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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Prestige (2006) in Movies
Mar 22, 2018
Dubbed "The Warring Magicians" film, THE PRESTIGE stars Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as two 19th Century Magicians who are...well...at war with each other. Of course, they started out as partners, but soon became enemies, each trying to out do each other and to discover the other magician's secrets.
Cleverly written by Nolan and his frequent collaborator, his brother Jonathan Nolan - and based on the novel by Christopher Priest, THE PRESTIGE will keep you guessing throughout, trying to figure out "how they did it" and are constantly being surprised by double turns, back stabbing and second guessing.
Bale, by this time in his career, has established himself as a powerful actor - and he shines here. Joining Bale is Nolan regular Michael Caine as the mentor of the two magicians, a young-ish Scarlett Johannsen as a a woman who falls in love with both of them (of course) and Rebecca Hall and Piper Perabo as Bale's and Jackman's wives, respectively. But...the surprise to me in this film when I first saw it - and again when I recently re-viewed it - is the performance of Hugh Jackman. This film shows that Jackman is more than just Wolverine - that dude can act. As a magician, he is showing glimpses of being "THE GREATEST SHOWMAN" (but that is another movie for another day) and more than holds his own against a fierce Bale. Finally...special notice needs to be made to the actor who portrays inventor Nikola Tesla - perfectly cast in this role is Ziggy Stardust himself, David Bowie. It's a shame that Bowie did not act in more films for he captures the screen in the brief appearances he makes in this film.
As for Nolan - he is now coming into his own as a Director. The action is fast paced, the twists and turns are "honestly" played, the composition of the pictures on the screen are interesting and beautiful to look at and I walked away satisfied.
If you haven't seen THE PRESTIGE (or if you haven't seen it in awhile) - check this one out. You'll be glad you did.
Letter Grade: A (and...that's a surprise to me, I figured it would be a B+/A- film)
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)
Clarity: Clear Mind, Better Performance, Bigger Results
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Sun Salutation Yoga Positions for Surya Namaskar
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Visitors in Books
Jan 10, 2018
I was really excited when this book showed up as "read now" on Netgalley, as I'd heard so much about it. It was a really quick read--yet a slow burner, if that makes any sense. The description touts about Marion going into the cellar after John's heart attack, but that doesn't happen until over 75% way in... I kept waiting, waiting, and waiting for that major plot to occur. It seemed like a lot of build up for that event and then a rush of events after. I guess I had expected more creepiness and not as much messed up characters - this novel is far more of a character study than I had expected.
That's not to say it's not good, because it is; it's just not what I was expecting, and it's definitely a slow read that focuses far more on its character development than action. The novel is basically told entirely from Marion's point of view (with just a few snippets of emails from John's visitors). As such, we get an in-depth look at how Marion's childhood formed the person she is--and how it influenced John, as well. We learn about their terrible and neglectful parents. We see how John vacillates between kindness and torture toward his sister. We see how Marion is stuck in some sort of childlike, helpless state thanks to all of this. But, you also can't help but wonder, how truthful is Marion being with us?
All of this information about Marion and John's life and information about the neighbors was great and definitely gave us excellent insight into their character and actions. I still couldn't help but want to know more about the visitors actually living in the basement of this horrible, creepy house and I kept hoping and waiting for more to actually happen. There's a few great "aha" moments, but still.
Overall, as a creepy character study into a very disturbed brother and sister, this book exceeds admirably. I would have hoped for a slightly quicker pace, but oh well. I'd be curious to see what comes next from Catherine Burns. 3.5 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review.