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Victor Frankenstein (2015)
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
2015 | Drama
Victor Frankenstein is basically a prequel to Mary Shelly’s book, Frankenstein, where we get to meet Igor and a younger Frankenstein as they get to meet each other.

We start off with our story teller, Igor played by Daniel Radcliffe, and how he came to be rescued by our movies namesake, Victor Frankenstein played by James McAvoy. The movie begins showing the trials Igor went through, growing up, as the lowest sideshow freak who just happened to learn how to read and become a self-taught medic for the circus that keeps him. Victor came to the circus to find more animal parts to make his homunculus, which he is building out of various animal parts he has been able to procure from zoos, as his prototype for his ultimate endeavor, making a human and bring it back to life.
 
Igor and Frankenstein are brought together when Igor’s paramour Lorelei falls from her trapeze and they both run to help her. Victor is about to give up and let her die when the Igor’s genius shows through and is able to save her with his quick thinking and knowledge of the human anatomy. Victor’s shrew perception bring him to offer Igor a new life and to escape from the circus.
 
I give Victor Frankenstein 4 out of 5 stars only due to the fact that being a prequel to the novel and not the many movies about Frankenstein and his Monster will confuse many. If you go in expecting an action movie instead of a film done in the noir horror genre in the styles before the 1950’s, you will be disappointed.
  
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ClareR (5596 KP) rated Macbeth in Books

Sep 14, 2018  
Macbeth
Macbeth
Jo Nesbo | 2018 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
All of the darkness of the original - and more.
Macbeth in Nordic Noir style - and it works! I've enjoyed the Hogarth Shakespeare series so far, and I think this is the best of the four that I've read.
Nesbo has done a really good job of moving the setting from medieval Scotland to modern Scandinavia (I think! That's what it felt like as I was reading anyway). The names of the towns in the original are the names of the casinos; the Queen of the witches, Hecate, is the main dealer and leader of organised crime in the town; Lady (Macbeth) is the owner of the most exclusive of those casinos.
Like Shakespeare's play, this book is grim, oppressive and ultra-violent. The body count is high, the murders committed without thought, or at least the only thought in Macbeth's head is that he will gain more power in the eradication of his 'enemies' and their families.
The description of the city portrays a poverty stricken, unemployment plagued, drug addicted, polluted northern town. These people seem to be accustomed to the corruption of their police and government officials, which is how the door opens to allow Macbeth to step through with Lady, his wife (who isn't his wife in this, but his girlfriend). Lady is the one who guides Macbeth's hand in everything he does, and then pays the ultimate price when guilt drives her mad.
I really do think that this is an excellent retelling. Five hundred pages went by in a flash for me, and I have to admit to a feeling of satisfaction as the story was wrapped up at the end.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book - and this is a totally unbiased review, people!
  
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AnnieW (23 KP) rated Fortitude in TV

Dec 13, 2018  
Fortitude
Fortitude
2013 | Drama, Thriller
8
7.1 (17 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Interesting storylines, kept me watching and wanting next episode (0 more)
Can be a bit confusing in places (0 more)
Gets weirder each series
I loved the first series of Fortitude. The setting, Arctic Norway, was beautiful. The town of Fortitude has a selection of characters from different countries, all of whom seem to have some kind of secret, and who are played by a great cast. It can be quite slow moving at times, but there is a lot to take in. This is not a show to watch half-heartedly. There's mystery, intrigue and a bit of gore thrown in, too. I've seen comparisons to Twin Peaks - that might give you a bit of an idea of what to expect. If you like scandi-noir and a bit of dark humour, you'll like Fortitude.

(SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD)
In series one, a mammoth is found under the ice, threatening the development of a new hotel and Fortitude's first murders occur. There are many potential suspects but it turns out it's not just a straightforward case of finding who is responsible.

Throughout the three series' there are scientific discoveries and experiments, a shaman, missing persons, people possessed by parasites, a schoolteacher with a feeding fetish and many, many questions.



The first series was superb. The second series was just as good but started to get a little weirder. The third series is shorter than the previous two at only four episodes, but managed to fit in a whole lot more weirdness. (Dance with a burnt corpse, anyone?)

Series three is reported to be the last, and I think that's the right choice, but the ending does leave the possibility of the cause of Fortitude's 'problems' starting again somewhere else.
  
In the far future humankind has spread into space but a series of wars together with the harsh realities of living beyond the solar system has taken its toll. Amongst the scattering of colonies the Last City is the final bastion against extinction. Ruled over by the autocratic and ruthless Toros Strand, society exists in a rigid hierarchy defined by which level they occupy. From Strand himself on the 100th floor down to those who live in the lower levels - and below - the city there are many stories to be told.

The simple setup allows a number of current science fiction authors to stretch their imagination as they investigate the workings of the Last City. Each story looks at a different aspect - although most of them concentrate on the lower levels. A very noir private detective who is more than he seems. A secret route through the city for those who wish to disappear. Hunting for lost areas to loot and claim. A dangerous race across the outside where the stakes are high. There are also a couple of tales which show how the city appears to those who are beyond it.

The standard is high and every new story feels as fresh and interesting as the one before. All are packed with great ideas, enabling not only some stories dealing with straight forward science fiction themes but also ones covering social hierarchies and injustice, intolerance of 'outsiders' and the harsh tactics employed by totalitarian regimes to keep their populace in check.

I've tried to think of a science fiction short story collection I've enjoyed more, but there simply isn't one. I'd say there were plenty more stories to be told in this universe, perhaps another short story collection or novella wouldn't go amiss. Authors willing of course...
  
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Karina Longworth recommended Caught (2015) in Movies (curated)

 
Caught (2015)
Caught (2015)
2015 | Mystery
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"It was was directed Max Ophuls and it stars Robert Ryan as a character who was intended to be based on Howard Hughes. Max Ophuls had been hired by Hughes’ production company, RKO, early to make the film that was actually supposed to be Faith Domergue’s big starring vehicle, and that movie just turned into a disaster. The production of it dragged along over five or six years with many different directors. After Ophuls got fired from it, he got hired to make an adaptation by another company of a novel called Wild Calendar. He told the screenwriter that he was paired with that he didn’t want to actually adapt the novel; he wanted to use the structure of the novel to make a film about how terrible he thought Howard Hughes was. They basically culled the notes of everything that they’d ever heard about Howard Hughes and Ophuls’ personal experiences, and the screenwriter, Arthur Laurents, went out and he met women who had had encounters with Hughes and then put it all together in this film which is about a shop girl who gets involved with a mysterious millionaire. The mysterious millionaire’s played by Robert Ryan, who was an actor who made a lot of different kinds of movies, and to a lot of film noir fans and B-Movie, genre film fans, he’s considered a great star, but he really looks like Howard Hughes in a lot of ways. They’re both very tall and lanky and have kind of a similar jaw. Even though Hughes knew this movie was being made – he insisted that he be sent dailies – he asked for some changes so that people wouldn’t think it’s him. The character and the performance are a lot like him. Nowadays, especially given everything we know about Howard Hughes, the similarities are impossible to ignore."

Source
  
Alphaville (1965)
Alphaville (1965)
1965 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
7
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This is one of the best bad films I have ever seen. It looks cheap (at one point the camera-man is clearly entirely visible in a mirror), the story is preposterous, the dialogue is insane, the characters behave like no one in reality ever, and it is sci-fi in name only, as no attempt whatsoever has been made to stretch the budget to anything remotely futuristic – and yet, I loved it! Perhaps it reminded me of Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who, and therefore my happy childhood relationship with cheap sci-fi? Or it could have been that there are so many essential ideas and tropes that exist in my favourite big budget sci-fi films, such as Blade Runner (for which it is an obvious influence), that it felt familiar and friendly from the start. Part hard boiled detective story and part pulp fiction fantasy, as with most Godard, I am discovering, it is all about mood and chic, not remotely about the plot.

Eddie Constantine is awful as an actor, but he looks and feels perfect here. And Anna Karina is entirely lovely, oozing intelligent sexuality and seductive vibes in every scene. Not a heroine that needs the man to save her, but a strong and independent woman as much the hero of the story as the trenchcoated lead. Every noir stereotype is adhered to without fail, punctuated with the bizarre and the incongruous whenever possible. Without this film existing there would be so many good things from The Prisoner to Predestination that wouldn’t have been the same. Groundbreaking and charming without even trying. It grows in my imagination as a cult entity by the week – I can’t wait to watch it again fairly soon.
  
Nasty Little Cuts
Nasty Little Cuts
Tina Baker | 2022 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I learnt a new phrase today: Domestic Noir. My ignorance is probably down to the fact that I would never normally read a book in this category. I’d avoid it. I’m glad that I didn’t let it put me off this time though, and after reading Tina’s previous book ‘Call Me Mummy’, I knew that I was going to be in for one hell of a good read.

This book is phenomenal. It’s read-it-thorough-your-fingers-with-your-eyes-shut kind of phenomenal.

Reading it on The Pigeonhole, one stave a day for 10 days was a feat of endurance - the wait between staves was tortuous. This is NOT an easy read, and should probably come with some sort of trigger warning. It’s dark, emotional, visceral. It’s violent and frankly traumatic.

Debs and Marc should probably have never got together, never mind got married and had children. They’re both emotionally scarred from terrible childhoods and have never confronted, or been treated for, these psychological and physical injuries. And now they just seem to vent their feelings on one another with physical violence.

There’s loads of backstory that explains why they are in their current predicament, and honestly, I did feel some sympathy for them. But then, and Tina Baker does this so well, she gives with one hand, and snatches away with the other. Every past revelation of abuse or trauma, is bookended by domestic violence.

Honestly, it sounds horrendous, doesn’t it? But I couldn’t stop reading. As I said on The Pigeonhole: What a reading experience this has been. I’ll leave a review, but what can I say that will do this book justice?

Well, I can say this: Read It.
  
Hotel Artemis (2018)
Hotel Artemis (2018)
2018 | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Not as interesting as it wanted to be
On my airplane ride from Mpls to San Diego I was able to catch up with gritty, action-noir thriller BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. So, I was excited to see that another gritty,, action-noir film, HOTEL ARTEMIS was showing on the flight back.

Well...HOTEL ARTEMIS is no EL ROYALE and maybe that's not fair to Artemis, for I was constantly comparing the two films, so let me see if I can separate the 2 and hold HOTEL ARTEMIS up to it's own scrutiny.

Telling the tale of a JOHN WICK-type world where - instead of a safehouse Hotel for crooks, the HOTEL ARTEMIS is a safehouse HOSPITAL for crooks where the rules are that the crooks cannot hurt each other on the premises. When a riot breaks out in downtown Los Angeles, the rules go out the window and mayhem - and violence - ensue.

Well...this film is no JOHN WICK either. Oh shoot, I've done it again. I've compared this film to another film.

And that's the problem with HOTEL ARTEMIS, it treads ground that has been trod better - and with more style - before. So this film, no matter how well intention-ed, falls short in originality, style and substance. I was still entertained, but not as entertained as I was by JOHN WICK or EL ROYALE.

Jodie Foster (in her first acting role since 2013's ELYSIUM) stars as the person who runs the Artemis. She has a mysterious background (of course) and runs the Artemis with an emotional-less efficiency. Her performance is quirky and interesting and almost holds the film together - almost. She is joined by Sterling K. Brown, Charlie Day, Brian Tyree Henry and Sofia Boutella as patients in the Hotel - none of which were interesting or unusual. They all were playing variants of the characters they usually play, almost as if Director/Writer Drew Pearce said "Get my a Charlie Day-type and a Sterling K. Brown-type", and the Casting Director thought they "scored" by getting the original person - each of whom looks like they are coasting through this film at about 70% output.

Only Dave Bautista shines as the "Health Care Professional" who works with Foster. He brings an interesting charisma to his character and was almost the high point in the film.

Almost. All of the performances pale in comparison to the Mob Boss who shows up about 2/3 of the way through the film. This character is talked about in reverential and scary terms throughout the film. The build-up was huge for this character and I was prepared for the inevitable let down when the mob boss finally shows up, but when the elevator door opens up and I saw that is was Jeff Goldblum in "full Goldblum" mode, I was thrilled and he did not disappoint. He commanded the screen at a time that the film was getting tiresome and he wound up the characters, the energy of the film and the action to help it ride to its inevitable, bloody conclusion.

Ultimately, Pearce delivered a solid B- film, one that has moments of quirk and interest, but set against a backdrop - and supporting actors - that are subdued and not memorable. This is a cardinal sin for this kind of film, instead of subduing those parts, Pearce needed to enhance those and he just plainly did not.

If you want to see a good, stylized, gritty action film, with interesting locales and supporting players, check out JOHN WICK or BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE. If you've seen these, HOTEL ARTEMIS is fine, but the other two do it better.

Letter Grade: B-

6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
2018 | Action, Animation, Sci-Fi
A whole new universe of Spideys!
Finally got around to watching this after reading lots of great reviews and it really delivered.

Having not known anything about the Miles Morales storyline or origin story, I was excited going into this without much prescreen knowledge (which doesn't happen much these days).

Basically a Brooklyn teenager gets bit by the that darn radioactive spider and then starts to exhibit his own Spidey traits after the original Peter Parker is killed in action. Much to the surprise of Miles, another wisecracking out of shape Peter shows up and says he's from another alternate universe or something where things are different. Eventually, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham also arrive to take on the Kingpin and a female version of Doc Ock to try and save the Earth from destruction.



The humor in the film is rally good. I guess I would say equivalent to a PG version of Deadpool with lots of wisecracks and sarcasm. My kind of screenplay. While not necessarily made for adults, I think both young and not so young would enjoy the fast pace of the film with very few dull spots.

They don't focus very much on the Peter Parker origin which is great since we have seen this already many times within the last few incarnations of the character. It's actually kind of amusing the way the keep repeating it in slightly different ways when the new Spideys emerge. The colors are bright and vibrant (I only saw in 2D) and the environments and backgrounds are interesting and complex which makes you dazzle for the cinematic eye candy for sure.

Due to the success critically as well as box office cred, it looks like this is the beginning of a franchise which is all right by me. I would highly recommend.

  
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MelanieTheresa (997 KP) Jun 10, 2019

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would! Really liked it.

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Andy K (10821 KP) Jun 10, 2019

Yes me as well.

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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Sin City (2005) in Movies

Jan 7, 2021 (Updated Jan 11, 2021)  
Sin City (2005)
Sin City (2005)
2005 | Action, Drama, Mystery
I absolutely adored Sin City when it first released way back in 2005, and I still do to a point, albeit a little less than I used to.
The main positives are of course the cast, and the style.

The cast is stacked - Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Michael Madsen, Clive Owen, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Powers Boothe, Devon Aoki, Rutger Hauer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Jaime King... that's a fair ensemble if you ask me.
The style is of course a huge part of Sin City. It's neo noir black and white with splashes of colour translate perfectly from page to screen. 15 years later, the effects still look pretty decent and the overall look of the film is practically watching the graphic novels come to life, a strength that is bolstered by the cast involved.
It has a cheesy yet engaging screenplay - the runtime clocks in at over two hours, but never gets boring (just about), and the constant growly voiceovers and on the nose script beats could have potentially been laughable in anyone else's hands, but Robert Rodriguez somehow gets away with it.

The comics ultraviolence is well realised - the movie doesn't shy away from the grimness of proceedings. Some of the content however feels a little problematic in this day and age. The whole thing is plagued by a steady stream of misogyny, which would have probably been toned down if released today, but in my opinion, it's never glamorised. 95% of the male characters are grim shitbags, and the audience know it well.

I understand why a fair few people have an issue with Sin City and it's content, but personally, I find it to be a unique film with plenty of positives, a project that respects it's source material, and just about manages to avoid falling inside of its own arse.