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Awix (3310 KP) rated Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) (1989) in Movies

Jun 3, 2020  
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) (1989)
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) (1989)
1989 | Comedy, Romance
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Black romantic-comedy, a rare misfire from Pedro Almodovar. A mentally-unstable young man kidnaps a troubled actress and junkie and keeps her prisoner until she falls in love with him. Yes, I know: I would say it was a Spanish thing but it's fundamentally the same plot as Passengers and a few other movies.

I suppose it's conceivable that you could make quite an interesting and provocative film based on such a premise, provided you approached it the right way (perhaps in this case doing it ironically might be justified). However, Almodovar plays it unexpectedly straight, and quite apart from how dodgy the basis of the plot is, not even actors like Banderas and Abril (who do the best they can with the material) can make the story work. Lots of interesting characters and story material gets crowded out to the edges of the film, and it's oddly graphic for what's supposed to be a romance. Watchable but not satisfying.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2322 KP) rated Read It and Weep in Books

Oct 12, 2019  
Read It and Weep
Read It and Weep
Jenn McKinlay | 2013 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Romance Overshadows Mystery
This fall, Lindsey’s friend Violet La Rue is directing a local theater production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and she is encouraging everyone to try out for it. Lindsey is more interested in working behind the scenes on the costumes, but many of her friends land parts in the play. The one non-community member cast is Violet’s friend, Robbie Vine, a celebrated actor. He brings with him his wife and his girlfriend, but he still is immediately smitten with Lindsey, and he starts flirting with her, which does nothing but irritate Sully, Lindsey’s ex. However, Lindsey’s romantic troubles aren’t the biggest issue on the stage. Instead, a series of increasingly more serious accidents seem to be happening in the theater. Is someone out to destroy the production? Is any one person the target? Will Lindsey get to the bottom of things before someone dies?

Since I’m behind on this series, I knew that Lindsey was going to have some serious issues with her love life, and that is the case here. In fact, it feels more like the focus of the book with the mystery being a sub-plot. I’m a guy, so I don’t tend to read romances, and I stir clear of many romantic comedies because they aren’t my thing. The romantic comedy aspect of this book certainly bothered me. While there are some mysterious occurrences, it wasn’t really until the second half when the mystery really got going and even then, is often overshadowed by the romance. There is a good twist to the mystery, however. And I adore the series characters. We get to see a different side of a couple of them and finally spend some time getting to know Violet. On the other hand, the suspects were rather weak. I’ve read enough of author Jenn McKinlay’s books to know this is a blip from an author I usually adore. If you are a fan of her books, you’ll still want to see what happens here. If you are new to her books, you’ll be better served starting with a different book and coming back to this one later. Personally, I am looking forward to visiting Lindsey again soon.