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RษX Regent (349 KP) rated The Black Pirate (1926) in Movies
Feb 18, 2019
Two-tone Techncolor milestone
Two Tone Technicolor in all its glory! This is it. The first widely distributed Technicolor movie back before we even had sound. This was hardly the first foray into colour, in fact colour almost goes as far back as film itself, as does sound, but it was not until the mid-1920โs that breakthroughs in both mediums would bring them into mainstream.
Sound would take first, with Technicolor taking just a little longer, mainly due to the technical issues of using it both in front and behind the camera. But as time went on, these issues were gradually dealt with with the rest is cinema history.
So, having gotten the technical bit out of the way, on to the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. blockbuster. And that is precisely want this was. A by-the-numbers acrobatic action movie by the undisputed star of the day, Fairbanks.
The plot follows a Duke (Fairbanks) whose ship is attacked and destroyed by a Pirates. He is the soul survivor and vows revenge. He soon finds himself in the company of the very pirates he is looking for and infiltrates their crew by being the best god-damn pirate there ever was!
He meets a princess (Billie Dove) and saves the day, gets the girl and the evil pirates are dispatched. All, amidst lots of colourful blood, to emphasise the Technicolor I suppose and slides down a few sails with his dagger along the way.
The performances are typical for a Hollywoodland movie of the day, but besides the outstanding physicality of Douglas, I would not say that there was anything particularly noteworthy about the acting, let alone the production on the whole. Having said that, the tone and clicheโs which this film has brought to the genre as whole are legendary and there is that foray into colour of course.
This were it all began folksโฆ
The DVD
Unfortunately my copy was just the cheap R-0 version, whcih was clearly (ironically) taken from a old VHS recording. The colour is vivid but wrong. Greens have replaced blacks and the overall print quality was poor but watchable. I have seen bit s of the KINO HD Blu-ray edition and this looks great.
It also has the original score by Mortimer Wilson, something whcih this bargain basement DVD does not. The music supplied is okay; a mix of classical pieces on a loop but none this is cued and rarely suits the scenes let alone the action on screen. Further proof that there never was such a thing as silent cinema, just no synchronised sound.
For the real experience, get the Blu-ray, though it is very expensive at the moment, but if you just want to see what all the fuss is about, this DVD is quite watchable, at least as an entry version.
Me, I am after the upgrade!
Sound would take first, with Technicolor taking just a little longer, mainly due to the technical issues of using it both in front and behind the camera. But as time went on, these issues were gradually dealt with with the rest is cinema history.
So, having gotten the technical bit out of the way, on to the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. blockbuster. And that is precisely want this was. A by-the-numbers acrobatic action movie by the undisputed star of the day, Fairbanks.
The plot follows a Duke (Fairbanks) whose ship is attacked and destroyed by a Pirates. He is the soul survivor and vows revenge. He soon finds himself in the company of the very pirates he is looking for and infiltrates their crew by being the best god-damn pirate there ever was!
He meets a princess (Billie Dove) and saves the day, gets the girl and the evil pirates are dispatched. All, amidst lots of colourful blood, to emphasise the Technicolor I suppose and slides down a few sails with his dagger along the way.
The performances are typical for a Hollywoodland movie of the day, but besides the outstanding physicality of Douglas, I would not say that there was anything particularly noteworthy about the acting, let alone the production on the whole. Having said that, the tone and clicheโs which this film has brought to the genre as whole are legendary and there is that foray into colour of course.
This were it all began folksโฆ
The DVD
Unfortunately my copy was just the cheap R-0 version, whcih was clearly (ironically) taken from a old VHS recording. The colour is vivid but wrong. Greens have replaced blacks and the overall print quality was poor but watchable. I have seen bit s of the KINO HD Blu-ray edition and this looks great.
It also has the original score by Mortimer Wilson, something whcih this bargain basement DVD does not. The music supplied is okay; a mix of classical pieces on a loop but none this is cued and rarely suits the scenes let alone the action on screen. Further proof that there never was such a thing as silent cinema, just no synchronised sound.
For the real experience, get the Blu-ray, though it is very expensive at the moment, but if you just want to see what all the fuss is about, this DVD is quite watchable, at least as an entry version.
Me, I am after the upgrade!
Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya
Book
New York Times Bestseller (Expeditions) "Thrilling...A captivating history of two men who...
Merissa (12627 KP) rated Seduced by Fire (Dragons of Bloodfire #3) in Books
Sep 8, 2017
Seduced by Fire (Dragons of Bloodfire #3) by Erin Kellison
Seduced by Fire is the third book in the Dragons of Bloodfire series. In this book our two main characters are both dragons, and both have secrets to keep. Ryder, also known as Professor Ted, has managed to live amongst the humans, working as a professor. Everything he has worked for, and lived with, becomes a moot point when he crosses paths with a Tempus during one of his lectures. He is exposed to the human world, and has decisions to make. Aura is a Sun Dragon, and you don't really know much about her to begin with, except that her and Ryder have a history. As the story progresses you find out more about both our main characters, and the story itself. We reunite with Warrick and Samantha from book 2, whilst Thane from book 1 is only spoken about.
Something was missing from this book for me, and I'll be damned if I can figure out what it was. I love Erin Kellison's work, and this, by technical standards, is the same high quality as you would expect, with no editing or grammatical errors that I could see. However, I just didn't feel like I connected with the characters or the story as much as the others, especially book 1. I am sure that this will only be my opinion in amongst the rest, as it is more than usual to get lost in the worlds that Erin Kellison produces.
So, for me, this book was good and I did enjoy it. It just didn't wow me like others have in the past. I would still recommend both this book, and others by this author, to anyone who loves paranormal romance.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Something was missing from this book for me, and I'll be damned if I can figure out what it was. I love Erin Kellison's work, and this, by technical standards, is the same high quality as you would expect, with no editing or grammatical errors that I could see. However, I just didn't feel like I connected with the characters or the story as much as the others, especially book 1. I am sure that this will only be my opinion in amongst the rest, as it is more than usual to get lost in the worlds that Erin Kellison produces.
So, for me, this book was good and I did enjoy it. It just didn't wow me like others have in the past. I would still recommend both this book, and others by this author, to anyone who loves paranormal romance.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Disorder (Maryland) (2015) in Movies
Dec 7, 2020
"๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ?
๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ
๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ"
- "Disorder", Joy Division 1979
Sort of like if ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต existed in the same universe as ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. Not too much you haven't seen before but a total technical marvel - very few times before has a camera been *this* intrinsically linked to a character's psyche: constantly shifting focus, shifting in and out of reality, overanalyzing every little minutia to the point of near blinding anxiety - if it isn't a threat yet it'll be hyperfocused on until it becomes one, real or not. The sort of moviemaking that makes you second guess everything you just saw right through to its bone-chilling ending. That being said it does strain in the home stretch but not only is this sort of stylish, synthy slow burn thriller inherently fun to me - but it says something interesting when the only time this settles down is during the kind of dangerous situation this character is scrambling to find, only in moments of repose do things become truly jangled - where "the calm before the storm" *is* the storm, and vice-versa. Schoenaerts is incredible in it, the type of towering, volatile performance that makes you break a sweat. Every time this guy moves suddenly it about makes my heart stop and when he finally cracks a genuine smile an hour+ in it's a momentous occasion. At first you may think (not so unjustifiably given Hollywood's history with PTSD) that the title is a reductive swipe at his affliction, but as the movie progresses you realize it signifies his commanding search for some semblance of order in his life. Far from flawless but for the most part precisely what I was hoping for out of it.
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ?
๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ
๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ"
- "Disorder", Joy Division 1979
Sort of like if ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต existed in the same universe as ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. Not too much you haven't seen before but a total technical marvel - very few times before has a camera been *this* intrinsically linked to a character's psyche: constantly shifting focus, shifting in and out of reality, overanalyzing every little minutia to the point of near blinding anxiety - if it isn't a threat yet it'll be hyperfocused on until it becomes one, real or not. The sort of moviemaking that makes you second guess everything you just saw right through to its bone-chilling ending. That being said it does strain in the home stretch but not only is this sort of stylish, synthy slow burn thriller inherently fun to me - but it says something interesting when the only time this settles down is during the kind of dangerous situation this character is scrambling to find, only in moments of repose do things become truly jangled - where "the calm before the storm" *is* the storm, and vice-versa. Schoenaerts is incredible in it, the type of towering, volatile performance that makes you break a sweat. Every time this guy moves suddenly it about makes my heart stop and when he finally cracks a genuine smile an hour+ in it's a momentous occasion. At first you may think (not so unjustifiably given Hollywood's history with PTSD) that the title is a reductive swipe at his affliction, but as the movie progresses you realize it signifies his commanding search for some semblance of order in his life. Far from flawless but for the most part precisely what I was hoping for out of it.
Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus
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