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Manhattan Transfer
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A modernist masterwork that has more in common with films than traditional novels, John Dos Passos'...
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Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress, #1)
5.3
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RIDDING THE WORLD OF EVIL, ONE ALIEN AT A TIME: THAT'S MIA SNOW'S MISSION. Snow is in the forecast....
America's Femme Fatale The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness
8.0
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How does a Norwegian farm girl become an infamous American serial killer, responsible for upward of...
True Crime Nonfiction
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2119 KP) rated Dead in the Water in Books
Mar 28, 2022
Dead Man Floating
Maisie Mitchell has sold her restaurant and retired to Florida. She’s living in a senior’s only community, and that’s where she’s met Donna “Dot” Pinetta, a retired homicide detective from Chicago. The two are opposites in many ways, but they quickly form a friendship. They are enjoying their lives, although they begin to notice an undercurrent of tension in their community, all centered around Mason Jacobs, the young, handsome recreation director. Things come to a head when they discover his body floating in the pool one morning. Dot jumps into detective mode, with Maisie tagging along behind her. Will the two of them figure out what happened?
This book sets up a promising new series with a sub plot involving Maisie and Dot getting an RV to travel. That premise is what drew me to the book. It’s is much shorter than the books I read, and I did notice the difference. Characters and descriptions were a bit thin, and the plot felt a bit rushed. A few more pages to allow everything to breath would have been nice. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book. I appreciated the set up we got before the murder, introducing suspects and motives. The climax was great as well. I like Maisie and Dot, and I’m definitely planning to join them for more trips.
This book sets up a promising new series with a sub plot involving Maisie and Dot getting an RV to travel. That premise is what drew me to the book. It’s is much shorter than the books I read, and I did notice the difference. Characters and descriptions were a bit thin, and the plot felt a bit rushed. A few more pages to allow everything to breath would have been nice. But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book. I appreciated the set up we got before the murder, introducing suspects and motives. The climax was great as well. I like Maisie and Dot, and I’m definitely planning to join them for more trips.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Killing Death (2008) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Story: The Killing Death starts when two detectives Frank (Dangerfield) who is about to retire and Jimmy (Trubiak) who is on his first case, must figure out the connection between a string of murders, with the suspect Chicago Phil (Reimer) committing a string of murders around town, each suspect is introduced to give him a fresh kill.
The closer the detectives get to solving the case, the increased number of bodies that keep turning up, can they solve the case before it is too late.
Thoughts on The Killing Death
Characters – Frank is an aging detective that has always finished his cases, he is about to retire and now he wants to finish this last case before he goes, Jimmy is the rookie working his first case, he is learning from Frank too, proving he needs to solve the case to make it. Chicago Phil is a pizza delivery guy that has a habit of killing his clients, he is trying to make a perfect pizza along the way.
Performances – This is a hard film to criticise because of the fact it is micro budget, the problem with the acting comes from the fact that nothing feels natural in how things are delivered.
Story – The story here follows two detectives trying to solve the case of a serial killer in their town. The outside of this story seems simple and one that could be enjoyed, only for it to come up very short in delivery, the killer and weapon of choice does seem to become random, even though we have a couple of scenes where it is clear choice, the detectives seem to just be making up their own story to make the case easy to close and apart from investigating the case, they never seen to search for answers. For a micro-budget story this does do what it needs to by laying out the format, only it just doesn’t come close to becoming easy to enjoy.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy in this film does come from how awkward the two detectives are when it comes to communication, it is very hard to see these jokes coming off. The horror is only around the kills, which are meant to show a serial killer at work.
Settings – The film uses the different houses that could have a pizza delivery as the main locations, which work for the film.
Special Effects – The effects for a micro budget are the strongest part of the film, they show how certain things can work in films.
Scene of the Movie – Take it easy.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the comedy.
Final Thoughts – This is a micro budget film that does try to give us something original even though it does miss for the most part on comedy, it is a film that looks like the people behind it enjoyed making.
Overall: Sometimes you just need to enjoy what you do.
The closer the detectives get to solving the case, the increased number of bodies that keep turning up, can they solve the case before it is too late.
Thoughts on The Killing Death
Characters – Frank is an aging detective that has always finished his cases, he is about to retire and now he wants to finish this last case before he goes, Jimmy is the rookie working his first case, he is learning from Frank too, proving he needs to solve the case to make it. Chicago Phil is a pizza delivery guy that has a habit of killing his clients, he is trying to make a perfect pizza along the way.
Performances – This is a hard film to criticise because of the fact it is micro budget, the problem with the acting comes from the fact that nothing feels natural in how things are delivered.
Story – The story here follows two detectives trying to solve the case of a serial killer in their town. The outside of this story seems simple and one that could be enjoyed, only for it to come up very short in delivery, the killer and weapon of choice does seem to become random, even though we have a couple of scenes where it is clear choice, the detectives seem to just be making up their own story to make the case easy to close and apart from investigating the case, they never seen to search for answers. For a micro-budget story this does do what it needs to by laying out the format, only it just doesn’t come close to becoming easy to enjoy.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy in this film does come from how awkward the two detectives are when it comes to communication, it is very hard to see these jokes coming off. The horror is only around the kills, which are meant to show a serial killer at work.
Settings – The film uses the different houses that could have a pizza delivery as the main locations, which work for the film.
Special Effects – The effects for a micro budget are the strongest part of the film, they show how certain things can work in films.
Scene of the Movie – Take it easy.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the comedy.
Final Thoughts – This is a micro budget film that does try to give us something original even though it does miss for the most part on comedy, it is a film that looks like the people behind it enjoyed making.
Overall: Sometimes you just need to enjoy what you do.
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Bad Santa 2 (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
The last time we heard from Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) he was recovering in jail after being shot eight times. We catch up with him today in maybe worse shape. He is out of jail but finds himself unable to hold a job and drinking to extreme excess. Th only visitor he has is a delusional, simple minded and well intentioned Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly). On the verge of ending it all he receives an invitation from his old partner, Marcus Skidmore (Tony Cox), to make a big score by robbing a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve. Wary, mostly because Marcus double crossed and shot him on their last job, Willie decides he needs the money and it’s a chance to double cross Marcus. So, he takes the job and heads to Chicago. When he arrives, he finds that Marcus has not told him everything. The job was put together by his arch nemesis. Someone who is more vile, crude and despicable than he is…his mother Sunny (Kathy Bates). Driven by greed and with the agreement that Marcus and him will cut his mother out at the end of the job Willie agrees to go forward with the robbery. The unlikely trio set out to infiltrate and rob the charity.
It is surprising to say but this sequel to 2003s Bad Santa is even more outrageous and raunchy than the original. Billy Bob Thornton is perfect in this role as a sex crazed and barely functioning alcoholic. Willie is truly the Anti-Santa Claus. But with Thurman having faith in him and in his very out of the box way of trying to do good, you can’t help but root for him to succeed. Kathy Bates performance as a crude as can be equal to Thornton’s character was fun and unexpected. The full cast of characters are all unique and all bring something to the film. The story however is very familiar and not that far off from the first film. There were definitely jokes and plot lines that followed too closely, in my opinion, to the original film. This is definitely not a film for young audiences, as most of the film is profanity laced and full of sexual situations and innuendos. But for the adult audience there are a lot of laughs to be had. For me this was a perfect film to shut off for an hour and a half and just enjoy the craziness happening on screen. It is not an overthought or over complicated film. They took things from the original film that were successful changed them up a little, not enough at some points, and made everything a little more over the top.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend paying movie theater prices for this film but it is definitely worth a watch for the right audiences.
It is surprising to say but this sequel to 2003s Bad Santa is even more outrageous and raunchy than the original. Billy Bob Thornton is perfect in this role as a sex crazed and barely functioning alcoholic. Willie is truly the Anti-Santa Claus. But with Thurman having faith in him and in his very out of the box way of trying to do good, you can’t help but root for him to succeed. Kathy Bates performance as a crude as can be equal to Thornton’s character was fun and unexpected. The full cast of characters are all unique and all bring something to the film. The story however is very familiar and not that far off from the first film. There were definitely jokes and plot lines that followed too closely, in my opinion, to the original film. This is definitely not a film for young audiences, as most of the film is profanity laced and full of sexual situations and innuendos. But for the adult audience there are a lot of laughs to be had. For me this was a perfect film to shut off for an hour and a half and just enjoy the craziness happening on screen. It is not an overthought or over complicated film. They took things from the original film that were successful changed them up a little, not enough at some points, and made everything a little more over the top.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend paying movie theater prices for this film but it is definitely worth a watch for the right audiences.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated The Exorcist - Season 1 in TV
Oct 30, 2017 (Updated Oct 30, 2017)
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
The issue with remakes is that it tries too hard to connect itself to the original while putting its own stamp as something new. This is no different.
Here we see a young woman becoming possessed with a demon said to be the same as the one before. But it has spread and gathered followers across Chicago. The priests involved include Father Tomas, flawed by temptations and questioning his faith, and Father Marcus, a known exorcist, who feels guilty about the death of one of his charges. So it's a similar setup as before, but their backstories are explored in detail unlike the first film.
The whole possession culminates up to a bigger conspiracy - a plot to kill the Pope visiting the city. There is a twist in between which reveals the connection between the film and the series.
While it's an easy watch, and the make up on the woman while possessed is pretty graphic, it finishes quite quickly all in the last episode. The build up takes a while, you have to get to the third episode for it to start getting interesting. And to be honest some of the episodes in between were quite boring and tried too hard to be dramatic. The most important part of the film was the subtletly of the story and the series is the opposite. Overall, watchable but not if you keep comparing it to the film which was a masterpiece.
Here we see a young woman becoming possessed with a demon said to be the same as the one before. But it has spread and gathered followers across Chicago. The priests involved include Father Tomas, flawed by temptations and questioning his faith, and Father Marcus, a known exorcist, who feels guilty about the death of one of his charges. So it's a similar setup as before, but their backstories are explored in detail unlike the first film.
The whole possession culminates up to a bigger conspiracy - a plot to kill the Pope visiting the city. There is a twist in between which reveals the connection between the film and the series.
While it's an easy watch, and the make up on the woman while possessed is pretty graphic, it finishes quite quickly all in the last episode. The build up takes a while, you have to get to the third episode for it to start getting interesting. And to be honest some of the episodes in between were quite boring and tried too hard to be dramatic. The most important part of the film was the subtletly of the story and the series is the opposite. Overall, watchable but not if you keep comparing it to the film which was a masterpiece.
Debbiereadsbook (1126 KP) rated Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2018
did not like Liv!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
I have *issues* with this book.
Aside from the fact its single person point of view and blah blah blah of course I wanted to hear from Warin, Olivia has to be the single most annoying main character I have ever come across and I cannot,for the life of me figure out why I kept reading!!
She whines and moans and has the mental age of a teenager, I wasn't actually sure how old she was supposed to be til she and Warin are talking about how old he is.
Clearly, the British vampire Night Lord who's name escapes me already, is playing on a much bigger playground than just Chicago. And Warin's brother, Aleric, is part of that playground judging by the epilogue, but I can't see what game he is playing.
The book is reasonably well written, with some sexy scenes and some violence, but nothing too explicit or graphic. I saw no spelling or editing errors.
Will I read book two? Depends on who has the majority voice in that one. If it's Aleric? Possibly.
I just did not like Olivia!
But I did finish it, so for that reason...
3 stars
Sorry this is short, but I find the 3 star ones for meh books the hardest to write.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
I have *issues* with this book.
Aside from the fact its single person point of view and blah blah blah of course I wanted to hear from Warin, Olivia has to be the single most annoying main character I have ever come across and I cannot,for the life of me figure out why I kept reading!!
She whines and moans and has the mental age of a teenager, I wasn't actually sure how old she was supposed to be til she and Warin are talking about how old he is.
Clearly, the British vampire Night Lord who's name escapes me already, is playing on a much bigger playground than just Chicago. And Warin's brother, Aleric, is part of that playground judging by the epilogue, but I can't see what game he is playing.
The book is reasonably well written, with some sexy scenes and some violence, but nothing too explicit or graphic. I saw no spelling or editing errors.
Will I read book two? Depends on who has the majority voice in that one. If it's Aleric? Possibly.
I just did not like Olivia!
But I did finish it, so for that reason...
3 stars
Sorry this is short, but I find the 3 star ones for meh books the hardest to write.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**