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School Blues

Quentin Blake, Daniel Pennac and Sarah Ardizzone

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Book

Daniel Pennac has never forgotten what it was like to be a very unsatisfactory student, nor the day...

Killer Chardonnay

Kate Lansing

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

A young winery owner won't let one sour grape ruin the bunch in the first installment of this...

E6B Aviation Calculator

Navigation and Weather

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Congratulations, you have found one of the finest E6B aviation flight calculators available for the...

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Wicker Man (1973) in Movies

Feb 18, 2018 (Updated Feb 18, 2018)

The Wicker Man (1973)

1973 | Horror, Mystery

7.5

(29 Ratings)

Movie Rating

British folk-horror film is part of the mini-boom in 'British civil servant travels by seaplane to sun-obsessed Christopher Lee's remote island in search of missing girl, discovers Britt Ekland waiting for him' movies that happened in 1973-4. Devout Christian copper (Woodward) visits Summerisle (off the Scottish coast) after receiving a tip-off about a vanishing schoolgirl, is appalled by what he sees as the immorality of the islanders. The lord of the place (Lee) assures him that there's nothing to be worried about, they just have different ethical standards (they're all Pagans), but Woodward is not convinced. Is something nasty lined up for May Day?

Books have been written about the tortuous distribution endured by The Wicker Man and its producers; rumours persist that the original much longer version is buried under a motorway somewhere in England. But all the available cuts are excellent, if not superb: the film is not particularly scary per se, more a queasy examination of how society, morality and religion intersect with one another; manages to make moral relativism seem more disturbing than devil-worship, somehow. Has one of the greatest non-endings in cinema history. Great performances, banging tunes, thoughtful and playful script; a film for all seasons, but goes especially well with a barbecue.

Kudos

Andy K (10823 KP) Feb 18, 2018

Love this one!

Kudos

Dictionary.

Reference and Education

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The only Dictionary and Thesaurus with every word you search for. Plus Word of the Day, free offline...

Taking it from the Top... One More Time

George Colabella

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Book

50s and 60s New York; a fine time and place for a musician to learn his craft. One such musician is...

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2524 KP) rated Lion Down (FunJungle #5) in Books

Mar 10, 2019

Framing a Lion

While FunJungle is located in a mostly uninhabited area of Texas, there are some larger estates and ranches that border the park’s property. Living in one of those is Lincoln Stone, a radio and TV news personality that is known for saying very controversial things. He has a dog he loves, and, unfortunately, that dog has been killed. Lincoln is quick to blame it on the mountain lion that roams in the area, but the agent of the Department of Fish and Wildlife put in charge of the case doesn’t think that’s true. Thanks to Teddy’s reputation for solving puzzles at FunJungle, the agent turns to Teddy for help. Teddy agrees that the evidence left behind doesn’t add up. Can he figure out what happened? Meanwhile, Teddy and Summer, his girlfriend, are asked to figure out why the giraffes in FunJungle get sick every Monday. Will this case distract them from saving the mountain lion?

It’s nice to see Teddy get involved in one mystery that takes place outside the parks in this one. The mysteries are strong and are balanced perfectly, with clues that ultimately lead Teddy to the solution. The climax pulls in all the elements of the book in an unexpected way that leads into a page turning race to save the day. While this series has balanced the environmental message and the mystery well, this one got close to lecturing us a couple of times instead of working it in more organically. I thought the characters created for this book were a little thin and more caricature than character. Both of these complaints are things that adults will notice more than the kids who are the target age range for the books, however. The series regulars are still strong, and I especially love Teddy, Summer, and their families. The usual suspects also bring us several very funny scenes.