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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The House That Jack Built (2018) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
One of the singular most disgusting, depraved, downright inhuman pieces of genre filth I've ever laid eyes on - try to think the ๐๐ข๐ธ movies' gore porn meets ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ฎ levels of twisted and shockingly grotesque subject matter. Not perfect: at times this feels more like a defense than an apology (not that he doesn't answer for a lot nor are the defenses always unwarranted), but it's rigorously complex and as a piece of provocation this is simply exquisite - almost unparalleled. Over two and a half hours of unforgettable novelistic madman monologues and some of the most cruel, savage violence you will ever see in a motion picture. I'm seldom ever less than fully impressed by Lars but the fact that this is so twisted and animalistic yet the humor is still so on point is only another testament to why he's one of the greatest living directors. Bats for the fences and rubs your noses right in all its slime, plus it has some of the most haunting effects work you're likely to ever see. Matt Dillion gives not only the ultimate performance of his career, but one of the defining of the decade in what can only be described as blood-curdling, remorseless but totally eccentric work. Screamed and shrunk into my own body numerous times. I've seen a metric ton of vile, uncomfortable cinema and I'm not unsettled easily but this was truly terrifying - as well as 110% unique. My jaw was dropped the entire epilogue well through the credits. RIP - Bruno Ganz.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Chappie (2015) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020 (Updated Sep 19, 2020)
"๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ถ๐บ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐.๐. ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐บ ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐บ." - Trevor Moore, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด
Much better than ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต 9 even though it's essentially the same movie for the chief purpose that this is cleaner, more fun, and ditches the sloppy gimmick and failed heavy-handed metaphor. Those last 30 minutes are godly, just totally bananas trashy cyberpunk action glory - not only the best thing Blomkamp has ever done but some of the most fun a sci-fi movie has had in the 2010s. But otherwise a movie about robot cop Sharlto Copley hanging around Die Antwood who teach him how to be gangsta but he accidentally discovers consciousness while a deranged Hugh Jackman desperately wants to let his monster mech loose on the city should be a lot more entertaining than this was. Still sports impeccable graphics and design as always with Neill, and you know what this isn't deep on any level nor does it have a single talking point about the militarization of the police department or A.I. or big tech corporations - fine, whatever. But there's almost zero violence for the hour + twenty-five minute stretch in the middle of this where it becomes this trite, sickly sweet family drama? I mean you're practically poised to fashion this nuanced, ultraviolent story dissecting how A.I. reacts to trauma but instead they're reading bedtime stories to the thing? Still vibrant and ridiculous though, enjoyed the hell out of it - I ain't picky. Plus points for letting all these actors use their natural accents.
Much better than ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต 9 even though it's essentially the same movie for the chief purpose that this is cleaner, more fun, and ditches the sloppy gimmick and failed heavy-handed metaphor. Those last 30 minutes are godly, just totally bananas trashy cyberpunk action glory - not only the best thing Blomkamp has ever done but some of the most fun a sci-fi movie has had in the 2010s. But otherwise a movie about robot cop Sharlto Copley hanging around Die Antwood who teach him how to be gangsta but he accidentally discovers consciousness while a deranged Hugh Jackman desperately wants to let his monster mech loose on the city should be a lot more entertaining than this was. Still sports impeccable graphics and design as always with Neill, and you know what this isn't deep on any level nor does it have a single talking point about the militarization of the police department or A.I. or big tech corporations - fine, whatever. But there's almost zero violence for the hour + twenty-five minute stretch in the middle of this where it becomes this trite, sickly sweet family drama? I mean you're practically poised to fashion this nuanced, ultraviolent story dissecting how A.I. reacts to trauma but instead they're reading bedtime stories to the thing? Still vibrant and ridiculous though, enjoyed the hell out of it - I ain't picky. Plus points for letting all these actors use their natural accents.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Climax (2018) in Movies
Jun 28, 2019
Unique Disturbing Pointless? Vulgar Colorful Jarring Unforgettable
If I could just get my hands on a list of movies that all the reviews were either 1&2 or 9&10 those would be the kind of movies I would spend the rest of my life watching. Filmmaker Gasper Noe is no stranger to controversy and making one-of-a-kind cinematic experiences and Climax is no exception. Certainly not a family or date film, but it is one I am convinced you will either love or hate and certainly never forget.
The story is simple. Dancers rehearse and choreograph an elaborate dance number routine at a remote location only to discover someone has poisoned their celebration punch with LSD.
Accusations start flying as to the perpetrator, but slowly things deteriorate. The various dance ensemble members start exhibiting the effects in many ways including violence, euphoria and sexual desire. The members are left to fend for themselves when hallucinatory madness grips the entire gang.
The use of color along with long uncut camera movements and takes draw you into this film immediately. The nonstop pumping dance score keeps you shaking in your seats even when you are witnessing the craziness displayed on screen.
Recent breakout star Sofia Boutella shins brightest as the camera follows her throughout the 2nd half of the film specifically detailing her interactions with others and her slow descent into mental anguish.
If you are open to a new type of film experience, try it and let me know what you think.
The story is simple. Dancers rehearse and choreograph an elaborate dance number routine at a remote location only to discover someone has poisoned their celebration punch with LSD.
Accusations start flying as to the perpetrator, but slowly things deteriorate. The various dance ensemble members start exhibiting the effects in many ways including violence, euphoria and sexual desire. The members are left to fend for themselves when hallucinatory madness grips the entire gang.
The use of color along with long uncut camera movements and takes draw you into this film immediately. The nonstop pumping dance score keeps you shaking in your seats even when you are witnessing the craziness displayed on screen.
Recent breakout star Sofia Boutella shins brightest as the camera follows her throughout the 2nd half of the film specifically detailing her interactions with others and her slow descent into mental anguish.
If you are open to a new type of film experience, try it and let me know what you think.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Cold As The Grave in Books
Sep 1, 2019
A treat for crime fiction lovers
This is a treat for crime fiction lovers with a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. Mr Oswald knows how to write a great story and he has done it once again with "Cold as the Grave".
DCI Tony McLean finds himself, quite unexpectedly, in the midst of a strange and disturbing investigation following his discovery of the mummified remains of a young girl. Being a DCI, Tony is not supposed to get into the day to day investigation of crime however, Tony being Tony just can't help himself and he quickly becomes in the thick of it.
This is a dark and sinister case to investigate and includes themes on refugees, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, trafficking, modern slavery, the murder of children and violence towards women as well as introducing a less than "normal" slant on the perpetrator of the crime and the method used for committing murder.
With fantastic characters throughout and written in a sympathetic rather than sensationalist way with the back drop of a winter in Edinburgh, this is a great read.
I admit to not having read all the previous books in this series and although I have probably missed out massively on back story, character development, etc., it did not detract from my enjoyment of this book.
On to the next .... when it comes out!
My thanks must go to the Publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.
DCI Tony McLean finds himself, quite unexpectedly, in the midst of a strange and disturbing investigation following his discovery of the mummified remains of a young girl. Being a DCI, Tony is not supposed to get into the day to day investigation of crime however, Tony being Tony just can't help himself and he quickly becomes in the thick of it.
This is a dark and sinister case to investigate and includes themes on refugees, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, trafficking, modern slavery, the murder of children and violence towards women as well as introducing a less than "normal" slant on the perpetrator of the crime and the method used for committing murder.
With fantastic characters throughout and written in a sympathetic rather than sensationalist way with the back drop of a winter in Edinburgh, this is a great read.
I admit to not having read all the previous books in this series and although I have probably missed out massively on back story, character development, etc., it did not detract from my enjoyment of this book.
On to the next .... when it comes out!
My thanks must go to the Publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.
Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter #1)
8.1
Rate It
Book
A quiet summer night...a neat suburban house...and another innocent, happy family is shattered - the...
crime fiction
ClareR (6001 KP) rated Purple People in Books
Jul 26, 2020 (Updated Jul 26, 2020)
The satire is strong in Purple People, and there was a point in this where I thought that it all could be feasible. Ok, maybe not, but life never ceases to surprise me!
Eve Baxter is a reporter on an online news channel that reports all things weird and wonderful. She lives in New York, and is happy with her life and the distance it puts between her and her family. After a call from home to say that her father has been attacked and is unconscious in hospital, Eve decides to go home. At the same time, news comes out of the UK about a strange phenomenon: purple people. It transpires that in a bid to take the strain off an inadequate prison system and a rise in antisocial behaviour and violence, perpetrators are turned purple. No one quite knows how this is achieved, so Eve decides that she is going to find out.
This was a very entertaining read: I loved the humour especially, and thereโs a big moral question in this. Is this really any way to treat people, whether theyโre criminals or not? And is it really โrightโ to lump all criminals in the same purple category, no matter the type of antisocial behaviour? Personally, Iโm just glad that itโs not something that we could get away with (at least I hope so!).
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and for Kate Bulpitt for commenting along with the other readers in the margins.
Eve Baxter is a reporter on an online news channel that reports all things weird and wonderful. She lives in New York, and is happy with her life and the distance it puts between her and her family. After a call from home to say that her father has been attacked and is unconscious in hospital, Eve decides to go home. At the same time, news comes out of the UK about a strange phenomenon: purple people. It transpires that in a bid to take the strain off an inadequate prison system and a rise in antisocial behaviour and violence, perpetrators are turned purple. No one quite knows how this is achieved, so Eve decides that she is going to find out.
This was a very entertaining read: I loved the humour especially, and thereโs a big moral question in this. Is this really any way to treat people, whether theyโre criminals or not? And is it really โrightโ to lump all criminals in the same purple category, no matter the type of antisocial behaviour? Personally, Iโm just glad that itโs not something that we could get away with (at least I hope so!).
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and for Kate Bulpitt for commenting along with the other readers in the margins.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Unhinged (2020) in Movies
Jul 31, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
After a confrontation at a set of traffic lights, Rachel finds herself in a race for the survival of her family, friends and herself.
Russell Crowe plays a man who has had enough, imagine if a film like 'Falling Down' had continued (or had a sequel) where the main character had gone completely off the rails and you'd have Crowe's character. After being honked by Rachel at a set of traffic lights the Man decides to teach her what a bad day is really like. After terrorising Rachel as she drives around the Man moves on to attacking and killing her friends and family, blaming Rachel for her actions.
There is a lot driving in Unhinged, Rachel spends most of the time in her car either avoiding the man or trying to plan what to next and the man switches between chasing Rachel or terrorising her family.
The moral of the film is that road rage is everywhere, be polite to people because you don't know who you're talking to and that you can use 'Fortnight' tactics in real life.
Once it gets going, Unhinged doesn't give up, there's violence, torture and threat interspersed with car chases that also contain threat.
Unhinged also tries to comment on society, as the man kills one of Rachel's friends, people look on, film the event or walk away but no one tries to help, some people do call the police but no one tries to stop the man.
Unhinged is fast paced, and violent, I found it a bit predictable but still enjoyable.
Russell Crowe plays a man who has had enough, imagine if a film like 'Falling Down' had continued (or had a sequel) where the main character had gone completely off the rails and you'd have Crowe's character. After being honked by Rachel at a set of traffic lights the Man decides to teach her what a bad day is really like. After terrorising Rachel as she drives around the Man moves on to attacking and killing her friends and family, blaming Rachel for her actions.
There is a lot driving in Unhinged, Rachel spends most of the time in her car either avoiding the man or trying to plan what to next and the man switches between chasing Rachel or terrorising her family.
The moral of the film is that road rage is everywhere, be polite to people because you don't know who you're talking to and that you can use 'Fortnight' tactics in real life.
Once it gets going, Unhinged doesn't give up, there's violence, torture and threat interspersed with car chases that also contain threat.
Unhinged also tries to comment on society, as the man kills one of Rachel's friends, people look on, film the event or walk away but no one tries to help, some people do call the police but no one tries to stop the man.
Unhinged is fast paced, and violent, I found it a bit predictable but still enjoyable.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) in Movies
Aug 26, 2020
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (although, far from being final) is a favourite in the series for many a fan of the franchise, and it's easy to see why.
It takes the formula of the first three and just adds more of it. There are more teenagers to be mercilessly slaughtered, more violence, (slightly) more character development, more stupid decisions being made by said characters, more of Jason in a hockey mask...
For me, it hasn't quite got as much charm as the first two, but it's certainly better put together than Part 3. The dialogue isn't quite as bad as it has been before, and it just seems a bit more of a solid slasher.
A big plus I'd having Tom Savini back on board in the effects department. There's plenty of practical gore effects going on (Crispin Glover getting a cleaver to the face is particularly gnarly), and of course the show stopper moment of seeing Jason unmasked is one of the franchise highlights.
The characters are pretty much what you would expect by now, although the story does go to some efforts to connect to past events (one character is the brother of someone killed by Jason in Part 2) and of course Tommy Jarvis is introduced here, a character that would go on to appear again, and become something of a horror icon.
The Final Chapter is a good time all in all, and gets extra points for tying up the first four relatively grounded movies neatly - the franchise get increasingly batshit from here on out!
It takes the formula of the first three and just adds more of it. There are more teenagers to be mercilessly slaughtered, more violence, (slightly) more character development, more stupid decisions being made by said characters, more of Jason in a hockey mask...
For me, it hasn't quite got as much charm as the first two, but it's certainly better put together than Part 3. The dialogue isn't quite as bad as it has been before, and it just seems a bit more of a solid slasher.
A big plus I'd having Tom Savini back on board in the effects department. There's plenty of practical gore effects going on (Crispin Glover getting a cleaver to the face is particularly gnarly), and of course the show stopper moment of seeing Jason unmasked is one of the franchise highlights.
The characters are pretty much what you would expect by now, although the story does go to some efforts to connect to past events (one character is the brother of someone killed by Jason in Part 2) and of course Tommy Jarvis is introduced here, a character that would go on to appear again, and become something of a horror icon.
The Final Chapter is a good time all in all, and gets extra points for tying up the first four relatively grounded movies neatly - the franchise get increasingly batshit from here on out!
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Pontypool (2009) in Movies
Jun 7, 2020
Shock Jock Grant Mazzy starts a new job as the morning DJ for the small-town radio station of Pontypool in Ontario, Canada. Struggling with the change of pace Grant and the rest of the stations staff are unprepared for the reports of rioting that start to flood into the show.
Pontypool takes โOutbreakโ and โZombieโ movies and adds a nice little twist. The majority of the movie is set in the confines of a small radio station and the three leads are fed information via phone calls and police broadcasts which means that they and therefore the viewer doesnโt see what is happening in the town. The film handles this restricted setting well, slowly building up the atmosphere and tension felt by the three main cast members and playing on Grantโs lack of โSmall town experienceโ.
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, Pontypool doesnโt have a lot of visible blood and gore, having most of the violence described instead of shown. This makes the one or two violent scenes even more meaningful as they arenโt just there for the sake of the gore but do actually add something to the atmosphere and story, this is also helped by the fact that we donโt knowingly see a zombie until past the half way point.
Pontypool is an interesting, atmospheric film that relies on story over the need for effect, not only due to any budget restrictions but also because that is what the type of story it is trying to tell.
Pontypool takes โOutbreakโ and โZombieโ movies and adds a nice little twist. The majority of the movie is set in the confines of a small radio station and the three leads are fed information via phone calls and police broadcasts which means that they and therefore the viewer doesnโt see what is happening in the town. The film handles this restricted setting well, slowly building up the atmosphere and tension felt by the three main cast members and playing on Grantโs lack of โSmall town experienceโ.
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, Pontypool doesnโt have a lot of visible blood and gore, having most of the violence described instead of shown. This makes the one or two violent scenes even more meaningful as they arenโt just there for the sake of the gore but do actually add something to the atmosphere and story, this is also helped by the fact that we donโt knowingly see a zombie until past the half way point.
Pontypool is an interesting, atmospheric film that relies on story over the need for effect, not only due to any budget restrictions but also because that is what the type of story it is trying to tell.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2444 KP) rated The Murder of Twelve in Books
May 28, 2020
Weddings are Murder
With a record setting blizzard on the way to Cabot Cove, Maine, Jessica Fletcher is planning to hunker down in her temporary home โ the Hill House hotel. Before she can do that, she joins Sheriff Metzger when he gets a call about a man found in his car on the edge of town. What at first looks like a tragic accident is indeed murder. On arriving at the hotel, Jessica learns she will be joined for the weekend by a wedding party. But with the bride and groom missing, tempers begin to flair. Then a dead body appears. Are they trapped with a killer? Is it connected to the man outside of town?
This is another fast-moving mystery that obviously pays homage to Agatha Christieโs And Then There Were None. I felt it was a bit more of a thriller (minus the language and violence) than a true cozy, but Iโm not complaining since I couldnโt turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen next. Much of the book features Jessica and those trapped in the hotel with her, and they are all strong enough characters to carry the story. Unfortunately, the little bit we did see of the recurring characters fell into predictable patterns, although I still enjoyed spending time with them. The writing was so vivid, I felt the cold as I was reading. Any complaints are minor, and Iโm happy I picked up this fast-paced book.
This is another fast-moving mystery that obviously pays homage to Agatha Christieโs And Then There Were None. I felt it was a bit more of a thriller (minus the language and violence) than a true cozy, but Iโm not complaining since I couldnโt turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen next. Much of the book features Jessica and those trapped in the hotel with her, and they are all strong enough characters to carry the story. Unfortunately, the little bit we did see of the recurring characters fell into predictable patterns, although I still enjoyed spending time with them. The writing was so vivid, I felt the cold as I was reading. Any complaints are minor, and Iโm happy I picked up this fast-paced book.