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Leigh J (71 KP) rated The loved ones (2009) in Movies
Nov 8, 2019 (Updated Nov 8, 2019)
Put my faith back in Horror
Contains spoilers, click to show
For a period of time the other year, I had truly lost faith in Horror. Every Movie I was watching was like another nail in the Horror Coffin and I had got to the point where I didn't even want to watch Horror anymore. I. Was. Done. But one day whilst in a store, a Movie I had been meaning to check out was there (and reasonably priced!) I picked it up, flopped pessimisticly onto my Sofa and got ready to watch... The Loved Ones was the Movie, and it blew me away. It was the spark that reignited my Horror love, and it injected something fresh back into a Genre that I felt was getting tired.
So, The Loved Ones is about a young guy called Brent who is in a downward spiral due to the untimely death of his Father. An accident that Brent, himself, was involved in and feels guilty about as he was driving the Car and swerved at the last minute to avoid a dazed and injured boy in the Road. At School he is asked to Prom by a seemingly innocent looking girl called Lola, who he turns down as he already has a Girlfriend. Lola does not take this well (especially when she finds Brent in a steamy tangle with his Girlfriend in a car) and enlists the help of her equally psychotic Dad to kidnap Brent for a Prom Night that he'll never forget...
I really, really enjoyed The Loved Ones, and each time I watch it is a pleasure. It had some great creepy details (SPOILERS: such as the very unsettling relationship between Lola and her Dad, Lola's jealousy and pettiness towards her "Mum"; who has pretty much been lobotomized, the "others" twist that you never see coming) and it all ties together in a neat, possibly Pink, definitely Bloodstained Bow! It's a Movie that definitely deserves a watch, and even merits a few watches to pick up on all the awesome details. Amazing.
So, The Loved Ones is about a young guy called Brent who is in a downward spiral due to the untimely death of his Father. An accident that Brent, himself, was involved in and feels guilty about as he was driving the Car and swerved at the last minute to avoid a dazed and injured boy in the Road. At School he is asked to Prom by a seemingly innocent looking girl called Lola, who he turns down as he already has a Girlfriend. Lola does not take this well (especially when she finds Brent in a steamy tangle with his Girlfriend in a car) and enlists the help of her equally psychotic Dad to kidnap Brent for a Prom Night that he'll never forget...
I really, really enjoyed The Loved Ones, and each time I watch it is a pleasure. It had some great creepy details (SPOILERS: such as the very unsettling relationship between Lola and her Dad, Lola's jealousy and pettiness towards her "Mum"; who has pretty much been lobotomized, the "others" twist that you never see coming) and it all ties together in a neat, possibly Pink, definitely Bloodstained Bow! It's a Movie that definitely deserves a watch, and even merits a few watches to pick up on all the awesome details. Amazing.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Dead Don't Die (2019) in Movies
Jan 7, 2020 (Updated Jan 29, 2020)
Several Wild Animals
The Dead Don't Die is truly a bizarre experience.
Jim Jarmusch has crafted a gratuitously deadpan and self aware zombie film that tackles tired genre tropes in unique and confusing ways.
Truth be told, I was ready to hate it. I knew that it wasn't the same style of zombie-comedy as Zombieland, or Shaun of the Dead, and I expected to be bogged down in pretentiousness - I'm happy to admit that I was wrong in this case.
A lot of the complaints I've seen about TDDD is precisely that. That, and the fourth wall breaking, but those are two aspects that I actually really liked.
The humour is really subtle for the most part. The dead pan delivery of a lot of the script was quite jarring at first, but it didn't take long for it settle, and I actually ended up finding it pretty funny, just not in-your-face funny (which is a good thing).
The fourth wall stuff verges on being too-clever-for-its-own-good but it just about pulls it off, and gives an interesting alternate thought process to the general narrative.
The cast is brimming with people that I like and love - Bill Murray, Adam Driver (surely a full blown man crush by this point), Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Tilda Swinton... God damn I even love Iggy Pop. It's a great cast list for sure, and the charming and witty script gives them all a lot to do, even if some of the many characters feel under developed at times.
The zombie aspect is a bit if a back seat for me. I was certainly more invested in the aforementioned cast, than any actual zombie action, but I enjoyed the 'classic' shuffling zombies in a small town setting for what it's worth.
I'm not sure what I expected from The Dead Don't Die, but it certainly wasn't what I got, and that precisely why it stands out.
Jim Jarmusch has crafted a gratuitously deadpan and self aware zombie film that tackles tired genre tropes in unique and confusing ways.
Truth be told, I was ready to hate it. I knew that it wasn't the same style of zombie-comedy as Zombieland, or Shaun of the Dead, and I expected to be bogged down in pretentiousness - I'm happy to admit that I was wrong in this case.
A lot of the complaints I've seen about TDDD is precisely that. That, and the fourth wall breaking, but those are two aspects that I actually really liked.
The humour is really subtle for the most part. The dead pan delivery of a lot of the script was quite jarring at first, but it didn't take long for it settle, and I actually ended up finding it pretty funny, just not in-your-face funny (which is a good thing).
The fourth wall stuff verges on being too-clever-for-its-own-good but it just about pulls it off, and gives an interesting alternate thought process to the general narrative.
The cast is brimming with people that I like and love - Bill Murray, Adam Driver (surely a full blown man crush by this point), Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Tilda Swinton... God damn I even love Iggy Pop. It's a great cast list for sure, and the charming and witty script gives them all a lot to do, even if some of the many characters feel under developed at times.
The zombie aspect is a bit if a back seat for me. I was certainly more invested in the aforementioned cast, than any actual zombie action, but I enjoyed the 'classic' shuffling zombies in a small town setting for what it's worth.
I'm not sure what I expected from The Dead Don't Die, but it certainly wasn't what I got, and that precisely why it stands out.
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Last Librarian in Books
Jul 24, 2020
Poorly written and unoriginal
I wanted so much to like this book. The synopsis makes it sound like a more modern take on Fahrenheit 451 or 1984, however no matter how many times this book tries to reference these classics, it will never live up to these.
The good thing about this book is that the idea behind it. Set in a futuristic society where a pandemic has wiped out a large part of the population, the thought behind it is fairly relevant and in keeping with today’s events and you can almost imagine that this could’ve easily happened today. That however is where the good stops. The story is far too overly complicated and predictable, and also pretty dull. It doesn’t help that the author has decided that despite being set less than 80 years from today, everything has changed - the language, the continents, technology to the point where everything has a ridiculous and laughable new name. I never understand why authors try and rename everything just because it’s classed as a futuristic book, it’s entirely unnecessary. And then there’s the acronyms. Within the first half of the book so many silly acronyms are introduced that I quickly lost the will to even try and remember what they stood for, it’s far too many.
The characters are whiny and self absorbed, with a large part of the chapters taken up by their monotonous and rambling inner monologuing. And then they all seem to inexplicably talk in literary quotes all the time, to constantly stress their self importance and the worthiness of the books. The relationships between characters also seem poorly developed yet progress far too quickly.
Overall I really didn’t enjoy this book, and the fact that it has been set up for 2 further sequels doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’d have to be very desperate to read those.
The good thing about this book is that the idea behind it. Set in a futuristic society where a pandemic has wiped out a large part of the population, the thought behind it is fairly relevant and in keeping with today’s events and you can almost imagine that this could’ve easily happened today. That however is where the good stops. The story is far too overly complicated and predictable, and also pretty dull. It doesn’t help that the author has decided that despite being set less than 80 years from today, everything has changed - the language, the continents, technology to the point where everything has a ridiculous and laughable new name. I never understand why authors try and rename everything just because it’s classed as a futuristic book, it’s entirely unnecessary. And then there’s the acronyms. Within the first half of the book so many silly acronyms are introduced that I quickly lost the will to even try and remember what they stood for, it’s far too many.
The characters are whiny and self absorbed, with a large part of the chapters taken up by their monotonous and rambling inner monologuing. And then they all seem to inexplicably talk in literary quotes all the time, to constantly stress their self importance and the worthiness of the books. The relationships between characters also seem poorly developed yet progress far too quickly.
Overall I really didn’t enjoy this book, and the fact that it has been set up for 2 further sequels doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’d have to be very desperate to read those.
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Newly Undead in Dark River (Dark River Days, #1) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
I was once again trying to do my A-Z of paranormal books and saw this on Amazon and it just sounded good, so I added it to my wish-list and a few days ago it was free, so I bought it.
I'm glad I did.
This starts with Mika waking up in a storm drain at some point in the night and wandering into a small town called Dark River, which is home to vampires. It turns out that one of the inhabitants killed her and turned her and local sheriff Walker Walton tries to find out who as Mika settles into the town she can never really leave again. Add in drifter Judge, and shape shifter Brody, and Mika finds herself caught in a little reverse harem that she grows to love.
I was intrigued over who Mika/Raine's creator was. It seemed like everyone was really welcoming and showed her no ill will so to find out who it was did come as a bit of a shock but they did have a bit of a good reason for it.
I actually enjoyed the reverse harem side of this one. Some just seem to instantly happen whereas this one, each guy came about in their own time. It wasn't all at once. Some tried to fight it, some gave in straight away. There were some really sizzling scenes of threesomes with the guys having a little fun with each other too.
One thing I do have a little complaint about is the editing. It has a handful of errors throughout with words repeated or sentences that appear to have been changed slightly but left the previous word in there, too. It doesn't take away from the story but it just niggles me a little.
The story was well written and had been thought out. I am very intrigued by this group of lovers and the town of Dark River and can't help wondering what is next in store for them, so I will be buying book 2 soon.
I'm glad I did.
This starts with Mika waking up in a storm drain at some point in the night and wandering into a small town called Dark River, which is home to vampires. It turns out that one of the inhabitants killed her and turned her and local sheriff Walker Walton tries to find out who as Mika settles into the town she can never really leave again. Add in drifter Judge, and shape shifter Brody, and Mika finds herself caught in a little reverse harem that she grows to love.
I was intrigued over who Mika/Raine's creator was. It seemed like everyone was really welcoming and showed her no ill will so to find out who it was did come as a bit of a shock but they did have a bit of a good reason for it.
I actually enjoyed the reverse harem side of this one. Some just seem to instantly happen whereas this one, each guy came about in their own time. It wasn't all at once. Some tried to fight it, some gave in straight away. There were some really sizzling scenes of threesomes with the guys having a little fun with each other too.
One thing I do have a little complaint about is the editing. It has a handful of errors throughout with words repeated or sentences that appear to have been changed slightly but left the previous word in there, too. It doesn't take away from the story but it just niggles me a little.
The story was well written and had been thought out. I am very intrigued by this group of lovers and the town of Dark River and can't help wondering what is next in store for them, so I will be buying book 2 soon.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2395 KP) rated One for the Books in Books
Aug 6, 2021 (Updated Aug 6, 2021)
Lindsey and Sully Face Complications on the Way Down the Aisle
With a week to go before her wedding, Lindsey suddenly realizes her small wedding is going to be larger than she had planned. That necessitates a trip to Bell Island, the island where Sully’s family lives and where the couple is planning to get married. Once there, Lindsey and Sully make a horrific discovery – the body of Steve Briggs, the justice of the peace who is supposed to marry them. Sully has been friends with Steve since they were both kids, so he takes the death hard. For Sully’s sake, they start seeing what they can uncover. Can they solve the crime, find a new officiant, and still get married as planned?
This is a book for the fans. If you are new to the series, I suggest you go back and read the earlier books before picking up this book because you’ll enjoy it more that way. I love spending time with these characters, and watching their relationships grow as the characters themselves evolve, and we get more of that here. Overall, the book could have used a good polish, but it was mostly minor stuff that was bothering me as I read. I was certainly interested in the story as I was reading. I especially appreciate the police chief here – she does her job, but is willing to listen to Lindsey and is up front when she is following the evidence but still open to other possibilities. While the wedding is the focus, the book does take place during December, and I enjoyed the bits of Christmas that slipped into the book as well. As usual, I laughed at some of the scenes as I was reading. I also might have teared up at the wedding itself. Fans will be rewarded with this book. If that isn’t you yet, be sure to check out the entire series.
This is a book for the fans. If you are new to the series, I suggest you go back and read the earlier books before picking up this book because you’ll enjoy it more that way. I love spending time with these characters, and watching their relationships grow as the characters themselves evolve, and we get more of that here. Overall, the book could have used a good polish, but it was mostly minor stuff that was bothering me as I read. I was certainly interested in the story as I was reading. I especially appreciate the police chief here – she does her job, but is willing to listen to Lindsey and is up front when she is following the evidence but still open to other possibilities. While the wedding is the focus, the book does take place during December, and I enjoyed the bits of Christmas that slipped into the book as well. As usual, I laughed at some of the scenes as I was reading. I also might have teared up at the wedding itself. Fans will be rewarded with this book. If that isn’t you yet, be sure to check out the entire series.
