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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Three... Extremes (2004) in Movies

Oct 28, 2021  
Three... Extremes (2004)
Three... Extremes (2004)
2004 | Horror
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Miike's segment is the best - just this viscerally atmospheric showcase in artsy horror from someone who clearly has an intimate knowledge of all the ins-and-outs of the genre (and features a mack daddy score from Koji Endo, who has a career full of them). Chan's is second place - just as brutally gross as everyone else has already mentioned. Wook's is my third favorite (I refuse to call it the worst, since they're all pretty awesome) - a good ole' fashioned exercise in mental torture with expectedly cool camerawork and a deeply weird tone that always keeps you on your toes. The kind of simple, nasty, and twisted histrionics you can always count on - if this were made today in the tired 'elevated horror' age it would either be 81 minutes or 3 hours long and be a monotonous, purposefully unsatisfying, rote, blatantly obvious metaphor for trauma or some similar bullshit. Meanwhile this is the type of film to show you a fetus getting chopped up in the first ten minutes then following it with Lee-Byung Hun being forced to dance in his underwear and a woman making out with her father in a Circus Big Top. Just plain sick and I loved it, speaks for itself.
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Inherit the Bones (Detective Gemma Monroe, #1) in Books

Feb 13, 2018  
IT
Inherit the Bones (Detective Gemma Monroe, #1)
Emily Littlejohn | 2016
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Gemma Monroe is a police detective in a small town nestled in the mountains of Colorado. Early in her career, while skiing, Gemma found the long-buried bodies of two young boys who disappeared in the mid-1980s. The boys were murdered; their killer never found; and their disappearance and the subsequent crime has haunted the town. Now, in the present day, Gemma is called upon to investigate the gruesome murder of a teenage circus worker who was part of a circus traveling through town. Soon though, Gemma will come to realize that this murder is connected to the disappearance of the boys. She'll uncover a dark past that haunts her town--and discover that someone desperately wants her to leave the past alone.

This was an excellent and well-plotted mystery novel. The story reels you in immediately and never lets you go with its strong, complex narrative. Gemma is a likeable, fairly deep, and interesting lead character. I took to her quickly and found myself wrapped up in her life. Gemma is six months pregnant - something you don't always find in detective novels, and you see her grappling with not only the case, but her personal life. Working in a small town, she finds quickly that she can't really trust anyone, and Littlejohn gives us good insight into her squad dynamics. She also captures small town living fairly well. This is a town wrapped up in its past, unable to move on from a web of secrets and lies that have tormented it for years.

Indeed, the secrets continue to unfold, but in a completely believable manner, which I really appreciated. I guessed a part of the plot early on, but there were still so many pieces to the story that I was very much riveted until the very end. There's a strong supporting cast here as well, without the usual simple stock characters who sometimes support a rural detective. Goodreads is telling me that this is the first in a Gemma Monroe series, which I hope is true. While I think the series could hit a wall--as many others do--with the small town aspect (only so much murder and mayhem can happen in a small town: see Linda Castillo's excellent Kate Burkholder series, where you eventually start to fear for the poor townspeople of Painter's Mill), but I would certainly love to see more of Gemma.

Overall, a well-done mystery. Originally rated at 3.5 stars, but pushing up to 4 as I write this review and realize how much I enjoyed it. Always nice to have a new face in the mystery world.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 11/01/2016.
  
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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Water for Elephants in Books

Jan 15, 2018  
Water for Elephants
Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen | 2007 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.5 (27 Ratings)
Book Rating
I heard time and time again how amazing, wonderful, fantastic this book was. How I just had to read it. How I would love it. How it is one of the best books so and so had ever read. Here's the thing, I enjoyed it, I really did. It was a great story with engaging characters and all kinds of twists and turns. But, was it all it was cracked up to be by the endless stream of people who suggested it to me? No.
Now before you go arguing with me, I am by NO means saying I didn't like this book! It tells the life story of Jacob. How whike he is in vet school at Cornell, his parents die in a car accident leaving him with nothing. He is so consumed by the news that he walks out on his vet school finals. He walks and walks eventually hopping a train, which he soon discovers to be a circus train. The rest as they say is history. There are healthy doses of romance, travel, alcohol, humor and violence without being overdone. For me this is just a case of a book not living up to my expectations after all the hype.
It is a marvelously entertaining read though. And now I can finally let myself.watch the movie!!
  
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TacoDave (3640 KP) rated Bubble Boy (2001) in Movies

Aug 10, 2018  
Bubble Boy (2001)
Bubble Boy (2001)
2001 | Comedy
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Jake Gyllenhaal (3 more)
Humor
Plot
Hijinks
Vulgaraties (0 more)
Bubble Boy is Hilarious
When I first saw the trailers for Bubble Boy I thought it looked horrible. But I decided to go see it on opening night anyway (I was bored!) and I was blown away by how funny it was.

Like in an episode of South Park, nothing is sacred or too taboo to laugh at in this movie. It follows Jimmy, a boy born without immunity cells in his body, as he builds a portable bubble (to protect him from germs) and sets off on a road trip to Niagara Falls. Why? Because the woman he loves is getting married and he has to stop the wedding.

I wouldn't want to spoil any of the jokes in this movie, because 95% of them land perfectly and made me laugh. But I'll say this: Zach Galifianakis shows up in one of his first movie appearances and is hilarious. Verne Troyer (RIP) aka Mini Me shows up. There's a bus full of cult members, a biker gang, a train car full of circus freaks, Fabio, an Indian man who runs an "ice cream and curry" truck, and a bunch of crazy situations that constantly surprise.

I've seen this movie at least 6 times and it never stops being funny. Highly recommended.
  
    Up Front

    Up Front

    Kerry Dixon

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Book

    Kerry's life in recent years has been bedevilled by problems with gambling, drugs and, worst of all,...