I didn’t watch Snowpiercer (TV series).
But finally got around to the 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction film.
Weird.
Why and how did a billionaire build a train that could run around the world?
I can see why some consider it a cult classic. It is philosophical.
It does have a terrific cast.
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics gave the film a positive rating.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
GREAT. But not as fantastic as I had hoped.
Watch it just for the cinematography. I sat in the 2nd row in IMAX so the images filled my vision.
YES a bit blurry, but it feels more like I was actually riding a sand worm. 😀
Dune (1965) is one of my favourite books. I read it for the 4th or 5th time in advance of seeing part 2 of the Denis Villeneuve adaptation.
The best character in Dune 2 is not my (alleged girlfriend) Zendaya, but Feyd-Rautha, Baron Harkonnen’s younger nephew. Perfectly played by Austin Butler.
What a transformation from Elvis to the epitome of evil.
Chalamet was inspired by Austin’s commitment to the role.
Casting is all good, however.
Javier Bardem as Stilgar, is better than in the book. And he’s great in the book. 😀
Stilgar given a larger leadership role on Arrakis in future books. So he’ll likely be back in the 3rd film.
As nearly all books were in 1965, the roles played by women are quite cliche. Powerful — but mainly in devious, backroom scheming.
In this movie, Zendaya is more independent than in the book. And she rides off into the sand at the end. Alone.
In the book she meekly follows Paul as his concubine.
Of course no film can include EVERYTHING in the book.
For the most part, I liked the changes.
It was better — for example — that Chani didn’t get pregnant. That’s quite confused in the books anyway.
In the Lynch, Paul’s sister Alia was one of the most interesting characters. She’s only hinted at in the Villeneuve – part 2. I suspect she’ll be central to the 3rd movie in the series.
I quite liked the 1984 David Lynch adaptation, by the way.
Because the timeline of the Villeneuve is accelerated, Alia isn’t born yet when part 2 ends.
I do wish Thufir Hawat had been back for part 2.
Mainly I felt the first half of the long movie was near perfect. The second half less believable.
It may be that there was no perfect way to explain the beginnings of Paul conquering the galaxy with fanatic super fighters.
The knife fight between Paul and Feyd-Rautha’s is the climax of the film. And it was well done.
See it.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – Lynch doesn’t like the final cut of his version of Dune.
The Dead Zone by Stephen King was published 1979.
He was already an excellent story teller.
The story follows Johnny Smith, who awakens from a coma of nearly five years and, apparently as a result of brain damage, now experiences clairvoyant and precognitive visions triggered by touch. …
The novel also follows a serial killer in Castle Rock, and the life of rising politician Greg Stillson, both of whom are evils Johnny must eventually face. …
… the first of his novels to rank among the ten best-selling novels of the year in the United States.
Christopher Walken played Johnny Smith in Cronenberg’s film adaptation.
In the book there is a new politician who acts like a clown. Says outlandish things. An evil guy.
King was already predicting Trump in 1979.
As we did in my High School in the 1970s, they debate whether they’d be willing to go back in a Time Machine to kill Hitler in the crib.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Anthony Michael Hall played Johnny Smith in the TV adaptation. It had 6 seasons starting 2002.
Both are excellent.
The Sweet Hereafter is a 1991 novel by American author Russell Banks. It is set in a small town in the aftermath of a deadly school bus accident that has killed most of the town’s children.
The novel was adapted into an award-winning 1997 film of the same name by Canadian director Atom Egoyan. …
The novel was based on an actual bus crash in Alton, Texas and its aftermath just before the book was written. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
For once, the sequel is better.
Cheesy. But enjoyable.
Some of the editing reminds me of the (much superior) Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock TV series.
Inspired by the book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer — this film instead takes real-life inspiration from the 1888 matchgirls’ strike. Following the strike’s success, the Union of Women Matchmakers (later the Matchmakers’ Union) was formed later in 1888. On its creation, it was the largest union of women and girls in the country, and inspired a wave of collective organizing among industrial workers.
Again, Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) is the highlight.
A mystery / comedy.
Enola opens her own detective agency, but struggles to get clients unlike her famous detective brother Sherlock Holmes.
A factory girl named Bessie asks Enola to help find her missing sister Sarah Chapman. Bessie takes Enola to the match factory, which is experiencing a deadly typhus epidemic …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I am a big fan of the Luther TV series.
SO was keen to see the movie continuation.
Luther: The Fallen Sun is a 2023 crime thriller film ..
… stars Idris Elba (who also serves as a producer on the film), reprising his role as police detective John Luther …
Dermot Crowley as Martin Schenk, the retired former head of the SSCU and Luther’s former boss is excellent.
Even better is Andy Serkis as David Robey, a wealthy and psychopathic millionaire turned high body count serial killer, who uses surveillance technology to manipulate and kill civilians.
Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 100 critics’ reviews are positive.
The plot does have glaring holes, BUT I’d recommend it for any fans of Idris Elba. He’s a very good, and very interesting, actor.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) is an epic space opera film.
I’d only heard mocking reviews and wasn’t keen to watch it — before seeing a YouTube video on Sofia Boutella as Kora. Now age-41, she’s a badass. Former Rhythmic gymnast and dancer.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The start of part 1, I thought was quite good.
Other actors introduced are compelling.
Charlie Hunnam as Kai is excellent, for example.
As the long movie progressed, it became obvious the plot was predictable. Some of the dialogue inane.
It has neither the gravitas of Dune, nor the likability and humour of Guardians of the Galaxy 1.
SO — watch for the slow mo fight scenes. And the Star Wars like universe.
Then go post your negative review on Rotten Tomatoes. 😀
I got through about half of REBEL MOON — PART TWO.
Not good. Dumb plot and too much violence.
Different Seasons (1982) is a collection of four Stephen King novellas with a more dramatic bent, rather than the horror fiction for which King is famous.
Of course the first story was adapted into one of the greatest films of all time, Shawshank Redemption.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Body was adapted for Stand by Me (1986). Another of the greatest films of all time.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I couldn’t really get into the novella, The Body, however.
Instead it was Apt Pupil that really got me.
It’s the story of the evolution of a mass shooter from age-13 to 17.
… student Todd Bowden discovers that his elderly neighbor, Arthur Denker, is Kurt Dussander—a former Nazi concentration camp commandant who is now a fugitive war criminal.
Todd, fascinated with Nazi atrocities perpetrated during World War II, blackmails Dussander, forcing him to share disturbing stories of what it was like working at Nazi extermination camps and how it felt to participate in genocide. …
I’ve not seen the film. 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. Ian McKellen stars as Dussander.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Looking for a feel good — ADULT — Christmas flick?
Dave and Lisa Adlard recommended my favourite, Love Actually. (2003 R-rated)
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) horrible Christmas variation of The Troggs’ classic hit “Love Is All Around”. (VIDEO)
Even more R-rated is the full version. 😀
Great book. Confusing name. 😀
Quite an epic life story.
Fast paced for a story of India written in English. I recommend it to one and all.
The Sleeping Dictionary (2013) is a novel by American writer Sujata Massey.
… Set in late Raj India, The Sleeping Dictionary tells the story of a young peasant girl, who makes her way to Calcutta and is caught between the raging independence movement and the British colonial society she finds herself inhabiting. …
While the term “sleeping dictionary” was originally coined for young women who slept with Europeans and educated them in the ways of India, Kamala turns the tables on the colonial establishment, using her talents for readings languages and men to work for India’s independence. …
There’s a Hollywood film with the same name and theme — The Sleeping Dictionary — from 2003.
Rick McCharles 