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The World of Charles and Ray Eames
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Book
This is the first comprehensive book on the Eames' legacy in over a decade, revealing the rich...
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Breaking In (2018) (2018) in Movies
Jun 21, 2019
Story: Breaking In starts when Shaun Russell (Union) takes her children Jasmine (Alexus) and Glover (Carr) to her father’s estate after his death, the weekend is meant to be to prepare the house for sale. The weekend takes a dark twist when four thieves Eddie (Burke), Duncan (Cabral), Sam (Meaden) and Peter (Furze) have broken in, searching for a secret safe.
With Shaun locked out and her children being held captive by the thieves, she will do anything to save her children, not caring what the men want, this does become a battle of a mother that will do anything versus thieves that won’t stop for anything.
Thoughts on Breaking In
Characters – Shaun is a mother of two children that is tidying up the affairs of her late father, she thinks her weekend will just be tidying up his house, but she soon shows that she has a few skills picked up from her father, she will play a cat-n-mouse game with a group of thieves that are holding her children hostage, Shaun will prove herself as somebody smarter than the thieves, showing a mother’s love will overcome any plan. Eddie is the leader of the thieves, he remains calm and in control, even if his men can get out of hand, he only wants the money, getting pushed into difficult decisions. Duncan is the loose cannon of the thieves, he doesn’t want to leave any witnesses to the crime they are committing. Jasmine is the eldest daughter that needs to protect her little brother from the situation, even if the two have a bickering relationship.
Performances – Gabrielle Union in the leading role is great, she brings us a strong powerful mother that isn’t going to let any man take advantage of her family. Billy Burke does bring the required calmness to his character which is everything needed, with Richard Cabral bring his own unhinged character to life to just about step away from the generic normal one. Ajiona Alexus and Seth Carr fill the children roles which in the works very well as they feel like they could easily be brother and sister.
Story – The story here follows a mother that will do anything to get her children to safety after their home gets invaded by a group of criminals searching for money. This is a home invasion film, it doesn’t need to break away from the normal in anyway, we know the formula, with this one putting the spin on the mother being separated from her children, we have the discussion of power between the criminals and mother, which is an important scene. We see how the mother might have a few more tricks up her sleeves that first thought. This is everything you expect without needing to make anything complicated, making it an easy watch.
Action/Crime – The action is restricted because of the separation between the characters, but when we need it, we get action we need, the crime story does follow how the thieves operate, though we don’t learn everything about the father’s situation in the criminal world.
Settings – The film is set in one location which is the house that has the ability to hold people out or keep people in, this helps build the battle between mother and thieves.
Scene of the Movie – Losing control.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not truly learning about the Shaun’s father previous life as a criminal.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the book home invasion film, it does give us plenty of entertainment and is above the average in the sub-genre.
Overall: Home invasion above the rest.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/06/20/breaking-in-2018/
With Shaun locked out and her children being held captive by the thieves, she will do anything to save her children, not caring what the men want, this does become a battle of a mother that will do anything versus thieves that won’t stop for anything.
Thoughts on Breaking In
Characters – Shaun is a mother of two children that is tidying up the affairs of her late father, she thinks her weekend will just be tidying up his house, but she soon shows that she has a few skills picked up from her father, she will play a cat-n-mouse game with a group of thieves that are holding her children hostage, Shaun will prove herself as somebody smarter than the thieves, showing a mother’s love will overcome any plan. Eddie is the leader of the thieves, he remains calm and in control, even if his men can get out of hand, he only wants the money, getting pushed into difficult decisions. Duncan is the loose cannon of the thieves, he doesn’t want to leave any witnesses to the crime they are committing. Jasmine is the eldest daughter that needs to protect her little brother from the situation, even if the two have a bickering relationship.
Performances – Gabrielle Union in the leading role is great, she brings us a strong powerful mother that isn’t going to let any man take advantage of her family. Billy Burke does bring the required calmness to his character which is everything needed, with Richard Cabral bring his own unhinged character to life to just about step away from the generic normal one. Ajiona Alexus and Seth Carr fill the children roles which in the works very well as they feel like they could easily be brother and sister.
Story – The story here follows a mother that will do anything to get her children to safety after their home gets invaded by a group of criminals searching for money. This is a home invasion film, it doesn’t need to break away from the normal in anyway, we know the formula, with this one putting the spin on the mother being separated from her children, we have the discussion of power between the criminals and mother, which is an important scene. We see how the mother might have a few more tricks up her sleeves that first thought. This is everything you expect without needing to make anything complicated, making it an easy watch.
Action/Crime – The action is restricted because of the separation between the characters, but when we need it, we get action we need, the crime story does follow how the thieves operate, though we don’t learn everything about the father’s situation in the criminal world.
Settings – The film is set in one location which is the house that has the ability to hold people out or keep people in, this helps build the battle between mother and thieves.
Scene of the Movie – Losing control.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not truly learning about the Shaun’s father previous life as a criminal.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the book home invasion film, it does give us plenty of entertainment and is above the average in the sub-genre.
Overall: Home invasion above the rest.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/06/20/breaking-in-2018/
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated The Little Mermaid (1989) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
There are just some things that probably shouldn't be seen again, and for me the Little Mermaid is one of them. Any Disney movie with singable song in is a win for me, and of course, throw in a singalong version and it's even better. It doesn't really change the fact that... perhaps... *hushed tones* this one isn't a particularly good film. I know. I'm sorry. But apart from the bits with the big three songs in, nothing overly exciting happens. And poor old Ursula's song really isn't that good either, and I love a good villain song.
By far the best bit about this whole event was the audience. There were 17 of us watching, including the Ariel from the lobby, three children, 1 father, with the rest exclusively women over the age of 25. But out of those it was the family of four in front of me that won the evening.
They were wonderful. Mum, dad, daughter of about three and baby. Never judge a book by it's cover, I honestly thought dad was there under duress... but no I'll get to that in a bit. Cue the trailers, and The Incredibles 2. Frozone comes on the screen and daughter goes "daddy he looks like you!" And yes, the similarity was uncanny. Daughter is laughing, mum is laughing, I'm laughing. Dad turns to her completely deadpan and says "it's not funny, we don't laugh about it." But we all did. The movie starts and daughter is humming the Disney tune as the logo comes up. It was one of the cutest things I've witnessed, until the film itself starts up. Dad is singing along with he rest of us, he's even reciting the words of the script to his daughter... with voices. People... that's family goals right there.
By far the best bit about this whole event was the audience. There were 17 of us watching, including the Ariel from the lobby, three children, 1 father, with the rest exclusively women over the age of 25. But out of those it was the family of four in front of me that won the evening.
They were wonderful. Mum, dad, daughter of about three and baby. Never judge a book by it's cover, I honestly thought dad was there under duress... but no I'll get to that in a bit. Cue the trailers, and The Incredibles 2. Frozone comes on the screen and daughter goes "daddy he looks like you!" And yes, the similarity was uncanny. Daughter is laughing, mum is laughing, I'm laughing. Dad turns to her completely deadpan and says "it's not funny, we don't laugh about it." But we all did. The movie starts and daughter is humming the Disney tune as the logo comes up. It was one of the cutest things I've witnessed, until the film itself starts up. Dad is singing along with he rest of us, he's even reciting the words of the script to his daughter... with voices. People... that's family goals right there.
My Father, Frank: Unresting Spirit of Everest
Book
Frank Smythe's mountaineering achievements in the decade before the Second World War became a part...
Last Exit to Brooklyn
Book
Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to...
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) in Movies
Aug 6, 2020
Much like Eurovision itself, this film shouldn’t be entertaining in any way, but after watching it for ten minutes it becomes a compelling car crash you kinda have to see out to the end. It doesn’t really matter what you think of the songs, you are watching it waiting for the one thing you can make fun of, rubbing your eyes in disbelief that anything so camp and lame can exist.
Will Ferrell understands this of course. There is so much about the weird world of Eurovision to make fun of. The naff music, the costumes, the lost in translation moments from obscure countries trying their best and mostly failing to realise how daft they look. Enjoying this film depends on how funny you find Ferrell, not on any love of cheesy pop songs. Fortunately, I find him usually hilarious.
Not that every joke lands, or even makes sense at all. It is as bizarre as the contest itself; you just have to leave your brain at the door and go with it. There is a lot to like. Not least the adorable and consistently watchable Rachel McAdams who seems the perfect choice to play Sigrit, the girl dreaming of having the world hear her sing and strive for her spirit note. There is also an odd turn from Pierce Brosnan, who makes no effort whatsoever to make it good, and comes full circle in being so bad it’s amazing.
The joke is that they are from Iceland, who never win the thing, or ever come close. The country itself doesn’t want to win, as they would have to pay for it next year, so, after a bizarre accident where every other candidate explodes, they turn to the naive duo of Fire Saga, who are guaranteed to be a joke. And they are. But of course we are on their side, as they live the dream and go for underdog glory. What can go wrong does, and every comedy trope in the book is trotted out, along with a huge dose of sentimentality.
Naturally there is music. Ranging from the excruciating to the actually not too bad, to the hmmm, I actual like that! One highlight is a montage piece in the middle, as all contestants jam at a pre-final party – just so much fun and a totally catchy song. I am not entirely ashamed to say that it kinda got me. The pathos leading up to the climax hit me in the vulnerable feels, as I lay on a Sunday morning helpfully hung-over and tender. This is the way to watch it, I feel, or, you know, with young kids, who will lap up the silliness and talent show sensibility.
Look, it’s terrible on any artistic or serious level. The script is a mess, the direction could have been phoned in by a chimp, and the plot serves to say nothing new or inciteful, but it doesn’t matter. Watch it, have a chuckle and then throw it away. I can think of many less innocent comedies that are far less worthy of attention. And at the very least, there is a bit with elves that had me pressing pause till I got all my laughs out.
Pick a day when you have no energy to fight the world or string two thoughts together and just enjoy it.
Decinemal Rating: 63
Will Ferrell understands this of course. There is so much about the weird world of Eurovision to make fun of. The naff music, the costumes, the lost in translation moments from obscure countries trying their best and mostly failing to realise how daft they look. Enjoying this film depends on how funny you find Ferrell, not on any love of cheesy pop songs. Fortunately, I find him usually hilarious.
Not that every joke lands, or even makes sense at all. It is as bizarre as the contest itself; you just have to leave your brain at the door and go with it. There is a lot to like. Not least the adorable and consistently watchable Rachel McAdams who seems the perfect choice to play Sigrit, the girl dreaming of having the world hear her sing and strive for her spirit note. There is also an odd turn from Pierce Brosnan, who makes no effort whatsoever to make it good, and comes full circle in being so bad it’s amazing.
The joke is that they are from Iceland, who never win the thing, or ever come close. The country itself doesn’t want to win, as they would have to pay for it next year, so, after a bizarre accident where every other candidate explodes, they turn to the naive duo of Fire Saga, who are guaranteed to be a joke. And they are. But of course we are on their side, as they live the dream and go for underdog glory. What can go wrong does, and every comedy trope in the book is trotted out, along with a huge dose of sentimentality.
Naturally there is music. Ranging from the excruciating to the actually not too bad, to the hmmm, I actual like that! One highlight is a montage piece in the middle, as all contestants jam at a pre-final party – just so much fun and a totally catchy song. I am not entirely ashamed to say that it kinda got me. The pathos leading up to the climax hit me in the vulnerable feels, as I lay on a Sunday morning helpfully hung-over and tender. This is the way to watch it, I feel, or, you know, with young kids, who will lap up the silliness and talent show sensibility.
Look, it’s terrible on any artistic or serious level. The script is a mess, the direction could have been phoned in by a chimp, and the plot serves to say nothing new or inciteful, but it doesn’t matter. Watch it, have a chuckle and then throw it away. I can think of many less innocent comedies that are far less worthy of attention. And at the very least, there is a bit with elves that had me pressing pause till I got all my laughs out.
Pick a day when you have no energy to fight the world or string two thoughts together and just enjoy it.
Decinemal Rating: 63
85 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards
Book
A deluxe, year-by-year chronicle of the Academy Awards, with an entertaining text, hundreds of...
Gender, Nation and Popular Film in India: Globalizing Muscular Nationalism
Book
Interpretations of manhood have unfolded in India within a middle class cultural milieu shaped by an...
Darren (1599 KP) rated American Animals (2018) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: American Animals starts as we see the heist about to take place, rewinding us 18 months where we meet Spencer Reinhardt (Keoghan) an art student in Transylvania University, struggling with his identity, turning to his streetwise friend Warren Lipka (Peters) the two discuss the potential of stealing rare expensive books from the library.
As the idea turns into a plan they bring in Chas Allen (Jenner) and Eric Borsuk (Abrahamson), can they make this plan come off, well the answer is no because as we see the planning we meet the real thieves now in their 30s discussing what they remember about the idea.
Thoughts on American Animals
Characters – Warren is the streetwise student on a scholarship, not living up to his potential, he will always get things down however illegal they might be. He is the one that brings the team together to make this happen even if he is also the one that gets them in the most problems. Spencer is the art student that comes up with the idea because he is sick of not standing out in the art world, looking for the pain be believes artist require. He is all in with the planning but when it comes to following through he thinks they will need to go too far. Chas is the getaway driver, he has the most money which helps with the planning of the heist. Eric becomes the brains learning where things could and would go wrong if they do it in certain directions. We do also meet the adult versions of these characters in the real version that are looking back on the crime they committed.
Performances – Evan Peters is the clear highlight in this film, he always comes off unpredictable which seeing the older versions of the characters you completely understand too. Barry Keoghan does play the stranger member of the crew well, he is the one that is happy to plan not commit a crime, he needs to be straighter faced than Peters character. When it comes to the rest of the cast they are fine without needing to do that much.
Story – The story here is based on the real story of four university students that robbed the rare book collection in the library of their university. The way the story is told is interesting because it does both help and hinder the film, having a mix of the actors playing the younger versions and the real men talking about the events does give the story a documentary feel. Where this does hinder the story is by telling us that they failed early on and are now just remembering what happen which takes away any excitement or edge of your set moments towards anything going on. There are moments in the story which are good to watch, for example the scene where they are watching heist movies to learn how to pull it off and seeing the pitch perfect plan in Warren’s head. If we are being honest, the story is about 20 minutes too long because the opening hour just drags you along, once the heist gets underway things get more exciting but by then you might see the audience lose interest.
Crime – The crime follows a real heist that happened at the same university, we get to see how it was planned, how things went down and seeing the consequences the boys felt.
Settings – The film is mostly set in and around the university, this helps for any heist film, we do get moments where we step away, but that is for the plan which does work when you see how the boys are out of their depth at times.
Scene of the Movie – Selecting the names.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The first hour.
Final Thoughts – This is an overly long heist movie that drags along at a horribly slow pace, once things kick off we do get some interest, but the fact we have the real criminals involved in telling the story we know the outcome.
Overall: Just watch for Evan Peters being slightly crazy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/08/28/american-animals-2018/
As the idea turns into a plan they bring in Chas Allen (Jenner) and Eric Borsuk (Abrahamson), can they make this plan come off, well the answer is no because as we see the planning we meet the real thieves now in their 30s discussing what they remember about the idea.
Thoughts on American Animals
Characters – Warren is the streetwise student on a scholarship, not living up to his potential, he will always get things down however illegal they might be. He is the one that brings the team together to make this happen even if he is also the one that gets them in the most problems. Spencer is the art student that comes up with the idea because he is sick of not standing out in the art world, looking for the pain be believes artist require. He is all in with the planning but when it comes to following through he thinks they will need to go too far. Chas is the getaway driver, he has the most money which helps with the planning of the heist. Eric becomes the brains learning where things could and would go wrong if they do it in certain directions. We do also meet the adult versions of these characters in the real version that are looking back on the crime they committed.
Performances – Evan Peters is the clear highlight in this film, he always comes off unpredictable which seeing the older versions of the characters you completely understand too. Barry Keoghan does play the stranger member of the crew well, he is the one that is happy to plan not commit a crime, he needs to be straighter faced than Peters character. When it comes to the rest of the cast they are fine without needing to do that much.
Story – The story here is based on the real story of four university students that robbed the rare book collection in the library of their university. The way the story is told is interesting because it does both help and hinder the film, having a mix of the actors playing the younger versions and the real men talking about the events does give the story a documentary feel. Where this does hinder the story is by telling us that they failed early on and are now just remembering what happen which takes away any excitement or edge of your set moments towards anything going on. There are moments in the story which are good to watch, for example the scene where they are watching heist movies to learn how to pull it off and seeing the pitch perfect plan in Warren’s head. If we are being honest, the story is about 20 minutes too long because the opening hour just drags you along, once the heist gets underway things get more exciting but by then you might see the audience lose interest.
Crime – The crime follows a real heist that happened at the same university, we get to see how it was planned, how things went down and seeing the consequences the boys felt.
Settings – The film is mostly set in and around the university, this helps for any heist film, we do get moments where we step away, but that is for the plan which does work when you see how the boys are out of their depth at times.
Scene of the Movie – Selecting the names.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The first hour.
Final Thoughts – This is an overly long heist movie that drags along at a horribly slow pace, once things kick off we do get some interest, but the fact we have the real criminals involved in telling the story we know the outcome.
Overall: Just watch for Evan Peters being slightly crazy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/08/28/american-animals-2018/
Tony Soprano's America: Gangsters, Guns, and Money
M. Keith Booker and Isra Daraiseh
Book
Widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, The Sopranos is also...