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Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated Misery (1990) in Movies
Jan 19, 2018
Stephen King
Kathy Bates best movie ever in my opinion
The story of a nurse who happens to rescue her favorite author from the scene of a car crash and brings him to her little home to try and help him recuperate. However once she finds out that her authors story has an ending she doesn't like let the sick and twisted mind of King take over.
If you have read the book then the movie is as graphic as that.
The story of a nurse who happens to rescue her favorite author from the scene of a car crash and brings him to her little home to try and help him recuperate. However once she finds out that her authors story has an ending she doesn't like let the sick and twisted mind of King take over.
If you have read the book then the movie is as graphic as that.
Katey Bassett (610 KP) rated Another Place at the Table in Books
Dec 10, 2018
This book was, at times, extremely hard to read and very hard to put down once I began. I felt as though it was so easy to relate to which was the most devastating part of the book. It's definitely one I will recommend from here on out. It left me feeling extremely humbled and extremely thankful I had someone like my grandparents around when I was a child because most foster children are not lucky enough to be placed with someone like Kathy and Bruce's family.
Kaz (232 KP) rated Never Let Me Go in Books
May 25, 2019 (Updated May 25, 2019)
A Beautiful, but Disturbing Read
I read 'Never Let Me Go' a few years ago and, after just finishing re-reading this book, I realize that you possibly need to read it more than once, to really appreciate how brilliant this is.
'Never Let Me Go' tells the complex relationship between 3 friends Ruth, Tommy and Kathy, the narrator of this story. These characters are so well formed, that I totally believed that these people exist.
This is a story about friendship and growing up, which is something that you can relate to. However, the macabre twist to this story, delves deeper into what it is to be human.
My only real criticism of this book is that at times, it was a little slow. This melancholy, slower pace suited the story well. Due to the fact that the truth of what was happening to the main characters, was revealed slowly, meant that this had more impact. However, at times I felt like Kathy would be explaining something that had happened, but doing it in such a rambling way, that I wished that she would just get to the point.
Despite this little criticism, I think that this book is a beautiful and disturbing look into a future, that could potentially happen.
I would definitely recommend it.
'Never Let Me Go' tells the complex relationship between 3 friends Ruth, Tommy and Kathy, the narrator of this story. These characters are so well formed, that I totally believed that these people exist.
This is a story about friendship and growing up, which is something that you can relate to. However, the macabre twist to this story, delves deeper into what it is to be human.
My only real criticism of this book is that at times, it was a little slow. This melancholy, slower pace suited the story well. Due to the fact that the truth of what was happening to the main characters, was revealed slowly, meant that this had more impact. However, at times I felt like Kathy would be explaining something that had happened, but doing it in such a rambling way, that I wished that she would just get to the point.
Despite this little criticism, I think that this book is a beautiful and disturbing look into a future, that could potentially happen.
I would definitely recommend it.
EmersonRose (320 KP) rated Never Let Me Go in Books
Nov 20, 2019
I love reading this book. I found the world that Ishiguro created to be well built where while it had the aspect of fantastical or sci-fi, it really felt real. From beginning to end I really felt connected to the characters, and I loved the way in which the book was written as Kathy thinks back on her childhood. Ishiguro is certainly a master at writing story that has an organic flow of the way in which people think back on memories, pieces connected bast on subject and feeling rather than in a linear form. I would highly recommend giving this book a read.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Bad Santa 2 (2016) in Movies
Jan 11, 2020
Meh
The original movie was a real guilty pleasure. Dark, twisted, funny and something very different from the million other saccharine and sentimental Christmas movies out there. The sequel is unfortunately very disappointing, it seems to think just consistently swearing is an acceptable substitute for actual humour . The writing is very weak and none of the actors look like they want to be there. It feels like a contractual obligation and a waste of talented actors like Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates. The delightfully weird sandwich obsessed Thurman Murman does provide a bit of amusement and a few callbacks to the superior original but overall this is a poor sequel.
Bostonian916 (449 KP) rated Richard Jewell (2019) in Movies
Aug 4, 2020
I presume that most people have all but forgotten the crazy story of Richard Jewell and the events surrounding the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bomb. This retelling is done very well with a cast that fires on all cylinders.
There are some times that the moving gets a bit slow, but it almost has to in order to tell the story it's conveying.
Sam Rockwell deserves far more credit that he received for his role, and Kathy Bates might have been shunned for a supporting actress award, as well as Jon Hamm for supporting actor.
If you have any interest in history or events from American (or world) history, this movie is definitely worth the time.
There are some times that the moving gets a bit slow, but it almost has to in order to tell the story it's conveying.
Sam Rockwell deserves far more credit that he received for his role, and Kathy Bates might have been shunned for a supporting actress award, as well as Jon Hamm for supporting actor.
If you have any interest in history or events from American (or world) history, this movie is definitely worth the time.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Misery (1990) in Movies
Oct 11, 2018
Brilliant
I need to be very honest now, despite being a massive film and Stephen King fan, I have never seen Misery until now. I’ve read the book many times, but for some reason I never got round to watching the film, and I’m pretty ashamed of myself.
This is one of the best Stephen King adaptations out there. Kathy Bates is phenomenal as Annie, she plays her perfectly. James Caan would never have been my first choice as Paul Sheldon, but he does very well. The entire film is so true to the book, it’s surprisingly good. Whilst I wouldn’t call it a horror film, it’s definitely one of the best thriller films out there despite its age. I can’t fault this film at all.
This is one of the best Stephen King adaptations out there. Kathy Bates is phenomenal as Annie, she plays her perfectly. James Caan would never have been my first choice as Paul Sheldon, but he does very well. The entire film is so true to the book, it’s surprisingly good. Whilst I wouldn’t call it a horror film, it’s definitely one of the best thriller films out there despite its age. I can’t fault this film at all.
Lenard (726 KP) rated Richard Jewell (2019) in Movies
Jan 6, 2020
Richard Jewell is a mixed bag of timeliness and a victim of the country's short-time memory. It was 23 years ago that a security guard in Olympic Park at the Atlanta Olympics discovered a bomb. Hailed as a national hero until he became the prime suspect, Richard Jewell's simple world was torn asunder. Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates give great performances as Richard's friend/lawyer who tried his best to keep Richard from constantly signing his death confession and Richard's mother respectively. (Imagine if the two had played the other's role!) Richard fought every day to protest his innocence against the two most powerful forces in the world, the American government and the American press. Eventually, the real culprit was found, but not before a man's life was nearly destroyed in pursuit for being "right."
AJaneClark (3962 KP) rated Bones Of The Lost in Books
Dec 6, 2019 (Updated Dec 6, 2019)
Always gets the bad guy
In the 16th instalment of the bones series by Kathy Reichs, Dr Temperance Brennan is travelling from Charlotte to Afghanistan and back again. With appearances from all the regular characters, Temperance sets out to solve the murder of a mystery Jane Doe, and the potential unlawful killing of Afghani villagers.
Temperance aims to give the girl an identity, and figure out just who is to blame for cutting her life short. All the while Tempe is dealing with her own issues, the lack of contact from her on/off lover Andy, her unconventional relationships with her ex -husband, her flaky sister and her daughter.
Reichs always writes very well, including using the correct terminology, allowing readers to get a grasp of how the characters are really feeling, and keeping you on the edge of the mystery with little tiny bites of the truth, dotted with the odd red herring.
Temperance aims to give the girl an identity, and figure out just who is to blame for cutting her life short. All the while Tempe is dealing with her own issues, the lack of contact from her on/off lover Andy, her unconventional relationships with her ex -husband, her flaky sister and her daughter.
Reichs always writes very well, including using the correct terminology, allowing readers to get a grasp of how the characters are really feeling, and keeping you on the edge of the mystery with little tiny bites of the truth, dotted with the odd red herring.
JT (287 KP) rated Richard Jewell (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) is a softly spoken, overzealous university campus security guard whose heart is in the right place and is dedicated to his job – maybe a little too much.
When he discovers a backpack containing a pipe bomb at a celebratory music concert at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, his quick thinking saves countless lives. Unfortunately for Richard, he becomes the prime suspect in the investigation and with it, his life is turned upside down as he’s thrust into the media spotlight.
Directed by Clint Eastwood Richard Jewell follows in similar vein to films like American Sniper and The 15:17 to Paris where the central characters struggle with the media attention they receive in the aftermath of events.
The scene during the concert is recreated with meticulous precision and attention to detail and there is genuine tension as you realise that at any point the bomb is going to explode. The investigation is led by FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) who with little to go on places Richard in the spotlight and will stop at nothing to prove his guilt, using every trick in the book to get Richard to confess.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Kathy Scruggs played by Olivia Wilde was portrayed unfairly for implying that she traded sex for stories. Having died in 2001 she was not around to defend herself, which is a black mark for Eastwood on an otherwise very well directed film.
The journal ran the story much to the delight of Scruggs, but it painted Jewell as the villain causing considerable pain to him and his mother Bobi (Kathy Bates) who delivers another acting masterclass in her supporting role. Scruggs realised her error later on but it was too little too late as the damage to Jewell’s reputation had already been done.
One of the highlights of the film is the relationship between Richard and attorney Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell). It’s very heartwarming as Watson stood by him until the end even right up to the point of passing on that the real bomber, Eric Rudolph, had confessed to the crime. Richard Jewell is not a gripping film outside of the first half but it’s a powerful watch heightened by excellent acting.
When he discovers a backpack containing a pipe bomb at a celebratory music concert at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, his quick thinking saves countless lives. Unfortunately for Richard, he becomes the prime suspect in the investigation and with it, his life is turned upside down as he’s thrust into the media spotlight.
Directed by Clint Eastwood Richard Jewell follows in similar vein to films like American Sniper and The 15:17 to Paris where the central characters struggle with the media attention they receive in the aftermath of events.
The scene during the concert is recreated with meticulous precision and attention to detail and there is genuine tension as you realise that at any point the bomb is going to explode. The investigation is led by FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) who with little to go on places Richard in the spotlight and will stop at nothing to prove his guilt, using every trick in the book to get Richard to confess.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Kathy Scruggs played by Olivia Wilde was portrayed unfairly for implying that she traded sex for stories. Having died in 2001 she was not around to defend herself, which is a black mark for Eastwood on an otherwise very well directed film.
The journal ran the story much to the delight of Scruggs, but it painted Jewell as the villain causing considerable pain to him and his mother Bobi (Kathy Bates) who delivers another acting masterclass in her supporting role. Scruggs realised her error later on but it was too little too late as the damage to Jewell’s reputation had already been done.
One of the highlights of the film is the relationship between Richard and attorney Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell). It’s very heartwarming as Watson stood by him until the end even right up to the point of passing on that the real bomber, Eric Rudolph, had confessed to the crime. Richard Jewell is not a gripping film outside of the first half but it’s a powerful watch heightened by excellent acting.