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The Thing With Feathers | Film Review

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  While trying to raise his children following the unexpected loss of his wife, a man (Benedict Cumberbatch) has to deal with the physical manifestation of his grief. I heard about this film a while ago but it took me way too long to actually see it! That said, I'm glad I finally saw it because I liked it. From the first second, it feels really authentic. You never doubt that the characters are going through exactly what is being shown. Depicting grief in this way is really powerful. Even before the grief becomes physical, we really get to understand the characters through the way they grieve. The actors are great. Cumberbatch is fantastic in the role, and the child actors, Richard and Henry Boxall, are perfect and very authentic. There are times when the metaphor feels heavy-handed, particularly when the crow makes a speech. I don't think things needed to be spelled out for the audience like this. In fact, it took something away from the overall idea to make things too obvious...

The Wicker Man | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  Like a few movies on the bucket list this year I've seen the remake but not the original, so I was looking forward to this one! I liked this film. It's great when a mystery film can get the audience invested right from the beginning, and this film does it well. Not only are we interested in solving the mystery, but we're instantly as wary of the residents of the town as the Sergeant is. One way I'd describe this film is 'odd'. It's a major plot point, every character acts a bit weird, the setting is a bit off, everything is off kilter. It straddles the line of being fantastical and grounded, and that makes it a really interesting watch. I can't say this is the most entertaining movie. You're interested in the mystery, but from here, most of the film is about the town and seeing the odd way they live. So after you get over the weirdness, your interest ebbs and flows. For me, I was still interested in solving the mystery, but the eerie nature of the ...

Pretty Lethal | Film Review

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  When five ballerinas find themselves trapped in a roadside inn with the dangerous inhabitants, they have to use all of their skills to save themselves. I'd heard mixed things about this film before deciding to watch it. The plot was kind of vague so I wasn't completely sure what to expect. I really liked this film. For a start, the cast is great! The film stars Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Avantika, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow and Uma Thurman, and all of the actors do a fantastic job portraying their characters. It's engaging from the very first moment to the moment the credits roll. The beginning of the film feels very odd, it's hard to know what to make of it. But once the real plot gets going, you're completely locked in.  The dialogue is probably the thing that lets the film down a bit. It takes a while for the characters to actually sound like real people, even when the acting is great. This is particularly true of the villains, a few of which just felt l...

The Fog (1980) | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I've seen the 2005 remake of this film but I only have a vague memory of what it was about, so this is definitely like a new watch entirely - one I was looking forward to! I really liked this film! It took a while to actually start. The credits were still coming up after 12 minutes when it felt like we should have been actually getting into the story, especially because the film is only 90 minutes. I really liked the characters. There's a lot of time in the beginning of the film where we're entirely focused on the characters with the fog being just an ominous presence in the background, and it's great to get to spend time with them. Not only do we really get to understand the world, but when the fog does hit, we're more invested. This also added to how close the town felt. We see the different ways people are affected, how their stories come together, and it's great to see their connections. I really liked the visuals. The film is shot in a really interesting ...

The Strangers: Chapter 3 | Film Review

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  After the events of the first two chapters, Maya ( Madelaine Petsch)  faces off against the masked killers one last time. I don't know why I keep doing it to myself with these movies, but at least the franchise is (hopefully) over now. As expected, this was not a good film. I have no idea why the writers went down the route of giving the killers a backstory, because in all of horror history, these are the killers that least need an explanation. The only reason the first two movies outside of this trilogy worked so well is because there was no reason! I actually liked the way the film began, maybe I was just hopeful that they would move on from Maya's story, because that's exactly what the movie needed. New characters, fresh blood, another new start. But that's where the good things started and ended. There were way too many characters in this one. But in addition to that, they're all dull and badly written. Maya as a main character is one of the issues - I barely ...

Book Review: Murder Road by Simone St. James

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  After picking up a hitchhiker on a deserted road, young newlyweds April and Eddie soon find themselves haunted by a string of unsolved murders. The premise of this book was such an interesting   one that I really couldn't wait to get into it. Before I opened the book, I thought it would make a great movie or series based on the description alone. I really liked another of the author's books, The Sun Down Motel, so this was on my list immediately! Unfortunately the actual story was a bit disappointing. But it was great that we get into things right away. The characters are picking up the hitchhiker in maybe the first chapter and that first section is really intriguing and genuinely creepy. Then from here, things start to go downhill. Rather than staying with the scares and creepiness, the story pivots to 'the police think our heroes are the killers', and it stays here for way too long. I get why it went in this direction, it definitely made the story feel more authenti...

Night of the Living Dead | 100 Movies Bucket List

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  I think everyone has heard of this film, horror fan or not. But I've never actually seen it so I'm really glad it's on the list! I liked this film! I loved the opening scene. It captures the essence of the horror before you even understand what's happening and you're immediately invested. Despite the depiction of the zombies themselves being quite old-fashioned compared to modern versions, they're still scary and intimidating, while also being fun to watch. It's really well written. Everything said feels authentic and real, and you truly believe that these characters are really going through this. And speaking of characters, they're all great. We only get to know them in the context of this situation but that's enough to feel like we're on this journey with them. Ben in particular is such a great hero. He's the character you want to follow, he's the one you're most interested in and he's played really well by Duane Jones. The st...