Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

Darren (1599 KP) rated Dolls (2019) in Movies

Jul 2, 2019  
Dolls (2019)
Dolls (2019)
2019 |
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Dolls starts when alcoholic children’s book author Robert Holbrook (Downey) moves into his recently deceased mother’s home to start work on his latest work, when he is joined by his teenage daughter Sammey (Simpson) who wants to get away from her mother.

When Robert and Sammey discover three creepy dolls in the attic, Robert decides that he wants to use these characters to create his latest story, known as the Attic Dolls. When a sister of a former patient Margaret (Wallace) appears, she warns Sammey about the evil inside the dolls that come out to play when you look away.

 

Thoughts on Dolls

 

Characters – Robert is an alcoholic children’s author, he has made mistakes in his life which has left his family facing financial ruin, his daughter struggle to be able to face a college future, he has moved out to focus on his new book, which will see him being joined by his daughter. The latest book idea uses the creepy dolls found in the attic of his mother’s home, which will see him suffer nightmares as he looks to withdraw from his drinking problems. Sammey is his 17-year-old daughter who wants to live with him over her mother, she has been on certain medications, though it is unclear what is wrong with her to need them. She first gets scared by the dolls believing the story she hears about them, while trying to remain rebellious about her future. Margaret was the sister of one of the patient’s of Robert’s mother, she warns the family about the evil from the dolls which might be connected to the deaths.

Performances – Thomas Downey is strong through the film, we believe that he is going through troubles. Trinity Simpson is entertaining in her role, she brings the fear of what is going on to make us believe everything happening. Dee Wallace is the biggest name in the film, she is in a supporting role, which lets her bring the experience to the film.

Story – The story here follows a family that move into a house of a deceased relative only to discover three creepy dolls in the attic, soon strange things start happening around the house as it appears the dolls come to life when people aren’t looking. This story does play into the creepy dolls genre of horror which does to use mental health and addiction to try and reflect the situation going on through the events of the film. It does start by going in one direction, but it does feel like it is going to target on a rampage, then throws another twist to them in and it does seem to rush a lot of the story going on through the film. it does end in a very confusing manor which could make most of the film feel almost redundant.

Horror – The horror in this comes from the dolls which do feel creepy and make us feel uneasy wondering what they will be doing next.

Settings – The film is set in the one location which is the house, it is filled with locations where the dolls could sneak around without being seen, only heard, which does play into the rules created.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are only used when they are needed, they are simply with certain small movements which does help the film unfold.


Scene of the Movie – The dolls appearance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The ending.

Final Thoughts – This is a new creepy doll movie, which has been the it feature at the moment, with Child’s Play and Annabelle in the cinema, this one does have a creepy feel to it even if the story does seem to be rushed.

 

Overall: Creepy Fun horror.
  
We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Lionel Shriver, Kate Mosse | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.1 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating
WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD!!! ALSO, THIS REVIEW IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION SO IF PARTS DON'T MAKE SENSE, WORRY NOT, I'LL BE BACK TO FINISH IT LATER!

I quite liked this psychological family/crime drama although I did think it dragged on quite a bit with a LOT of unnecessary information. I understand that we are meant to be inside Eva's head, experiencing and feeling everything that she does/did but there is still a hell of a lot in there that could easily have been omitted with no harm to the rest of the story. On the other hand, this approach helps if we want to read the story like a 'stream of consciousness' style of narrative.

That said, it was still enjoyable if a little tedious at times due to my above point and I absolutely was not prepared for the ending!

Several people asked on Quora whether the younger sister harmed herself with the cleaning fluid on purpose, which made it very clear to me that some readers have fundamentally misunderstood the entire story, and this makes me wonder if they have a different view altogether on the ending - who do they see as being responsible for the murders? Kevin? Kevin's mother? Or, a combination of the actions of each character and toxic social/familial environments which ignored and subsequently exacerbated the poor mental health of several characters, encouraged cycles of abuse, revenge and retaliation. My guess is that they entirely and wrongly blame Kevin.

Shriver has written this novel very cleverly, as when we think about each character's transgressions out of context, we all know what is wrong and who is responsible; however this is written in such a way that it encourages the reader to pick a character to blame, providing arguments for and against each one along the way. In real life, this would never happen, as we do not get this kind of depth of insight into the lives of mass murderers. We simply blame the killer first and foremost, maybe looking briefly in disdain at his neglectful family.

In this novel, it isn't as easy to simply blame Kevin. He may be the killer, but there are so many more mitigating factors to consider.
His mother's narcissism makes her unable to see or accept her role in the actions of her very sick son. She sees him as "bad" and that's just not true. Even worse is that she treats him as though he is just bad rather than extremely ill.

I do wonder also, if the author got any backlash for writing this on the back of all the school shootings there has been in the US since the 1990's? Did people think this was an opportunistic move in the same way that they lambasted Emma whats-her-name for writing ROOM after the Josef Fritzl scandal?
  
    Learn French - Très Bien

    Learn French - Très Bien

    Education and Travel

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    TRÈS BIEN ® is the award-winning app that makes learning Francês simple and fun! Quickly learn...

Beautiful Broken Things
Beautiful Broken Things
Sara Barnard | 2017 | Children
8
7.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is Sara Barnard's debut novel and a good one at that! Beautiful broken things is an emotional rollercoaster, you are literally up and down on this suspenseful ride, With friendship, self discovery, school, family and abuse this novel certainly packs a punch!

Caddy has been best friends with Rosie for over 10 years despite attending different schools. Calling each other throughout the week and spending the weekends together they couldn't be closer, until Caddy is introduced to Suzanne a new girl from Rosie's school. Jealous of Rosie's new friendship she doesn't instantly take to her, Suzanne is pretty, bold, exciting and totally different from what Caddy is used to. Slowly Suzanne starts to reveal things about herself and the issues that she is hiding from her friends. With this new found knowledge Caddy suddenly sees Suzanne in a different light and wants to help her but also be involved in this interesting girls life and so their friendship blossoms but threatens to break them all apart for good.

Caddy goes to Esther's which is an all girls private school, she is on a tight leash with her parents, paying thousands of pounds per term for her education they are expecting A grades. With all work and no play nothing significant has happened in Caddy's life, she makes a vow for that to end this year and Suzanne is there to help. People around caddy don't think their friendship is a good idea as Suzanne is 'troubled' and leading her astray. Caddy is very naive and hasn't really be involved with boys or been to house parties but with her new-found friend and wanting to fit in she gets more involved and really comes out of her shell.

Suzanne is beautiful, funny and also a "troubled" teenager, living with her aunt starts speculation as to why this is. With a history of abuse, Suzanne is broken and is what people would call a bad influence, she drinks, she goes around with any boy who will have her and when things get tough she runs away. As she becomes friends with Caddy she is pulling her towards her way of life. Caddy would never have dreamt of climbing out of her window in the middle of the night or randomly catching a train without knowing the destination. But in her bid to help Suzanne she feels she has to be with her every step of the way.

This book explores the true meaning of friendship and love between teenage girls. This is a coming of age story with no romance involved and scarily realistic. It portrays mental health and teenagers sensitively and honest.


I loved that this book was set in the UK it felt so more relatable and exciting when your hometown gets referenced in the book.

There things that let down the book for me were the details of the abuser, there wasn't really any detail whether the abuser had been arrested or why Suzanne had or hadn't reported the abuser. It was sort of just glimpsed over this and neither Caddy nor Rosie questioned it which I thought was a little odd. Caddy was very annoying at points and was making some stupid decisions,I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop! JUST STOP!

I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a realistic portrayal of mental health in young adults.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
  
    Kindara: Fertility Tracker

    Kindara: Fertility Tracker

    Medical and Health & Fitness

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Get pregnant faster, avoid pregnancy naturally, or better understand your body with one of the first...

    Kids Yogaverse: I AM LOVE

    Kids Yogaverse: I AM LOVE

    Health & Fitness and Book

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Kids Yogaverse: I AM LOVE is “Highly recommended” by the US Surgeon General as a healthy app...

    Elephant Simulator

    Elephant Simulator

    Games and Education

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Enter into the wild savanna and live the life of an Elephant! Explore a vast world filled with...