Employment Law in Context
Book
Employment Law in Context combines extracts from leading cases and articles with insightful and...
Top Gear: the Cool 500
9.0
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Ever since Karl Benz first powered up his Patent-Motorwagen in 1885, man has salivated and swooned...
A Brahms Reader
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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was prominent not only as a composer but as a pianist, conductor,...
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry and Deirdre Osborne
6.8
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A Raisin in the Sun is a classic American play: a groundbreaking 1950s civil rights drama and has a...
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Dead Don't Die (2019) in Movies
Jun 15, 2020
I'm all for off beat and dark humour and wit, but I'm afraid for me this film was just too far in the left field. I liked the deadpan aspects and humour and also how it surpassed the fourth wall, the problem was the laughs were still few and far between. I like how this poked fun at today's society and there was a lot of social commentary, it was just so deadpan that a lot of the witty remarks were lost. The plot development too was so slow. The film was virtually over by the time it felt like it was going anywhere, and even when the zombies emerged in full they couldn't breathe any life (ha) into this. Strangely such a stellar cast were wasted too. Tilde Swinton's wacky funeral director was by far the most fun but even she got on my nerves by the end.
I'm all for your non-typical comedy, but sadly this film just wasn't for me. There are some good ideas in this but they feel wasted
Such a Fun Age
7.2
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Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to...
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Toronto Star
News and Sports
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Experience award-winning journalism from Canada's largest online news site, the Toronto Star. Our...
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Nerve (2016) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Nerve feels like its two movies in one. For the first two acts, Nerve is a young adult/teen film where we follow Vee (Emma Roberts) as she breaks free from her unassertive personality that has her in the background among her friends and afraid to tell her family where she wants to go to college. She is a good kid, but too timid to go after anything she really wants. Instead through the challenges of the game Nerve, she gains confidence in herself as she becomes involved with another Nerve player Ian (Dave Franco). Together, along with a fast paced uplifting soundtrack, we are taken on a fun and entertaining ride where you cannot help but care about these two and wonder what you would do in their situation.
Roberts and Franco are likable in their roles and they lead a stellar young cast who are all realistic in their youthful portrayal. Not too surprising because they are actually young actors, but it is important to note that the cast feels “real,” which helps sell the believability that a game like “Nerve” could actually exist in our world. Especially in a world where we are glued to our phones, tablets and computers in order to be the “star of our own lives” through the instant gratification of social media. Along with the recent emergence of the popularity of augmented reality games like Pokémon Go, it is conceivable that a game like Nerve could exist in our near future.
But this is where the film starts to fall apart. In the third act, the film hastily transitions into a social commentary of the anonymity of the internet, mob think and what we are willing to share online. While I understand this is a message that seem appropriate a story like this, that message would have been better served in a sinister film like the aforementioned, 13 Sins, and not in a movie which up to that point, felt that it was headed towards being an inspiring and uplifting film. It doesn’t help that the resolution of that social commentary was comical in its execution that completely pulls you out of the film. It was an unnecessary turn that wanted us to focus on the game Nerve rather than the characters the story made us care about. It’s a shame really because up until that point, the film Nerve was fun, enjoyable and inspiring, only to fall apart for no real reason other than to make a weak attempt at being something more than a teen movie.
I am sure the young adult/teenage audience this film is marketed towards will enjoy Nerve, but this film is really more of a rental or at most, a matinee.
Playing Offstage: The Theater as a Presence or Factor in the Real World
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Fourteen scholars who work on campus or in the theater address this issue of what it means to play...
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) in Movies
Oct 22, 2020
The film opens with Borat in a labor camp as the government was not pleased with how Kazakhstan was not pleased with how they came off in the prior film. He is given a chance at redemption and asked to deliver a gift to the U.S. in order to gain favor for the ruler of the country.
Borat goes home before embarking on his trip and finds his family no accepts him save for his daughter Sandra (Irina Novak). Since women are treated worse than animals in their culture Borat is dismissive of her and heads to America to complete his mission.
Naturally things do not go as planned such as being recognized which forces him to take on various disguises. If anyone has ever seen Cohen at work before they know what is coming as various outrageous comedic scenarios are setup and then conducted in front of unsuspecting real people who are unusually candid.
While interviews of famous people are often how he operates; there are multiple instances from shops to social clubs and offices where the scenarios unfold. No matter how shocking and outrageous the scenario; people let their guards day and say some really shocking things and give their reactions unconcerned with the camera no matter how bad they come off.
Cohen reportedly had to wear a bullet proof vest at times during the making of the film as he goes into some real hotspots involving armed and radical individuals as well as Conservative hotspots in order to complete a scenario.
The humor can be very crude and shocking to the point of jaw dropping; but it is very well setup and executed and the fact that so many of the people involved have no idea they are part of a bit and their unfiltered reactions and comments shock and entertain.
The fact that regardless of his persons from Ali-G to Borat and Bruno as well as those he introduced on Who is America; shows that Cohen is truly able to alter himself and become the various characters he portrays so completely that they continue to fool some very high-ranking individuals into taking part in on camera interviews and let their guards down to give unfiltered responses.
Irina Novak is a real surprise as she is a perfect match for Cohen and she immerses herself so fully in the character that she matches Cohen perfectly no matter how outrageous the scenario and even pulls off some amazing segments by herself.
While the film does drag a slight bit towards the end, the number of jokes and the very biting political and social commentary will make the film a very controversial and for many funny film that fans of Cohen and the first film will not want to miss.