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Do Your Children Believe?: Becoming Intentional About Your Family's Faith and Spiritual Legacy
Book
Are your children ready to live out their faith in the real world? Most parents who value Christian...
Darren (1599 KP) rated Thoroughbreds (2017) in Movies
Sep 26, 2019
Characters – Lily comes from one of the rich families in Connecticut, she ha be raised for boarding school away from the rest of the people her age in the neighbourhood, she opens up to her old friend with a troubled past, as she learns about getting a chance to escape this life she isn’t enjoying. Amanda is teenager that has done something horrific, she is struggling in school and sent to be tutored by her old friend to help with her college future, she is emotionally closed off from the world, though pushes Lily into doing the unthinkable. Tim is the local drug dealer that has a reputation of only dealing with minors which sees him be selected by the girls to complete the murder for them. Mark is the stepfather that Lily doesn’t get on with him, he is a control freak making the life of Lily more difficult.
Performances – Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy in the leading roles gives us the standout performances in this film, they both show us the struggles they are feeling as we see how their plan starts to unfold. Anton Yelchin in the main supporting role showed us one again why he will be missed too.
Story – The story here follows two upper class teenagers that have very different problems in their lives, they reconnect after years apart learning they could help solve each other problems. This is a heavily conversation lead movie that puts the main two characters through discussions of killing problems in their lives and just how they could get away with it. The big weakness with the film is that it doesn’t address the mental health problems that both the women are going through. This story tries to be quirky in what gets done, only for it to feel anti-climactic.
Comedy/Crime – This must be classed as a dark comedy, because it didn’t seem to make me laugh once, the crime side of the film circles around the idea of what the two girls want to do and how they can get away with it.
Settings – The film is set in the upper-class area of Connecticut, showing how the girls can easily look down on people that they can walk over, this is a big factor for the style of the film.
Scene of the Movie – Don’t drink that.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could have looked at the mental health problems going on here more.
Final Thoughts –This is a comedy crime thriller that doesn’t quite hit the marks it was aiming for and ends up just coming off strange.
Overall: Uniquely Styled
Performances – Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy in the leading roles gives us the standout performances in this film, they both show us the struggles they are feeling as we see how their plan starts to unfold. Anton Yelchin in the main supporting role showed us one again why he will be missed too.
Story – The story here follows two upper class teenagers that have very different problems in their lives, they reconnect after years apart learning they could help solve each other problems. This is a heavily conversation lead movie that puts the main two characters through discussions of killing problems in their lives and just how they could get away with it. The big weakness with the film is that it doesn’t address the mental health problems that both the women are going through. This story tries to be quirky in what gets done, only for it to feel anti-climactic.
Comedy/Crime – This must be classed as a dark comedy, because it didn’t seem to make me laugh once, the crime side of the film circles around the idea of what the two girls want to do and how they can get away with it.
Settings – The film is set in the upper-class area of Connecticut, showing how the girls can easily look down on people that they can walk over, this is a big factor for the style of the film.
Scene of the Movie – Don’t drink that.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could have looked at the mental health problems going on here more.
Final Thoughts –This is a comedy crime thriller that doesn’t quite hit the marks it was aiming for and ends up just coming off strange.
Overall: Uniquely Styled
Becs (244 KP) rated The Book Thief in Books
Oct 2, 2019
I have no idea why I didn’t pick The Book Thief up sooner. It was honestly one of the best novels I’ve read so far this year. Scratch that, probably even one of the best novels I’ve read in my entire lifetime. Well, it might actually be a very close second to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo haha.
One thing that I enjoyed while reading was the narrator of the story (death himself) and all the little bits that are thrown throughout the text like this:
***THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN A BOY WHO HATES YOU***
A boy who loves you.
The author takes such a serious and sad topic and throws in love, sarcasm, and happiness. This was such a well rounded, beautiful and classic novel that I just couldn’t put it down. I loved every second of it, even though at first I was a little skeptical. But that’s only because I was in such a sour mood and reading slump when I started The Book Thief.
If you’re looking for a fast read, don’t read this. This took time to read and to understand. To process all that was going on. Markus Zusak doesn’t write The Book Thief in a morbid way that most books about the Holocaust are written, but instead with humor and love and happiness. The good and the bad all intermingled together to create an amazing book that I will be recommending to everybody from now on.
I cried. I laughed. I got pissed. I was stricken with grief, with pain, and with love. I felt that I went through almost every emotion that my body has while reading The Book Thief. And I honestly wanted more.
I wanted more of Liesel’s story after being the only one to survive on Himmel Street. I wanted spin-offs of Rudy and Liesel developing a relationship as they became teenagers and giving me that love story with a tragic back story. I wanted so much more but at the same time, I was content and happy with how the novel ended. I wouldn’t have changed anything about The Book Thief and I will most definitely be rereading it very soon. This is a book that will be cherished for an eternity.
If you haven’t picked up The Book Thief yet, please drop what you’re doing and read it. It will most defiantly change your life.
“And it would show me, once again, that one opportunity leads directly to another, just as risk leads to more risk, life to more life, and death to more death.”
One thing that I enjoyed while reading was the narrator of the story (death himself) and all the little bits that are thrown throughout the text like this:
***THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN A BOY WHO HATES YOU***
A boy who loves you.
The author takes such a serious and sad topic and throws in love, sarcasm, and happiness. This was such a well rounded, beautiful and classic novel that I just couldn’t put it down. I loved every second of it, even though at first I was a little skeptical. But that’s only because I was in such a sour mood and reading slump when I started The Book Thief.
If you’re looking for a fast read, don’t read this. This took time to read and to understand. To process all that was going on. Markus Zusak doesn’t write The Book Thief in a morbid way that most books about the Holocaust are written, but instead with humor and love and happiness. The good and the bad all intermingled together to create an amazing book that I will be recommending to everybody from now on.
I cried. I laughed. I got pissed. I was stricken with grief, with pain, and with love. I felt that I went through almost every emotion that my body has while reading The Book Thief. And I honestly wanted more.
I wanted more of Liesel’s story after being the only one to survive on Himmel Street. I wanted spin-offs of Rudy and Liesel developing a relationship as they became teenagers and giving me that love story with a tragic back story. I wanted so much more but at the same time, I was content and happy with how the novel ended. I wouldn’t have changed anything about The Book Thief and I will most definitely be rereading it very soon. This is a book that will be cherished for an eternity.
If you haven’t picked up The Book Thief yet, please drop what you’re doing and read it. It will most defiantly change your life.
“And it would show me, once again, that one opportunity leads directly to another, just as risk leads to more risk, life to more life, and death to more death.”
Clue Period Tracker
Health & Fitness and Medical
9.0
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**Rated the top free period and ovulation tracker app by the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, a...
Dog Whistle Elite (Training Guide + Clicker included)
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Using a collection of professional dog training experts, we compiled the ultimate dog training...
TheFiend13420 (21 KP) rated Where The Scary Things Are (2022) in Movies
Jun 28, 2022 (Updated Jun 28, 2022)
Excellent performances by virtually unknown cast (2 more)
Well written, fun and flows well
Beauty make-up job on the creature
The Loser's Club these kids are NOT
I have been waiting for this film to come out for months now. And it was totally worth the wait.
A group of friends, led by angry disruptive Ayla, venture out to the closed down Field of Screams Halloween Haunt in search of a local urban legend. Prompted by one of their teachers, They are asked to make up their own Legend and try to bring it to life to prove how false facts can create a sort of mass hysteria. And eventually. They become real... Like local urban legend, Lockjaw.
First off... These fucking kids
None of them are likable. They all have something that makes them horrible. There's no smiles and laughs while walking down the fucking train tracks in this not so feel good movie. The performances by these kids. Even the youngest one... Who you kind of want to kick in the face... puts in a stellar showing. The lead girl. With her serial killer like lack of emotion and empathy. If there were Oscars for horror. She would most definitely be nominated. Even the one kid who shows some form of common sense. Has not one real redeeming quality. These kids are just plain horrid. You literally wish death upon these teenagers
Second. The originality of the whole thing. I know it will probably garner some comparisons to Psycho Goreman. But... Believe me when i tell you... There is no similarity. These are two completely seperate entities.
The idea of Urban Legends coming true. And not being projected by some killer in a parka. makes me extremely happy. Not a slight against the series of Urban Legend movies... I love them... But...
Third. I love the pace of the film. It keeps going, doesn't let up in the slightest. Just when you think you've seen it all. The little bastards just break down the morality wall a little bit more. Such a fun ride to be on.
Was it worth the wait. Absolutely.
Would I recommend it to my friends.... 100%.
Will it be something I'd watch again... I'm actually watching it again... Right now... While I do this review.
Mr. Smith, you've done it again.
You have kept my interest and left me utterly satisfied with an hour and a half of pure horrific pleasure.
Not one stitch of disappointment here...
A group of friends, led by angry disruptive Ayla, venture out to the closed down Field of Screams Halloween Haunt in search of a local urban legend. Prompted by one of their teachers, They are asked to make up their own Legend and try to bring it to life to prove how false facts can create a sort of mass hysteria. And eventually. They become real... Like local urban legend, Lockjaw.
First off... These fucking kids
None of them are likable. They all have something that makes them horrible. There's no smiles and laughs while walking down the fucking train tracks in this not so feel good movie. The performances by these kids. Even the youngest one... Who you kind of want to kick in the face... puts in a stellar showing. The lead girl. With her serial killer like lack of emotion and empathy. If there were Oscars for horror. She would most definitely be nominated. Even the one kid who shows some form of common sense. Has not one real redeeming quality. These kids are just plain horrid. You literally wish death upon these teenagers
Second. The originality of the whole thing. I know it will probably garner some comparisons to Psycho Goreman. But... Believe me when i tell you... There is no similarity. These are two completely seperate entities.
The idea of Urban Legends coming true. And not being projected by some killer in a parka. makes me extremely happy. Not a slight against the series of Urban Legend movies... I love them... But...
Third. I love the pace of the film. It keeps going, doesn't let up in the slightest. Just when you think you've seen it all. The little bastards just break down the morality wall a little bit more. Such a fun ride to be on.
Was it worth the wait. Absolutely.
Would I recommend it to my friends.... 100%.
Will it be something I'd watch again... I'm actually watching it again... Right now... While I do this review.
Mr. Smith, you've done it again.
You have kept my interest and left me utterly satisfied with an hour and a half of pure horrific pleasure.
Not one stitch of disappointment here...
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) in Movies
Aug 11, 2019 (Updated Aug 11, 2019)
The monsters. (1 more)
Special effects - blend of CG and practical.
The Pale Lady. (2 more)
Basic rinse and repeat horror formula.
No emotional attachment to characters.
Fishing for Turds
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is probably considered the introduction to horror fiction for anyone who was in middle school in the mid to late 1990s. I distinctly remember checking out at least one of the books before I was a teenager, but the story that has stuck with me multiple decades later has and always will be, “The Red Spot.” The thing about the Scary Stories books is that they were just these random collections of creepy tales meant to make the reader anxious, uneasy, or even frightened, so the fact that somebody attempted to make a coherent film out of a jumbled mix of stories from all three books is kind of incredible.
The horror film directed by André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) follows a group of teenagers in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania during Halloween in 1968. Stella (Zoe Colletti) is a die-hard fan of the horror genre, Auggie (Gabriel Rush) is a bit too infatuated with girls for his own good, and Chuck (Austin Zajur) lives on candy and pranks when he’s not driving his older sister Ruth (Natalie Ganzhorn) insane. They cross paths with a mysterious drifter named Ramon (Michael Garza) who joins the group seemingly out of boredom.
They initially use trick or treating as a front for revenge against local jock and full-time bully Tommy (Austin Abrams), which leads them to a condemned and rumored to be haunted house of the Bellows family. Sarah Bellows lived in isolation and dramatically killed herself because of her family. Sarah turned her devastating life into inspiration for a series of terrifying stories. After Stella discovers the book Sarah wrote her stories in, strange things begin happening in Mill Valley and everyone in the Bellows house from that night becomes a target.
The monsters of the film attempt to be as explicitly accurate as possible to Stephen Gammell’s original illustrations from the Scary Stories books. This typically pays off, especially with Harold the Scarecrow and The Toe Monster but it seems to backfire with The Pale Lady. While she does still look like a living incarnation of Gammell’s artwork, the story has the weakest conclusion of the entire film. Scary Stories makes up for this by introducing The Jangly Man, who is seriously worth the price of admission alone even if you typically can’t understand a word that he says. The Jangly Man contorts his body in the most inhuman of ways, can separate all of his limbs from his torso, and has this bloodcurdling voice that rattles your insides.
There’s been an emphasis on the lack of a narrative in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. That may be true, but the film is based on a trilogy of books that is close to thirty years old and is supposed to be aimed at younger readers. The film adapts the stories in a way that isn’t totally successful, but it is surprisingly great at times. Despite some recognizable names in the supporting cast such as Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Gil Bellows (The Shawshank Redemption), and Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black), the main cast is mostly filled with unknowns. Some reviews claim that the acting isn’t up to par, but I was pleasantly surprised. Austin Zajur can be annoying as the mischievous Chuck, but he was also rather humorous the majority of the time. Zoe Colletti goes a little overboard when she cries, but she’s also solid when she gushes over horror. Austin Abrams is seriously nasty as Tommy. He is always sweaty and has no remorse for anyone. He takes bullying to frightening heights.
I guess I expected the film to be corny (pun intended) with lame PG-13 kills and a cast that had no idea what they were doing. The film managed to make me a fan during the Harold segment. That surround sound in the cornfield is masterful with the wind blowing through corn stalks in every direction and the rusty creaking of the scarecrow as he tries to walk. How these teenagers are terrorized manages to transcend what movie ratings typically mean for a given film; this would be unsettling regardless of what it’s rated or how old the viewer is.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is not a perfect horror anthology since it’s extremely simple in concept. A monster shows up, a kid disappears, and then it’s rinse and repeat for an hour and 47 minutes. At the same time though, it’s probably the scariest film of the summer and could potentially become the next big horror franchise. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark could easily take over where the Final Destination films left off or even be this generation’s answer to that. The practical effects mixed with just the right amount of CGI for the monsters are what really sell the film. Despite being as disjointed and unnatural as The Jangly Man, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is way more amusing and eerie than it has any right to be.
The horror film directed by André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) follows a group of teenagers in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania during Halloween in 1968. Stella (Zoe Colletti) is a die-hard fan of the horror genre, Auggie (Gabriel Rush) is a bit too infatuated with girls for his own good, and Chuck (Austin Zajur) lives on candy and pranks when he’s not driving his older sister Ruth (Natalie Ganzhorn) insane. They cross paths with a mysterious drifter named Ramon (Michael Garza) who joins the group seemingly out of boredom.
They initially use trick or treating as a front for revenge against local jock and full-time bully Tommy (Austin Abrams), which leads them to a condemned and rumored to be haunted house of the Bellows family. Sarah Bellows lived in isolation and dramatically killed herself because of her family. Sarah turned her devastating life into inspiration for a series of terrifying stories. After Stella discovers the book Sarah wrote her stories in, strange things begin happening in Mill Valley and everyone in the Bellows house from that night becomes a target.
The monsters of the film attempt to be as explicitly accurate as possible to Stephen Gammell’s original illustrations from the Scary Stories books. This typically pays off, especially with Harold the Scarecrow and The Toe Monster but it seems to backfire with The Pale Lady. While she does still look like a living incarnation of Gammell’s artwork, the story has the weakest conclusion of the entire film. Scary Stories makes up for this by introducing The Jangly Man, who is seriously worth the price of admission alone even if you typically can’t understand a word that he says. The Jangly Man contorts his body in the most inhuman of ways, can separate all of his limbs from his torso, and has this bloodcurdling voice that rattles your insides.
There’s been an emphasis on the lack of a narrative in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. That may be true, but the film is based on a trilogy of books that is close to thirty years old and is supposed to be aimed at younger readers. The film adapts the stories in a way that isn’t totally successful, but it is surprisingly great at times. Despite some recognizable names in the supporting cast such as Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Gil Bellows (The Shawshank Redemption), and Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black), the main cast is mostly filled with unknowns. Some reviews claim that the acting isn’t up to par, but I was pleasantly surprised. Austin Zajur can be annoying as the mischievous Chuck, but he was also rather humorous the majority of the time. Zoe Colletti goes a little overboard when she cries, but she’s also solid when she gushes over horror. Austin Abrams is seriously nasty as Tommy. He is always sweaty and has no remorse for anyone. He takes bullying to frightening heights.
I guess I expected the film to be corny (pun intended) with lame PG-13 kills and a cast that had no idea what they were doing. The film managed to make me a fan during the Harold segment. That surround sound in the cornfield is masterful with the wind blowing through corn stalks in every direction and the rusty creaking of the scarecrow as he tries to walk. How these teenagers are terrorized manages to transcend what movie ratings typically mean for a given film; this would be unsettling regardless of what it’s rated or how old the viewer is.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is not a perfect horror anthology since it’s extremely simple in concept. A monster shows up, a kid disappears, and then it’s rinse and repeat for an hour and 47 minutes. At the same time though, it’s probably the scariest film of the summer and could potentially become the next big horror franchise. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark could easily take over where the Final Destination films left off or even be this generation’s answer to that. The practical effects mixed with just the right amount of CGI for the monsters are what really sell the film. Despite being as disjointed and unnatural as The Jangly Man, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is way more amusing and eerie than it has any right to be.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in Movies
Jul 3, 2020
Introduce a horror icon (3 more)
Robert Englund
Freddy
Wes Craven
Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!
Contains spoilers, click to show
A Nightmare on Elm Street- is one of my all time favorite horror films. Its also one of the greatest horror movies of all time. That being said, the ending sucks and i will get to that, but first lets talk more about the film.
I just love the idea of someone who appears in your dreams. Someone who stalks you, someone who messes with you, someone who kills you in your dreams. Now Wes got the idea from several newspaper articles printed in the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s about Southeast Asian refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States because of war and genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, suffered disturbing nightmares and refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after and some of his own childhood nightmares.
The idea of Freddy was Craven's early life. One night, a young Craven saw an elderly man walking on the sidepath outside the window of his home. The man stopped to glance at a startled Craven and walked off. Now Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually characterized him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of production of the film. This idea happened in the 2010 remake.
Lets talk about the plot: In Wes Craven's classic slasher film, several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends' parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) solve the puzzle before it's too late?
The plot/story is excellent, the mystery surrounded of Krueger. Who he exactly is, why is he do this, what made him do this, how do the parnets know about Krueger? All of these questions and more your trying to figure out and the movie does a excellent job explaining them.
The deaths: the death scenes are excellent. Tina revolving around her room, Rod's bed sheets wrapping around him while he is in a prison cell and dies hanging and Glen getting pulled through his bed and then his blood gushes to the ceiling. Excellent deaths and memorable.
The Ending: Craven originally planned for the film to have a more evocative ending: Nancy kills Krueger by ceasing to believe in him, then awakens to discover that everything that happened in the film was an elongated nightmare. However, New Line leader Robert Shaye demanded a twist ending, in which Krueger disappears and all seems to have been a dream, only for the audience to discover that it was a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream.
According to Craven, "The original ending of the script has Nancy come out the door. It's an unusually cloudy and foggy day. A car pulls up with her dead friends in it. She's startled. She goes out and gets in the car wondering what the hell is going on, and they drive off into the fog, with the mother left standing on the doorstep and that's it. It was very brief, and suggestive that maybe life is sort of dream-like too. Shaye wanted Freddy Krueger to be driving the car, and have the kids screaming. It all became very negative. I felt a philosophical tension to my ending. Shaye said, "That's so 60s, it's stupid." I refused to have Freddy in the driver's seat, and we thought up about five different endings. The one we used, with Freddy pulling the mother through the doorway amused us all so much, we couldn't not use it."
Heather Langenkamp states that "there always was this sense that Freddy was the car", while according to Sara Risher, "it was always Wes' idea to pan to the little girls' jumping rope". Both a happy ending and a twist ending were filmed, but the final film used the twist ending. As a result, Craven who never wanted the film to be an ongoing franchise, did not work on the first sequel, Freddy's Revenge (1985).
Also Nancy's mom getting pulles through the window door was wierd and you can tell it was a blow up doll.
The Music: The lyrics for Freddy's theme song, sung by the jumprope children throughout the series and based on One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, was already written and included in the script when Bernstein started writing the soundtrack, while the melody for it was not set by Bernstein, but by Heather Langenkamp's boyfriend and soon-to-be husband at the time, Alan Pasqua, who was a musician himself. One of the three girls who recorded the vocal part of the theme was Robert Shaye's then 14-year-old daughter. Per the script, the lyrics are as follow: One two, Freddie's coming for you.Three four, better lock your door. Five six, grab your crucifix. Seven eight, gonna stay up late. Nine ten, never sleep again.
End Thoughts: A Nightmare on Elm Street is a excellent horror movie, it introduces a horror icon, has great charcters, has great death scenes and above all is perfect. Thank you Wes for giving us this movie.
I just love the idea of someone who appears in your dreams. Someone who stalks you, someone who messes with you, someone who kills you in your dreams. Now Wes got the idea from several newspaper articles printed in the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s about Southeast Asian refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States because of war and genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, suffered disturbing nightmares and refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after and some of his own childhood nightmares.
The idea of Freddy was Craven's early life. One night, a young Craven saw an elderly man walking on the sidepath outside the window of his home. The man stopped to glance at a startled Craven and walked off. Now Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually characterized him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of production of the film. This idea happened in the 2010 remake.
Lets talk about the plot: In Wes Craven's classic slasher film, several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends' parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) solve the puzzle before it's too late?
The plot/story is excellent, the mystery surrounded of Krueger. Who he exactly is, why is he do this, what made him do this, how do the parnets know about Krueger? All of these questions and more your trying to figure out and the movie does a excellent job explaining them.
The deaths: the death scenes are excellent. Tina revolving around her room, Rod's bed sheets wrapping around him while he is in a prison cell and dies hanging and Glen getting pulled through his bed and then his blood gushes to the ceiling. Excellent deaths and memorable.
The Ending: Craven originally planned for the film to have a more evocative ending: Nancy kills Krueger by ceasing to believe in him, then awakens to discover that everything that happened in the film was an elongated nightmare. However, New Line leader Robert Shaye demanded a twist ending, in which Krueger disappears and all seems to have been a dream, only for the audience to discover that it was a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream.
According to Craven, "The original ending of the script has Nancy come out the door. It's an unusually cloudy and foggy day. A car pulls up with her dead friends in it. She's startled. She goes out and gets in the car wondering what the hell is going on, and they drive off into the fog, with the mother left standing on the doorstep and that's it. It was very brief, and suggestive that maybe life is sort of dream-like too. Shaye wanted Freddy Krueger to be driving the car, and have the kids screaming. It all became very negative. I felt a philosophical tension to my ending. Shaye said, "That's so 60s, it's stupid." I refused to have Freddy in the driver's seat, and we thought up about five different endings. The one we used, with Freddy pulling the mother through the doorway amused us all so much, we couldn't not use it."
Heather Langenkamp states that "there always was this sense that Freddy was the car", while according to Sara Risher, "it was always Wes' idea to pan to the little girls' jumping rope". Both a happy ending and a twist ending were filmed, but the final film used the twist ending. As a result, Craven who never wanted the film to be an ongoing franchise, did not work on the first sequel, Freddy's Revenge (1985).
Also Nancy's mom getting pulles through the window door was wierd and you can tell it was a blow up doll.
The Music: The lyrics for Freddy's theme song, sung by the jumprope children throughout the series and based on One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, was already written and included in the script when Bernstein started writing the soundtrack, while the melody for it was not set by Bernstein, but by Heather Langenkamp's boyfriend and soon-to-be husband at the time, Alan Pasqua, who was a musician himself. One of the three girls who recorded the vocal part of the theme was Robert Shaye's then 14-year-old daughter. Per the script, the lyrics are as follow: One two, Freddie's coming for you.Three four, better lock your door. Five six, grab your crucifix. Seven eight, gonna stay up late. Nine ten, never sleep again.
End Thoughts: A Nightmare on Elm Street is a excellent horror movie, it introduces a horror icon, has great charcters, has great death scenes and above all is perfect. Thank you Wes for giving us this movie.
Uptown Oracle (24 KP) rated Clockwork Angel in Books
Jun 30, 2017
Clare exceeds expectations with Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Angel is the first in a trilogy of books. This series is a prequel to The Mortal Instruments, also written by Cassandra Clare. Tessa traveled to London to live with her brother, when he appears missing she is captured. Saved by Will, Tessa lives within the institute with the Shadowhunters helping to find Nate, whilst also finding out what the Magister's evil plan is.
I've heard so many times that The Infernal Devices is so much better than the Mortal Instruments. In comparison I can definitely agree the writing and overall plot is improved. The main issue I had was that in some cases, it was too similar to The Mortal Instruments. My instant thought was Will was similar to Jace although I'm unsure if this was intentional or not. The love triangle was also reminiscent of Clare's previous work.
I enjoyed that Clockwork Angel was set in London rather than New York. I was getting fairly bored of being focused on New York so this gave us a chance to see a new institute. The different location and different time means the institute is extremely different to the one in TMI.
The big question of who is the Magister? in the first chapter was important in the book. I found it both predictable and unpredictable. If Pretty Little Liars has told me anything, if a character claims it's one person, it's probably not them. I was however surprised of who it actually was. So well played, Cassandra Clare.
One of the big improvements is that the adults actually take action. In TMI, there were so many times the teenagers acted purely because the adults weren't doing anything. I was so tired of the adults being incompetent that Charlotte and Henry were a welcome surprise. They also really tried to help Tessa find Nate immediately. There weren't multiple meetings with the Clave before they could do anything.
Clockwork Angel seemed to pick up a lot quicker than TMI and kept pace. The fighting scenes were written better. Less filler content was needed as we already know the world. Although there was a love triangle, a lot less content was put towards building on it. It seemed a lot more like a fantasy than a romance.
Please don't comment any spoilers as I haven't finished the other books yet. But I had a weird thought about Tessa's name being Gray. As the dark sisters are called Black and Dark, does the inclusion of the name Gray fit there? Is this an insight into who she will become? Or who she 'could' become if she is a bad guy? I just thought it was odd to use a name so similar.
I've heard so many times that The Infernal Devices is so much better than the Mortal Instruments. In comparison I can definitely agree the writing and overall plot is improved. The main issue I had was that in some cases, it was too similar to The Mortal Instruments. My instant thought was Will was similar to Jace although I'm unsure if this was intentional or not. The love triangle was also reminiscent of Clare's previous work.
I enjoyed that Clockwork Angel was set in London rather than New York. I was getting fairly bored of being focused on New York so this gave us a chance to see a new institute. The different location and different time means the institute is extremely different to the one in TMI.
The big question of who is the Magister? in the first chapter was important in the book. I found it both predictable and unpredictable. If Pretty Little Liars has told me anything, if a character claims it's one person, it's probably not them. I was however surprised of who it actually was. So well played, Cassandra Clare.
One of the big improvements is that the adults actually take action. In TMI, there were so many times the teenagers acted purely because the adults weren't doing anything. I was so tired of the adults being incompetent that Charlotte and Henry were a welcome surprise. They also really tried to help Tessa find Nate immediately. There weren't multiple meetings with the Clave before they could do anything.
Clockwork Angel seemed to pick up a lot quicker than TMI and kept pace. The fighting scenes were written better. Less filler content was needed as we already know the world. Although there was a love triangle, a lot less content was put towards building on it. It seemed a lot more like a fantasy than a romance.
Please don't comment any spoilers as I haven't finished the other books yet. But I had a weird thought about Tessa's name being Gray. As the dark sisters are called Black and Dark, does the inclusion of the name Gray fit there? Is this an insight into who she will become? Or who she 'could' become if she is a bad guy? I just thought it was odd to use a name so similar.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Impostor (Slide, #2) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
<b>Impostor</b> is a step up in the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/72905-slide"; target="_blank">Slide series</a>, but only slightly. I still feel that the writing is, well, a little basic; it gets the job done, but that's about it. The main plot is an interesting idea that entertained, yet wasn't used to its full potential. I expected it to be darker and for there to be more peril involved, what with an "impostor" involved (impostor is a bit of a misnomer, it's not quite the term I'd use), but it never got close to that point. If there had been more grit and danger, the book could have been a killer sequel instead of disappointing. However, on the plus side, the mystery is tighter and better constructed, and I couldn't say for certain that I had figured it out, but I did have an idea (I so smart. Not.). The other plots are fine, somewhat predictable or didn't go as deep as they could have, but they were alright. All the plots are tied up just a little too neatly at the end, not that there isn't enough of the sliding power to be utilized for future books, but everything ends a little too rosy for the circumstances. Oh well.
In [b:Slide|9542582|Slide (Slide, #1)|Jill Hathaway|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332450287s/9542582.jpg|14428945] (the first book), I found Vee to be a rather shallow characterization and dim as far as picking up on clues. I'm happy to say that changed in this book. Sure, she said/did stupid things, not because she was dumb, but because people do say and do stupid things, no matter their intelligence. It's a fact (okay, my fact, but it still counts). For most of the book Vee spent a lot of time having a snotty, self-absorbed, "woe is me" attitude, which might annoy some people, but made me believe her as a teenage character. Face it, most teenagers can act like that to some degree or another (I sure know I could be!). I'm not quite sure where the sliding power is going, if I like where it's gone, or if there's even going to be more books in the series, but it is an idea that has many possibilities. I'm just not positive that it'll ever get to them. Overall, a decent book that passes the time, but nothing spectacular that'll blow your mind (maybe, I could just be assuming things again).
Random notes:
This series sure has many awesome <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/14428945-slide"; target="_blank">covers</a>.
What is with YA books featuring a female protagonist "borrowing" some of Veronica Mars' back story? This is the second one I've come across. O__o
In [b:Slide|9542582|Slide (Slide, #1)|Jill Hathaway|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332450287s/9542582.jpg|14428945] (the first book), I found Vee to be a rather shallow characterization and dim as far as picking up on clues. I'm happy to say that changed in this book. Sure, she said/did stupid things, not because she was dumb, but because people do say and do stupid things, no matter their intelligence. It's a fact (okay, my fact, but it still counts). For most of the book Vee spent a lot of time having a snotty, self-absorbed, "woe is me" attitude, which might annoy some people, but made me believe her as a teenage character. Face it, most teenagers can act like that to some degree or another (I sure know I could be!). I'm not quite sure where the sliding power is going, if I like where it's gone, or if there's even going to be more books in the series, but it is an idea that has many possibilities. I'm just not positive that it'll ever get to them. Overall, a decent book that passes the time, but nothing spectacular that'll blow your mind (maybe, I could just be assuming things again).
Random notes:
This series sure has many awesome <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/14428945-slide"; target="_blank">covers</a>.
What is with YA books featuring a female protagonist "borrowing" some of Veronica Mars' back story? This is the second one I've come across. O__o