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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Conjuring (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
It’s quite easy to think you have a ghost haunting your home. The creeks and cracks of settling foundation, leaky pipes, drafty windows or appliances can sound aerie. Why is it that our imaginations jump to that conclusion and not simply the truth. In some cases this causes people to essentially “cry wolf”, making it hard for us to believe in the true hauntings that have plagued families for generations. The Perron family was one of the many that had been terrorized by a malevolent spirit in their recently purchased farmhouse.
The story follows Ed and Lorraine Warren who’s lives have spent dealing with hundreds of cases of hauntings all around the US. From small hauntings to haunted items and more importantly exorcisms. The film begins with one of their possession cases that involves two young woman who were under the impression that they were being haunted by a little girl who took a likening to their Annabelle doll. They invited the girl to live inside of the doll not knowing that the entity was a daemon. (I do want to interject that the real Annabelle doll was a raggedy Anne doll but for the films sake they made the doll look like it was related to Chucky).
Annabelle is just an introduction to the audience of what Ed and Lorraine Warren do. One of their bigger cases is that of the Perron family. Roger (Ron Livingston), his wife Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and their five daughters move to an old farmhouse in a remote area not knowing the past of the land or the home itself. Ed and Lorraine agree to help the family exorcise their home, not realizing that the case was more dangerous than they had originally thought.
This film is by far the best true ghost story film that I have seen to date. Granted it has somewhat of a slow beginning, once the scares start happening it gets better and better. The acting was not the best nor the dialogue, however if you pay close attention to the story, those weaknesses of the film are easily forgotten. It is extremely refreshing to not see any CGI in a film like this and knowing that it can be as equally scary if not more with simple camera angles and excellent concepts. I also like the absence of blood and gore that has seen to be quite overdone with most horror films lately. The way that practical makeup was used to create such scary characters is only a small part of how much thought was put into this.
This film is scary and when I say that I really mean it. When I screened this, I was sitting in the middle of two big burley men who also jumped at every surprise. If you have been waiting for a film to scare you, this my friends will do it. It is definitely not for the faint of heart.
The story follows Ed and Lorraine Warren who’s lives have spent dealing with hundreds of cases of hauntings all around the US. From small hauntings to haunted items and more importantly exorcisms. The film begins with one of their possession cases that involves two young woman who were under the impression that they were being haunted by a little girl who took a likening to their Annabelle doll. They invited the girl to live inside of the doll not knowing that the entity was a daemon. (I do want to interject that the real Annabelle doll was a raggedy Anne doll but for the films sake they made the doll look like it was related to Chucky).
Annabelle is just an introduction to the audience of what Ed and Lorraine Warren do. One of their bigger cases is that of the Perron family. Roger (Ron Livingston), his wife Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and their five daughters move to an old farmhouse in a remote area not knowing the past of the land or the home itself. Ed and Lorraine agree to help the family exorcise their home, not realizing that the case was more dangerous than they had originally thought.
This film is by far the best true ghost story film that I have seen to date. Granted it has somewhat of a slow beginning, once the scares start happening it gets better and better. The acting was not the best nor the dialogue, however if you pay close attention to the story, those weaknesses of the film are easily forgotten. It is extremely refreshing to not see any CGI in a film like this and knowing that it can be as equally scary if not more with simple camera angles and excellent concepts. I also like the absence of blood and gore that has seen to be quite overdone with most horror films lately. The way that practical makeup was used to create such scary characters is only a small part of how much thought was put into this.
This film is scary and when I say that I really mean it. When I screened this, I was sitting in the middle of two big burley men who also jumped at every surprise. If you have been waiting for a film to scare you, this my friends will do it. It is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Internship (2013) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
In The Internship, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play Billy and Nick, two men in a profession that is sorely outdated. They are watch salesmen in a world where more people use their cell phones as time pieces than hunks of metal/plastic on their wrists. When their company shuts down because of this, Billy and Nick suddenly realize they don’t have any real skills, other than being excellent salesmen. Nick accepts a job working for his sister’s tatted-up boyfriend in a mattress store, while Billy is recovering from being unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend after their house goes into foreclosure. So in a desperate bid to find jobs online, Billy stumbles across an unlikely possibility for the two of them: an internship at Google.
The movie plays out the way any other buddy comedy might. They somehow land the gig, fight adversity, teach a few life lessons along the way, and have the tough defining moments for each character. However, despite this formulaic plot, the movie was very funny and entertaining. From the smarmy British intern who spends the movie antagonizing the 40-something duo, to the two’s intern team, there is a great deal of comedy in the movie.
Vaughn and Wilson should be the most entertaining and funny in the movie, but you have to give credit to these two veterans. They really did allow their supporting cast to shine. Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brien, Tobit Raphael and Tiya Sircar all have hilarious laugh-out-loud scenes as Billy and Nick’s intern team. Josh Gad and Aasif Mandvi also steal the scenes they are in during the course of the movie.
Throw in legitimate tech jargon, real world technology, and the fact that this was actually filmed on location at the Google campus, and you have a pretty great movie. The only issue I had with the film was they did not play too much into the intern team’s story too much. For example, there was a nice wrap up for Sircar’s character that didn’t make sense. They talked about her issue some in the movie, but the resolution for her character was just never built up to, it kind of just happened and seemed out of place. But, this could be because I am a guy and don’t pick up on some of those things. My friend that saw the movie with me said I was crazy.
Overall, this movie exceeded my expectations. I came into expecting Fox to be grabbing at the success of Wedding Crashers. But in reality, this movie does well in standing on its. Coming in at one hour fifty-nine minutes, it is a bit long compared to today’s comedy standards, but you will never notice it. I know it kept our theater laughing the whole time. Definitely worth the watch. On my “would I buy it” scale (which has three levels No, DVD and Blu Ray), it is definitely worth the Blu Ray.
The movie plays out the way any other buddy comedy might. They somehow land the gig, fight adversity, teach a few life lessons along the way, and have the tough defining moments for each character. However, despite this formulaic plot, the movie was very funny and entertaining. From the smarmy British intern who spends the movie antagonizing the 40-something duo, to the two’s intern team, there is a great deal of comedy in the movie.
Vaughn and Wilson should be the most entertaining and funny in the movie, but you have to give credit to these two veterans. They really did allow their supporting cast to shine. Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brien, Tobit Raphael and Tiya Sircar all have hilarious laugh-out-loud scenes as Billy and Nick’s intern team. Josh Gad and Aasif Mandvi also steal the scenes they are in during the course of the movie.
Throw in legitimate tech jargon, real world technology, and the fact that this was actually filmed on location at the Google campus, and you have a pretty great movie. The only issue I had with the film was they did not play too much into the intern team’s story too much. For example, there was a nice wrap up for Sircar’s character that didn’t make sense. They talked about her issue some in the movie, but the resolution for her character was just never built up to, it kind of just happened and seemed out of place. But, this could be because I am a guy and don’t pick up on some of those things. My friend that saw the movie with me said I was crazy.
Overall, this movie exceeded my expectations. I came into expecting Fox to be grabbing at the success of Wedding Crashers. But in reality, this movie does well in standing on its. Coming in at one hour fifty-nine minutes, it is a bit long compared to today’s comedy standards, but you will never notice it. I know it kept our theater laughing the whole time. Definitely worth the watch. On my “would I buy it” scale (which has three levels No, DVD and Blu Ray), it is definitely worth the Blu Ray.
Natacha (374 KP) rated The Last Smile in Sunder City -(The Fetch Phillips Archives #1) in Books
Feb 18, 2020 (Updated Feb 19, 2020)
More Review Here: https://natachainreviewland.wordpress...
I really, really had a blast reading this story and I flew through it!
Think I liked:
-The Last Smile in Sunder is an urban fantasy with a very noir atmosphere. Luke Arnold writing really immerses you into this world and makes it come to life. As a rule, I don't like lengthy descriptions in my stories, but all descriptions in this book were exactly the right amount and the way they were written grab my interest and didn't let it go.
-I liked the concept of a world where magic disappeared and seeing how that affected all magical beings was something I haven't seen before.
-Fecht personally had some issues but his back story was so interesting. As a was reading about Fetch past I kept thinking that his back story deserved a book on its own. But on the other hand, it was so nicely tied into the main story that by the end I was sold on all those lengthy flashbacks on his past.
-They are so many magical beings, all living in the same world and it was very interesting seeing Arnold's take on them and what back story it gave them.
-Everyone in this story is a grey character. There are not good or bad people/magical beings, it all depends on which version of the story you are listening and we unusually get both sides and I really like that.
-(view spoiler)
Things I didn't like:
-So this one is not something that I didn't like but more like something that some readers might not like. It has some tropes that we've seen a lot. Fecht is your very classic alcoholic and pain killer addict detective that doesn't care about anything and spends his time self pitting because of all the crap he's done in the past and also the love of his life is dead because of him. We've seen that a lot and I can see how other readers might be tired of that trope. Personally, I didn't mind.
-It took me more than 60% to make peace with the fact that the main plot is more like a device for us to get to know the world and Fetch. Yes, everything does come together at the end in a really nice way but at around d 50% of the book I knew almost everything about the world and Fetch's back story but nothing had really happened regarding the investigation. Once I made peace with that fact the slow-moving main stopped bothering me.
-I got an advance copy some maybe it won't be the case with the final version but I wish there was a map to better understand what is going where.
In conclusion, I personally had a really good time reading this story. I will definitely keep an eye on the rest of the series and I've already ordered my physical copy because I need it on my shelf!
I really, really had a blast reading this story and I flew through it!
Think I liked:
-The Last Smile in Sunder is an urban fantasy with a very noir atmosphere. Luke Arnold writing really immerses you into this world and makes it come to life. As a rule, I don't like lengthy descriptions in my stories, but all descriptions in this book were exactly the right amount and the way they were written grab my interest and didn't let it go.
-I liked the concept of a world where magic disappeared and seeing how that affected all magical beings was something I haven't seen before.
-Fecht personally had some issues but his back story was so interesting. As a was reading about Fetch past I kept thinking that his back story deserved a book on its own. But on the other hand, it was so nicely tied into the main story that by the end I was sold on all those lengthy flashbacks on his past.
-They are so many magical beings, all living in the same world and it was very interesting seeing Arnold's take on them and what back story it gave them.
-Everyone in this story is a grey character. There are not good or bad people/magical beings, it all depends on which version of the story you are listening and we unusually get both sides and I really like that.
-(view spoiler)
Things I didn't like:
-So this one is not something that I didn't like but more like something that some readers might not like. It has some tropes that we've seen a lot. Fecht is your very classic alcoholic and pain killer addict detective that doesn't care about anything and spends his time self pitting because of all the crap he's done in the past and also the love of his life is dead because of him. We've seen that a lot and I can see how other readers might be tired of that trope. Personally, I didn't mind.
-It took me more than 60% to make peace with the fact that the main plot is more like a device for us to get to know the world and Fetch. Yes, everything does come together at the end in a really nice way but at around d 50% of the book I knew almost everything about the world and Fetch's back story but nothing had really happened regarding the investigation. Once I made peace with that fact the slow-moving main stopped bothering me.
-I got an advance copy some maybe it won't be the case with the final version but I wish there was a map to better understand what is going where.
In conclusion, I personally had a really good time reading this story. I will definitely keep an eye on the rest of the series and I've already ordered my physical copy because I need it on my shelf!
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