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ClareR (6106 KP) rated Anthem in Books

Apr 26, 2022  
Anthem
Anthem
Noah Hawley | 2022 | Contemporary, Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Where to begin with this book? Well, first off, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was lost in the story whilst I read - it’s very ‘all-consuming’. The main reason for that is that it’s completely out there! It’s unpredictable. I tried to think of another couple of words to go with that, but I can’t get any better than ‘unpredictable’ to be honest.

The pandemic of teenage suicides is disturbing, and reflects their despair at the state of the world left for them by previous generations. Parents with money think that they can prevent their childs’ suicide and cure their anxiety throwing money and anti-depressants at the ‘problem’, and sending them to an Anxiety Abatement Centre - and that’s how Simon meets the Prophet and Louise. And that’s where the quest begins.

It turns out that adults are responsible for more than Climate Change. You can add child abuse and big Pharma into the mix as well. And then there’s the political state of the country, where no party is any better than the other, and what’s more, they’re interchangeable. There was a lot of head nodding going on as I read.

And Noah Hawley breaks the 4th wall as he talks directly to the reader, talking about his thought process in writing the novel.

This book is a huge exaggeration of the state of the world, at the same time as it’s not. I hope it doesn’t come to the things that happen in Anthem, but we’ve seen snapshots of it on the news already.

It’s just the right level of crazy, believable, unbelievable, mind-blowing fiction that keeps me well-entertained. I know Noah Hawley is a screen writer, and I can see this as a film - hey, I’d watch it.
  
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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Red 2 (2013) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019  
Red 2 (2013)
Red 2 (2013)
2013 | Action, Drama
8
7.2 (11 Ratings)
Movie Rating
RED was such a great movie that it was inevitable a sequel would be made. And here we have it, RED 2. In this follow up to the 2010 film, we find Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) trying to adjust to life in a relationship. Only this is not your typical relationship. Frank’s goal is to keep Sarah safe, while Sarah just wants to get into the thick of things, which quickly happens as Frank and Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) are being hunted due to their involvement in an old operation only known as Nightshade.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.