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postapocalypticplayground (27 KP) rated Crooked Kingdom in Books
Jan 9, 2018
Brekker is back and with more fiendish frivolity from the barrel. Still trying to recover from the disastrous end to the Ice Court job, little does Kaz know how deep the deception went and how much he is going to have to unravel to even begin to salvage what he started. Kaz maybe clever but he is far from the only clever man in Ketterdam. He is going to have to work even harder than ever before to try and recapture what he is owed, but with Inej captured, Nina battling an addiction with parem, Wylan tailored to the wrong face and Jesper now forced to confront his past, how easy will that be?
Crooked Kingdom is a longer book than Six of Crows yet the action takes place mainly over a matter of days, the multiple POV's stretching the tortuously epic and heart thumping twists across the pages. It still has that immense page turning captivation that was within Six of Crows, but it just lacked that extra sense of excitement along with it. They are both books of equal joy but I think book 1 just pips it, but only just. In typical Kaz Brekker style there are twists and swindles and multiple cons that would given Danny Ocean on his best day a run for his money. I love a story that keeps me questioning myself and hanging on a thread as to the outcome, and Crooked Kingdom gave this to me in spades.
I don't know what is wrong with me of late in the emotions stake, but this book again reduced me to tears, the short but intense bursts of connectivity with the characters overwhelmed me. Multiple POV's in books is a risk and I have been drowned by them in books in the past but Leigh Bardugo manages to completely avoid this. Despite every player being forced to battle for chapter time, I felt utterly part of them and their story, sharing their joys and sadness as they peaked and troughed through the words.
The only thing that I didn't enjoy about this concluding part of the duology was entirely down to the publisher. I read the paperback of this book and found that the text was just so hard to read. The margins were so tight, the text was disappearing into the gutter and hiding under my thumbs as I was reading. I hate having to bend back spines on paperbacks which made this even more of an arduous task, I get that more text on a page means fewer pages and lower print costs but this made it such a hard read at times, sort it out Indigo!! This is the first Duology that I have read and I have to say this is now my favourite book series style, all of the action and none of the filler - I hope that more writers/publishers take this forward in the future.
Would I love more from Kaz and the Dregs? Of course! However, unlike a TV show that jumps the shark I am glad that the world of Ketterdam has been left the way it has and I look forward immensely to the next original world created by Bardugo.
Crooked Kingdom is a longer book than Six of Crows yet the action takes place mainly over a matter of days, the multiple POV's stretching the tortuously epic and heart thumping twists across the pages. It still has that immense page turning captivation that was within Six of Crows, but it just lacked that extra sense of excitement along with it. They are both books of equal joy but I think book 1 just pips it, but only just. In typical Kaz Brekker style there are twists and swindles and multiple cons that would given Danny Ocean on his best day a run for his money. I love a story that keeps me questioning myself and hanging on a thread as to the outcome, and Crooked Kingdom gave this to me in spades.
I don't know what is wrong with me of late in the emotions stake, but this book again reduced me to tears, the short but intense bursts of connectivity with the characters overwhelmed me. Multiple POV's in books is a risk and I have been drowned by them in books in the past but Leigh Bardugo manages to completely avoid this. Despite every player being forced to battle for chapter time, I felt utterly part of them and their story, sharing their joys and sadness as they peaked and troughed through the words.
The only thing that I didn't enjoy about this concluding part of the duology was entirely down to the publisher. I read the paperback of this book and found that the text was just so hard to read. The margins were so tight, the text was disappearing into the gutter and hiding under my thumbs as I was reading. I hate having to bend back spines on paperbacks which made this even more of an arduous task, I get that more text on a page means fewer pages and lower print costs but this made it such a hard read at times, sort it out Indigo!! This is the first Duology that I have read and I have to say this is now my favourite book series style, all of the action and none of the filler - I hope that more writers/publishers take this forward in the future.
Would I love more from Kaz and the Dregs? Of course! However, unlike a TV show that jumps the shark I am glad that the world of Ketterdam has been left the way it has and I look forward immensely to the next original world created by Bardugo.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Sting (1973) in Movies
Mar 29, 2020
On my list of All Time Favorite Films
I'll come right out and say it - the 1973 Academy Award winning film for Best Picture, THE STING, is one of the greatest films of all time. It's well written, well acted, well directed with a memorable musical score and characters, situations, costumes and set design that become richer over time and through repeated viewings.
Set in Chicago in the gangster-ridden, depression era mid-1930's, THE STING tells the tale of two con man who join forces for the ultimate con of a vile N.Y. Gangster who is responsible for killing a friend of theirs.
From everything I have read about it, the script by David S. Ward (who won an Oscar for his work) arrived pretty much finished. He shaped the story of the con men - and the myriad pieces of misdirection - fully before shopping it around to the studios. Universal jumped all over it and tabbed veteran Director George Roy Hill (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) to helm the picture. Hill - being no dummy - saw this as a vehicle to re-team Newman and Redford (stars of Butch Cassidy) and the rest...as they say...is history.
Newman and Redford are perfectly cast as veteran grifter Henry Gondorff (Newman) and up and coming grifter Johnny Hooker (Redford). They have an ease of playing off of each other - each one complimenting the other one - both giving in their scenes with the other one which makes the scenes more rich and alive. They are joined by a veritable "who's who" of late '60's/early '70's character actors - Harold Gould, Eileen Brennan, Charles Durning, Ray Walston and Dana Elcar - all of them bring their "A" game and they are fun to watch. Special notice should be made to Robert Earl Jones (father of James Earl Jones) as Luther, the character who's fate propels the plot forward.
But...none of this would work if you didn't have a "bad guy" that was interesting to watch - and to root against - and bad guys don't get much better...and badder...than Robert Shaw's Doyle Lonnegan. Shaw plays Lonnegan as a physically tough boss who doesn't suffer failure, but is smart enough to avoid obvious traps. He is a worthy adversary of Gondorff and Hooker's and it is fun to watch Newman, Redford and Shaw play off each other. One other note - it was with this performance that Universal recommended Shaw to young Director Stephen Spielberg for his "shark flick" JAWS.
Edith Head won her 8th (and last) Oscar for the magnificent period costumes in this film and Marvin Hamlisch won for the Music - a surprising hit on the pop charts of re-channeled Scott Joplin tunes. The set design won an Oscar - as did the Director, George Roy Hill. All in all, the film won 7 out of the 11 Oscars it was nominated for (Redford was nominated for Best Actor, but did not win).
THE STING is a well crafted film. One that tells a timeless story and that stands the test of time as a testament of how great of an achievement in film this is. It is one of my All Time favorites.
Letter Grade: the rare A+
5 stars (out of 5) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Set in Chicago in the gangster-ridden, depression era mid-1930's, THE STING tells the tale of two con man who join forces for the ultimate con of a vile N.Y. Gangster who is responsible for killing a friend of theirs.
From everything I have read about it, the script by David S. Ward (who won an Oscar for his work) arrived pretty much finished. He shaped the story of the con men - and the myriad pieces of misdirection - fully before shopping it around to the studios. Universal jumped all over it and tabbed veteran Director George Roy Hill (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) to helm the picture. Hill - being no dummy - saw this as a vehicle to re-team Newman and Redford (stars of Butch Cassidy) and the rest...as they say...is history.
Newman and Redford are perfectly cast as veteran grifter Henry Gondorff (Newman) and up and coming grifter Johnny Hooker (Redford). They have an ease of playing off of each other - each one complimenting the other one - both giving in their scenes with the other one which makes the scenes more rich and alive. They are joined by a veritable "who's who" of late '60's/early '70's character actors - Harold Gould, Eileen Brennan, Charles Durning, Ray Walston and Dana Elcar - all of them bring their "A" game and they are fun to watch. Special notice should be made to Robert Earl Jones (father of James Earl Jones) as Luther, the character who's fate propels the plot forward.
But...none of this would work if you didn't have a "bad guy" that was interesting to watch - and to root against - and bad guys don't get much better...and badder...than Robert Shaw's Doyle Lonnegan. Shaw plays Lonnegan as a physically tough boss who doesn't suffer failure, but is smart enough to avoid obvious traps. He is a worthy adversary of Gondorff and Hooker's and it is fun to watch Newman, Redford and Shaw play off each other. One other note - it was with this performance that Universal recommended Shaw to young Director Stephen Spielberg for his "shark flick" JAWS.
Edith Head won her 8th (and last) Oscar for the magnificent period costumes in this film and Marvin Hamlisch won for the Music - a surprising hit on the pop charts of re-channeled Scott Joplin tunes. The set design won an Oscar - as did the Director, George Roy Hill. All in all, the film won 7 out of the 11 Oscars it was nominated for (Redford was nominated for Best Actor, but did not win).
THE STING is a well crafted film. One that tells a timeless story and that stands the test of time as a testament of how great of an achievement in film this is. It is one of my All Time favorites.
Letter Grade: the rare A+
5 stars (out of 5) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Jurassic World (2015) in Movies
Sep 23, 2019
Take the Movie, Leave the Villain
It’s been some time since the catastrophe at the original Jurassic Park. Despite all of that, the powers that be have decided to monetize the dinosaurs and move forward with a plan to open the amusement park Jurassic World. Spoiler Alert: Chaos ensues. I was so excited when I learned the Jurassic Park franchise was being revitalized. I think that excitement may have turned into a bit of bias my first go round with Jurassic World as the second trip was a little more bumpy.
Acting: 10
A lot of times I will watch a movie and say, “This movie wouldn’t have been the same without X”. Chris Pratt was hands-down that actor. He plays Owen Grady, raptor trainer and overall badass. He offers some hilarity to a situation so crazy you kind of have to laugh at it. Speaking of comedic performances, Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus had me all the way cracking up. Their chemistry throughout was perfect.
Beginning: 3
This is the first point where this movie failed me a bit. This series has been known for its strong beginnings up to this point. It was almost as if the scriptwriters expected us to be entertained off of the series name alone. Wish there had been a little more “try” here.
Characters: 8
While I appreciated Owen’s character, there were a couple that just didn’t do it for me. Vic Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) is the villain of the film. You know the type, someone that’s basically just there to be a roadblock. He was over-the-top aggressive and made the movie a bit of a nuisance at times.
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Always a shining spot in this franchise. The park is captured magically from its rollercoasters to its extravagant hotel, the kind of place you would want to visit. I particularly love when they feed a shark on a stick to a titanic water dino who splashes just about everyone in the audience when he returns to the water. The final fight between the T-Rex and the “new breed” is fun to watch unfold.
Conflict: 8
Entertainment Value: 9
Memorability: 6
Pace: 7
The pace is somewhat slower than what I’m accustomed to with these movies. There is a lot of talking and walking around and you can’t help but wonder when the action is going to kick in again. Even when shit finally does hit the fan, there were a few moments of exposition I wish they would have done without.
Plot: 5
I can’t, for the life of me, begin to understand just why the hell anyone would think creating a park was a good idea. Then you had the military wanting to weaponize dinosaurs and some creature they made in a lab? Pick a lane, please! It’s a wonder I still managed to have a good time despite the craziness of the story.
Resolution: 8
Overall: 74
Jurassic World isn’t bad by any means. I do feel that it had great potential to do more and ultimately mean more. It’s merely satisfied with being a summer blockbuster which is fine. Just don’t expect it to go down as an all-time great.
Acting: 10
A lot of times I will watch a movie and say, “This movie wouldn’t have been the same without X”. Chris Pratt was hands-down that actor. He plays Owen Grady, raptor trainer and overall badass. He offers some hilarity to a situation so crazy you kind of have to laugh at it. Speaking of comedic performances, Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus had me all the way cracking up. Their chemistry throughout was perfect.
Beginning: 3
This is the first point where this movie failed me a bit. This series has been known for its strong beginnings up to this point. It was almost as if the scriptwriters expected us to be entertained off of the series name alone. Wish there had been a little more “try” here.
Characters: 8
While I appreciated Owen’s character, there were a couple that just didn’t do it for me. Vic Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) is the villain of the film. You know the type, someone that’s basically just there to be a roadblock. He was over-the-top aggressive and made the movie a bit of a nuisance at times.
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Always a shining spot in this franchise. The park is captured magically from its rollercoasters to its extravagant hotel, the kind of place you would want to visit. I particularly love when they feed a shark on a stick to a titanic water dino who splashes just about everyone in the audience when he returns to the water. The final fight between the T-Rex and the “new breed” is fun to watch unfold.
Conflict: 8
Entertainment Value: 9
Memorability: 6
Pace: 7
The pace is somewhat slower than what I’m accustomed to with these movies. There is a lot of talking and walking around and you can’t help but wonder when the action is going to kick in again. Even when shit finally does hit the fan, there were a few moments of exposition I wish they would have done without.
Plot: 5
I can’t, for the life of me, begin to understand just why the hell anyone would think creating a park was a good idea. Then you had the military wanting to weaponize dinosaurs and some creature they made in a lab? Pick a lane, please! It’s a wonder I still managed to have a good time despite the craziness of the story.
Resolution: 8
Overall: 74
Jurassic World isn’t bad by any means. I do feel that it had great potential to do more and ultimately mean more. It’s merely satisfied with being a summer blockbuster which is fine. Just don’t expect it to go down as an all-time great.
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan (2021) in Movies
Aug 20, 2021
Good jokes, most of which land (1 more)
Enough David Brent/Partridge moments to make you cringe
As a PJDN virgin, I still laughed a lot!
It’s brave then that such a relatively niche UK TV show should have a go at ‘jumping the shark’ onto the big screen. Would fans like it? And, just as importantly, would newcomers to the characters, like me, be able to enjoy the film as a standalone entity? The answer to the last question is a qualified “yes”.
Positives:
- It well-surpasses the “6 laugh test” for a comedy. There are some scenes that I found extremely funny, with others that rated highly for me on the David Brent / Alan Partridge scale of cringiness.
- I’ve seen comment that the story is "silly" and “unbelievable”. But having experienced the crazy clash between English and Japanese culture first hand, it strikes me as very true to form! The way in which the Japanese music execs try to stylise the ground as a ‘boy band’ (“Bang Boys”!), which Grindah greedily goes along with, is a nice satire on the music industry asserting its brand over musician’s art.
- A subplot of a love story beween the inept Steves and the cute Japanese translator Ishika (Ayumi Itô) is nicely done and strangely touching.
- The good news is that you don’t need any previous experience of the characters to get fun out of the movie: you can jump right in. That being said though, I’m sure fans of the series will get more out of this than I did.
Negatives:
- While the ending was uplifting, I was itching to know what fallout (or success?) there was from the event we witnessed. Perhaps if its a box office success (unlikely I think!) then there will be a sequel.
Summary Thoughts on “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan”: IMDB is littered with disastrous reviews of British TV shows that have tried and failed to make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. “On the Buses”; “Are You Being Served?”; “Steptoe and Son”; “Please Sir”; “Love Thy Neighbour” – the list is endless. They are mostly all horribly unfunny. Even the great “Morecambe and Wise”, although showing occasional moments of brilliance, struggled to fully land any of their three big-screen outings.
The ‘go-to’ of many of these efforts was to “go abroad”: take the well-loved characters and put them into a ‘bigger’ and stranger pool. So “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan” was following a well-trodden path here. It’s a tribute to the team and their TV-series director Jack Clough, in his feature debut, that they pretty much pull it off.
I’d like to agree with Kevin Maher of “The Times” that the movie is full of “Japanese stereotypes… drunken businessmen, passive giggling women etc”. But having travelled extensively on business in Japan, it seems pretty close to the mark with its observations to me! More importantly, the film never seems to be particularly derogatory or disrespectful of the culture. For example, they take their shoes off too much!
Key to its box office success will be whether or not it can attract an audience outside of its niche TV fan-bases. As a member of that sub-group, I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one, but I actually did. It was good fun, and if you want a good laugh at the cinema – a pretty rare thing – then I’d recommend this one, even if – like me – you haven’t seen the original TV show.
(For the full graphical review, please check out onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks!)
Positives:
- It well-surpasses the “6 laugh test” for a comedy. There are some scenes that I found extremely funny, with others that rated highly for me on the David Brent / Alan Partridge scale of cringiness.
- I’ve seen comment that the story is "silly" and “unbelievable”. But having experienced the crazy clash between English and Japanese culture first hand, it strikes me as very true to form! The way in which the Japanese music execs try to stylise the ground as a ‘boy band’ (“Bang Boys”!), which Grindah greedily goes along with, is a nice satire on the music industry asserting its brand over musician’s art.
- A subplot of a love story beween the inept Steves and the cute Japanese translator Ishika (Ayumi Itô) is nicely done and strangely touching.
- The good news is that you don’t need any previous experience of the characters to get fun out of the movie: you can jump right in. That being said though, I’m sure fans of the series will get more out of this than I did.
Negatives:
- While the ending was uplifting, I was itching to know what fallout (or success?) there was from the event we witnessed. Perhaps if its a box office success (unlikely I think!) then there will be a sequel.
Summary Thoughts on “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan”: IMDB is littered with disastrous reviews of British TV shows that have tried and failed to make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. “On the Buses”; “Are You Being Served?”; “Steptoe and Son”; “Please Sir”; “Love Thy Neighbour” – the list is endless. They are mostly all horribly unfunny. Even the great “Morecambe and Wise”, although showing occasional moments of brilliance, struggled to fully land any of their three big-screen outings.
The ‘go-to’ of many of these efforts was to “go abroad”: take the well-loved characters and put them into a ‘bigger’ and stranger pool. So “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan” was following a well-trodden path here. It’s a tribute to the team and their TV-series director Jack Clough, in his feature debut, that they pretty much pull it off.
I’d like to agree with Kevin Maher of “The Times” that the movie is full of “Japanese stereotypes… drunken businessmen, passive giggling women etc”. But having travelled extensively on business in Japan, it seems pretty close to the mark with its observations to me! More importantly, the film never seems to be particularly derogatory or disrespectful of the culture. For example, they take their shoes off too much!
Key to its box office success will be whether or not it can attract an audience outside of its niche TV fan-bases. As a member of that sub-group, I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one, but I actually did. It was good fun, and if you want a good laugh at the cinema – a pretty rare thing – then I’d recommend this one, even if – like me – you haven’t seen the original TV show.
(For the full graphical review, please check out onemannsmovies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks!)
