Lee
The Golden age of scifi writers really did predict so much with devastating accurately.
Heart of Darkness meets The Lost World, with a subtle splash of Annihilation. I'd like to see this turned into a limited series.
[3.5/5]
Certainly overrated based on its seemingly impenetrable word of mouth, but not without its moments of self-reflective thought and existential relatability. I much more enjoyed the first half than the closing sections, but hey, that mirrors life.
Not as Don Quixote as I was led to believe, but Ignatius J. Riley is certainly an eccentric personality to follow. It's a shame this seems to be a cursed production in regards to adapting it to screen, as I really think it'd do well in the right hands. The likes of Belushi, Divine, John Goodman, Will Ferrell, and Zach Galifinakis have all been linked, yet each production seems to fall apart.
Take a shot for each time Ignatius says “Oh my god,” and when Jones says, “woah!”
Stories Ranked:
- Everything's Eventual
- The Man in the Black Suit
- 1408
- Autopsy Room Four
- The Road Virus Heads North
- Lunch at the Gotham Cafe
- That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French
- Lucky Quarter
- LT's Theory of Pets
- All That You Love Will Be Carried away
- In the Death Room
- The Death of Jack Hamilton
- The Little Sisters of Eluria
Joe Goldberg from You, you are not. Very slow pacing with minimal payoff, but I did enjoy the inclusion of day to day mundane minutia and attention to the 9-5 work cycle. But having worked for public and state libraries as well as currently being a university librarian, I did enjoy all the librarian jargon and environment.
A great thriller debut by Clémence Michallon that would be right up the alley for fellow fans of “airport novel thrillers” such as Gone Girl and The Girl on a Train. A small sleepy town crime thriller with elements of psychological drama, Focusing the multi-narrative structure on the victims was an interesting touch, but one you need to settle into when you first begin reading. Giving the women a voice and female gaze against the male antagonist certainly brings different layers to the unraveling tension and plot, but I do feel like the story runs out of steam halfway through. The Quiet Tenant plays out similarly to a season of You, but if it were with a female lead (and not a likable psycho like Love lol). Definitely a solid recommendation for fans of the genre and any of the titles I mentioned within my blurb.
FANCAST:
Director: Jane Campion/David Fincher
Aiden Thomas: Jake Gyllenhaal/Oliver Jackson Cohen/Chris Abbott/Lee Pace
Emily: Daisy Edgar Jones
“Rachel”: Elizabeth Olsen/Riley Keough
Cecilia Thomas: Ariana Greenblatt/Violet McGraw
Mayor: Jonathan Banks/Clark Peters
Too focused on convoluted world building that it drowns its own forgettable characters. It is nothing like it's self-marketed Joseph Conrad comparisons. Apparently Djuna intended this to be a sci-fi film initially, and it really shows. What we have is a rare occasion where it should have never been a book to begin with, and should have jumped straight to the screen for better results.
My initiation to the legendary Clive Barker's books—I'm well versed in his films—and easily one of my new fave collection of horror shorts. There are six stories within this titular Books of Blood—averaging about 30-50 pages per—and I'd rank them from best to least liked as follows:
- The Midnight Meat Train (terrific film adaptation)
- Pig Blood Blues (Stephen King-esque prison setting)
- Sex, Death, and Starshine (pseudo Agatha Christie with a supernatural twist and a dash of raunch)
- The Yattering and Jack (comedic locked-room Christmas vibe thriller)
- The Book of Blood (Poe with less prose; the film adaptation is okay)
- In the Hills, the Cities (Lovecraftian but a bit convoluted)
I look forward to diving more into his written works, as I really dig the manner in which Barker details the intricacies of his horror, backed by some good old fashioned wit. As countless others before him and after him, I'm certain that Barker was influenced by Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft among others, as there is a solid gothic cosmic blend to many of his shorts. I'd love to see Pig Blood Blues and get film/show adaptations, as my fave of the lot here, Midnight Meat Train already has a great more expansive scope film starring a young pre-fame Bradley Cooper. I think a Love + Death + Robots animated anthology collection would work wonders with Barker's short stories!
Extremely basic by the numbers trauma horror trying to disguise itself with some cryptid/supernatural thriller. I don't think Christina Henry's style is for me, as this is the second book of hers I did not enjoy. Granted I DNFd Horseman earlier this year, but of the first few chapters I read, I was not having a good time. The same can be said with Near the Bone, as by chapter 6, I was strongly considering putting it down. None of the characters are likable, the prose and style is extremely formulaic, mundane, and predictable to the point where the fake twist can be called out very very early. You're better off with The Shuddering, or The Butcher and the Wren—despite me not strongly liking either of those as well.
If GoodReads allowed half stars, this would be a 3.5. It definitely scratched part of the itch I've been having since beating the phenomenal game, Control. A glimpse of the unknown made real before your eyes, but creating even more additional questions than long dreamt answers given.
Pretty lacklustre and minimal in character development given such a small crew and being on an isolated setting. I'm still intrigued in checking out the mini-series, as that was my primary intention of reading this initially.
So much cursing and use of a particular “f word,” to the point you could make a drinking game out of it. Moshfegh's worst so far, and one I don't recommend unfortunately.
[4.5/5]
A contemporary classic that lives up to all the positive word of mouth. It's not often that I add a book to my all-time faves, but I knew this one was going to fit right in about halfway through reading. The unique and very memorable eye-catching title is not a witty inside joke you learn along the pages within, but more so quite the literal phrasing of what our very psychologically relatable narrator desires. I strongly recommend this to my fellow depressed readers and comrades in “I wish I could just disappear for a while to reset” arms. This is ripe to be adapted into an A24 film—for people to adopt new fictional personas—ideally by either the Safdie Brothers or Sofia Coppola. My Year of... also brought to mind the German book and film adaptation, Wetlands by Charlotte Roche, but more subdued and not quite as raunchy “gross-out” attempts inclined.
FANCAST:
- Narrator: Sydney Sweeney/Maika Monroe
- Reva: Rachel Sennott/Zoey Deutch
- Dr. Tuttle: Kathryn Hahn/Gwendoline Christie
- Trevor: Dacre Montgomery/Timmy C
- Natasha: Simone Kessell/Gemma Chan
- Narrator's mother: Cate Blanchett/Kristen Dunst
- Narrator's father: Shea Whigham/Jesse Plemons
- Ping Xi: Bowen Yang
Underwhelming; but perhaps that's how the end of the world will be, contrary to the myriad depictions of it in art.
Judging as a whole, I much preferred Shirley's Dark Tales collection more. The middle section of this one was a bit of a drag.
Ranked:
The Daemon Lover
The Lottery
The Witch
The Renegade
Like Mother Used to Make
The Tooth
Pillars of Salt
Men with Their Big Shoes
The Villager
My Life with R. H. Macy
Trial by Combat
The Intoxicated
After You My Dear Alphonse
Flower Garden
Seven Kinds of Ambiguity
Charles
Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors
Afternoon in Linen
The Dummy
Of Course
Elizabeth
Colloquy
Got a Letter from Jimmy
A Fine ol Firm
Epilogue
Not anywhere near the bleak dread of the marketed The Road, but definitely in line with a heavy blend of Mad Max road warrior and early Walking Dead seasons. If you're going into this one expecting hordes of zombies and bloody good undead fun, I recommend you look elsewhere; Positive does the far too popular trend of “humans are the real monsters in the zombie apocalypse.”
FANCAST:
- Finn/“Stones”: Tom Holland/Walker Scobell
- Adare: Stephen Lang
- Red Kate: Riley Keogh
- Kylie: Sophie Thatcher/Jenna Ortega
- Heather: Zoe Margaret Colette
- Axton?: Melissa McBride
- Luke: George Mackay/Charlie Heaton
- Ike: Jack Dylan Grazer
- Mackie: O'Shea Jackson Jr.
Cool concept that brings to mind Narnia, but is far too short and left I expanded to really get into the meat of it.
I was expecting it to be far more Twilight Zone tinged, but alas it was quite ordinary.
Take a shot whenever you read/hear “queer.” I know it's the parlance of the time, but it's still used far too often for an experienced writer like Bradbury to rely on so much.
SHORTS RANKED:
Paranoia
Louisa, Please Come Home
Home
All She Said Was Yes
The Possibility of Evil
The Story We Used to Tell (A24 ready)
The Bus
The Beautiful Stranger
Jack the Ripper
What a Thought
The Good Wife
The Summer People (Blumhouse ready)
The Man in the Woods (A24 ready)
A Visit
The Honeymoon of Mrs. Smith
Family Treasures
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (no relation to Disney)
Great world building and attention to poetic detail, especially for how short it is. A melancholic depiction of how we as humanity become disenchanted by even the grandest and strangest of things given time, and how with each passing day our once innocent fascination gives way to greed. An encapsulated allegory for how we treat our home: Earth.
The original disaster movie, and unsurprisingly Wells predicts the likely future once again.