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Riding the Bullet (2004)
Riding the Bullet (2004)
2004 | Horror, Mystery
7
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Roller-Coaster
Riding The Bullet- is a underrated psychological horror thriller film based off of a stephen king novel.

The Plot: Ever since his father passed away, art student Alan Parker (Jonathan Jackson) has been hypnotized by thoughts of death. After his girlfriend, Jessica (Erika Christensen), breaks up with him, Alan attempts suicide but is rescued by his friends. The next day, he learns that his mother (Barbara Hershey) has just had a serious stroke, and he sets out to hitchhike to her hospital. Along the way, he meets a series of strange people, including sinister George Staub (David Arquette), who may be Satan.

Its psychological, horrorfying, thrilling, chilling, spooky, terrorfying and super underrated.

I would highly reccordmend this movie.
  
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Merissa (11643 KP) created a post

Feb 20, 2023  
THE HONESTY OF TIGERS by David Bridger

Living his life again. Same person, same fishing village, same years. But this time the world shows him a different face.

Ken Jackson builds traditional boats in a small Cornish fishing town, where everyone might not have heard everything about everyone else, but if they haven't, it isn't for the want of listening. Which complicates matters for Ken, because he has a secret: he's living his life all over again.

It sounds like a dream come true. He's got the chance to make things right for his loved ones, and to avoid all his old regrets. But the past is never that simple. Ken's second life opens his eyes to different sides of people and places, and what's a man to do when his hopes and dreams and carefully laid plans are ripped apart?

 #WitchLit
 #Fantasy
 #LGBTQIA+
 #Romance and
 #Relationships

https://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/?n1=publications&id=383&fbclid=IwAR32m_OEV3t24jhpHabbJEYZRSLYkqzgMAeZcm7eTKDCTaFDWvZIz5XEcgM
     
Brightburn (2019)
Brightburn (2019)
2019 | Horror
Horror Twist On A Classic Comic Book Icon
Brightburn is a 2019 superhero/horror movie produced by James Gunn and Kenneth Huang. It was directed by David Yarovesky with screenplay written by Mark and Brian Gunn. The film was produced by Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films, Troll Court Entertainment, and the H Collective. The movie stars Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones and Meredith Hagnar.


Living in Brightburn, Kansas, Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle Breyer (David Denman), a young farm couple, struggle with conceiving a child due to fertility issues. One night, a spaceship falls from the sky near their farm. A baby boy is found inside and the couple decide to adopt him and name him Brandon. Years later, it seems Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) is a typical young boy as he has been raised without the knowledge of his true origin. However this begins to change in very dramatic ways as the spaceship that he arrived in, hidden in a trapdoor in the barn, begins to glow and affect him disturbingly.


This movie was very much horror and with the R-rating it did not disappoint in that category. However for a superhero movie, I definitely felt it could have been better, especially when it came to the storytelling. I felt like the plot wasn't structured enough and it didn't always feel like it was going somewhere except for what it had shown through the trailers. You know, like it showed in the trailers the outcome and the journey to that outcome wasn't as fun or surprising as I thought it was going to be. The kill scenes though were very brutal, which for some reason I wasn't expecting as much, I guess because the one doing them is this super-powered 12 year old. But this was an awesome concept on a very familiar story that everyone has grown up with or heard, which is basically Superman. There are comics from DC and of Superman like Red Son Superman; where it's a "what if" Superman had landed in Russia instead of United States, and there is a Justice League animated film where instead of Superman, Kal-El, the baby that escapes Krypton is Generel Zod's child and instead of landing in Kansas he lands in New Mexico and is raised by Mexican migrant farmers. But I don't think there has been a story to explore this type of different way Superman could have grown up and it was shockingly entertaining to say the least. The mid-credits scene was really cool to see as well and know that the cinematic universe for Brightburn could expand if it does well financially. I'm thinking that it won't with stiff competition such as Aladdin and John Wick 3 but who knows. I give this film a 6/10.
  
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Resident in Books

Jun 28, 2020  
The Resident
The Resident
David Jackson | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the first David Jackson book I have read and it certainly won't be the last ... The Resident is a deliciously eerie and unnerving read which I thoroughly enjoyed however I did have to send my husband up to the attic to make sure there were no gaps between us and the next door neighbours as I live in a terrace!!!

This is a totally engrossing psychological thriller told from the perspective of the main protagonist Brogan and what an excellent character he is ... a perfect bad guy but with a vulnerable side to him that almost makes you feel sorry for him ... I say almost because he is one sick and deranged individual who enjoys playing with his victims before inflicting pain and suffering.

There is plenty of dark humour to lighten this dark book and with a simple and straight forward plot written at a good pace, this is a great read that I have no hesitation to recommend to readers out there who enjoy a book that takes the mundane of daily life and turns it into something sinister.

Thank you Serpents Tail / Profile Books / Viper Books via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.
  
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Hugh Bonneville recommended Pulp Fiction (1994) in Movies (curated)

 
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
1994 | Crime

"Well, maybe that’s why David Heyman and Paul King cast me in Paddington, I don’t know [laughs]. You’ll be surprised by my fifth one, then. OK, try and find the link with this: Pulp Fiction. I think that’s the exception that proves the rule. I think it was great, it was such a breath of fresh air. That same year, I remember, I was completely enamored by two films: The Lion King and Pulp Fiction, so you couldn’t get more extreme than those two. They both have death in them, I suppose. But Pulp Fiction was such a great breath of fresh air when it came out, and I think it still remains such a cool and fantastic piece of the cinema. Obviously it was the second film after Reservoir Dogs that brought Tarantino into the fold, but I think it’s a gloriously slick and entertaining piece of movie-making, structurally and cinematically, with these great, legendary performances that were instantly loved, and instantly classic and endlessly imitated. The number of people I’ve seen doing Christopher Walken impressions — or Bruce Willis impressions from that movie — or indeed Samuel L Jackson… It’s sort of a great cinematic feat and [it’s filled with] dark, dark humor."

Source
  
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Logan Eccles (135 KP) rated Brightburn (2019) in Movies

Oct 1, 2020 (Updated Oct 2, 2020)  
Brightburn (2019)
Brightburn (2019)
2019 | Horror
A reimagination of Super-Man you diddnt know you needed
Contains spoilers, click to show
I am shocked by how many bad reviews this masterpiece has on here! The story, the filming, and the acting is outstanding. I love the idea of what if Super-Man was in the horror/suspenseful thriller instead of superhero/action. The comparison between the two stories is so good but it's still just different enough not to be dismissed as a bad rip off. A married couple on a farm finds a baby in a spaceship. Baby grows up and has superpowers. Now, this is where it gets different, the child develops psychopath type tendencies. Collecting pictures of organs, stalking, obsessing over guns, and excessive knowledge of animals.

This cast guys is so good and so right for this story. Elizabeth Banks and David Denman are a sweet convincing couple and bring the emotion and realities of if this happened. Elizabeths take on how a mother would respond to her child being a psychopathic killer is so raw and realistic. Throughout the movie, she reacts as if she knows but doesn't want to accept it and of course that's how a mother would react, mother knows Best but mother also protects. David Denmans take on a protective husband and suspicious father is so unique in storytelling. I mean of course he's going to let his sterile wife keep the baby from the woods but that's not his baby he don't know where that thing came from, but it makes his wife happy. Last but not least Jackson A. Dunn is bound to rise in stardom after his stellar performance.

Also, I usually don't like spoiling but watch the credits please cause it sets up a possible sequel and universe. Micheal Rooker pops up mid-credits as like a crazy youtube theorist guy. He starts going off about superpower being sightings and how they are out there killing people and terrorizing the world. It even shows a line up of potential super-powered horror villains for possible movies.
  
Brightburn (2019)
Brightburn (2019)
2019 | Horror
It was difficult to avoid trailers for James Gunn’s Brightburn, and as a result it was difficult to avoid my excitement too. I had very much been looking forward to this one, as I’m always interested in characters that use their powers for evil instead of good.

In a similar vein to Josh Trank’s Chronicle, the film follows a teenager who starts to realise he’s got special abilities, but ends up having very dark intentions. For Brightburn, though, it’s because Brandon Bryer (Jackson A Dunn) is not of this world, and he was adopted by Tori (Elizabeth Banks) and Kyle (David Denman) who desperately tried to hide the truth from him.

Jackson A. Dunn is undoubtedly the star of the show here, and a young actor that I’m incredibly impressed with. His emotional range is really fantastic, and the way he portrays genuine psychopathic behaviour feels almost too real. I did find myself lost in his performance, and scared of him too. I really hope to see him on another project in the near future.

Elizabeth Banks and David Denman shared great chemistry too, with conflicting opinions as Brandon starts to uncover who he really is. In a way its cliched, a couple fail to conceive and a child (or ‘blessing’ as Tori often calls it) falls to earth, but it takes that trope and turns it into something monstrous that tears the family apart. There’s nothing angelic about this kid.

The biggest downside to Brightburn for me, is that the trailer gave away all the film’s best moments. I could predict what was going to happen, and there were no real surprises for me. The scenes the trailer missed out were disappointingly average, and nothing special. It could’ve benefited from teasing the audience more.

There is also one scene in particular that has very bad special effects, and ruined the emotion I was supposed to be feeling during it. I wish they had decided to do something more subtly brutal here, as that would’ve upped the emotional factor during this crucial moment.

It’s even more disappointing because I did enjoy certain effects, and the use of the POV camera on victims to make it more disturbingly intimate. I was also impressed with the level of gore and the creativeness of the murders, and how it helped to shape Brandon’s character development throughout.

The film had the potential to be more well polished, but sadly repeatedly opted for big and bold effects that were too jarring for me as a viewer. Having said that, the strength of Brandon’s character, the dynamics between the family, and the strength of one or two scenes helped to redeem the film a bit.

It’s entertaining to watch on the big screen with some effective scares and some gory moments that aren’t for those with a weak stomach. I’m happy I spent an evening watching it, but I can’t say I’ll be rushing to see it again.
  
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Lee (2222 KP) Jul 2, 2019

I totally agree regarding the trailer giving away so many plot beats, thereby stripping away a lot of the surprises

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Natasha Khan recommended Bad by Michael Jackson in Music (curated)

 
Bad by Michael Jackson
Bad by Michael Jackson
1987 | Pop
8.9 (7 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"My first gig I ever went to, when I was nine, was at Wembley Stadium to see the Bad tour. When he died, I was in my bedroom in Brighton and I heard it on the radio and I just spontaneously absolutely burst into tears. Michael Jackson, when I was little, was just this God-like being. You know when you're little and you're singing in the car with your mum and your brother and the sister, the world is so good, there's nothing more fun and nothing better. I don't think I've ever listened to someone singing something with that much joy, he was channelling something so fucking out there and it's like he constantly had a bolt of creativity running through his body, like the way he danced and the way he moved. A consummate dancer, referencing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and James Brown and all these people that he channelled but made completely and uniquely his own. I saw a Spike Lee documentary the other night about Bad. Someone else wrote 'Man In The Mirror' but he took and did all of his - [mimics Michael Jackson] "I'm gonna make a change" - and all of that shit. It's just like, who else would do that? Who else would wear plasters all around their jacket? Who wears white socks with loafers and manages to make it look cool? Nobody was telling him to do that. He's just this fucking eccentric one-off. When he died, I thought the climate of music will never be like that again. It was like he was a child and his brain was a playground and anything he could think of, he bloody manifested that in the world; not many people can do that. The arc of music that he lived through, his education and his training all the way through, coincided with all these revolutions in music, music videos and dance. I just think that that was a one-off thing. I'm getting philosophical now [laughs], but I was watching Brian Cox the other day and his astro-physics thing and he put 50 stones all in a row on a desert floor and he was like "each of these stones represents billions of years in the history of the universe and where it's going to go." Then he went "here's one stone" and he showed about a millimetre of that stone: "in this bit, this is where the conditions were perfectly right for mankind to exist, this is this time, we're here now". When you think about culture and popular music from the 50s through 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, it does feel like there has been a bit of a cycle, and I've been lucky that I came in at the end of that cycle. People that were born in the 50s had it amazing, because they got to see fucking David Bowie and punk music, but Michael Jackson was a guy that happened in our lifetime. I get really passionate about music, but music, for some people, it's like a religion and he was like a fucking icon."

Source
  
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
2016 | Action
CPR Needed
As tends to be the case with Hollywood, studios pay very close attention to their rivals release schedules, eyeing up potential competition to pit their films against, maxing box-office returns in the process.

And when Disney announced they were rebooting The Jungle Book in March this year, Warner Bros quickly responded with another jungle-themed film; The Legend of Tarzan. But does this interpretation on the classic character swing or fall?

It’s been nearly a decade since Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), aka John Clayton III, left Africa to live in Victorian England with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie). Danger lurks on the horizon as Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), a treacherous envoy for King Leopold, devises a scheme that lures the couple and friend George Williams (Samuel L Jackson) to the Congo. Rom plans to capture Tarzan and deliver him to an old enemy in exchange for diamonds. When Jane becomes a pawn in his devious plot, Tarzan must return to the jungle to save the woman he loves.

Directed by David Yates (Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows), Legend of Tarzan features committed performances from its lead cast, immersive scenery and impressive special effects, but all of the glitz can’t save a film that plods along at a dreadful pace. Not since Peter Jackson’s King Kong has there been a movie that wastes so much of its opening act.

Alexander Skarsgård is likeable and commanding as the titular character, but lacks enough acting prowess to tackle the deeper, more emotional side that writers Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer have brought to the table here. Therefore, the scenes featuring a solo Tarzan suffer somewhat and Samuel L Jackson feels wasted in a poorly written and half-hearted role.

It is in Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz that we find the film’s saving graces. Their characters leap off the screen with Waltz in particular being a highlight throughout. It’s unfortunate that one of our greatest living actors is lambasted with poor dialogue however, though the script just about keeps him afloat.

David Yates brings a similar filming style here to that of his foray into Harry Potter. The action is confidently filmed, but he avoids the use of shaky-cam that many directors seem to find appealing nowadays. The CGI is on the whole very good, especially in the finale which is breath-taking to watch.

It’s just a shame the rest of the film is such a drag. The first hour is incredibly poorly paced with very brief, albeit well-filmed, action sequences not doing enough to brighten Legend of Tarzan up. Elsewhere, the use of flashbacks is at first a decent way of giving the audience some exposition, but after the tenth one, they’re a nuisance.

Overall, The Legend of Tarzan does a lot more with its iconic character than other films have done, but that doesn’t excuse its poor pacing. Thankfully, the exciting finale lifts the final act above the standard of the first hour, and commanding performances from all the cast sustain interest just about enough to see it through to the end.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/07/07/cpr-needed-the-legend-of-tarzan-review/
  
Split (2016)
Split (2016)
2016 | Horror, Thriller
James McAvoy (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
I didn't realize this was an M. Night Shyamalan film when I watched it. In true M. Night Shyamalan fashion, you get a surprise twist at the end and find out that Kevin (James McAvoy) exists in the same world of hero and villain, David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Mr. Glass ( Samuel L. Jackson) from Unbreakable.

James McAvoy had to play several different characters in this movie, as Kevin has 23 different personalities, some not so nice, and others, pure evil. A few of these personalities kidnap and hold 3 girls hostage and you watch as they learn the gravity of their situation and try to plan their escape. One of their captor's personalities is a kind and simple soul, Hedwig, that the girls try to exploit to help them escape.

All the while, Kevin is seeing a therapist to try to keep his darker personalities in check. But a new, more terrifying 24th personality begins to emerge and take over. It is this 24th personality known as the Beast that catches the attention of Dunn and Mr. Glass, along with the rest of the world. The Beast is superhuman, able to scale walls and seemingly invulnerable.

Of the 24 personalities, only a handful are fully developed characters portrayed in the movie. It could not have been an easy role, but McAvoy does it so well, that you believe the different personalities. I have long been a fan of McAvoy's and he does not disappoint in this film.