscar wins, in March 2024.

If I could compare it to a single other movie, that would probably be "Schindler's List": this (and that), I feel, is one of those movies that you can say you've seen, probably be glad you did, but wouldn't be rushing back to anytime soon.

As a Nolan movie, this is also told with lots of out-of-sequence shots, and jumping quite a bit between time: we have whole sections set in the 19402 (in colour) intercut with 1950/60s(? I'm not sure on the exact date) black and white segments.

The movie is also largely (but not exclusively) told through the eyes of Oppenheimer, following the work of a team of scientists who developed the first A-bomb, and only lightly touching on the effects of said bomb(s) being dropped on Japan.

It's a well shot and well acted movie, undeniably, but - as mentioned above - not one I'd be rushing back to see any time soon.
  
The Tingler (1959)
The Tingler (1959)
1959 | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
9
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Vincent Price (1 more)
William Castle
When You Scream
The Tingler- is a excellent movie and if you havent watched it than go watch it.

The plot: Dr. Warren Chapin (Vincent Price) has made a surprising discovery -- the spine-chilling sensation that people get when scared is due to a parasite that he dubs the "tingler." Chapin concludes that in extreme circumstances, prolonged fear can cause the creature to damage a person's spine and even cause death if the victim can't scream, a theory that Oliver Higgins (Philip Coolidge) uses to deadly effect on his wife (Judith Evelyn). Soon the tingler that killed the woman is on the loose.

Castle used gimmicks to sell the film. The Tingler remains most well known for a gimmick called "Percepto!", a vibrating device in some theater chairs which activated with the onscreen action.

In a similar manner as Universal's Frankenstein (1931), Castle opened the film with an on-screen warning to the audience:

"I am William Castle, the director of the motion picture you are about to see. I feel obligated to warn you that some of the sensations—some of the physical reactions which the actors on the screen will feel—will also be experienced, for the first time in motion picture history, by certain members of this audience. I say 'certain members' because some people are more sensitive to these mysterious electronic impulses than others. These unfortunate, sensitive people will at times feel a strange, tingling sensation; other people will feel it less strongly. But don't be alarmed—you can protect yourself. At any time you are conscious of a tingling sensation, you may obtain immediate relief by screaming. Don't be embarrassed about opening your mouth and letting rip with all you've got, because the person in the seat right next to you will probably be screaming too. And remember—a scream at the right time may save your life."

William Castle was famous for his movie gimmicks, and The Tingler featured one of his best: "Percepto!". Previously, he had offered a $1,000 life insurance policy against "Death by Fright" for Macabre (1958) and sent a skeleton flying above the audiences' heads in the auditorium in House on Haunted Hill (1959).

"Percepto!" was a gimmick where Castle attached electrical "buzzers" to the underside of some seats in theaters where The Tingler was screened. The buzzers were small surplus airplane wing deicing motors left from World War II. The cost of this equipment added $250,000 to the film's budget. It was used predominantly in larger theaters.

During the climax of the film, The Tingler was unleashed in the movie theater, while the audience watched Tol'able David (1921), in which a young woman escapes the unwanted advances of her boyfriend and is targeted. In the real-life theater, a woman screamed and then pretended to faint; she was then taken away in a stretcher, all part of the show arranged by Castle. From the screen, the voice of Price mentioned the fainted lady and asked the rest of the audience to remain seated. The film-within-a-film resumed and was interrupted again. The projected film appeared to break as the silhouette of the tingler moved across the projection beam. The image of the film went dark, all lights in the auditorium (except fire exit signs) went off, and Price's voice warned the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, please do not panic. But scream! Scream for your lives! The tingler is loose in this theater!" This cued the theater projectionist to activate the Percepto! buzzers, giving some audience members an unexpected jolt, followed by a highly visible physical reaction. The voices of scared patrons were heard from the screen, replaced by the voice of Price, who explained that the tingler was paralyzed and the danger was over. At this point, the film resumed its normal format, which was used for its epilogue

An alternate warning was recorded for drive-in theaters; this warning advised the audience the tingler was loose in the drive-in. Castle's voice was substituted for Price's in this version.

Castle's autobiography, Step Right Up!: I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America, erroneously stated that "Percepto!" delivered electric shocks to the theater seats.

To enhance the climax even more, Castle hired fake "screamers and fainters" planted in the audience There were fake nurses stationed in the foyer and an ambulance outside of the theater. The "fainters" would be carried out on a gurney and whisked away in the ambulance, to return for the next showing.

Although The Tingler was filmed in black-and-white, a short color sequence was spliced into the film. It showed a sink (in black-and-white) with bright-red "blood" flowing from the taps and a black-and-white Evelyn watching a bloody red hand rising from a bathtub, likewise filled with the bright red "blood". Castle used color film for the effect. The scene was accomplished by painting the set white, black and gray and applying gray makeup to the actress to simulate monochrome.

Excellent Film.