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David McK (3676 KP) rated The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King #1-4) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
One of the classics of English literature, and so can be (at times) a heavy read. That's not to say that it isn't enjoyable: it is.
The novel follows the life of King Arthur and is split into four distinct 'books', from his early upbringing through to his ascension to the throne in "The Sword in the Stone" (the Disney version of which is surprisingly accurate), to the early days of his reign and his unknowingly incestuous relationship with half-sister in "The Queen of Air and Darkness", through the Arthur/Lancelot/Guinivere love triangle and the Quest for the Holy Grail in "The Ill Made Knight" and finally ending with the latter days of his reign and the war against Mordred in "The Candle in the Wind".
I have to say as well that as the stroy progresses, the novel also gets steadily more and more serious, actually starting out quite amusing before becoming darker and darker: as such, it's no surprise Disney only adopted the first part of the book for the silver screen!
The novel follows the life of King Arthur and is split into four distinct 'books', from his early upbringing through to his ascension to the throne in "The Sword in the Stone" (the Disney version of which is surprisingly accurate), to the early days of his reign and his unknowingly incestuous relationship with half-sister in "The Queen of Air and Darkness", through the Arthur/Lancelot/Guinivere love triangle and the Quest for the Holy Grail in "The Ill Made Knight" and finally ending with the latter days of his reign and the war against Mordred in "The Candle in the Wind".
I have to say as well that as the stroy progresses, the novel also gets steadily more and more serious, actually starting out quite amusing before becoming darker and darker: as such, it's no surprise Disney only adopted the first part of the book for the silver screen!
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Red Sparrow (2018) in Movies
Dec 30, 2018
Clever espionage thriller
While Jennifer Lawrence may not be my favorite (or I haven't seen a lot of her films), I thought she held her own and did an amicable job (maybe the accent not so much) through this heavy plot in a slightly too long thriller.
She plays a ballet dancer who is forced t work for the government in trade for state sponsored benefits for her and her mother to continue.
The plot gets a little muddled and confusing as to who is on which side in the middle of the film. People keep switching sides or double crossing each other so it becomes hard to follow at times.
It felt like the film could've lost like 20 minutes and been more coherent and quicker paced. Having not read the book, I cannot compare it (although differing from the book does not make it worse). I'll go to my grave defending that point.
I was never bored while watching and would definitely recommend.
She plays a ballet dancer who is forced t work for the government in trade for state sponsored benefits for her and her mother to continue.
The plot gets a little muddled and confusing as to who is on which side in the middle of the film. People keep switching sides or double crossing each other so it becomes hard to follow at times.
It felt like the film could've lost like 20 minutes and been more coherent and quicker paced. Having not read the book, I cannot compare it (although differing from the book does not make it worse). I'll go to my grave defending that point.
I was never bored while watching and would definitely recommend.
TheDefunctDiva (304 KP) rated Hereditary (2018) in Movies
Jul 1, 2019
Irving Did it Better
Contains spoilers, click to show
Couldn’t write a proper heading without mentioning the headless. I enjoy all incarnations of Sleepy Hollow and Alice in Wonderland better than this half-developed plot. Like Gabriel Byrne, the movie had so much potential, but what exactly is it doing there? They could have gotten a bargain actor for all the lack of dialogue Byrne’s character had. And the creepy little girl could have been used so much more as a jump scare and plot device, she was decapitated so early on that it seemed pointless. It was a long movie but it didn’t focus on one horrific vision, it was really kind of all over the place. There was a heavy creepiness factor in certain scenes that could have been explored more, like during the fun and funky family seance. Toni Collette’s performance was very compelling, however. It finally unified a bit at the end but I found it anticlimactic. And a bit less focused on the hereditary and more about bringing back some rando hell lord.
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Construct by Archivist in Music
Nov 26, 2019
Post metal concept album sounds terrible but actually it's not
Ads you may have noticed despite being a Hip Hop artist and mainly listening to Hip Hop I do love all music, if it good, I'll bang it through my speakers. However I must admit, although i love hardcore, metal is not my favourite genre.
This was recommended to me and the description sounded horrific, it is a sci fi concept album mixing shoe gazer with blast beats and songs getting to the ten minute mark. Yeah, terrible right? Well actually its really damn good. Parts of the album remind me of Belligerent Declaration where dark atmospheric slow meandering showcase, builds up the atmosphere before going full sonic heavy on your ears without ever destroying the feeling its creates. Its rare to listen to a song clocking over 8 minutes and then rewind it to listen again but I did.
Now I need to get their new one and watch out for them live.
This was recommended to me and the description sounded horrific, it is a sci fi concept album mixing shoe gazer with blast beats and songs getting to the ten minute mark. Yeah, terrible right? Well actually its really damn good. Parts of the album remind me of Belligerent Declaration where dark atmospheric slow meandering showcase, builds up the atmosphere before going full sonic heavy on your ears without ever destroying the feeling its creates. Its rare to listen to a song clocking over 8 minutes and then rewind it to listen again but I did.
Now I need to get their new one and watch out for them live.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Wrong Side of Right (Grey Areas #3) in Books
Nov 29, 2019
The third book of the four part saga continues directly from the shattering events of the second and doesn't let up on the pace, or the twists.
Barrett Grayson is in custody, awaiting his long avoided FBI interview. But all he wants to do is get home to see his father before he dies. Meanwhile Sergeant Jackson's deal with the cartel means that someone is going to pay a heavy price.
The story follows all the protagonists from the saga as they each face their own struggles and make their own choices - for good or bad. As with the saga as a whole the writing is gripping and intense. There are many different plot strands interwoven here from police procedural to romance but each one is given time and space to develop and the reader is drawn into each one and pulled along.
As with the other books, the writing is superb. I would strongly recommend the Grey Areas saga to anyone. It is an extremely accomplished work of fiction.
Barrett Grayson is in custody, awaiting his long avoided FBI interview. But all he wants to do is get home to see his father before he dies. Meanwhile Sergeant Jackson's deal with the cartel means that someone is going to pay a heavy price.
The story follows all the protagonists from the saga as they each face their own struggles and make their own choices - for good or bad. As with the saga as a whole the writing is gripping and intense. There are many different plot strands interwoven here from police procedural to romance but each one is given time and space to develop and the reader is drawn into each one and pulled along.
As with the other books, the writing is superb. I would strongly recommend the Grey Areas saga to anyone. It is an extremely accomplished work of fiction.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Seberg (2019) in Movies
Jan 14, 2020
Tonally awkward drama-thriller hybrid about the troubled life of 60s film star Jean Seberg (ask your grandparents, probably). Didn't know much about her (actually thought she was French), expected something arty and significant about the French New Wave - actually this borders on being another film about the Plight of Black America. Seberg (Kristen Stewart, watchable as usual) strives for significance, gets mixed up with the civil rights movement, finds herself surveilled and then tormented by the FBI.
Starts off quite interesting - Seberg is largely a forgotten figure nowadays, so the story is obscure - but as the thriller elements recede and it becomes more of a downbeat drama, the vitality and interest of the movie fades somewhat. If there is an irony in Stewart choosing to play a movie star looking to be more than just a pretty face in commercial schlock, the movie seems unaware of it. Pretty good performances, especially from Vince Vaughn (now quite well-established as a character heavy), but fizzles out a bit.
Starts off quite interesting - Seberg is largely a forgotten figure nowadays, so the story is obscure - but as the thriller elements recede and it becomes more of a downbeat drama, the vitality and interest of the movie fades somewhat. If there is an irony in Stewart choosing to play a movie star looking to be more than just a pretty face in commercial schlock, the movie seems unaware of it. Pretty good performances, especially from Vince Vaughn (now quite well-established as a character heavy), but fizzles out a bit.
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