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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated The Last Movie Star (2017) in Movies
Mar 31, 2021
Burt Reynold's humility (3 more)
Burt Reynold's humanity
History of Burt's film career
Nostalgia
I wept.
I saw all of the Smokey and the Bandit movies when I was a kid, at the drive-in, no less. And Burt Reynold's was pretty hot stuff both in his looks and as box office gold back in the day. I didn't think much of him from the mid-to-late '80s until 1997 when he popped up in Boogie Nights. He was great in that role, but I didn't give him much thought after that until I saw this movie, even when he died. Now, I don't think I'll forget or dismiss him so easily. There is a great undercurrent of regret and sadness in this movie and of Reynold's wanting to relive simpler times, reminisce, and make amends to those hurt and forgotten along the way. There is a depth I was not expecting and I felt things I did not expect to feel. My boyfriend and I both cried gently at the beauty and pain of this film. I usually try to hide my tears in embarrassment when I am moved by a film but I didn't hide them here. The emotions were palpable and you'd have had to have been a marble statue not to be moved by this movie.
Gareth Evans recommended After Life (Wandafaru Raifu) (1998) in Movies (curated)
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Saw II (2005) in Movies
Oct 3, 2020
Out of the slew of sequels that followed in the wake of the success of the first film, Saw II is easily the most watchable.
Everything is upped - more blood, more victims, more absurd traps for them to escape from - but it succeeds where the other sequels miserably failed, keeping it all fairly reigned in for the most part, assuring that the plot carries a substantial amount of intrigue, instead of getting buried under gratuitous torture.
We get to see more Tobin Bell this time around, which is certainly a good thing. His increased presence as antagonist Jigsaw is a high point of the movie. Donnie Wahlberg and Shawnee Smith have a little more to do in the franchise going forward, but the rest of the cast are hugely dull and forgettable, obvious cannon fodder for Jigsaws' games.
The various traps are imaginative without going overboard as well, and are effective - the pit of syringes, the pig carcasses, and especially the lockbox with wrist slicing blades, are all pretty memorable without throwing heaps of gore at the viewer.
Saw II is a half decent follow up to the great original. You could happily watch the first two and not bother with any of the others, and still be suitably satisfied, unless, like me, you're a glutton for punishment.
Everything is upped - more blood, more victims, more absurd traps for them to escape from - but it succeeds where the other sequels miserably failed, keeping it all fairly reigned in for the most part, assuring that the plot carries a substantial amount of intrigue, instead of getting buried under gratuitous torture.
We get to see more Tobin Bell this time around, which is certainly a good thing. His increased presence as antagonist Jigsaw is a high point of the movie. Donnie Wahlberg and Shawnee Smith have a little more to do in the franchise going forward, but the rest of the cast are hugely dull and forgettable, obvious cannon fodder for Jigsaws' games.
The various traps are imaginative without going overboard as well, and are effective - the pit of syringes, the pig carcasses, and especially the lockbox with wrist slicing blades, are all pretty memorable without throwing heaps of gore at the viewer.
Saw II is a half decent follow up to the great original. You could happily watch the first two and not bother with any of the others, and still be suitably satisfied, unless, like me, you're a glutton for punishment.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Saw (2004) in Movies
Jun 13, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Doctor Lawrence Gordon and Adam Faulkner-Stanheight both wake up chained to opposite sides of a dingy room with only a handful of clues the two men must find their way out and save the doctors family.
Most of the film focus not on the two trapped men’s escape attempt but on the past couple of days and on the ‘Jigsaw’ killers previous traps which show the events that led to, not only Adam & Lawrence’s imprisonment but also to how Jigsaw is tracked down by the now disgraced Detective Trapp.
The previous trap rooms all seem a lot simpler than the one set up for Adam and Lawrence and this does seem to be the first one that involves people outside the room.
Saw contains a lot of threat, a bit of gore and bodies that died violent deaths but the graphic scenes are no worst than films like ‘Seven’ and, like Seven, Saw doesn’t focus that much on the actual killer but on his actions and the effects they are having on his victims and it only hints at how long Jigsaw has been active for. The one thing I will say about the violence is that it does show consequences, the doctor is shown to suffer after cutting off his foot and, most of the time, shooting and stabbing does lead to injuries.
Most of the film focus not on the two trapped men’s escape attempt but on the past couple of days and on the ‘Jigsaw’ killers previous traps which show the events that led to, not only Adam & Lawrence’s imprisonment but also to how Jigsaw is tracked down by the now disgraced Detective Trapp.
The previous trap rooms all seem a lot simpler than the one set up for Adam and Lawrence and this does seem to be the first one that involves people outside the room.
Saw contains a lot of threat, a bit of gore and bodies that died violent deaths but the graphic scenes are no worst than films like ‘Seven’ and, like Seven, Saw doesn’t focus that much on the actual killer but on his actions and the effects they are having on his victims and it only hints at how long Jigsaw has been active for. The one thing I will say about the violence is that it does show consequences, the doctor is shown to suffer after cutting off his foot and, most of the time, shooting and stabbing does lead to injuries.
The Demons of Wychwood
7.0
Rate It
Book
London 1860 Felix Lazarus - I suppose you could say I was a voyeur and what I was doing was wrong,...
MM Historical Romance
Autumn (430 KP) rated Power Rangers (2017) in Movies
Nov 3, 2017
This movie did not live up to the hype. I was so excited when I saw the trailer and had such high hopes, but it just wasn’t the best. However, I had to give it at least a 6 because of pure nostalgia. I do like that it was a bit more mature because it was geared towards those of us who watched it as kids and are now adults, but still had that original cheesiness that you get when watching the show. I loved power rangers while growing up, and while I appreciate being able to revisit that part of my childhood, I wish it would have been better.
Dana Gisser (4 KP) rated The Greatest Showman (2017) in Movies
Dec 26, 2017
music (1 more)
cinematography
This movie was absolutely beautiful to watch, albeit slightly less beautiful to listen to. The songs themselves were very enjoyable but very derivative and at times seemed overly autotuned, but they definitely stick in your head and the choreography is cute too. I felt there were multiple subplots that would have added more depth to the movie that we only saw a tip of the iceberg with, I would have loved to see more of those but I think leaving them out means that it's a great family movie that people of all ages can enjoy instead of just grown ups.
Poetry about life
Molly Naylor writes poetry about her life. Some of it is really funny, some very insightful. She calls it "a manifesto of my life" and a confession of sorts.
I saw Molly perform many of her poems in this collection on a "Poetry Pub Crawl" (I feel that this may be a very British phenomenon, and if you're British and have never experienced one, then go out and find one! They're great fun!) at the Chester Literature Festival. She really was great and the reason I bought her book was exactly her ability to get her message across through her poetry. Being a grown up isn't easy!
I saw Molly perform many of her poems in this collection on a "Poetry Pub Crawl" (I feel that this may be a very British phenomenon, and if you're British and have never experienced one, then go out and find one! They're great fun!) at the Chester Literature Festival. She really was great and the reason I bought her book was exactly her ability to get her message across through her poetry. Being a grown up isn't easy!
Rose (201 KP) rated Get Out (2017) in Movies
Jan 3, 2018
It's daunting to write a review for this movie without giving away any spoilers, but here we go:
I had heard quite a bit of hype regarding this movie and it was well-deserving of it.
Many scenes were eerie without having to try, whether through camera placing/lingering or through catching something off to the side that you weren't quite sure you saw. Especially those oddly silent or dialogue-less scenes that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I definitely recommend if you want to watch something that's a little bit different from what you expect and with a Stepford Wives edge.
I had heard quite a bit of hype regarding this movie and it was well-deserving of it.
Many scenes were eerie without having to try, whether through camera placing/lingering or through catching something off to the side that you weren't quite sure you saw. Especially those oddly silent or dialogue-less scenes that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I definitely recommend if you want to watch something that's a little bit different from what you expect and with a Stepford Wives edge.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Scarecrows in Books
Jan 12, 2018
I am a sucker for horror books ever since I picked up The Rats by James Herbert when I was a teenager and I have been hooked ever since so when I saw this title offered for review by the publisher, Samhain Publishing, on Netgalley, I requested a copy in the hope that I would be chosen to provide an unbiased review. I was. Unfortunately, what I read wasnt horror for me which was a bit of a disappointment to be honest; it was more like a murder/mystery.
For full review, please go to my blog - http://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/scarecrows-by-christine-hayton.html
For full review, please go to my blog - http://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/scarecrows-by-christine-hayton.html