Smashbomb

"Next to The Wizard of Oz, it’s my favorite movie of all time. The most honest on-screen depiction of mental illness ever. Cassavetes perfectly nails the heartbreak and frustration that eclipses a family when a loved one’s sanity slips away. It’s at times both gut-wrenching and oddly hilarious, and Cassavetes manages to make gorgeous cinema with colors and composition. Besides the impeccable, monumental performances of Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, the supporting cast is flawless, including both Cassavetes’s and Rowlands’s own real-life mothers, Katherine and Lady, and in particular George Dunn in his role as Mabel’s one-night stand Garson Cross. In any other film the character would be played as a cad the audience would be rooting against. Not so in a Cassavetes film, where the roles of hero and villain shift moment to moment."

Source

Kudos

Chloe (778 KP) rated The Shadow Man in Books

Mar 6, 2021

The Shadow Man

Helen Fields | 2021 | Crime, Thriller

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Clever (2 more)

Interesting

Gripping

Unbelievable in places (1 more)

Not as scary as blurb suggests

Creepy but over described

I enjoyed this book overall, the blurb makes the villain seem a lot more threatening than he actually is, not that there aren't some gross parts. The plot was interesting and I like how it dealt with a unique disease.

The scene was set quite well early on but I think more could have been done to elicit this throughout the book.

I liked the main detective and the psychologist, I could see a sequel in the future with the usual love hate relationship emerging between them.

There were a few instances where the story was a little unbelievable, particularly around the flooring scene. Plus some of the facts of the case are happened upon and theories are very much close to the truth.

Kudos

Kim Newman recommended The Most Dangerous Game (1932) in Movies (curated)

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

1932 | Classics, Drama, Horror

8.0

(6 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"Made on the wonderful jungle sets of King Kong while that epic’s special effects were being finished, this is one of the great action-horror films and has provided a template for many “rich sicko” melodramas—the entire “torture porn” subgenre springs from the obsessions of its villain, Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks). Adapted from a short story by Richard Connell and codirected by Kong’s Ernest B. Schoedsack and character actor Irving Pichel, it has one of the most perfect plots in horror: a big-game hunter (Joel McCrea) changes his mind about how much fun his preferred sport is when he’s shipwrecked on an island where a mad Russian who’s grown tired of lesser game has opted to hunt human beings. Fay Wray, another Kong holdover, screams on the sidelines, and a pack of baying hounds provides additional menace."

Source

Kudos

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated A Good Day To Die Hard (2013) in Movies

Sep 25, 2019

John travels to Russia to find his son, intel says that he's in prison. Once he's there nothing is quite what it seems.

Where 4.0 managed to get in on some of the current trends, A Good Day To Die Hard decided it wanted to be like Jason Bourne whilst forgetting that John McClane isn't the sleek spy that Bourne is. We've gone from fun and enjoyable action films to something that takes itself way too seriously. At no point did I crack a smile, or scream "oooooooh" at the screen when one of McClane's completely ill matched fist fights goes awry.

A dancing, carrot eating villain who likes to play with his hostages... give me strength.

As for the extras on this disc you should certainly checkout Maximum McClane, mainly for the compilation of yippee ki-yays at the end.

Kudos

David McK (3610 KP) rated Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains in Books

Sep 8, 2019

Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Villains

Greg Pak | 2019 | Comics & Graphic Novels

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

While the Star Wars Extended Universe has been (unofficially) doing this for years now, Disney has finally come out and given each of the current 3 distinct eras in the films their own 'name's: 'Age of Republic' (The Prequel Trilogy), 'Age of Rebellion' (Original Trilogy) and 'Age of Resistance' (Sequel Trilogy)

This, therefore, is set during the middle - arguably best - of those three, and is really a collection of short stories, each focusing on a given villain from that era: Grand Moff Tarkin, Boba Fett, IG-88, Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader himself. As such, the stories are a bit hit and miss, with some forgettable while others adding nuance and depth to the characters. I may pick up the 'Age of Rebellion: Heroes' companion when it comes out, but probably won't be rushing out to buy it.