![The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)](/uploads/profile_image/a83/32bf0e53-2f59-472d-aac7-91c8c4fb0a83.jpg?m=1522355190)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Movie Watch
The Muppets perform the classic Dickens holiday tale, with Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, the...
![License to Drive (1988)](/uploads/profile_image/9ee/ed8c478c-de33-4310-8586-7be8b0c3d9ee.jpg?m=1522361988)
License to Drive (1988)
Movie
Teenager Les Anderson (Corey Haim) thinks his life can't get any worse after he flunks his driver's...
![Dog Day Afternoon (1975)](/uploads/profile_image/ba8/97beb991-85c0-48c8-b8fd-318c523f5ba8.jpg?m=1529082665)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Movie Watch
Based on a true story about a Brooklyn bank robbery gone haywire, as a desperate, crazed man and his...
The Boys in the Bank P. F. Kluge John Wojtowicz Sal Naturale
![One on One](/uploads/profile_image/f90/cbeed73a-db1c-4ec4-acb9-d07c23ff1f90.jpg?m=1522329999)
One on One
Book
101 chance meetings, juxtaposing the famous and the infamous, the artistic and the philistine, the...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/318/b15c36c4-b294-4165-b9d3-38da94cc0318.jpg?m=1544135674)
Midge (525 KP) rated The Shadow Between Us in Books
Mar 23, 2019
Olivia moves to the pretty coastal town of Port Townsend, with her marriage on-the-rocks, and her life in pieces. She doesn’t know if things with her husband Mark are truly over, or quite why the phone call she longs for on her daughter’s birthday will never come.
After joining a letter-writing club held at her local cafe she meets Ned, an ex-soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan. This chance friendship revives unexpected emotions and memories she’d rather forget.
Can Olivia find the courage to confront what she’s hiding from and finally begin to heal the wounds that have torn her life apart?
Liv, as she is known to her husband, is an extremely intriguing character. Regularly displaying a cocktail of emotions, I could still really empathise with her. She could be caring and thoughtful one minute, but then be frank, blunt and very much to-the-point, the next moment. At times she was positively distant and unkind. She was not alone in her attitude and behaviour as some of the other characters in the story shared similar traits such as cafe owner Beth. For me, this added to and complemented this wonderful character-driven story.
THE SHADOW BETWEEN US was a very insightful and thought-provoking read about reflecting on the mistakes we sometimes make and finding hope in second chances. I
very much liked the emphasis on letter-writing, reading and quotes from favourite books, running throughout the story.
The dialogue between Olivia and Ned was lovely and liked how they had an almost immediate connection. I was very keen to see how their relationship might develop. I found THE SHADOW BETWEEN US a very enjoyable read, helped by Carol Mason’s beautiful writing which has depth and substance. The ending was very fulfilling although with an unexpected twist. I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.
[Thanks to #NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Carol Mason for my ARC of #TheShadowBetweenUs in exchange for an honest review.]
![The Good Soldier](/uploads/profile_image/3aa/3c1614c6-b84a-4ad0-b996-d2ff6efa23aa.jpg?m=1522325763)
The Good Soldier
Martin Stannard and Ford Madox Ford
Book
Originally titled "The Saddest Story" and heralded by Graham Greene as "one of the finest novels of...
![English Audio Books - Librivox](/uploads/profile_image/dd5/80723608-397b-4a48-ba55-ac99dfa3ddd5.jpg?m=1522329956)
English Audio Books - Librivox
Book and Education
App
English Audiobooks - Librivox Learn English by reading and listening to "Audiobooks". If you know...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/7ee/95ede904-a6dc-4f2c-bcdb-e13886e197ee.jpg?m=1522359198)
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated The Box (2009) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019
Richard Kelly is capable of making pretty fantastic films. Donnie Darko is still his crowning achievement. People seem to either love the film or think it's highly overrated, but with repeat viewings over the years it's become a favorite and has a cult like status. Southland Tales showed promise, but just felt like the second half of an already established franchise. That turned out to be true when the three graphic novels were published and were recommended to be read before seeing the film. I admire the fact that they took a different approach to the filmwatching experience, but since I didn't hear about the reading material until after I saw the film it seemed like a lost cause. Possibly too much to be bothered with. So Kelly offers his take on a Twilight Zone episode with The Box and the result leaves the viewer with mixed reactions.
The film seems to drag a bit in the first half hour as it introduces us to the Lewis family. The Box is dropped off on their doorstep, but then we're offered a glimpse into the daily lives of Norma and Arthur Lewis; mostly what their careers and daily struggles are like. Once Mr. Steward shows up and explains what The Box does is when the film begins to gain momentum. From that point until around the time Arthur gets knee deep into his investigation is when The Box is at its peak. There's at least one twist in there that's actually pretty satisfying, but it's unfortunate that the film can't keep that up for its entire duration. From then on, it just seems like the film adds more and more weird plot twists and ridiculous explanations. You'll want the film to have ended 20 minutes prior by the time Mr. Steward makes his second offer to the Lewis family.
The dialogue seemed to fluctuate between sounding natural and sounding forced throughout the film. The film takes place in 1976 and it's established rather well, for the most part. At times, it felt like some of the dialect from today slipped through the cracks and made it into a film that took place over 30 years ago. The acting wasn't entirely satisfying either. Was Cameron Diaz's accent noticeable in the trailer for the film? It didn't really click until around the five minute mark of the actual film and seemed to kind of come and go depending on how much dialogue Diaz actually had in a particular scene. Frank Langella was the most enjoyable, but if he wasn't missing half of his face or being so mysterious then his character would probably be kind of dull since he doesn't actually show any range of emotion in the film. The CG also seemed to look a bit low budget during the three gateways scene, which is odd since the pool scene was pulled off incredibly well. With all of these superbly CG animated films coming out as of late like Disney Pixar's Up, Disney's A Christmas Carol, and even next year's Toy Story 3, if CG of a lower quality is contained in a film after that it becomes extremely evident in comparison.
Richard Kelly's The Box puts a modern day spin on a classic story and while it isn't entirely satisfying, it does have its high points. As the puzzle the film is wrapped in unravels, its first few reveals are interesting, but it was like they tried to cram in as many twists and turns as possible as the film went on. While Kelly has at least one great film under his belt, it seems like he still hasn't found a specific stride to being a great director. That doesn't mean he's not capable of doing so and he certainly has his trademarks that seem to bleed through in his films (usually something relating to another gateway or dimension), but that he hasn't been able to channel a similar formula to what made Donnie Darko his standout film. That, in itself, is disappointing.