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ClareR (5996 KP) rated Whistle In The Dark in Books
Apr 16, 2018 (Updated Apr 19, 2018)
Jen’s daughter goes missing for four days whilst on an art holiday in the Pesk District (England). When she is found, she won’t say what happened to her. She was self-harming and had suicidal thoughts before she went missing, so everyone thinks the worst and hopes for the best. She is found, and they go back to London together, and try to live with what has happened. But it’s not that easy. Jen desperately wants to know what happened to Lana during this time, and has scenarios running through her mind constantly. I did wonder if Jen had mental health issues as well, and I’m still left wondering that after I’ve finished the book. Hugh, Jen’s husband and Lana’s dad, is a nice character: thoughtful, reliable. Jen is hard work, and Lana is VERY hard work. A confused, scared teenager, who comes across as selfish and unpleasant (so an average teenager in some cases).
The end of the book seemed to sum it all up: it appeared to me to be a self-realisation.
Worth a read, even though it can be quite hard-going at times.
The end of the book seemed to sum it all up: it appeared to me to be a self-realisation.
Worth a read, even though it can be quite hard-going at times.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) in Movies
Apr 23, 2019 (Updated Apr 23, 2019)
Marvel #11 admirably resists the temptation to simply provide more of the same crash-bang-wallop and has a go at a story with more of a focus on character and ideas (it still includes a lot of very familiar crash-bang-wallop, naturally). This being a Marvel Comics story, two of the world's most brilliant minds decide it is a very good idea to use an alien weapon of unknown provenance to create an immensely powerful global defence system; everyone is still highly surprised when this goes wrong and spawns genocidal robot Ultron. Just another day at the office if you're in the Avengers, I suppose.
The usual supremely accomplished blend of lavish set-pieces, character bits and jokes; with nine Avengers on the roster for the climax of the story, plus various supporting turns, you can almost feel Joss Whedon's script and direction buckling under the pressure of fitting everything in, to say nothing of the various bits of meta-plot carpentry required to set up the next batch of films. Nevertheless, a film which meets all reasonable expectations - even if it isn't one of Marvel's absolute first rank, it's still within touching distance.
The usual supremely accomplished blend of lavish set-pieces, character bits and jokes; with nine Avengers on the roster for the climax of the story, plus various supporting turns, you can almost feel Joss Whedon's script and direction buckling under the pressure of fitting everything in, to say nothing of the various bits of meta-plot carpentry required to set up the next batch of films. Nevertheless, a film which meets all reasonable expectations - even if it isn't one of Marvel's absolute first rank, it's still within touching distance.
Eyewitness Accounts: I Was a Slave in Russia
Book
"It is hard to describe a nightmare adequately, unless you can say how the day had been before the...
Parenting Children with ADHD: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach
Book
Your son doesn't do his homework and is failing nearly all his subjects, but his teachers say he...
The Festival of Insignificance
Book
Casting light on the most serious of problems and at the same time saying not one serious sentence;...
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Drag Me to Hell (2009) in Movies
Mar 12, 2021
I'll say one thing for certain, Drag Me to Hell is so unnecessarily and gratuitously gross at times (the old woman has the poor girls entire chin in her disgusting mouth on more than one occasion) and in that regard, it's a warm welcome back to over the top horror for Sam Raimi. His signature style is plastered all over the place, and it's great.
The cheesiness isn't a complete positive however. In terms of dialogue, it can take you out of the story a bit. Lead Alison Lohman and co star Justin Long (both actors who I like) suffer from this a bit, and are occasionally comical in a movie that plays it straight for the most part.
Some of the effects are a little iffy as well. There's some good practical stuff going on but a few digital effects are dodgy. It's not enough to severely impact anything, and there a few decent jump scares scattered throughout.
It's a perfectly fine slice of horror, that is elevated by a ballsy as fuck ending, that makes Drag Me to Hell a film worth revisiting now and again. Would love to see a sequel someday!
The cheesiness isn't a complete positive however. In terms of dialogue, it can take you out of the story a bit. Lead Alison Lohman and co star Justin Long (both actors who I like) suffer from this a bit, and are occasionally comical in a movie that plays it straight for the most part.
Some of the effects are a little iffy as well. There's some good practical stuff going on but a few digital effects are dodgy. It's not enough to severely impact anything, and there a few decent jump scares scattered throughout.
It's a perfectly fine slice of horror, that is elevated by a ballsy as fuck ending, that makes Drag Me to Hell a film worth revisiting now and again. Would love to see a sequel someday!
Tyondai Braxton recommended Beautiful Rewind by Four Tet in Music (curated)
David McK (3623 KP) rated Truckers (Bromeliad Trilogy, #1) in Books
Dec 13, 2020
First book of Terry Pratchett's so-called Bromeliad trilogy (consisting of this, Diggers and Wings) which, I believe, was turned into a stop motion kids TV series in the early 90s.
This follows a race of tiny people known as 'Nomes' from another planet, who have crash landed on planet Earth thousands of years ago and have now all but forgotten their own past, with some living in the fields where they are preyed upon by wildlife and others in a large department store and refusing to believe there is such a thing as 'outside' ('did not Arnold Bros., est 1905, say "everything under one roof" ...')
This belief is put to the test when Masklin - one of the outside Nomes - arrives in the store leading a ragtag group of (mostly older) Nomes, just before said store is about to be demolished, and having to hatch a plan to rescue as many Nomes as he can and get back home safely, aided by 'The Thing' (what we would term a black box computer) that has been dormant for many centuries in (again, what we would term) power-saving mode.
This follows a race of tiny people known as 'Nomes' from another planet, who have crash landed on planet Earth thousands of years ago and have now all but forgotten their own past, with some living in the fields where they are preyed upon by wildlife and others in a large department store and refusing to believe there is such a thing as 'outside' ('did not Arnold Bros., est 1905, say "everything under one roof" ...')
This belief is put to the test when Masklin - one of the outside Nomes - arrives in the store leading a ragtag group of (mostly older) Nomes, just before said store is about to be demolished, and having to hatch a plan to rescue as many Nomes as he can and get back home safely, aided by 'The Thing' (what we would term a black box computer) that has been dormant for many centuries in (again, what we would term) power-saving mode.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) in Movies
Jul 29, 2020
Probably the best Robin Hood film?
Let's be honest, Robin Hood has been done on screen more times than we can count & potentially aside from the animated Disney film, it's probably safe to say Men in Tights is by far the best Robin Hood film out there.
They don't make films like this anymore. It looks terrible, and well that's the point. You really can't beat a good spoof/parody. Cary Elwes makes a wonderful Robin Hood (with a English accent as the film so rightly points out) and the rest of the cast too camp it up to the max. Admittedly this film hasn't aged particularly well and some of the humour isn't quite as funny as I remember, but you can't go wrong with a Mel Brooks film. Man is a genius and the fact that he also appears as Rabbi Tuckman is a brilliant move. Also the Men in Tights song is absolutely hilarious.
It really is a shame they dont make films like this anymore as they'd make the world of cinema a brighter and happier place. Need more writers like Mel Brooks that's for sure!
They don't make films like this anymore. It looks terrible, and well that's the point. You really can't beat a good spoof/parody. Cary Elwes makes a wonderful Robin Hood (with a English accent as the film so rightly points out) and the rest of the cast too camp it up to the max. Admittedly this film hasn't aged particularly well and some of the humour isn't quite as funny as I remember, but you can't go wrong with a Mel Brooks film. Man is a genius and the fact that he also appears as Rabbi Tuckman is a brilliant move. Also the Men in Tights song is absolutely hilarious.
It really is a shame they dont make films like this anymore as they'd make the world of cinema a brighter and happier place. Need more writers like Mel Brooks that's for sure!







Kristy H (1252 KP) Apr 18, 2018