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Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies

Feb 1, 2020

Near Dark (1987)

1987 | Horror, Mystery, Western

7.6

(16 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

A relatively simple tale of a recently turned vampire and his initiation into a sadistic group of other vampires (we assume that’s what they are as the V word isn’t said once in the film) is an atmospheric and compelling watch that stylistically is more like a western than anything else. Kathryn Bigelow’s use of a fair chunk of future husband James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ cast is largely successful (apart from some quite hammy overacting from Bill Paxton) and they make for thoroughly nasty adversaries (that bar scene being particularly brutal). I also liked the haunting Tangerine Dream score which adds nicely to the atmosphere but didn’t really buy the fact that vampirism could seemingly be so easily cured by a simple blood transfusion. That was a minor quibble though and overall I thought the film worked well.

Kudos

gayga (2128 KP) rated Small Great Things in Books

Jan 9, 2020

Small Great Things

Jodi Picoult | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry

8.7

(19 Ratings)

Book Rating

Everything (0 more)

Nothing (0 more)

Another corker from Jodi

I was almost not looking forward to reading this book as normally Jodi Picoults books put me through the emotional wringer. However, this one left me (mostly) dry eyed. Don’t get me wrong, I love a blub more than most people but it’s nice to occasionally finish one of her books without being covered in tears and snot!

Despite this, it is an awesome book. I’m not going to divulge the story but it’s basically about racism and people’s perceived attitudes to it. The 3 points of view are Ruth Jefferson, a black nurse. Turk Bauer, a white supremacist and Kennedy McQuarrie, a lawyer.

It’s well thought out and you can really get under the skin of the character. A really good read, one I would probably read more than once.

Kudos

Ross (3284 KP) rated Star Trek: Picard - Season 1 in TV

Apr 2, 2020

Star Trek: Picard - Season 1

2020 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

6.3

(6 Ratings)

TV Season Rating

High hopes let down

I'm sure we all had a vision of what the triumphant, long-awaited return of Captain Jean-Luc Picard would look like. The series starts and ends in that vein, being exciting, thoughtful and with a moral lesson, but with a lot of padding throughout the series. Much like Discovery, the series decided to throw a lot of side adventures in the mix and while Picard is much more focussed than its Netflix cousin there are still times when it drags.
Stewart tries well to play his most famous role, but his age shows at times and I felt the makers missed the chance to sensitively keep his character but replaced with a younger actor in the last episode. This would have allowed Stewart to bow out gracefully and show more promise for the future series of his life.

Kudos

Kevin Phillipson (10072 KP) rated Chopping Mall (1986) in Movies

Feb 17, 2020

Chopping Mall (1986)

1986 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

6.5

(17 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Kelli Maloney (1 more)

Design of the robots

Not enough dick miller (0 more)

Watched last as I had nothing else to do what being my birthday and I was feeling rather low as well. Anyway I've never seen this film before I knew about it back on the days of VHS but never got round to seeing the film till now on Amazon prime. I'm glad I did finally simple plot security robots go haywire killing off anyone who trespassers in the shopping mall there are some good kills not great acting Kelli Maloney from night of the comet is the standout out of the acting. wish there was mote dick miller great actor but has one scene in the movie. Liked the design of the robots very 80s. Anyway not a bad movie just wished I had seen the movie alot sooner