Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross, #2) in Books
Aug 7, 2019
It all starts off strongly (if very grimly - lots of nasty murder / rape descriptions I’d certainly avoid if your triggered by that sort of thing.) The tension builds nicely with Detective Alex Cross being drawn into the investigation of the disappearance and murder of women from East Cast college campuses. However about halfway it all seems to go off the boil and become very dragged out only to be topped off with a terrible and drawn out ending.
We are constantly told how smart the bad guys are but there's very little evidence of this. As evidenced when they take on Alex Cross on their own patch and somehow don’t seem to have a very good plan at all. This book is so very dated in terms of attitudes and descriptions of women and although I give a lot of lee-way to books from a different time I don’t think this was ever very well written in terms of the female characters. As an audio book I didn't mind it but I can imagine getting wound up reading some of the cliches throughout this book.
It suffers in terms of constantly telling us what to think of characters while not supporting this very well with the poor dialogue.
Philomena: (Film Tie-in Edition)
Book
When she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent at...
You Were Never Really Here
Book
A hammer was Joe's favourite weapon. He was his father's son, after all Soon to become a film...
KyleQ (267 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
Jul 20, 2020
Oddly enough, comedian Danny McBride was a writer, while director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) directed.
I blame much of my distaste on their overhyping it. They said this would be a slower movie focused on creating suspense ala the original.
In reality, this more than tripled the body count, even surpassing Rob Zombie's remake which was 10 minutes longer.
From the get-go, Michael just wanders about killing people, at one point we just follow him walking down a street randomly killing people. This has more senseless violence then Zombie's outings.
Another thing I didn't like was that, with this only following the original in which after escaping, he killed 4 people. It doesn't make sense that he would be this popular legend still talked about 40 years later.
Also, victims are idiots, it's no shock who gets killed. Honestly, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) was the only likable character, and even she pushed it a bit.
For positives, Carpenter's score was great, I liked some of the camera work. Intro credits were cool, throwing back to the original. And Curtis was good returning as Laurie Strode.
I really wanted to like 2018's Halloween, but it lacked suspense, characters were dumb, it felt more like a senseless action/comedy than horror. This would've fit the Friday the 13th franchise better. I really hope that the sequels are better.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Halloween (1978) in Movies
Sep 29, 2020
Halloween is iconic in several ways. A big part of that is it's characters. Laurie Strode is considered by many to be the quintessential scream queen/final girl and that is completely down to Jamie Lee Curtis. Her character is down to earth and relatable, realistic but shows resolve by the time the credits role. This has resulted in her return many times throughout the franchise and is still beloved now.
Donald Pleasance as Dr Loomis is another main stay of the franchise. His character arc is more tempestuous than Laurie's and as a result is less impactful overall, but is an important part nonetheless, especially in the original.
But what would Halloween be if it wasn't for Michael Myers, and indisputable behemoth of horror. His first outing is easily his best, with just enough back story to intrigue, and a quiet determination in the way he mercilessly and calmly stalks his victims. His souless, white mask (a mask infamously modelled after William Shatner) and dark jumpsuit is a simple yet effective aesthetic.
Some of the shots in Halloween are genuinely chilling - they got me when I was a kid, and they still get me now. One shot that always sticks in my head is when Laurie clocks Michael a little way down the street staring at her from behind a bush in broad daylight. The whole film is creepy, something that has seldom been imitated in the huge number of Slashers that followed in its wake.
This is all topped off by the instantly recognisable music score, composed by director John Carpenter (the talented bastard). I'm an unashamed Carpenter fan, and my love for his work started right here, as it did for many others.
Halloween is a film that is rightly still talked about today. It will never fade away, and it's simply down to how good it is, even all these years later. It's a must see piece of cinema, and it stands shoulder to shoulder with The Thing as my personal favourite horror of all time.
Holby City - Series 19
TV Show
The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical...
Drama
Hugo: The Shooting Script
Book
Director Martin Scorsese, the legendary storyteller, decided to make his first-ever 3D film based on...
Natasha Khan recommended Bad by Michael Jackson in Music (curated)
The Wanted
Book
As addictive as Lee Child and as explosive as Michael Connelly – the new thriller from Robert...
mystery thriller
Hard Prejudice (Dan Reno Novel #5)
Book
The DNA evidence should have made the rape a slam dunk case… But after the evidence disappeared...