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Darren (1599 KP) rated 22 Bullets (2013) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
Story: 22 Bullets starts when retired Mafia godfather Charly Mattei (Reno) is ambushed by multiply gun man who riddle his body with bullets, 22 in his body and somehow, he survives the attack. The man behind the attack Tony Zacchia (Merad) wants the job finished so he can take the control he wants over the business, while detective Marie Goldman (Fois) has her own scores to settle with Mafia who were behind her husband’s and fellow cops’ death.
Charly brings his trusted friends back together to go into a full-blown war with Tony which see the bodies piling up, until he can get his hands-on Tony himself.
Characters – Charly Mattei is the retired Mafia godfather that walked away from the business with strict rules on how it will continue, he gets left for dead by the new boss who wants to play by his own rules. Now the bear has been poked he will seek revenge on everyone who tried to eliminate him, no matter how many bodies get left in his way, he knows this is the only way to keep his family safe. Tony Zacchia has taken over the business, he doesn’t want to play by the same rules though, he needs to take care of Charly before changing the rules and after that attempts fails, he starts to throw waves of men as Charly to finish the job. Martin is the closest friend to Charly, he will help make the connections to who else was involved in the assassination attempt. Marie Goldman is a cop that lost her husband to the Mafia, she has wanted to take them down for years now and this will be her best chance after she get put in the middle of the blood war.
Performances – Jean Reno is fantastic in the leading role of the film, he brings back the type of performance we saw in Leon where he is the cold-hearted killer with the heart of gold. Kad Merad, Jean-Pierre Darroussin are both good in the supporting role, though it can be easy to mix the two up. Marina Fios is good as the detective trying to get to the bottom of everything with her own tragic back past.
Story – The story here follows a former Mafia Godfather that goes on a revenge mission against the new godfather after he failed to have his assassinated bring France into a battle for power between the two leading sides in the war. This does play out like a revenge thriller with plenty of bullets, we have seen this done most recently with John Wick and this follows the same tone and body numbers you would be seeing in this one. The added side story of the cop wanting to final takedown the person who killed her husband adds to everything making this feel like a three-way war between the sides. The does play out how you would imagine which is great to see and the story doesn’t hold back either.
Action/Crime – The action is brutal when it comes to the bullet wound, even if certain moments can become overkill when it comes to the bullets flying. The crime world shown gives us an insight into the world in and out of the world with people wanting out or control.
Settings – The film is set in Marseille which shows us a new type of city for a crime film to take place in, we have all the locations you would imagine for a Mafia film.
Scene of the Movie – Dinner meeting.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes overkill.
Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable action revenge thriller, that puts Jean Reno front and centre on a bloody rampage, one well worth watching for the action fans.
Overall: Enjoyable Action Film.
Charly brings his trusted friends back together to go into a full-blown war with Tony which see the bodies piling up, until he can get his hands-on Tony himself.
Characters – Charly Mattei is the retired Mafia godfather that walked away from the business with strict rules on how it will continue, he gets left for dead by the new boss who wants to play by his own rules. Now the bear has been poked he will seek revenge on everyone who tried to eliminate him, no matter how many bodies get left in his way, he knows this is the only way to keep his family safe. Tony Zacchia has taken over the business, he doesn’t want to play by the same rules though, he needs to take care of Charly before changing the rules and after that attempts fails, he starts to throw waves of men as Charly to finish the job. Martin is the closest friend to Charly, he will help make the connections to who else was involved in the assassination attempt. Marie Goldman is a cop that lost her husband to the Mafia, she has wanted to take them down for years now and this will be her best chance after she get put in the middle of the blood war.
Performances – Jean Reno is fantastic in the leading role of the film, he brings back the type of performance we saw in Leon where he is the cold-hearted killer with the heart of gold. Kad Merad, Jean-Pierre Darroussin are both good in the supporting role, though it can be easy to mix the two up. Marina Fios is good as the detective trying to get to the bottom of everything with her own tragic back past.
Story – The story here follows a former Mafia Godfather that goes on a revenge mission against the new godfather after he failed to have his assassinated bring France into a battle for power between the two leading sides in the war. This does play out like a revenge thriller with plenty of bullets, we have seen this done most recently with John Wick and this follows the same tone and body numbers you would be seeing in this one. The added side story of the cop wanting to final takedown the person who killed her husband adds to everything making this feel like a three-way war between the sides. The does play out how you would imagine which is great to see and the story doesn’t hold back either.
Action/Crime – The action is brutal when it comes to the bullet wound, even if certain moments can become overkill when it comes to the bullets flying. The crime world shown gives us an insight into the world in and out of the world with people wanting out or control.
Settings – The film is set in Marseille which shows us a new type of city for a crime film to take place in, we have all the locations you would imagine for a Mafia film.
Scene of the Movie – Dinner meeting.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes overkill.
Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable action revenge thriller, that puts Jean Reno front and centre on a bloody rampage, one well worth watching for the action fans.
Overall: Enjoyable Action Film.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Man on the Roof in Books
Jul 1, 2018
Hmmmm ... if I could only use one word to describe this book, it would be ... frustrating! Now don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, it's just infuriatingly annoying. Let me try and explain.
The story is basically about the murder of a young lad found suspended from a banner in a cul-de-sac of houses where we find the main suspects who, we learn, all have secrets that they don't want to come out. In comes the police to investigate the crime and the various suspects that live in the cul-de-sac. Sounds ok so far however, therein lies the problem. There are so many suspects, none of which are particularly likeable, it was difficult to keep track of who was who and who was married to who and as the secrets were revealed, whose secret was it! In addition, each of the chapters is written in different styles from different people and you don't always know who the people are ... I ended up being very confused. There's lots of description and whilst some of it is good, e.g. people's gestures and behaviour, a lot of it is unnecessary and this makes it a very long book ... well it seemed long to me.
There are some inconsistencies as well which I found annoying. For example, the names of the police officers change ... one minute they were Detective Cady Lambert and Detective Braidey Fitzsimmons and then they were Cady and Braidey and then they were Lambert and Fitzsimmons ... this may seem trivial but when you have so many characters, it's hard to keep track so changing their names throughout causes you to lose the thread of who is who.
Now don't get me wrong, as I said this isn't a bad book, it actually has the bones of being an excellent dark and gritty thriller but there's just too much going on that affects the flow of reading for me and I just think it needs tidying up.
I am grateful to the author for sending me a copy of his book after finding my blog. I really appreciate the time and effort he has made in writing a complex story and putting it out there for people like me, who couldn't write a decent letter, to criticise and pick apart ... that is brave and I salute you Mr Stephenson and encourage you to keep going.
The story is basically about the murder of a young lad found suspended from a banner in a cul-de-sac of houses where we find the main suspects who, we learn, all have secrets that they don't want to come out. In comes the police to investigate the crime and the various suspects that live in the cul-de-sac. Sounds ok so far however, therein lies the problem. There are so many suspects, none of which are particularly likeable, it was difficult to keep track of who was who and who was married to who and as the secrets were revealed, whose secret was it! In addition, each of the chapters is written in different styles from different people and you don't always know who the people are ... I ended up being very confused. There's lots of description and whilst some of it is good, e.g. people's gestures and behaviour, a lot of it is unnecessary and this makes it a very long book ... well it seemed long to me.
There are some inconsistencies as well which I found annoying. For example, the names of the police officers change ... one minute they were Detective Cady Lambert and Detective Braidey Fitzsimmons and then they were Cady and Braidey and then they were Lambert and Fitzsimmons ... this may seem trivial but when you have so many characters, it's hard to keep track so changing their names throughout causes you to lose the thread of who is who.
Now don't get me wrong, as I said this isn't a bad book, it actually has the bones of being an excellent dark and gritty thriller but there's just too much going on that affects the flow of reading for me and I just think it needs tidying up.
I am grateful to the author for sending me a copy of his book after finding my blog. I really appreciate the time and effort he has made in writing a complex story and putting it out there for people like me, who couldn't write a decent letter, to criticise and pick apart ... that is brave and I salute you Mr Stephenson and encourage you to keep going.
Broadchurch - Season 1
9.0
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Academy Award nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste and legendary actress Charlotte Rampling star alongside...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Little Things (2021) in Movies
Jan 26, 2021
Academy Award Winners Denzel Washington, Jared Leto, and Remi Malik star in the new thriller “The Little Things” and combine to make very gripping and memorable performances.
The script was reportedly written over thirty years ago by John Lee Hancock who has gone on to write, direct, and produce multiple films of note in the decades since he first created the screenplay.
The film is set in 1990 and involves a cop named Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington), who travels from his small California town to Los Angeles to get information on a suspect.
Joe has a history in L.A as he used to be a homicide detective for the department which combined with his meltdown while obsessing over a murder case has caused him more than a bit of notoriety.
Jim Baxter (Remi Malik) is the hotshot new Detective who has been leading the investigation into a string of unsolved murders. Joe accompanies Jim to a new crime scene and notes some similarities with his unsolved case. Joe takes some personal days and begins to do some legwork on the case and reports his findings to Jim which causes Joe to remember aspects of what drove him to his marital, health, and career issues as he is unable and unwilling to let the case drop.
When a prime suspect no longer fits into the picture; suspicions fall on a crime enthusiast named Albert (Jared Leto) who seems to check all the boxes but is also taking delight in winding up Joe which causes Jim to question if he is a viable suspect or just an oddball who gets off on crimes and winding up the cops but does not actually commit any offenses.
As the delicate dance unfolds between the characters the fact that this is an era before Cell Phones, DNA tests, GPS, and elaborate computer networks helps underscore the plight of the officers. If the film was set in a modern setting much of the suspense and uncertainty of the story and characters would be moot thanks to technology.
As the game of cat and mouse unfolds between the characters Jim learns how a person can become obsessed with a case and Joe attempts to mentor him from the success and failures of his life which includes some gray areas.
Aside from the strong performances and engaging story what makes “The Little Things” work is that it is a film that does not take the Hollywood fallbacks of extended gunfights, car chases, and over the top action scenes. What it does show is real and flawed characters that are doing what they think are right and does not attempt to wrap things up nice and tidy.
The film uses the element of doubt to not only drive the story but the actions of the characters which underscores that an element of uncertainty exists in some investigations and in with the resources available to police at the time; things are not always certain.
The film will appear in cinemas and HBO Max and is a compelling and well-crafted thriller that is not to be missed.
4.5 stars out of 5
The script was reportedly written over thirty years ago by John Lee Hancock who has gone on to write, direct, and produce multiple films of note in the decades since he first created the screenplay.
The film is set in 1990 and involves a cop named Joe Deacon (Denzel Washington), who travels from his small California town to Los Angeles to get information on a suspect.
Joe has a history in L.A as he used to be a homicide detective for the department which combined with his meltdown while obsessing over a murder case has caused him more than a bit of notoriety.
Jim Baxter (Remi Malik) is the hotshot new Detective who has been leading the investigation into a string of unsolved murders. Joe accompanies Jim to a new crime scene and notes some similarities with his unsolved case. Joe takes some personal days and begins to do some legwork on the case and reports his findings to Jim which causes Joe to remember aspects of what drove him to his marital, health, and career issues as he is unable and unwilling to let the case drop.
When a prime suspect no longer fits into the picture; suspicions fall on a crime enthusiast named Albert (Jared Leto) who seems to check all the boxes but is also taking delight in winding up Joe which causes Jim to question if he is a viable suspect or just an oddball who gets off on crimes and winding up the cops but does not actually commit any offenses.
As the delicate dance unfolds between the characters the fact that this is an era before Cell Phones, DNA tests, GPS, and elaborate computer networks helps underscore the plight of the officers. If the film was set in a modern setting much of the suspense and uncertainty of the story and characters would be moot thanks to technology.
As the game of cat and mouse unfolds between the characters Jim learns how a person can become obsessed with a case and Joe attempts to mentor him from the success and failures of his life which includes some gray areas.
Aside from the strong performances and engaging story what makes “The Little Things” work is that it is a film that does not take the Hollywood fallbacks of extended gunfights, car chases, and over the top action scenes. What it does show is real and flawed characters that are doing what they think are right and does not attempt to wrap things up nice and tidy.
The film uses the element of doubt to not only drive the story but the actions of the characters which underscores that an element of uncertainty exists in some investigations and in with the resources available to police at the time; things are not always certain.
The film will appear in cinemas and HBO Max and is a compelling and well-crafted thriller that is not to be missed.
4.5 stars out of 5
Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Secret Child (DI Amy Winter #2) in Books
Apr 2, 2019
the 2nd novel in Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series
Last year I read Truth and Lies, the first novel in Caroline Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series. My eyes started to hurt so I took a break and realized I had read the first 16 chapters without stopping.
The Secret Child is the second novel in Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series. I learned my lesson from binge reading the first book and set a timer to remind myself to take a break from reading. I forced myself to take a few breaks but finished reading it in one day. It is not a very long book, 330 pags, but I just could not find a place to stop reading for the day. I just had to keep reading!
Detective Inspector Amy Winter returns with her high-priority crime unit tracking down a kidnapper. He is using the kidnappings to extract revenge on those who had used children for dangerous and illegal experimentation years ago. Also returning is Lillian Grimes, Winter's biological mother who is imprisoned for being half of a serial killer husband and wife team known as the Beasts of Brentwood.
The Secret Child is as riveting as Truth and Lies. Both are character-driven and fast-paced, suspenseful, and well written.
Review published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, and Amazon on or before 4/2/19. Will publish on Twitter, Facebook, and Barnes and Noble on its release date, April 18, 2019.
The Secret Child is the second novel in Mitchell's DI Amy Winter series. I learned my lesson from binge reading the first book and set a timer to remind myself to take a break from reading. I forced myself to take a few breaks but finished reading it in one day. It is not a very long book, 330 pags, but I just could not find a place to stop reading for the day. I just had to keep reading!
Detective Inspector Amy Winter returns with her high-priority crime unit tracking down a kidnapper. He is using the kidnappings to extract revenge on those who had used children for dangerous and illegal experimentation years ago. Also returning is Lillian Grimes, Winter's biological mother who is imprisoned for being half of a serial killer husband and wife team known as the Beasts of Brentwood.
The Secret Child is as riveting as Truth and Lies. Both are character-driven and fast-paced, suspenseful, and well written.
Review published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, and Amazon on or before 4/2/19. Will publish on Twitter, Facebook, and Barnes and Noble on its release date, April 18, 2019.
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Right Behind You in Books
Jun 5, 2019
In Lisa Gardner’s next thriller following her runaway New York Times bestseller Find Her — Right Behind You sees the return of (now retired) FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy and his wife Rainie Conner who have now adopted Sharlah. Several years ago her older brother Telly Ray Nash killed their drunken father to protect them.
But when it appears that Telly has killed again, this time it can’t be for her protection, can it? Especially as it is later discovered he’s also killed his foster parents.
This story is a lot slower than other Lisa Gardner books. I still enjoyed it, but as the story unravelled I found myself more drawn to the relationships of families involved – the abuse that went on – the secrets and lies. It’s like the author has gone from fast-paced FBI police procedural crime novel to a character driven story. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what I expected.
Rainie and Quincy still make a great couple, the writing style is enjoyable and easy to read. It may be light on the FBI profile and police procedural aspects, but
Right Behind You still made for a great read because the characters were so endearing, and quite often physically and emotionally vulnerable.
I’m interested to see what Lisa Gardner’s next book (comes out Feb. 19 2019) titled NEVER TELL, is going to be like. It apparently features Detective D.D. Warren joining forces with vigilante Flora Dane to investigate the murder of known associate of Flora’s infamous kidnapper.
But when it appears that Telly has killed again, this time it can’t be for her protection, can it? Especially as it is later discovered he’s also killed his foster parents.
This story is a lot slower than other Lisa Gardner books. I still enjoyed it, but as the story unravelled I found myself more drawn to the relationships of families involved – the abuse that went on – the secrets and lies. It’s like the author has gone from fast-paced FBI police procedural crime novel to a character driven story. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what I expected.
Rainie and Quincy still make a great couple, the writing style is enjoyable and easy to read. It may be light on the FBI profile and police procedural aspects, but
Right Behind You still made for a great read because the characters were so endearing, and quite often physically and emotionally vulnerable.
I’m interested to see what Lisa Gardner’s next book (comes out Feb. 19 2019) titled NEVER TELL, is going to be like. It apparently features Detective D.D. Warren joining forces with vigilante Flora Dane to investigate the murder of known associate of Flora’s infamous kidnapper.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Bongo Fury Novella Collection in Books
Nov 11, 2019
Meet Jimmy Black, a man with family connections to both organised crime and, historically, the Troubles in Northern Ireland. But apart from maybe a little light drug dealing the thing Jimmy wants most is to be left alone to run his music shop (the titular Bongo Fury), spend time with his family and maybe do a little private detective work on the side. Unfortunately fate has other plans for Jimmy as helping a friend in need spirals very much out of control.
Although this is three novellas, the first two already published separately plus a third first released in this volume, this really is a book in three parts. Plus there's a soundtrack as well, how many novels can say that? And what a book it is. Despite his slightly shady connections, Jimmy is the perfect narrator. Funny, irreverent, tough, likeable and well versed in popular music he engages right from the start, keeping his sardonic tone throughout. He might run afoul of some very dangerous characters but he is a tough customer himself.
The writing is a joy, easy to read between Jimmy's swear-word laden musings, the laugh out loud humour, the tense encounters when the stakes are raised and the rapid and efficient action scenes. And the story doesn't let up either as Jimmy's life threatens to be turned upside down from asking too many questions, the fall out from which carry the plot through all the three novellas.
Bongo Fury the Collection is one of those books that you shouldn't allow to pass you by.
Although this is three novellas, the first two already published separately plus a third first released in this volume, this really is a book in three parts. Plus there's a soundtrack as well, how many novels can say that? And what a book it is. Despite his slightly shady connections, Jimmy is the perfect narrator. Funny, irreverent, tough, likeable and well versed in popular music he engages right from the start, keeping his sardonic tone throughout. He might run afoul of some very dangerous characters but he is a tough customer himself.
The writing is a joy, easy to read between Jimmy's swear-word laden musings, the laugh out loud humour, the tense encounters when the stakes are raised and the rapid and efficient action scenes. And the story doesn't let up either as Jimmy's life threatens to be turned upside down from asking too many questions, the fall out from which carry the plot through all the three novellas.
Bongo Fury the Collection is one of those books that you shouldn't allow to pass you by.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross, #2) in Books
Aug 7, 2019
Cliche Heavy Crime Drama
I listened to the audio version narrated by Michael Kramer and it was an OK narration some accents in particular Southern American were pretty laughable but some of the dialogue in this book really didn’t help.
It all starts off strongly (if very grimly - lots of nasty murder / rape descriptions I’d certainly avoid if your triggered by that sort of thing.) The tension builds nicely with Detective Alex Cross being drawn into the investigation of the disappearance and murder of women from East Cast college campuses. However about halfway it all seems to go off the boil and become very dragged out only to be topped off with a terrible and drawn out ending.
We are constantly told how smart the bad guys are but there's very little evidence of this. As evidenced when they take on Alex Cross on their own patch and somehow don’t seem to have a very good plan at all. This book is so very dated in terms of attitudes and descriptions of women and although I give a lot of lee-way to books from a different time I don’t think this was ever very well written in terms of the female characters. As an audio book I didn't mind it but I can imagine getting wound up reading some of the cliches throughout this book.
It suffers in terms of constantly telling us what to think of characters while not supporting this very well with the poor dialogue.
It all starts off strongly (if very grimly - lots of nasty murder / rape descriptions I’d certainly avoid if your triggered by that sort of thing.) The tension builds nicely with Detective Alex Cross being drawn into the investigation of the disappearance and murder of women from East Cast college campuses. However about halfway it all seems to go off the boil and become very dragged out only to be topped off with a terrible and drawn out ending.
We are constantly told how smart the bad guys are but there's very little evidence of this. As evidenced when they take on Alex Cross on their own patch and somehow don’t seem to have a very good plan at all. This book is so very dated in terms of attitudes and descriptions of women and although I give a lot of lee-way to books from a different time I don’t think this was ever very well written in terms of the female characters. As an audio book I didn't mind it but I can imagine getting wound up reading some of the cliches throughout this book.
It suffers in terms of constantly telling us what to think of characters while not supporting this very well with the poor dialogue.
AJaneClark (3975 KP) rated A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County, #3) in Books
Apr 26, 2020
From the back of the book: Sara Linton, Oh examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides a little in the way of clues - And the college authorities are keen to avoid a scandal - but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don’t add up.
Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself , let alone saving the next victim…
This was my first time reading a Karin Slaughter novel. I didn’t realise until halfway through that this was the third in a series, however I was able to pick up some of the previous relationships and how it all linked together. I quite enjoyed reading this book although found it slow to start, but after about 100 pages in found myself unable to put the book down.
As an avid reader of crime and thriller novels I have to admit that even I did not pick up on who was guilty of committing the crimes. Slaughter’s writing Is very graphic and descriptive, including some very realistic forensic details would definitely like to carry on reading this series. Most enjoyable!
Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself , let alone saving the next victim…
This was my first time reading a Karin Slaughter novel. I didn’t realise until halfway through that this was the third in a series, however I was able to pick up some of the previous relationships and how it all linked together. I quite enjoyed reading this book although found it slow to start, but after about 100 pages in found myself unable to put the book down.
As an avid reader of crime and thriller novels I have to admit that even I did not pick up on who was guilty of committing the crimes. Slaughter’s writing Is very graphic and descriptive, including some very realistic forensic details would definitely like to carry on reading this series. Most enjoyable!
Buried Secrets
Book
The brilliant new crime novel from Lisa Cutts - the author who puts the reader at the heart of a...