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Storytelling and Ethics: Literature, Visual Arts and the Power of Narrative
Hanna Meretoja and Colin Davis
Book
In recent years there has been a huge amount of both popular and academic interest in storytelling...
Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) in Movies
Oct 22, 2019 (Updated Oct 22, 2019)
Rule No.1........ Party!
The Peanutbutter Falcon is a heartwarming and charming tale of belonging, ambition and family. I've always loved and admired Shia labeouf and despite all the hate he gets I really do think he is an incredible actor and with how good this movie is I really hope people start to see that. Zak is a person with downs syndrome who escapes from his care home to peruse his dream of becoming a wrestler and upon meeting Shia's character the two form a bond and set of on an adventure together. Seeing these two very different personalities form a friendship is just so beautiful, powerful and endearing with Shia's character tormented/held back by guilt and Zack gottsagen's character desperate to be free to enjoy life, party and be taken seriously. Theres such a great redneck world built here and whilst the film is odd its also so pure with a charming weirdness so realistic you could mistake the film for being a true story. Themes of loss, guilt, motivation, happiness and destiny as well as the line between good and evil. However what I found really interesting was the messages about mental health/learning difficulties/oldage and how we tend to treat people with these conditions like they aren't human too. It even depicts how most people who work in the care industry fail to grasp that these people are just like us and how restricting, patronising and telling them no all the time is inhumane and leads to failing to truly understand them/form a bond with them. Performances are outstanding from both the mains really depicting two different inner struggles and personalities coming together during difficult times thus giving them purpose and hope. Its also stunning to look at too with a perfect soundtrack. If I had to I would liken this movie to Oh brother where art thou and while it does have some great humour it leans more to the serious side most of the time showing us not all families are perfect but no matter how dysfunctional they are the love is no less. Such a lovely film that even made me shed a few tears too.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated San Andreas (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
The new Warner Brothers movie San Andreas stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Chief Ray Gaines, Carla Gugino as Emma Gaines, Alexandra Daddario as their daughter Blake Gaines, Paul Giamatti as scientist Lawrence, Ioan Gruffudd as Daniel (Emma’s new love interest, as she & Chief Gaines are about to finalize their divorce), and Archie Panjabi as Serena, a reporter.
The movie opens with a gut-wrenching helicopter rescue lead by Chief Gaines where he rescues a girl from a car that has careened off the edge of a cliff and is hanging precariously over a river. He manages to sweep her out of the car just barely before the car crashes the rest of the way down the cliff which would have surely killed her.
In my opinion, the movie never stops delivering gut wrenching, edge of your set moments. I was holding my breath and on edge thru the entirety of the film.
This is definitely a movie that you absolutely do NOT want to wait and see at home, it NEEDS ‘the big screen’. I think it probably is also better in 3D as well, I think the 3D adds to the special effects and helps pull you into the movie.
I was able to connect to the characters and while some of the situations were really really far fetched (Gaines rescuing Emma off the top of a collapsing building in a rescue helicopter as it literally crumbled away beneath her), the dedication that his character showed in trying to get her to safety, really made the story work for me.
There were moments of cute comedy in the film, mostly in the interactions between Blake Gaines and the brothers Ben and Ollie (Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson) that helped break up some of the tension imposed by the continuous onslaught of the disasters caused by the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.
If you like action / disaster movies, and a decent story, you will like this film.
Rated PG-13, I wouldn’t bring young children, but I would bring older kids, aged 13 and up, as the rating suggests.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars for a good story and edge of your seat action throughout.
The movie opens with a gut-wrenching helicopter rescue lead by Chief Gaines where he rescues a girl from a car that has careened off the edge of a cliff and is hanging precariously over a river. He manages to sweep her out of the car just barely before the car crashes the rest of the way down the cliff which would have surely killed her.
In my opinion, the movie never stops delivering gut wrenching, edge of your set moments. I was holding my breath and on edge thru the entirety of the film.
This is definitely a movie that you absolutely do NOT want to wait and see at home, it NEEDS ‘the big screen’. I think it probably is also better in 3D as well, I think the 3D adds to the special effects and helps pull you into the movie.
I was able to connect to the characters and while some of the situations were really really far fetched (Gaines rescuing Emma off the top of a collapsing building in a rescue helicopter as it literally crumbled away beneath her), the dedication that his character showed in trying to get her to safety, really made the story work for me.
There were moments of cute comedy in the film, mostly in the interactions between Blake Gaines and the brothers Ben and Ollie (Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson) that helped break up some of the tension imposed by the continuous onslaught of the disasters caused by the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.
If you like action / disaster movies, and a decent story, you will like this film.
Rated PG-13, I wouldn’t bring young children, but I would bring older kids, aged 13 and up, as the rating suggests.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars for a good story and edge of your seat action throughout.
RS
Ridley Scott: Interviews
Laurence F. Knapp and Andrea F. Kulas
Book
Artisan, entrepreneur, and impresario, British filmmaker Ridley Scott accepts the profit motive as...
MuseCam - Edit Photos & Manual Camera
Photo & Video and Lifestyle
App
MuseCam is a next generation image editor that makes it easier than ever to capture the perfect look...
Jarom Solar Norris (177 KP) rated A Star Is Born (2018) in Movies
Oct 9, 2018
I'm Very Conflicted
I'm having a really hard time judging this movie. Minor spoilers below.
Most of the movie was amazing. It moved kind of fast but told a really good story about two messy people putting their lives in front of each other and the world. The songs had great lyrics that made you think. And the dialogue made you think too: about careers, about relationships, about the responsibility that comes with talent and the choices we make.
The ending threw all of that away. I'm really opposed to the point of view that a sad ending makes a movie bad. But this movie's ending had no purpose. It didn't make some grand message, or underline the other messages the movie had already made. It didn't add anything to the film other than a sad ending. It just made me mad and upset, and sure, sometimes art does that, but not without purpose.
How do you give a score to a movie that made you feel so much and think about so many things and then decided it wanted you to walk away feeling empty instead of thoughtful?
Most of the movie was amazing. It moved kind of fast but told a really good story about two messy people putting their lives in front of each other and the world. The songs had great lyrics that made you think. And the dialogue made you think too: about careers, about relationships, about the responsibility that comes with talent and the choices we make.
The ending threw all of that away. I'm really opposed to the point of view that a sad ending makes a movie bad. But this movie's ending had no purpose. It didn't make some grand message, or underline the other messages the movie had already made. It didn't add anything to the film other than a sad ending. It just made me mad and upset, and sure, sometimes art does that, but not without purpose.
How do you give a score to a movie that made you feel so much and think about so many things and then decided it wanted you to walk away feeling empty instead of thoughtful?
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Lion King (2019) in Movies
Aug 2, 2019 (Updated Aug 2, 2019)
"Gorgeously Pointless" sums this up for me. In general I find the Disney live action remakes pretty pointless. Why try, other than to fill Disney coffers? (Which I guess is the producer’s point!) And my opinion hasn’t changed after this. I still think its a rather pointless exercise, particularly in this case where there is no human cast.
With these things, I always think of Jim Carrey‘s cry at the end of his version of “I am the Walrus”. He screams “There, I did it. I defiled a timeless piece of art”. Jon Favreau can at least sleep happy (sic) in his bed content that he hasn’t managed to do that. I can’t say I was horrified by this one, because I wasn’t. It was majestic, entertaining, technically superb and certainly had its moments.
The acid test for me would be “would I go and see that again”. And in this case the answer would be “yes”.
For my full graphical review, please visit https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/08/02/one-manns-movies-film-review-the-lion-king-2019/.
With these things, I always think of Jim Carrey‘s cry at the end of his version of “I am the Walrus”. He screams “There, I did it. I defiled a timeless piece of art”. Jon Favreau can at least sleep happy (sic) in his bed content that he hasn’t managed to do that. I can’t say I was horrified by this one, because I wasn’t. It was majestic, entertaining, technically superb and certainly had its moments.
The acid test for me would be “would I go and see that again”. And in this case the answer would be “yes”.
For my full graphical review, please visit https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/08/02/one-manns-movies-film-review-the-lion-king-2019/.
AA
Authentic and Inauthentic Places in Tourism: From Heritage Sites to Theme Parks
Book
With the rise of post-truth and fake news, a thorough examination of authenticity has never been so...
Here and Now: Letters 2008-2011
Book
Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee are respectively responsible for some of the great contemporary works...
Fashion and Celebrity Culture
Book
The interrelationship between fashion and celebrity is now a salient and pervasive feature of the...