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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Suburbicon (2017) in Movies

Sep 25, 2019  
Suburbicon (2017)
Suburbicon (2017)
2017 | Crime, Drama, Mystery
4
6.0 (18 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Suburbicon is a peaceful, idyllic, suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns -- the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that. But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge must navigate the town's dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit and violence.



I saw this trailer so many times in the run up to the Unlimited Screening. It initially intrigued me, I'm not a particular fan of Matt Damon, but I do like Julianne Moore, and Oscar Isaac the more I see him. Both Moore and Isaac seemed at home in this 50s setting, but Damon didn't feel very convincing.

The story had a lot of potential. Lodge wants to kill his wife who has become bitter towards him since he caused an accident that left her in a wheelchair. The plan is to stage a home invasion that leads to her death. This will leave room for her twin sister to move in and take her sister's place in the family. But when a suspicious insurance investigator comes sniffing around the case things start to fall apart. In the background of this though there is a story about the new African-American neighbours that have moved into the property behind the Lodge's. I know that this is fitting for that era, and some sort of big "distraction" was needed for a lot of things to work, but it just felt very detached from everything.

This isn't one that I'd watch again, I feel like it's going to fade into obscurity in my mind and in about ten years someone is going to ask me if I've seen it and I won't be able to remember.
  
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Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Store in Books

Apr 9, 2019  
The Store
The Store
James Patterson | 2019 | Thriller
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
In this day and age everyone shops online and The Store has everything you want. The Store is so great, it can even predict what you want or need even before you know you need or want it. But who wants that much invasion into their lives? Jacob and Megan Brandeis intend to get to the core of The Store, to find it's inner workings and write a book to tell the whole world about it. But will The Store prove to be too much for this pair?

When reading this book and learning about The Store, the first thing that comes to mind is Amazon. I know Amazon is tracking me when I see what I was searching on my Facebook feed. An online shop that started selling books, but now you can buy anything from them. This is no Amazon, though, with surveillance cameras and microphones in every home and on every street lamp and sign. There is no privacy from The Store. Will Jacob and Megan be able to expose all inner workings of The Store before it's too late?

James Patterson is one of my favorites, but this book was just okay for me. It did make me think though about what would be next in life. Will drones be polluting the sky to bring us our packages and meals? Will there be a need for us to ever leave our homes and interact with people in person? I would hate for a world like that.
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Purge (2013) in Movies

Aug 8, 2021  
The Purge (2013)
The Purge (2013)
2013 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
5
6.4 (30 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Despite it's shortcomings, it's easy to see why The Purge ended up spawning a franchise and that's mainly down to it's tantalising premise. The whole "murder is legal for one night every year" idea is suitably dystopian, and yet feels uncomfortably plausible. It's a little slice of horror-plot gold.
This first entry however, is more of a tease of what could be, focusing on one family, in one location, on Purge Night.
It has a fair amount going for it. Two strong leads in Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey, a relatively charismatic villain, and a well paced narrative that manages to achieve some sort of tension here and there.
Unfortunately, it falls into silly action clichés during the final third. It's easy to lose count of how many times a main character is about to meet their demise, before being miraculously saved at the last second. It becomes a bit laughable by the time the credits roll. The plot beats around this point take a bit of a dive as well, with some last minute twists thrown in that don't really make a lick of sense. The action itself is fairly entertaining, but marred somewhat by all the crappy CGI blood flying around. And although the main villain has some entertaining aspects, his minions are just a bunch of cringy edge lords that unfortunately plague this entire series.

All that being said, The Purge is still a modest and tidy enough home invasion thriller that deserves a watch.