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Awix (3310 KP) rated Project Power (2020) in Movies

Sep 9, 2020

Project Power (2020)

2020 | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

6.8

(22 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Another glossy but slightly underwhelming Netflix genre movie. A new drug granting temporary superpowers is being sold on the streets of New Orleans, and a maverick cop, a ex-military drifter and a teenage girl team up to put a stop to it.

Maybe some of these Netflix movies would be more impressive on a big screen where all the special effects and sound design would get an appropriate delivery and have the faculty-numbing effect this sort of film is depending on. Or maybe not, I don't know. As it is this has an interesting premise, charismatic leads and seems to genuinely want to do some social commentary about US society, the nature of power, etc etc. But that would require a level of downbeat grittiness wholly at odds with the extravaganza of lavish CGI and show-offy direction this film also wants to be, and it's the latter elements that win out. As a result it is watchable and engaging on a superficial level but you sort of lament the loss of the more interesting and restrained film this could have been instead. Hey ho.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Kingpin (1996) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

Kingpin (1996)

1996 | Comedy

7.3

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Familiar Farrelly fare to a fault (I swear to God that repetition was unintentional) - it's got every single hallmark of their films all rolled into one: extremely juvenile peepee/caca/sex jokes, USA heartland road trip, lovable doofus + straight man lead pairing plus the underdeveloped woman who puts them at odds with each other, runtime that's about 15 or so minutes too heavy, unpointed misogyny, and heaping helpings of sentimentality. For better or worse, this is the quintessential Farrelly film. On the whole though, it's okay. Comedy is hit or miss here but this can be damn funny, specifically Bill Murray - who easily runs away with this entire film (the film's biggest flaw? that there isn't more of him). Randy Quaid is a riot too, though this is oddly a better sports movie than it is an outright comedy. All these (still fair) gross-out comedy trappings are infused into your model sports film formula but it's oddly really engaging as that, and the comedy is just a bonus. I like how this movie portrays skill, and it's also one of the Farrellys' best looking ones, too. All of this is still rather simple but it's fun.

Kudos

Gods, Ghosts and Black Dogs: The Fascinating Folklore and Mythology of Dogs

Stanley Coren

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Here is a rich collection of folklore, mythology, and tall tales concerning dogs. These provide a...

Fragger 2

Games and Entertainment

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

The long awaited sequel is finally here! Fragger is back and better than ever with all-new puzzles...

ClareR (6256 KP) rated Humankind in Books

Jun 9, 2020

Humankind

Rutger Bregman | 2020 | Essays, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences, Science & Mathematics

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Humankind sets out to prove that human beings are essentially nice people who want to help other people. Except over the centuries, philosophers, politicians and other influential people have told us the complete opposite - to the point that we believe it. I think Bregman is successful at this as well. Help does come in the most unexpected places, as we’ve seen recently in towns and cities across the UK during the coronavirus pandemic. Yes, there are those who take advantage of others, but I’d like to believe that they’re in the minority.

This is a really engaging, easy to read book, with some great examples. Bregman looks at studies and experiments that all types of scientists have done, and also looks at some real life examples.

This book left me feeling very positive about the state of humanity, and I hope that the good people in our societies will always outnumber the bad.

I really do highly recommend this if you’re prevaricating over whether to read it or not. It’s a great read.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and Rutger Bregman for reading along!