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The Inspector and Silence
Book
In the heart of summer, the country swelters in a fug of heat. In the beautiful forested lake-town...
Gold Fame Citrus
Book
Read our interview with Claire here. 'Extraordinary power and beauty' New York Times...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Mars Attacks! (1996) in Movies
Jun 14, 2020
Lavishly camp black-comedy sci-fi extravaganza. Motivated largely by their innate gittishness, Martians attack the Earth (the clue is in the title), and various people naturally respond in their own personal ways. Much property damage and rather dated mid-90s CGI result.
One of those bizarre mutants that should never really have got past the script stage, let alone received a $70m budget: the release schedule inevitably resulted in it being hailed as a spoof of Independence Day (hard to spoof something that wasn't meant to be taken seriously in the first place), but this is much more a send-up of classic 50s sci-fi B-movies (various spot-on parodies), as well as being a startlingly subversive black comedy. You can also sense Burton trying to do his version of Dr Strangelove, with Nicholson in a multiple role, but it doesn't have anything like the same sharpness or impact. A bit patchy overall - some laugh-out-loud moments and game performances, but also a lot of dead wood and characters and jokes that just don't work. On the whole, though, the fact that films like this still get made suggests hope is not yet lost for the world.
One of those bizarre mutants that should never really have got past the script stage, let alone received a $70m budget: the release schedule inevitably resulted in it being hailed as a spoof of Independence Day (hard to spoof something that wasn't meant to be taken seriously in the first place), but this is much more a send-up of classic 50s sci-fi B-movies (various spot-on parodies), as well as being a startlingly subversive black comedy. You can also sense Burton trying to do his version of Dr Strangelove, with Nicholson in a multiple role, but it doesn't have anything like the same sharpness or impact. A bit patchy overall - some laugh-out-loud moments and game performances, but also a lot of dead wood and characters and jokes that just don't work. On the whole, though, the fact that films like this still get made suggests hope is not yet lost for the world.
Emily (1430 KP) rated The Running Man (1987) in Movies
Jul 8, 2020
Cheesy but great
Quite possibly the cheesiest Arnie film of all time, but that's what makes it so good. Arnie plays an ex-cop who refuses to fire upon unarmed civilians, but he gets overwhelmed by his team mates and the video afterwards gets edited to make it look like he was the one doing it and he gets thrown into a labour camp style prison. Eventually he and some others escape, he goes back to his old flat (which is now rented by a female journalist). Things happen, he eventually gets recaptured but again the footage is doctored but this time the journalist realises things aren't what they seem. All of the characters end up on a TV show called The Running Man, which seems to be contenders Vs characters in terrible costumes. This is where the fun begins. So many brilliant one-liners throughout the film (mostly from Arnie, but a few others) and just pure 'good guy wins, bad guy gets what's coming to him' cheese. Brilliant for an easy-watching film to laugh and cheer at! And for those that have seen it, all I need to add is "Hello Christmas Tree!"
Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz
Book
'Through thick and thin, never separate. Stick together, guard each other, and live for one...
Hanns and Rudolf: The German Jew and the Hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz
Book
This is The Sunday Times Bestseller. Winner of The JQ Wingate Prize 2015. Shortlisted for the COSTA...
Under the Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women's Soccer
Book
In 2004 football author, journalist and award-winning documentary maker Gwendolyn Oxenham played...
A Child in Palestine: The Cartoons of Naji Al-Ali
Joe Sacco and Naji al-Ali
Book
This is a first collection by leading Palestinian political cartoonist, introduced by the author of...
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Flatliners (1990) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
Stupid, to be sure (Kiefer Sutherland gets his ass kicked by a supernatural 8-year-old on multiple occasions) - and I do side with the critiques that this could have been a lot deeper, but this is still completely righteous. A ghostly, heavily portentous, lush modern day gothic-medical melodrama that came out in the 90s yet *screams* 1985 right down to the haircuts. Try to picture 𝘚𝘵. 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘰'𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 as a gen X YA horror flick. One of my all-time favorite film premises, and even Schumacher's (RIP) supporters I don't think give him enough credit for making all these interesting camp spectacles that - of all things - you can hardly say are unoriginal *nor* forgettable. A bunch of medical students chill out in an old cathedral thing which doubles as a medical lab where they perform clandestine death experiments on each other out in the open and argue about who can die the longest lmao, it's whoppingly silly stuff that thankfully takes itself dead (no pun intended) seriously. Pulpy, moody, atmospheric, and just looks extraordinary to boot - the visuals really tie that bind between our world and whatever lies beyond in an increasingly unstable way, as if some sort of constant (losing) struggle. So good that I actually even liked the infamous sentimental ending.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Dark Shadows (2012) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
If not for the last 15/20 minutes (sans the atrocious ending, and even then they're only mildly watchable at best) I'd very comfortably call this one of the worst movies I've ever seen - and still will. Not even distracting, and intentionally as non-fun as possible. How exciting, we get to see nearly two LONG hours of nonentities played by actors who clearly couldn't give less of a shit about being there (except for the sole good scenery-chewing of Eva Green) tepidly talk about... like, fishing and shit? Sometimes even to each other! Where's the camp? Where's the (pun not intended) spirit? Doesn't go for jokes, doesn't go for drama, doesn't go for romance, doesn't go for anything - complete and utter apathy all around. It doesn't even look good, dear God some color could have at least made this pop but no of course it's color-coded like ash and jizz. This wakes up a bit when it has a spooky haunted house vibe to it but too bad that's only like a collective (and generous) few minutes of the whole thing. What the actual hell were they thinking, how can a director possibly stoop *noticeably* lower than 𝘋𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘰 (2019)?