jarofbees - 3/50 books | 21/50 movies
Been doing a lot of travelling the past few weeks so taken in a lot of films / books. Got a lot of half read books / half watched films to add over the next week or so.
Books -
Spooner - Pete Dexter ★★★★
Wrapping up the last few Pete Dexter novels, hadn't realised this was his autobiography before I purchased it. Extremely funny and moving throughout, he's lived an extremely unfortunate / unlucky life but his humour (not always deliberate) gives the book a really unusual feel. Very highly recommended.
The Bounty Hunters - Elmore Leonard ★★★1/2
I don't tend to enjoy his westerns as much as his detective novels but this was the best i've read so far. Simple plot - soldier and guide go to capture an Apache but lots of interesting subplots introduced throughout.
Films -
Confessions - ★★★1/3
Japanese movie about a woman whose daughter is killed and she takes revenge on the kids responsible by injecting their school milk with HIV infected blood. Crazy plot.
American Mary - ★
Terrible trashy horror film, just nonsensical.
Seconds (1966) - ★★★★★
John Frankenheimer film about a guy who gets involved in a program which fakes his death and sets him up a new life. Incredibly tense throughout with a very powerful twist at the end
Love Exposure - ★★★★
3 and a half hours of religion, perversion culminating in a ridiculous fight scene. Very powerful stuff.
The Wolf of Wall Street - ★★★★1/2
Thoroughly engrossing throughout, completely over the top and brilliant.
Insomnia - ★★★1/2
Standard thriller - Robin Williams as a bad guy was probably the highlight. Nothing out of the ordinary
L'Affaire Farewell - ★★★
Russians / French exchanging military secrets. Confusing plot
A Time to Kill - ★★★
Fairly standard hollywood thriller - Samuel L Jackson steals the show as a guy who murders two rednecks who rape his daughter and then pleads insanity in court.
Time (Shi Gan) - ★★★1/3
Working my way through the last Kim Ki-Duck films i've yet to see. This one involves a woman going through extensive plastic surgery to stay interesting to her previous boyfriend and then lots of game playing to get them back together. Really great last scene
The Seven-ups - ★★★
Standard 80's cop movie. Roy Schneider as the lead is excellent
The Woman - Zero stars
Terrible trashy torture porn horror film. Worst film I recall seeing in some time
5 Broken Cameras - ★★★★
Documentary about a small town in palestine and the trouble that Israel causes (very very high level review there) - digs into the politics slightly and with a great human aspect.
Detropia - ★★★
Documentary about the mess Detroit is in after the closing of much of the automobile industry. Works well as there are some great characters.
Wickerman - ★★★★1/2
This was a 'scratch and sniff' showing which worked surprisingly well - the latest cut of the movie which actually makes a lot better sense plot / order wise than the previous two. One of the best horror films of all time.
Shut Up and Play The Hits - ★★★★
Documentary of the final LCD Soundsystem show. The mix of footage / interviews building up to the gig being cut with footage from the show itself worked really well. I actually forgot just how many great songs they / he has.