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Illeana Douglas recommended Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) in Movies (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated If I Stay (2014) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020
Gross. My undying love for these disgustingly quirky YA slops renders me unable to rate this the easy one star it most definitely deserves - but make no mistake, this is the worst one since... maybe 𝘔𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶? The type of movie that does everything wrong: sterile visually, stagnant structurally, humdrum narratively, and it doesn't help that Stacy Keach (so wonderful here) is the only one in the entire movie giving a good performance - watching the normally capable Moretz attempt to emote in this is downright hysterical, that supposedly emotional hallway screaming scene had me *cackling*. Also I'd be willing to put serious money down against anyone who can find a film with worse dialogue. "Guys play music for two reasons: to get laid, and because they got rage" is an actual piece of speech uttered in this. Much of the hilarious cringe (see: the aforementioned awful dialogue) and endearing oversentimentality I find a warm familiarity with in this genre is intact, but the sickening fetishization of death and child abuse (cardboard cutout love interest: "My parents were never there... everyone leaves me...", what the movie wants us to be like: "W O W … he's so deep and profound 😍😍") in this make it feel closer to some sick exploitation piece that also isn't good. Even if that weren't the case, this relationship and its characters are lifeless even before the death plot hits and the guy is a faceless asshole that the Moretz character is just expected to bend to the whim of - and his band is fucking *horrible*. Speaking of which, funny how cultured this thinks it is because it never shuts up about punk and classical music even though it doesn't have a precious clue about either. Should have been a slam dunk, don't know why they decided to play it so indifferently. Written by that outcast from your high school who growled at people and drew Harry Potter porn at lunch.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020
Realistically? This is only *ever* so slightly worse than 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘴, by a unit of less than a hair. I'd consider this to be about 45% funny, 55% unfunny in almost note-precise measure. Granted some of the humor does come from how jarringly wacky and final the scene-to-scene structure is - which unlike the majority I don't have a problem with because it shows how committed this is to truly trying to make you laugh, which I can respect. Though even its funniest moments are a far cry from the likes of the debilitatingly hilarious 𝘛𝘦𝘥 movies (the Gwendolyn joke is always a winner, though). Cut out the boring Theron + Neeson stuff and you could be left with a nicely lean, unique little comedy. I admire that this tries to be more than your average throwaway comedy by introducing like ten different plotlines but none of them ever come together smoothly at all and as a result it falls into *heavy* tedium quite regularly. My other main gripe is that MacFarlane (who does hold his weight here) plays the ultimate fucking incel - that dude who never lets people have fun on social media and swears women should just start lining up to fuck him just because he's superficially a self-proclaimed 'nice guy'. I'd hate that less if he didn't leave the ultra-talented pair of Charlize Theron and Amanda Seyfried to both be shoved unceremoniously to the corner as second and third fiddles who are relegated to kissing his despicable ass the entire time rather than flexing their comedic chops. Also quick side gripe, 85% of the jokes in the gag reel are funnier than the ones in the movie? Wtf?? But a mustachioed Neil Patrick Harris diarrheas into not one... but TWO different bowler hats. So its goofy streak satiated me for what that's worth. And I'll also support at least giving Wes Studi a more meatier role than all of 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated One of us is Lying in Books
Sep 24, 2020
I read so many great reviews about this book, so it was a no-brainer for me, whether to read it or not, and I was really enjoying this book all the way through.
This book follows lives of four seventeen-year-old students, who are accused of murdering their schoolmate during detention. McManus chose the characters for this book very cleverly, covering the main groups of students, which you find in most of the US schools. (using my experience of watching movies) Because of this great selection of characters, it is easy to relate to them and it makes them all very believable. My personal favourite was Bronwyn, I liked her story in this book and the way she was fighting all odds in her school and personal life. I really enjoyed that author was bringing up really serious topics through these characters and their stories, that created more depth and meaning in this book. Another thing which was a real pleasure was multiple perspectives, through which characters could open up to the reader and let their personalities shine.
The plot of this book was very well thought through and creatively designed, drop feeding the important information and creating impatience with every character’s story. There are plenty of turns and twists, so this book was a real page-turner for me. I was reading most of this book while I was travelling, so sometimes it was hard to follow who was who, as the characters change and mix in every chapter, but I got a hold of it later in the book.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book with easy language and short chapters. I think that author ended this novel very nicely, giving well-deserved conclusion and hope for all the romantics out there. So, to conclude, it is a great book with very strong and diverse characters, interesting plot, and it discusses very important topics, that’s why I think it is a must read and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Enjoy 🙂
This book follows lives of four seventeen-year-old students, who are accused of murdering their schoolmate during detention. McManus chose the characters for this book very cleverly, covering the main groups of students, which you find in most of the US schools. (using my experience of watching movies) Because of this great selection of characters, it is easy to relate to them and it makes them all very believable. My personal favourite was Bronwyn, I liked her story in this book and the way she was fighting all odds in her school and personal life. I really enjoyed that author was bringing up really serious topics through these characters and their stories, that created more depth and meaning in this book. Another thing which was a real pleasure was multiple perspectives, through which characters could open up to the reader and let their personalities shine.
The plot of this book was very well thought through and creatively designed, drop feeding the important information and creating impatience with every character’s story. There are plenty of turns and twists, so this book was a real page-turner for me. I was reading most of this book while I was travelling, so sometimes it was hard to follow who was who, as the characters change and mix in every chapter, but I got a hold of it later in the book.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book with easy language and short chapters. I think that author ended this novel very nicely, giving well-deserved conclusion and hope for all the romantics out there. So, to conclude, it is a great book with very strong and diverse characters, interesting plot, and it discusses very important topics, that’s why I think it is a must read and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Enjoy 🙂
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Watching You (Berger & Blom #1) in Books
Sep 24, 2020
This the first book in Berger and Blom series, and it was my first encounter with Swedish noir.
At the beginning of this book, I had no idea what was going on and what are they trying to figure out. There were only little clues, that a 15-year-old girl is missing. As the story progressed, I started to see, that Sam Berger, is the main detective, trying to solve this case. The characters in this book are really entwined with each other and very mysterious at the same time. There is a lot of secret work going on, which is uncovered throughout the book, and it was very pleasantly unexpected for me.
The narrative is told from multiple perspectives, and the events keep traveling to the past, to share some of the secrets with a reader. Even though the beginning of this book is quite dull, once it reaches around 40 % it spikes up drastically. The whole narrative gets a different perspective and is way more interesting, so do not give up on this book, wait for those juicy twists. The main issue discussed in this book is bullying, and how it can scar people for life.
The setting of this book is very dark and gloomy, giving this book this cold and shadowy feeling. The writing style is pleasant to read, however, it has these Swedish place and street names which were kind of hard to read… (So I just skipped them) The chapters are a decent length and did not bore me. I really liked the suspense in this novel and I really loved the culmination as well. Even though there are clues of where it is headed and who the “Bad guy “ is, the reasoning behind it, was what really got my curiosity. So, to conclude, it was a very dark and intriguing read for me, filled with plot changing turns and very unique events. I do recommend to give this book a try if you have enough patience. It’s worth a wait, I think. Enjoy
At the beginning of this book, I had no idea what was going on and what are they trying to figure out. There were only little clues, that a 15-year-old girl is missing. As the story progressed, I started to see, that Sam Berger, is the main detective, trying to solve this case. The characters in this book are really entwined with each other and very mysterious at the same time. There is a lot of secret work going on, which is uncovered throughout the book, and it was very pleasantly unexpected for me.
The narrative is told from multiple perspectives, and the events keep traveling to the past, to share some of the secrets with a reader. Even though the beginning of this book is quite dull, once it reaches around 40 % it spikes up drastically. The whole narrative gets a different perspective and is way more interesting, so do not give up on this book, wait for those juicy twists. The main issue discussed in this book is bullying, and how it can scar people for life.
The setting of this book is very dark and gloomy, giving this book this cold and shadowy feeling. The writing style is pleasant to read, however, it has these Swedish place and street names which were kind of hard to read… (So I just skipped them) The chapters are a decent length and did not bore me. I really liked the suspense in this novel and I really loved the culmination as well. Even though there are clues of where it is headed and who the “Bad guy “ is, the reasoning behind it, was what really got my curiosity. So, to conclude, it was a very dark and intriguing read for me, filled with plot changing turns and very unique events. I do recommend to give this book a try if you have enough patience. It’s worth a wait, I think. Enjoy
Benedick Lewis (3001 KP) rated Die Trying (Jack Reacher Book#2) in Books
Sep 14, 2020 (Updated Sep 14, 2020)
Some really tense moments - particularly towards the end (3 more)
Reacher isn’t always right but he always wins
Nice chemistry between the two main characters
A definite resemblance to Far Cry 5
Different from the first but equally as good
Jack Reacher (no middle name)’s second outing is a lot different to his debut. Killing Floor was a personal story and felt more focused around Reacher - it also felt like he had godly powers and never seemed to lose. In Die Trying, Reacher is put in a situation out of his element initially but eventually gets his stride. Without wanting to spoil too much, it involves Reacher and a woman on crutches getting kidnapped. When they find out the purpose of the kidnapping, things are a lot worse than one can imagine.
It isn’t really giving anything away to make parallels with 2018’s Far Cry 5. It would be really surprising if the makers of the Ubisoft hit hadn’t read this book. Child’s style is very too the point - with a little padding here and there that if you preserve you get through. Chapters are broken into segments and sometimes flick between multiple characters, which keeps the pace rolling. Child has a good ability to make an event happen and for it to be seen via multiple character perspectives observing said event. It was a little confusing towards the end with certain twists, if you’re not reading in one go, but it isn’t so dense that you lose track and give up.
The payoff is satisfying and action packed, delivering surprises and rapid story telling. Sometimes novels have difficulty rounding things up but there’s no trouble here. It is a well researched novel as well but Andy McNab’s Nick Stone delivers more authenticity regarding weapon handling and operation.
Read this if you enjoy a Hollywood style thriller. It is compact enough to get through quite quickly but detailed enough to make you enjoy the ride.
It isn’t really giving anything away to make parallels with 2018’s Far Cry 5. It would be really surprising if the makers of the Ubisoft hit hadn’t read this book. Child’s style is very too the point - with a little padding here and there that if you preserve you get through. Chapters are broken into segments and sometimes flick between multiple characters, which keeps the pace rolling. Child has a good ability to make an event happen and for it to be seen via multiple character perspectives observing said event. It was a little confusing towards the end with certain twists, if you’re not reading in one go, but it isn’t so dense that you lose track and give up.
The payoff is satisfying and action packed, delivering surprises and rapid story telling. Sometimes novels have difficulty rounding things up but there’s no trouble here. It is a well researched novel as well but Andy McNab’s Nick Stone delivers more authenticity regarding weapon handling and operation.
Read this if you enjoy a Hollywood style thriller. It is compact enough to get through quite quickly but detailed enough to make you enjoy the ride.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated 11.22.63 in Books
Nov 30, 2020
When this book first came in, back in 2011, I blew it off, despite a marked interest in all things JFK/Lee Harvey Oswald conspiracy related. However, when I saw who had written it, that interest was dashed bits. Jumping ahead to yesterday, when I completed the book, I find myself having to rough myself up mentally for not reading this sooner!
The novel is unlike anything I've read by King. The prose was just right, not too much. Even the use of profanity was toned down = not sure if this was because of the era it was set (unlikely, I apt to believe, as life was not "The Donna Reed Show", contrary to what we would like to believe) or attributable to the fact that Mr. King has, in fact, grown up as a writer. In any case, I liked a whole heckuva lot!
The book had so many good plot elements: time-travel, romance, epic dilemmas, and characters that you genuinely cared about! All of the aforementioned elements added up to a novel worthy of praise and adulatation - many times over!
The story within was so engaging that I finished it within a week after starting it - something I haven't been able to do with a Stephen King novel in a loooong time! Throughout the tale, I found myself smiling, laughing, gripped with tension and suspense, and the hardest emotion to pull: tears of sadness and delight!
Look, I will not mislead or try to "lure" you into reading this. What I do is tell it like this: there more books on the NY Times bestseller list that are just filler for writers' contractual obligations, lacking the real substance or feeling needed for a proper tale.! '11/21/63' has plenty of feeling and substance, enough to offer to some of the other bestsellers on the list now, and then.
And conclusion, I will leave like this: Seriously? You do a lot worse that giving this book the shot it deserves.
The novel is unlike anything I've read by King. The prose was just right, not too much. Even the use of profanity was toned down = not sure if this was because of the era it was set (unlikely, I apt to believe, as life was not "The Donna Reed Show", contrary to what we would like to believe) or attributable to the fact that Mr. King has, in fact, grown up as a writer. In any case, I liked a whole heckuva lot!
The book had so many good plot elements: time-travel, romance, epic dilemmas, and characters that you genuinely cared about! All of the aforementioned elements added up to a novel worthy of praise and adulatation - many times over!
The story within was so engaging that I finished it within a week after starting it - something I haven't been able to do with a Stephen King novel in a loooong time! Throughout the tale, I found myself smiling, laughing, gripped with tension and suspense, and the hardest emotion to pull: tears of sadness and delight!
Look, I will not mislead or try to "lure" you into reading this. What I do is tell it like this: there more books on the NY Times bestseller list that are just filler for writers' contractual obligations, lacking the real substance or feeling needed for a proper tale.! '11/21/63' has plenty of feeling and substance, enough to offer to some of the other bestsellers on the list now, and then.
And conclusion, I will leave like this: Seriously? You do a lot worse that giving this book the shot it deserves.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Doctor Who: Sleepy in Books
Nov 30, 2020
This was a re-read for me, as I had read SLEEPY when it first came out in the late 90s. While I remembered parts of the book, it was, more or less, like it was fresh. Most of my time was spent "gobbling" as many books as I could, allowing me to "escape" the humdrum life I was leading and my not-so-cool bachelorhood. So, yeah, a fresh start of sorts to this read.
SLEEPY is the first book that begins the overarching "Psi Powers" story line. Author Kate Orman wastes no time, throwing us right into the deep end of the pool as the book opens! The ride that begins never lets up, providing with well-fleshed out characters and minor characters, as well as providing an intriguing and thought-provoking backstory.
In both the Virgin <i>New Adventures</i> as well as the BBC's <i>Eighth Doctor Adventures</i>, Orman was always favorite of mine, as well as a number of the pre-NuWHO fans. Her characters, goodies <b>and</b> baddies, were always full of depth, giving something than us tropes. The Doctor, regardless of the Incarnation, was treated properly, offering a much better Doctor than the new series has shown us.
The book requires focus when reading. That is, it works better if you can read it in room without distractions (musical film scores playing in the background don't count as a distracting), without anyone trying to talk to you while you're trying to read, i.e. my wife (!). There's some truly heady stuff going on the pages within, and if you ride it out, you will not be disappointed!
In the 61 <i>New Adventures</i> that Virgin Books published from 1991-96, there are several that stand out as cornerstones of the WHO-niverse. SLEEPY is one of those "cornerstones". If you see this out in your travels, perusing a cool used book shop, pick this book up, as it well worth the time!
SLEEPY is the first book that begins the overarching "Psi Powers" story line. Author Kate Orman wastes no time, throwing us right into the deep end of the pool as the book opens! The ride that begins never lets up, providing with well-fleshed out characters and minor characters, as well as providing an intriguing and thought-provoking backstory.
In both the Virgin <i>New Adventures</i> as well as the BBC's <i>Eighth Doctor Adventures</i>, Orman was always favorite of mine, as well as a number of the pre-NuWHO fans. Her characters, goodies <b>and</b> baddies, were always full of depth, giving something than us tropes. The Doctor, regardless of the Incarnation, was treated properly, offering a much better Doctor than the new series has shown us.
The book requires focus when reading. That is, it works better if you can read it in room without distractions (musical film scores playing in the background don't count as a distracting), without anyone trying to talk to you while you're trying to read, i.e. my wife (!). There's some truly heady stuff going on the pages within, and if you ride it out, you will not be disappointed!
In the 61 <i>New Adventures</i> that Virgin Books published from 1991-96, there are several that stand out as cornerstones of the WHO-niverse. SLEEPY is one of those "cornerstones". If you see this out in your travels, perusing a cool used book shop, pick this book up, as it well worth the time!
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated New Mutants by Zeb Wells: The Complete Collection in Books
Nov 30, 2020
So, thanks to recent good deals on Comixology, as well as mandated COVID-19 stay-@-home in NC (it's the same elsewhere in the U.S., but I just felt like throwing out where I am in the mess), I have taken it upon myself to catch up with some classic Marvel mutant madness that I had missed first time around. For this week's excursion, I took on Zeb Wells' NEW MUTANTS run.
First, let me say that I had never read anything Wells had written before this. That being said, I would agree with what I saw a number of people saying in their reviews: that Zeb Wells does a bang-up job of writing for X-youngins! The dialogue and characterization never felt off or just plain badly written. It felt like he had a genuine fondness for the characters, and it was reflected in the way he treated them in the stories.
The only thing that prevented me from giving it four Stars was the art. I felt the stories detailed were interesting and several towards the end were very tense and exciting to me. However, that art? Not so much.
It started out great in the beginning w/the art by Dio Neves during "Return of the Legion". However, it just became a sea of inconsistency, as just too many artists of varied styles made for a mess that kept it from being a four Star book!
Final conclusion.. The art, while severely conflicting with the differences in styles, was not a high point of the book. Zeb Wells' writing? So, so good! Made me remember that not all the X-books at that point in time were angst-y and full of internalized self-conflicts!
Next on my list? I have the two volumes of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's run of NEW MUTANTS, which picks up after Wells' run. To coin a phrase from comedian John Mulaney's act, "This oughta be good!". See y'all when I am finished with that one.
First, let me say that I had never read anything Wells had written before this. That being said, I would agree with what I saw a number of people saying in their reviews: that Zeb Wells does a bang-up job of writing for X-youngins! The dialogue and characterization never felt off or just plain badly written. It felt like he had a genuine fondness for the characters, and it was reflected in the way he treated them in the stories.
The only thing that prevented me from giving it four Stars was the art. I felt the stories detailed were interesting and several towards the end were very tense and exciting to me. However, that art? Not so much.
It started out great in the beginning w/the art by Dio Neves during "Return of the Legion". However, it just became a sea of inconsistency, as just too many artists of varied styles made for a mess that kept it from being a four Star book!
Final conclusion.. The art, while severely conflicting with the differences in styles, was not a high point of the book. Zeb Wells' writing? So, so good! Made me remember that not all the X-books at that point in time were angst-y and full of internalized self-conflicts!
Next on my list? I have the two volumes of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's run of NEW MUTANTS, which picks up after Wells' run. To coin a phrase from comedian John Mulaney's act, "This oughta be good!". See y'all when I am finished with that one.
Darren Fisher (2465 KP) rated Island of Death (1976) in Movies
Jan 11, 2021 (Updated Jan 11, 2021)
70's Exploitation At Its Best
Story has it that Greek director Nico Mastorakis saw the Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the cinema and was impressed that such a violent low budget horror film could make so much money. So with that in mind Nico decided to make an even more depraved feature than Tobe Hooper and therefore make even more money! He succeeded in the latter but as for make more money? Well, we can only guess not. I won't bother going into the plot as I assume most people already know about this depraved and sick little flick. All that I will say is that as far as 70's exploitation flicks go this is one of the best. Depravity has never been in so much abundance as is on show here. This will not be to many viewers taste (and a big "no, no" for the Snowflake Generation) as we are subjected to rape, gay rape, incest, drug abuse, beastiality, torture, urinating on pensioners and even a fart in the face as a downright insult. The list of depravity doesn't stop there but to list them all would take some time and spoil it for those that want to watch it for the first time...
The gore is kept to a mimimum and the acting is pretty bad, but as the film progresses this is not really an issue (there are some great bits of crazy dialogue throughout). The majority of death scenes are very imaginative, including deaths involving a plane flight, bulldozer and a pot of paint.
Also there is a cracking soundtrack provided by the legendery Nikos Lavranos (Destination Understanding being the obvious favourite of the 'cult elite').
I cannot recommend this film enough, it is superb, but if you are easily offended I would suggest giving this one a very wide berth. Maybe I need psychiatric help... A MUST SEE.
The gore is kept to a mimimum and the acting is pretty bad, but as the film progresses this is not really an issue (there are some great bits of crazy dialogue throughout). The majority of death scenes are very imaginative, including deaths involving a plane flight, bulldozer and a pot of paint.
Also there is a cracking soundtrack provided by the legendery Nikos Lavranos (Destination Understanding being the obvious favourite of the 'cult elite').
I cannot recommend this film enough, it is superb, but if you are easily offended I would suggest giving this one a very wide berth. Maybe I need psychiatric help... A MUST SEE.