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Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)
2014 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
The Story (1 more)
The Apes Home
No James Franco (1 more)
Everything Could Be Solved With Honesty And A Chat
It May Be Dawn, But The Sun Shines For This Film
I loved this film as much as the first and falls in the rare category of sequel as good as the original,
All the way through the story, if the apes and humans just spoke to each other and were honest. Everything would have ended nicely and quicker
  
Vertigo (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
1958 | Drama, Mystery
A quiet masterpiece
This was Hitchcock's more subtle films, although it was a flop at the time, I think it's still a quiet masterpiece. It's claustrophobic watching James Stewart follow around an enigmatic woman, becoming obsessed with an image of her, only to realise he's chasing an illusion. The twist at the end is pretty brilliant leaving the viewer slightly spellbound by what happened. While it may not be as harrowing as Psycho, it's still a treat to watch.
  
True Romance (1993)
True Romance (1993)
1993 | Action, Drama, Mystery
Cast, story (0 more)
Romeo and Julie know nothing of romance
This is a tale of true love with plenty of action thrown in for good measure.
Christian slater at his best with several other big names thrown in for good measure Gary Oldman, James Gandolfini, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken.
There is nothing these 2 crazy kids won't do for each other.
I don't have much more to say, watch it and find out.
You won't regret it.
  
Rolling Stone's 25th greatest album of all time
Very strange and unsettling live album where James Brown seems to just try to seduce half of the audience, who scream almost the entire time. His performances are very visual so I think you miss a lot by only listening (there are times when the screaming intensifies and you have no idea why). A decent listen but the songs are not his best and the live aspect is similarly not perfect.
  
Becky (2020)
Becky (2020)
2020 | Action, Drama, Horror
7
7.1 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Mindless violence and Kevin James in a dramatic role? Colour me intrigued.

Becky's life hasn't been the smoothest ride, but when her dad brings her up to their cabin things start to look up... briefly. The excitement is short-lived when his girlfriend turns up with her son and they reveal they have some wonderful news to share. Unfortunately that's not the worst thing that's going to happen this trip.

I don't want to say that Becky deserved everything that happened to her in the film... but I wasn't mad when it did happen. It was an interesting film, I felt little to nothing for her as a character and I had a real desire for the bad guys to win (to some degree).

This desire built quite quickly in the beginning, I was having serious misgivings about choosing to buy it. The whole lead up was a challenge, Becky was obnoxious and nothing seemed to be happening. But thankfully it did pick up.

Becky has a relatively small cast and they're well selected. Kevin James is a pleasant surprise in this dramatic role. I love seeing people take on something out of character, and I thought his performance as Dominick was impressive. There may have been a couple of points that seemed a little out of place, but on the whole the part was well scripted and James' depiction was very convincing. There was a slightly odd dynamic between Dominick and his minions, I liked the variety of personalities though, and Robert Maillet was definitely my favourite as Apex.

Lulu Wilson as Becky kept causing me problems. As I mentioned above, I didn't really like her as a character... I'm not sure quite where I fell out with her along the way. The beginning felt insanely unrealistic with regards to her behaviour, and while I found her to be less frustrating when the action started there was still something missing. I wonder if that might be to do with age. She's a 13-year-old girl, just a nudge into the higher teens might have made it more engaging.

I had to tap some expert knowledge when it came to the cinematography (thank you, Clare), after some investigation I'm going to say that there are a lot of transitions that lay somewhere between a match cut and an invisible cut. At the beginning of the film it's used to show the comparison of Becky at school and the convicts in prison, and that worked, I liked it. But it happens more, and that novelty value wore off quickly and I was expecting more of it, which became distracting.

There's a lot of gore on-screen throughout, with the accompaniment of some slightly dubious effects on occasions. On the whole the gratuitous violence amused me for its sheer outrageousness. One scene will get you a bit (well, it did me), you'll know it when you see it. Was all this violence needed? Probably not. Was it entertaining in the action of it all? Yes... probably.

Even with my conflicted feelings at the beginning of the film, I did come out enjoying myself. There are hints of a spicy Home Alone at work, somewhere just shy of Better Watch Out.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/01/becky-movie-review.html
  
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Will Oldham recommended Badlands (1973) in Movies (curated)

 
Badlands (1973)
Badlands (1973)
1973 | Crime, Drama

"It would just be dumb not to include this. I have been once accused of being irreverent above all, and I am in danger of proving that here when I say that I find most Malick 2.0 movies to be ridiculous. I do like To the Wonder because it’s pulpy. When I heard that Malick was making The Thin Red Line, I checked James Jones’s book out of the library and sat in my attic sublet poring over it in anticipation of what was to come, and when it came . . . gee whiz but what an overblown lint ball of homoerotic bluster and worthlessness. And: there’s nothing wrong with Badlands. Beautiful, great music, magical pace, great, great acting. An ultimate movie, so good that it’s understandable how the momentum from Badlands alone can propel boatloads of people to believe that The New World has content. Springsteen appropriated Badlands, using its power to artificially light his Nebraska. Tarantino and Tony Scott used it to make the best screwball romantic comedy of modern times, True Romance. Badlands is as close to a perfect movie as I can think of (though I don’t hold perfection as the most desirable of qualities in anything), one that holds something to draw in almost any audience. Even the brutality that might otherwise repel is balanced enough with gentleness and charisma that I wouldn’t squirm watching the movie with a grandparent. Well: children probably shouldn’t see it. Maybe probably."

Source
  
Now You See Her
Now You See Her
James Patterson | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
4
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
An ability to suspend belief required for this thriller.
My first James Patterson read or as it was an audiobook - listen (yes I live under a rock) and I was really hoping to love it (my parents have passed on a load of books by him so I have a pile to read)

Nina Bloom is a successful New York lawyer and mother but she has only been Nina for 18 years and she would happily forget the life she had before that. Unfortunately events conspire to make Nina have to face her difficult past head on.

Unfortunately the level of craziness in events was too steep for me to get over. I really need a book to play by the rules of the universe it operates in and this just seemed to be one mad capped thing after another. I can deal with the odd coincidence or strange behaviour to try and move the plot along but I felt this needed the suspense of the readers belief to an extent I can't manage. It wasn't helped by a protagonist I felt personally no sympathy for.

It was certainly a fast paced book and if you are happy to go along for the ride I can imagine this being satisfying. I unfortunately found myself just stopping and going "really?" far to much.

Minor issue that I think affected the audio version was the number of chapters in the book meant the narrator going "Chapter x" every few minutes spoiling the flow. I think it had like 120 chapters which for a book I think is around 360 pages seems excessive, probably less jarring if you are reading rather than listening. The breaks just seemed to be in some odd spots as well.

Might give a written Patterson a try and see if I get along better with that.