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Awix (3310 KP) rated Torture Garden (1967) in Movies

Jul 12, 2020  
Torture Garden (1967)
Torture Garden (1967)
1967 | Horror
6
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Yet another Amicus horror anthology in which a mysterious stranger tells a mixed bag of actors their fortunes, all of which turn out to be grim. Michael Bryant gets over-familiar with his dead uncle's cat, Beverley Adams learns the dark secret of the Hollywood A-list, Barbara Ewing falls for a man who loves his piano, and it's mutual, and Jack Palance discovers that Peter Cushing owns the ultimate Edgar Allen Poe collectible.

Written by Robert Bloch, which may explain why it's a bit less cartoony than some of these films, and the final twist is not actually the usual one. However, the decision to go with four stories rather than the five or so does slow the film down a bit and there's a bit of meandering about in some of them before we get to the punchline. In the end, there are some good bits: Burgess Meredith's performance is fun and the moment where one character is attacked by a musical instrument has a sort of kitsch grandeur to it. But other films in this series as livelier and more fun. (I should say: not much torture, even less gardening.)
  
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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Upgrade (2018) in Movies

Feb 25, 2021  
Upgrade (2018)
Upgrade (2018)
2018 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
6
8.1 (45 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Probably the most interesting of the three here by some way, Upgrade comes at the angle of cybernetic amendments to human capability in an almost, but not quite, original way. It postures and ponders a lot of pseudo-science and cod philosophy before getting to the bits people are going mad for: the fight scenes, which are indeed jaw dropping, feel new and are brutally graphic enough to amuse even the most hardcore gamer. Trouble is… this makes it almost a torture-porn movie, because the only real thrills are in the grossness of the violence. The acting is of negligible importance, because character and plot are not that important to the success of Upgrade as a spectacle. It feels cheap and B movie grade in places, which of course it is. If you enjoy seeing impressive things done with less than a premium budget then this could be worth watching. But… there is a nastiness and a somewhat teenage / pothead vibe to it that ruins anything remotely good. It is also shamelessly derivative. Not bad then, but by no means good, or properly recommended.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Forever And A Day in Books

Oct 20, 2020 (Updated Oct 20, 2020)  
Forever And A Day
Forever And A Day
Anthony Horowitz | 2018 | Crime, History & Politics, Thriller
8
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Pastiche thriller featuring you-know-who. It's 1950, and agent 007 is killed in action while investigating drug dealing in the south of France. The head of the secret service decides to send in a newly-promoted operative to investigate the death, a young chap by the name of Bond...

Horowitz's novel tries to do the same thing as the movie version of Casino Royale - to show how Bond becomes Bond. At this he is only really marginally successful, as Bond starts the novel as a pretty icy brute and ends only more icy and brutal. That said, the book evokes the Fleming formula rather well: there is the usual mixture of globe-trotting, good living, maniacal snobbery, action, torture, and sex in just about the right proportions. Some may complain that some contemporary politics have snuck into what's essentially an escapist fantasy - one villain is a bouffant-haired American tycoon with wandering hands, who thinks America should put its own interests first, while another gets a big speech about the smallness and insignificance of Britain, and its reliance on a close relationship with Europe if it wants to prosper. Nevertheless, fun, pacy stuff and very readable.