Smashbomb

"Bresson is my favorite director. He personifies my values in movies. My fetish film of his is The Devil, Probably, but it’s not available from Criterion. The ones that are offered are all magnificent, but I have to go with the donkey. Above all, Bresson is unconventional; he had the vision and fortitude to penetrate and disintegrate received ideas and habits to make films that start from square one. He’s ultra-intelligent and ultrasensitive, with the eye of a painter; his films are near-noir in their bleak, unblinking presentation of human existence—a large proportion of them include suicide of the protagonist—while they’re also exhilarating and uplifting in their God’s-eye views. Balthazar, of course, stars a saintly donkey, the beauty of whom rivals that of his costar, a mournfully angelic young Anne Wiazemsky."

Source

Kudos

Sjon recommended Fish Can Sing in Books (curated)

Fish Can Sing

Halldor Laxness | 2001 | Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy

(0 Ratings)

Book Favorite

"Set in Reykjavík at the turn of the 20th century this novel has a Chaplin-esque quality in its celebration of how the good values of society are to be found among those clinging to its lowest rung. Álfgrímur is an orphan living with an old couple who have opened their small farm to the misfits and the meek. A nearby graveyard becomes the boy’s playground, and it is there he is discovered to have “the pure tone” while singing at funerals of the lost and lonesome. From their gravesides he goes into the world to become a singer. It is my favorite book by Laxness, not least because it is his attempt to understand why someone like himself, born in a town of 10,000 people, found the right melody to transform the stories of a small world into world literature."

Source

Kudos

Dean (6927 KP) rated Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) in Movies

Jul 27, 2021 (Updated Jul 27, 2021)

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)

2021 | Action, Adventure, Horror

5.5

(10 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Room designs (0 more)

Very short (1 more)

A few questionable plot turns

A downgrade on the first film

I was excited to see this second film after enjoying the first. This does have similar production values and the room designs look very good.
However it rushes by very fast , character development is pretty much zero, the challenges in each room go by very quickly. Then the run time of 88 minutes mean you reach the end before you know it.
The pace is much quicker this time but the first film started slow so at least you got to know about the characters. There are some plot twists that were a surprise but also a few plot developments that are questionable before reaching the end, which felt a little disappointing. Worth it if you enjoyed the first but don't get your hopes up.