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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
I was a little hesitant over a third Spider-Man reboot, even tho I really enjoyed his introduction in Civil War. I was pleasantly surprised when we were given an origin movie without rehashing yet again the way that Peter Parker receives his powers (it's all mentioned in conversation, since I think everyone is fairly familiar with the particulars at this point). What we're given is a young kid of 14 who has been handed these amazing powers and we get to watch as he struggles to find his place in a superhero world where there isn't much room for a kid 14. Of course, he thinks he can handle situations far outside his capabilities, and we watch as he predictably fails, and comes to terms with his limitations. It's a stereotypical hero's journey film, but somehow Tom Holland's performance captures that early teen awkwardness and nothing seems heavy handed in telling Spider-Man's story. I'm hoping this is the Spider-man that's going to stick around for a while.
  
TR
The Rebel Wife
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book tells the story of Augusta "Gus" Branson who lives in Northern Alabama after the Civil War. It tells the story of a fever that spreads through her town. This sickness leads Gus to the discovery of many secrets the town and her family has hidden for years. Like any books from this time, the family's slaves, who are now freedmen, play a huge role in the events as they unfold.
Gus is a very strong female character despite the way it looked at the beginning of the book. She learns to rely on herself & who she really can trust with some rather shocking results. Unfortunatly the book dragged for me. The ending was spectacular, but the lead up to it seems to ramble on and on with not much happening. With that being said though the character dynamics are what really made the book for me. It was by no means awful, it just had the potential to be so much more than it turned out to be.
  
Witchfinder General (1968)
Witchfinder General (1968)
1968 | Horror
8
8.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Famously nasty cult horror movie looks a bit like another Poe-Corman-Price adaptation (and was marketed as such in the States) but is really the work of a much darker sensibility. No actual supernatural elements, just people being sadistic to each other in the middle of a vicious civil war.

The story is a pretty standard revenge melodrama, made distinctive by the sheer bleakness of tone throughout the movie. At a time when pretty much every Hammer movie concluded with the defeat of the forces of evil (at least until the next sequel) the sheer amoral nihilism of Witchfinder General is distinctive.

Notable for the closest thing to a completely straight performance you will ever find Vincent Price contributing as the star of a horror movie, and also for the censor-troubling levels of violence and general grisliness. As is standard for British horror films of this period, fun is also to be had spotting youthful appearances by people who went on to have rather distinguished appearances in less extreme material.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) in Movies

Mar 1, 2019 (Updated Mar 1, 2019)  
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
1966 | Western
Whether or not you consider this to be one of the greatest westerns ever made or just an empty, cynical joke is probably a matter of personal taste; coherent arguments can be made both ways. Against the backdrop of the American Civil War, three gunmen search for a coffin full of dollars: Eastwood isn't especially good, but Van Cleef is certainly bad, and as for Wallach... The first of the film's many careful ironies is that there really isn't very much to choose between them in moral terms - those who view the western as a venue for articulating moral principles may not be impressed.

However, maybe they are missing the point, for while this may be a cynical movie, it is by no means wholly amoral, and there is compassion on display as well. What you would have to be utterly contrary to argue against are the brilliant set-pieces orchestrated by Leone, invariably accompanied by Ennio Morricone's stunning score. Eccentric and impressionistic in places, but still an extraordinary piece of cinema what ever you think of its place within the western genre.