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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018) in Movies
Dec 9, 2020
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot is a fantasticly B-Movie style title, hiding a genuinely touching and quite beautiful character drama.
The film focuses on the life of Calvin Barr, an old man portrayed by Sam Elliott. He's a guy who's lonely, seen some shit in his time, and feeling his age until one day, he's approached by the government to hunt and kill the legendary Bigfoot, and put a stop to a potential world ending plague. Calvin is a bit of a legendary creature himself, having served in WWII, and is said to have killed Hitler himself before it was covered up, and his immunity to this killer plague makes him the perfect candidate.
This quirky other wordly narrative is quite a jarring contrast to the otherwise grounded drama that makes up the rest of the plot. Flashbacks tell of Calvin's life before the war, and how he met the woman he wanted to marry. It's essentially a love story, that veers into bonkers territory at the flick of a switch.
Somehow though, it all works really well. The screenplay is top notch and gives us some engaging characters with a great cast. Sam Elliott has the grizzled old man role down to a tee by now. Aidan Turner plays the younger Calvin, and the relationship between him and Caitlin Fitzgerald's character is believable and touching. Larry Miller also stars as Calvin's brother and the two of them also have decent chemistry.
This movie is overflowing with gorgeous shots. The last third especially is a visual feast, and it's all complimented by a wonderful score, courtesy of Joe Kraemer.
If you're looking for a schlocky bad-good film suggested by the title then you're in the wrong place. This is a charming and quirky character drama with sprinkles of a creature feature, and I can fully see why some might not get on with it, but for me, it just works.
The film focuses on the life of Calvin Barr, an old man portrayed by Sam Elliott. He's a guy who's lonely, seen some shit in his time, and feeling his age until one day, he's approached by the government to hunt and kill the legendary Bigfoot, and put a stop to a potential world ending plague. Calvin is a bit of a legendary creature himself, having served in WWII, and is said to have killed Hitler himself before it was covered up, and his immunity to this killer plague makes him the perfect candidate.
This quirky other wordly narrative is quite a jarring contrast to the otherwise grounded drama that makes up the rest of the plot. Flashbacks tell of Calvin's life before the war, and how he met the woman he wanted to marry. It's essentially a love story, that veers into bonkers territory at the flick of a switch.
Somehow though, it all works really well. The screenplay is top notch and gives us some engaging characters with a great cast. Sam Elliott has the grizzled old man role down to a tee by now. Aidan Turner plays the younger Calvin, and the relationship between him and Caitlin Fitzgerald's character is believable and touching. Larry Miller also stars as Calvin's brother and the two of them also have decent chemistry.
This movie is overflowing with gorgeous shots. The last third especially is a visual feast, and it's all complimented by a wonderful score, courtesy of Joe Kraemer.
If you're looking for a schlocky bad-good film suggested by the title then you're in the wrong place. This is a charming and quirky character drama with sprinkles of a creature feature, and I can fully see why some might not get on with it, but for me, it just works.
Ali A (82 KP) rated A Multitude of Dreams in Books
Sep 6, 2023
Trigger Warnings: plague, death, blood, racism, murder, self harm, genocide, survivors guilt
A Multitude of Dreams is a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death. Four years ago, King Stuart gathered his royals, noblemen, and daughters and locked them into the safety of the castle walls. Every window was boarded up and every door sealed shut - all to protect those within of the horrible mori roja plague ravaging the land outside.
Told in third person, this novel follows Seraphina, a Jewish girl, who is also the (fake) Princess Imogene, and Nico, who once lived a comfortable life but now works for Lord Crane, the man who saved his life after he lost everything. When Lord Crane sends Nico and two others on the search for survivors, Nico meets a princess who wants out. But both are living in giant webs of lies and deception that they must unravel if they’re going to survive.
I wanted this title because I read The Poison Season and I really enjoyed it. So, when I saw Mara Rutherford had another YA novel coming out, I immediately put it on my TBR list. It’s also listed as Fantasy Gothic and
I was all about it and also the cover - like, I love it!
There were a few twists in here I didn’t quite see right away, which was nice. And, even some of the ones that I did see coming, I still enjoyed Rutherford’s storytelling and it kept me interested. And yes, there is some romance in this, but it wasn’t the main focus of the story - surviving and getting out of the castle was.
Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who’s in need of a good gothic fantasy with a hidden identity, Jewish representation, a masquerade, and the fight of survival.
*Thank you Inkyard Press and BookishFirst for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
A Multitude of Dreams is a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death. Four years ago, King Stuart gathered his royals, noblemen, and daughters and locked them into the safety of the castle walls. Every window was boarded up and every door sealed shut - all to protect those within of the horrible mori roja plague ravaging the land outside.
Told in third person, this novel follows Seraphina, a Jewish girl, who is also the (fake) Princess Imogene, and Nico, who once lived a comfortable life but now works for Lord Crane, the man who saved his life after he lost everything. When Lord Crane sends Nico and two others on the search for survivors, Nico meets a princess who wants out. But both are living in giant webs of lies and deception that they must unravel if they’re going to survive.
I wanted this title because I read The Poison Season and I really enjoyed it. So, when I saw Mara Rutherford had another YA novel coming out, I immediately put it on my TBR list. It’s also listed as Fantasy Gothic and
I was all about it and also the cover - like, I love it!
There were a few twists in here I didn’t quite see right away, which was nice. And, even some of the ones that I did see coming, I still enjoyed Rutherford’s storytelling and it kept me interested. And yes, there is some romance in this, but it wasn’t the main focus of the story - surviving and getting out of the castle was.
Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who’s in need of a good gothic fantasy with a hidden identity, Jewish representation, a masquerade, and the fight of survival.
*Thank you Inkyard Press and BookishFirst for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Masque of the Red Death (1964) in Movies
Mar 26, 2018 (Updated Mar 26, 2018)
Visually lavish Poe adaptation eschews easy shocks and fake gore (mostly) in favour of a more impressionistic and literary flavour of thoughtful horror. Devil-worshipping nobleman (Price) takes refuge from the plague in his castle, but decides to try and corrupt the soul of pious young village girl (Asher) while planning a big party. Will Satan turn up for the shindig, or will it be something worse...?
Classy, well-mounted movie, with a marvellously poetic script ('I have tasted the beauties of terror', and so on) - a bit like a feature-length Twilight Zone episode in glorious technicolour. The various subplots about a vengeful dwarf and Price's jealous mistress could be a bit sharper, but Price absolutely rocks the house in a role you can't imagine anyone else playing nearly as well. If Ingmar Bergman had ever got together with Hammer Films this is the kind of film which would have resulted.
Classy, well-mounted movie, with a marvellously poetic script ('I have tasted the beauties of terror', and so on) - a bit like a feature-length Twilight Zone episode in glorious technicolour. The various subplots about a vengeful dwarf and Price's jealous mistress could be a bit sharper, but Price absolutely rocks the house in a role you can't imagine anyone else playing nearly as well. If Ingmar Bergman had ever got together with Hammer Films this is the kind of film which would have resulted.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (1991) in Movies
Feb 12, 2018 (Updated Feb 12, 2018)
One last spin around the Alpha Quadrant for the original crew before they're dispatched to the Starfleet equivalent of a retirement home: the Klingon version of Chernobyl blows up, forcing the bumpy-headed ones to enter peace talks with the Federation; Klingon Gorbachev gets offed and Kirk and McCoy are framed for the murder.
As you can probably tell I've always felt this particular Trek movie to be rather over-rated; it deals with issues of racism and xenophobia but never goes dark enough to properly do them justice. Dramatically it would have been much more interesting if one of the regular characters had turned out to be a traitor, but the Trekkies would have gone berserk (to say nothing of the actor, I expect). Ambles along pleasantly enough, in the end: the studio's insistence on including as many jokes as possible continues to plague the series, and the political allegories are simplistic. Christopher Plummer has fun chewing the scenery as a Shakespeare-loving Klingon warrior.
As you can probably tell I've always felt this particular Trek movie to be rather over-rated; it deals with issues of racism and xenophobia but never goes dark enough to properly do them justice. Dramatically it would have been much more interesting if one of the regular characters had turned out to be a traitor, but the Trekkies would have gone berserk (to say nothing of the actor, I expect). Ambles along pleasantly enough, in the end: the studio's insistence on including as many jokes as possible continues to plague the series, and the political allegories are simplistic. Christopher Plummer has fun chewing the scenery as a Shakespeare-loving Klingon warrior.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) in Movies
Jul 6, 2019 (Updated Jul 6, 2019)
Herzog's take on Dracula strikes some startlingly different notes while still being an authentic and memorable version of this much-told tale. The plot sounds very much like Stoker's: Jonathan Harker is packed off to Transylvania to close a real-estate deal with the reclusive Count Dracula and learns some uncomfortable truths about host, who then departs for Harker's home town having taken a fancy to his wife.
It's the tone of the thing which is striking: Klaus Kinski's Dracula is not a ferocious sexual predator but a pathetic, rat-like parasite, spreading plague both literally and metaphorically. He is cursed as much as a curse, trapped in a miserable state of immortality. Kinski's performance is genuinely eerie, and the atmosphere of the rest of the film matches it. It is a bit on the slow side, and the relentlessly morbid atmosphere will likewise not be for everyone, but this is one of the better big-screen adaptations of Dracula.
It's the tone of the thing which is striking: Klaus Kinski's Dracula is not a ferocious sexual predator but a pathetic, rat-like parasite, spreading plague both literally and metaphorically. He is cursed as much as a curse, trapped in a miserable state of immortality. Kinski's performance is genuinely eerie, and the atmosphere of the rest of the film matches it. It is a bit on the slow side, and the relentlessly morbid atmosphere will likewise not be for everyone, but this is one of the better big-screen adaptations of Dracula.
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