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A Night in the Emperor's Garden: A True Story
Qais Akbar Omar and Stephen Landrigan
Book
In 2005, a group of Afghan actors endeavored to create an unusual dramatic performance--one that...
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Acting (But Were Afraid to Ask, Dear)
Book
He's the anonymous Twitter sensation whose hilarious and unfailingly accurate barbs satirising and...
GA
Groomed: A Troubled Girl. A Shocking Allegation. Is it Too Late to Uncover the Truth?
8.0
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Book
It's late on Friday night when Casey's mobile starts to ring. She is expecting it to be her daughter...
Critical Perspectives on the Security and Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Danna Ingleton, Karen Bennett, Alice Nah and James Savage
Book
Human rights defenders - who by peaceful means advocate, mobilise and often put their lives at risk...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies
Nov 3, 2020
Bill Paxton (1 more)
Lance Henrikson
Finger-Lickin' Good!
Near Dark- is a great neo-western horror film about vampires. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it was also her debut film.
The plot: Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.
Vampire films had become "trendy" by the time of Near Dark's production, with the success of Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), the latter released two months before Near Dark and grossing $32 million. Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention.
The combination of the genres had been visited at least twice before on the big screen, with Curse of the Undead (1959) and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966).
Bigelow knew (and later married) director James Cameron, who directed Aliens (1986), a film that shares three cast members (Paxton, Goldstein and Henriksen) with Near Dark. Actor Michael Biehn was offered the role of Jesse Hooker, but he rejected the role because he found the script confusing. Lance Henriksen took over the role. A cinema seen in the background early in the film has Aliens on its marquee and Cameron played the man who "flips off" Severen.
Its a classic and a cult film.
The plot: Cowboy Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) meets gorgeous Mae (Jenny Wright) at a bar, and the two have an immediate attraction. But when Mae turns out to be a vampire and bites Caleb on the neck, their relationship gets complicated. Wracked with a craving for human blood, Caleb is forced to leave his family and ride with Mae and her gang of vampires, including the evil Severen. Along the way Caleb must decide between his new love of Mae and the love of his family.
Vampire films had become "trendy" by the time of Near Dark's production, with the success of Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), the latter released two months before Near Dark and grossing $32 million. Kathryn Bigelow wanted to film a Western movie that departed from cinematic convention.
The combination of the genres had been visited at least twice before on the big screen, with Curse of the Undead (1959) and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966).
Bigelow knew (and later married) director James Cameron, who directed Aliens (1986), a film that shares three cast members (Paxton, Goldstein and Henriksen) with Near Dark. Actor Michael Biehn was offered the role of Jesse Hooker, but he rejected the role because he found the script confusing. Lance Henriksen took over the role. A cinema seen in the background early in the film has Aliens on its marquee and Cameron played the man who "flips off" Severen.
Its a classic and a cult film.
Erika (17789 KP) rated Profile (2018) in Movies
Aug 8, 2021
Profile is based upon a true story of a French journalist who went undercover online to report on how ISIS recruits young, recently converted, European women to the jihadi cause. This film uses the same narrative style as Searching, everything is witnessed via screens, and it really works for this story.
In Profile, the journalist is English and called Amy. She’s portrayed as pretty desperate in general, and this story is her chance to become a fulltime employee at a random, unnamed news outlet. Her recruiter, Abu Bilal, reaches out to the false profile of ‘Melody’, almost immediately and starts chatting with her and sets up a Skype date. Now, the obvious happens, Amy gets wrapped up in this whole thing, and journalistically compromised by falling for this guy. I do have to admit, the actor they chose to play the recruiter/terrorist was incredibly attractive. I’m assuming this was done on purpose, to demonstrate how these guys convinced all these women to go over to Syria. Personally, I couldn’t believe anyone could buy what the recruiters were saying, but it happens all the time.
The tension was high and lasted until the very end, with a good pay-off. It kept me engaged mentally the entire time, which is rare for me. That’s when I know I truly like a film.
As I mentioned, the screen narrative style worked, I was constantly on edge, wondering if the ruse would be spoiled by someone walking behind her, or something like that. This film also took place in 2014, and I found it amusing that they thought to include the authentic, annoying lag that occurred a lot at that time.
In Profile, the journalist is English and called Amy. She’s portrayed as pretty desperate in general, and this story is her chance to become a fulltime employee at a random, unnamed news outlet. Her recruiter, Abu Bilal, reaches out to the false profile of ‘Melody’, almost immediately and starts chatting with her and sets up a Skype date. Now, the obvious happens, Amy gets wrapped up in this whole thing, and journalistically compromised by falling for this guy. I do have to admit, the actor they chose to play the recruiter/terrorist was incredibly attractive. I’m assuming this was done on purpose, to demonstrate how these guys convinced all these women to go over to Syria. Personally, I couldn’t believe anyone could buy what the recruiters were saying, but it happens all the time.
The tension was high and lasted until the very end, with a good pay-off. It kept me engaged mentally the entire time, which is rare for me. That’s when I know I truly like a film.
As I mentioned, the screen narrative style worked, I was constantly on edge, wondering if the ruse would be spoiled by someone walking behind her, or something like that. This film also took place in 2014, and I found it amusing that they thought to include the authentic, annoying lag that occurred a lot at that time.
Michael Barker recommended The Killers (1964) in Movies (curated)
Peter Bogdanovich recommended Marriage Story (2019) in Movies (curated)
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Little Stranger (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
I can't say that this is a horror. It's a little bit creepy. It's also somehow engaging, despite it not having that horror aspect you're expecting.
Domhnall Gleeson is an interesting leading actor. He plays the roll well and it feels fitting for the period. But for me Will Poulter really was the best performance. Entirely believable and quite possibly the best thing I've seen him do. I can't say that I was particularly excited about anyone else in this.
The music, or the lack thereof, is very atmospheric. It's really noticable and brings that creepy sense just when it's needed. The visuals get the atmosphere just right too. There's a fantastic slightly out of focus (lets call it squiggly feeling) shot that was used when the supernatural was in the air and it worked intriguingly well.
At the time of writing this I have been out of the screening for six hours... and for six hours I've been annoyed with how the film ended. I've been scouring the internet for a full synopsis of the novel, and while the whole thing seems to match up well, the ending does have a slightly different spin... or it is just handled really weirdly in the film... I really don't know but what I can say is that I came out feeling incredibly unsatisfied.
Based on the book The Little Stranger by Sarah Walters.
What should you do?
I'm tempted to say read the book instead of going to see this one.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Can I take home Will Poulter?
Domhnall Gleeson is an interesting leading actor. He plays the roll well and it feels fitting for the period. But for me Will Poulter really was the best performance. Entirely believable and quite possibly the best thing I've seen him do. I can't say that I was particularly excited about anyone else in this.
The music, or the lack thereof, is very atmospheric. It's really noticable and brings that creepy sense just when it's needed. The visuals get the atmosphere just right too. There's a fantastic slightly out of focus (lets call it squiggly feeling) shot that was used when the supernatural was in the air and it worked intriguingly well.
At the time of writing this I have been out of the screening for six hours... and for six hours I've been annoyed with how the film ended. I've been scouring the internet for a full synopsis of the novel, and while the whole thing seems to match up well, the ending does have a slightly different spin... or it is just handled really weirdly in the film... I really don't know but what I can say is that I came out feeling incredibly unsatisfied.
Based on the book The Little Stranger by Sarah Walters.
What should you do?
I'm tempted to say read the book instead of going to see this one.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Can I take home Will Poulter?
Lenard (726 KP) rated Late Night (2019) in Movies
Aug 26, 2019
Late Night is a well-written comedy about a non-white female hired to add diversity to the writing staff of a late night talk show. Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson showing the comic skills developed during her university days as Hugh Laurie's girlfriend) is a older sophisticated woman who hosts a show whose audience is dying off, literally in some cases and figuratively. If things do not improve, she will no longer be host of her eponymous talk show. So, in an unexpected but obvious hiring decision, Molly Patel is hired to join the writing staff. At first, seen as an interloper with little comedy or writing experience, Molly uses her Mindy Kaling charm to win over her co-workers and her boss. As Katherine starts to see a way to take advantage of her uniqueness and the youth of Molly, she challenges the status quo of late night.
The movie is charming. The characters are developed and not cardboard cutouts of caricatures thanks to the writing, Max Casella, Reid Scott, Denis O'Hare, Hugh Dancy, Amy Ryan, and John Lithgow have backstories and motivations. However, the movie never really goes after the boys' club landscape that late night television inhabits nor does it go after the concept of diversity hires. It simply turns Molly into some sprite who sprinkles enthusiasm into the mundane lives of the people she encounters. Late Night also begins the campaign for John Lithgow as this year's Best Supporting Actor, Not for this role as the mentor for Molly's transformation to strong woman and devoted husband of Katherine who learns the meaning of karma, but for his role later this year as Roger Ailes.
The movie is charming. The characters are developed and not cardboard cutouts of caricatures thanks to the writing, Max Casella, Reid Scott, Denis O'Hare, Hugh Dancy, Amy Ryan, and John Lithgow have backstories and motivations. However, the movie never really goes after the boys' club landscape that late night television inhabits nor does it go after the concept of diversity hires. It simply turns Molly into some sprite who sprinkles enthusiasm into the mundane lives of the people she encounters. Late Night also begins the campaign for John Lithgow as this year's Best Supporting Actor, Not for this role as the mentor for Molly's transformation to strong woman and devoted husband of Katherine who learns the meaning of karma, but for his role later this year as Roger Ailes.