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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Get Out (2017) in Movies
Feb 3, 2020
Psychologcally Disburing
Jordan Peele goes from comedy to horror, as his directorial debut, he does a excellent/fantasic/phenomenal job. Going from one genre to anethor is hard, but Jordan Peele did the impossible, and he successed, all expectations. This film is psycologically twisted, horrorfyng, suspenseful and thrilling till the very end.
So this movie does have a theme, This disturbing film ... is really about how white America has mastered its relationship with black America. Within all of the interracial tension is the white American’s strange envy of the grim determination, melancholy humor, and creative strength of the black race. ... But Peele’s irony is that white America will continue to do what it does despite these truths, and, sadly, so must black America remain hypnotized.
The film also depicts the lack of attention on missing black Americans compared to missing white females. Slate's Damon Young stated the film's premise was "depressingly plausible ... Although black people only comprise 13 percent of America's population, they are 34 percent of America's missing, a reality that exists as the result of a mélange of racial and socioeconomic factors rendering black lives demonstratively less valuable than the lives [of] our white counterparts.
Peele does a excellent of this theme, of the world that we live in today and his views on it.
The Plot: Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
This film is a must watch, if you havent seen it, than go and see it. Its psycologically twisted, horrorfying, thrilling, suspenseful and overall excellent.
So this movie does have a theme, This disturbing film ... is really about how white America has mastered its relationship with black America. Within all of the interracial tension is the white American’s strange envy of the grim determination, melancholy humor, and creative strength of the black race. ... But Peele’s irony is that white America will continue to do what it does despite these truths, and, sadly, so must black America remain hypnotized.
The film also depicts the lack of attention on missing black Americans compared to missing white females. Slate's Damon Young stated the film's premise was "depressingly plausible ... Although black people only comprise 13 percent of America's population, they are 34 percent of America's missing, a reality that exists as the result of a mélange of racial and socioeconomic factors rendering black lives demonstratively less valuable than the lives [of] our white counterparts.
Peele does a excellent of this theme, of the world that we live in today and his views on it.
The Plot: Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
This film is a must watch, if you havent seen it, than go and see it. Its psycologically twisted, horrorfying, thrilling, suspenseful and overall excellent.
JT (287 KP) rated Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
Exciting action (1 more)
Tension and drama
Enjoyable summer blockbuster
No question that this sequel went straight into my top ten films for 2014. Exceptionally shot with astounding special effects in part thanks to performance capture king Andy Serkis this is a film that delivers.
Ten years on and with the epidemic wiping out most of the world’s population humans are very much becoming the minority species. A small band of immune survivors still hold out hope that there are others out there and look to make contact with anyone who might be listening.
The apes have now settled deep in the San Francisco forests building their own fully functioning civilisation led by chimpanzee Caesar. What makes this film rise above (sorry) the first is much of the attention focuses on the apes and deep-rooted character development.
Caser is supported by fellow performance-capture actor Toby Kebbell who plays Koba. An ape with a chip on his shoulder after years of being tested on. His dislike for the human race is made obvious to his best friend.
Their simmering relationship is one of the highlights of the film as they battle they decide whether to stay hidden in peace or go to war. With James Franco gone (albeit making a cameo via archived footage), the human-ape relationship is centred on Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Caeser, who are bonded by a begrudging truce for peace.
It’s a film that soaks up tension extremely well. Grand battle sequences are cut between emotional and compelling moments interlocked by a very well written script.
The technical aspects of the film are simply stunning and the large set-pieces make for cataclysmic viewing. Caeser’s army arriving on horseback in a show of force to their human foes is captivating. As is the vertigo wincing finale and attack on the human stronghold.
This is was everything a summer blockbuster should be and is most certainly a template to follow.
Ten years on and with the epidemic wiping out most of the world’s population humans are very much becoming the minority species. A small band of immune survivors still hold out hope that there are others out there and look to make contact with anyone who might be listening.
The apes have now settled deep in the San Francisco forests building their own fully functioning civilisation led by chimpanzee Caesar. What makes this film rise above (sorry) the first is much of the attention focuses on the apes and deep-rooted character development.
Caser is supported by fellow performance-capture actor Toby Kebbell who plays Koba. An ape with a chip on his shoulder after years of being tested on. His dislike for the human race is made obvious to his best friend.
Their simmering relationship is one of the highlights of the film as they battle they decide whether to stay hidden in peace or go to war. With James Franco gone (albeit making a cameo via archived footage), the human-ape relationship is centred on Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Caeser, who are bonded by a begrudging truce for peace.
It’s a film that soaks up tension extremely well. Grand battle sequences are cut between emotional and compelling moments interlocked by a very well written script.
The technical aspects of the film are simply stunning and the large set-pieces make for cataclysmic viewing. Caeser’s army arriving on horseback in a show of force to their human foes is captivating. As is the vertigo wincing finale and attack on the human stronghold.
This is was everything a summer blockbuster should be and is most certainly a template to follow.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Focus (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Focus, a new film starring Will Smith, Rodrigo Santoro, Margot Robbie, and Gerald McRaney seems like it ‘should be’ predictable, but I didn’t find it to be predictable at all.
I only caught one of the tricky story line twists at the last minute, at the very end, and the whole entire movie, I really thought that the leading lady Jess (Margot Robbie) was up to something other than what she was.
The movie overall, after watching it, reminds me a bit of Oceans 11, with twists and turns and surprises and things I just didn’t see coming.
I felt Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon did a great job, and portrayed his relationship, or the fact that he was bothered by his lack of a relationship with Jess very believably.
The story moves along quickly, flowing well, for the most part. We watch Jess try to con Nicky, and watch him school her on ‘how it’s done’.
This sets the tone for the rest of the show which follows Nickys’ path as a con man and him working with his crew in one job after another.
He is supposed to be the best of the best and we watch him successfully carry off con after con in the first half.
The second half of the movie takes place after a number of years have passed, and more closely details Nicky’s feelings or apparent feelings for Jess.
Without revealing too much, I can only say everything is not as it appears, but the action of what is happening is fast enough that it distracted me from being able to concentrate too hard on what the deceptions might be.
I think this might be Will Smiths ‘comeback movie’ after a series of recent films over the past handful of years with him as a headliner have been really, really bad.
I have already encouraged a handful of friends to see the film when it comes to regular release, and I would gladly see it again.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
I only caught one of the tricky story line twists at the last minute, at the very end, and the whole entire movie, I really thought that the leading lady Jess (Margot Robbie) was up to something other than what she was.
The movie overall, after watching it, reminds me a bit of Oceans 11, with twists and turns and surprises and things I just didn’t see coming.
I felt Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon did a great job, and portrayed his relationship, or the fact that he was bothered by his lack of a relationship with Jess very believably.
The story moves along quickly, flowing well, for the most part. We watch Jess try to con Nicky, and watch him school her on ‘how it’s done’.
This sets the tone for the rest of the show which follows Nickys’ path as a con man and him working with his crew in one job after another.
He is supposed to be the best of the best and we watch him successfully carry off con after con in the first half.
The second half of the movie takes place after a number of years have passed, and more closely details Nicky’s feelings or apparent feelings for Jess.
Without revealing too much, I can only say everything is not as it appears, but the action of what is happening is fast enough that it distracted me from being able to concentrate too hard on what the deceptions might be.
I think this might be Will Smiths ‘comeback movie’ after a series of recent films over the past handful of years with him as a headliner have been really, really bad.
I have already encouraged a handful of friends to see the film when it comes to regular release, and I would gladly see it again.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Red 2 (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
RED was such a great movie that it was inevitable a sequel would be made. And here we have it, RED 2. In this follow up to the 2010 film, we find Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) trying to adjust to life in a relationship. Only this is not your typical relationship. Frank’s goal is to keep Sarah safe, while Sarah just wants to get into the thick of things, which quickly happens as Frank and Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) are being hunted due to their involvement in an old operation only known as Nightshade.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.
Sir Curtly Ambrose: Time to Talk
Richie Benaud, Curtly Ambrose, Richard Sydenham and Steve Waugh
Book
Sir Curtly Ambrose is one of the most famous cricket players of all time. He is also notorious for...
Chanelle Hayes: Baring My Heart
Veronica Clark and Chanelle Hayes
Book
Appearing on the eighth series of Big Brother in 2007, Victoria Beckham lookalike Chanelle Hayes...
Douglas Haig as I Knew Him
Book
First published in 1966, Douglas Haig as I Knew Him is a memoir by G.S. Duncan, a Church of Scotland...
Hume's Presence in the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
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Why did David Hume feel so deeply about publishing The Dialouges Concerning Natural Religion that he...
The Japanese Mafia: Yakuza, Law, and the State
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The Japanese mafia - known collectively as yakuza - has had a considerable influence on Japanese...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Promises: Part 1 (Bounty Hunters, #1) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
I borrowed this from the Kindle Unlimited Library.
I haven't read a gay romance in a while. This one tells the story of Duke, a bounty hunter/bail bondsman, who's in his mid 40's still pining over the guy he thought he was in love in, Judge. Then steps in his best friends son, Vaughan, a 31 year old lawyer who's had a crush on Duke for the past decade or so and has now come back to Atlanta to claim him as his own. Not all goes to plan though.
Duke is wary of dating his best friends son and Vaughan is determined to make him realise how right they are for each other. It's kinda cute, how they act around each other - like they're having their first crush.
Admittedly though, I did think that Vaughan's behaviour was a bit full on at times. Following Duke to Macy's and then following him into the dressing room? Fair enough we had a hot scene in that dressing room but it was still a little stalker-ish. I think because of that I didn't really feel their relationship. There were some cute moments throughout.
I did like how Duke saw Vaughan. He was bowled over by the sight of him and his description of him was downright awesome. It was how he described Vaughan's voice that I liked the most. Even I got a few tingles.
I liked it but it didn't completely pull me in. The relationship didn't entirely work for me. I get lust but these two seemed to fall into love really quickly and easily. I felt like I missed something.
One thing that has got me intrigued is Quick and Dr Chauncey. With how Quick spoke to the poor doctor in this one, I have no idea how he's going to straighten things out with him but after seeing that bit from the doctor's POV, I really hope they do because the poor guy deserves someone who'll stay.
I may read it at a later time.
I haven't read a gay romance in a while. This one tells the story of Duke, a bounty hunter/bail bondsman, who's in his mid 40's still pining over the guy he thought he was in love in, Judge. Then steps in his best friends son, Vaughan, a 31 year old lawyer who's had a crush on Duke for the past decade or so and has now come back to Atlanta to claim him as his own. Not all goes to plan though.
Duke is wary of dating his best friends son and Vaughan is determined to make him realise how right they are for each other. It's kinda cute, how they act around each other - like they're having their first crush.
Admittedly though, I did think that Vaughan's behaviour was a bit full on at times. Following Duke to Macy's and then following him into the dressing room? Fair enough we had a hot scene in that dressing room but it was still a little stalker-ish. I think because of that I didn't really feel their relationship. There were some cute moments throughout.
I did like how Duke saw Vaughan. He was bowled over by the sight of him and his description of him was downright awesome. It was how he described Vaughan's voice that I liked the most. Even I got a few tingles.
I liked it but it didn't completely pull me in. The relationship didn't entirely work for me. I get lust but these two seemed to fall into love really quickly and easily. I felt like I missed something.
One thing that has got me intrigued is Quick and Dr Chauncey. With how Quick spoke to the poor doctor in this one, I have no idea how he's going to straighten things out with him but after seeing that bit from the doctor's POV, I really hope they do because the poor guy deserves someone who'll stay.
I may read it at a later time.