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Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Pontypool (2009) in Movies
Jun 7, 2020
Shock Jock Grant Mazzy starts a new job as the morning DJ for the small-town radio station of Pontypool in Ontario, Canada. Struggling with the change of pace Grant and the rest of the stations staff are unprepared for the reports of rioting that start to flood into the show.
Pontypool takes ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Zombie’ movies and adds a nice little twist. The majority of the movie is set in the confines of a small radio station and the three leads are fed information via phone calls and police broadcasts which means that they and therefore the viewer doesn’t see what is happening in the town. The film handles this restricted setting well, slowly building up the atmosphere and tension felt by the three main cast members and playing on Grant’s lack of ‘Small town experience’.
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, Pontypool doesn’t have a lot of visible blood and gore, having most of the violence described instead of shown. This makes the one or two violent scenes even more meaningful as they aren’t just there for the sake of the gore but do actually add something to the atmosphere and story, this is also helped by the fact that we don’t knowingly see a zombie until past the half way point.
Pontypool is an interesting, atmospheric film that relies on story over the need for effect, not only due to any budget restrictions but also because that is what the type of story it is trying to tell.
Pontypool takes ‘Outbreak’ and ‘Zombie’ movies and adds a nice little twist. The majority of the movie is set in the confines of a small radio station and the three leads are fed information via phone calls and police broadcasts which means that they and therefore the viewer doesn’t see what is happening in the town. The film handles this restricted setting well, slowly building up the atmosphere and tension felt by the three main cast members and playing on Grant’s lack of ‘Small town experience’.
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, Pontypool doesn’t have a lot of visible blood and gore, having most of the violence described instead of shown. This makes the one or two violent scenes even more meaningful as they aren’t just there for the sake of the gore but do actually add something to the atmosphere and story, this is also helped by the fact that we don’t knowingly see a zombie until past the half way point.
Pontypool is an interesting, atmospheric film that relies on story over the need for effect, not only due to any budget restrictions but also because that is what the type of story it is trying to tell.
David McK (3194 KP) rated The Last Command (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, #3) in Books
Nov 21, 2021
The final part of Timothy Zahn's 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy, which I first read way back in the early to mid 1990s ('94, '95, thereabouts).
So we're talking before the Prequel trilogy, never mind the Sequel trilogy. Before even the 'Special Editions' of the original movies.
And, talking of the Sequel Trilogy: I'm of the opinion that these would have been a better basis for those films than the disjointed mess we eventually got: there's a clear overall arc to the plot here, it doesn't disrespect the core characters (Han, Luke, Leia) while also does both deepen and expand upon the original trilogy, and introduces certain characters and locations that later made their way into the mainline movies: Coruscant? Grand Admiral Thrawn? The Noghri? All have their first appearances in these novels. I'm still waiting for Mara Jade to make her live-action debut, though ...
That's not to say that changes would have been needed: The Clone Wars mentioned here, for example, here has the Clones as the villains of the piece, and makes absolutely no reference to the Droid armies of the Trade Federation (understandably, as - remember - this was released way before 1999s 'The Phantom Menace').
All in all, this is a strong trilogy of novels that laid the groundwork for what would later become known as the Expanded Universe- later renamed as Legends - and of which parts are now being cherry-picked to fit into the main story lines following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm back in (roughly) 2012 or so.
So we're talking before the Prequel trilogy, never mind the Sequel trilogy. Before even the 'Special Editions' of the original movies.
And, talking of the Sequel Trilogy: I'm of the opinion that these would have been a better basis for those films than the disjointed mess we eventually got: there's a clear overall arc to the plot here, it doesn't disrespect the core characters (Han, Luke, Leia) while also does both deepen and expand upon the original trilogy, and introduces certain characters and locations that later made their way into the mainline movies: Coruscant? Grand Admiral Thrawn? The Noghri? All have their first appearances in these novels. I'm still waiting for Mara Jade to make her live-action debut, though ...
That's not to say that changes would have been needed: The Clone Wars mentioned here, for example, here has the Clones as the villains of the piece, and makes absolutely no reference to the Droid armies of the Trade Federation (understandably, as - remember - this was released way before 1999s 'The Phantom Menace').
All in all, this is a strong trilogy of novels that laid the groundwork for what would later become known as the Expanded Universe- later renamed as Legends - and of which parts are now being cherry-picked to fit into the main story lines following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm back in (roughly) 2012 or so.
Kel (0 KP) rated Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Books
Sep 30, 2017
A must read
I am currently reading this book for the 8th time but, this time I am reading aloud to my son. We absolutely can not wait to see "what happens next" and, even though I know the book, on each reading it's like reading for the first time. My son is now waiting his acceptance letter from Hogwarts (he has not seen all the movies yet as he won't sit for long periods of time) I will not be telling him what happens. The book is a modern day classic and can be read at any level (although some words may be hard to pronounce).
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Thrawn (Star Wars: Thrawn #1) in Books
Dec 17, 2017
Great character (1 more)
Loved reading about his rise to power, attitude tactics
I have to say I am not a reader. Not by a long-shot. Since high school, I can probably count the number of books I have read on one hand. I know there are a lot of book reviewers out there, and I wish I was like you, but I chose movies as a passion instead.
Having said all that, I really couldn't put this one down. It was captivating in the Star Wars universe. I find Thrawn to be extremely interesting, multi-faceted, and treacherous. His scheming and manipulations are epic.
It probably took me a lot longer to finish than most voracious readers, but it was well worth my time.
Having said all that, I really couldn't put this one down. It was captivating in the Star Wars universe. I find Thrawn to be extremely interesting, multi-faceted, and treacherous. His scheming and manipulations are epic.
It probably took me a lot longer to finish than most voracious readers, but it was well worth my time.
ClareR (5577 KP) rated Uncommon Type: Some Stories in Books
Dec 31, 2017
Where to next?
To play it safe, I borrowed this book from the library - who knows what to expect from an actor who has decided that he wants to write? To say that I'm surprised by this collection of short stories would be an understatement. They have an old fashioned feel to them: the use of language reminds me of movies set in the 20s - 30s. Perhaps it's because he typed them all up on one of his old-fashioned typewriters? Some interesting stories: a bit of time travel, a couple of immigrant stories and much more (it's a big book!). The newspaper-column type stories didn't do it for me, I'm afraid, and I skipped them.
I'm interested to see where he goes with this next!!
I'm interested to see where he goes with this next!!
Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated Spider-Man (2002) in Movies
Jan 8, 2018
MCU
The first modern day Spider Man movie. Of all of the spider man movies this one to me seems to follow the comic on really how he bacme the famous super hero. We see the nerdy love struck Peter Parker get bit by a genetically enhanced spider and get multiple talents of the spider. Once he has learned of his powers we see the typical MCU plot of a family member gets killed and he vows revenge to make it right but, by doing so he learns that revenge isn't always important but helping others from suffering the same fate is more important. We see him square off against the Green Goblin who is today still one of my favorite villains in all of the MCU
Tron (26 KP) rated The Fate of the Furious (2017) in Movies
May 16, 2017
Car chases (1 more)
Explosions
Even less plot than usual (1 more)
Not enough cars
This made me sad.
As a religious Fast & Furious fan this made me really, really upset. I have loved alllllll of the previous films and had mid to high expectations for this baby. I was sorely disappointed... The plot jumped so badly that I actually got up in the middle of the film and asked the attendant if something had gone wrong and we'd missed a bit! (Embarrassing!) It completely skipped my favourite part of the movies - the bit where they gather and introduce the team. Gone! It didn't even lay out the plot step by step for those among us needing the extra hints. It really made me sad.
Jessalyn Joy (118 KP) rated Hacksaw Ridge (2016) in Movies
Jul 16, 2017
characters (3 more)
storyline
soundtrack
cast
WOW!! AMAZING!! INCREDIBLE! BEAUTIFUL! SURPRISING!
Contains spoilers, click to show
It was all the words I put in the heading of my rating. I loved Andrew Garfield in it as the main character. I think he did an AMAZING job playing the role of Desmond T Doss. It is rated R but I really liked it. I was leery about it because it's rated R, which I am about ALL rated R movies but I really enjoyed it. Sam Worthington is also in it. He plays the lead male character in AVATAR. I think he did a really good job in it too. It also stars Teresa Palmer who is also in The Choice. Overall, I really enjoyed it! I would watch it again AND HAVE!
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Nice Guys (2016) in Movies
Jul 19, 2017
Witty script (1 more)
Crowe & Gosling
An original laugh
The Nice Guys is directed by Shane Black and stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as two very different kinds of private investigators. The movie is great and has Shane Black’s fingerprints all over it. It is especially reminiscent of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the Lethal Weapon movies. Typical flawless hero Ryan Gosling is cast here perfectly as a burnt out alcoholic wimp of a man, his comedic timing is perfect and seeing that in tandem with Russell Crowe’s no nonsense hard man act makes for fantastic chemistry and comedy gold. The plot is kind of all over the place, but a tight, cleverly written script holds the whole thing together.
Ellie Haughey (3 KP) rated Netflix in Apps
Jan 13, 2018
A list of old and fairly new movies (1 more)
Have more than one profile
Netflix
With Netflix I use it quiet a lot. The good points are that there are old classic films on there to fairly new films. There are even foreign films there that I’m quiet fond of.
The bad points I will note is that there is hardly any updates of the site to do with films or box sets and if there is it’s only 1 or 2. The other bad side to it is the price isn’t seem to be sticking to what I agreed the price seems to be rising even though nothing is changing.
Fairly overall it is a good app.
The bad points I will note is that there is hardly any updates of the site to do with films or box sets and if there is it’s only 1 or 2. The other bad side to it is the price isn’t seem to be sticking to what I agreed the price seems to be rising even though nothing is changing.
Fairly overall it is a good app.