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Elli H Burton (1288 KP) rated Trading Places (1983) in Movies
Nov 4, 2019
The casting was done perfectly. (2 more)
The story follows the struggles that were present in the 1980s.
It's so funny, got a bit of classic humour and dark humour that fit in nicely.
Absolute classic
This definitely shows the classic struggle of different races and classes in america in the 1980s. It shows it in such a way that it's almost humourous that it was ACTUALLY like that back then. Eddy Murphy plays Valentine excellently, you really see the deep upset of the racist and prejudices he has always suffered but yet on the outside Valentine takes it in his stride. Winthorpe played by the legendary Dan Aykroyd has the same depths. Deep down you can see he is so intelligent and hard working but on the outside he's so spoilt and feels so entitled. Jamie Lee Curtis another fantastic actress plays Ophelia in such layers, a more complex clever fierce but vulnerable woman inside that you see glimpses of but outside she is rock hard and nothing touches her.
The writing is so well done it flows naturally, it doesn't feel forced at any point. The onscreen chemistry is on point, I feel the relationships between the cast mirrored the characters relationships. Apparently the cast weren't familiar with each others work so the relationships are built both on and off screen successfully.
The shots of the cities they are in were a wonderful way to transition from scene to scene giving the audience glimpses into the world they are about to dive into.
The story stands out to me, theres no way I could confuse this movie with anything else which is what I like to see in every movie I see.
Thoroughly recommend everyone have a watch of this, Eddy Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis were completely unknown to me when I first saw it and I have grown to love pretty much everything they are in.
The writing is so well done it flows naturally, it doesn't feel forced at any point. The onscreen chemistry is on point, I feel the relationships between the cast mirrored the characters relationships. Apparently the cast weren't familiar with each others work so the relationships are built both on and off screen successfully.
The shots of the cities they are in were a wonderful way to transition from scene to scene giving the audience glimpses into the world they are about to dive into.
The story stands out to me, theres no way I could confuse this movie with anything else which is what I like to see in every movie I see.
Thoroughly recommend everyone have a watch of this, Eddy Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis were completely unknown to me when I first saw it and I have grown to love pretty much everything they are in.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Lion King (2019) in Movies
Jul 31, 2019
Lacking in heart
The Lion King is one of my all time favourite Disney films, so I approached this 'live action' remake with a lot of trepidation, and I'm afraid to say I was right to be worried.
Visually it looks stunning, which shouldn't really be a surprise as it has been brought to us by the same guys that did The Jungle Book. However I'm afraid the visuals are pretty much all this film has going for it. This film is virtually a carbon copy of the original animation but with all of the heart, soul and humour taken out of it. The problem with these Disney live action remakes is they're unnecessary and stuck in a difficult position - differ too much from the original and people hate it, but sticking too close to the original and it begs the question as to why not just watch the original? It's more difficult for The Lion King as it's gone from being cartoon animation to CGI animation and apart from looking more natural, that's the only real difference.
They've lost virtually all of the magic that made the original great in the first place. The humour either falls flat due to the poor execution, or has been removed and replaced with something much less witty and funny. I mean, where was dress in drag & do the hula?! I dont think the voice cast helps. Other than Chiwetel Ejiofor and of course James Earl Jones, the rest of the voice cast just seemed ridiculously out of place and ill fitting with the film. I cringed every time I heard Zazu as Jon Oliver is definitely no Rowan Atkinson! And dont even get me started on Beyonce. We really didnt need her horrific versions of songs thrown in too. Although the rest of the songs did at least make the rest of the film more bearable.
Altogether despite the stunning CGI, this is a very poor copy of the original and definitely one I wont be watching again - just stick to the original.
Visually it looks stunning, which shouldn't really be a surprise as it has been brought to us by the same guys that did The Jungle Book. However I'm afraid the visuals are pretty much all this film has going for it. This film is virtually a carbon copy of the original animation but with all of the heart, soul and humour taken out of it. The problem with these Disney live action remakes is they're unnecessary and stuck in a difficult position - differ too much from the original and people hate it, but sticking too close to the original and it begs the question as to why not just watch the original? It's more difficult for The Lion King as it's gone from being cartoon animation to CGI animation and apart from looking more natural, that's the only real difference.
They've lost virtually all of the magic that made the original great in the first place. The humour either falls flat due to the poor execution, or has been removed and replaced with something much less witty and funny. I mean, where was dress in drag & do the hula?! I dont think the voice cast helps. Other than Chiwetel Ejiofor and of course James Earl Jones, the rest of the voice cast just seemed ridiculously out of place and ill fitting with the film. I cringed every time I heard Zazu as Jon Oliver is definitely no Rowan Atkinson! And dont even get me started on Beyonce. We really didnt need her horrific versions of songs thrown in too. Although the rest of the songs did at least make the rest of the film more bearable.
Altogether despite the stunning CGI, this is a very poor copy of the original and definitely one I wont be watching again - just stick to the original.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Finding Dory (2016) in Movies
Apr 19, 2020
Finding Dory taught me this - Pixar are a company who can sell you the same film twice, and then annoyingly get away with it by making said film pretty damn good.
There is no denying that during the first 15 minutes, all I could think about was how everything unfolding was strikingly similar to Finding Nemo, almost as if they were making little effort to hide the fact.
By the time the opening act is over, and the main plot is set in motion, I was successfully drawn in and had forgotten my initial reservations.
The main factor in this is the great cast of characters. This time around, Dory takes centre stage, on a journey to find her parents after years of being separated. The film flits between the main narrative, and (ridiculously adorable) flashbacks to when Dory was a child. We get to see a fair number of new characters, most notably Hank, a suitably grumpy octopus whose irritable personality works great alongside the oblivious nature of Dory. The two of them provide a steady stream of humour. Also Bailey, a beluga whale has a running gag that never once gets old. It's all very well crafted and genuinely funny.
Of course, Nemo and Marlin return from the first film, and although they have a big part to play, Finding Dory resists the urge to turn the narrative too much much towards them, something that would have been easy to do considering the success of Finding Nemo.
There's also a fantastic voice cast attached, including Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton, Idris Elba, Eugene Levy (absolute legend), Dominic West, Bill Hader - even Sigourney Weaver appears, in one of my favourite running jokes of the film.
The animation is predictably stunning, managing to appeal to both younger and older audiences, and the narrative easily weaves between witty humour, and emotional gut punches - this is Pixar after all.
Finding Dory is a sequel that can stand proudly by it's terrific predecessor.
There is no denying that during the first 15 minutes, all I could think about was how everything unfolding was strikingly similar to Finding Nemo, almost as if they were making little effort to hide the fact.
By the time the opening act is over, and the main plot is set in motion, I was successfully drawn in and had forgotten my initial reservations.
The main factor in this is the great cast of characters. This time around, Dory takes centre stage, on a journey to find her parents after years of being separated. The film flits between the main narrative, and (ridiculously adorable) flashbacks to when Dory was a child. We get to see a fair number of new characters, most notably Hank, a suitably grumpy octopus whose irritable personality works great alongside the oblivious nature of Dory. The two of them provide a steady stream of humour. Also Bailey, a beluga whale has a running gag that never once gets old. It's all very well crafted and genuinely funny.
Of course, Nemo and Marlin return from the first film, and although they have a big part to play, Finding Dory resists the urge to turn the narrative too much much towards them, something that would have been easy to do considering the success of Finding Nemo.
There's also a fantastic voice cast attached, including Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton, Idris Elba, Eugene Levy (absolute legend), Dominic West, Bill Hader - even Sigourney Weaver appears, in one of my favourite running jokes of the film.
The animation is predictably stunning, managing to appeal to both younger and older audiences, and the narrative easily weaves between witty humour, and emotional gut punches - this is Pixar after all.
Finding Dory is a sequel that can stand proudly by it's terrific predecessor.
The 1,000-year-old Boy
Book
The astonishing, beautiful new story for all readers of 10 and over from the bestselling and...
Breakfast at Sotheby's: An A-Z of the Art World
Book
Breakfast at Sotheby's is a wry, intimate, truly revealing exploration of how art acquires its...
ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Coffinmaker's Garden (Ash Henderson #3) in Books
Feb 2, 2021
The Coffinmakers Garden is a gritty thriller with a healthy dash of black humour. There is clearly a good reason why Ash Henderson is an ex-Detective Inspector, and it’s not just his severe arthritis. This is a man who will pretty much stop at nothing to bring the criminals to justice - unless he’s using criminals to help him get what he wants. Ash is a teeny bit corrupt, I think (for the record, I don’t think you can be a teeny bit anything: you’re either doing it, or you aren’t).
I really enjoyed the dark humour, and I’m not particularly squeamish, so the murdery bits didn’t bother me - in fact I really enjoyed the whole book. Yes, Ash’s actions were a bit OTT sometimes, but in my opinion, this is a piece of fiction, not a documentary on police procedure 🤷🏼♀️ It did read a bit like a cop film set in a big US city, except with a much smaller budget and Scottish accents. And let’s face it - Ash Henderson has a dog that he clearly adores, so he can’t be all bad!
I liked that there were actually two investigations running at the same time - one of which Ash is kicked off because of his poor behaviour. He still seems to manage to be involved with them both though, which must have been frankly exhausting for him!
The fact that I haven’t read the first two books in this series didn’t lessen my enjoyment, it merely made me curious as to what happened in the previous books. I wasn’t left not understanding what was going on. Short, appropriate explanations saw to that. The characters were richly described and fascinating to read about - they were all very different people.
So, another great book chosen by The Pigeonhole, and I really appreciated the short videos that Stuart McBride prepared for us to watch throughout the book.
I really enjoyed the dark humour, and I’m not particularly squeamish, so the murdery bits didn’t bother me - in fact I really enjoyed the whole book. Yes, Ash’s actions were a bit OTT sometimes, but in my opinion, this is a piece of fiction, not a documentary on police procedure 🤷🏼♀️ It did read a bit like a cop film set in a big US city, except with a much smaller budget and Scottish accents. And let’s face it - Ash Henderson has a dog that he clearly adores, so he can’t be all bad!
I liked that there were actually two investigations running at the same time - one of which Ash is kicked off because of his poor behaviour. He still seems to manage to be involved with them both though, which must have been frankly exhausting for him!
The fact that I haven’t read the first two books in this series didn’t lessen my enjoyment, it merely made me curious as to what happened in the previous books. I wasn’t left not understanding what was going on. Short, appropriate explanations saw to that. The characters were richly described and fascinating to read about - they were all very different people.
So, another great book chosen by The Pigeonhole, and I really appreciated the short videos that Stuart McBride prepared for us to watch throughout the book.
Alex Kapranos recommended track Golden Apples by Country Teasers in Destroy All Human Life by Country Teasers in Music (curated)
Evie (10 KP) rated South Park: The Fractured But Whole in Video Games
Nov 30, 2017
Gameplay (3 more)
Animation
Controls
Storyline
Want to control a South Park episode? Well here's your second chance.
I've come away from video games in recent years, but there are always exceptions to my hiatus. The first one being South Park: The Stick of Truth. A game hyped for many years, but actually managed to maintain the hype at its release. The Fractured But Whole is no different.
Filled with the wit and wisdom usually found in a South Park episode, Ubisoft has been able to manufacture a near perfect game. That is, only if you enjoy South Park. If you aren't a fan, or don't follow the latest series storylines (which link in with the game (notably Tweak and Craig)), then you're probably not going to appreciate this game as much as a fan would.
Here's a checklist of what to expect and appreciate:
*Superheroes
*Fart jokes
*Tragic backstories
*Turn based attacks
*South Park humour.
Filled with the wit and wisdom usually found in a South Park episode, Ubisoft has been able to manufacture a near perfect game. That is, only if you enjoy South Park. If you aren't a fan, or don't follow the latest series storylines (which link in with the game (notably Tweak and Craig)), then you're probably not going to appreciate this game as much as a fan would.
Here's a checklist of what to expect and appreciate:
*Superheroes
*Fart jokes
*Tragic backstories
*Turn based attacks
*South Park humour.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Daddy's Home 2 (2017) in Movies
Dec 13, 2017
Generous giving it a 3?
I'll be frankly honest and say this is not my type of film. I have a very particular sense of humour and generic mainstream comedies like this really work for me.
I didn't think much of the first one and I'm afraid this is even worse. Right from the first scene, the "funny" scenes just aren't funny and it doesn't improve as the film goes on. I'm sad to say I barely even tittered at this, let alone laugh out loud. It has a great cast but they are sorely wasted in this. Will Ferrell used to be a comedy genius, what happened? And when you think it cant get worse, they throw in the most cringeworthy singalong possible. This is the kind of film you'd put on tv for background noise and then completely ignore as it's that bad. Didnt even get me into the festive spirit!
I didn't think much of the first one and I'm afraid this is even worse. Right from the first scene, the "funny" scenes just aren't funny and it doesn't improve as the film goes on. I'm sad to say I barely even tittered at this, let alone laugh out loud. It has a great cast but they are sorely wasted in this. Will Ferrell used to be a comedy genius, what happened? And when you think it cant get worse, they throw in the most cringeworthy singalong possible. This is the kind of film you'd put on tv for background noise and then completely ignore as it's that bad. Didnt even get me into the festive spirit!
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood in Books
Jan 3, 2018
An insider's view of Apartheid
It seems unlikely that comedian Trevor Noah would have ever made it out of the prison of colonialism, apartheid, poverty and violence, yet now he's regarded as one of South Africa's biggest export. His memoir is brutal and harrowing, describing how because of the illegal interracial relationship between his Xhosa mother and his Swiss-German, his birth was actually a crime.
It's hard to imagine that this legal segregation only ended 26 years ago, yet Noah then faced the turbulent legacy of post-apartheid. Being mixed race posed its own problems, as Noah describes never fitting in anywhere, but being accepted to a certain degree because of his 'whiteness' and his chameleon-like ability to adapt to his surroundings.
There are moments which are truly disturbing, as Noah speaks about his violent stepfather and going hungry. In this way, his life can be seen as a story of personal survival, through intelligence and humour, which millions have come to love.
It's hard to imagine that this legal segregation only ended 26 years ago, yet Noah then faced the turbulent legacy of post-apartheid. Being mixed race posed its own problems, as Noah describes never fitting in anywhere, but being accepted to a certain degree because of his 'whiteness' and his chameleon-like ability to adapt to his surroundings.
There are moments which are truly disturbing, as Noah speaks about his violent stepfather and going hungry. In this way, his life can be seen as a story of personal survival, through intelligence and humour, which millions have come to love.