Search
Search results
Pro Metronome - Tempo,Beat,Subdivision,Polyrhythm
Music and Education
App
Pro Metronome - The best metronome app. Period. Featured in Apple's WWDC 2014 showcase "Apps We...
Endless Frontier Saga - RPG
Games
App
Endless Frontier is the best in idle role playing games for commanding your army of knights in a...
Quran Memorization Program: Learning, Memorizing and Mastering the Holy Qura'an in arabic handwritten script
Education
App
برنامج حفظ القرآن الكريم Quran Memorization Program (QMP) بين يديكم...
AKA TO BLUE
Games and Entertainment
App
▼▼PLEASE READ RECOMMENDED DEVICES SECTION BEFORE PURCHASING▼▼ The first console-quality...
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Ghost Stories (2018) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
In that sleep of death, what dreams may come.
“Ghost Stories” is based on the spooky London West-End stage play by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman who both write and direct the film version. I didn’t know this until the end credits, but began to wonder in the final act where the action suddenly becomes very “stagey” in nature. The screenplay was always bound to be both bizarre and intriguing, since Dyson has been a past contributor to TV’s “League of Gentlemen” and other equally surreal programmes and Nyman has been a major collaborator with the stage-illusionist Derren Brown.
Nyman himself plays TV paranormal debunker Professor Goodman who receives a surprise message from a respected colleague, long thought dead, who on his death bed wants Goodman to investigate the three cases from his career that he was never able to debunk. The first concerns Tony Matthews (Paul Whitehouse, “The Death of Stalin“) as a night watchman at a spooky old asylum; the second concerns Simon Rifkind (Alex Lawther, young Turing in “The Imitation Game“) as a freaked-out young man with a forest breakdown; and Mike Priddle (Martin Freeman, “Black Panther“) as a rich broker with parenting issues. As Goodman investigates each case weirder and weirder things start to happen: is this his mind playing tricks as his faith is rocked, or is there something more sinister going on?
The primary issue I have with this film is its portmanteau nature, harking back to similar films like “The Twilight Zone: the Movie”. Having three segments, loosely linked together, feels like a clunky device for a feature film…. (“Why are there three cases to investigate? Well, two would have made the film too short, and four would have made it too long!”).
That being said, the overall story arc and the drawing together of the strands for the unexpected (although not terribly original) conclusion, is intriguing.
The film looks and feels like a British-made horror film, which is both a compliment and a criticism. Who doesn’t like the jump-scares and the vague tackiness of a Hammer horror? But if you care to compare the production values on show here versus “A Quiet Place“, there is no comparison. The location-shot scenes (which are most of the scenes) seem to be very poorly lit: and that’s the non-spooky ones where you are supposed to see what’s going on!
The cast seem to be well-suited to their roles, with Paul Whitehouse in particular being impressive as the ‘on the make’ Matthews, who always feels like being on the knife-edge of violent outburst. I particularly liked Alex Lawther who does “spooked” extremely well! The script also seems to be well-tuned to the characters, with a number of laugh-out-loud lines. “****ing O2” exclaims Simon as he waves his mobile in the air… something the marketing department at the telecoms giant must have loved!
The critics seem to have been overtly positive about this film, which I can’t quite match. Apart from one or two scenes towards the end, all of the jump scares were pretty well signposted in advance. But it’s still as fun as a slightly tacky ghost house ride at the fairground, if you like that sort of thing, and is certainly a much more interesting and better watch in my book than some recent and much higher budget horror films like “It“.
Nyman himself plays TV paranormal debunker Professor Goodman who receives a surprise message from a respected colleague, long thought dead, who on his death bed wants Goodman to investigate the three cases from his career that he was never able to debunk. The first concerns Tony Matthews (Paul Whitehouse, “The Death of Stalin“) as a night watchman at a spooky old asylum; the second concerns Simon Rifkind (Alex Lawther, young Turing in “The Imitation Game“) as a freaked-out young man with a forest breakdown; and Mike Priddle (Martin Freeman, “Black Panther“) as a rich broker with parenting issues. As Goodman investigates each case weirder and weirder things start to happen: is this his mind playing tricks as his faith is rocked, or is there something more sinister going on?
The primary issue I have with this film is its portmanteau nature, harking back to similar films like “The Twilight Zone: the Movie”. Having three segments, loosely linked together, feels like a clunky device for a feature film…. (“Why are there three cases to investigate? Well, two would have made the film too short, and four would have made it too long!”).
That being said, the overall story arc and the drawing together of the strands for the unexpected (although not terribly original) conclusion, is intriguing.
The film looks and feels like a British-made horror film, which is both a compliment and a criticism. Who doesn’t like the jump-scares and the vague tackiness of a Hammer horror? But if you care to compare the production values on show here versus “A Quiet Place“, there is no comparison. The location-shot scenes (which are most of the scenes) seem to be very poorly lit: and that’s the non-spooky ones where you are supposed to see what’s going on!
The cast seem to be well-suited to their roles, with Paul Whitehouse in particular being impressive as the ‘on the make’ Matthews, who always feels like being on the knife-edge of violent outburst. I particularly liked Alex Lawther who does “spooked” extremely well! The script also seems to be well-tuned to the characters, with a number of laugh-out-loud lines. “****ing O2” exclaims Simon as he waves his mobile in the air… something the marketing department at the telecoms giant must have loved!
The critics seem to have been overtly positive about this film, which I can’t quite match. Apart from one or two scenes towards the end, all of the jump scares were pretty well signposted in advance. But it’s still as fun as a slightly tacky ghost house ride at the fairground, if you like that sort of thing, and is certainly a much more interesting and better watch in my book than some recent and much higher budget horror films like “It“.
Concerned Ape's Haunted Chicolatier
Video Game Watch
Hey everyone, After dedicating 10 years of my life to Stardew Valley (and counting), the time has...
Concerned Ape Haunted Chocolatier Stardew Valley
Charlotte (210 KP) rated Black Mirror - Season 4 in TV
Jan 4, 2018
each episode is unique and interesting in their own right (the only slight exception to this rule is the final episode, Black Museum, which makes a few references to those that precede it) (4 more)
humour seems to play a slightly larger role in this season, although do not be fooled!! it's certainly not a lighthearted series
FEMALE LEAD IN EVERY EPISODE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this isn't something that i should have to celebrate but it was really refreshing to be able to watch a series (especially a sci fi series??) with a variety of convincing female characters
incredibly thought provoking and relevant in the modern world
dark, terrifying, heartbreaking, funny and thrilling in equal measures
still being in the honeymoon stage with this season means i'm struggling to find major flaws- some of the concepts were ones i'd considered before (am i just really paranoid???) so did not find them as unique as i could have [cont.] (1 more)
[cont. from above] HOWEVER this made some of them more interesting as i got to see these ideas brought to life and considered from a really interesting perspective!!
black mirror is my favourite show so please do excuse a certain bias here, i am trying to remain neutral!! this season was highly awaited and i watched it all of the way through twice within the first 48 of its release- you might call that dedication but this was very much influenced by being very ill and unable to move (every cloud, eh??) THAT SAID, i would highly recommend watching each episode again after you've seen the series to spot the hints and sinister details that may have slipped by unnoticed the first time round!!
The Failure of the southern column to continue to advance north after the battle of Rosebud set the stage for the annihilation of George Armstrong Custer and his five companies of the 7th Calvary at the Little Big Horn. For nearly 150 years everything possible has been written except the true causes and culprits of the bloody fiasco at the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, that shocked the American nation like no other post-Civil War event. Dr. Tucker has relied primarily on source material to expose those individuals American's leading military and civilian officials, who were most responsible for the greatest military disaster. Revealing the Machiavellian currents, dark threads that had artificially manufactured against the Sioux by America's top leaders, including the president, to gain their territory of the Black Hills. He provides with a new understanding of why Custer died on that mountaintop with his most faithful followers. This book brings the reader closer to understanding exactly what occurred on that fateful day that left one man standing and the rest 7th Calvary and Custer dead in the dirt. This book does cover some of the previous books written but you can tell that Dr. Tucker took the time to research further not completely satisfied with the consciences the previous researchers on the Little Big Horn or the life of Custer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in post-civil war history, military history or Custer. The overall view was quite refreshing in the fact it covers how much was honestly lost that day not just the dead of those men.