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The Celebration (Festen) (1998)
The Celebration (Festen) (1998)
1998 | International, Comedy, Drama
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I would say that Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration was probably one of the most influential movies for me to be a filmmaker. I had seen a lot of how-to movies in the past, but there was something about how unapologetic that movie was to be filmed on a video camera. They had all these rules because of the Dogme 95 rules, where you couldn’t have a tripod, you know, you can’t bring in lights, you can’t use props that aren’t already there, you can’t use music, and I thought, “Well, this movie’s going to suck.” I went to see it, and I was riveted, and it was like that moment where I kind of sat at a coffee shop — I saw it in Washington D.C., I was there on a trip — and I just sat there thinking, “The only reason you’re not a filmmaker right now is because you’re not going out and doing it, because these people just made something with a camera that’s sh**tier than yours, and it’s brilliant.” So, “The only reason you’re not a filmmaker is not because people aren’t giving you money, or giving you a break. It’s because you’re not good enough, or you’re not doing it.” So that was a very important movie for me."

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Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
2008 | Drama, Romance
A once again astounding Dev Patel sells otherwise sulking, superficial melodrama. Don't you hate when the framing device is more interesting than the actual story? If not for the calamitous 𝘠𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 then the stuff when they were kids here would be some of the worst moments of Boyle's entire career - overedited to smithereens, fetishistic of plight, and vaguely offensive. Even when this gets good I'm convinced this movie is much more concerned with dragging these characters through the mud and inflicting pain to wring synthetic sympathy rather than fleshing them out beyond one-note characterizations and abrupt turnarounds. Still pressed this brilliant premise didn't get the justice it truly deserved but the last hour of this is executed about as engagingly as it could have been, for what it ended up being (which only makes the transition from the older stuff to the newer stuff more jarring) and randomly gets super entertaining, if not much less simplistic. Score is pretty decent, too. It's alright but not sure why this shook everyone's world back in the day, you guys do know Indian cinema exists too, no? Way better than 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 but way shittier than 𝘓𝘪𝘰𝘯. The "Jai Ho" segment is as cringey as it is memorable.
  
The Jacket (2005)
The Jacket (2005)
2005 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯... 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥?"
Categorical drivel, nonsense almost solely for the sake of nonsense. Emo time-traveling 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 + 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 that feels like a Marcy Playground music video which basically acts as a one hour forty-three minute essay on why dying kind of blows. Sort of awesome, though if there's any supposed underseen masterpiece here as I was led to believe, I haven't found it. Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant concepts here - the whole idea of the titular womblike jacket system is tantalizing, and in numerous instances this portrays a very clever way in which the people in your past manifest into your future and can either help you or haunt you depending on the choices you've once made towards them. But none of it is developed enough, this feels like one of those movies that was really promising until it got whittled away to scraps by the studios - but that wasn't the case? Idk I still liked it - I'm glad this wasn't condescending and purposefully cold like it probably would have been were it made today - but I just wanted it to be longer, man.
  
Red Dragon
Red Dragon
Thomas Harris | 1989 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences, Thriller
9
7.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
194 of 200

Red Dragon ( Hannibal Lecter book 1)
By Thomas Harris

RED DRAGON: the novel that introduced Hannibal Lecter
Will Graham was a brilliant profiler of criminals for the FBI - until he suffered terrible injuries in the process of capturing Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter.

Years later, a reluctant Will agrees to help the FBI hunt down a depraved serial killer. But he soon realises that he needs the help of the only mind better than his own at understanding madmen.

The mind of Hannibal Lecter...


I’m a huge fan of Thomas Harris and this is possibly my third reread of this book and series! This time I seemed to enjoy it that little more and I’m not sure if it’s because I have a clearer picture of the characters and feelings surrounding the books from the tv series! He has a way of writing so you get so involved with the story and the characters, that to me is what keeps me coming back to read these books over and over. For the short intervals that Hannibal is in theses books gives you a feeling he’s watching over everything you read. Poor old Will really has had it tough too! On to silence of the lambs!!!
  
Hotel Artemis (2018)
Hotel Artemis (2018)
2018 | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Hmm... I don't know. I really enjoyed this film...

The cast was brilliant. Sterling K. Brown and Jodie Foster were excellent. Dave Bautista always with the lovable tough guy. And who doesn't like watching Sofia Boutella beat the hell out of people?! I even loved Goldblum's short appearance in it, his slightly eccentric style wasn't too overpowering on everything that was going on and he worked really well as the big bad.

My main objection, and I think the reason I didn't give this the last half star, is Zachary Quinto. I wouldn't actively avoid anything with him in it... It's not like I have a choice when he's in Star Trek. But he just didn't sit right in this character for me. Yes I understand that he's supposed to be having a bit of a power trip and isn't in any way like his father, but it felt like he was in a completely different film to everyone else.

I found it genuinely enjoyable to watch, and I'll certainly see it again. Although yet again as I've been writing this I'm wavering on my score. In any case, it would still be at least four stars. I'm definitely not in enough doubt that I'm going to go and change it.
  
A Star Is Born (2018)
A Star Is Born (2018)
2018 | Drama, Romance
Dull and overhyped
I have seen so many good reviews about this film that I thought I was sure to love it, especially as I can’t usually say no to anything with decent songs. However, this was such a dire disappointment.

First of all, the plot isn’t anything new. Tortured and wannabe musicians have been done to death in films, and sadly much better than this. The entire film drags too, it’s so slow and dull and feels like it’s on forever. Aside from the ending, it’s rather boringly predictable and can’t even be saved by Bradley Cooper. He saves this film as his performance is brilliant, but I really don’t rate Lady Gaga, I didn’t think she was good at all, I found her very irritating and other than her voice which is of course phenomenal, I really didn’t like her. I also thought the start of the film with the beginning of the whole romance was so cliched, cheesy and a little bit cringeworthy. The songs were really good and with Bradley Cooper’s performance in general they made this film at least vaguely watchable, but I would never be in a rush to watch this again. Such a disappointment.
  
The main thing I liked about this story was how the characters were rarely how they were portrayed in their particular rhyme or story, for example, Olivia “Snow” White running an adult business; who’d have thought?? Haha :P

It’s brilliant and contains almost all of our favourite characters from Al Addin to Juliet Capulet (she gets mentioned, anyway)

I’m just sorry I missed the first two books in the series though they aren’t really necessary to understand this one, and I presume tell the story of two of the other couples mentioned in this one (Red and Nate and Lavender and Seth). I have to admit the author does a good job of making sure you don’t miss out on much that happened in the previous books by retelling it from another characters viewpoint, though it isn’t quite the same as reading it as it happened, if you know what I mean. It isn’t necessary but it is an advantage to read Red and The Better to See You before this one.

That being said, the author has a great style of writing and I was quickly dragged into the story. It’s a mix of action, mystery and romance. What more could you ask for?
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Supernatural - Season 1 in TV

Oct 5, 2019 (Updated Oct 5, 2019)  
Supernatural  - Season 1
Supernatural - Season 1
2005 | Drama
Spookily good fun
I first watched Supernatural when it first started, got as far as series 5 and then just never managed to catch up. I decided to start again and I’m glad i did, I’d forgotten just how fun this show was.

As an premise, this is a wonderful idea and a great way of creating a story around a host of legendary supernatural beings. The main highlight of this show though is by far the relationship between the brothers. It’s downright hilarious at times and Jensen Ackles has some brilliant moments as Dean. But there’s also a serious side to the brothers too, and this works well alongside the scares and humour. Don’t get me wrong, the show isn’t perfect. The CGI in these early days is pretty horrendous at times, and some of the storylines are a bit cliched with nearly every one having an attractive woman for the brothers to work with/save. Some of the script is a tad cheesy too, but fortunately this show is that good that these slight issues don’t really make any difference. There are a couple of dodgy episodes, namely Bugs and Route 666, but the rest make for a highly enjoyable show.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Jason and the Argonauts (1963) in Movies

Oct 5, 2019 (Updated Oct 5, 2019)  
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
1963 | Fantasy
Corny but much-loved mythological fantasy film. Jason and his men go in search of a magic sheepskin, occasionally with the aid of the gods but without the assistance of modern special effects. A strong, mostly British cast do the usual sterling work while imported stars Todd Armstrong and Nancy Kovack stand around being obviously dubbed.

The script is, to be honest, all over the place: it's episodic, the writers seem to have been making it up as they went (the most memorable character wanders out of the movie half way through), and Jason doesn't actually complete the mission he sets himself at the start (maybe they were hoping for a sequel). However, for a bad movie this has some of the most wonderful special effects ever put on celluloid, namely Ray Harryhausen's brilliant hand-crafted animation. Any amount of stodgy non-acting and dubious costume design would be a small price to pay for sequences like the ones with the bronze titan Talos, the Hydra, or the mob of skeletons at the end (the skeleton battle is such a breathtaking achievement it should really be playing on loop in art galleries around the world). They don't make them like this any more. Even the bad bits are kind of bad in a good way.
  
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Andy K (10823 KP) Oct 5, 2019

I need to watch this again!

    Virtual Table Tennis

    Virtual Table Tennis

    Games and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

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    Virtual Table Tennis™ is the only one based on 3D PHYSICS and supported ONLINE MULTIPLAYER Table...