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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020 (Updated Nov 29, 2020)

Every so often I think something along the lines of: "There's no way this literal-as-possible, mostly one-note, kind of cringe, and honestly really derivative Oscar bait should work". And that's true, I do have my reservations about this - mainly, the choice to make the titular character this, like Bagger Vance-esque sage wanderer who only speaks in 'wise narrator' tropes (starts every other sentence with "we", seemingly omniscient even though there's no reason for him to be, etc.) and emotes on only one or two levels restricts a lot of the emotional palpability here imo. But Fincher and Pitt sell the absolute *hell* out of it - this looks and sounds all kinds of incredible, and thankfully never goes overboard with the period elements (they're used just right, a rarity with these types of films). Pitt is flat-out exceptional, and so is Blanchett - and oddly enough the makeup effects look less convincing when Pitt's supposed to be a 50-something year old man as opposed to an elderly child lmao, but they still look superb. I can't even act like I'm being objective to a point anymore, the cry porn just inexplicably works hardcore for me here - had a lump in my throat practically the entire runtime (which, by the way, flows together each vignette flawlessly and doesn't sag for a second). For the (minor) gripes listed above I think it works best when you look at it as a classical epic fairy tail as opposed to the human drama it could have perhaps succeeded even more in; and if there's any nuance at all I would say it's the way this works as a treatise towards appreciating 'the good times' while you're actually still in them ("I wanna remember us just as we are now") and the way it shows how we slowly become more and more desensitized towards death, even as we come closer to our own. As full of magnetic imagery and waterworks moments as this is I honestly can't act like I didn't adore it, but I fully understand why so many people are averse to it.

Kudos

Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Die Hard (1988) in Movies

Jan 16, 2021 (Updated Jan 17, 2021)

Die Hard (1988)

1988 | Action

8.9

(78 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

The casting (3 more)

Plot

SFX

Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman in general

Most of the sequels (0 more)

Welcome to the party pal!

In 1988 Hollywood Gambled on a lesser known tv star for it's high budget action thriller.

Laughed at when hearing their choice of actor, it was the 80's and when you heard action movie you'd immediately think "Schwarzenegger or stallone, maybe even Kurt Russel" Hollywood wanted obe of the bigger stars and reached out to them, but they all turned it down so average Joe became their Vacationing NYPD hero, so they stuck with the man known as Bruce Willis!

Whilst Visiting his estranged wife at the (fictional) Nakatomi plaza (Fox plaza) the building and it's workforce are quickly taken hostage.

Enter John McClain (willis) a rough looking, smooth talking (the guy literally has a smooth/relaxed voice) witty, sarcastic NYPD cop who just can't seem to catch a break.

Armed with everything I wrote above, aswell as bare feet, air-vents, and a fire hose, McClain pursues the terrorists in an action packed attempt at proving his wife wrong and maybe saving a few people in the process.

Die Hard is a classic 80's action epic that spawned many terrible sequels (excluding 'with a vengeance') that we still paid to watch aswell as countless knockoffs.

Did you know?
. The team behind die hard was laughed at because of their lead choice (you should do I just told you)

. The movie was almost shut down because they used a real life helicopter around the building whilst local residents tried to sleep causing an outrage and filed complaints.

. miniature explosions were set of atop the building for affect.

. Alan Rickman was lied to about when he'd be dropped from the "building" the capture a natural look of fear (about a 30ft drop).

. It was Alan Rickmans first movie ( what a way to hit the ground and keep running)

. A replica model of the building was built to film the remaining explosions on the building.

. The original Vest (tank top) is on display in the Smithsonian.

.the movie was filmed during official construction of the fox plaza aka nakatomi plaza.

Kudos

Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated A Hero Born in Books

Sep 25, 2019

A Hero Born

Jin Yong | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

5.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Great plot but translation isn't so good

Despite what you read on the covers (e.g. “It’s like Lord of the Rings”) ignore all of that. It’s nothing like it. There is no epic adventure to fight evil (at least not yet - this is the first book in the series). So before you get all disappointed in what the outside quotes say, completely disregard them.

Translation will always be an issue with these kinds of books. It’s hard to keep it true and coherent. Sometimes you get a good one that is completely comprehensible and makes the reading a journey well worth it. Then you get one like A Hero Born and it’s not the greatest translation. The writing style is dry and hard to get into. Sometimes it gets too descriptive, but other times it’s not descriptive enough. It can be a little long winded at times and it drags - I’m not too sure if that’s because of the run on writing style or the plot itself. Either way by the last third of the book it was getting to be tiresome.

Speaking of the plot, it was good! There’s plenty of action, a bit of intrigue here and there. If you don’t mind something akin to Chinese historical fiction movies with classic martial arts fighting then perhaps this is for you. There are small elements of political intrigue which keeps the story interesting, however keep in mind there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but luckily there is a cast of characters in the beginning of the novel so that should not be a problem. This isn’t a book to put down and turn back to later, this needs to be consistently read you will easily lose your place.

There’s also several plot arcs that happen throughout the novel so it’s best to keep track of them carefully. They are all intertwined at some point. It’s a great plot and if it wasn’t for the horrible writing/translation.

I don’t know if I could recommend this one to anyone. I would under normal circumstances but the writing just do the plot justice. It’s too bad, it would have been such a great series.