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Lake Mungo (2009)
Lake Mungo (2009)
2009 | Horror, Mystery
7
6.6 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Nice Documentary style (1 more)
Good performances in the main
Wonky Twists (1 more)
Slightly disappointing ending
Lake Mungo delivers some eerieness but outstays its welcome
Contains spoilers, click to show
Lake Mungo is a found footage/documentary style hybrid horror movie that tells the story of a family whose 16 year old daughter drowns, but then continues to appear to her family and in footage and photographs in the local area.

Without wanting to spoiler anything, I will just say that the director manages to create a quite unsettling atmosphere, almost akin to that created in the first 3 paranormal activity movies, using CCTV footage and phone camera footage to add to the eye witness statements and interviews with the family.

The film is a little longer than it needs to be, the last section felt like it began detracting from the earlier scenes as they add a few last twists, but overall it is a well made film, with a strong sense of unease throughout.

Well worth a look if you like Paranormal Activity, and that style of film.
  
When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife
When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife
Meena Kandasamy | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
powerful and beautifully written (0 more)
this is happening to someone right now (0 more)
This book hit me
The writer searched for a tender embrace and found rape and punches. Kandasamy is a poet and beautifully she uses words to punch back or to make sense of a horrific and unimaginable monstrosity of a situation. However, when I say poetic please don't assume this is pretentious for it is not. you sometimes feel terrible for enjoying the words as a thing of beauty,and it is a beautiful piece of writing, but it is there to mind meaning in the inexcusable. It is a wonderful cathartic explosion of finding sense where there is none. of finding hope where there was only hatred in the name of love. My hope is it may give another legs to run or an abuser a reflection into their monstrosity. This may be listed as a feminist book but is fighting against evil cruelty, bullying and rape feminist or is it a struggle to be more human?
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Blade Runner (1982) in Movies

Nov 25, 2019 (Updated Nov 26, 2019)  
Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
1982 | Sci-Fi
8
8.5 (75 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Cult thriller from Ridley Scott. In present-day Los Angeles, investigator Harrison Ford finds himself obliged to hunt down and destroy four androids who have illegally returned to Earth from colonies in outer space. Yes, yes: I know it's a timeless classic and a visionary piece of science fiction (if not a particularly accurate piece of prognostication), but it's not a film I've ever found myself able to particularly warm to.

One of the prettiest and most visually dense films you will ever see, of course, but Ridley Scott seems much more interested in the film's visual impact than the actual story (even so, much of the imagery is rather clunky). Harrison Ford doesn't get much to do in his drab and perfunctory section of the plot - the film only really comes to life when it concerns Rutger Hauer's oddly sympathetic homicidal android, who ends up dominating the movie. Most of the book's quirky sense of melancholy disappears, though. For all its strengths it just feels rather superficial and hollow to me.
  
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
2017 | Action, Sci-Fi
A disappointment
After such a good comeback with The Force Awakens and a fantastic prequel in Rogue One, my expectations for The Last Jedi were high and sadly it comes as a bit of a disappointment.

To me this just seems like a filler film. There isn't a massive amount achieved in the nearly 3 hour run time, to the point where I found most of it to be verging on boring. Until the final part, there was no excitement or tension or intrigue. The comedy too was surprisingly illfitted - where's K-2S0 when you need him? Even Luke coming back didn't feel quite right and some of the other characters too were severely underused.


Maybe The Force Awakens felt better because it was the first (good) Star Wars film in a long time, whereas this is the third in as many years with yet more to come. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad film and it was enjoyable to a point. It just wasnt as good as it could've been and it just came across as sadly lacking.
  
Show all 4 comments.
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Sarah (7800 KP) Dec 22, 2017

That was one of the things I hated the most, what they did (or more appropriately didn't do) with Luke. A massive disappointment for such a major character.

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Lee (2222 KP) Dec 23, 2017

I read a very interesting article the other day which said that this new trilogy might have been better off without Luke, Leia or Han - leaving them in the past - and part of me agrees. Han got to be a bit of a rogue once again in TFA but apart from that, in their rush to develop something which can go on and on and on forever more, I feel that they've just crapped all over everything that went before, especially where Luke is concerned

The Fall [Audiobook]
The Fall [Audiobook]
Louise Jensen | 2023 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was an enjoyable book to listen to partly because of the mystery surrounding who pushed Caily off the bridge but also because of the excellent narration.

There are lots of elements and sub-stories to this book which created additional mystery to an already intriguing story. There are a lot of characters and the book is told from multiple points of view however, whilst you might think this would be confusing, it is anything but ... the narrator does an excellent job of being able to distinguish between each of the characters with subtle changes.

Louise Jenson managed to create a lot of tension and some great plot twists that caught me off guard. The pace worked well for me and I found myself looking for reasons to listen for a bit longer ... even hoping for a traffic jam!!!

Overall, a really good book to read/listen to with loads to hold your interest and my thanks go to HQ an imprint of HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Fall.
  
Fatal Fudge Swirl
Fatal Fudge Swirl
Meri Allen | 2023 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Bride’s a Corpse
Ice cream shop manager Riley Rhodes has been asked to create an ice cream cake for the upcoming wedding of Diantha Collins, the head of a prominent family in Penniman, Connecticut. However, the morning of the wedding, Diantha is found dead in her bed. Something about the scene seems off to Riley. Can she figure out how Diantha died?

The how done it in this book is a strong element of the plot, and I loved the creative murder method. Of course, Riley also has to figure out the who and why, and those also kept me guessing until the end. The suspects are all strong, and the series regulars are a lot of fun as always. A storyline involving a movie being filmed in town leads to a sub-plot with some great laughs. Meanwhile, the Halloween setting is used well for the mystery. Add in a couple of hot fudge recipes at the end, and you have a winner. Grab a dish of your favorite ice cream and enjoy this book today.