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Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated A House at the Bottom of a Lake in Books

Jan 31, 2019

I’m a big Josh Malerman fan, with the exception of Unbury Carol which, if you read my DNF on it, was absolutely horrid. That said, when I came across A House at the Bottom of a Lake on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, I was a bit leery. Despite being a Malerman fan, I hadn’t heard of this title and… well, it was on KU. That alone struck me as a red flag. Nonetheless, I grabbed it and spent the night reading it. It wasn’t awful, but it’s definitely not Bird Box level great.

A House at the Bottom of a Lake is a coming of age story, one of those ones where the reader experiences the final moments of the main characters’ innocence. The house itself symbolizes the imaginative youthfulness and innocence of the more childlike mind, while the canoe represents the path to adulthood and the obstacles that must be overcome. Just like life experiences change us, the events leading up to the conclusion of the story change the canoe in ways that cannot be undone: paint chipping, dents, scratches, etc. I’d provide another example to support this theory, but that would, unfortunately, mean giving away a major spoiler to the story–so I won’t.

As far as the characters go, I found Amelia and James to be your stereotypical awkward teenagers. There is a bit of a disconnect between their age and their assumed behavior, leaning to the idea that these two kids are well-behaved and normally aren’t risk takers. Because of this, there are several moments where the story is dull.

There’s no doubt that this is a piece of work by Josh Malerman; it has his style all over it. That is, it’s meant to be suspenseful. However, the manner in which Malerman writes A House on the Bottom of a Lake struck me as a bit more jarring than edge-of-your-seat, ohmigawd what is happening!? This is probably because Malerman is a little too friendly with the parentheses in this book.

A House on the Bottom of a Lake is a great one-time read. It’s enjoyable and it has its moments, and the bond shared between Amelia and James feels realistic. It’s definitely something I’d recommend to a Malerman fan, though it isn’t worthy of a pedestal of its own.

Kudos

Boy About Town

Tony Fletcher

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

'I was no longer fitting in at school. I was unsure of my friends, and they were increasingly unsure...

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) in Movies

Jul 4, 2021

That final trap is as heart-stopping and clever a piece of political commentary that's been put into any horror film this decade thus far - but the rest (I'm immeasurably disappointed to report) is a bland, run-of-the-mill police procedural which only occasionally resembles a 𝘚𝘢𝘸 movie. Don't know whose idea it was to have less gore and crappier traps but fire them immediately. I think outside of that grievous oversight the other major problem is that this tries to be both a Saw movie as well as a modern movie - way less of the 2000s scary crackhead camerawork + editing, much fewer unnerving layers of overexposed shots, and now a clean frame replaces what was once a grimy sheen of iconic dilapidation. If you want this franchise to stay ahead of the pack in a day in age where even the cheapest indie flicks can have solid gore, you can't be this polished. No cutting away from the action right as it happens, and don't be afraid to cling onto what worked during its inception just because the passage of time may have left those trends behind - with this kind of cleanliness it's too easy to see the inherent seams of these things. Also you'd have to be an idiot not to see this 'twist' coming from a mile away. But Chris Rock is awesome in the last 20 minutes when he's snapping at everybody. Without a shadow of a doubt the worst film in the series.

Kudos

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) in Movies

Mar 30, 2020

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

2016 | Action, Comedy

9.0

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Wonderfully quirky drama

I'd heard so many good things about this film, and I was so happy to see it finally pop up to watch on Amazon Prime. And I'm glad to say it was everything I hoped it would be.

Taika Waititi is probably one of my favourite current directors. Not my all time favourite, that accolade belongs to Christopher Nolan, but he's not far behind and until I turned this on, I'd completely forgotten this was even one of his films. But as soon as the film starts, it's so obviously Waititi and that's before the man himself turns up in a rather wacky and wonderful cameo.

This is a rather wonderful coming of age type drama. It's completely bonkers yet full of heart and a decent amount of laughs. Yet still doesnt shy away from the more serious topics that underpin the entire story. It's quirky yet so much fun, and also full of a decent amount of pop culture references that cant help make you laugh out loud. Sam Neill is great as grouchy uncle Hector, and Julian Dennison is a riot as Ricky. The cinematography too is marvellous, this is a beautifully made and stunning looking film and altogether just a delight to watch.

The story might get a little ridiculous at times, but this is easy to ignore when the rest of it is so fun and heart warming.