Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Created the Worst Financial Crisis of Our Time
Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner
Book
In "Reckless Endangerment", Gretchen Morgenson exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to...
Collecting Death (Haunted Collection #1)
7.0
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Book
The eyes of a cuddly child’s toy glow with demonic fire… Exhausted from an academic...
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol 2
9.3
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Sherlock HolmesThe Complete Novels and StoriesVolume IISince his first appearance in Beeton's...
Fear The Silence
9.0
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Book
“Do you believe Will took his own life?” The question echoed off the white tiles in the...
Art of Fighting (2006)
Movie
Song Byungtae is an outcast at his school, whose daily routine consists of being pounded around the...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) in Movies
Jan 21, 2019
And...I'm glad I did, so I can warn you to stay away for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK starts slow and then...slows down even more...and, if that isn't slow enough for you, kicks it down a couple of notches before finishing up on an even slower note.
Based on the best selling book by James Baldwin and telling the tale of a wrongfully incarcerated African-American man and his family, BEALE STREET is a languidly paced meditation on the constant living in fear of the African-American community in NYC in the early 1970's, and when "the system" fails this family, they are afraid of doing more for it might just make things worse.
The film starts out winningly enough when the 2 sets of parents of our young lovers get together to discuss the unexpected coming of a grandchild into this world. The 4 parents (Regina King, Coleman Domingo, Michael Beeach and Aunjanue Ellis) start out civilly, if coldly, but things quickly escalate into a crackling scene that explodes on-screen and I was looking forward to more of this foursome combating with each other for the rest of the film.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film focuses on the two young lovers (Kiki Layne and Stephan James) and these two are not charismatic or charming enough to hold the audience's attention during low-key scene after low-key scene.
Blame for this must go to Jenkins, who is making a very personal, intimate film, but - unlike something like ROMA - the world that this personal pastiche is thrown into is not interesting enough to hold interest nor are the pictures rich enough to look at, they are mostly washed out and boring.
Regina King is being touted as a "sure-fire" Academy Award nominee (and front runner to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar) and I just don't see it. She was "fine" but nothing more in an underwritten role that was just as low-key and uninteresting as the rest of the film.
Give me the 4 parents feuding and we just might have an interesting film.
If you are looking for a low-key, moody film, check out ROMA, you can skip BEALE STREET.
Letter Grade: C
5 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Finding Grace in Books
Feb 24, 2019
At what age do you allow your child to walk home from a friend's house alone? It is an argument many couples have had for decades. In Finding Grace by K.L. Slater, Lucie and Blake Sullivan agree to allow Gracie to walk home from her friend's house the day after her ninth birthday. What Gracie does not know is both sets of parents have agreed to watch her walk halfway. What could go wrong? It is a 5 minute walk, on the same street, and without her knowing, Gracie would be watched the whole time. Except Gracie never arrives home.
K.L. Slater writes about a fear parents are constantly worried about. Everyone has a past. Many of those prior events are ones we would like to keep hidden. She shows that every couple has secrets from each other and from the rest of the world.
She is able to reveal the main characters' secrets in a way that I continued rooting for all of them to come out this alright.
Her novel is fast paced and difficult to put down. This is the 1st novel of hers I have read and have added her to my "author to read" list.
Review published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 2/24/19.
Almost Interesting
7.0
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A hilarious and biting memoir from the actor, comedian and Saturday Night Live alumni David Spade. ...
Casting off: How a City Girl Found Happiness on the High Seas
Book
As a journalist for the Independent, Emma Bamford is swept along with the London rat race, lost...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021) in Movies
Jul 3, 2021
The group of friends that the narrative revolves around share some decent chemistry. The vibe that surrounds them isn't to dissimilar to the characters in Scary Stories or even Stranger Things. They're written to be rooted for, which makes all the more impact when the final third comes knocking and the body count piles up. The various killers on the loose are clearly inspired by other slasher icons, but the multiple-killer aspect makes them interesting enough, even if it's just surface level, and the overarching narrative to do with witchcraft is intriguing.
Unfortunately, the pacing is a bit off. 1994 really takes it's time to get to where it wants to be, and the first half drags in places. It also falls into the Suicide Squad trap of spaffing out well known songs, one after another, without any reprieve. One of my absolute pet peeves in modern movies by the way, but thankfully, this doesn't last for the whole runtime.
Overall, 1994 is a fun, if flawed horror ride, with some solid gore to boot, that will surely offer something for any slasher fans out there. Genuinely looking forward to the next two installments over the coming weeks, and it's always a bonus when horror in general gets a big push from the likes of Netflix.
Lee (2222 KP) Jan 22, 2019
Lee (2222 KP) Mar 14, 2019