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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Holiday for Skins (Bongo Fury #2) in Books

Nov 11, 2019

Following on from the events in the first Bongo Fury book, this novella once again follows the music shop owner Jimmy Black as he unwillingly gets mired in the underworld of Northern Ireland. After the events of the first book, a silent struggle for power among the criminal elements is escalating and people are dying. All Jimmy wants to do is make sure he isn't one of them.

As with the first book the charm of this sequel is in the leading character. Wry, witty, foul mouthed with an eye for the darkly humorous observation, having Jimmy once again show us his world is very welcome. Together with the twists and turns of the plot (a little less straightforward than the first novel) this makes a cracking quick read that combines noir thriller and laugh out loud humour.

Kudos

Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) in Movies

Nov 14, 2019 (Updated Nov 15, 2019)

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

2019 | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy

7.9

(108 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Poke-tastic!

The only good film based on a game, ever! Both fun and a little crazy, if is good because it does not take itself too seriously. Ryan Reynolds once again stealing the show, a perfect casting and brings is own wit tho the picture.
Making a live action Pokemon film was going to be a challenge, but they have done a great job, from showing the world of life with Pokemon, to the more realistic looking pokemon, all in a gritty mondern film noir style setting.
It is just nerdy enough to keep fans happy, and has enough Reynolds and jokes to keep everyone else on their seats.
A great film, and lovely to see something that is not a sequel or a remake. It certainly is working hard to be the very best, like no video game film ever was.

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Detective Story (1951) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020

Detective Story (1951)

1951 | Classics, Drama, Mystery

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Adapted from a stage play that he loved, Detective story typifies the kind of roles of a man under pressure that Douglas came to be indelibly identified with. This time it was his co-star Eleanor Parker who got the Academy Award nomination, but it was their chemistry that really drew the eye. The troubles of life, and the task of being a good man in the face of a bad world were the themes Douglas tackled here. The setting of crime fighting over one day in the 21st precinct is secondary to the personal fight of the “hard-nosed” Jim McLeod, who does his best but can never get ahead. There are shadows of such films as Miller’s Crossing, LA Confidential and even Blade Runner in here. Notable for some gorgeous film-noir photography, and the obligatory Douglas breakdown speech.

Kudos

Foreign Bodies

Martin Edwards

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Today, translated crime fiction is in vogue - but this was not always the case. A century before...

Travis Knight recommended Yojimbo (1961) in Movies (curated)

Yojimbo (1961)

1961 | Action, Adventure, Classics

8.4

(9 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"An utter masterpiece from the great Akira Kurosawa. Curiously, a Dashiell Hammet novel provided the inspiration for this film. I love that an American pulp novel from the 1920s was the spark for a staggering work of genius from Japan over three decades later. It demonstrates how art can transcend barriers across time, space, and culture and speak to us in a meaningful way. Yojimbo was remade as Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western classic A Fistful of Dollars, which I saw and loved long before I knew the original even existed. But when I discovered Yojimbo, it was like a gift from the universe. Everything else paled in comparison. Yojimbo is part western, part gangster noir, part samurai story, all awesome. It’s so good. Plus, if Kubo’s dad looks a wee bit like Kurosawa’s resplendent muse Toshiro Mifune, that’s not necessarily a coincidence."

Source

Kudos

Richard Hell recommended Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) in Movies (curated)

"Bresson is my favorite director. He personifies my values in movies. My fetish film of his is The Devil, Probably, but it’s not available from Criterion. The ones that are offered are all magnificent, but I have to go with the donkey. Above all, Bresson is unconventional; he had the vision and fortitude to penetrate and disintegrate received ideas and habits to make films that start from square one. He’s ultra-intelligent and ultrasensitive, with the eye of a painter; his films are near-noir in their bleak, unblinking presentation of human existence—a large proportion of them include suicide of the protagonist—while they’re also exhilarating and uplifting in their God’s-eye views. Balthazar, of course, stars a saintly donkey, the beauty of whom rivals that of his costar, a mournfully angelic young Anne Wiazemsky."

Source

Kudos

Dean (6927 KP) rated Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) in Movies

Aug 31, 2019

Great cast (1 more)

Cool 60's soundtrack

A classy Thriller

Finally got to see this on Sky cinema as I missed it at the cinema. This is a very good thriller. It has a very strong ensemble cast line up, Jeff Bridges stands out. A bi-state Motel, which has long seen better days, is the backdrop as a group of strangers check in, all with something to hide.
The Motel set adds a cool and quirky location and the soundtrack is great. As the reasons for each of them being there unfold we get a slick, stylish thriller with a slight noir touch to it. You don't even notice the long run time, which is always a good sign the story has you hooked in. The ending maybe stopped it from being a classic for me but it's still a highly enjoyable film.