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Murders and Metaphors

Amanda Flower

9.0 (4 Ratings) Rate It

Book

USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower is back with the third in her more-charming-than-ever...

Mystery Fiction Cozy Mystery Fantasy

BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Cold War (2018) in Movies

Feb 15, 2019

Cold War (2018)

2018 | Drama, Music, Romance

9.0

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

A meditation on love

There are some movies that I can bang the review out the moment I leave the theater (for example, ANY movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). There are other films that I need to sit with for a few days and sort out my feelings and thoughts about them. Such is the case with the Polish film COLD WAR.

I am an "Oscar completist" and, thus, needed to see this film, not because I am a big fan of foreign films or because I am culturally literate, but because the Director of this film, Pawel Pawlikowski, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director.

And I'm glad I saw this film, for COLD WAR is a rich, thoughtful, meditation on love and sacrifice that is full of mood and emotion. This film was conceived, written and directed by Pawlikowski and it shows on the screen. There is much heart on display here. It is said that Pawlikowski patterned the two lead characters after the tumultuous relationship of his parents (he even gave them his parents name), so I gotta think there is some knowledge and depth to these characters and their situations that resonate.

I walked into this film not knowing much about the plot or characters and this actually worked in the favor of the film, so I won't say much about it now except to say that this film follows the characters Zula (Joanna Kulig) and Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) as they experience life and love in Poland in the years just following WWII, the "Cold War" years.

As far as the acting goes, both Kulig and Kot are strong and they share a rich chemistry with each other. The film crackled when these two personalities were on the screen together and didn't crackle when they weren't together, so that must say something for their performances. Anyone else on the screen is "fine" (read: forgettable) in service of the plot and the two leads.

But, make no mistake, this film is a Director's film and Pawlikowski deserves the Academy Award nomination he received. The scenes are lush, and very "European" (lots of shots of still objects with a single viola playing in the background). The film was shot in black and white and this really helps the "behind the Iron Curtain" feel of things.

This film was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, and I think it has a good shot for that award (Pawlikowski is, I feel, a long shot for his award). Which makes this film worth seeing, just know you are getting a Polish language film, centered on two characters, with lots of long, lingering "beauty" shots setting up environment and feel. Don't expect fast pacing and action.

Letter Grade: B+

7 1/2 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

Kudos

Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated Murder on the Orient Express (2017) in Movies

Jan 26, 2018

CAST (0 more)

Exceptional remake

Based on the famous book written by Agatha Christie Novel Murder On The Orient Express. The story of thirteen different strangers and one famous Detective are on one of the most luxurious trains in the eastern hemisphere. One man gets murdered and it is up to famous detective Hercule Poirot to solve the case. The train passengers contain a mixture of classes from a Princess, to countess, a Doctor, a Dancer, The valet, The professor, the gold digger a antiquities dealer and a nurse, a governess, a Count, the Italian fan and the Conductor. They are the suspects in this cold blooded murder. During the murder the an avalanche knocks the train off the tracks and during this is when the body is discovered. It is this stoppage of time that allows our Hero to question the suspects and try to make sense of all the evidence what ever there maybe.
I can't divulge more because there are so many different plot points that it would ruin the chance for you to see the movie and enjoy it.
The Book can never be beat, The first movie was ok but, the remake was fantastic. Stars Melanie Griffith, Judi Dench, William Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Johnny Deep, Josh Gad, Penople Cruz and Kenneth Branagh. This is an excellent cast for this movie and it is amazing. I do suggest you read the book first but, that is just a suggestion

Kudos

Ashley Catron (66 KP) rated The After Wife in Books

Mar 7, 2018

The After Wife

Gigi Levangie Grazer | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry

5.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Contains spoilers, click to show

** spoiler alert ** The book started out really strong and then just kind of tanked for me. I am the type of person where, if I like the book, I can retain minute details about it. I can stop reading somewhere and still be able to pick back up where the story is no longer how much time has passed. I did not experience that with this book. I was roughly halfway through when I put it down and when I came back, I could not remember half of what was going on. It was just very easily forgotten and the story was all over the place. The description on the back makes this seem like it will be a great book about a widow who learns to overcome in the face of death, but instead, it just screams "reality" television. In between her ability to suddenly see dead people, being attracted to any guy who gives her any form of attention, her "support network" of friends that all have severe issues, and then randomly being tasked to solve her husband's murder since she can see dead people and now solving all the cold case files, it was just too much for one book. The characters are easily forgotten, the story does not feel real, and it took until the last 2 pages of the book to finally find out who killed the husband. Overall I would not recommend it.