Peter Panās Neverland Nightmare - the third in the Twisted Childhood Universr after the two Winnie The Poohās, this changes it a bit by not so much making it evil versions of the existing characters but using their basic traits and making a whole new thing and you know what, its not that bad. Has its limitations but it actually reminded me of the Terrifier films a bit, and I enjoyed it quite a bit more than them
Went to see Hallow Road last night, which is the latest from Babak Anvari, yer man that did Under the Shadow. Itās had a pretty low key release, only one screening in the evening at my local Cineworld, which is not always a good sign, but the reviews were all extremely positive.
The main set up is similar to Locke, the one where Tom Hardy spends the entire film driving and barking into his phone. I almost donāt really want to say much about it because it was genuinely a really fun ride; I wasnāt quite sure I knew where it was going, but it is definitely a horror film by the time it wraps. Thought Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys did an excellent job, itās not an easy format to make work but they definitely played the roles in a way that ratcheted up the tension successfully.
(A minor point but it was also only 80 minutes )
Yeah I wanna see this a lot but nearest to me is in Leeds. Can go at 9am on or 11pm on Sunday
Iām listening to NOS4A2 by Joe Hill on Audible. This was overwhelmingly the consensus opinion when I googled ābest horror audiobookā. I took the plunge, why not. I get why - the reader, Kate Mulgrew, is totally committed, and sheās a big reason why this thing is so compelling so far. Not far into it yet, but itās very obvious this is the son of Stevie King, from atmosphere to style to subject matter.
I have gone in blind, so at the moment I only know thereās a little kid (endearingly called The Brat) who can teleport to places and find missing things with the power of her mind, but it makes her very ill and she never remembers doing it.
Then thereās a classic King misfit loner sociopath called Bing, who committed a horrifying crime and is obsessed with a long-closed theme park called Christmasland. He is now being groomed by a mysterious figure driving a Rolls with the license plate NOS4A2. Classic King stuff.
Like his old man, Hill is really good at getting inside the minds of his characters, especially if theyāre precocious kids or totally demented evildoers. Bing just had a dream soundtracked by White Christmas, and it was genuinely, incredibly frightening to listen to while I was having an evening stroll through the woods behind my house. Hill definitely has a Twin Peaks grasp of the uncanny and the ethereal. So Iām locked in, very keen to see where this is going.
This sounds good. A quick google shows they made a TV series out of it. It would be right up my partnerās street.
Has anyone watched it? The fact Iāve never heard of it leads me to think the series nay not be much cop. Not because Iām the grand arbiter of taste, just that a few-years-old series with merit would usually have crossed my path via reviews, lists, or friend recommendation by now.
I loved the book when I read it around 2013 or 2014. I tried the series and didnāt vibe with the first couple of episodes at all. The young cast just werenāt very good iirc, but maybe I should have tried a few more episodes. I remember Maggie being particularly weak iirc.
Intrigued to try the NOS4A2 audiobook now thanks to @BraBombNerdlinger !
And @McDonut havenāt seen it but just reading some reviews and the issue seems to be tonal inconsistency.
Iāve noticed there only seem to be a few people who can adapt King stuff and keep the tone just the right side of schlock, because so much of what grounds his books is the interior lives of his characters. Itās interesting that is possibly holding back adaptations of his kidās stuff too.
Got around to seeing Final Destination Bloodlines. Enjoyed it a lot. If youāre going to resurrect a franchise (particularly one that managed to close out the series very nicely with part five) then you better have something to offer, and thought Bloodlines had just enough of a new take to deliver that while also staying true to its roots. Some of the set pieces were among the best of the whole series for my money, and the tone was pretty lighthearted throughout (to the extent that often I was wondering why no one actually seemed THAT upset by their family members getting minced). Some nice nods to the previous films. Thought the coin motif was a decent framing device too.
Hmm. Had been looking forward to this, but the reviews out of Cannes are not sounding goodā¦
Oh dear.
In fairness, Titane walked the tightrope between brilliant and bonkers very finely. If youāre trying to do something new, I can see how you might not always get that balance right
Agreed. I went to see Titane at the cinema went it first came out and havenāt felt the need to revisit it since. Mind you, I seem to remember that critics didnāt rate Beau is Afraid, which I loved. Just hope this gets a wide releaseā¦
Still not found myself in the mood to watch that. Read it in a list just yesterday thoughā¦
Well I thought Final Destination Bloodlines was excellent fun; incredible gross kills, laugh out loud funny, looked great, sounded great, well paced and tonally nailed it. Iām not a fan of the original series and was hesitant to go to see it, but so glad I did. 5 times the budget of The Monkey and 5 times the crazy kills. They are getting to make a sequel to their film Freaks next so looking forward to what they bring to it after their learnings from this. Bravo, easily a 7min+ Cannes ovation from me, Odeon had to kick me out. =P
Itās definitely worth your time. Donāt expect a horror film and make sure youāre wide awake and in the mood for a wild 3 hours and you might love it.
Beau Is Afraid was confounding on first watch and then 5/5 on rewatch for me
Felt really Terry Gilliam-esque to me, hyper creative to a fault, it throws so much at you that it becomes overwhelming in a single watch. Hoping to be more prepared for his next one.
Genuinely fell asleep watching it. Only film Iāve ever done that in a cinema.