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Lindsay (1706 KP) rated Life Long in Books

Sep 17, 2017  
Life Long
Life Long
Ronald L. Ruiz | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Life Long is a great book. It takes you into a young boy mind and what he goes through in his life. The boy or young man as a cousin and seem that he may be a bad influence on Ray. What will happen to make you wonder if this cousin Billy?
 
Ray Lopez is on the run from the cops and men that work with his cousin Billy Cisneros. Ray Lopez (Aka: Jimmy Ramirez), has a mental illness that he hears voices and also gets auditory hallucinations. He on runs and he convinced that cops are after him and his duffel bag of clothes and bags of money.
 
Ritz does a wonderful job of putting the story together. The plot is really rich filled with details and description. You learn about bus terminals and bus stations around that time. Ray makes friends with a bus passenger who suggest that go to Mexico which should mean safety. He must go to Nuevo Laredo to get to Mexico. He meets a street whiz kid named Joey. Ray so panic that he needs his pills and this prescription refilled. Will Ray know who to Trust or lean who will harm him? You will need to read to find out how Ray gets along in life and if he makes it or not.
  
American Horror Story - Season 9
American Horror Story - Season 9
2019 | Horror
The ninth season of AHS, subtitled "1984" is definitely up there in terms of silliness. However, where this has been an issue for me with a few previous seasons, this time around it's a huge strong point.

1984 is one big homage to 80s slasher films, in particular Friday the 13th. If you've read my any of my reviews before, you will know that I bloody love a slasher, even the shitty ones, so this premise was always going to be a winner for me.

A big change this time around is the absence of big AHS names. No Sarah Paulson, no Evan Peters, no Kathy Bates. Their presence is certainly missed in some sort of capacity, but the cast we have do a solid job at carrying the season. Emma Roberts and Billie Lourd take centre stage here, and are both great. We also see some familiar faces in Leslie Grossman, Cody Fern, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Leslie Jordan, Lily Rabe, and Dylan McDermott, so it still has that signature AHS feel. A couple of newcomers are introduced as well - Matthew Morrison and Gus Kenworthy are both hilarious. Zach Villa plays real life serial killer Richard Ramirez (who briefly appeared all the way back in Hotel) and the guy is genuinely menacing. If another season of Twin Peaks ever gets made - he's a dead ringer for Killer Bob.
One of the highlights is "villain" Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch). He's such a finely crafted character, that he honestly deserves to stand next to the Jason and Freddy's of the slasher world.

The story is pretty fun. Mixing 80s campy horror with more familiar AHS elements (such as ghosts not being able to leave the place they died etc) and is pretty engaging for the most part. It gets a little convoluted near the end, and lacks the depth that seasons such as Asylum and Roanoke gave, but it's forgiveable considering the quality of everything else.

As a final thought - the synthwave version of the theme tune is fucking awesome.
  
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Jackjack (877 KP) May 10, 2020

Where did you watch this?? Massive fan of this program and they only got 8 seasons on Netflix

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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) May 10, 2020

I watched it when it aired last year, only just got round to writing a review! I can't imagine it will be too long before it's on Netflix though.

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JT (287 KP) rated Metro Manila (2013) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
Metro Manila (2013)
Metro Manila (2013)
2013 | Action, Crime, Drama
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
British directors getting behind the camera and undertaking foreign film seems to be paying off in multitude. Just take a look at what Gareth Evans did with The Raid and its sequel. He took his central character and put him through hell while at the same time painting a graphic picture of the film’s surroundings.

Sean Ellis does very similar with Oscar Ramirez (Jake Macapagal), a farmer looking for a better way of life for himself and his family. Their journey takes them from the quiet and panoramic rice fields of northern Philippines, where Oscar struggles to make ends meet, and moves them to the impoverished surroundings of Manila.

Entering the slums and criminal back streets Oscar learns the hard way that his friendly personality will be taken advantage of. With everyone desperate to survive he has to stand on his own two feet for the sake of himself and his family.

The film paints a desperate picture of a big city bathed in crime and poverty and desperate people will do desperate things, especially when they are pushed into a corner as Oscar explains to his friend Ong after taking a job as a security guard driving an armoured truck.

As Ong and Oscar become close Ong explains the job and then his ulterior motives. With the second half of the film playing out as a tense well organised heist, encompassing a twist that is shocking yet wholly satisfying. It can be hard to watch at times and it is emotionally sapping, particularly when Oscar’s wife Mai has to take matters into her own hands by getting a job working in a hostess bar in order to earn enough to feed her children.

The film screams out that having faith is a clear necessity when you’re down. All around them there are signs that God is with them willing them to succeed. Oscar’s story about how he lost his job in the silk mill is a running subplot that connects with the story on almost every level.

The scenes are well shot and Ellis captures the trauma and euphoria that the family experience at different times. One cross over scene sees Mai being degraded while at the same time Oscar drinks with his new buddies, only to break down in the toilet in tears.

It’s a slow churning thriller that is expertly pieced together, building strong characters and story all the way through to the pulsating climax.