Friday, October 11, 2019
Thursday, October 10, 2019
First Lines: Heidi Julavits - The Effect of Living Backwards
When I arrived at the Institute, my name was still Alice, I was still the daughter of an entomologist and a population control activist, I was still a dropout student of social work and a former waitress at a western-themed steakhouse, I was still the product of one divorced academic family, various embassy school systems, two state colleges, three-quarters of an overpriced graduate program, and a long, humiliating indoctrination by the American restaurant service industry.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Deadly Species (2002)
A wealthy big-game hunter, funds an expedition deep in the Florida Everglades to search for a lost tribe of Native Americans, the Calusa.
Bottom-of-the-barrel video production is pretty bad in all departments, but one may find some amusement in the silly dialogues and the ridiculous creatures.
The 5th Wave (2016)
Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.
OK, but utterly derivative doomsday sci-fi drama could have been so much better with its cast and a little more imagination.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
First Lines: John Burdett - Bangkok 8
The African American marine in the gray Mercedes will soon die of bites from Naja siamensis, but we don't know yet.
The Circle (2017)
A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all of humanity.
Nicely made, well-intentioned, but quite sketchy satire only hastily takes aim at its topic and has hardly any punch; even the star cast is not much challenged.
Der Fall X701 (1964)
A scientist experimenting with suspended animation decides to use himself as a test subject. Before he is frozen, his wife is killed, and he is suspected of her murder.
More a crime story than science fiction, this German production is silly and clumsily staged.
The Eichmann Show (2015)
Dramatisation of the team hoping to televise the trial of Adolf Eichmann, an infamous Nazi responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews. It focuses on Leo Hurwitz, a documentary film-maker and Milton Fruchtman, a producer.
Well-meant, but rather superficial docudrama has some good actors, but lacks any depth or grasp of the complexity of its topic.
Monday, October 7, 2019
First Lines: C. J. Sansom - Dissolution
I was down in Surrey, on business for Lord Cromwell's office, when the summons came.
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