Saturday, July 29, 2017
New York
Times Square 1940s Men by Coca Cola and Planters Peanuts Sign Vintage New York City by Christian Montone
First Lines: Rudyard Kipling - The Man Who Would Be King
"Brother to a Prince and fellow to a beggar if he be found worthy."
Friday, July 28, 2017
Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008)
A young lad from west Belfast in the late 1980s who is recruited by the British Police to spy on the IRA.
Fast-paced and well-made Northern Ireland thriller that does manage to avoid political bias, but is not so careful considering facts (the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 and not in 2007 as mentioned in the epilogue).
Maltin**: "Taut, fact-based account...Both a well-made thriller and a character study of McGartland and the impact his informing has on his life."
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
During experiments to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, a genetically-enhanced chimpanzee uses its greater intelligence to lead other apes to freedom.
Fresh and new entry to the series, standard entertainment worth a view.
On renewed viewing: More enjoyable than I remember, has wonderful effects and makes you root for the apes.
Maltin**1/2: "Reinvention of the PLANET OF THE APES starts out so well it seems a shame it winds up like a cheesy monster movie of the 50s, with 21st-century visual effects. Everything we see seems absolutely real, including Caesar, played in performance-capture by Serkis. Screenplay is rife with references to the 1968 movie and its sequels."
Thursday, July 27, 2017
First Lines: H. Rider Haggard - She
In giving to the world the record oh what, looked at as an adventure only, is I Suppose on of the most wonderful and mysterious experiences ever undergone by mortal men, I feel it incumbent on me to explain what my exact connection with it is.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Ju-on (2002)
A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.
A succession of effectively set horror scenes without any main characters (except the ghosts) is not enough to make this a coherent cinematic experience.
Maltin***: "Not a story as such, but a series of eerie images, some quietly creepy, others outright terrifying, made in the same unnerving style as RINGU."
Noroi (2006)
A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the "kagutaba."
Unusual found-footage horror movie presents itself as documentary with divers sources, but artfully weaves together a coherent tale about a demonic supernatural entity; it does create an atmosphere of dread for those susceptible to its premise.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Monday, July 24, 2017
Art: Magda von Lerch
Magda von Lerch was an Austrian artist of the turn of the 20th century.
Painted mainly city-scape scenes.
Date of birth: 1871. Date of death: 1938
Date of birth: 1871. Date of death: 1938
(no full bio found)
Sunday, July 23, 2017
First Lines: Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped
I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house.