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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in Movies
Jul 4, 2021
80s horror is its own unique thing, and nothing quite encapsulates the era as well as A Nightmare On Elm Street. Another series that spawned a whole bunch of sequels, the original holds the crown, and still stands the test of time.
For one, iconic slasher villain Freddy Krueger is a scary motherfucker here. There are glimpses of the more comedic elements that would encompass his personality in later entries, but here, for the most part, he's a no nonsense, nasty SOB. Of course Robert Englund relishes in his role, and it's hard to see anyone else effectively filling his shoes.
Opposite Freddy is Nancy Thompson (a fantastic Heather Langenkamp), a well written and hugely likable final girl, a final girl who rivals Laurie Strode in the pantheon of horror protagonists.
The premise of ANOES is wonderfully simple. Don't fall asleep. This film scared the living shit out of me when I was a young teenager. Wes Craven was extremely successful in doing for sleep what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. As an adult, it's less scary sure, but still makes me feel uneasy. This is thanks to a wonderfully creepy score by Charles Bernstein, and the of course, the incredibly executed, and imaginative kill scenes. The gory moments are paced out nicely, and hit hard when they arrive. The first kill in particular is a solid all timer, and then the infamous scene where Johnny Depp meets his demise is so otherworldly. It really drives home the near impossible odds that the good guys are facing.
ANOES is obviously a genre classic, and I personally think it just gets better with age. One of the all time greats, from one of the all time greats.
For one, iconic slasher villain Freddy Krueger is a scary motherfucker here. There are glimpses of the more comedic elements that would encompass his personality in later entries, but here, for the most part, he's a no nonsense, nasty SOB. Of course Robert Englund relishes in his role, and it's hard to see anyone else effectively filling his shoes.
Opposite Freddy is Nancy Thompson (a fantastic Heather Langenkamp), a well written and hugely likable final girl, a final girl who rivals Laurie Strode in the pantheon of horror protagonists.
The premise of ANOES is wonderfully simple. Don't fall asleep. This film scared the living shit out of me when I was a young teenager. Wes Craven was extremely successful in doing for sleep what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. As an adult, it's less scary sure, but still makes me feel uneasy. This is thanks to a wonderfully creepy score by Charles Bernstein, and the of course, the incredibly executed, and imaginative kill scenes. The gory moments are paced out nicely, and hit hard when they arrive. The first kill in particular is a solid all timer, and then the infamous scene where Johnny Depp meets his demise is so otherworldly. It really drives home the near impossible odds that the good guys are facing.
ANOES is obviously a genre classic, and I personally think it just gets better with age. One of the all time greats, from one of the all time greats.
Mark Arm recommended Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus by Nick Cave / Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in Music (curated)
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Sign of Foul Play in Books
Nov 27, 2020
All Signs Point to a Winner
Two earthquakes in the middle of the night made it hard for Connor Westphal to sleep. However, she is going about her Monday morning when she gets a message from her friend Dan telling her there is a news story at the construction site he is working at. When Connor arrives to get the scoop for her weekly paper, she finds that someone has discovered the dead body of Cullen Delancy. The working theory is that he fell to his death when the earthquake struck, but what was he doing on the site in the middle of the night?
I’ve got to admit, I roll my eyes a bit when I see an earthquake pop up in a story set in California, but I quickly got over that here since it made for an interesting set up to the mystery. There are plenty of twists and surprises to keep us guessing. I did figure a couple of them out early, but I was still plenty surprised when Connor pieced it together at the end. Connor is deaf, which sets her apart from other series leads, and I love seeing how that plays out in the story. She’s a strong main character, and the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. The story edges just a bit toward the outskirts of cozies, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. The book came out in 1998, and it is really amazing how much technology has changed our lives in the past couple of decades. This is a great second in the series, and I’m looking forward to visiting Connor again soon.
I’ve got to admit, I roll my eyes a bit when I see an earthquake pop up in a story set in California, but I quickly got over that here since it made for an interesting set up to the mystery. There are plenty of twists and surprises to keep us guessing. I did figure a couple of them out early, but I was still plenty surprised when Connor pieced it together at the end. Connor is deaf, which sets her apart from other series leads, and I love seeing how that plays out in the story. She’s a strong main character, and the rest of the cast is wonderful as well. The story edges just a bit toward the outskirts of cozies, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. The book came out in 1998, and it is really amazing how much technology has changed our lives in the past couple of decades. This is a great second in the series, and I’m looking forward to visiting Connor again soon.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Hawkeye, Volume 4: Rio Bravo in Books
Nov 30, 2020
So, this afternoon, I took it upon myself to nom-nom-nom on this nugget, instead of leaving it for my "pre-sleep time read". Let's just say that I have no regrets for this decision.
All four volumes of the Matt Fraction HAWKEYE run were a re-read for me. This volume, and the previous volume, Vol. 3: "L.A. Woman", were compiled slightly out of order. The issues in the Vol. 3 were all part of Kate Bishop's story, as she and Lucky went out to L.A. The issues in this final volume, while out of order, help continue the story, concluding with Kate's return for the series finale (not a spoiler, if you read Volume 3, which if you didn't, I am very disappointed in you. Tch!).
The volume, as a whole, flows like a well-crafted indie action-adventure flick. There is plenty of white-knuckle tense scenes, as well as some genuine "kick ya in the feels" moments. Heck, there's even a small amount of chuckles, too! All in all, a perfect ending to a perfect series!
In addition to Katie-Kate's return, it also brings back David Aja, whose art on the series' run, was nothing short of brilliant! Aja brought a pulp feel to the art, a style that suited Fraction's portrayal of Clint Barton.
All in all, the entire run is worth your time, not just this fourth, and final, volume of the series! In an era where Marvel thinks constantly rebooting series, as well as offering way too many meaningless crossover events, is how you put out quality material, it warms my nerdy comic lovin' heart to still return to good stuff like Matt Fraction's HAWKEYE run! Thank you, Matt, and thank you to all the excellent art choices you assembled for this run!
All four volumes of the Matt Fraction HAWKEYE run were a re-read for me. This volume, and the previous volume, Vol. 3: "L.A. Woman", were compiled slightly out of order. The issues in the Vol. 3 were all part of Kate Bishop's story, as she and Lucky went out to L.A. The issues in this final volume, while out of order, help continue the story, concluding with Kate's return for the series finale (not a spoiler, if you read Volume 3, which if you didn't, I am very disappointed in you. Tch!).
The volume, as a whole, flows like a well-crafted indie action-adventure flick. There is plenty of white-knuckle tense scenes, as well as some genuine "kick ya in the feels" moments. Heck, there's even a small amount of chuckles, too! All in all, a perfect ending to a perfect series!
In addition to Katie-Kate's return, it also brings back David Aja, whose art on the series' run, was nothing short of brilliant! Aja brought a pulp feel to the art, a style that suited Fraction's portrayal of Clint Barton.
All in all, the entire run is worth your time, not just this fourth, and final, volume of the series! In an era where Marvel thinks constantly rebooting series, as well as offering way too many meaningless crossover events, is how you put out quality material, it warms my nerdy comic lovin' heart to still return to good stuff like Matt Fraction's HAWKEYE run! Thank you, Matt, and thank you to all the excellent art choices you assembled for this run!
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires (Half-Moon Hollow, #1) in Books
Jan 11, 2021
I've always been drawn to this book - series, really - so when I saw it at 99p a while back I couldn't resist buying it.
This starts with Iris in the supermarket buying items for her vampire clients to make their lives easier, sorting out their wants and needs while they sleep during the day so she never actually comes face to face with them. She heads over to leave a welcome basket for her newest client, Cal, when she ends up falling over his body in his kitchen. He's been poisoned and they negotiate for him to come stay with her while he recovers and tries to find out who's behind his poisoning
This was equal parts fun and quirky, intriguing and romantic. Fun and quirky because it's full of snark and some strangely funny vampire related conversations. Intriguing with trying to figure out who's behind Cal's poisoning. And romantic because Iris and Cal have some really cute and some really hot scenes together. There was a really sort of cute bit with Cal and Gigi - Iris's younger sister - where he gets really protective of her seeing guys and buys her a bubble-gum pink taser so she can protect herself.
I was not expecting the bad guy to be who it was. That took me by surprise, so well done for that. I was convinced it was someone else for most of the book.
I did like the romance between our main characters. As I mentioned above it was really cute at times and that end bit where he pretty much re-staged their initial meeting with him laid out on the floor so she can fall over him. What else can I say but CUTE.
This was just a fun all round read and I cannot wait to read more of this series.
This starts with Iris in the supermarket buying items for her vampire clients to make their lives easier, sorting out their wants and needs while they sleep during the day so she never actually comes face to face with them. She heads over to leave a welcome basket for her newest client, Cal, when she ends up falling over his body in his kitchen. He's been poisoned and they negotiate for him to come stay with her while he recovers and tries to find out who's behind his poisoning
This was equal parts fun and quirky, intriguing and romantic. Fun and quirky because it's full of snark and some strangely funny vampire related conversations. Intriguing with trying to figure out who's behind Cal's poisoning. And romantic because Iris and Cal have some really cute and some really hot scenes together. There was a really sort of cute bit with Cal and Gigi - Iris's younger sister - where he gets really protective of her seeing guys and buys her a bubble-gum pink taser so she can protect herself.
I was not expecting the bad guy to be who it was. That took me by surprise, so well done for that. I was convinced it was someone else for most of the book.
I did like the romance between our main characters. As I mentioned above it was really cute at times and that end bit where he pretty much re-staged their initial meeting with him laid out on the floor so she can fall over him. What else can I say but CUTE.
This was just a fun all round read and I cannot wait to read more of this series.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
So this was my midnight screening... I threw caution to the wind again and dragged myself out of bed when normal people were sleeping. I rocked up at 11:45 thinking I was actually running a bit late... but as it turned out, I was the first one there. I tried my best to sneak down the side so I didn't have to have my picture taken with some extras who were doing some promo shots out front. Unfortunately I wasn't channelling my ninja skills enough due to lack of sleep and I was trapped against my will for snaps.
When I went to see Last Jedi the whole screen was packed out. I had been toying with when to see this one, I wasn't overly bothered so a midnight screening seemed a bit over the top. But LJ had been such a great atmosphere that I went for it. I was very surprised to find that when I went to book there were only two other seats booked for the 3D screening, and when I checked the 2D there were maybe 20 tickets booked.
No one had very high hopes for this one, and I for one didn't think it was as good as Force Awakens or Last Jedi, but it did have its moments. There were a lot of nostalgic references, I don't know if they were things that was already know in the fandom, but to me they were new and I appreciated them.
Beyond that I wasn't overly impressed by it. Paul Bettany was woefully under used and the rest didn't really feel very convincing, even when taking into account the fictional nature of everything. The one thing that actually got me in the feels was Lando and L3. Still brings a tear to my eye now.
When I went to see Last Jedi the whole screen was packed out. I had been toying with when to see this one, I wasn't overly bothered so a midnight screening seemed a bit over the top. But LJ had been such a great atmosphere that I went for it. I was very surprised to find that when I went to book there were only two other seats booked for the 3D screening, and when I checked the 2D there were maybe 20 tickets booked.
No one had very high hopes for this one, and I for one didn't think it was as good as Force Awakens or Last Jedi, but it did have its moments. There were a lot of nostalgic references, I don't know if they were things that was already know in the fandom, but to me they were new and I appreciated them.
Beyond that I wasn't overly impressed by it. Paul Bettany was woefully under used and the rest didn't really feel very convincing, even when taking into account the fictional nature of everything. The one thing that actually got me in the feels was Lando and L3. Still brings a tear to my eye now.
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