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Jean-Pierre Gorin recommended Playtime (1967) in Movies (curated)

 
Playtime (1967)
Playtime (1967)
1967 | Classics, Comedy

"The critics and the public wanted the pathos of M. Hulot’s Holiday and Mon oncle. They got Playtime, a comedy entirely devoted to space, in which Tati, as Hulot, hovers at the periphery of his own creation and has the elegance, which very few comedians share, not to put the spotlight on his own mug. The public and the critics turned against Tati. They were of course wrong, and the film is one of those few that get better by the year. It’s a silent film with sound; its color scheme is in a narrow band between gray and blue that aggressively underscores the painterly logic of Tati’s conceit. The film gives itself the luxury to reinvent choreography and as such dazzles with the megalomania of its enterprise and the diabolical precision the filmmaker had to conjure up to pull it off. There is ultimately so much to see, so many discrete pockets of activities in such a large canvas, that Tati has ensured that his film can be revisited time and again and each time seem different and new. It is a monumental film, literally and figuratively, that in its humorous take on modernity retains a form of hope. Alienation, but alienation light, and still the hope that the strategic social planning of architects and designers has cracks and will allow folks to run for daylight for the reassertion of their humanity. And, yes, a detail: the exquisite quality of this transfer is one of the reasons we spend our allowance on votive candles for the altar of Our Little Lady of the Criterion Collection."

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Sherlock, Jr.  (1924)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
1924 | Classics, Comedy
7
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I have seen and very much enjoyed the work of Buster Keaton in the past, most notably The General, which knocked me sideways by how inventive and genuinely funny it was. My main movie love for the silent era is Charlie Chaplin, and much like it is possible to like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones but only truly love one, Keaton will always be second best for me. But what a second best. Genius is an overused word, of course, but pioneer says it better anyway. The sheer volume of invention per minute is magnificent – from the technical editing techniques that were created just for this film, to the forms of visual comedy that broke the mould and raised the bar in every scene.

Most memorable is the cinema scene where Keaton’s love sick amateur sleuth tries to hide by actually entering the screen – a trick paid homage to in many movies since, including Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo. It is astonishing to think he not only thought of doing this in 1924, but also pulled it off with jaw-dropping special effects for the time. It’s also really funny. You don’t have to force a laugh because you feel you should, it is still clever and amusing almost 100 years later. In fact, the entire 46 minute print still looks so good it is hard to believe it is that old in any way. Surely one of a handful of half length films from the period that will always be watched for what they are and not just museum pieces.
  
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Lee Ann (116 KP) rated Moonlight Sins in Books

May 18, 2018  
Moonlight Sins
Moonlight Sins
Jennifer L Armentrout | 2018 | Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book is so awkward. That's really the only way I can put it. The female MC flits between sounding like a woman in her 20s to a teenager and back again with alarming regularity.

The three de Vincent brothers are flat. It's like JLA picked out three primary alpha male qualities, gave one to each and figured that was enough. Devlin is the silent, mysterious one, Gabe is the easygoing one and Lucian is the playboy. Each trope isn't a bad one, but there's barely any fleshing out.

The plot alludes to ghosts haunting the house, but nothing ever really comes of that other than ghostly footsteps and flickering lights happening here and there but have no real impact on the story, it's like they're used as an excuse for mystery.

The primary storyline is okay - Lucian is painted as a womaniser at first, and the first few scenes with him are boring and predictable. When he first meets Julia, the JLA we know and love shines through for a while, with witty banter and Lucian gets a little bit of padding.

Sadly, the plot seems to lose its way at some point - it's almost like she's trying to hard and throwing as much into the mix as she can to ensure she covers all bases.

The result is a messy read, up and down, good parts and bad. It reads mostly like it should be YA, but with some of the most awkward sex scenes with things like "he caught her nipple between thumb and forefinger and did something that...." lots of sentences in these scenes end with "did something that..." we never find out what that something is lol

Overall, it's not horrible, but it was awkward and clumsy. I do have the second one on preorder, so we'll see..