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Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated Ad Astra (2019) in Movies

Sep 27, 2019  
Ad Astra (2019)
Ad Astra (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
7
6.8 (38 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
The cast (3 more)
The score
Realistic science
Beautiful VFX
Anticlimactic/possibly unreliable ending (3 more)
Awkward voiceover
Pacing? Some would disagree....
Action scenes are kind of shoehorned in
Beautiful and haunting
First off, you've got to see this in the theater if you're going to see it. The sparse lunar and Martian vistas, not to mention the star-strewn expanses of space, will be so much less impressive on your living room television. The cast is amazing, though there's not nearly enough Tommy Lee Jones or Donald Sutherland. The tone is haunting and uncomfortable, aided by a subdued score that at times seems to pay tribute to the soundless vacuum in which parts of the film are set. The science is up to date, in that it accurately reflects the fact that after getting sidetracked for a decade or four, we're back to using rockets to explore the solar system. The plot is at heart an exploration of humanity, our needs, drives, relationships and obsessive stubbornness, and dips somewhat into questions of sanity and mental health, again sometimes uncomfortably, though the slow-burn pacing is not for everyone. There are occasional action sequences, but they often feel disconnected and shoehorned in. The ending was a little anti-climactic, and I'm not entirely sure it actually happened - it's barely a spoiler to suggest that the protagonist is in danger as the ending nears, and everything that follows his return to Earth could easily be a dream or dying hallucination (and in fact if argue that this would be a stronger ending). The voiceover was a bit awkward, and would have benefitted from an in-story justification such as the character journalling or leaving a sealed log of some sort. Basically, I think it was worth seeing, but it's not going to be for everyone.
  
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Book Divas (227 KP) rated The November Girl in Books

Dec 11, 2017  
The November Girl
The November Girl
Lydia Kang | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Well Written Story with Stunning Characters
The November Girl is beautiful and yet a dark and eerily haunting story. I felt both a warm and cold embrace as I found myself falling into this tale that kept me second guessing myself not only with Hector but also with Anda as well. I would often stop reading so I could close my eyes and envision what Anda would look like and many times I scared myself because I could see her raw power as she was a force to be reckoned with. Hector brought out the motherly side of me and I just wanted to put my arms around him and reassure him that he was safe.

This was a well-written story with absolutely stunning characters and this tale will haunt me for a very long time.
  
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Andy K (10823 KP) rated Suspiria (1977) in Movies

Oct 19, 2018  
Suspiria (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
1977 | Horror
9
7.9 (28 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
The colors, the colors, the colors....
I had heard about this film most of my adult life, but had never seen until tonight.

Boy, was it worth the wait.

I would say after watching, the film is difficult to describe and must be "experienced". The plot, dialogue and acting are all secondary to the wondrous use of color, the beautiful musical score and set decoration of this visual art.

The score especially is mesmerizing and I indeed rewound a few scenes so I could hear the transfixing melody again and again.

The stylized horror has some gruesome moments, but overall fits the unraveling story well as we discover the world of the haunting ballet studio when a young American girl arrives to begin her instruction.

Any true film fan has to see this!
  
Show all 4 comments.
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MelanieTheresa (997 KP) Oct 24, 2018

It really is. Thanks for the reminder that I need to watch it again!
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Andy K (10823 KP) Oct 24, 2018

For sure. I love the classics. Even more than the new ones.
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Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies

Feb 1, 2020  
Near Dark (1987)
Near Dark (1987)
1987 | Horror, Mystery, Western
7
7.6 (16 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
A relatively simple tale of a recently turned vampire and his initiation into a sadistic group of other vampires (we assume that’s what they are as the V word isn’t said once in the film) is an atmospheric and compelling watch that stylistically is more like a western than anything else. Kathryn Bigelow’s use of a fair chunk of future husband James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ cast is largely successful (apart from some quite hammy overacting from Bill Paxton) and they make for thoroughly nasty adversaries (that bar scene being particularly brutal). I also liked the haunting Tangerine Dream score which adds nicely to the atmosphere but didn’t really buy the fact that vampirism could seemingly be so easily cured by a simple blood transfusion. That was a minor quibble though and overall I thought the film worked well.