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David McK (3716 KP) rated Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) in Movies

Jan 3, 2022 (Updated Dec 24, 2023)  
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure
There's a famous (and controversial) Marvel comic run called 'One Last Day', where - following his self-unmasking during the previous 'Civil War' run - Peter Parker ends up making a deal with Mephisto (Marvel's version of the devil) that everybody would forget his true identity, following Aunt May being shot by an assassin.

Sound at all familiar?

Yes, it's used as the building blocks for this movie, where Peter's identity ahs been revealed to the world by Mysterio during the end-credits of the previous movie ('Far from Home'), with a knock-on effect on friends and family.

Instead of Mephisto, however, Peter seeks help from Doctor Strange, who agrees (for reasons) to cast a spell in order that everyone would forget who Peter was - a spell that goes awry, and that leads to characters from the previous non-MCU iterations of the Spider-Man films finally joining the MCU. Some of those characters are more effectively scary here than they were previously ...

This is maybe a little bit slow getting started, with plenty of nods and Easter Eggs throughout (including FEAST, where Aunt May works) to both the comics, games, and previous Spider-Man movies, and ends with, effectively, the character of Spider-Man being reset: no longer part of The Avengers; no longer with MJ, Aunt May, Ned or even 'Happy' Hogan knowing his identity, back to being your 'friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man'.
  
The Faceless Man (2019)
The Faceless Man (2019)
2019 |
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: The Faceless Man starts when Emily (Thurling) a recovering cancer survivor who has starting to put her life back together is spending a weekend away with friends, Nina (Kauffeld), Kyle (Pittaway), Brad (Facciolo), Dave (Astifo) and Chad (Walia) are having a weekend away for parties.

It isn’t long before the group of friends have upset the local rednecks who decide to terrorize them, a ruthless drug dealer Viktor Nov (Goikhman) searching for them, while Emily is dealing with her own insecurities about her recover, which manifests itself in a faceless figure haunting her.

 

Thoughts on The Faceless Man

 

Characters – Emily is a cancer survivor, she made it with friends, not family and has just started to put her life back together, despite having the fear that one day it would return, which appears to her in living nightmares including a faceless man figure, out of the group of friends this is the only character that gets much outside the generics traits we learn, we have the friend that wants more of a relationship, the one that will push the limits of drugging people, a few jokers and the best friend who can’t handle their substances. Eddie is the owner of the rented house, he comes off creepy to the city slickers as he puts it, he doesn’t want trouble in his property and will deal with anybody that causes it. Viktor Nov is the ruthless drug dealer that has been hunting for his drugs which have a connection to the group of friends, he uses his muscle to kill anybody that disrespects him.

Performances – Sophie Thurling in the leading role is one of the highlights in the film, seeing Sophie balance the mindset of her character through the film will keep us wondering just what will happen next, Albert Goikhman as the ruthless drug dealer is fun to watch, we always know something violent is going to happen when he is on the screen. Andy McPhee does bring the awkward local to life well too.

Story – The story follows a group of friends that want to go on a drink & drug filled party weekend, only to end up in a town that isn’t happy with this lifestyle and that want to send a message to them, while we also see one character haunted by a terrifying looking faceless man. This story does have plenty going on, which works in and against it because you could easily drop one of the side stories and still have an enjoyable horror movie, but mixing them together does add to the mystery of what will happen next, because it does feel like nobody is safe from what is going on. We could have had more development on the group of friends, as it they end up coming off like your usual slasher cast. With the different arcs we do get plenty of violence which is what the film wants to pay respect to the Ozploitation era of cinema, which will help understand the tone of the film.

Horror – The most impressive part of the horror in this film comes from the Faceless Man himself, it comes early in creepy moments, but the reveal of the creature is one of the most terrifying figures in horror this year.

Settings – The film is set in a small town location, with most of the action happening in the one house picked for the party, it shows how things can get out of hand and how uninvited guests can cause more problems in life.

Special Effects – The effects to create the Faceless Man are brilliant, he will scare you, where this film also shines is by letting us imagine the damage being down, with the chainsaw scene being played out longer than needed, which only adds to the horror being inflicted.


Scene of the Movie – The Faceless Man, first full reveal.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The group of friends are not that interesting.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror film built of paying respect to the Ozploitation era of cinema, it brings us plenty of blood and keeps us guessing along the way.

 

Overall: Ozploitation has returned.
  
BH
Bring Her Home
David Bell | 2017
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bring Her Home is...fine. It's a perfectly serviceable summer read that moves briskly. The plot is interesting and I did want to know how everything turned out. There are plenty of twists, some more easily guessed than others, although the last(-ish) one starting around page 355 and continuing until near the end was a bit much. While I don't expect the story to be realistic, it still stretched my plausibility meter for the book. <spoiler>I just find that two major events concurred one the same day at basically the same time is extremely unlikely.</spoiler> I would have liked a tighter, less convoluted answer to everything, plus another character's viewpoint besides Bill, Summer's dad, maybe Paige or Detective Hawkins. The book is told through Bill the whole time, all 425 or so pages, and it could be tiring as he has next to no impulse-control. I understand some of what he did, but at the same time, I found him irritating and felt like the police should just lock him up until they solved the case. Also, characters who should be keeping facts confidential (a guidance counselor and a pastor), just spout off for what they think is the greater good or something. I'd be pissed if something I had said or done in confidence was told without my say-so, I don't care what the case should be, I'd never trust those people again. There are a few other things that raised my eyebrows and made me think "as-if!," but nothing I can divulge without spoiling so I'll keep my trap shut. Anyway, overall, the book is entertaining and diverting, just don't expect it to blow your mind.

Received through Goodreads Firstreads giveaway.
  
Horrible Bosses (2011)
Horrible Bosses (2011)
2011 | Comedy
8
7.4 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Easily my favourite comedy of 2011
Contains spoilers, click to show
Easily my favourite comedy of 2011, with Crazy, Stupid, Love. coming a close second. The film is about three guys whose jobs are made hell by their bosses. They decide to kill them in a "Strangers on a train" style, where one kills another's boss so it can't be traced back to the employee. I wasn't sure what to expect from the cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Jason Bateman, Colin Farrell, Donald Sutherland, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Aniston. Each fine actors but how would they fair in this film? Amazingly is how. Colin Farrell is almost unrecognizable as one of the bosses and Kevin Spacey is great as usual. However the stand out performance of the film is Jennifer Aniston. She plays a dentist, the boss of Dale (Charlie Day) and she is sexually harassing him. She really takes the role and plays it to perfection. Dale is her shy assistant who is engaged to Stacy (Lindsay Sloane). He is faithful to her and resists all advances from his over sexed boss. It is not a role we are used to seeing her play but it is a perfect performance. Another great performance was Jamie Foxx the murder consultant they hire. Horrible Bosses is a great comedy, almost a perfect comedy. The only flaw for me was it was all tied up a little too neatly. I saw the ending coming before it happened and it would have been nice to have an ending a little more surprising. Having said that I can't imagine how it could have been ended differently. The film doesn't have to resort to crude gags and just lets the script and performances of the cast tell the story. This works so well and full credit to the writers for a great comedy.