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Lee (2222 KP) rated The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) in Movies

Sep 16, 2018

After losing both parents in a car accident, Lewis travels to New Zebedee, Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan (Jack Black) in his large, creepy house. Jonathan's neighbour, Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) seems to spend most of her time there too as they are old friends. The house is full of clocks and, as you've probably guessed from the title of the movie, an even more mysterious clock lies hidden somewhere within its walls. Lewis discovers that Johnathan is a warlock, Florence is a good witch and that the house once belonged to a powerful warlock, who intended to use the clock as part of a catastrophic evil plan.

Directed by Eli Roth, the movie oozes style and creepiness. It has scares that will terrify younger children, but entertain the parents and it has a good amount of humour throughout. For me though, it felt like all style and not much substance. Despite being based on the first in a series of 12 books, with this first story being published in 1973, the movie version just feels like an amalgamation of things we've seen many times before in recent years. Harry Potter, Miss Peregrine, even the trailer made me think of the Goosebumps movie.

I'm probably being a little harsh, and the latter third of the movie did turn out to be a lot more enjoyable than the first two. I guess I was just hoping for something a bit more.

Kudos

alex (68 KP) rated Ardipithecus by Willow in Music

Nov 6, 2017

Ardipithecus by Willow

2015 | Experimental, Pop, Rhythm And Blues

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Album Rating

Fantastic vocals (1 more)

Diverse songs which are occasionally dramatically different

Fantastical and otherwordly experience

It took me a few full listens of the album to love each and every song. Marceline was the first song I listened to and I completely adored it, often describing it to friends with Florence and the Machine type vocals against Lorde instrumentals. But the rest of the album is vastly different and experimental. I love the imagery in Willow's lyrics and the flexibility of her voice and songs. Vocally she is incredibly talented and her songs feel very organic and personal. Overal I love this album but some tracks will be hit and miss with some listeners.

Kudos

Milleen (47 KP) rated Three Things About Elsie in Books

Nov 14, 2018

Three Things About Elsie

Joanna Cannon | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry

8.1

(9 Ratings)

Book Rating

Lying on the floor of her flat in Cherry Tree, 84-year-old Florence thinks about her past and present. She wonders about the new resident who closely resembles a man from her youth. A man her and Elsie had tried to forget. Joanna Cannon has written a wonderful exploration of old age, nostalgia and memory and cleverly combined it with solving a mystery from the past. There are moments of complete wisdom and some of naivety and a few that were poignant and funny. This is a profound book that has been praised for it’s tenderness but it made me laugh out loud as much as contemplate the pros and cons of old age.