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Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) in Books
Mar 15, 2018
I started reading this as a result of the ads for the upcoming adaptation on Fox, which made it look somewhat cheesy, but intriguingly weird. I was right about the central plot being weird, but luckily, the book is not really cheesy. While on a mission to locate 2 missing Secret Service agents, Ethan Burke finds himself stranded in the mysterious town of Wayward Pines after a car accident which killed his partner. His identification, money and phone are all missing and while the town seems outwardly idyllic, there is something pretty clearly off about it. As Ethan tries to figure out what is happening to him, things get progressively stranger, until he finds himself in a fight for his life. Things get surprisingly creepy and the ending provides a pretty big, and wholly unexpected, explanation for what is going on. While the author claims inspiration from TV show "Twin Peaks", and there is evidence as such, I found it read like one of Stephen King's more sprawling works, but condensed down to its core focus and with a more satisfying conclusion than he often comes up with. I still think the show looks likely to be sort of cheesy, but the book is anything but, and I highly recommend it to fans of suspense, horror or sci-fi.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Bone Tomahawk (2015) in Movies
Feb 25, 2018
The Citizen Kane of horror westerns
First of all, any time a movie combines two of my favorite things, in this case, a western and Kurt Russell, you have a recipe for success.
Certainly not for the squeamish or faint of heart, the horribly awesome brutality in this film rivals any I have seen in my life and that's saying a lot.
The plot is your basic four men set out to find and rescue several townspeople who have been kidnapped by horrible cave-dwelling "Indians" who no one seems to know anything about. Along the way, they have to face the elements of the weather, their own injuries and the eminent threat of encountering the ferocious beats that they are always on edge.
Patrick Wilson, Richard Jenkins and Matthew Fox are all also wonderful as the men who set off with Russell on their rescue quest.
For what the movie sets out to do, it succeeds wholeheartedly. Thoroughly engaging throughout, I was glued to my seat the entire time and the 135 minute runtime goes by in a flash.
In reading about it afterwards, it is unbelievable to me the movie was shot in only 21 days and for only $1.8 million.
Who says creativity is dead in Hollywood? Just takes great writing. I'd watch this before Iron Man 12 anytime.
Certainly not for the squeamish or faint of heart, the horribly awesome brutality in this film rivals any I have seen in my life and that's saying a lot.
The plot is your basic four men set out to find and rescue several townspeople who have been kidnapped by horrible cave-dwelling "Indians" who no one seems to know anything about. Along the way, they have to face the elements of the weather, their own injuries and the eminent threat of encountering the ferocious beats that they are always on edge.
Patrick Wilson, Richard Jenkins and Matthew Fox are all also wonderful as the men who set off with Russell on their rescue quest.
For what the movie sets out to do, it succeeds wholeheartedly. Thoroughly engaging throughout, I was glued to my seat the entire time and the 135 minute runtime goes by in a flash.
In reading about it afterwards, it is unbelievable to me the movie was shot in only 21 days and for only $1.8 million.
Who says creativity is dead in Hollywood? Just takes great writing. I'd watch this before Iron Man 12 anytime.
David McK (3425 KP) rated The Ultimates, Volume 1: Super-Human in Books
Jan 28, 2019
I only picked this up recently out of curiosity when Marvel started doing a hard-backed comic-book collection, to see what it would be like.
Now I've read it, I have to say: I wasn't really that impressed by this. Written pre Joss-Whedon's Avengers movie (and even pre the Marvel Cinematic Universe), I found pretty much all of the characters within to be unlikeable and uninteresting: while you can get away with the former, the latter, however, is a major flaw (IMO) in any story.
I don't know whether that's because I associate the characters more with their big-screen counter-parts than with how they are presented here (both of which, incidentally, are designed to show how the team comes together), with Hank Pym, in particular, coming across as a bit of a jerk while Betty Ross (Bruce Banner's girlfriend) also comes across as, well, just not that pleasant at all.
On the plus side, I did like the (somewhat meta) panels where they were all discussing who would play themselves in the Hollywood adaptation ...
I also noticed that, unlike their movie counterparts, they are able to use the term 'mutants': a term which, I believe, Marvel are unable to use on the big (or small) screen as it is licensed to Fox instead .
Now I've read it, I have to say: I wasn't really that impressed by this. Written pre Joss-Whedon's Avengers movie (and even pre the Marvel Cinematic Universe), I found pretty much all of the characters within to be unlikeable and uninteresting: while you can get away with the former, the latter, however, is a major flaw (IMO) in any story.
I don't know whether that's because I associate the characters more with their big-screen counter-parts than with how they are presented here (both of which, incidentally, are designed to show how the team comes together), with Hank Pym, in particular, coming across as a bit of a jerk while Betty Ross (Bruce Banner's girlfriend) also comes across as, well, just not that pleasant at all.
On the plus side, I did like the (somewhat meta) panels where they were all discussing who would play themselves in the Hollywood adaptation ...
I also noticed that, unlike their movie counterparts, they are able to use the term 'mutants': a term which, I believe, Marvel are unable to use on the big (or small) screen as it is licensed to Fox instead .
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Depraved (2019) in Movies
Dec 29, 2019
Good but Needed a More Inventive Story
In this intriguing retelling of Frankenstein’s monster, a man finds himself the victim of a kidnapping and gruesome science experiment.
Acting: 10
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Conflict: 8
Entertainment Value: 4
Memorability: 1
Pace: 10
One of the things Depraved does extremely well is keep you engaged. We move from one scene to the next at a pretty quick clip. Even during scenes with heavier dialogue, there are no lingering moments which I appreciate. Thoroughly enjoyed the speed as the movie didn’t feel like two hours in the slightest.
Plot: 5
The sum of the story’s parts doesn’t really pass the smell test. Fast is good, yes, but there are some speed bumps that are hard to overlook. It felt like it was trying so hard to mirror Frankenstein at times that it never fully tried to do its own thing.
Resolution: 5
Overall: 73
I try to support indie movies as often as I can. And not just Fox Searchlight type of movies but those up and coming from lesser known studios. Films like Depraved can find themselves outgunned and overmatched but I appreciate what directors like Larry Fessenden are able to do with less. I hope to see more of his work in the future.
Acting: 10
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Conflict: 8
Entertainment Value: 4
Memorability: 1
Pace: 10
One of the things Depraved does extremely well is keep you engaged. We move from one scene to the next at a pretty quick clip. Even during scenes with heavier dialogue, there are no lingering moments which I appreciate. Thoroughly enjoyed the speed as the movie didn’t feel like two hours in the slightest.
Plot: 5
The sum of the story’s parts doesn’t really pass the smell test. Fast is good, yes, but there are some speed bumps that are hard to overlook. It felt like it was trying so hard to mirror Frankenstein at times that it never fully tried to do its own thing.
Resolution: 5
Overall: 73
I try to support indie movies as often as I can. And not just Fox Searchlight type of movies but those up and coming from lesser known studios. Films like Depraved can find themselves outgunned and overmatched but I appreciate what directors like Larry Fessenden are able to do with less. I hope to see more of his work in the future.
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