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From the Fatherland with Love
Ryu Murakami, Charles De Wolf, Ralph McCarthy and Ginny Takemori
Book
An ambitious, epic dystopian novel - part political thriller and part satire. From the Fatherland,...
Beware of Pity
Anthea Bell, Stefan Zweig and David Pearson
Book
Stefan's Zweig's Beware of Pity is an almost unbearably tense and powerful tale of unrequited love...
Caribou recommended In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel in Music (curated)
Rob Halford recommended Queen II by Queen in Music (curated)
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Yes Infinity War was good... but for me, Ant-Man And The Wasp was better. Yes IW was epic and devastating, but out of the two I didn't have any quibbles about this one. The CGI was what really did it for me. In IW Thanos' minions looked terrible, even when you take into consideration that they're aliens. But seeing the CGI in the flashback scenes in this one I was impressed at how real it all looked.
This is another film that makes me wish companies would think before they make their trailers. Fallout showed you a trailer that makes it look like Cavill is fighting Cruise and gives away a plot point that, at that point in the actual film, isn't certain. Fallen Kingdom shows you the shot of our giant aquatic friend playing with surfers, which in the actual movie doesn't happen until the closing scenes. In one of the Ant-Man trailers we see what amounts to the end of credits scene... yes there are things that are added to fit with the MCU timeline, but I don't feel like that really makes any difference to the situation. I also think that they should have left the shrinking building out of the trailers to give that a bigger impact in the release.
As far as the movies of the MCU go there are definitely some that are on the funnier side, and this fits that bill. Paul Rudd is obviously still a little goofy, and has an amazing montage sequence as he battles with his last few days of house arrest. But the real comedic star of this for me was Michael Peña. Lovable and an absolute gem. His face when he gets his hands on the Hot Wheels case... kid in a candy store. I truly hope that he survived the dusting of Infinity War. Pipe dreams I know, but I'm hoping he makes it through so he can Neville Longbottom Thanos.
To briefly cover the mid credit scene, which obviously left me with my jaw dropped a bit. There's one thing I'm wondering about, Scott says... "our new ghost friend"... now initially you'd think that he's talking about Ava, but she went off separately at the end of the film and it's got to take a fairly long time to make a new Quantum Tunnel, so could he be talking about someone else?
I still don't quite understand the decision to release this after IW considering the film itself is based before in the timeline, the only thing requiring it to be that way were the after credit scenes. Bit of a shame as I feel like after the epic nature of IW this has suffered as it's not on the same world ending and story completing level
This is another film that makes me wish companies would think before they make their trailers. Fallout showed you a trailer that makes it look like Cavill is fighting Cruise and gives away a plot point that, at that point in the actual film, isn't certain. Fallen Kingdom shows you the shot of our giant aquatic friend playing with surfers, which in the actual movie doesn't happen until the closing scenes. In one of the Ant-Man trailers we see what amounts to the end of credits scene... yes there are things that are added to fit with the MCU timeline, but I don't feel like that really makes any difference to the situation. I also think that they should have left the shrinking building out of the trailers to give that a bigger impact in the release.
As far as the movies of the MCU go there are definitely some that are on the funnier side, and this fits that bill. Paul Rudd is obviously still a little goofy, and has an amazing montage sequence as he battles with his last few days of house arrest. But the real comedic star of this for me was Michael Peña. Lovable and an absolute gem. His face when he gets his hands on the Hot Wheels case... kid in a candy store. I truly hope that he survived the dusting of Infinity War. Pipe dreams I know, but I'm hoping he makes it through so he can Neville Longbottom Thanos.
To briefly cover the mid credit scene, which obviously left me with my jaw dropped a bit. There's one thing I'm wondering about, Scott says... "our new ghost friend"... now initially you'd think that he's talking about Ava, but she went off separately at the end of the film and it's got to take a fairly long time to make a new Quantum Tunnel, so could he be talking about someone else?
I still don't quite understand the decision to release this after IW considering the film itself is based before in the timeline, the only thing requiring it to be that way were the after credit scenes. Bit of a shame as I feel like after the epic nature of IW this has suffered as it's not on the same world ending and story completing level
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Last Time I Saw You in Books
Aug 23, 2019
Dr. Kate English's glamorous life comes to a screeching halt when her mother, Lily, dies--brutally murdered in her own home. At the funeral, Kate reunites with her close college friend, Blaire Barrington, whom she hasn't seen in fifteen years, since the two had a falling out. But Kate's grief and shock get even worse when she receives a text, "You think you're sad now, just wait. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll wish you had been buried today." Soon she finds herself threatened, wondering if she's being watched and targeted in her own home. She asks Blaire to help look into her mother's death. But Blaire's aggressive questions alienate Kate's friends, and all the while, Kate feels increasingly afraid for her own life. Who killed Lily, and are they coming for Kate next?
"Only days ago, Kate had been mulling over what to get her mother for Christmas. She couldn't have known that instead of choosing a gift, she'd be picking out a casket."
This was a creepy enough thriller, but boy, it was chock full of a cast of unlikable characters. It was impossible to find much sympathy for Kate, despite her grief over her mother. She was an irrational, annoying, wealthy woman and a terrible mother to her young daughter, whom she foisted on the nanny every chance she got. Blaire had few redeeming qualities; same with Kate's philandering husband, Simon. It seemed like poor Lily was probably the best in the bunch, but she was dead.
The writing in this one was tough for me. A lot of simplistic words and style, which was filled with much telling, but little showing. Stop telling me how everyone feels and let it all unfold naturally. This was coupled with a ton of very short, fake red herrings that kept getting thrown in every few chapters. I'm all for a red herring, but let it fully play out. Instead, it would be tossed in and then almost immediately ruled out, leaving you with the equivalent of literary whiplash.
There were also a lot of pretty major "coincidences" that left me feeling a bit dubious. Seriously, this is really happening? Many of the plot points were rather predictable, though there were a couple of good twists. It was a creepy read, though seemed oddly simple (I can't think of another way to describe it), and it did keep me reading.
Overall, not my favorite read, and doesn't motivate me to read the previous Liv Constantine book that much. My notes say "good enough," which is probably the best description I can come up with. I kept reading, but I didn't love it. 2.5 stars.
"Only days ago, Kate had been mulling over what to get her mother for Christmas. She couldn't have known that instead of choosing a gift, she'd be picking out a casket."
This was a creepy enough thriller, but boy, it was chock full of a cast of unlikable characters. It was impossible to find much sympathy for Kate, despite her grief over her mother. She was an irrational, annoying, wealthy woman and a terrible mother to her young daughter, whom she foisted on the nanny every chance she got. Blaire had few redeeming qualities; same with Kate's philandering husband, Simon. It seemed like poor Lily was probably the best in the bunch, but she was dead.
The writing in this one was tough for me. A lot of simplistic words and style, which was filled with much telling, but little showing. Stop telling me how everyone feels and let it all unfold naturally. This was coupled with a ton of very short, fake red herrings that kept getting thrown in every few chapters. I'm all for a red herring, but let it fully play out. Instead, it would be tossed in and then almost immediately ruled out, leaving you with the equivalent of literary whiplash.
There were also a lot of pretty major "coincidences" that left me feeling a bit dubious. Seriously, this is really happening? Many of the plot points were rather predictable, though there were a couple of good twists. It was a creepy read, though seemed oddly simple (I can't think of another way to describe it), and it did keep me reading.
Overall, not my favorite read, and doesn't motivate me to read the previous Liv Constantine book that much. My notes say "good enough," which is probably the best description I can come up with. I kept reading, but I didn't love it. 2.5 stars.
EMPIRE: The Deck Building Strategy Game
Games and Entertainment
App
“Empire is so tight it squeaks, and I suspect it’s the best game I’ve played this year.” -...
Lee (2222 KP) rated She Dies Tomorrow (2020) in Movies
Sep 2, 2020
Pretentious waste of time
On paper, the concept behind She Dies Tomorrow is an intriguing one – “Amy thinks she’s dying tomorrow…and it’s contagious..”. And the trailer provided just enough mystery to make me want to seek it out too. Is it a portrayal of paranoia and anxiety, or is there something more sinister or supernatural at work, that they carefully and cleverly avoided showing us in the trailer?
We join Amy, already convinced that she is going to die tomorrow. She wanders aimlessly around her flat at night, drinking wine. Lying on the wooden floor, she traces her finger along the wood veins in the floorboards and presses herself against the wall, as if she is at one with the world and her surroundings. She also repeatedly drops the needle on a score by Mozart – a piece of music that I do not initially dislike, but come to loathe by the end of the movie.
Her close friend Jane pays a visit, but is dismissive of Amy and her insistence that tomorrow she will die. However, after Jane returns home to continue working, a sudden realisation crosses her face, and she also then has the feeling that she will die tomorrow. When Jane later joins a small party at her brother’s house, a similar pattern occurs, with everyone thinking she’s gone crazy. But eventually, they all start to think the same, with each realisation accompanied by a strange neon purple light flashing across their faces. It certainly does seem to be contagious…
The remainder of the movie deals with each character coming to terms with their impending death and passing the feeling onto a few other people. We see Amy trying to make the most of her remaining time, and we also flip back a few days to learn a bit more about her in the run up to today.
As I mentioned earlier – on paper, there’s definitely a great idea at the heart of She Dies Tomorrow, and reading back through my review certainly confirms that. Unfortunately though, nothing about this movie worked for me at all. I found the acting terrible, and was unable to connect with any of the characters. It’s less than 90 minutes long, but is such a dull, pretentious and badly written slow-burn that all mystery and intrigue generated by that trailer quickly vanishes. For a movie that wants you to ponder on your remaining time on this earth, it certainly does a pretty good job of wasting it. Oh and if you’re expecting some kind of explanation and ending that might help redeem the painful build-up, you’re going to be seriously disappointed.
We join Amy, already convinced that she is going to die tomorrow. She wanders aimlessly around her flat at night, drinking wine. Lying on the wooden floor, she traces her finger along the wood veins in the floorboards and presses herself against the wall, as if she is at one with the world and her surroundings. She also repeatedly drops the needle on a score by Mozart – a piece of music that I do not initially dislike, but come to loathe by the end of the movie.
Her close friend Jane pays a visit, but is dismissive of Amy and her insistence that tomorrow she will die. However, after Jane returns home to continue working, a sudden realisation crosses her face, and she also then has the feeling that she will die tomorrow. When Jane later joins a small party at her brother’s house, a similar pattern occurs, with everyone thinking she’s gone crazy. But eventually, they all start to think the same, with each realisation accompanied by a strange neon purple light flashing across their faces. It certainly does seem to be contagious…
The remainder of the movie deals with each character coming to terms with their impending death and passing the feeling onto a few other people. We see Amy trying to make the most of her remaining time, and we also flip back a few days to learn a bit more about her in the run up to today.
As I mentioned earlier – on paper, there’s definitely a great idea at the heart of She Dies Tomorrow, and reading back through my review certainly confirms that. Unfortunately though, nothing about this movie worked for me at all. I found the acting terrible, and was unable to connect with any of the characters. It’s less than 90 minutes long, but is such a dull, pretentious and badly written slow-burn that all mystery and intrigue generated by that trailer quickly vanishes. For a movie that wants you to ponder on your remaining time on this earth, it certainly does a pretty good job of wasting it. Oh and if you’re expecting some kind of explanation and ending that might help redeem the painful build-up, you’re going to be seriously disappointed.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Last House on the Left (1972) in Movies
Sep 3, 2020
To Avoid Fainting Keep Repeating...Its Only A Movie
The Last House on the Left- was wes's directoral debut and what a start. Its a disturbing, psychological, graphic, exploitation horror film.
The plot: Teenagers Mari (Sandra Cassel) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) head to the city for a concert, then afterward go looking for drugs. Instead, they find a gang of escaped convicts who subject them to a night of torture and rape. The gang then kills the girls in the woods, not realizing they're near Mari's house. When they pose as salesmen and are taken in by Mari's mother (Cynthia Carr) and father (Gaylord St. James), it doesn't take the parents long to figure out their identities and plot revenge.
Wes Craven, who had no money at the time, was put on the job of synchronizing dailies for Cunningham's re-shoot. He soon began editing the film with Cunningham. He soon began editing the film with Cunningham and they became good friends. Hallmark bought the film for $10,000, and it was considered a "hit"; this prompted Hallmark to persuade them to make another film with a bigger budget, and gave them $90,000 to shoot a horror film.
This script, written under the title Night of Vengeance, has never been released; only a brief glimpse is visible in the featurette Celluloid Crime of the Century (a 2003 documentary on the making of the film).
The majority of the cast of The Last House on the Left were inexperienced or first-time actors, with the exception of Richard Towers, Eleanor Shaw, and Sandra Peabody who were all soap opera regulars and had prior film roles.
The film underwent multiple title changes, with its investors initially titling it Sex Crime of the Century. However, after test screenings were completed, it was decided to change the title to Krug and Company; however, this title was found to have little draw during test screenings. A marketing specialist who was an acquaintance of Cunningham's proposed the title The Last House on the Left. Craven initially thought the title was "terrible."
Due to its graphic content, the film sparked protests from the public throughout the fall of 1972 who called for its removal from local theaters.
Promotional material capitalized on the film's graphic content and divisive reception, featuring the tagline: "To avoid fainting, keep repeating 'It's only a movie' ..." advertising campaign. Under the Last House... title, the film proved to be a hit.
Though the film passed with an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, director Craven claimed that on several occasions, horrified audience members would demand that theater projectionists destroy the footage, sometimes stealing the film themselves.
It is a distubing film but it is a excellet film by a horror icon.
The plot: Teenagers Mari (Sandra Cassel) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) head to the city for a concert, then afterward go looking for drugs. Instead, they find a gang of escaped convicts who subject them to a night of torture and rape. The gang then kills the girls in the woods, not realizing they're near Mari's house. When they pose as salesmen and are taken in by Mari's mother (Cynthia Carr) and father (Gaylord St. James), it doesn't take the parents long to figure out their identities and plot revenge.
Wes Craven, who had no money at the time, was put on the job of synchronizing dailies for Cunningham's re-shoot. He soon began editing the film with Cunningham. He soon began editing the film with Cunningham and they became good friends. Hallmark bought the film for $10,000, and it was considered a "hit"; this prompted Hallmark to persuade them to make another film with a bigger budget, and gave them $90,000 to shoot a horror film.
This script, written under the title Night of Vengeance, has never been released; only a brief glimpse is visible in the featurette Celluloid Crime of the Century (a 2003 documentary on the making of the film).
The majority of the cast of The Last House on the Left were inexperienced or first-time actors, with the exception of Richard Towers, Eleanor Shaw, and Sandra Peabody who were all soap opera regulars and had prior film roles.
The film underwent multiple title changes, with its investors initially titling it Sex Crime of the Century. However, after test screenings were completed, it was decided to change the title to Krug and Company; however, this title was found to have little draw during test screenings. A marketing specialist who was an acquaintance of Cunningham's proposed the title The Last House on the Left. Craven initially thought the title was "terrible."
Due to its graphic content, the film sparked protests from the public throughout the fall of 1972 who called for its removal from local theaters.
Promotional material capitalized on the film's graphic content and divisive reception, featuring the tagline: "To avoid fainting, keep repeating 'It's only a movie' ..." advertising campaign. Under the Last House... title, the film proved to be a hit.
Though the film passed with an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, director Craven claimed that on several occasions, horrified audience members would demand that theater projectionists destroy the footage, sometimes stealing the film themselves.
It is a distubing film but it is a excellet film by a horror icon.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Zombie Tidal Wave (2019) in Movies
Jun 3, 2020
A zombie film made for the SyFy Channel starring Ian Ziering you say? Sign me up.
While out fishing a group of friends catch something sinister. They haul a putrid looking dead body out of the water and very quickly realise that it isn't quite as dead as they'd have hoped. That body is the first in an army of the undead that takes over the town as an unexpected tidal wave gives them a helping hand.
Is this film bad? Yes. Is it an entertaining watch? Also yes, but on that SyFy Original movie level of yes.
Bless Ian Ziering and his movie decision. In Zombie Tidal Wave (I really love saying the whole title) he plays Hunter, a fisherman who's about to leave town for a fresh start. Hunter is everything you hope he will be. I also noticed on IMDb that Ziering has a story credit... well colour me surprised... it's a super-duper amazing tale about zombies by the sea.
I'm not going to insult you by saying that this would win any awards, we all know it wouldn't even without watching it. It wouldn't even win a Razzie, that's how good it is! Everything about this is in fact distinctly average, apart from the following...
That story... it's got a great idea with twists and turns that "make sense". It could almost have been a serious zombie film if someone at some point hadn't gone "You know what? We need more." "More what?" "Everything."
Those special effects... are terrible. I have never seen such badly CGId water, and that's something you should take seriously coming from someone who has seen as many made for TV movies as I have.
The consistency... there are facts about locations and objects that the film just throws out the window, there are some continuity errors as well... but while that sounds like a bad thing it's really an essential part of the enjoyment/
This couldn't be a typical review so to complete it I just want to share with you some of my notes/interactions with the film, I'll include some cryptic highlights to look out for too.
- The zombie that must have unnaturally long legs or be standing on a zombie pyramid.
- Synchronised swimming zombies.
- I snort laughed so hard at a big reveal point that I nearly choked on my breakfast.
- A stunning Bond girl moment that might have been the best shot of the film.
- The different densities of glass.
- The Sharknado reference.
- ... and the result of that reference.
- Douchebag and his girlfriend.
- Family banter with a zombie.
- "Reinforcements".
- Zombie's styling flip flops.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/zombie-tidal-wave-movie-review.html
While out fishing a group of friends catch something sinister. They haul a putrid looking dead body out of the water and very quickly realise that it isn't quite as dead as they'd have hoped. That body is the first in an army of the undead that takes over the town as an unexpected tidal wave gives them a helping hand.
Is this film bad? Yes. Is it an entertaining watch? Also yes, but on that SyFy Original movie level of yes.
Bless Ian Ziering and his movie decision. In Zombie Tidal Wave (I really love saying the whole title) he plays Hunter, a fisherman who's about to leave town for a fresh start. Hunter is everything you hope he will be. I also noticed on IMDb that Ziering has a story credit... well colour me surprised... it's a super-duper amazing tale about zombies by the sea.
I'm not going to insult you by saying that this would win any awards, we all know it wouldn't even without watching it. It wouldn't even win a Razzie, that's how good it is! Everything about this is in fact distinctly average, apart from the following...
That story... it's got a great idea with twists and turns that "make sense". It could almost have been a serious zombie film if someone at some point hadn't gone "You know what? We need more." "More what?" "Everything."
Those special effects... are terrible. I have never seen such badly CGId water, and that's something you should take seriously coming from someone who has seen as many made for TV movies as I have.
The consistency... there are facts about locations and objects that the film just throws out the window, there are some continuity errors as well... but while that sounds like a bad thing it's really an essential part of the enjoyment/
This couldn't be a typical review so to complete it I just want to share with you some of my notes/interactions with the film, I'll include some cryptic highlights to look out for too.
- The zombie that must have unnaturally long legs or be standing on a zombie pyramid.
- Synchronised swimming zombies.
- I snort laughed so hard at a big reveal point that I nearly choked on my breakfast.
- A stunning Bond girl moment that might have been the best shot of the film.
- The different densities of glass.
- The Sharknado reference.
- ... and the result of that reference.
- Douchebag and his girlfriend.
- Family banter with a zombie.
- "Reinforcements".
- Zombie's styling flip flops.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/zombie-tidal-wave-movie-review.html
