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Our Evenings
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Alan Hollinghurst, the Booker Prize-winning author of The Line of Beauty, brings us a dark, luminous...
Into the Gray Scale
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Dead men can’t catch killers. But maybe with the right help, they can bend the rules from the...
Dark Fantasy Mystery Suspense Paranormal Urban Fantasy
My Good Bright Wolf
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A memoir about thinking and reading, eating and denying your body food, about the relationships that...
Memoir Trigger warning: eating disorders
Magelight
8.0
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Fleeing her sheltered life, a noblewoman must trust a warrior, a forester, and a thief to unlock her...
Action & Adventure Fantasy Romance
Seeing Death (The Augur #1)
10.0
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Some futures were never meant to be seen. At eighteen, Bryn Ashton is preparing for a new chapter...
Contemporary MM Romance Paranormal Urban Fantasy Mystery
Ultimate Lion Simulator
Games and Education
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Jump into a brand new adventure as a ferocious Lion! Brave a dangerous new world to claim your place...
Ultimate Horse Simulator
Games and Education
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Gallop into a brand new adventure as a beautiful wild Horse! Live wild and free in a gorgeous new...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Fifty Shades Freed (2018) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
The third and final entry in the “Fifty Shades” series has arrived with the release of “fifty Shades Freed”. The story opens with the wedding of Anastasia (Dakota Johnson), and Christian (Jamie Dornan), and follows their honeymoon in the lavish locales of France.
There getaway is cut short by an act of sabotage at Christian’s company and it soon becomes clear that a person from their past has taken things to a dangerous level which requires Christian to implement security measures for Anastasia and their extended family.
In between the intrigue presented by the threat, we also have numerous scenes of nudity and eroticism as Christian is not going to give up his dominating needs anytime soon.
Combine this with a new revelation that threatens to disrupt the crafted and controlled world he has created for himself and Anastasia; the tensions rise between them making a dangerous and stress-filled situation even more complicated.
While the film does have a better plot and is more engaging than the previous films in the series it is hampered by many of the same issues that hindered the series. The two leads have zero chemistry with one another and their supposedly highly erotic scenes are so routine and by the numbers they lack any form of excitement or real titillation. The film also has this message that behavior that would be considered highly unacceptable in others seems to get a pass for Christian as he is a handsome billionaire. He is a very selfish and controlling individual who demands obedience. While Anastasia does have a strong enough character to stand up to him, she tolerates behavior that would be considered unacceptable by many and seems very quick to give him a pass when lavish gifts and trips are bestowed upon her. I wonder how romantic and acceptable his behavior would be if he was a struggling musician who did not have the financial resources to create fantasies and buy his apologies. I know the film is supposed to be romantic fantasy but this really annoys me as he exhibits much of the behavior that is considered unacceptable and to be avoided at all costs, yet it is all wrapped up in a sweet bow of forgiveness.
That aside the series does seem to be losing steam as the last film earned less than the original film and “Fifty Shades Freed” is tracking to open well below the last film as well. Fans of the series will likely enjoy it as a satisfying finale, but I really expected more from the final moments of the series as after following the characters, the ending seemed very anti-climactic.
http://sknr.net/2018/02/08/fifty-shades-freed/
There getaway is cut short by an act of sabotage at Christian’s company and it soon becomes clear that a person from their past has taken things to a dangerous level which requires Christian to implement security measures for Anastasia and their extended family.
In between the intrigue presented by the threat, we also have numerous scenes of nudity and eroticism as Christian is not going to give up his dominating needs anytime soon.
Combine this with a new revelation that threatens to disrupt the crafted and controlled world he has created for himself and Anastasia; the tensions rise between them making a dangerous and stress-filled situation even more complicated.
While the film does have a better plot and is more engaging than the previous films in the series it is hampered by many of the same issues that hindered the series. The two leads have zero chemistry with one another and their supposedly highly erotic scenes are so routine and by the numbers they lack any form of excitement or real titillation. The film also has this message that behavior that would be considered highly unacceptable in others seems to get a pass for Christian as he is a handsome billionaire. He is a very selfish and controlling individual who demands obedience. While Anastasia does have a strong enough character to stand up to him, she tolerates behavior that would be considered unacceptable by many and seems very quick to give him a pass when lavish gifts and trips are bestowed upon her. I wonder how romantic and acceptable his behavior would be if he was a struggling musician who did not have the financial resources to create fantasies and buy his apologies. I know the film is supposed to be romantic fantasy but this really annoys me as he exhibits much of the behavior that is considered unacceptable and to be avoided at all costs, yet it is all wrapped up in a sweet bow of forgiveness.
That aside the series does seem to be losing steam as the last film earned less than the original film and “Fifty Shades Freed” is tracking to open well below the last film as well. Fans of the series will likely enjoy it as a satisfying finale, but I really expected more from the final moments of the series as after following the characters, the ending seemed very anti-climactic.
http://sknr.net/2018/02/08/fifty-shades-freed/
Darren (1599 KP) rated Dark Crimes (2018) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Story: Dark Crimes starts when Tadek (Carrey) still investigating the murder of a police officer, gets a new lead when Kozlov (Csokas) writes a new book which has an eerily similarity to the murder, leading him to take a dangerous road investigating the murder, which includes challenge the former girlfriend Kasia (Gainsbourg).
The investigation has plenty of ties to the secret sex club known as the cage, where the men get to do whatever they want to the women, Tadek must put his professional and person life on the line to get to the bottom of this investigations.
Thoughts on Dark Crimes
Characters – Tadek is a police officer, he is preparing for retirement (I think) only he wants to solve one final case, which involves the murder of a fellow officer, he goes down dangerous paths which put his career on the line, his marriage on the line, hoping to find the answers. Kozlov is an author that has written a book that sounds too similar to the unsolved case, he becomes the target of the investigation because of his history with the known sex club. Kasia is a former worker in the club, she does have a connection to Kozlov and the victim.
Performances – Jim Carrey is an actor that I like seeing him doing serious roles, sadly, this is one of his worst performances in a long time, he can keep the accent up jumping around all over the place. Marton Csokas usually does well in film, but because the character isn’t very interesting, he struggles to keep our attention. Charlotte Gainsbourg disappoints too, she does everything we expect her to without making the impact.
Story – The story follows a detective that is investigating the murder of a fellow officer that could have found the confession inside a novel, which leads him to target the author in search for the truth. The problem here is we get slow moving conversations which don’t go anywhere, we don’t get into the evidence of the case, it just seems to be watching one man starting to go too far in his search. The case doesn’t seem long enough to make feature film story either.
Crime – The crime side of the film follows the investigation into the murder of a police officer which might be opened up again, it never feels urgent either.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the club could be easily accessed without needing to be too far away.
Scene of the Movie – Nothing.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The dragging story.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the worst crime stories because it just never feels like the case is that important.
Overall: Just a drag.
The investigation has plenty of ties to the secret sex club known as the cage, where the men get to do whatever they want to the women, Tadek must put his professional and person life on the line to get to the bottom of this investigations.
Thoughts on Dark Crimes
Characters – Tadek is a police officer, he is preparing for retirement (I think) only he wants to solve one final case, which involves the murder of a fellow officer, he goes down dangerous paths which put his career on the line, his marriage on the line, hoping to find the answers. Kozlov is an author that has written a book that sounds too similar to the unsolved case, he becomes the target of the investigation because of his history with the known sex club. Kasia is a former worker in the club, she does have a connection to Kozlov and the victim.
Performances – Jim Carrey is an actor that I like seeing him doing serious roles, sadly, this is one of his worst performances in a long time, he can keep the accent up jumping around all over the place. Marton Csokas usually does well in film, but because the character isn’t very interesting, he struggles to keep our attention. Charlotte Gainsbourg disappoints too, she does everything we expect her to without making the impact.
Story – The story follows a detective that is investigating the murder of a fellow officer that could have found the confession inside a novel, which leads him to target the author in search for the truth. The problem here is we get slow moving conversations which don’t go anywhere, we don’t get into the evidence of the case, it just seems to be watching one man starting to go too far in his search. The case doesn’t seem long enough to make feature film story either.
Crime – The crime side of the film follows the investigation into the murder of a police officer which might be opened up again, it never feels urgent either.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the club could be easily accessed without needing to be too far away.
Scene of the Movie – Nothing.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The dragging story.
Final Thoughts – This is one of the worst crime stories because it just never feels like the case is that important.
Overall: Just a drag.
Good dark fantasy in an interesting setting
Faithless takes place in a world where blacksmithing is a big deal. Those who master the arts of smithing are priests in the religion of the Forgefather. The lowest class of people are those spending their lives down mines, struggling to find anything more valuable than coal in order to meet their tally and avoid a whipping. This is the essence of the world we are in, with an established class system and clear economy, based on metal ores.
There is a hint of magic here, with chanting at the forge, but until the final few chapters it is unclear whether this is magic or simply a way to mark time and ensure the metal is at the right temperature and worked at the right pace. Not overly labouring the magic here was an excellent choice by the author, as it keeps the attention on the mundane aspects of life, which is excellently told.
The story follows two main characters, firstly Wynn, a young lad sold (or mis-sold in his mind) by his father, a struggling farmer, into the mines for a life of back-breaking work down cramped, dangerous caves, endlessly trying to find enough ore to avoid a beating. His only chance of escaping the mines is to pass the tests and have a chance of ascending to the temple and possibly priesthood. Some way through the book we then meet Kharios, a young adult who appears to have somewhat failed in his first attempts at entering the priesthood (smithing) and is trying to get back to the forge.
The characters' stories are very similar, with hard, thankless, dangerous labour and periods of learning. For some time I struggled to tell the difference between them, thinking they seemed like very similar characters, but I have since re-thought that for reasons.
I found the pacing a little off. There were times I felt like I was reading a biography of a miner, rather than a fantasy novel, as long chapters are essentially that. And then these develop into long chapters learning smithing, was again a bit of a slog. And then all of a sudden we have periods of conflict down the mines, accidents, cave-ins, and the eventual calamity that leads to the second half of the book. The changes in pace were sudden and exciting, but the change was a little extreme at times.
I loved the way the two stories seemed at times independent yet similar, but eventually start to overlap. Though again, we have a change in pace where exciting, cataclysmic events are put aside for another chapter of walloping hot iron.
These pacing issues aside, this was an interesting and well written book with an unusual setting and a good message on belief systems.
There is a hint of magic here, with chanting at the forge, but until the final few chapters it is unclear whether this is magic or simply a way to mark time and ensure the metal is at the right temperature and worked at the right pace. Not overly labouring the magic here was an excellent choice by the author, as it keeps the attention on the mundane aspects of life, which is excellently told.
The story follows two main characters, firstly Wynn, a young lad sold (or mis-sold in his mind) by his father, a struggling farmer, into the mines for a life of back-breaking work down cramped, dangerous caves, endlessly trying to find enough ore to avoid a beating. His only chance of escaping the mines is to pass the tests and have a chance of ascending to the temple and possibly priesthood. Some way through the book we then meet Kharios, a young adult who appears to have somewhat failed in his first attempts at entering the priesthood (smithing) and is trying to get back to the forge.
The characters' stories are very similar, with hard, thankless, dangerous labour and periods of learning. For some time I struggled to tell the difference between them, thinking they seemed like very similar characters, but I have since re-thought that for reasons.
I found the pacing a little off. There were times I felt like I was reading a biography of a miner, rather than a fantasy novel, as long chapters are essentially that. And then these develop into long chapters learning smithing, was again a bit of a slog. And then all of a sudden we have periods of conflict down the mines, accidents, cave-ins, and the eventual calamity that leads to the second half of the book. The changes in pace were sudden and exciting, but the change was a little extreme at times.
I loved the way the two stories seemed at times independent yet similar, but eventually start to overlap. Though again, we have a change in pace where exciting, cataclysmic events are put aside for another chapter of walloping hot iron.
These pacing issues aside, this was an interesting and well written book with an unusual setting and a good message on belief systems.