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At Deaths Door (Deadman's Cross)
At Deaths Door (Deadman's Cross)
Sherrilyn Kenyon | 2019 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Another fab book
Welcome to the latest Deadmen's Quest....

Valynda Moore was born cursed. So when she dies as the result of a spell gone wrong and is trapped in the body of a voodoo doll, she expects nothing else from her messed-up life. Until Thorn, leader of the Hellchasers, offers her a chance at redemption and a new life.

But nothing has ever gone her way, for the Malachai, the very beast she and her crew of Deadmen have sworn to keep locked away, has risen. And this time he's taken prisoners. Valynda must keep her wits about her or be denied her salvation and forced to watch as the entire world falls into the hands of absolute evil.

It's a demon-eat-demon world where the stakes have never been higher and either redemption or the ultimate betrayal waits for her At Death's Door



This is the end of this trilogy and I'm sad to see it finish. I love her books and the little touches she brings from her Dark hunter and Nick chronicles. Always a joy to see Simi make an appearance as well as Ash.

So this is ram packed with demon fights and well written sex scenes.

Highly recommended

  
Hell's Angels (1930)
Hell's Angels (1930)
1930 | Action, Classics, Drama
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Big budget, elaborate air combat scenes which resulted in several deaths and Gimmick after gimmick… This has to be the Howard Hughes’ World War 1 epic, Hell’s Angels.

Where to begin?

Well, we follow the Routledge two brothers as they join the war effort and the Royal Air Corps. in 1914 and whilst one is a somewhat cowardly womaniser, his brother is the noble heroic type who spends the film being screwed over bey everyone in one way or another, but most notably by his girlfriend, Jean Harlow, who is so annoyingly wrong for him that it is a relief when he has heart is broken by her in the third act.

But like mots aspects of this plot, this is as messy and disjointed as everything else. We are given a story line to follow for two hours, as Hughes indulges his legendary love of flying to create some of the best dog fight sequences ever committed to film. They are real, epic and effective in conveying the thrilling danger of these world war one battles.

But this is a film of gimmick. Pushing the pre-code envelope with sex and bad language, this was originally conceived as a silent movie and was re-written and re-shot to become the sound movie whcih we have to today and there in clearly lies the problem. What we end up is a movie cobbled together, with silence sequences being converted to sound, the poor acting from its star James Hall as the idealistic Roy Routledge, Jean Harlow, replacing the original silent star Gretta Nissen for this sound version, excelling in her role as his trampy girlfriend and Ben Lyon as the weaker brother, Monte, but the real star of this show are the special effects.

But of the human stars, Harlow, presented here in the only colour footage known to exist of the tragic star, who would die at the young age of 26 just seven years later, probably delivers one of the best performances in the whole picture, certainly outshining her male co-stars.

Of the special effects though, the use of 2-tone Technicolor, which was actually shot with the Metrocolor system but processed by Technicolor, in one sequence as the group are all together at a party, as well as the classical use of tints during some other scenes, add a vibrancy to the project. But this also can have a jarring effect, especially as we leave the colour scenes and wrap up thet sequences in black and white.

But the model effects, notably the munition raid at the end and the Zeppelin bombing London scenes are spectacular, especially for the time. The other notable gimmick which has yet to be transferred to the small screen, was the original use of what was called Magnascope back in 1930.

This was obviously only used at high end theaters but this paved the way for what IMAX are doing now, by blowing up the aerial scenes into a larger screen format from the 1.20:1 ratio which the the rest of film was presented. But when you add all this up you have got a mess!

Magnascope, technicolor scenes, tinted scenes, daring aerial battles, a half arsed love story and an image of world war which was a kin to that of Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor’s (2001) view of World War 2! But this is what this is. An early, lavish popcorn blockbuster, with little to offer but cinematic thrills, which it succeeds at without any doubt.

The action is great, the plot is mediocre to say the least but as film, it does offer a brief insight into how cinema audiences saw the Great War back in 1930 and you can not help but think that this audience was only nine years away from the next one as we watch this.

pictureBut the ending was grim, with noble ends rounding off a story of brotherly love and love of duty and country, seems overblown considering what we had had to sit through but still, by the end, is anybody really routing for the Routledge brothers to have a happy ending?

I certainly was not. But this ending is the nearest thing that this film has to a story arc, as is pays off the opening act where Roy risks his life fighting a duel for his cowardly brother against the very German officer who is about to have them executed.

Duty wins out and Monte sees the light at the end after a very melodramatic death scene.

But having said all that, this film is worth it for the action alone and for film buffs, the only colour footage of Jean Harlow.
  
The Internship (2013)
The Internship (2013)
2013 | Comedy, Drama
To google or not To google
our buddy duo of Wilson and Vaughn are together again in this technology film about two watch sales man who lose thier jobs and end up getting internships at Google. They are grouped together with a bunch of other interns and have to strive and complete tasks of ideas that they don't know anything about. What they do know is how to work in a team and the willingness to learn. They do bring to the table of street smarts and the fact they have been in the real world while these kids haven't really experienced life yet and need a little guidance. This is a great film about you are never to old to try and start new things.
  
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Paige (277 KP) rated Shaun of the Dead (2004) in Movies

Dec 7, 2018 (Updated Dec 7, 2018)  
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
2004 | Comedy, Horror
Casting (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost). (3 more)
Prosthetic Makeup.
Irony.
Emotional Investment.
Shaun of the Dead (2004).
'Take car. Go to Mum's. Kill Phil. Grab Liz. Go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. How's that for a slice of fried gold?'

Shaun of the Dead is a 'slice of fried gold,' with consistent irony throughout that contributes towards the comedic content, uncommon throughout differentiating zombie movies. 'Next time I see him, he's dead,' is an ironic quote from Shaun of the Dead (2004) that is also foreshadowing.

Progressing from this, the casting for Shaun of the Dead (2004) was exceptional. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have done alternative movies together, encompassing Hot Fuzz and The World's End. Their undeniable friendship contributes significantly towards their ability to collectively produce fantastic movie's, all of which have no fault.

Furthermore, the prosthetic makeup is also an imperative aspect to confer when deliberating the positive aspects of Shaun of the Dead (2004). When taking into consideration that this film was released in 2004, the prosthetic makeup was beyond expectation, with multiple scenes that are hard to watch attributable to the gore.

Comparable to this, an alternative aspect to confer when deliberating the positive aspects of Shaun of the Dead would be the emotional investment in each character. Shaun of the Dead (2004) makes evident an imperative moral; to not take those you love for granted. One of many subtle morals throughout Shaun of the Dead (2004), which subsequently contribute towards the emotional investment in each character, to be understood upon watching the movie.

To conclude, Shaun of the Dead (2004) is a contributor towards the extensive amount of zombie movies released. However, it is an innovative, unique zombie movie, integrating comedic content and irony, whilst maintaining the high quality of prosthetic makeup and emotional investment you would expect from a movie depicting the prospective end of the world.
  
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
1972 | International, Drama, Romance
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I would start with Last Tango in Paris by Bernardo Bertolucci, which I think is amazing. Marlon Brando’s performance is just out of this world. It’s funny; today, I don’t think it would get the same kind of debate because of the sexual nature of some of the scenes, but for me, what was shocking was more the emotional intensity that he brought to the role. There’s a scene he has where he’s sitting at the bedside of his dead wife, and it’s just the most amazing scene of grief. And later, there’s a scene at the end where he’s in this dance hall, and he’s drunk. It’s just a beautiful performance. I think it was just unbelievable.And, of course, there’s also the romantic idea of Last Tango in Paris. I think everyone loves the idea of just him having an affair with a stranger and insisting on staying strangers. It’s a very simple idea, and the beauty of it is that they swap. She wants to know his name in the beginning; he refuses. And then slowly he needs her, he falls for her, and they change roles, and now she doesn’t need him any more."

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Ben Foster recommended Dr. Strangelove (1964) in Movies (curated)

 
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
1964 | Comedy
8.2 (25 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I would be embarrassed to begin to talk about Dr. Strangelove, because there has been so much written about it. It’s so bleak. And Peter Sellers is perfect. He’s just perfect. Terry Southern and Stanley Kubrick built this doomsday political satire, in the fists of the Cold War, and made the end of the world hysterical. We’re bumbling idiots, all of us. We’re all walking through dark rooms of our life, bumping into furniture, and it’s shocking. I think we all enjoy watching people who are in authority positions act like bumbling idiots; it satisfies part of our ego, I’m sure, on some level. Sellers’ commitment to those characters… the scene that stands out is when he’s trying to get change to make the phone call to stop the bomb, and that security guard won’t let him break government property to get the change. The frustration of that is as painful as it is hysterical."

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