Repentant Monk: Illusion and Disillusion in the Art of Chen Hongshou
Book
Repentant Monk: Illusion and Disillusion in the Art of Chen Hongshou is the first U.S. exhibition...
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Get Out (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
“Get Out” was written and directed by Jordan Peele and was his directorial debut. And a hot item on his resume it is too.
Daniel Kaluuya (“Sicario”) plays African-American Chris Washington who, nervously, takes a trip ‘upstate’ to meet the parents of his cute white girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams). The parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford, best known as Josh Lyman from “The West Wing”) and Missy (Catherine Keener, “ Captain Phillips”), are extremely welcoming.
But the weekend coincides with an “annual gathering” of family and friends, and events quickly take a left turn into “The Twilight Zone”, with anti-smoking hypnosis and a bizarre game of Bingo where the win is so substantial that playing becomes a ‘no brainer’. Can Chris ‘Get Out’, with his mind still intact, before it’s too late?
This is a really clever script by Peele. The film baits you into thinking this is some redneck-inter-racial-revenge flick, but actually the colour of the skin is almost irrelevant. (Or is it? This angle is left deliciously vague). Some of the filming is spectacularly creepy, with the hypnosis scene being reminiscent to me of the excellent “Under The Skin”. And never has a teaspoon in a cup of tea been a more devastating weapon.
I seemed to have talked at length this year in this blog on the subject of the “physics of horror”: the story elements hanging together in a satisfying – albeit sometimes in an unbelievable – way. “Get Out” delivers this to perfection, keeping its powder dry until the closing moments of the film before delivering a series of satisfying “Ah!” relevatory moments.
While the ‘physics’ of the film is good the ‘biology’ is bonkers, featuring a plot point from the terrible first episode of the 3rd season of the original “Star Trek” (if you can be bothered to look that up!). But I’ll forgive this, parking my incredulity, to salute what I think is one of the year’s most novel and impressive low-budget indie horror films.
The Artemis Project
8.0
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Tabletop Game
Europa, Jupiter's moon. Deep beneath the crust, the oceans are teeming with alien sea life....
Near and Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel
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New York Times bestselling author Heidi Swanson's approach to cooking-delicious, seasonal, healthy,...
Seven members of a nature group come together for a Boxing Day gathering to watch a murmuration within a nature reserve. Seems like a fairly innocuous and harmless way to spend a day and evening usually spent eating leftovers and vegging in front of the television and it is, until a shot rings out and one of their party is dead.
Each of the remaining six have secrets they don't want made common knowledge and therefore each have a motive for murder. None of the characters have many redeeming features if I'm honest and it wouldn't have made any difference to me who was the victim as I didn't particularly like any of them.
What follows is infighting which results in the group splitting up (never a good idea - have they never watched a horror film!) and suspicions falling on one person, then another, then another ... well, you get the idea. More shots are heard, people are separated further, injuries happen, more separation and more infighting and, all the while, the secrets they want to stay hidden gradually come to light.
What I enjoyed about this book was the sense of claustrophobia and isolation that was well captured and, as seems to be the norm with Nell's books, the inclusion of a character who is deaf added something a bit different.
What I didn't like about it was there was too much time spent describing stuff that didn't really seem to add to the story and this resulted in it dragging - hence the slow burn.
I have read a few of Nell's other books and this does seem to be a pattern with her stories but there have been plenty of people who have absolutely raved about this book so please, please don't judge it from my review alone.
Remember, if we all liked the same things, it would be a very, very boring world indeed!
Thanks go to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Gods Of Rome
Games
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An epic fighting game set in an age of myth and legend that shows you exactly what your mobile...
AccuWeather.com® WeatherCyclopedia™ - The Most Comprehensive Weather Encyclopedia Under The Sun
Weather and Education
4.0
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AccuWeather.com® WeatherCyclopedia™ - The Most Comprehensive Weather Encyclopedia Under The Sun ...
Minecraft Recipes For Dummies
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A quick, handy reference on Minecraft recipes Want to find resources, make a shelter, craft tools,...
See it, Cook it: Easy-To-Do, Fool-Proof Recipes for the Would-be Gourmet
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If you've ever shown even the slightest interest in cooking, you've probably accumulated quite a...