Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (1630)

Content

Awix (3310 KP) rated Cold Skin (2017) in Movies

Jun 18, 2020

Cold Skin (2017)

2017 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

7.0

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Polished European genre movie is one of those films that suggests you can be a bit too thoughtful. Young man arrives on a remote island, uninhabited but for a dissolute old curmudgeon of a lighthouse keeper; he will be here for a year and is not delighted to learn that every night the place is swarming with fish-men wanting to kill him. He and the other man form an alliance, complicated by the presence of a female creature (hey, we all get lonely, I guess).

Ultimately yet another raid on H.P. Lovecraft, even down to some of the dialogue, but the movie cops out when it comes to the bleakness and existential despair. Not quite as weird as The Lighthouse, with which it shares a number of similarities, but still fairly hard work: it's fine to be high-minded and serious, but the glacial pace and lack of emotional range in this film is a problem. Looks good, but then again so what: it's a truly exceptional film that doesn't, these days. In the end it's okay but I was looking at my watch a lot towards the end.

Kudos

Alex Wolff recommended Two Days, One Night (2014) in Movies (curated)

Two Days, One Night (2014)

2014 | Drama

(0 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"Two Days One Night, it’s perfectly directed. The way the Dardenne brothers frame her, making her kids’ bed before she goes and tries to overdose in the bathroom — it stays in that one shot. It’s this wide shot, handheld, which nobody does like the Dardenne brothers. I’ve tried to chase it; there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like watching a scene unfold and becoming something you did not expect in the beginning of the shot. It’s like one shot can tell an entire three-course meal. Also, that movie is one of the few movies that made me uncontrollably sob at the end, because of her power, the sweetness of it. I can’t believe the sweetness; it made me so raw and vulnerable. It’s not just that it’s tragic. It’s such a small story, but I connect with it. I connect with needing people and needing for them to hear from you. I feel like getting heard at the end of the movie, or not getting heard, depending on how you look at it, is so unbelievably moving. Marion Cotillard is the god of our generation. Not a goddess, she’s god!"

Source

Kudos

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Single, Carefree, Mellow in Books

Feb 13, 2018

This collection of short stories started off strongly, and I found myself drawn into the web Heiny creates for her characters. The majority of her stories feature women and after the first couple ended, I found myself disappointed that we wouldn't get to know more about the characters. (There is one group of characters that she re-visits throughout a couple of stories in the collection, which does help sate your curiosity a bit.)

Because I devoured this book so quickly - over less than two days - I was a bit fatigued by the end. Most of the stories feature adultery in some form or another, and frankly, that got a bit old in the end. That would really be my only issue with the story set. By the end, you're thinking "really? again!" and wondering if these women have anything else to do to occupy their time.

Otherwise, this collection of stories is vibrant and poignant and at times, made me laugh out loud. I found myself tagging pages where lines were just so hilarious, I wanted to jot them down for safe-keeping: it's rare when that happens. And again, even though the stories were brilliant little nuggets, so many of the characters were so intriguing, I found myself wishing I could read more about them. I just wish they had a little more to do than cheat on each other all the time.