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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated A Dog's Heart in Books

Sep 2, 2017

Fabulous Russian tale about human ethics

What a fantastic satirical book. Think about crossing Frankenstein with My Fair Lady, and then setting it in Soviet Russia. This book is about how human beings are essentially more enslaved to systems than a dog is. A doctor decides to do a science experiment, putting the pituitary gland and testicles of a man into a stray dog to see the results. Instead they end up with a man wolf, who is rude and obnoxious, and demands the same rights as a human being. No sooner is he a man, he is forced to be registered and take part in rebuilding the nation after tsarist Russia. However, as a man he's still treated as a lowly pauper or a dog by the doctor. So who is more free - the dog having to raid bins to search for scraps or the one owned by the doctor and the government? Fabulous little tale.

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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated How to Twist a Dragon's Tale in Books

Apr 27, 2018

I am a huge fan of Cressida Cowell. She's on my Author Watch list! I think she's brilliant. This is the fifth book in the How To Train Your Dragon series, and it was just as clever and hilarious as the other ones. The writing is an interesting combination of poetic and satirical, with just a twinge of sarcasm. The characters are so full of life that I feel like they're my friends. The funny parts are hilarious, and the dramatic parts literally sent shivers down my spine. Only Cressida Cowell can make a fart joke and then make you want to cry two seconds later. Also. The audiobooks are narrated by David Tennant. So there's that. If you haven't listened or read them yet, do so immediately. I guarantee you'll want to be a viking within the first chapter. Appropriate for all ages - See more at: http://www.thelifeandlies.com/2016/07/book-review-how-to-twist-dragons-tail.html#sthash.sjH1e1ur.dpuf

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Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Death Of Stalin (2017) in Movies

Feb 10, 2019

Needs more Jason Isaacs

This film has one of the best ensemble casts I've seen in a long time. There are some fantastic actors in this from both sides of the pond, and there isn't a single one that I'd criticise. The film itself isn't hilarious, but it is pretty funny and raises quite a few laughs. Its an ingeniously satirical take on the death of Stalin, and I'd love to see similar historical events re-enacted in the same manner, as it'd make them a lot more entertaining. It flits from scene to scene very quickly & it can be a little difficult to follow what's going on, but I don't think that really matters. For me though, the best thing about this film was Jason Isaacs. His general with a Yorkshire accent was absolutely hilarious, and I just wish he'd been in this film a lot more, as I probably would've rated it higher if he was.

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Erika (17788 KP) Feb 10, 2019

My favorite scene was Jason Isaacs' intro scene when he threw off his coat. He was definitely the best part.

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Network (1976) in Movies

Feb 16, 2018 (Updated Feb 16, 2018)

Network (1976)

1976 | Comedy, Drama

8.2

(10 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Acclaimed satirical comedy-drama; impressively prescient look at American media. Long-serving newscaster is victim of falling ratings, has breakdown and threatens to commit suicide on live TV: network execs are appalled until it transpires this has caused a spike in viewing figures, so they give him a job as a ranting news gimp.

Smartly written and well-performed; slight tendency towards speechifying rather than actual dialogue in the closing stages, but at least the speeches are good. Movie predicts rise of reality TV and collapse in news values with eerie accuracy, also the potential power of rabble-rousing TV demagogues (chief rabble-rouser does not complain about fake news, but it's a near thing). On another level, film is basically just cinema being snotty about how television is a more juvenile and morally bankrupt medium - 1976 was one of the very last years they could do this without it seeming like massive hypocrisy.

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Dean (6925 KP) rated Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) in Movies

Jan 12, 2020

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

2019 | Drama, Horror, Mystery

6.1

(18 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Good cast (0 more)

Not as weird as I expected (0 more)

Strange

After hearing that this involved the key players in @Nightcrawler (2014) ,which is excellent so check that out, I had to check this out. A very satirical take on the Modern Art world and the greed of Art agents, gallery owners. After a bunch of paintings are found after the death of an artist everyone wants to get their share of the profits to make a fortune.
Quite an odd film although not as odd or surreal as say @The Neon Demon (2016) but hard to describe as a horror. An interesting take on the art world and the manipulation of critics, owners, advisors to have a piece of the latest trend. Sadly it turns out to be quite average overall and would have benefitted from being a bit more unusual. A lot of the cast are wasted in small roles and unnecessary scenes.