Into The Churn
10.0
Rate It
Book
Seventeen-year-old Ezren Hart interns in her mother’s terraforming lab, studying Belethea’s...
Young Adult Science Fiction Adventure Action Romance
Pumped (Mars Fitness #3)
10.0
Rate It
Book
Love is co-parenting with my worst enemy. Owen Everest is an irresponsible, delinquent,...
Contemporary MM Romance Enemies-to-Lovers Grumpy/Sunshine
Brothersong
10.0
Rate It
Book
Set in the dreamy backwoods of Oregon, Brothersong is a queer, paranormal romance of burning passion...
Into the Wind: My Six-Month Journey Wandering the World for Life's Purpose
Book
Without a map, nineteen-year-old Jake Ducey leaves behind a drug-filled life and college basketball...
Gladiatori Moderni
Book
Bodies, sweat, the direct gaze; strength, courage, doubt; the visual and emotional alphabet of Piero...
FreeCell ▻ Solitaire +
Games and Entertainment
App
FreeCell Solitaire is the #1 card games solitaire! Discover the next evolution of the classic free...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Black Phone (2022) in Movies
Jul 19, 2022
Wisely set in a time before cell phones (like both Stranger Things and It), THE BLACK PHONE tells the tale of a small town in Colorado that suddenly falls victim to “THE GRABBER” - an individual who grabs young teenage boys and kills them.
Smartly Directed by Scott Derrickson (the first DOCTOR STRANGE film), THE BLACK PHONE is effective for it focuses on the isolation of being in captivity, the anxiety of not knowing when someone is going to come through the door of the cell and the relationships of the young teens caught in “The Grabber’s” web. Credit for this, of course, goes to Derrickson who dropped out of Directing DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (over “creative differences”) and chose this passion project as his salve - and the passion shows. It must also be pointed out that Derrickson, wisely, opts to up the tension of this film, rather than the gore, so this movie becomes a suspense flick and not torture-porn.
Derrickson also draws very good performances from the young actors playing the main roles of this film - Mason Thames (Finney), Madeleine McGraw (Gwen), Tristan Pravong (Bruce), Jacob Moran (Billy) and Miguel Cazarez Mora (Robin). All are believable in their well written roles bringing more than just one-dimension to their characters.
These kids are more than ably joined by adult actors like James Ransone (IT: CHAPTER TWO), Jeremy Davies (TV’s LOST) and E. Roger Mitchell (OUTER BANKS). All of these folks bring gravitas and reality to a story that does drift into the un-reality at times.
And then there is the performance of the always good Ethan Hawke as the villain of this piece - THE GRABBER. It is a masterful performance by Hawke who brings humanity to this monster. Almost every actor that plays a villain say that they try to see the film from the villain’s point of view and Hawke brings that to this character in spades and (almost) makes one want to root for him. It is one of the better villains realized on film in the last few years.
One quibble with The Black Phone, is that it does have a tendency to sag a bit (especially in the middle). It is in the middle of the film that one can tell that this movie was based on a SHORT story and so, by necessity, there is some padding.
But that is picking a nit in what is a smart and tense film, one that will have you on the edge of your seat until the end.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Stiletto 911: The Makeover Manifesto in Books
Jan 15, 2018
It tells the story of Morgan who has a complete break down in her faith of herself. That break down climaxes with her artist boyfriend tossing her designer duds out the window of their apartment onto a rain soaked street. This causes Morgan to take a step back and analyze the way she was presenting herself to the world.
The story of itself was okay. Morgan was an interesting character that had many layers to her. However, I found it fairly predictable which surprised me. I expected to enjoy the story more than the self help suggsestions at the end of each chapter, however I found myself more engrossed in them than the story itself.
This was an okay read. It put many interesting points out there for you to consider and look at in your own life. The writing left something to be desired however. If I took one thing from it, it is a renewed passion for journaling. I'd done it in the past but kind of let it fall by the wayside. This book makes me want to pull it back out & use it to help me sort through my own life.
Debbiereadsbook (1475 KP) rated Missing Pieces (The White Creek #1) in Books
Mar 7, 2019
I'm a bit in two minds about this book, and I can't figure out why but I'll try.
It's a Nice book. I know I hate using that word but it's the best I can come up with! It has drama, passion, love, hate, lots of different emotions with just enough of each to not be overpowering.
I will say this, only Harper has a say. In the first person AND present tense. And it took me til way past halfway to figure out it was present tense, so well done to Fox for making me NOT see something that might have made me dump it!
I did need to hear from Easton though. I think he would have had a lot to say, especially about what he's dealing with, with his sisters and his nutty ex.
And I found out after I'd read this, that this is a first time author! So very well done to Fox for this book, even if it wasn't quite my cuppa tea.
I enjoyed it, it didn't quite push any buttons for me, BUT! I would like to read the next one, just to see how Fox' skill is growing. And Easton's sister really could be an interesting character!
3 GOOD solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**