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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Flatliners (2017) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
Now I'm not saying this is all bullshit, but it's only a *generous* 5-10% non-bullshit. I'm not the first to say this nor will I be the last, but what was the point? Just as super-serious as the original with none of the fun camp, shorter but somehow feels centuries longer, and worst of all it looks roughly ten trillion times worse - dumping the artsy old-architectural/macabre feel for yet another lifeless medical aesthetic (only looking marginally better than some royalty-free tripe like 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺). I think one of the horror things here actually succeeds more than the original and there's one or two different plot switches from that one too, but it loses all other points for turning such riotous and ethereal shlock into yet another substandard mainstream 'horror' snore. The literal only mildly intriguing thing this did was ditched to a deleted scene. What a drag, can't believe this even got the right to exist. This feels like one of the fake movies that people inside the real movie
Awix (3310 KP) rated Konga (1961) in Movies
Sep 7, 2019 (Updated Sep 7, 2019)
Staggeringly camp entry to the annals of man-in-a-gorilla-suit fantasy deserves about a 2 as a serious drama, but earns a much higher mark for sheer entertainment value. Michael Gough chews the scenery energetically as a mad scientist whose stated plans to discover the secrets of life by breeding giant rubber Venus fly traps actually seem to revolve around him leching all over his attractive female students and sending his pet ape Konga to strangle people. It all ends badly, as you might expect.
You have admire a film where people are given lines like 'There's a monster gorilla that's constantly growing to outlandish proportions loose in the streets!' and manage to deliver them with a relatively straight face - or perhaps that's just me. Much here to appreciate if you enjoy overacting, dodgy special effects, absurd melodrama, and terrible dialogue. The climax feels a bit bolted on considering what has come before, and it's disappointingly limp and static, but a hugely enjoyable Bad Movie in all other respects.
You have admire a film where people are given lines like 'There's a monster gorilla that's constantly growing to outlandish proportions loose in the streets!' and manage to deliver them with a relatively straight face - or perhaps that's just me. Much here to appreciate if you enjoy overacting, dodgy special effects, absurd melodrama, and terrible dialogue. The climax feels a bit bolted on considering what has come before, and it's disappointingly limp and static, but a hugely enjoyable Bad Movie in all other respects.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) in Movies
May 10, 2020
Romantic thriller remake. A daring robbery from a New York museum leads the police and an insurance investigator to suspect insanely wealthy and clever tycoon Thomas Crown, but can the investigator keep her mind on the job when the sparks start a-fizzing between her and the suspect?
The world is made up of people who prefer the Steve McQueen version and those who like this one (and I suppose there are conceivably a few folk who've seen neither): I am in the Brosnan camp, although this film does kind of miss the point that Crown only steals for the fun of it in the original (Brosnan's character clearly appreciates art). Much more of a romantic drama than an actual thriller, but well played and engaging, and the set pieces, when they eventually come, are clever and well-staged. As a chance for Brosnan (then at the apogee of his Bond success) to show his range, it's a qualified success (Crown is another suave, high-living thrill seeker with possible commitment issues), but as a piece of entertainment it does the job.
The world is made up of people who prefer the Steve McQueen version and those who like this one (and I suppose there are conceivably a few folk who've seen neither): I am in the Brosnan camp, although this film does kind of miss the point that Crown only steals for the fun of it in the original (Brosnan's character clearly appreciates art). Much more of a romantic drama than an actual thriller, but well played and engaging, and the set pieces, when they eventually come, are clever and well-staged. As a chance for Brosnan (then at the apogee of his Bond success) to show his range, it's a qualified success (Crown is another suave, high-living thrill seeker with possible commitment issues), but as a piece of entertainment it does the job.
Awix (3310 KP) rated What Have I Done to Deserve This?! (¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?) (1984) in Movies
Apr 14, 2020 (Updated Apr 14, 2020)
Almodovar claims his fourth film is a homage to Italian neorealism, but as the wildly silly plot involves teenage drug dealers, the Madrid kendo club, a plot to forge Hitler's diaries, a blood-stained lizard and a telekinetic schoolgirl we'll have to take his word for that. Every bit as camp and provocative as it sounds, if not moreso; possibly trying a bit too hard to be shocking in places (some jokes about a character who's a paedophile orthodontist feel very misjudged these days), but for the most part engaging and very funny.
You'd expect this would all be much too ridiculous to take seriously, but even this early in his career Almodovar is able to find the reality in his characters and make you care about them. Carmen Maura is at the centre of the film and does a terrific job of giving it all some unexpected emotional heft. In the end it's still an absurd black comedy, but one with some warmth and compassion to it. A very entertaining movie.
You'd expect this would all be much too ridiculous to take seriously, but even this early in his career Almodovar is able to find the reality in his characters and make you care about them. Carmen Maura is at the centre of the film and does a terrific job of giving it all some unexpected emotional heft. In the end it's still an absurd black comedy, but one with some warmth and compassion to it. A very entertaining movie.
The Haunting Of Rookward House
7.0
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Book
She's always watching... When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother's attic, it seems like...
Primitive Technology
YouTube Channel
Primitive technology is a hobby where you build things in the wild completely from scratch using no...
Divorce is Murder (Toby Wong Mystery #1)
6.0
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Book
As teens, they bullied her. Twenty years on, she's not scared of them. Except she should be... ...
Romantic Suspense Mystery
Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)
4.5
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Movie Watch
Ilsa is Kommandant of a Nazi prison camp, who conducts sadistic scientific experiments designed to...
Grindhouse Exploration
There's No Toilet Paper . . . on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure
8.0
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Book
The perfect trip, where nothing goes wrong, is surely not the memorable trip, which is where...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Good Luck with That in Books
Mar 11, 2019
Powerful, emotional read, but completely worth it
Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been best friends since they were teens. They met at Camp Copperbrook, a weight-loss camp. They've stayed close ever since, so when Emerson passes away, Georgia and Marley are distraught. Emerson asks her friends to complete a list they made at camp, forcing both Georgia and Marley to confront some long-held fears. Marley still feels guilty since her twin sister, Frankie, died when they were four. And Georgia, has been scarred by the exacting conditions--especially about weight--passed on by her mother and brother. And she's hurt after the ending of her marriage. But Georgia and Marley are determined to complete the items on the list, for Emerson, even if it means getting past their comfort zone and learning to love themselves just as they are.
I'll be honest. I wasn't sure I'd like this one in the beginning. The tell-it-like-it-is weight talk is jarring at first, so are Marley's many, many references to her dead twin. I was confused about who was talking, eventually having to make myself a little cheat sheet to keep Georgia and Marley and their various family members/histories straight. But, pretty quickly, this book grew on me, and became a very powerful, very heartbreaking, very realistic, and very lovely read.
This isn't an easy-to-read book. It's starkly realistic and tells it like it is. Weight, life, reality, friendship, parenting, and more. It's tough to read and touches on the insecurities we all have deep inside ourselves, plus how cruel the world can be to those it deems "different." It made me very sad at times.
Luckily, the novel is also infused with Higgins' trademark humor. The woman can write a darn funny scene and even with the serious topics she covers here, there are plenty of funny times and warmth throughout this novel. She can make piggyback rides humorous. And running! Marley and Georgia become real people throughout the course of this novel, and so much of their friendship is witty and hilarious. I really grew to love them.
The book is also powerful in so many ways. Yes, it can be powerfully sad and heartbreaking at times, but it's also just powerfully well-done. I really think this is a book everyone should read, especially parents or anyone who spends time around teens. Georgia's teenage nephew, Mason, quickly became one of my favorite characters. His storyline has nothing to do with weight, but everything to do with self-acceptance, and I totally adored him.
There's so much going on in this book. The power of friendship. Struggling with weight and loving yourself. And the idea of, What happens when we get everything we want and we still aren't happy? So much resonated with me. The book will make you laugh. It will make you cry. Parts of it are predictable, but in the total Higgins fashion of exactly the way you want them to be.
Overall, this book was nothing like what I expected, but that's totally OK. It's really a powerful, tough, emotional read, but completely worth it. By the end, I was completely immersed in the characters' lives and the story. I found it to be heartbreaking and beautiful, and I certainly recommend it.
I'll be honest. I wasn't sure I'd like this one in the beginning. The tell-it-like-it-is weight talk is jarring at first, so are Marley's many, many references to her dead twin. I was confused about who was talking, eventually having to make myself a little cheat sheet to keep Georgia and Marley and their various family members/histories straight. But, pretty quickly, this book grew on me, and became a very powerful, very heartbreaking, very realistic, and very lovely read.
This isn't an easy-to-read book. It's starkly realistic and tells it like it is. Weight, life, reality, friendship, parenting, and more. It's tough to read and touches on the insecurities we all have deep inside ourselves, plus how cruel the world can be to those it deems "different." It made me very sad at times.
Luckily, the novel is also infused with Higgins' trademark humor. The woman can write a darn funny scene and even with the serious topics she covers here, there are plenty of funny times and warmth throughout this novel. She can make piggyback rides humorous. And running! Marley and Georgia become real people throughout the course of this novel, and so much of their friendship is witty and hilarious. I really grew to love them.
The book is also powerful in so many ways. Yes, it can be powerfully sad and heartbreaking at times, but it's also just powerfully well-done. I really think this is a book everyone should read, especially parents or anyone who spends time around teens. Georgia's teenage nephew, Mason, quickly became one of my favorite characters. His storyline has nothing to do with weight, but everything to do with self-acceptance, and I totally adored him.
There's so much going on in this book. The power of friendship. Struggling with weight and loving yourself. And the idea of, What happens when we get everything we want and we still aren't happy? So much resonated with me. The book will make you laugh. It will make you cry. Parts of it are predictable, but in the total Higgins fashion of exactly the way you want them to be.
Overall, this book was nothing like what I expected, but that's totally OK. It's really a powerful, tough, emotional read, but completely worth it. By the end, I was completely immersed in the characters' lives and the story. I found it to be heartbreaking and beautiful, and I certainly recommend it.