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The 1st by Willow
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The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith -- like older brothers Jaden and...
indie alternative
Merissa (11593 KP) created a post
Feb 20, 2023
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
8.0
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Shirley Jackson's masterpiece: the deliciously dark and funny story of Merricat, tomboy teenager,...
PhoebeLV (147 KP) rated 1408 (2007) in Movies
Jul 28, 2020
Great Acting (2 more)
Great Characters
Enjoyable Storyline
One of the best supernatural movies
Contains spoilers, click to show
1408 follows the story of Mike Enslin (John Cusack), a man who writes ‘true-horror’ books for a living; he stays in ‘haunted’ hotels and locations for his inspiration. One day, he receives a postcard of the Dolphin Hotel telling him not to stay in room 1408. Despite the warnings of the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson), he proceeds to stay in there anyway.
Before watching this, I considered it being The Shining all over again. However, it was not. Apart from the hotel and the book writing, it was quite different.
Enslin starts by seeing a few ghosts and then strange things start happening.
In the middle, it starts messing with your head and you think ‘was this before the hotel? is this real? is he imagining everything?’. I know I did.
I couldn’t really find any bad things with this and I would 100% recommend this to any horror fan and Stephen King book lover.
Before watching this, I considered it being The Shining all over again. However, it was not. Apart from the hotel and the book writing, it was quite different.
Enslin starts by seeing a few ghosts and then strange things start happening.
In the middle, it starts messing with your head and you think ‘was this before the hotel? is this real? is he imagining everything?’. I know I did.
I couldn’t really find any bad things with this and I would 100% recommend this to any horror fan and Stephen King book lover.
Promise Boys
8.0
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A blockbuster mystery about three teens of color who must investigate their principal’s murder to...
Gareth von Kallenbach (962 KP) rated 2012 (2009) in Movies
Aug 8, 2019
Disaster films and Hollywood have enjoyed a long and successful partnership over the years as box office gold has been found in fictional disasters. Irwin Allen had a string of hits such as “The Towering Inferno” and “The Poseidon Adventure” which in turn lead to the films such as “Dante’s Peak”, “Volcano”, “Deep Impact”, and “Armageddon” who kept the tried and true formula of relatable, regular people forced to cope with extraordinary situations where they must battle against all odds to survive.
In the new film “2012” director Roland Emmerich follows up his other end-of-the world epics “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow”, with a story about the total devastation of the earth and all life upon it due to an increase of neutrinos from the sun heating the earth’s core causing the displacement of the Earth’s crust.
Keeping to the established formula of the disaster films, 2012 centers around a struggling writer named Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), who learns of the pending catastrophic events while camping at Yellowstone National Park with his children. The presence of forbidden areas and swarms of soldiers and scientists leads Jackson to believe that the local conspiracy radio host Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), might be right in his predictions that we are all on borrowed time, and that the increase in earthquakes and fissures along the fault lines are a very bad omen.
Unbeknownst to Jackson, and the majority of the world’s population, U.S. President Wilson (Danny Glover), and his fellow heads of state, are preparing for the coming tragedy. Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) and a team of geologists lead by Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetal Ojiofore) are trying to determine exactly how much time they have to save what they can of humanity. Unaware that the fate of mankind is being decided by the politicians and those with money, Jackson and his children soon find themselves rushing to stay alive, with his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet), and her boyfriend in tow. Jackson learns of a plan to save select members of the population and pins their very survival on being able to arrive at what they hope is their salvation before time runs out.
Spectacular effects follow as Los Angeles and other cities are swallowed up by massive sinkholes and buried under collapsing bridges and buildings in some of the most amazing sequences of mayhem and destruction ever captured on film. The movie does an amazing job of showing the absolute calamity and chaos and does a passable job with the relationships between the characters. There are some nice supporting performances from Thandie Newton and George Segal. It is just a shame they were not given a bit more to work with. The cookie cutter scenarios that many characters faced seem to have been lifted from the book of disaster film plots.
I did not go into the film expecting realism, as I fully expect the world will go on as normal on December 22, 2012. However, I did have to note some of the absurd developments that strained any semblance of credibility the film may have had. One such scene had the characters being flooded and trapped for an extended period of time by water. Since their locale was near Mt Everest, I had to assume that it was not warm spring water they were submerged in, and had to wonder if hypothermia just went the way of most of the human populace.
Then again, we were dealing with a heated core that was essentially melting the earth’s crust. So maybe the water was warm.
As with all disaster movies, I do have to remember the audience is asked to suspend all disbelief, at least for 160 minutes. While the film does take some vast leaps of logic, there is enough good action, special effects, and strained levity to make this a good distraction, as long as you are willing to check your brain at the door and just enjoy the ride.
In the new film “2012” director Roland Emmerich follows up his other end-of-the world epics “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow”, with a story about the total devastation of the earth and all life upon it due to an increase of neutrinos from the sun heating the earth’s core causing the displacement of the Earth’s crust.
Keeping to the established formula of the disaster films, 2012 centers around a struggling writer named Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), who learns of the pending catastrophic events while camping at Yellowstone National Park with his children. The presence of forbidden areas and swarms of soldiers and scientists leads Jackson to believe that the local conspiracy radio host Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), might be right in his predictions that we are all on borrowed time, and that the increase in earthquakes and fissures along the fault lines are a very bad omen.
Unbeknownst to Jackson, and the majority of the world’s population, U.S. President Wilson (Danny Glover), and his fellow heads of state, are preparing for the coming tragedy. Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) and a team of geologists lead by Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetal Ojiofore) are trying to determine exactly how much time they have to save what they can of humanity. Unaware that the fate of mankind is being decided by the politicians and those with money, Jackson and his children soon find themselves rushing to stay alive, with his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet), and her boyfriend in tow. Jackson learns of a plan to save select members of the population and pins their very survival on being able to arrive at what they hope is their salvation before time runs out.
Spectacular effects follow as Los Angeles and other cities are swallowed up by massive sinkholes and buried under collapsing bridges and buildings in some of the most amazing sequences of mayhem and destruction ever captured on film. The movie does an amazing job of showing the absolute calamity and chaos and does a passable job with the relationships between the characters. There are some nice supporting performances from Thandie Newton and George Segal. It is just a shame they were not given a bit more to work with. The cookie cutter scenarios that many characters faced seem to have been lifted from the book of disaster film plots.
I did not go into the film expecting realism, as I fully expect the world will go on as normal on December 22, 2012. However, I did have to note some of the absurd developments that strained any semblance of credibility the film may have had. One such scene had the characters being flooded and trapped for an extended period of time by water. Since their locale was near Mt Everest, I had to assume that it was not warm spring water they were submerged in, and had to wonder if hypothermia just went the way of most of the human populace.
Then again, we were dealing with a heated core that was essentially melting the earth’s crust. So maybe the water was warm.
As with all disaster movies, I do have to remember the audience is asked to suspend all disbelief, at least for 160 minutes. While the film does take some vast leaps of logic, there is enough good action, special effects, and strained levity to make this a good distraction, as long as you are willing to check your brain at the door and just enjoy the ride.
Stephen (210 KP) rated Heavenly Creatures (1994) in Movies
Mar 12, 2019
Wealthy and precocious teenager Juliet (Kate Winslet) transfers from England to Christchurch, New Zealand, with her family, and forms a bond with the quiet, brooding Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) through their shared love of Mario Lanza and their games of make believe. But when their parents begin to suspect that their increasingly intense friendship is becoming unhealthy, the girls decide to run away together, hatching a dark plan for those who threaten to keep them apart.
The movie is one of Peter Jackson’s earlier works, and demonstrates his unique sense of directing which featured in his first few films. Both Kate Winslett and Melanie Lynskey give outstanding performances - Melanie’s scowling face is especially disturbing.
Based on a true story, Jackson focuses a lot on the dream world element of the girls’ story, which I feel gives the film’s ending even more shock appeal.
I won’t spoil the ending, but let me say that the first time I saw the movie I felt so disturbed I felt as if I was actually there, and even now, when I rewatch the movie, I still get chills when the girls are walking down that path....
I appreciate that the film is not going to appeal to everyone, but the amazing performances of the two main characters, and the horrifying insight into how deep obsessive friendships can go, makes this an essential but very disturbing watch.
The movie is one of Peter Jackson’s earlier works, and demonstrates his unique sense of directing which featured in his first few films. Both Kate Winslett and Melanie Lynskey give outstanding performances - Melanie’s scowling face is especially disturbing.
Based on a true story, Jackson focuses a lot on the dream world element of the girls’ story, which I feel gives the film’s ending even more shock appeal.
I won’t spoil the ending, but let me say that the first time I saw the movie I felt so disturbed I felt as if I was actually there, and even now, when I rewatch the movie, I still get chills when the girls are walking down that path....
I appreciate that the film is not going to appeal to everyone, but the amazing performances of the two main characters, and the horrifying insight into how deep obsessive friendships can go, makes this an essential but very disturbing watch.
TH
The Handmade Mind
Book
We are constantly bombarded with new information about the benefits of taking breaks devoted to...
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Deep Blue Sea (1999) in Movies
May 12, 2018
Deep Blue Sea will always have a special place in my heart. At the time of its release, I was eight years old and it’s one of the few horror movies (if you can call it that) that I was allowed to watch. With that said, it’s a guilty pleasure and finding it on Netflix the other night was pretty amazing.
They say the path to Hell is paved with good intentions and Deep Blue Sea reminds us exactly how such proverbs can come true. Dr. Susan McAlester’s unhealthy obsession with finding a cure for Alzheimer’s guides her to costly extremes – and no price is too high in her book. It’s a classic example of sacrificing the few to aid the many, and it is, admittedly, a little overdone.
That said, this movie has some pretty awesome, if dated, death scenes – which I won’t go into detail about in case you haven’t seen it. What I can say is that this is actually a movie where Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t say “motherfucking.” (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall hearing it at all, which was a shocker.)
Naturally, Deep Blue Sea isn’t something that’s breathtakingly amazing. It’s got its moments though, and it is a fun jaunt through what goes wrong when you mess with things you don’t know about. Seriously, it’s worth a watch for some of its silly little comedic moments, at that. Pretty solid three out of five.
They say the path to Hell is paved with good intentions and Deep Blue Sea reminds us exactly how such proverbs can come true. Dr. Susan McAlester’s unhealthy obsession with finding a cure for Alzheimer’s guides her to costly extremes – and no price is too high in her book. It’s a classic example of sacrificing the few to aid the many, and it is, admittedly, a little overdone.
That said, this movie has some pretty awesome, if dated, death scenes – which I won’t go into detail about in case you haven’t seen it. What I can say is that this is actually a movie where Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t say “motherfucking.” (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall hearing it at all, which was a shocker.)
Naturally, Deep Blue Sea isn’t something that’s breathtakingly amazing. It’s got its moments though, and it is a fun jaunt through what goes wrong when you mess with things you don’t know about. Seriously, it’s worth a watch for some of its silly little comedic moments, at that. Pretty solid three out of five.
ZO
Zombies on Film
Book
ZOMBIES ON FILM chronicles popular culture s greatest and most terrifyingly intriguing monsters in...