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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Cold Granite (Logan McRae #1) in Books

Dec 5, 2019  
Cold Granite (Logan McRae #1)
Cold Granite (Logan McRae #1)
Stuart MacBride | 2005 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
9
8.2 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, what can I say? What a book this is ... there aren't enough superlatives to say how much I enjoyed it ... just brilliant and a must-read for any fans of crime novels. This is the first in the Logan McRae series but I have read subsequent stories before this one and can confirm that it made no difference to my enjoyment of this book.

Now, I must warn you that this book deals with the disturbing and upsetting subject of child murders with the additional sub-plot of the murder of a gangster and there are graphic descriptions of the crime scenes so if you are of a nervous disposition or easily offended, I would probably steer clear of this particular one.

The characters are strong, well developed, interesting and believable with authentic dialogue throughout and despite the dark subject matter, there are many moments of humour which made me chuckle on several occasions which helped to lighten things a little. The setting of Aberdeen in the winter is perfect and creates further atmosphere. The pace is non-stop with twists, turns and red-herrings throughout which certainly kept me on my toes and guessing until near the end.

Don't let this series pass you by ... highly recommended.

I have to thank HarperCollins UK via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Gentlemen (2020) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020  
The Gentlemen (2020)
The Gentlemen (2020)
2020 | Action, Crime
4
8.1 (34 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ. I want to love Guy Ritchie returning to his gangster roots so badly, but I'm pretty sure I've seen this exact Ritchie movie before... multiple times... done less and less well with almost each subsequent attempt. I mean at least ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜œ.๐˜•.๐˜Š.๐˜“.๐˜Œ. had style, at least ๐˜’๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ: ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ had energy, at least ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ had nuance, and at least ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข had personality. I don't know whether the dire restraint he shows here is an attempt at showing maturity or a lack of caring towards this story (which even at best feels like a first draft) but it plays out like the latter. A bare-bones Ritchie premise mired with flatness and unoriginality which decides it wants to be ๐˜“๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜บ ๐˜•๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜š๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ in all its convoluted bullshit at the last second. Intermittently has its moments when it finally decides to put some much needed pep in its step, and overall it's at least watchable - sometimes even tricking you into thinking it might be alright - but by Lord if this just had some fun it'd be ten times better even in spite of the been-there-done-that script. Forgets it ever existed quicker than you will, even the characters are dull. Also holy shit this is easily the worst dialogue of his career.
  
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Steven Sklansky (231 KP) rated Live By Night (2017) in Movies

Sep 10, 2017  
Live By Night (2017)
Live By Night (2017)
2017 | Drama
7
6.2 (11 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Cast (2 more)
Gun play
Costumes and Sets
Narration (0 more)
Gangsters, Guns and Money. What more is there?
To me Ben Affleck has always been a good actor. It doesn't matter if it is a good movie or a bad one, he seems to make his acting ability known. Live by Night was no different, he played gangster very well. It might be because he was also directing himself. Some movies you can tell that the movie is being directed by the actor in the movie, but in this one you could not see that line. The senses he was in you could tell they were done with the same quality as a director sitting in a chair.

Ben Affleck really does love Boston, because once again that where this whole thing begins. I didn't live in the 20's but the Boston accent must not have been established yet. It was quite refreshing not to hear it in a movie. I really didn't know Boston's backstory but I guess like everywhere on the East Coast there was a mob presence. They did a really good job showing the life of someone in the mob. It wasn't just the killing and booze. It really went deep with the love story of both women and what he had to go though to keep the love and them alive. Even though one of them turned out to be a backstabbing bitch.


When the story progressed to Tampa it was interesting to see something that I don't think has been portrayed in movies. Or I have never seen it. The mob in Florida. The interactions between the Irish and Italian mob in a world of Mexicans and Cubans was done very well. There was a lot going on and it never got boring. The only part of the story that got a little off was rivalry of the mob in Tampa and Miami. You never saw the fights between them until the end. I just thought it was over and done with after the Italians were run out of town. Or maybe I just missed it.


I won't tell you what happened to anyone at the end but the gun fight was amazing. So may parts put in and the chirography was done very well. I think the very end could have been done differently. To me it was very off putting and didn't understand why they choose to go that direction. Granted it was based off a book that I never read and maybe that's the way it had to be. But it could have been written better in the book too. Books seem to get the point across better anyway.


If you like gangster movies, see it. If you like Ben Affleck, see it. If you just want to watch a movie not to be bored, see it.