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Men in Black (1997)
Men in Black (1997)
1997 | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Visually Brilliant and Gorgeous
A New York police officer gets thrown into a crazy world when he stumbles upon a special group trying to stop intergalactic threats.

Acting: 10
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have to be one my most favorite duos of all time. Playing Agent J and Agent K respectively, their partnership is one of new blood versus old head. I love how each of them took on their respective role, Smith with air of cockiness and bravado and Jones with the nature of one who has been there and done that too many times before. And I haven’t even dove into the fun performances of actors like Rip Torn and Tony Shalhoub. Very well casted movie.

Beginning: 10

Characters: 10
J and K are magnificent to watch, but it’s the broad scope of aliens for me that take the cake. There’s Jeebs whose head can explode and grow back. Then there’s Edgar who eventually becomes a massive bug wearing an “Edgar Suit” played by the amazing Vincent D’Onofrio. Those are only to name a couple from a large list of enriching characters that shed a fun new light on the underground of New York.

Cinematography/Visuals: 10

Conflict: 10
The first ten minutes of the movie gives you a taste of what the action is going to be like. That dives right into the next scene and the next. Great action with high stakes that races across the city of New York. I appreciate the high level of conflict that kept me engaged.

Entertainment Value: 7

Memorability: 7

Pace: 10
Ninety-eight minutes goes by quick in Men In Black. It’s one of those movies that you almost don’t want to end but you know it has to. It races through its story, but just quickly enough so that you don’t miss any important details. I love when movies can move at a pace like this without ruining with exposition.

Plot: 7

Resolution: 8
I wanted a little more from the ending but it was satisfactory for the most part. Definitely leaves room for the obvious sequel that follows it. Decent way to wrap things up.

Overall: 89
From the beginning, I had no doubt that I was going to like Men In Black. It wraps solid sci-fi action into a nice gift with quick pacing and a solid story for a bow. Director Barry Sonnenfeld masterfully captures the “aliens among us” idea and makes it inventive. Definitely a necessary piece of sci-fi movie history.
  
Street Sounds Electro 5 by  Various Artists
Street Sounds Electro 5 by Various Artists
1984 | Electronic
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"There isn't really one definitive album in that series. We were completely addicted to those Electro albums when they first came out. One of us had one album and we used to trade them between the lot of us. I bought Electro 2 and I was a bit pissed off at the time, but it's one of my favourites now. Electro 5 has got some of the best tunes on it. And Crucial Electro has got 'Clear' by Cybertron, which is amazing. Jerry Calliste, Jr. is a genius I think. He was the man behind 'Al Naafiysh' and High-Fidelity Three's 'B Boys Breakdance'. That's one of my favourite tunes on Electro 5. 'Breaker's Revenge' [by Arthur Baker] is a killer. Beat Street – the film and the soundtrack – was huge for me. I was a terrible breakdancer. Embarrassingly bad. I had a couple of moves and I could barely do those, but I loved the culture of it. UK Electro was also a key record – I found out recently that it's all by one guy. It's perhaps easy to see this in retrospect, but there are lots of parallels between Detroit and Sheffield and Manchester. I can remember looking out at the cooling towers from my bedroom window. They were maybe two miles away. You could see a big urbanised bit to the side of it. It made the landscape magical listening to that music. I think this was probably what Kraftwerk were getting at originally. Talking about it now it seems obvious, but it adds magic to your own mundane landscape. You need that. That's what happened with Detroit techno. You've got this utterly bleak landscape and the only way to make it palatable is to lend it some kind of majesty. I think we were very lucky growing up when we did. We had lots of momentous moments. Things are very fractured now. Back then, everybody had an opinion on something like Star Wars – especially boys, well, men now. We all have this notion that we were privy to something amazing. It's very rare now that something is that omnipresent. The whole thing with the electro scene was that it was a bit left of centre. I got a lot of stick for it at school. I can see why, looking back now. It was such a huge thing. It pushed you in a certain direction. I've grown up a bit now, but it used to be quite extreme. Y'know, like, "If you don't share my taste in music you can fuck off.""

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Guy Pearce recommended The Godfather (1972) in Movies (curated)

 
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather (1972)
1972 | Crime, Drama

"Okay. I do come back to The Godfather, and to be honest, if I had more time to think about it, I would probably leave The Godfather out only because I know that it’s a film that is often touted. But primarily, I think it’s about Pacino for me. I think all of the things that make The Godfather what people call the perfect film, where you’re taken into a world where, for most us, is really just — we’re never going to go there ourselves, into the world of the mafia and organized crime, but to see how it’s connected to family and how that is the basis of this story being the bond within a family, is so foreign to, I think, most of us. Foreign as far as where killing is part of family life. It’s just so unusual, but at the same time, it’s done in such a way that they make it feel perfectly normal. Of course, again, there’s Brando, there’s Pacino, and then in the second one we see De Niro. I think I’m often drawn to films primarily because of the performances, and speaking of performances, I would then probably move to Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino for very different reasons. We see Pacino in Godfather in an extremely restrained performance. And then, of course, in Dog Day Afternoon, we see just this loose mess of a human being spilling out out all over the place, and he’s just absolutely electric and just as compelling and just as unpredictable as the character Michael Corleone in Godfather, but completely at opposite ends of the spectrum. I just think Pacino is someone for me who, like Brando, I just find him completely watchable and can’t get enough of him. Anything he does, really, I would find compelling. Although there have been performances lately that haven’t been as interesting as the earlier stuff. [Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon] are so different. They’re really, really different. I think Godfather is a better film, but I think Dog Day — that performance — John Cazale‘s performance in Dog Day, as well — and as you know, I have really eclectic taste anyway in the kinds of things that I like, and the kinds of jobs that I choose, too. I get just as much out of both of those films. The potential energy that exists in Godfather versus Dog Day is that they’re just extreme, explosive kind of sweaty performances of Pacino [and they are] are two completely different things, but they both affect me a great deal."

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Madam Tulip (Madam Tulip #1)
Madam Tulip (Madam Tulip #1)
David Ahern | 2016 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
More reviews at https://bbookinspector.wordpress.com

When I read the description of this book, I knew it is going to be a fun read, and I was right. This book was my first try of cosy mysteries and I really enjoyed this well deserved treat to my brains, after reading some intense psychological thrillers.

The blurb above, describes this book quite accurately. Derry is broke actress who is “teeny bit psychic”. So, when the chance comes to earn some (good) money out of it, she decided to try. But soon she got involved into murder “investigation”, where she knew more than the police.

The characters used in this book were very well chosen. This is a book about actors and celebrities, so, of course, there were some eccentric, artistic characters, whose charm and charisma has to shine. I really enjoyed the great balance between the “over the top” characters and the casual, “down to earth” ones. Ahern kept a wide variety of well rounded characters to choose from, so I think everyone can find their favourite one, according to their taste. My favourite was Derry; I loved her simple personality and sharp way of thinking, even though her parents are really crazy.

The plot of this novel was very entertaining and enjoyable. I liked the smooth flow of the story, with unexpected findings and turns. The whole story was told from Derry’s perspective, but that was fully sufficient to understand the characters well. As it says in the description below, Ahern grew up in a theatrical family, I think that is why the theatrical life details used in this novel were so accurate and detailed, and I absolutely enjoyed reading all those bits and pieces about actors and theatre.

The writing style of this novel is really pleasurable, filled with Irish spirit. The language used in this book is easy to read and understandable. The chapters are decent length, and divided into smaller parts as well, so it doesn’t drag along and didn’t leave me bored. The ending of the book was unexpected and filled with action, and left some unresolved issues, which, I believe, might come up in other books of Madam Tulip. So to conclude, I think this book was a great introduction to Madam Tulip and her capabilities, and I was very pleased to witness this metamorphosis. I really enjoyed all this extra-ordinariness combined with simplicity and casualness, and I think it is a great read for these cold autumn evenings.
Was given this book by Author for honest review.