Saturday, January 25, 2020
Friday, January 24, 2020
First Lines: Philip Reeve - A Darkling Plain
Theo had been climbing since dawn: first on the steep roads and paths and sheep-tracks behind the city, then across slopes of shifting scree, and up at last onto the bare mountainside, keeping where he could to hollows and crevices where the blue shadows pooled.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Hell's House (1932)
Jimmy idolizes bootlegger Matt, and when he refuses to implicate his friend, he is sent to reform school. He befriends Shorty, a boy with a heart condition, and escapes to let the world know about the brutal conditions.
Low-budget crime drama with a simple, moralizing plot; not much challenge for Bette Davis in one of her first roles.
Halliwell (no star): "Primitive cheapie notable only for the early appearance of Bette Davis."
Maltin**: "Low-budget quickie...Interesting mainly for early appearances of O'Brien and Davis."
Tomb Raider (2018)
Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she discovers the island where her father disappeared.
Although the plot is not very inspired and barely credible, the movie itself is straight-forward and unpretentious, full of well-choreographed action sequences, and Alicia Vikander holds all our attention as a more down-to-earth, vulnerable, but always persevering heroine.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
First Lines: Gary Shteyngart - Absurdistan
I am Misha Borisovich Vainberg, age thirty, a grossly overweight man with small, deeply set blue eyes, a pretty Jewish beak that brings to mind the most distinguished breed of parrot, and lips so delicate you would want to wipe them with the naked back of your hand.
Monday, January 20, 2020
Les frères Sisters (2018)
In 1850s Oregon, the infamous duo of assassins, Eli and Charlie Sisters, chase a gold prospector and his unexpected ally.
Excellently directed Western drama skillfully balances violent incidents with humorous passages and convinces with grandiose cinematography, period detail and, especially, the performances of the leading men.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
Mildly entertaining Tarzan variation has good effects, lively action and humor; performances, however, are adequate at best.
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