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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Videodrome (1983) in Movies
Sep 8, 2020
First It Controls Your Mind Than It Destorys Your Body
Holy shit this movie is good. The effects, the psychological espect, the sci-fi, the horror, the suspense, the mystery and James Woods.
The Plot: As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn (James Woods) is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend (Deborah Harry) auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Distributed by Universal Pictures, Videodrome was the first film by Cronenberg to gain backing from any major Hollywood studio. With the highest budget of any of his films to date, the film was a box-office bomb, recouping only $2.1 million from a $5.9 million budget.
Now considered a cult classic, the film has been cited as one of Cronenberg's best, and a key example of the body horror and science fiction horror genres.
The basis for the film came from David Cronenberg's childhood. Cronenberg used to pick up television signals from Buffalo, New York, late at night after Canadian stations had gone off the air, and worry he might see something disturbing not meant for public consumption.
After the box office success of Scanners, Cronenberg turned down the chance of directing Return of the Jedi, having had no desire to direct material produced by other filmmakers.
When it came to casting the character of Max Renn, Cronenberg chose James Woods, who was a fan of Rabid and Scanners and met with the actor in Beverly Hills to offer him the part, and liked the fact that Woods was very articulate in terms of delivery.
Its a excellent movie and a must see, same with david cronenberg's early horror films.
The Plot: As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn (James Woods) is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend (Deborah Harry) auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Distributed by Universal Pictures, Videodrome was the first film by Cronenberg to gain backing from any major Hollywood studio. With the highest budget of any of his films to date, the film was a box-office bomb, recouping only $2.1 million from a $5.9 million budget.
Now considered a cult classic, the film has been cited as one of Cronenberg's best, and a key example of the body horror and science fiction horror genres.
The basis for the film came from David Cronenberg's childhood. Cronenberg used to pick up television signals from Buffalo, New York, late at night after Canadian stations had gone off the air, and worry he might see something disturbing not meant for public consumption.
After the box office success of Scanners, Cronenberg turned down the chance of directing Return of the Jedi, having had no desire to direct material produced by other filmmakers.
When it came to casting the character of Max Renn, Cronenberg chose James Woods, who was a fan of Rabid and Scanners and met with the actor in Beverly Hills to offer him the part, and liked the fact that Woods was very articulate in terms of delivery.
Its a excellent movie and a must see, same with david cronenberg's early horror films.
David Schwartz recommended Videodrome (1983) in Movies (curated)
BookwormLea (3034 KP) rated The Inheritance Games in Books
Jan 3, 2021
Every game of cluedo you've ever played, with a twist!
Contains spoilers, click to show
This book was fantastic. I finished it in a matter of hours because I simply couldn't put it down. I wouldn't.
I love games. Puzzles. Riddles. I'm good at them. Maybe not Avery or Hawthorne good at them but I can hold my own. I also love guessing the endings of books and movies. I'm not always right but maybe 90% of the time I am. This book reminded me of every game of cluedo I've ever played. Every riddle I've ever read. And Knives Out the movie, one of my favourites. I love the small subtle romance, its not in your face like most books. I loved the sister bond despite their lack of parents. I love the idea that even though the brothers are so handsome and rich, they aren't desirable because of a few rumours. And I love the idea that Avery isn't a random girl whose birthday held some meaning. This puzzling was fantastic! I was continually guessing who Avery was, who shot her in the woods, who Toby was to her.
Now I have to say that I'm suprised I got the big twist in the first few chapters. Toby Hawthorne II is Harry her chess partner? Called it. Obviously.
But the rest was just masterful. As good as my imagination is, I wish it was a movie so I could see the puzzles and riddles in motion.
I love games. Puzzles. Riddles. I'm good at them. Maybe not Avery or Hawthorne good at them but I can hold my own. I also love guessing the endings of books and movies. I'm not always right but maybe 90% of the time I am. This book reminded me of every game of cluedo I've ever played. Every riddle I've ever read. And Knives Out the movie, one of my favourites. I love the small subtle romance, its not in your face like most books. I loved the sister bond despite their lack of parents. I love the idea that even though the brothers are so handsome and rich, they aren't desirable because of a few rumours. And I love the idea that Avery isn't a random girl whose birthday held some meaning. This puzzling was fantastic! I was continually guessing who Avery was, who shot her in the woods, who Toby was to her.
Now I have to say that I'm suprised I got the big twist in the first few chapters. Toby Hawthorne II is Harry her chess partner? Called it. Obviously.
But the rest was just masterful. As good as my imagination is, I wish it was a movie so I could see the puzzles and riddles in motion.
This is my first Anne Cassidy book that I have read and to say I enjoyed it would be the incorrect terminology to use for this book due to the subject matter.I would have to say I appreciated it. I appreciated the sensitivity in which this book was written and how well the characters feelings were depicted.
Stacey Woods is seventeen and has been raped – this is her account of what happens and how she tries to come to terms with it. Her best friend Patrice has encouraged her to write everything down on paper with no holding back and then to decide how she wants to deal with it.
This book is quite short at only 195 pages but Cassidy definitely gets her message across and will definitely be an impactful read for teenagers.
Stacey as a character was really well done, she is 17 doesn’t have too many friends, her family life is very dysfunctional, she is naive and also has her sights set on her chosen career, all of this made her feel very realistic and relatable.
However, she did make some stupid decisions and put herself into some vunerable situations due to her naivety.
Patrice, Stacey’s best friend was a really good character,she urged her friend to talk about the incident at least write it down and then decide what to do. She also researched helplines for her. She was just reliable and everything you would want in a friend.
Harry (I just thought of Harry Styles the whole way through idky) but he was just a little too creepy. He has the gift of the gab and has obviously picked girls up before and knows how to manipulate them.
There are rape and sex scenes in the book but it’s not gratuitous as needed for her full account and were not too graphic but still difficult to read.
The way Stacey was manipulated by her attacker was very cleverly done, she was made to feel like it was her fault and that no-one would believe her as she put herself in the situation and also in terms of the aftermath of the incident
As I said previously Cassidy did a great job in depicting Stacey’s emotions such as blame,shame and guilt.
I definitely recommend reading this to put yourself in Stacey’s shoes and to not make the same mistakes as she did.
I rated this 3.5 out of 5 stars
Stacey Woods is seventeen and has been raped – this is her account of what happens and how she tries to come to terms with it. Her best friend Patrice has encouraged her to write everything down on paper with no holding back and then to decide how she wants to deal with it.
This book is quite short at only 195 pages but Cassidy definitely gets her message across and will definitely be an impactful read for teenagers.
Stacey as a character was really well done, she is 17 doesn’t have too many friends, her family life is very dysfunctional, she is naive and also has her sights set on her chosen career, all of this made her feel very realistic and relatable.
However, she did make some stupid decisions and put herself into some vunerable situations due to her naivety.
Patrice, Stacey’s best friend was a really good character,she urged her friend to talk about the incident at least write it down and then decide what to do. She also researched helplines for her. She was just reliable and everything you would want in a friend.
Harry (I just thought of Harry Styles the whole way through idky) but he was just a little too creepy. He has the gift of the gab and has obviously picked girls up before and knows how to manipulate them.
There are rape and sex scenes in the book but it’s not gratuitous as needed for her full account and were not too graphic but still difficult to read.
The way Stacey was manipulated by her attacker was very cleverly done, she was made to feel like it was her fault and that no-one would believe her as she put herself in the situation and also in terms of the aftermath of the incident
As I said previously Cassidy did a great job in depicting Stacey’s emotions such as blame,shame and guilt.
I definitely recommend reading this to put yourself in Stacey’s shoes and to not make the same mistakes as she did.
I rated this 3.5 out of 5 stars
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
2013 is the year of the fairy-tale and the year of the witch, or so it looks that way from what seems to be a never-ending bombardment of films related to the two age-old topics. This year sees the release of Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer as well as Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great & the Powerful and whilst the latter has opened to mixed reviews, it is Bryan Singer’s effort which really looks like it’ll sparkle.
Sat between these two behemoths is the critical and somewhat commercial failure, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, but is it as bad as the reviews would have you believe? Let’s find out.
The fairy-tale of Hansel & Gretel is as well-known as Jack & the Beanstalk and to some extent the story in the Wizard of Oz, but films of this classic have been limited to low-budget television movies because finding the audience for such a difficult genre is not to be underestimated.
Here however, Tommy Wirkola directs his first English-language film with some degrees of success, though, a few niggling factors stop it from being the success it could’ve been. In a darker tale than perhaps we’re used to with a story such as this, Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star as Hansel & Gretel respectively and for the most part, fulfil their roles well as they battle numerous dark witches in a plot which never really gets to grips with the genre it is trying to be.
Herein lays the problem, do you direct the fairy-tale genre as a family comedy or as something a little darker? Clearly director Wirkola has had his work cut out to find the balance between the two and the result is confusing, he has ended up with a 15 certificate which mixes comedy with a bloodbath that wouldn’t look out of place in a Quentin Tarantino picture; it really is that over-the-top. The use of swear-words also feels out of place, like they’re there just to shock rather than add anything to the film’s narrative.
Hansel & Gretel have grown up deciding to kill witches after they were left abandoned in the woods by their father. To cut a long story short, they are captured by a witch and forced to work for her; whilst doing this, Hansel develops ‘sugar sickness’ (diabetes) from all the candy he is forced to consume and must inject himself often. After killing said witch, they flee and the story begins; with them being hired to kill witches who have stolen children from a small town to allow them to become immune to fire; their major weakness.
It’s an interesting take on the story and Famke Janssen plays the wicked grand witch brilliantly, she manages to be both endearing and rightly terrifying in the same scene, though this is helped with the prosthetics used to alter her face. The other actors, including the main two are a little uninspired, especially Arterton who looks positively bored with the work she’s been given. In saying that, Renner isn’t much better and the majority of the film suffers as a result. In fact, you’ll probably be rooting for Janssen’s Muriel to succeed in her evil plot.
Thankfully, the special effects are very good, although I was expecting a little more witch-on-witch action, a la Harry Potter. Atli Orvarsson’s score is excellent and a real highlight of the film. The music in the brilliant opening credits is fantastic.
Overall, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a solid but uninspiring adaptation of a fairy-tale which was never meant for the big screen. Director Tommy Wirkola has obviously tried very hard to create a film which caters for most palates and whilst the score, special effects and acting from Famke Janssen are all top notch, the confusing mish-mash of genres and hammy acting from Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton stop it being anything more than a forgettable action flick. After all, when your lead characters look like they can’t be bothered, you’ve got a serious problem.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2013/03/02/hansel-gretel-witch-hunters-review-2013/
Sat between these two behemoths is the critical and somewhat commercial failure, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, but is it as bad as the reviews would have you believe? Let’s find out.
The fairy-tale of Hansel & Gretel is as well-known as Jack & the Beanstalk and to some extent the story in the Wizard of Oz, but films of this classic have been limited to low-budget television movies because finding the audience for such a difficult genre is not to be underestimated.
Here however, Tommy Wirkola directs his first English-language film with some degrees of success, though, a few niggling factors stop it from being the success it could’ve been. In a darker tale than perhaps we’re used to with a story such as this, Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star as Hansel & Gretel respectively and for the most part, fulfil their roles well as they battle numerous dark witches in a plot which never really gets to grips with the genre it is trying to be.
Herein lays the problem, do you direct the fairy-tale genre as a family comedy or as something a little darker? Clearly director Wirkola has had his work cut out to find the balance between the two and the result is confusing, he has ended up with a 15 certificate which mixes comedy with a bloodbath that wouldn’t look out of place in a Quentin Tarantino picture; it really is that over-the-top. The use of swear-words also feels out of place, like they’re there just to shock rather than add anything to the film’s narrative.
Hansel & Gretel have grown up deciding to kill witches after they were left abandoned in the woods by their father. To cut a long story short, they are captured by a witch and forced to work for her; whilst doing this, Hansel develops ‘sugar sickness’ (diabetes) from all the candy he is forced to consume and must inject himself often. After killing said witch, they flee and the story begins; with them being hired to kill witches who have stolen children from a small town to allow them to become immune to fire; their major weakness.
It’s an interesting take on the story and Famke Janssen plays the wicked grand witch brilliantly, she manages to be both endearing and rightly terrifying in the same scene, though this is helped with the prosthetics used to alter her face. The other actors, including the main two are a little uninspired, especially Arterton who looks positively bored with the work she’s been given. In saying that, Renner isn’t much better and the majority of the film suffers as a result. In fact, you’ll probably be rooting for Janssen’s Muriel to succeed in her evil plot.
Thankfully, the special effects are very good, although I was expecting a little more witch-on-witch action, a la Harry Potter. Atli Orvarsson’s score is excellent and a real highlight of the film. The music in the brilliant opening credits is fantastic.
Overall, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is a solid but uninspiring adaptation of a fairy-tale which was never meant for the big screen. Director Tommy Wirkola has obviously tried very hard to create a film which caters for most palates and whilst the score, special effects and acting from Famke Janssen are all top notch, the confusing mish-mash of genres and hammy acting from Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton stop it being anything more than a forgettable action flick. After all, when your lead characters look like they can’t be bothered, you’ve got a serious problem.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2013/03/02/hansel-gretel-witch-hunters-review-2013/