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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Gerald's Game (2017) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
When I first heard about the Stephen King book called Gerald’s Game I was about 16 years old, and it scared the shit out of me! Just the concept and the idea of it happening to you. So I never read the book. In my mind, I had imagined the worst already and did not want to go there.
It was with some trepidation, then, that I stepped into this Netflix production, and may never have done so at all, were it not for some interesting reviews suggesting this was not normal horror fare, but more of a psychological exploration. Carla Gugino I barely knew. I have always liked Bruce Greenwood as an actor, however, so in I plunged…
For the next hour or so I was transfixed! The simplicity of the premise, the economy of the direction, and an innovative way of telling the story visually, had me hooked. It always felt like not a lot of money had been spent, but in a good way – no fancy tricks and gimmicks, just storytelling. And a few well placed shocks to the system that left me gasping out loud! (One moment in particular that had me jump to my feet shouting FFS involuntarily)
It isn’t a horror film in the way that genre has become in the last 20 years. No real jump shocks or manipulation, but some stomach churning moments of discomfort that genuinely disturb and make you want to look away! And all because we are invited to imagine ourselves in this situation. What would we do? How would we feel. And I always felt that was the power of this particular idea.
Psychologically, the notion that we may never truly know anyone, even ourselves, until the very worst happens is a compelling theme. The secrets we hide; the traumas that build our personalities, and just how strong would we be in a survival situation. And that is where this film is at its best. Gugino is never less than believable and occasionally incredible in achieving this. Greenwood is fine, and plays his part, but it is her film, no doubt at all.
Sadly, where this film fails is the last 15 minutes, when inexplicably the entire mood shifts and we find ourselves watching a completely different film, with a different message, and some of the worst backward facing exposition I have even seen! I won’t go into details here for spoilers sake… but, anything good achieved to that point was ruined by the ending.
Perhaps in the book the twist end makes sense this way, somehow. Here it is laughable. So much so that I need to know why they chose to do it? 30 years on from first hearing about it, I am going to be brave and read the book, because I can only believe loyalty to the source material could have led this production to such a preposterous ant-climax.
It was with some trepidation, then, that I stepped into this Netflix production, and may never have done so at all, were it not for some interesting reviews suggesting this was not normal horror fare, but more of a psychological exploration. Carla Gugino I barely knew. I have always liked Bruce Greenwood as an actor, however, so in I plunged…
For the next hour or so I was transfixed! The simplicity of the premise, the economy of the direction, and an innovative way of telling the story visually, had me hooked. It always felt like not a lot of money had been spent, but in a good way – no fancy tricks and gimmicks, just storytelling. And a few well placed shocks to the system that left me gasping out loud! (One moment in particular that had me jump to my feet shouting FFS involuntarily)
It isn’t a horror film in the way that genre has become in the last 20 years. No real jump shocks or manipulation, but some stomach churning moments of discomfort that genuinely disturb and make you want to look away! And all because we are invited to imagine ourselves in this situation. What would we do? How would we feel. And I always felt that was the power of this particular idea.
Psychologically, the notion that we may never truly know anyone, even ourselves, until the very worst happens is a compelling theme. The secrets we hide; the traumas that build our personalities, and just how strong would we be in a survival situation. And that is where this film is at its best. Gugino is never less than believable and occasionally incredible in achieving this. Greenwood is fine, and plays his part, but it is her film, no doubt at all.
Sadly, where this film fails is the last 15 minutes, when inexplicably the entire mood shifts and we find ourselves watching a completely different film, with a different message, and some of the worst backward facing exposition I have even seen! I won’t go into details here for spoilers sake… but, anything good achieved to that point was ruined by the ending.
Perhaps in the book the twist end makes sense this way, somehow. Here it is laughable. So much so that I need to know why they chose to do it? 30 years on from first hearing about it, I am going to be brave and read the book, because I can only believe loyalty to the source material could have led this production to such a preposterous ant-climax.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated American Horror Story - Season 7 in TV
Mar 8, 2020
Season 7 of American Horror Story, subtitled Cult, is a weird one. Instead of focusing on the supernatural, ghosts, witches, haunted houses, Cult is a trip through the delicacy of the human mind. It instead looks at fears, real world issues, and of course, the presence of an all too familiar cult like family.
This makes for some of the best and worst aspects of AHS Cult. The plot leans heavily into politics this time around, originally airing not long Donald Trump was sworn in. I personally like that this season takes this real world event, and explores the horror that some people experienced during this time. Others would argue that it's very on-the-nose, which is somewhat true. Some of the political leanings carry all the subtlety of a stampeding cattle herd, andnat times can feel heavy handed.
Underneath all of the IRL shit that's going on, we also have a plot of intrigue and mystery, as the main character Ally (Sarah Paulson) is being apparently being stalked and pursued by clowns - her worst fear. We are given reason to believe that perhaps Ally is losing her mind, off her meds, upset with the election result, but as the season continues, you find yourself questioning whether she is in fact being gaslighted. Manipulation of what you believe to be true or false is a terrible horror all on its own, and a big reason why I rate this season highly.
The star of Cult for me though was of course Evan Peters. Playing a deranged political candidate called Kai Anderson, it's not long before his extreme right views Garner him a following, and the titular cult is created. To say anymore would be considered spoilers, but rest assured that all of these plot strands weave together by the time the story climaxes.
Evan Peters role in Cult is my favourite performance if his to date. His character is simultaneously charming, terrifying, smart, and unhinged, and he does a fantastic job in bringing him to life.
The plot also touches upon other real world figures, such as Charles Manson. Those parts were pretty interesting, but when the show flashes back and focuses on Valerie Solanis (Lena Dunham), it lost me a bit. I like when AHS includes real life characters, and it's always fun to see how they are interpreted in this kind of media, but it goes a bit overboard with it's hammy stuff (again) at times - the whole Andy Warhol plot was a massive eye roll in my book - and the Solanis stuff is just plain unenjoyable to watch.
This whole side plot really drags down the quality of cult to me, but the strong performances by Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters is enough to keep it in a higher placing for me.
Certainly not my favourite, and certainly not my least, Cult sits somewhere in the middle, and I can only praise the writers for trying something new with the horror element. Good stuff.
This makes for some of the best and worst aspects of AHS Cult. The plot leans heavily into politics this time around, originally airing not long Donald Trump was sworn in. I personally like that this season takes this real world event, and explores the horror that some people experienced during this time. Others would argue that it's very on-the-nose, which is somewhat true. Some of the political leanings carry all the subtlety of a stampeding cattle herd, andnat times can feel heavy handed.
Underneath all of the IRL shit that's going on, we also have a plot of intrigue and mystery, as the main character Ally (Sarah Paulson) is being apparently being stalked and pursued by clowns - her worst fear. We are given reason to believe that perhaps Ally is losing her mind, off her meds, upset with the election result, but as the season continues, you find yourself questioning whether she is in fact being gaslighted. Manipulation of what you believe to be true or false is a terrible horror all on its own, and a big reason why I rate this season highly.
The star of Cult for me though was of course Evan Peters. Playing a deranged political candidate called Kai Anderson, it's not long before his extreme right views Garner him a following, and the titular cult is created. To say anymore would be considered spoilers, but rest assured that all of these plot strands weave together by the time the story climaxes.
Evan Peters role in Cult is my favourite performance if his to date. His character is simultaneously charming, terrifying, smart, and unhinged, and he does a fantastic job in bringing him to life.
The plot also touches upon other real world figures, such as Charles Manson. Those parts were pretty interesting, but when the show flashes back and focuses on Valerie Solanis (Lena Dunham), it lost me a bit. I like when AHS includes real life characters, and it's always fun to see how they are interpreted in this kind of media, but it goes a bit overboard with it's hammy stuff (again) at times - the whole Andy Warhol plot was a massive eye roll in my book - and the Solanis stuff is just plain unenjoyable to watch.
This whole side plot really drags down the quality of cult to me, but the strong performances by Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters is enough to keep it in a higher placing for me.
Certainly not my favourite, and certainly not my least, Cult sits somewhere in the middle, and I can only praise the writers for trying something new with the horror element. Good stuff.
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Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/beyond-belief-my-secret-life-inside-scientology-and-my-harrowing-escape-by-jenna-miscavige
<i>3.5 stars</i>
<b><i>The problem is that Scientology is a system that makes it nearly impossible for you to think for yourself.</b></i>
What is Scientology? Is it a religion or is it just a way of life? I can’t quite get my head around it. I also can’t get my head around the fact that Scientology has become such a widely followed… thing. L. Ron Hubbard, was a sci-fi author, an adulterer (he eloped with his 2nd wife while still married to his first wife), an abuser, a hypocrite and a criminal. Did you know, when he <i>kidnapped</i> his 2nd wife, he told her she would never see her baby again if she didn’t go with him. He then, obviously, retracted this statement and told her that he’d “chopped the child into little pieces and watched them float down a river” and it was her fault he had done so, because she had left him. What kind of sick maniac was this man, and <i>why</i> do people follow his beliefs? No wonder he thinks psychiatry is evil, they obviously all told him he was medically insane and he refused to believe it because his ego was so big.
Scientology is just a big manipulation machine. Do as you’re told or you get humiliated - it’s disgusting.
<b><i>Anyway,</b></i> on to a review of the actual novel, not just the religion/following (which clearly I have some issues with).
Reading all about Jenna’s life in Scientology from such a young age is certainly eye opening and while a lot of people are saying she gives us too much information, I actually thinks it’s great that she’s included so much of what she did day in and day out throughout her progression in Scientology because it really gives us an insight into how messed up being in the Sea Org is and Scientology as a whole.
The humiliation and abuse she was put through, all because she did something as trivial as fancying a guy with a lower title than her or wanting to call her parents, is absolutely horrid and I’m amazed she’s come out of this life long experience rather normally. That being said, this isn’t as juicy as I was hoping it would be. I’m glad she wasn’t beaten and physically harmed in anyway, but I was lead to believe this was going a bit more terrifying by the “My Harrowing Escape” part of the title. Don’t get me wrong, Jenna went through some awful, awful stuff, I’m not discounting that at all, but… I don’t know, it just wasn’t macabre enough for me, as horrible as that sounds.
This is definitely a great book if you want to get a better look into life as a Scientologist, it gives you plenty of insider info, but I wouldn’t say it was the best of these kinds of book that I’ve read, though it’s probably the best about Scientology.
<i>3.5 stars</i>
<b><i>The problem is that Scientology is a system that makes it nearly impossible for you to think for yourself.</b></i>
What is Scientology? Is it a religion or is it just a way of life? I can’t quite get my head around it. I also can’t get my head around the fact that Scientology has become such a widely followed… thing. L. Ron Hubbard, was a sci-fi author, an adulterer (he eloped with his 2nd wife while still married to his first wife), an abuser, a hypocrite and a criminal. Did you know, when he <i>kidnapped</i> his 2nd wife, he told her she would never see her baby again if she didn’t go with him. He then, obviously, retracted this statement and told her that he’d “chopped the child into little pieces and watched them float down a river” and it was her fault he had done so, because she had left him. What kind of sick maniac was this man, and <i>why</i> do people follow his beliefs? No wonder he thinks psychiatry is evil, they obviously all told him he was medically insane and he refused to believe it because his ego was so big.
Scientology is just a big manipulation machine. Do as you’re told or you get humiliated - it’s disgusting.
<b><i>Anyway,</b></i> on to a review of the actual novel, not just the religion/following (which clearly I have some issues with).
Reading all about Jenna’s life in Scientology from such a young age is certainly eye opening and while a lot of people are saying she gives us too much information, I actually thinks it’s great that she’s included so much of what she did day in and day out throughout her progression in Scientology because it really gives us an insight into how messed up being in the Sea Org is and Scientology as a whole.
The humiliation and abuse she was put through, all because she did something as trivial as fancying a guy with a lower title than her or wanting to call her parents, is absolutely horrid and I’m amazed she’s come out of this life long experience rather normally. That being said, this isn’t as juicy as I was hoping it would be. I’m glad she wasn’t beaten and physically harmed in anyway, but I was lead to believe this was going a bit more terrifying by the “My Harrowing Escape” part of the title. Don’t get me wrong, Jenna went through some awful, awful stuff, I’m not discounting that at all, but… I don’t know, it just wasn’t macabre enough for me, as horrible as that sounds.
This is definitely a great book if you want to get a better look into life as a Scientologist, it gives you plenty of insider info, but I wouldn’t say it was the best of these kinds of book that I’ve read, though it’s probably the best about Scientology.
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