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Lee (2222 KP) rated Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) in Movies
Oct 16, 2018 (Updated Oct 16, 2018)
Nice mystery thriller
The El Royale is a bi-state establishment. A painted red line runs straight through the centre of the car park and right through the centre of reception, leading to a jukebox. One half of this hotel lies in Nevada, the other half in California. The rooms on the California side are a little more expensive because.... well, because it's California!
A number of guests arrive in reception - Jon Hamm is a vacuum cleaner salesmen, keen to stay in the honeymoon suite, Jeff Bridges is a priest and Cynthia Erivo a singer. They chat a while as they wait for somebody to return to the reception desk so that they can check in. And then another woman arrives, played by Dakota Fanning. She's not so chatty.
They all head off to their rooms and begin behaving in very different and mysterious ways. One is taking the room apart, removing microphones and phone taps, another is lifting up floorboards, another is singing into the mirror while another is bringing in a body from the boot of a car.
There's not a lot else that can be said without giving things away but much of the movie is spent exploring each of these characters and what they're all up to. We go back in time days, even years, exploring their past a little and discovering what brought them all to the El Royale. Stories within the hotel overlap and affect each other, with twists and turns revealing different motives for various people. It's all very mysterious, very well executed and very enjoyable.
Where I felt the movie falters is in the latter third, with the introduction of Chris Hemsworth. I didn't really buy into his character at all and that's when the pacing, the mystery and the enjoyment fell apart somewhat for me. It picks up with a couple more twists and surprises towards the but at 141 minutes, I feel the movie could have easily benefited from losing 20-30 minutes from its run time. Overall though, this was an enjoyable bit of fun.
A number of guests arrive in reception - Jon Hamm is a vacuum cleaner salesmen, keen to stay in the honeymoon suite, Jeff Bridges is a priest and Cynthia Erivo a singer. They chat a while as they wait for somebody to return to the reception desk so that they can check in. And then another woman arrives, played by Dakota Fanning. She's not so chatty.
They all head off to their rooms and begin behaving in very different and mysterious ways. One is taking the room apart, removing microphones and phone taps, another is lifting up floorboards, another is singing into the mirror while another is bringing in a body from the boot of a car.
There's not a lot else that can be said without giving things away but much of the movie is spent exploring each of these characters and what they're all up to. We go back in time days, even years, exploring their past a little and discovering what brought them all to the El Royale. Stories within the hotel overlap and affect each other, with twists and turns revealing different motives for various people. It's all very mysterious, very well executed and very enjoyable.
Where I felt the movie falters is in the latter third, with the introduction of Chris Hemsworth. I didn't really buy into his character at all and that's when the pacing, the mystery and the enjoyment fell apart somewhat for me. It picks up with a couple more twists and surprises towards the but at 141 minutes, I feel the movie could have easily benefited from losing 20-30 minutes from its run time. Overall though, this was an enjoyable bit of fun.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Musical Mayhem (Totally Twins, #1) in Books
Dec 14, 2018
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Musical Mayhem</i> is the first book in the <i>Totally Twins</i> series aimed at ten-year-old girls. Subtitled <i>The Fabulous Diary of Persephone Pinchgut</i>, the series is about the life of identical sisters from one twin’s point of view. Portia and Persephone may look the same, share friends and borrow each other’s clothes, but inside they are polar opposites. Starting a diary is the only way Persephone can have something that is entirely her own, where she can write about how she really feels.
The main storyline revolves around the upcoming end of term musical at the twins’ school. Persephone only joined the drama class at Portia’s insistence, whereas in reality she is a shy girl with absolutely no singing ability. Persephone writes about her dread of the auditions and the hurtful teasing from her perfect sister.
Many young girls (and boys), like the author herself, wish at some point to have a twin. Portia and Persephone may have a special connection that other siblings do not, but as this diary reveals, having a twin is not all sunshine and rainbows. Persephone also writes about her parents’ divorce, her alternate therapy obsessed Mum and her hopes and dreams for the future. There are many things for young girls to relate to.
Illustrator Serena Geddes completes the book with her simple drawings. <i>Musical Mayhem</i> is not a children’s’ picture book; it is a step between child and teenager novels. For an adult reader the storyline is uninspiring, however a child of ten would enjoy the characters, humour and the issues expressed.
<i>Totally Twins: Musical Mayhem</i> is a great start to a unique series of short books for girls. It is something that junior school children will love to collect to build up their own personal library. The book jackets are attractive and will look great when all together as a set. If you are looking for a present for a young girl, I recommend considering this book.
Musical Mayhem</i> is the first book in the <i>Totally Twins</i> series aimed at ten-year-old girls. Subtitled <i>The Fabulous Diary of Persephone Pinchgut</i>, the series is about the life of identical sisters from one twin’s point of view. Portia and Persephone may look the same, share friends and borrow each other’s clothes, but inside they are polar opposites. Starting a diary is the only way Persephone can have something that is entirely her own, where she can write about how she really feels.
The main storyline revolves around the upcoming end of term musical at the twins’ school. Persephone only joined the drama class at Portia’s insistence, whereas in reality she is a shy girl with absolutely no singing ability. Persephone writes about her dread of the auditions and the hurtful teasing from her perfect sister.
Many young girls (and boys), like the author herself, wish at some point to have a twin. Portia and Persephone may have a special connection that other siblings do not, but as this diary reveals, having a twin is not all sunshine and rainbows. Persephone also writes about her parents’ divorce, her alternate therapy obsessed Mum and her hopes and dreams for the future. There are many things for young girls to relate to.
Illustrator Serena Geddes completes the book with her simple drawings. <i>Musical Mayhem</i> is not a children’s’ picture book; it is a step between child and teenager novels. For an adult reader the storyline is uninspiring, however a child of ten would enjoy the characters, humour and the issues expressed.
<i>Totally Twins: Musical Mayhem</i> is a great start to a unique series of short books for girls. It is something that junior school children will love to collect to build up their own personal library. The book jackets are attractive and will look great when all together as a set. If you are looking for a present for a young girl, I recommend considering this book.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Judy (2019) in Movies
Feb 6, 2020
Brilliant performance by Zellwegger - and not much else
Renee Zellwegger is absolutely brilliant in her channeling of Judy Garland in the film JUDY. She deserves to - and WILL WIN - the Oscar for Best Actress. Her performance is amazing and I forgot that I was watching an actress playing Judy Garland and fell into a trance thinking I was actually watching the real Judy Garland.
Too bad the rest of the film is not this good.
Based on actual events, JUDY tells the story of a late in her career Judy Garland's trek to London for a series of Concerts. She is down on her luck, addicted to pills, filled with self doubt and ghosts from her past. In general...she is a wreck...and needs the $$ from these concerts to keep custody of her 2 young children.
And...Zellwegger plays all of these emotions as Judy very, very well as well as shining in the performance scenes where Judy was able - albeit for a short time - to "come up for air" and perform as the world class performer she is. Zellwegger trained for over a year with a vocal coach to get the singing/performance part of this film down - and it shows. She is brilliant in these moments.
The trouble with this film as written by Tom Edge (based on the stage play "End of the Rainbow" by Peter Quilter) and Director Rupert Goold is that this film doesn't really go anywhere. There is no arc to Judy's story. She starts the film as a trainwreck...and ends the film as a trainwreck. There isn't evem a realization by Judy that she is a trainwreck. She just IS a trainwreck.
And that does not a compelling movie make.
Rufus Sewell, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock and Michael Gambon are all along for a ride on this train and all choose to get off before the end and the inevitable trainwreck that is going to happen.
Is this film worth seeing? Sure...for Zellwegger's Oscar winning performance. Unfortunately, it doesn't have anything else to recommend it.
Letter Grade B (solely on the performance)
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (OfMarquis)
Too bad the rest of the film is not this good.
Based on actual events, JUDY tells the story of a late in her career Judy Garland's trek to London for a series of Concerts. She is down on her luck, addicted to pills, filled with self doubt and ghosts from her past. In general...she is a wreck...and needs the $$ from these concerts to keep custody of her 2 young children.
And...Zellwegger plays all of these emotions as Judy very, very well as well as shining in the performance scenes where Judy was able - albeit for a short time - to "come up for air" and perform as the world class performer she is. Zellwegger trained for over a year with a vocal coach to get the singing/performance part of this film down - and it shows. She is brilliant in these moments.
The trouble with this film as written by Tom Edge (based on the stage play "End of the Rainbow" by Peter Quilter) and Director Rupert Goold is that this film doesn't really go anywhere. There is no arc to Judy's story. She starts the film as a trainwreck...and ends the film as a trainwreck. There isn't evem a realization by Judy that she is a trainwreck. She just IS a trainwreck.
And that does not a compelling movie make.
Rufus Sewell, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock and Michael Gambon are all along for a ride on this train and all choose to get off before the end and the inevitable trainwreck that is going to happen.
Is this film worth seeing? Sure...for Zellwegger's Oscar winning performance. Unfortunately, it doesn't have anything else to recommend it.
Letter Grade B (solely on the performance)
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (OfMarquis)
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Ballad of Sandy McNab in Books
Jan 9, 2020
The Ballad of Sandy McNab by Colin Mackenzie is an interesting childrens book with a very different art style. The back of the book claims that this book will be available as a childrens song (I have not looked for it as of yet). The way the book flows definitely lends itself to being a song.
A little green crab is minding his own business in his home when a shark shows up. The shark tries to trick the crab into going outside by asking him to come out and play. When the crab refuses the shark breaks in and tries to attack him. The little crab is quicker than the shark and pinches it until the shark leaves. With the shark gone the little crab can live peacefully again.
It is hard to pick out just one thing as my favorite when I think the entire book is great. The little crab pinching the sharks nose made me smile and a whale swallowing the shark was an ironic twist I was not expecting. As for what I did not like, its not exactly a complaint this time but more of something that people should be aware of when getting a book (or anything really) that is not from their country. On two pages there was a word that just felt wrong to me. One was barmy which given the context I believe means stupid. The other was nippers which I believe to be claws. While this is not a problem with this book people (like myself) should be prepared for language differences.
Parents will enjoy reading this short book to their children and may find that is is difficult to read it without singing it or adding emphasis on the verbal patterns. Also as children get older this is a book that they will still enjoy reading themselves. I give this childrens book a 4 out of 4 rating like so many others. The story is not overly long or detailed and the author clearly took time to structure a story around the rhymes. It keeps a steady rhythm that is frequently hard to accomplish. The story itself is cute with a crab besting a much larger opponent.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.come
A little green crab is minding his own business in his home when a shark shows up. The shark tries to trick the crab into going outside by asking him to come out and play. When the crab refuses the shark breaks in and tries to attack him. The little crab is quicker than the shark and pinches it until the shark leaves. With the shark gone the little crab can live peacefully again.
It is hard to pick out just one thing as my favorite when I think the entire book is great. The little crab pinching the sharks nose made me smile and a whale swallowing the shark was an ironic twist I was not expecting. As for what I did not like, its not exactly a complaint this time but more of something that people should be aware of when getting a book (or anything really) that is not from their country. On two pages there was a word that just felt wrong to me. One was barmy which given the context I believe means stupid. The other was nippers which I believe to be claws. While this is not a problem with this book people (like myself) should be prepared for language differences.
Parents will enjoy reading this short book to their children and may find that is is difficult to read it without singing it or adding emphasis on the verbal patterns. Also as children get older this is a book that they will still enjoy reading themselves. I give this childrens book a 4 out of 4 rating like so many others. The story is not overly long or detailed and the author clearly took time to structure a story around the rhymes. It keeps a steady rhythm that is frequently hard to accomplish. The story itself is cute with a crab besting a much larger opponent.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.come
JT (287 KP) rated Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
With the impending Avengers flick due out in the summer this year, 2011 was all about wrapping up the the final film which would link yet another character into the superhero pack. If I’m honest I am pretty bored of the superhero genre of late, so this one was going to have to work hard if it was going to hold my interest. But, for the most part… hold my interest it did!
Evans starts off as a scrawny weakling, desperate to serve his country during World War II. You’ll have to look hard to realise that Evans’ appearance is a brilliant piece of CGI, no man could get to that size and back in such a short space of time.
He then gets himself accepted as part of an experiment to transform average soldiers into supreme physical beings. Rogers, now a beef cake becomes an American poster boy for the war promoting everything the American public should stand for.
Singing in chorus lines he longs to be part of the action, to get onto the front line and to help bring down HYDRA, and its main villain Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull.
The film moves through the gears, massive explosions and some great action set pieces. But you’d expect nothing less, director Joe Johnston injects the film with enough to tie over until a rather disappointing ending.
One of the bright lights however is Weaving, whose Red Skull is one of the more colourful villains we might have seen in recent times. His penetrating persona gives the film a lift when otherwise it was heading for the doldrums.
Captain America does what pretty much every other super hero film has done before it, starts as an origins story, throws some back history in along with a lot of action but ultimately fails on the big pay off.
We all know where the film is going though, as most will have seen all the trailers surrounding The Avengers, for me though this is just another missing piece of the puzzle that will lead onto a much greater film. After which Captain America will pretty much be all but forgotten.
Evans starts off as a scrawny weakling, desperate to serve his country during World War II. You’ll have to look hard to realise that Evans’ appearance is a brilliant piece of CGI, no man could get to that size and back in such a short space of time.
He then gets himself accepted as part of an experiment to transform average soldiers into supreme physical beings. Rogers, now a beef cake becomes an American poster boy for the war promoting everything the American public should stand for.
Singing in chorus lines he longs to be part of the action, to get onto the front line and to help bring down HYDRA, and its main villain Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull.
The film moves through the gears, massive explosions and some great action set pieces. But you’d expect nothing less, director Joe Johnston injects the film with enough to tie over until a rather disappointing ending.
One of the bright lights however is Weaving, whose Red Skull is one of the more colourful villains we might have seen in recent times. His penetrating persona gives the film a lift when otherwise it was heading for the doldrums.
Captain America does what pretty much every other super hero film has done before it, starts as an origins story, throws some back history in along with a lot of action but ultimately fails on the big pay off.
We all know where the film is going though, as most will have seen all the trailers surrounding The Avengers, for me though this is just another missing piece of the puzzle that will lead onto a much greater film. After which Captain America will pretty much be all but forgotten.
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