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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Kitchen (2019) in Movies

May 17, 2020  
The Kitchen (2019)
The Kitchen (2019)
2019 | Action, Crime, Drama
6
6.1 (18 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Thinly written and directed
A rainy weekend is the perfect time to catch up with films that I meant to see in the Cineplex, but just didn't get around to it. So it was with some excitement that I flipped on the "Women Run The Mafia" movie THE KITCHEN from 2019.

I should have watched 21 BRIDGES.

Based on the DC/VERTIGO graphic novel, THE KITCHEN is set in the late 1970's in NYC and offers up the "what if" scenario of 3 women that take over the Mafia. A pretty interesting premise that could have been the GODFATHER or GOODFELLA's of the day (or...at least...another WIDOWS from 2018), but instead THE KITCHEN falls flat like the all female GHOSTBUSTERS from a few year's ago.

A star of that Ghostbuster's film, Melissa McCarthy leads the cast as Kathy Brennan, the wife of a mobster who was sent to jail and becomes the leader of the group. McCarthy has shown that she has the "chops" as an actress to tackle this role, but she never really gets there. There is no real depth or emotional stakes to her character throughout the course of the film. The screenplay (and McCarthy's performance) does pick up at the end, but by then, it is too little, too late. Also not fairing well is comedienne Tiffany Hadish as Ruby O'Carroll - an African-American female trying to dominate in a predominately white male world. Again...this character had potential, but the writing and, quite frankly, Hadish's performance just didn't quite succeed.

What did succeed is the always excellent Elisabeth Moss as the 3rd part of this triumvirate. Her "mousy, abused housewife turned stone cold killer" was interesting to watch - especially when paired with Domhnall Gleeson's assassin about 1/2 way through the movie. I wanted to watch a movie with these 2 criminals on the run.

I've mentioned the weak writing as part the issue here, so I'll have to mention first time Veteran Writer and first-time Director Andrea Berloff as the main culprit here. She wrote STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON so she has it in her, but here, the screenplay and characterizations are "thin". Perhaps, a good Director could have made something out of this, but she also made her Directing debut with this film, so it just didn't work well enough.

This isn't a bad film, it just isn't a very good - or very interesting - one.

Letter Grade B- (for the Moss/Gleeson portion of this film)

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
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Alicia S (193 KP) rated Reaper (Boston Underworld, #2) in Books

Sep 28, 2018  
Reaper (Boston Underworld, #2)
Reaper (Boston Underworld, #2)
A. Zavarelli | 2016 | Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Another FABULOUS book in the Boston Underworld Series!! I was hooked immediately reading Crow and Reaper was no different.. Once day read, didn't want to put it down!? SO much more than just a love story, this series/book is packed with everything from hardcore Mafia dealings, torture and revenge, to scenes that had me bawling in happy tears. Some people are just meant to be together and everything falls into place. That is how I would describe Ronan and Sasha... Two very "different" people who are immediately bonded on some unseen level. They calm and comfort one another like no else has or can, they understand just what the other needs, without pushing. It's beautiful really... Ronan, that quiet misunderstood man we first met in Crow, has finally shed some of his protective layers and, for lack of a better word, blossomed into the man we now see. A man with a purpose and a plan.. To do everything in his power to protect the woman he loves. This book was absolutely incredible- LOVING this series!!! I cringed at the violence, cried my happy tears and surely got a good laugh with some of these guys and their comments.. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend book / author & series!!!
  
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Kristina (502 KP) rated The Beast (The Beast, #1) in Books

Dec 7, 2020  
The Beast (The Beast, #1)
The Beast (The Beast, #1)
Jaden Wilkes | 2014 | Contemporary, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I felt like this story had some potential, especially with the first few chapters. However, it quickly changed for me. "The Beast' is written in dual personalities, that of Dimitri and Columbia, which suited the story fine, but a lot of it felt boringly repetitious - reading almost the exact same moments, just with different points of view. Then came the instalove. Sure, Columbia put up a decent fight, but everything that happens before Columbia returns home literally happens within 2 days, tops. By then, Dimitri is already changing and deciding she's the cure to his darkness and Columbia is trying not to confess that she's already in love with him. I hate to say it, but once both characters suddenly decided it didn't matter how fast they fell for each other, it's what they truly felt, I lost a lot of interest in the story. Jaden promises a tale of darkness without the "typical love story" aspect. Sure, most love stories don't involve an ex-Russian mafia murderer falling in love with a self-harming, sexually abused young woman... But the instalove, the immediate realization that this person is "different", the sudden desire to change a characteristic that's been ingrained for years... That stuff was fluff.