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Mean Dreams (2016)
Mean Dreams (2016)
2016 | International, Mystery
Bill Paxton, Love of the Characters (0 more)
Fast Movie (0 more)
A new Bonnie and Clyde Feel
Well, let me start by saying this took me a few years to watch this and it wasn't because of the mixed reviews it was because I knew this was one of Bill Paxton last movie rolls. With that being said, I should have watched this years ago, as it was not a let down. Bill Paxton will be truly missed.

This movie is a caring, passionate, modern love story. At some points during the movie It had a Bonnie and Clyde feel to it, which was okay. A lot less killing but you will get the drift if you watch it.

Wayne Caraway (Bill Paxton) plays an over controlling father/policeman with a major hatred towards his daughter Casey Caraway (Sophie Nélisse) new found crush Jonas Ford (Josh Wiggins).

The movie starts off slow but speeds up very quickly, which for me is the only downfall of the movie. You learn about the characters quickly, but I wish we had more backstory and also a future of things to come, by the end you are left wondering what will take place next.

Now with only having about 8 total characters and a dog in the movie, it draws you into each person a lot faster, which I enjoyed too.

All and all it's a good movie, even if you have mixed feelings you should watch it for Bill Paxton, a true legend in the movie world.



Blaise
  
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Morgan Freeman recommended Moby Dick (1956) in Movies (curated)

 
Moby Dick (1956)
Moby Dick (1956)
1956 | Action, Classics, Drama
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"What’s my fifth favorite movie? Now there have been quite a number of them. See now I’m sort of in no-man’s land, because I’m thinking Bonnie and Clyde, I’m thinking Chinatown… I’m just wandering around now. [laughs] One of my favorite books was Black Beauty; I read it when I was eight-years-old, and I’m trying to find if there was a movie, like that, that sticks with me. Oh, I know! Moby Dick. Yes. Now that was filmmaking. John Huston. Call me… Ishmael. I read the book, and there are very few books that I have read and seen the movie and liked the movie. Gregory Peck was in two of ’em: Moby Dick and To Kill a Mockingbird. Gregory Peck was one of my favorite actors. Gregory Peck and Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart, those guys."

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The Highwaymen (2019)
The Highwaymen (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Far too dull
The curse of the Netflix original film strikes again. I've yet to see one that surpasses anything other than average, and I'm afraid The Highwaymen is no exception.

This has a great cast and who doesn't love Woody Harrelson? I'm on the fence about Kevin Costner though, I struggled to understand what he was even saying in some scenes. The costumes and sets etc are well done, but the problem with this film is that it is so damn dull. You would've thought a story about the capture of Bonnie and Clyde would be interesting, but this film really doesn't show it. The characters spend most of the film driving around in a car talking, and it is just so boring. It's a shame as it could've been interesting, but instead its 2 hours that dragged so much.
  
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Simon Pegg recommended Taxi Driver (1976) in Movies (curated)

 
Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
1976 | Thriller

"Also, I would say probably Taxi Driver, just as a piece of acting and just fabulous scene-setting brilliance from Scorsese and characterization from De Niro. That’s one of those films I just watch in awe of all of it, because it’s just so uncompromising. I saw Avengers yesterday, and it was such a fun romp and really entertaining and decently done. That’s the kind of film adults watch today, when in the 1970s, when Taxi Driver came out, that was the kind of film that adults would watch. That and French Connection and Godfather and Bonnie and Clyde. Anything pre-Star Wars, really. The preserve of grown-up cinema in those days were genuinely grown-up movies, and that goes for everything I’m doing as well, from Star Trek to Ready Player One or even Mission: Impossible. They’re pure entertainment rather than think pieces, which is what film cinema used to be in the mainstream."

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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Highwaymen (2019) in Movies

Apr 5, 2019 (Updated Apr 5, 2019)  
The Highwaymen (2019)
The Highwaymen (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Costner & Harrelson (1 more)
Well made
Slow (0 more)
HighwayMeh
The Highwaymen is a recent Netflix movie about two ex Texas Rangers that were brought out of retirement to hunt and kill Bonnie & Clyde. With that premise and Kevin Costner & Woody Harrelson in the lead roles, this could have been incredible. Although the movie is very well made and the entire cast are all pretty great in it, it is just so damn slow.

Not only that but it is 2+ hours long and, my God do you feel it. Like me, you will most likely spend the whole time waiting for the film to pick up until it just sort of fizzles out. I get that they were going for realism over action here, but it is seriously slow. At what I thought was almost the end of the movie, I hit paused to go for a bathroom break, only to discover that I was just shy of halfway into the movie's runtime.

Don't get me wrong, Costner and Harrelson do a great job of carrying this movie and it really does rely on their performance. Also, the movie is technically proficient. The camera work, the lighting, the set design etc is all solid, this is by no means a poorly made movie.

Overall, if you are a huge fan of the Bonnie & Clyde story, or of either of the lead actors, then you should probably check this one out. If not, you can most certainly give it a skip. As I keep reiterating, this is a technically sound movie, it is just so slow and drawn out that it is detrimental to me recommending the film to anyone other than diehard fans of this story.
  
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ClareR (5789 KP) rated Highway Blue in Books

Apr 9, 2024  
Highway Blue
Highway Blue
Ailsa McFarlane | 2024 | Contemporary, Crime, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Highway Blue was rich in description, especially for such a relatively short book (192 pages). I could see the story unrolling in my head as I read.

It’s almost a modern day Bonnie and Clyde - except there aren’t multiple deaths or bank robberies! Anne Marie is trying to forget about her estranged husband, Cal, and when he turns up out of nowhere, it comes as a shock. He brings trouble with him, a man ends up dead, and they find themselves on the run. It seemed to me that Anne Marie is in a state of shock throughout this whole novel.

Will they make it to safety before they’re caught? I was hoping that Anne Marie would leave Cal and make her own way. At the beginning he clearly wants money from her to solve whatever problem he has made for himself and is very disappointed when he realises she has nothing.

Despite its darkness, and it was relentless at times, I really enjoyed this.
  
Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg
Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg
1971 | World
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I'd heard this record off and on over the years and I was more familiar with stuff like 'Bonnie And Clyde' but the thread through a lot of these records is that I look at the sonic value. And I've always loved Serge Gainsbourg's production, be it the bass sound or the drum sound and so I really don't give a shit that it's sung in French because that's part of the whole package. My brother and his wife bought me the vinyl version about five or six years ago and it reinvigorated it for me and it reignited how I felt about Serge. When you put that record on, whether it's making Sunday lunch or having a few smokes at the end of the night, it just delivers what I want at that moment and that's the thing about great records. You may not love them all the time but there are the times when you do. But this has got a really cool poise that I enjoy."

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