![Great British Bake off Annual: Another Slice](/uploads/profile_image/740/a6433a01-04a8-42d6-9bce-f8082148d740.jpg?m=1522340639)
Great British Bake off Annual: Another Slice
Book
A peek behind-the-scenes of The Great British Bake Off - the perfect gift annual for Christmas. For...
![A Hippo Banquet](/uploads/profile_image/299/f7c764da-117c-4e6d-aefd-44f203deb299.jpg?m=1522323205)
A Hippo Banquet
Book
'While engaged on this hunt I felt the earth quiver under my feet, and heard a soft big soughing...
The World Trade System: Trends and Challenges
Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Pravin Krishna and Arvind Panagariya
Book
When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) metamorphosed into the World Trade...
![The Three Chimneys Marmalade Bible](/uploads/profile_image/203/5958a1be-c37b-4f60-afb6-fb7da3b7f203.jpg?m=1522332237)
The Three Chimneys Marmalade Bible
Book
Marmalade is an iconic Scottish food, traditionally made every year in January and February when...
![Kids Song -Over 160 English Kids Song With Lyrics](/uploads/profile_image/d7f/f8bffef3-91ca-4663-918a-4b2b86273d7f.jpg?m=1522328973)
Kids Song -Over 160 English Kids Song With Lyrics
Education and Music
App
- Over 160+ English Kids Song. - 11 Disc Catalogue, 16 Songs each Disc. Over 160 Songs. - Random...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/bc8/b9768a12-e4b1-4d44-baef-2b4ef2be4bc8.jpg?m=1557634001)
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Nightmare Alley (2021) in Movies
Feb 5, 2022
Firstly, there is no reason for NA to be 150 minutes long. One could argue that it gives us more time with the many characters introduced, but it feels gratuitous. The first hour and a half has its moments for sure, but it sometimes feels a little direction-less before the last hour hits, and things kick off a bit. It's an issue that certainly impacts proceedings, and I feel it could have lost 30 minutes and been a tighter final product.
Thankfully, the assembled cast is stacked with royalty. Willem Dafoe and Toni Collette are two of my favourite working actors, so having them both involved is a treat. Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, and Rooney Mara are great as the main leads, and the rest of the ensemble is rounded out by some fantastic character actors - Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn - good stuff all round.
The overall visual style is wonderfully Del Toro, from the gloomy and misty carnival sights pierced by neon lights, to the snowy city scape of Buffalo, New York. A lot of the cinematography is gorgeous as well, hats off to Dan Laustsen, and is truly bought to life by a beautifully haunting music score from Nathan Johnson.
All in all, Nightmare Alley ultimately suffers from its pacing, and feels like a slog here and there. However, there are enough positives to carry it over the finish line. I look forward to checking out the black and white version in the near future.
![The Real Persuasion: Portrait of a Real-Life Austen Heroine](/uploads/profile_image/7f1/d64cd7dc-1d0b-4e64-9661-99c4b48227f1.jpg?m=1522357151)
The Real Persuasion: Portrait of a Real-Life Austen Heroine
Book
Her father is a vain, foolish baronet, obsessed with his lineage but forced to quit his ancestral...
![Future Home of the Living God](/uploads/profile_image/83f/e27e8c6a-53cd-4866-a139-02850d8cb83f.jpg?m=1522337990)
Future Home of the Living God
Book
'Erdrich is one of the greatest living American writers' Guardian Louise Erdrich, the New York...
fantasy science fiction
![Spectacles](/uploads/profile_image/d37/d940f2c3-0be6-4ce4-b865-d2c0ef4fad37.jpg?m=1522330810)
Spectacles
Book
Spectacles is the hilarious, creative and incredibly moving memoir from much loved comedian, writer...
![Sisters of the East End: A 1950s Nurse and Midwife](/uploads/profile_image/b29/2e45ee6c-f105-48bd-9b9e-953fb43a6b29.jpg?m=1522328342)
Sisters of the East End: A 1950s Nurse and Midwife
Book
Heart-warming tales of nursing and midwifery from the Sisters who worked with Jennifer Worth. "A...