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Frost/Nixon (2008)
7.5
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Movie Watch
In 1977, three years after the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency, Richard Nixon (Frank...
CHILLFILTR (46 KP) rated Waiting On You by Lindsay Ell in Music
Jul 11, 2019
Oh girl... Don't get me started. You had me from the midnight kisses and the tremolo.
“Where this is going baby I can’t say
Every time you leave me I just want you to stay
but I gotta know where you stand”
— Lindsay Ell
Like a fast car waiting for the green to go this feels like the Nashville machine took a second to say what's up with real life: young love and maybe a night out on the town. It's the candy you want at the end of the party; a fusion of Nashville pop and Country know-how.
“Where this is going baby I can’t say
Every time you leave me I just want you to stay
but I gotta know where you stand”
— Lindsay Ell
Like a fast car waiting for the green to go this feels like the Nashville machine took a second to say what's up with real life: young love and maybe a night out on the town. It's the candy you want at the end of the party; a fusion of Nashville pop and Country know-how.
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
6.3
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Movie
Fifteenth movie in the Godzilla series, also known as Mechagodzilla's Counterattack, The Terror of...
monster movie alien invasion
Kevin Phillipson (10017 KP) rated Candyman (2021) in Movies
Sep 2, 2021 (Updated Sep 2, 2021)
Yahya Abdul-marteen II (2 more)
Teyonah paris
Gore
Watched today as a sequel to the orignal candyman its probably better than the previous sequels which I've never and probably won't cause I hear they aren't as good. Anyway to the movie itself it has plenty of gore so that ticked that box and one scene stood out for me group of college girls make the mistake of saying his name five times big mistake good acting performances from both the leads. There's some photography especially of Chicago which stand out for me. Overall good sequel which is worthy follow up to the orignal
Forever Ink (Tewsbury Daddies #2)
8.0
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Book
It’s Christmas, and Rhys has never been happier. He loves his Daddy and his found family, and he...
Contemporary MM Age Play Romance
Let me start by addressing the Elephant in the room.
I know the games exist.
I've never played them (Xbox exclusive, I prefer PlaySatation).
So I can't compare and contrast with the source material, although I know plenty were up in arms over the liberties taken and the fact that the Master Chief seems to spend about 90% of his time wandering around with his helmet off!
Setting that aside, however, I did find this to be generally engaging - no so much the Dune stand-in Kwan Ha segments - with some episodes better than others.
Interested to see where it goes from here!
I know the games exist.
I've never played them (Xbox exclusive, I prefer PlaySatation).
So I can't compare and contrast with the source material, although I know plenty were up in arms over the liberties taken and the fact that the Master Chief seems to spend about 90% of his time wandering around with his helmet off!
Setting that aside, however, I did find this to be generally engaging - no so much the Dune stand-in Kwan Ha segments - with some episodes better than others.
Interested to see where it goes from here!
Cowboy Up: Coming Home Book 3
10.0
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Book
Cowboy Up is the third sultry novel in the Coming Home series from New York Times and USA Today...
romance
Broken Souls (Primani #4)
6.0
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Book
Some Scars Go Soul Deep. The Primani Series continues with this dark romantic suspense! Broken...
Paranormal Romance
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Big Sick (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Just what the doctor ordered: a charming and thoughtful summer comedy.
Romance and comedy work together beautifully on film: love is innately ridiculous after all! But mix in a dramatic element – particularly a serious medical emergency – to a Rom Com and you walk a dangerous line between on the one hand letting the drama overwhelm the comedy ( “Well! I don’t feel like laughing now!”) and on the other hand diverging into shockingly mawkish finger-down-the-throat sentimentality. Fortunately the new comedy – “The Big Sick” – walks that line to perfection.
Kumail Nanjiani plays (who’d have thought it?) Kumail, a Pakistani-born comic-cum-Uber-driver struggling to get recognised on the Chicago comedy circuit. His performances mix traditional stand-up at a club with a rather po-faced one-man show where he explains at length the culture of Pakistan (Naan-splaining?), including intricate detail on the fielding positions and strategies of cricket. Kumail is heckled during a show by the young and perky Emily (Zoe Kazan, the middle daughter from “It’s Complicated”). Lust blossoms (mental note: stand up comedy seems a fabulous strategy for picking up women) and lust turns to romance as the pair grow closer to each other.
A surging romance. Uber gets love from A to B.
Unfortunately Kumail is aware of something Emily isn’t: his strictly Muslim parents Sharmeen and Azmat (Anupam Kher and Zenobia Schroff) believe in arranged marriages to ‘nice Pakistani girls’ and a relationship with – let alone a marriage to – Emily risks disgrace and familial exile. A medical crisis brings Kumail further into dispute, this time with Emily’s parents Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano).
Stand-up is, I assert, a very nationalistic thing. It is a medium hugely dependant on context and while I’m sure great British comics like Peter Kay and Eddie Izzard might rate as only a 4 or a 5 out of 10 for most Americans, so most American stand-up comics tend to leave me cold. And perhaps it’s also a movie-thing, that stand-up on the big screen just doesn’t work well? Either way, the initial comedy-club scenes rather left me cold. (And I don’t think most of them were SUPPOSED to be particularly bad – since they seemed to fill the seats each night). As a result I thought this was a “comedy” that wasn’t going to be for me.
Stand up and be counted. Kumail Nanjiani doing the circuit.
But once Nanjiani and Kazan got together the chemistry was immediate and palpable and the duo completely won me round. Kazan in particular is a vibrant and joyous actress who I would love to see a lot more of: this should be a breakout movie for her.
Broader, but none less welcome, comedy is to be found in Kumail’s family home as his mother introduces serial Pakistani girls to the dinner table.
Holly Hunter (“Broadcast News” – one of my favourite films) and Ray Romano are also superb, delivering really thoughtful and nuanced performances that slowly unpeel the stresses inherent in many long-term marriages. The relationship that develops between Kumail and Beth is both poignant and truly touching.
Where the script succeeds is in never quite making the viewer comfortable about where the movie is going and whether the film will end with joy or heartbreak. And you will find no spoilers here!
So is it a comedy classic? Well, no, not quite. What’s a bit disappointing is that for a film as culturally topical as this, the whole question of Islamophobia in Trump’s America is juggled like a hot potato. Aside from one memorable scene in the club, with a redneck heckler, and an excruciating exchange about 9/11 between Kumail and Terry, the subject is completely ignored. This is a shame. The script (by Nanjiani and Emily Gordon) would have benefited enormously from some rather braver “Thick of It” style input from the likes of Armando Iannucci.
I also have to despair at the movie’s marketing executives who came up with this title. FFS! I know “East is East” has already gone, but could you have possibly come up with a less appealing title? I guess the title does serve one useful purpose in flagging up potential upset for those with bad historical experiences of intensive care. (Like “The Descendants” this is what we would term in our family #notaShawFamilyfilm).
Overall though this film, directed by Michael Showalter (no, me neither!) and produced by Judd Apatow (whose name gets the biggest billing), is a fun and engaging movie experience that comes highly recommended. A delightful antidote to the summer blockbuster season. The end titles also bring a delightful surprise (that I’ve seen spoiled since by some reviews) that was moving and brought added depth to the drama that had gone before.
More Hollywood please, more.
Kumail Nanjiani plays (who’d have thought it?) Kumail, a Pakistani-born comic-cum-Uber-driver struggling to get recognised on the Chicago comedy circuit. His performances mix traditional stand-up at a club with a rather po-faced one-man show where he explains at length the culture of Pakistan (Naan-splaining?), including intricate detail on the fielding positions and strategies of cricket. Kumail is heckled during a show by the young and perky Emily (Zoe Kazan, the middle daughter from “It’s Complicated”). Lust blossoms (mental note: stand up comedy seems a fabulous strategy for picking up women) and lust turns to romance as the pair grow closer to each other.
A surging romance. Uber gets love from A to B.
Unfortunately Kumail is aware of something Emily isn’t: his strictly Muslim parents Sharmeen and Azmat (Anupam Kher and Zenobia Schroff) believe in arranged marriages to ‘nice Pakistani girls’ and a relationship with – let alone a marriage to – Emily risks disgrace and familial exile. A medical crisis brings Kumail further into dispute, this time with Emily’s parents Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano).
Stand-up is, I assert, a very nationalistic thing. It is a medium hugely dependant on context and while I’m sure great British comics like Peter Kay and Eddie Izzard might rate as only a 4 or a 5 out of 10 for most Americans, so most American stand-up comics tend to leave me cold. And perhaps it’s also a movie-thing, that stand-up on the big screen just doesn’t work well? Either way, the initial comedy-club scenes rather left me cold. (And I don’t think most of them were SUPPOSED to be particularly bad – since they seemed to fill the seats each night). As a result I thought this was a “comedy” that wasn’t going to be for me.
Stand up and be counted. Kumail Nanjiani doing the circuit.
But once Nanjiani and Kazan got together the chemistry was immediate and palpable and the duo completely won me round. Kazan in particular is a vibrant and joyous actress who I would love to see a lot more of: this should be a breakout movie for her.
Broader, but none less welcome, comedy is to be found in Kumail’s family home as his mother introduces serial Pakistani girls to the dinner table.
Holly Hunter (“Broadcast News” – one of my favourite films) and Ray Romano are also superb, delivering really thoughtful and nuanced performances that slowly unpeel the stresses inherent in many long-term marriages. The relationship that develops between Kumail and Beth is both poignant and truly touching.
Where the script succeeds is in never quite making the viewer comfortable about where the movie is going and whether the film will end with joy or heartbreak. And you will find no spoilers here!
So is it a comedy classic? Well, no, not quite. What’s a bit disappointing is that for a film as culturally topical as this, the whole question of Islamophobia in Trump’s America is juggled like a hot potato. Aside from one memorable scene in the club, with a redneck heckler, and an excruciating exchange about 9/11 between Kumail and Terry, the subject is completely ignored. This is a shame. The script (by Nanjiani and Emily Gordon) would have benefited enormously from some rather braver “Thick of It” style input from the likes of Armando Iannucci.
I also have to despair at the movie’s marketing executives who came up with this title. FFS! I know “East is East” has already gone, but could you have possibly come up with a less appealing title? I guess the title does serve one useful purpose in flagging up potential upset for those with bad historical experiences of intensive care. (Like “The Descendants” this is what we would term in our family #notaShawFamilyfilm).
Overall though this film, directed by Michael Showalter (no, me neither!) and produced by Judd Apatow (whose name gets the biggest billing), is a fun and engaging movie experience that comes highly recommended. A delightful antidote to the summer blockbuster season. The end titles also bring a delightful surprise (that I’ve seen spoiled since by some reviews) that was moving and brought added depth to the drama that had gone before.
More Hollywood please, more.
MasterSolace (19 KP) rated X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) in Movies
Jun 9, 2019
The Actual Phoenix Force (5 more)
Didn't guess Chastain's part
Action was good
Had a piece of DEEP Lore
GENOSHA
Ambiguous Ending
Some Retreading (3 more)
Simon Kinberg can't direct
Wonky Camera Angles
Did I say retreading?
The End is Here(Spoilers)
Contains spoilers, click to show
Dark Phoenix. A another attempt at getting it right... and... it was close. No, it was NOT perfect. Not even close. But I got enjoyment out of it.
I did NOT guess Jessica Chastain's character. I was guessing Deathbird or a physical manifestation of the Phoenix Force for Jean to talk to. But I never would've guessed Vuk, of the D'Bari. Not only left field, but ACTUALLY connected to the lore. Go look up the D'Bari, you will see what I mean.
Performances weren't bad. Sansa... I mean Sophie Turner is what I always picture Jean Grey to be, and she did well. Still impressed by McAvoy and Fassbender pulling off the younger versions.
Simon Kinberg... first time directing, right? Am I wrong? I knew he wrote... hell, he did Last Stand. But first time directing? Right? You CAN tell.
There is a slight retread of X-Men: Last Stand. But most of that is in the first act...... but I think it may be a good thing as well. It's almost like it gave Simon Kinberg a second chance to get it right. And it IS a HUGE improvement over Last Stand.
Dark Phoenix is the Last FOX X-Men movie... and sadly, it shows. Like their hearts weren't 100% in it. And they went ahead and filmed an ambiguous ending anyway. I say... BRAVO. Makes us wonder... What If?
But... now we can focus on what is next? Disney... it's your turn. Don't screq it up.
I did NOT guess Jessica Chastain's character. I was guessing Deathbird or a physical manifestation of the Phoenix Force for Jean to talk to. But I never would've guessed Vuk, of the D'Bari. Not only left field, but ACTUALLY connected to the lore. Go look up the D'Bari, you will see what I mean.
Performances weren't bad. Sansa... I mean Sophie Turner is what I always picture Jean Grey to be, and she did well. Still impressed by McAvoy and Fassbender pulling off the younger versions.
Simon Kinberg... first time directing, right? Am I wrong? I knew he wrote... hell, he did Last Stand. But first time directing? Right? You CAN tell.
There is a slight retread of X-Men: Last Stand. But most of that is in the first act...... but I think it may be a good thing as well. It's almost like it gave Simon Kinberg a second chance to get it right. And it IS a HUGE improvement over Last Stand.
Dark Phoenix is the Last FOX X-Men movie... and sadly, it shows. Like their hearts weren't 100% in it. And they went ahead and filmed an ambiguous ending anyway. I say... BRAVO. Makes us wonder... What If?
But... now we can focus on what is next? Disney... it's your turn. Don't screq it up.