The Lion and the Rose (S4x02)

Airdate: 13 April 2014

Written by: George R. R. Martin Directed by: Alex Graves

Running Time: 52 minutes

By the conclusion of its third season, Game of Thrones had cemented a grim reputation. For the majority of its audience—at least those unacquainted with George R.R. Martin’s source novels—the horrific climax of The Rains of Castamere delivered a brutal, paradigm-shifting realisation. The fictional world they had invested in was not one where valour and honour were rewarded, but a stark, unforgiving landscape where the machinations of the wicked often triumphed, and where noble intentions led directly to bloodshed, destruction, and tragedy. The Red Wedding was not merely a plot point; it was a statement of intent, leaving viewers in a state of shock and narrative despair. Aware, perhaps, that even this bleak universe requires some semblance of balance, the series offered a minor, almost teasing taste of karmic justice in the final scene of the Season 4 premiere, Two Swords, with Arya reclaiming her sword and dispatching a tormentor. Yet, few could have anticipated that the pendulum of fortune would swing back with such spectacular, cathartic force in the very next episode. “The Lion and the Rose,” written by Martin himself and directed by Alex Graves, delivers not just a pivotal moment, but one of the series’ most audacious and satisfying narrative corrections.

True to the established Game of Thrones formula, the episode weaves between its far-flung settings, though its architecture is notably lopsised. The narrative centre of gravity lies firmly, and purposefully, in King’s Landing. The other threads feel largely illustrative, serving as tonal counterpoints or necessary plot maintenance rather than driving the story forward with great momentum. Beyond the Wall, Bran Stark’s quest continues, with Jojen Reed’s warning about the dangers of warging—that Bran might “lose himself”—adding a layer of mystical foreboding to their northward trek.

The scenes in the Dreadfort and at Dragonstone are exercises in reinforcing established character traits and themes. At the Dreadfort, Ramsay Snow’s depravity is once again showcased through the grotesque “hunt” of a peasant girl Tansy (Jazzy de Lisser), a sport he shares with the equally cruel Myranda. The sequence is visceral and unsettling, yet its primary function seems to be reminding the audience of Ramsay’s nature before he is forced into a rare moment of justification. His explanation to his father, Roose Bolton, for having tortured and castrated Theon Greyjoy—thereby destroying a valuable bargaining chip against the Ironborn—is a cold lesson in realpolitik meeting sadistic overreach. It underscores the Bolton pragmatism, but feels like a footnote compared to the main event. Similarly, at Dragonstone, Melisandre’s relentless campaign against the Faith of the Seven proceeds with the burning of Axell Florent (James McHale), a moment that further establishes Stannis’s court as a place of fanatical, unforgiving zeal. The drama here is theological and grim, yet it lacks the transformative power of the episode’s centrepiece.

That centrepiece is, of course, the long-awaited wedding of King Joffrey Baratheon to Margaery Tyrell. Before the infamous feast, however, the episode takes time to lay poignant emotional groundwork in the capital. Tyrion Lannister’s heartbreaking decision to send Shae away, a manoeuvre designed to save her from Tywin’s and Cersei’s murderous wrath, is a great example in tragic irony. Peter Dinklage portrays Tyrion’s anguish with devastating subtlety, a man wounding himself to protect another, only to set in motion a chain of events that will doom them both. His parallel arrangement for Bronn to secretly train Jaime in one-handed combat is a smaller, brotherly act of loyalty that highlights the few genuine connections in the viper’s nest of King’s Landing.

All this is but a prelude to the wedding spectacle itself. The ceremony and subsequent feast are a riot of colour, music, and ostentatious pageantry, a deliberate contrast to the dark, claustrophobic atmosphere of the Twins in the previous season’s massacre. The celebration, however, is laced with Joffrey’s unique brand of cruelty. The crude dwarf performance re-enacting the War of the Five Kings is followed by public humiliation of Tyrion, and Joffrey seizes the opportunity to torment his uncle with vicious glee. Jack Gleeson’s performance remains a marvel of loathsome precision; every smirk and sneer reinforces Joffrey’s status as perhaps the most universally despised character in contemporary popular culture. Which makes what follows so profoundly cathartic. His sudden choking, the frantic gasps, the desperate clawing at his throat—it is a shocking, visceral end. He dies in his mother’s arms, but not before a final, accusatory finger is pointed at the horrified Tyrion. In the ensuing chaos, Cersei’s grief instantly curdles into vengeful fury, and her order to seize her brother sets the stage for the season’s central trial. Sansa Stark, aided by the seemingly foolish Ser Dontos Hollard, seizes the moment to slip away, her escape a minor victory amidst the tumult.

Joffrey’s death was an event most fans anticipated and overwhelmingly desired, yet its timing was a shock. Few expected the narrative to remove its primary human antagonist so early in the season, reserving such a “wham” moment for what is typically a setup episode. This development completely upends the dynastic and geopolitical order of Westeros. The ruling Lannister-Tyrell alliance is instantly poisoned with suspicion, plunging the royal family into a fratricidal chaos that will define the season. Moreover, it creates a compelling murder mystery—the “who” and “how” of the Purple Wedding—that would not be fully resolved for years, both within the show and in the books.

The event also represents a curious form of karmic retribution for the Red Wedding. The Rains of Castamere was a seismic television event that permanently removed characters perceived as the series’ bedrock” leaving an audience in a state of narrative trauma. In The Lion and the Rose, the show offers a perverse balance. Unlike the betrayal in a dark, austere setting, here, the retribution arrives in a sun-drenched garden, during a genuinely joyous celebration. The parallels are striking—a wedding, a sudden massacre—but the differences are everything. One was a brutal, calculated extermination of the ostensibly heroic faction; the other is the almost divine-comeuppance of the archetypal villain. Lady Olenna Tyrell’s earlier consolation to Sansa, expressing outrage over “killing a man at a wedding,” becomes a piece of brilliant, grim foreshadowing, highlighting the show’s cyclical nature.

The episode’s impact extends beyond the fiction. For actor Jack Gleeson, whose performance was so chillingly convincing that it blurred the line between character and actor for many viewers, Joffrey’s demise offered a form of release. Gleeson would step away from screen acting for six years, a hiatus perhaps influenced by the intense, unwanted scrutiny his role attracted. His departure passed the mantle of the series’ most despised villain to Iwan Rheon’s Ramsay, a transition this episode subtly facilitates by giving Ramsay a showcase scene.

Directed with assured confidence by Alex Graves, The Lion and the Rose is a masterful piece of television. It understands the need for light amidst the unrelenting shade, delivering a moment of visceral satisfaction without betraying the series’ core ethos of consequence. It is not a return to simplistic heroism, but a recalibration, a reminder that in this world, while doing the right thing may lead to tragedy, unbridled wickedness can also, occasionally, meet a spectacularly abrupt end. The episode stands as the necessary, glorious counterpoint to the darkness of The Rains of Castamere.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

==

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After re-watching Alien and Aliens in the past week as well as a 5 hour documentary about Aliens, we could successfully say that I have had a rather full week of Alien oriented stuff. The logical step is for me to move on to Alien 3, which is a movie that has received very harsh criticism over the years and a lot of it isn't really deserved. In fact, a great deal of the criticism that is mostly negative isn't even true. People just didn't like it as much as the much-beloved Aliens and just went wild with speculation.

[src](https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/aiien3_584x800_ka_0c7ddb99.jpeg?region=0%2C0%2C584%2C800)

The first thing we need to take note of here is that no matter what they did, they were not going to be able to one-up Aliens. The success of that film was just unreal and like Eminem said in one of his songs "I'm not gonna be able to top where my name is." Alien 3 was in the same situation.

Most people didn't like the fact that the story took place like it did. We went and killed off "Newt" off-screen and then thrust Ridley down to a planet and many people thought this was just absurd. If you know anything about space you know that the chances of you being near anything in space is extremely small, let along a planet that has people and atmosphere. The chances of your spaceship having a fire and emergency space capsule release right at that precise moment that the craft just happens to be there is ridiculously low, even for a fictional sci-fi movie.

But whatever right? They needed to get Ripley on the ground and around a colony that just happens to have a mostly unarmed group of people in order to have a story. They didn't want another "space marine" film and it is easy to understand why. They had already done that as well as it could possibly be done.

The story isn't terrible here but a lot of people pick on it anyway. I think the story, once we get past the very convenient off-screen elimination of Newt and the fact that we ended up on this planet in a one-in-a-hundred-trillion chance encounter with a habitated planet, that the story is actually pretty good.

But then we start to get into the Alien, which they HAD to do in a somewhat innovative way, and the criticism of the execution in the end, just runs off the rails with people accusing them of using bad CGI.

The thing is, almost none of this was actually CGI as it turns out. It was actually a team of puppeteers working with a miniature model and that is probably a good thing. I will agree that it kind of looks hokey in a lot of places but this could very well be lighting decisions rather than the puppetry. For me, I think they made a mistake by keeping the shot on the Xenomorph for so long rather than just having "jump shots" of it every now and then. They were pushing the envelope because that is what films do, you have to do something new and a lot of this technology was invented specifically for this one film.

[src](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/3391cc0d-0bee-4c5d-9f97-2aa7ef714bc8/vfx-artists-react-to-alien-3-et-hellboy-ms-marvel-and-breaking-bad.jpg) _{this was not good.... everyone will admit that... it was pretty special at the time though}

A bit later Jurassic Park would be released and people will universally contest that JP was done much much better than Alien 3 was.

There are actually very few scenes in this entire film that utilized full CGI. One of which was the infant Xenomorph emerging from an Ox and this was only done because the practical effects of this sequence were never completed and just like you would expect, films run on time-frames and a lot of pressure from studio execs. There is also a full CGI scene that is widely criticized but that scene is only about 1-second long.

Shadows were CGI and some debris was CGI, but almost every scene that you see of the Xenomorph running around is a very elaborate puppet that is being manned by a team of puppeteers who honestly when you look at it this way, did an outstanding job.

In later films we would see the CGI improved but fans were not happy then either. By the time the modern films were released I would say that they truly mastered it, but at that point the world was mostly kind of tired of the Alien franchise. Their most recent movie and the TV series, were kind of pushed to the side because certain modern social issues were injected into the story and well, most people really don't like that.

I feel as though Alien 3 got thrashed by critics back then because, the previous film had established something that couldn't possibly be one-upped. They tried anyway though and made a bunch of money which is honestly, what film-making is all about anyway. All of the following films also made money, I think.

Other than the honestly, truly awful TV series, I think that the Alien franchise is one of the best in history and "3" was always going to get ripped apart, no matter what they did. You can't create a crew of characters as beloved as they managed in Aliens and have anything other than that happen.

But if you ever see someone say that "the CGI in Alien 3 was awful", just know that there was almost zero of it despite the fact that they had the capabilities at the time.

Hello, anime fans. Today I’m bringing you another little-known anime that aired late last year and managed to entertain me just a little bit. It’s a somewhat quirky mix of comedy with supernatural elements and a touch of teen romance. A gem for those looking for something laid-back, simple, and fun. Based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Kyōsuke Nishiki, Li'l Miss Vampire Can't Suck Right is an animated adaptation produced by the studio Feel. Check out the anime about the young vampire who doesn't know how to bite.

Hola, fanáticos del anime. El día de hoy les traigo otro anime poco conocido que se emitió a finales del año pasado y que me llegó a entretener tan solo un poco. Es una mezcla un tanto peculiar de comedia con elementos sobrenaturales y algo de romance adolescente. Una joya para los que buscan ver algo tranquilo, sencillo y divertido. Basada en la serie de manga homónima escrita e ilustrada por Kyōsuke Nishiki, Li'l Miss Vampire Can't Suck Right es una adaptación animada producida por el estudio Feel. Conoce el anime de la joven vampira que no sabe morder.

Source: FilmAffinity.

Plot

The anime begins by introducing us to a modern world where humanity lives in harmony with supernatural beings, such as vampires. At a high school attended by students of all races, there is a young girl who has become very popular because she is a vampire with a cold and mysterious personality. Her name is Luna Ishikawa, and one of her classmates, the quietest and most antisocial boy in the class, Tatsuta Ōtori, introduces her to us in his monologue. However, one day, Ōtori discovers that Ishikawa doesn’t know how to bite or suck blood like other vampires do.

Trama

El anime inicia mostrándonos un mundo moderno donde la humanidad convive en armonía con seres sobrenaturales como lo son los vampiros, por ejemplo. En una escuela secundaria donde asisten todo tipo de razas existe una joven estudiante que se ha vuelto muy popular debido a que es una vampira con una personalidad fría y misteriosa. Ella se llama Luna Ishikawa y uno de sus compañeros, el chico más callado y asocial del salón, Tatsuta Ōtori, nos la presenta en su monólogo. Sin embargo, un día, Ōtori descubre que Ishikawa no sabe morder ni chupar sangre como lo hacen los demás vampiros.

Trailer & Review

Here's the trailer for the anime:

By: Crunchyroll

All the best.

By: Nattosheru.

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Source

Primate 2025 has a certain background aspect not so common, mainly about the history of rabies and that alone sets a creepy tone, and then the actual story kicks in and everything about it feels rushed because this is the kind of movie that gave you almost 70% of the context during the first trailer so making it something special is not an easy task. The movie builds around a chimp named Ben who gets infected and turns into this sadistic monster inside a cliffside glass house in Hawaii, and I spent a good chunk of the movie looking away because the gore goes way past what this kind of story needs, they really went over board in my opinion, consider Im a guy who likes horror and slasher movies. You can tell right away the script is leaning hard on these gruesome moments to cover up how thin everything underneath actually is, like when Ben just rips people face off. Dressed in human clothes, a little shirt, holding a teddy bear, which makes the whole thing even more unsettling when he starts holding everyone hostage and tearing apart anyone who gets in his way. I was not really interested on this one although decided to gave it a try just to unwind after a packed week, I havent been posting lately that frequent so wanted something that gives me back the writting bug, but instead I got a chimp toying with people like he is auditioning for a serial killer role, which stops feeling like a horror movie and starts feeling like torture somewhere around thirty minute into the movie.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33028778/
• Platform: PARAMOUNT+

I have to admit that the house and stage where everything happens is probably the best thing about this movie, this massive glass house built directly into a cliff in Hawaii, I will give the production team full credit because the place looks incredible on screen. Troy Kotsur plays Adam, a famous deaf novelist and the owner of Ben, and he communicates through sign language while Ben uses a custom tablet soundboard his linguist mother taught him to use so he could communicate more directly, honestly the setup of the movie is not bad at all, I wouldnt consider this a total failure, still a cool one time watch. Sound design is very speciall for the movie, one good example is when Adam returns to the house the sound drops out completely to put you in his world for a moment, showing you how he cannot hear the chimp stalking around behind him, its the pure silence that adds so much tension to the scene and almost because the default for when Ben is stalking his pray. Kotsur is great in the role and the sign language element gives the movie a personality that none of the other characters come close to matching making them just another of Ben's victim, which then makes it even more frustrating that the script treats him like a side dish instead of the main course, the movie should have put him as the main target. Johnny Sequoyah as Lucy does what she can with a thin role and Jessica Alexander as Hannah gives the movie a touch of attitude that keeps things watchable although nothing that you going to remember after two weeks of watching, also none of the young cast gets enough material to make you actually care when Ben starts picking them off.

After the story starts to unfold there is the argument that turns this movie down, Ben is supposed to have rabies, a disease associated with neurological dysfunction, abnormal behavior, aggression, weakness, poor coordination, paralysis, and sometimes hydrophobia. Instead of acting like a severely sick animal, he moves like a ninja, thinks like a chess player, and keeps setting up elaborate little gotcha scenes that make zero sense for the premise. He figures out how to use a key fob to lock someone inside a car while he works on them through the window and he types messages on his tablet before attacking his owner, which is a cool image for about three seconds before you realize none of it tracks with what the movie told you about rabies since the beginning. Then there is the pool standoff, in my opinion should have been the tension centerpiece, teenagers trapped in the water because the chimp cannot swim, except the movie already established he is afraid of water so it just ignores that and has him hang from light fixtures above the pool to reach people instead. For the most part the movie felt contradictory to Ben situation but if you just put your brain in copilot then I would say that the cast still made it watchable for the most part, until the kills became so disturbing I had to just look away for the 50% when things starts to go down. There is an specific scene where there was some kinda hope when Drew just crawls into a room thinking he might make it out, only for Ben to find him and pin him down to then rip his jaw completely off, this and the rip face move were his favorite kills. Its like fear is not enough and the movie also wants you to feel hopeless for everyone, similar those scenes where people get trap into a burning house with no place to go, but in this case its just Ben creating all this environment of frustration also lets not forget Be is supposed to be an infected sick animal, but the movie keeps treating him like a slasher villain who is stronger, smarter, and more coordinated than everyone around him. I get that these people are panicking and obviously are not trained to handle a chimp under these circumstances, but the writing makes them feel so helpless that it stops being tense and starts feeling rigged. The movie keeps finding ways for Ben to outplay them, ambush them, and survive long past the point where the humans should have had some kind of advantage. On top of that, the chimp effect are kinda meh specially during this dark scenes, during close ups and especially during the face ripping gore, Ben can look too much like a guy in a suit with grime on his face, and once the illusion breaks, whatever tension is left starts to disappear.

I feel those who watch this at the theater because might feel tricked out, the movie could have been something, because you have a pretty unhinged pitch here that could have gone in so many interesting directions, one of them just give more context about why Ben situation is so special at the same time contradictory in terms of his habilities and instead it sits there being a sadistic mess. There have been many other similar movies but this time with a chimp and a pool instead of say a dog and some other location. I did some search online see if this movie is a reboot or inspire on something similar and found a 1983 movie name Cujo, similar premise of a Dog that got rabies and tend to trap people in a car, probably wont be easy to find it online but for you to care about the victims there is this need of context and time developing the charaters that here feels fake. On top that animal attacks are not strange or anything new, considering the high probabilities when you keep a animal that is usually not a human companion, this is not your average French Poodle, and those stories are terrifying in a way that feels earned because of the actual unpredictability and raw strength of most of these animals, but for the most part is because when a case like this hits the news they just keep digging for context to make things more interesting until there is nothing else to it and becomes old news, this movie doesnt really takes such direction and instead gives Ben the brain of a cartoon villain. Adam has this whole thing where he raised Ben like family, practically a son and yet when push comes to shove he shows almost no real internal conflict about having to go after him, which strips out the emotional core the movie really needed like an internal conflict inside Ben something that might hold him back and at least gives the humans a chance. You get moments where characters are hiding in a closet while Ben sniffs around outside and the tension almost works, then someone stupidly steps on a remote and blasts the TV and the whole thing goes to shit, its almost like the movie wants to be a smart creature feature and a family grief story at the same time and it fumbles both completely.

#primate, #horror, #creaturefeature, #chimp, #gore, #review, #glasshouse, #hawaii, #rabies, #monstermovie, #totalstinker, #troykotsur, #slasher, #beast, #survival, #bizarremovie, #scarymonkey, #cliffhouse, #practicaleffects, #sickening, #animalattack, #moviereview

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Released in 1996 and directed by Doug Liman, Swingers feels like one of those movies that should have been much bigger the moment it came out, but part of its charm is how small and personal it feels. Made on a low budget with sharp writing and strong performances, it became a cult classic and helped launch several major careers.

Jon Favreau wrote the script and stars as Mike Peters, a struggling actor living in Los Angeles after a painful breakup. Mike is stuck in that miserable phase where every conversation somehow circles back to his ex, and every attempt to move forward feels awkward. Favreau plays him with enough honesty that the character never feels pathetic, just painfully real.

Vince Vaughn is the breakout star here as Trent Walker, Mike’s endlessly confident and fast talking best friend. Trent is all swagger, bad advice, and nightclub energy. Vaughn gives the performance so much charm that even when Trent is clearly wrong, you still understand why people follow him. This role basically announced him as a star.

The supporting cast also adds a lot to the film’s appeal. Ron Livingston, Patrick Van Horn, and Alex Désert round out the friend group, each bringing a different perspective on dating, nightlife, and surviving in Los Angeles. Heather Graham appears in a smaller but memorable role that becomes one of the turning points for Mike.

Doug Liman directs the film with a loose, natural energy that fits perfectly. It feels less like a traditional Hollywood movie and more like you are just spending time with real people trying to figure out their lives. The conversations feel lived in rather than scripted.

The plot is simple because it is built around character, not giant twists. Mike is trying to get over heartbreak, rebuild his confidence, and figure out who he is in a city built on image and rejection. His friends keep dragging him into Vegas trips, late night parties, and terrible phone call decisions along the way.

One of the reasons Swingers works so well is how accurately it captures male friendship. These guys tease each other constantly, give awful relationship advice, and still genuinely care about one another. There is humor in that, but also real emotional truth.

The famous answering machine scene remains one of the most painfully relatable moments in film. Anyone who has ever overthought a message or instantly regretted a call understands exactly why that scene works. It is funny because it is brutally honest.

The dialogue is a huge part of the movie’s identity. Lines like “You’re so money and you don’t even know it” became iconic because they feel like something actual friends would say. The language gave the film its own rhythm and made it instantly memorable.

Los Angeles itself feels like a character in the movie. The lounges, clubs, cheap apartments, and late night drives all create a very specific nineties atmosphere. It captures that moment in time without feeling forced or overly nostalgic.

What makes the film so strong is that beneath the cool image and stylish nightlife, it is really about insecurity. Mike is not trying to become some perfect version of himself. He is just trying to stop feeling stuck. That emotional honesty is why the movie lasts.

Favreau’s writing understands that confidence is often fake before it becomes real. Trent talks like he has life figured out, but even he has cracks underneath the surface. That makes the characters feel human rather than just archetypes.

Over time, Swingers became one of the defining indie films of the nineties because it proved you did not need huge budgets or giant action scenes to make something memorable. Strong writing and real characters were enough.

It also helped launch Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn into major careers, and watching it now, you can see exactly why. Both performances feel effortless, and their chemistry carries the entire film.

In the end, Swingers is an excellent film because it is funny, sharp, and far more emotionally honest than it first appears. It is about heartbreak, friendship, and the slow process of getting your confidence back after life knocks it out of you.

More than anything, it remains endlessly rewatchable because it feels true. It is stylish without being fake and cool without trying too hard. That is rare, and that is why it still holds up so well.

Denys Arcand is one of the most prominent figures in Canadian cinema, at least within the sphere of Québécois filmmaking. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with his 2003 drama The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares). That critically lauded work was, in fact, a sequel to his 1986 humorous drama The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain), a film that itself brought Arcand considerable international fame and remains one of the most commercially successful Canadian films of its era. While its successor secured Oscar glory, the original Decline offers a fascinating, talkative, and deliberately static portrait of middle-aged intellectual ennui, a film that is as insightful as it is occasionally frustrating in its execution.

The plot is deceptively simple, unfolding over a single day. It follows a group of friends, mostly middle-aged academics teaching at the Université de Montréal, as they prepare for a dinner party. The narrative is bifurcated: the women—Dominique (Dominique Michel), Diane (Louise Portal), Louise (Dorothée Berryman), and the much younger student Danielle (Geneviève Rioux)—spend their afternoon at a health club, while the men—Rémy (Rémy Girard), Pierre (Pierre Curzi), and Claude (Yves Jacques)—cook at a countryside cottage. The titular decline refers to a thesis from a book by Dominique, a history professor. In a radio interview with her friend Diane, a part-time journalist, she posits that as empires decay, the public good is abandoned in favour of personal pleasure—a diagnosis she applies to the American empire, of which Quebec is a peripheral component. This intellectual framework hangs over the entire film, implicitly criticising the characters’ own self-absorbed pursuits.

The conversation in both groups is dominated almost entirely by sex: its role in their lives, their past exploits, and its impact on their relationships. Arcand presents a panoramic view of sexual attitudes. The men’s talk is boastful and often crude; Rémy is a philandering husband, while Pierre recounts meeting Danielle when she worked in a massage parlour. Claude, an openly gay art professor, vividly describes cruising for men with a reckless hedonism that masks private health anxieties. Among the women, the discussions are more analytical but equally preoccupied. The party is later joined by Mario (Gabriel Arcand), Diane’s uneducated, “punkish” boyfriend, whose relationship with her is founded on unorthodox sexual practices.

This relentless focus on carnality led many contemporary American critics, such as Roger Ebert, to label the film a Canadian answer to Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (1983). Kasdan’s film also deals with a reunion of university friends confronting middle age and lost idealism, albeit triggered by a suicide. However, this comparison is somewhat superficial. Arcand had little interest in crafting a generational statement or exploring the political disillusionment of baby boomers. Instead, as he has indicated, the film originated from a formal challenge: how to make a compelling drama where “nothing happens” and characters merely talk. His solution was to make sex the universal subject, a topic guaranteed to engage both his characters and the audience.

Arcand does not shy away from illustrating these conversations visually. The film features both male and female nudity and relatively explicit sex scenes, though they are presented without sensationalism. To break the potential monotony of continuous dialogue, Arcand employs brief flashbacks that visualise the characters’ anecdotes, such as Pierre’s first encounter with Danielle. These moments are effective, grounding the often-abstract discussions in tangible, if fleeting, memories. The overall tone is one of sophisticated, witty banter, maintaining a generally pleasant and ironic atmosphere. However, darker, more serious dramatic currents surface towards the end, particularly when Louise discovers humiliating truths about her husband Rémy’s infidelities. This shift introduces a poignant note of betrayal and sadness that contrasts sharply with the preceding intellectual jesting.

The film’s success hinges largely on its extraordinarily talented ensemble cast. The performances feel natural and lived-in, with Rémy Girard and Gabriel Arcand (the director’s brother) being particular standouts.The casting is a significant strength, making these often self-absorbed and verbose characters remain watchable and, at times, sympathetic.

An interesting formal choice by Arcand was his deliberate decision to make his protagonists intellectuals. As per his own comments, this allowed them to speak the “proper” French of the educated elite rather than using a thick Québécois accent. This linguistic selection was a pragmatic move to ensure the film’s comprehensibility and marketability to francophone audiences outside Quebec. While this may strike some as a concession, it effectively universalises the characters’ dilemmas, framing them as part of a broader, cosmopolitan malaise rather than a purely local phenomenon.

If the film has a notable flaw, it lies in its musical score by François Dompierre. The music, often intrusive and overly melodramatic, sounds somewhat artsy and pretentious. It occasionally works against the film’s naturalistic dialogue and subtle performances, attempting to impose an emotional weight that the scenes themselves carry more effectively without such underscoring. A more minimalist or ironic soundtrack might have better served the film’s dry, observational tone.

In the broader context of Arcand’s career, The Decline of the American Empire is the first part of what evolved into a loose trilogy, concluded by The Barbarian Invasions (2003) and Days of Darkness (2007). Notably, in 2018, Arcand returned to similar thematic territory with The Fall of the American Empire, a spiritual, if not direct, sequel that explores greed and morality in contemporary Montreal. Viewed alongside his other major work, such as the critically acclaimed Jesus of Montreal (1989)—a film praised for its clever allegories and superb filmmaking—Decline appears as a crucial early exploration of the themes that would define Arcand’s filmography: the clash between intellectual ideals and base human instincts, the search for meaning in a materialistic world, and the specific cultural anxieties of Quebec within a larger Anglo-American sphere.

The Decline of the American Empire is a talky, intellectually provocative, and often very funny film that captures a specific moment in time with sharp insight. Its strengths—the superb cast, witty script, and brave focus on sexuality—are occasionally undermined by a somewhat overbearing score and a narrative that may test the patience of viewers seeking conventional plot development. Yet, its importance as a cornerstone of Canadian cinema and as the foundation of Arcand’s later Oscar-winning work is undeniable. It remains a compelling, if flawed, examination of the personal decadence that mirrors a perceived civilisational decline.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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Hola amigos || Hello friends

La serie 'Harry Hole' ofrece un thriller intenso con un detective profundamente humano, enfrentando asesinatos en serie y corrupción interna. Y aunque sí, vemos repetirse la fórmula del genero con aspectos como elementos de gore y sensacionalismo, su fuerza está en la psicología compleja del personaje principal el detective Harry Hole el cual se encuentra marcado por un pasado traumático. La ambientación de la producción realza el tono sombrío y auténtico de la serie y sus personajes. A pesar de cierta repetición en la narrativa, la química entre personajes y la atmósfera opresiva les aseguro que mantendremos el interés por la historia que nos presenta.

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The “Harry Hole” series delivers an intense thriller featuring a deeply human detective who confronts serial murders and internal corruption. And while it’s true that the series follows the genre’s formula with elements of gore and sensationalism, its strength lies in the complex psychology of the main character, Detective Harry Hole, who is haunted by a traumatic past. The production’s setting enhances the series’s dark and authentic tone and its characters. Despite some repetition in the narrative, the chemistry between the characters and the oppressive atmosphere ensure that we’ll remain engaged with the story it presents.

Lo que resalta esta nueva producción es la humanidad de muchos personajes, los que parecen estar hechos de cicatrices y alcohol. Harry Hole es uno de ellos. En medio de un Oslo sombrío y bajo la sombra de crímenes y rituales. Esta nueva adaptación de la gran N roja logra capturar esa melancolía violenta que hizo de las novelas un éxito mundial. No es solo una serie de policías; es un descenso a los infiernos pues cada personaje tiene un trasfondo oculto que será de suma importancia para quien disfruta de la historia. La verdad es que hay giros que por momentos nos aleja de lo cotidianos, de ese repetido patrón y es lo que sin duda es el gancho de esta nueva serie policial.

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What stands out in this new production is the humanity of many of the characters, who seem to be made of scars and alcohol. Harry Hole is one of them. Set in a gloomy Oslo and overshadowed by crimes and rituals, this new adaptation of the great Red N successfully captures that violent melancholy that made the novels a worldwide success. It’s not just a police series; it’s a descent into hell, as each character has a hidden backstory that will be of utmost importance to anyone who enjoys the story. The truth is that there are twists that at times take us away from the everyday, from that repetitive pattern, and that is undoubtedly the hook of this new police series.

La empezamos a ver mientras esperábamos el estreno de The boys y otras lo cual no me esperaba mucho del detective Harry Hole pero cumplió con un buen papel y me llevo hasta el final en escenas que dejaban el pensamiento abierto a duda y pregunta. No cabe duda que la dirección aprovecha el sol de medianoche y las sombras de los callejones de Oslo, Noriega. Una ciudad lista para crear un claustrofóbico cielo que te mantendrá pegado al sofá tal como lo hizo conmigo y mi señora quien por cierto, no es tan amante al género pero aun así, dice que estuvo decentemente bien la adaptación del libro así que bueno, este es otra buena adaptación de Netflix.

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We started watching it while we were waiting for the premiere of The Boys and other shows. I didn’t expect much from Detective Harry Hole, but he delivered a solid performance and kept me hooked until the end with scenes that left me with doubts and questions. There’s no doubt that the direction makes the most of the midnight sun and the shadows of Oslo’s alleys. A city ripe for creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that will keep you glued to the couch, just as it did for me and my wife—who, by the way, isn’t a huge fan of the genre but still says the adaptation of the book was pretty good—so, well, this is another solid Netflix adaptation.

Imagino que muchos no la han visto asi que bueno, igual que siempre, esta es solo mi opinión, y los invito a compartir la de ustedes.

I imagine that many of you haven't seen it, so, as always, this is just my opinion, and I invite you to share yours.

Hello cinephile friends, I am happy to be sharing a new review with you again. On this occasion, the movie Bride! by director and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal caught my attention. It is a film that has been out for a short time and I truly had no major idea what the plot was about; however, I wanted to see it because I had already seen The Secretary, also directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I think she is a woman with immense creativity and good ideas when it comes to bringing them to the cinema plane. This story is different and somewhat crazy, you might like it, so I invite you to read the review 🧟‍♀️👰🏼‍♀️💚.

The plot leads us to meet the famous character of Frankenstein in a new facet; he, being a zombie turned into a man, returns to the place where he was created to ask for a wish from the feelings that begin to bloom as if he were a human being. His wish is to be able to have a girlfriend or a wife who can spend time with him, as much as he has seen in all the movie scenes, which he enjoys so much while surrounding himself with human beings and feelings through the screen. This wish may be something impossible, but just as he was created, there also exists the possibility of finding a way for him to have a wife. And that is how, in the middle of a nearly abandoned building, a doctor and her assistant see the rebirth of a woman they take from a cemetery. And the craziest story you can imagine begins between Frankenstein and the woman who will now be named Penelope.

The story is truly fun but has a bit of everything, starting because the genre of the film is: Horror, Drama, Romance, and Science Fiction. The beginning may seem somewhat confusing, but then everything starts taking shape. Frankenstein, who is played by Christian Bale, is a being who demonstrates something more than fear or mystery, with a quite tired, battered appearance, and also full of scars. There is also a being who begins to have the desire to live like a normal human being. From there is born the desire to discover what love is, what it feels like to have a partner, and how it could be possible for someone like him to get that wish to become a reality.

When they look for the woman in the cemetery and return her to life, they truly do not know the level of danger they are facing. This woman, who is masterfully played by actress Jessie Buckley, wakes up and has a somewhat distorted way of seeing life. It is not for nothing; she was dead and then returns without any kind of idea of who she is and who she is with. However, she takes confidence in Frankenstein quickly and both begin their adventure as friends at first. Until Penelope's madness truly makes itself noticed and it is almost impossible to stop the level of impulses she has.

The story is handled very well between characters; it is not just a romance, a whole police search is created to catch the monsters, as the people of the city call them. They get into different problems, steal, murder, and flee so that they can live being whatever they want to be. But a limit exists and for them, things will not be simple; no one can come to see them as more than freaks. But the story is entertaining although quite long, it has a duration of two hours and at the end, they show more of what happened after the movie finishes. To me, it seemed incredible and I loved every scene I saw.

Besides the incredible scenic work, makeup, direction, and production, it must be highlighted that the actors make this movie a complete madness, but a madness that makes you keep watching it. Jessie Buckley's acting is phenomenal; I had already seen her in her work in Hamnet, but in this movie, she demonstrates that she is made for any type of roles they offer her. She demonstrates the madness of a woman who was revived against her will, who died in a tragic way, who lives with the feeling of rage for being a woman (even if she is literally a zombie) and having to face detestable and very sexist men.

And this was also what caught me about the movie: not only did the actors do an impeccable job, but also in the story, an era like the 30s is allowed to be seen. Where there existed much machismo, sexism, classism, among other things, and that it is not only a fiction story of two characters who in the end are not human, but who demonstrate having much more empathy and feelings than the people who are part of the story. It has messages that you discover while you are watching the movie, and I love that, and I know it is part of the ideas that Maggie Gyllenhaal always has present when doing a work of this style. It is worth mentioning that Jake Gyllenhaal also appears as a character who seems not to have much importance but who is relevant also as part of the story.

So I recommend it because it is one of those few movies of these times that makes you feel that you see something different, or at least that is how I felt watching it. The scenes go between drama, romance, passion, fear, cynicism, criticism, the absurd, rage, among so many things that allow the story to start well and end in an incredible way. I truly enjoyed watching it a lot, I loved it, and I would like to see more works by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jessie Buckley, two women with a great capacity to demonstrate a talent that is seen very little in the world of cinema being women. I invite you to see it and if you already did, I would like to know what you thought of this movie 👰🏼‍♀️💚🤪.

Trailer Oficial

_{Todo el texto de esta publicación es de mi autoría - All the text in this publication is my own. Los banners y el separador de texto fueron editados con la versión gratuita de Canva y PicsArt - The banners and the text separator were edited with the free version of Canva and PicsArt. La traducción del texto fue realizada con la versión gratuita de Deepl - The translation of the text was made with the free version of Deepl}

Atom Egoyan’s 2005 film Where the Truth Lies arrives laden with pedigree and promise. An adaptation of Rupert Holmes’s eponymous 2003 novel—itself inspired by the author’s childhood fascination with the legendary Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis partnership—the film positions itself as a sleek, adult-oriented thriller peeling back the gilded veneer of showbusiness. Egoyan, the acclaimed Canadian auteur known for intricate, emotionally chilly dramas like The Sweet Hereafter, makes a conscious foray into period noir. The result is a handsomely mounted, erotically charged puzzle box that is as intellectually intriguing as it is emotionally remote, a film whose considerable style often struggles to compensate for a profound lack of human warmth.

The narrative, like the novel, operates across two distinct time periods, a structural choice Egoyan employs with characteristic precision. The first is 1957, where we meet the immensely popular comedy duo Lanny Morris (Kevin Bacon) and Vince Collins (Colin Firth), a fictionalised stand-in for Martin and Lewis at the peak of their fame. Following a marathon telethon for polio victims, their world is shattered when the nude body of Maureen O’Flaherty (Rachel Blanchard), a college student and aspiring journalist, is discovered in their New Jersey hotel suite. Officially ruled a drug overdose, the incident casts a long shadow, leading directly to the duo’s abrupt and bitter split. The film then jumps to 1972, where another young journalist, Karen O’Connor (Alison Lohman)—a childhood fan of the pair—is hired by the reclusive Collins to ghostwrite his autobiography. Karen’s investigation becomes an obsessive quest to uncover the truth about Maureen’s death, a journey that leads her into a tangled web of sex, deception, and mutual exploitation with both Morris and Collins.

Egoyan’s direction is, unsurprisingly, the film’s greatest strength. He crafts a sumptuous neo-noir atmosphere, layering the frames with a palpable sense of nostalgia and creeping dread. The period detail in both eras is impeccable, from the glossy, Technicolor-esque glamour of the 1950s showbiz scenes to the seedier, more cynical palette of the early 1970s. The director successfully evokes the dissonance between public image and private reality, a theme central to the story. The film’s aesthetic seduces the viewer, making the sordid revelations that follow feel like a natural, if somewhat predictable, unveiling. The central thesis—that the wholesome virtue peddled by celebrities masks a banal and often tawdry truth—is handled with a cool, detached intelligence, though it rarely delivers the emotional or moral punch the premise suggests it might.

Where the film stumbles, and where much of the contemporary criticism was levelled, is in its emotional core, or rather, the deliberate lack thereof. The most significant problem with Where the Truth Lies is its almost complete absence of sympathetic characters. Nearly every figure on screen is exploitative, hypocritical, or morally bankrupt. Karen, our ostensible guide, manipulates and is manipulated, using sex as a tool for advancement before becoming a victim of far crueller machinations. Morris is a charming predator, and Collins is a haunted, manipulative wreck. This calculated cynicism, while perhaps true to the noir genre, creates a barrier to engagement. The audience is left observing a beautifully constructed machine of depravity without anyone to root for or genuinely care about, rendering the final, tragic revelations more intellectually interesting than moving.

This issue is compounded, for many critics, by the casting of Alison Lohman. A common complaint at the time was that Lohman was too slight, too wan an actress to convincingly portray Karen’s transformation from starry-eyed fan to determined, compromised investigator. In hindsight, this criticism feels unduly harsh. Lohman’s performance is nuanced and effectively conveys a certain naive ambition that hardens into weary complicity. Her career may have faded not long after, but here she is more than adequate. The true acting heavy lifting is done by Bacon and Firth, who are both superb. Bacon captures Lanny’s reptilian charm and hidden vulnerability with gusto, while Firth is masterful as the repressed, tortured Collins, his stiff upper lip trembling with self-loathing and decades of guilt.

The film’s reception history is inextricably linked to its censorship battle. The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) decision to slap it with an NC-17 rating was a significant blow to its commercial prospects in the United States. While Egoyan had never shied away from eroticism, the explicitness here is arguably no greater than what is now commonplace on premium streaming services. What truly seemed to unsettle the American ratings board—and, one suspects, a number of its stateside critics—was the depiction of homosexual acts and the implicit, fictional suggestion that beloved American icons like Martin and Lewis could harbour such dark, sexually ambiguous secrets. The rating framed the film as salacious when it is, in fact, clinical in its portrayal of sex as a currency of power and betrayal.

Where the Truth Lies is a fascinating, flawed curio. It is a well-made, stylish piece of cinema that will appeal to viewers who prefer their thrillers laced with eroticism and period detail, and who don’t require likable characters to maintain interest. Egoyan’s craft ensures it is never less than compelling to watch, even as its emotional chill prevents it from achieving the profundity of his best work. It stands as a bold, if not entirely successful, departure for the director—a lavishly produced puzzle about truth, performance, and corruption whose pieces fit together perfectly, yet somehow fail to generate a lasting heat.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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Hello my fellow anime fans , I hope you people are doing well because me, I just stumbled on something that I did not even expect to like but surprisingly I did, so here it is.

So I started watching Witch Hat Atelier, and at first I thought it was just going to be one of those calm, soft magic anime that you watch when you don’t want stress, but somehow, this one just got me before I even realized what was happening.

The story follows this young girl named Coco, and from the beginning, you can already tell she is not part of the special people, In her world, magic is something only certain people are born with, so it is not something an ordinary girl like her is supposed to even dream about, but Coco? she does not care, she loves magic so much, the way she talks about it, the way she watches witches, you can just feel it.

And honestly, I liked that part, that feeling of wanting something you have already been told you can’t have, everything changes when she meets this calm and kind witch called Qifrey, this man just comes into her life and casually breaks everything she thought she knew. Imagine finding out that magic is not even about being born special… it is something you can actually learn, that alone already shifts the whole story.

But now, here is where things get serious.

Coco, being curious and excited, tries to use magic herself, and instead of something small happening, she makes a mistake that is honestly painful to watch, she ends up turning her own mother into stone, not joking, that scene just hits you like ahh… this is not going to be a simple anime again.

From there, the story changes tone a bit, it is no longer just about a girl who likes magic, it becomes about guilt, growth, and trying to fix something that feels almost impossible.

Qifrey takes her in as his student, and that is where we start seeing more of the magic world, the way magic works here is actually very interesting, It is not shouting spells or random power ups, it is about drawing symbols, like patterns that create magic, I won’t lie, that part is very satisfying to watch because it feels creative and different.

As Coco starts learning, you also meet other students, and I like how each of them has their own personality, it does nott feel rushed, everything is just flowing naturally.

But don’t think it’s all soft and peaceful, there is this darker side involving some dangerous magic users, and you can already tell that Coco’s mistake is not just a random accident, There is something deeper going on, something bigger that hasn’t fully revealed itself yet, that suspense is what keeps you watching the next episode without even thinking twice.

What I really like about this anime is the vibe, It is calm, yes, but it is not boring, It is emotional without forcing it, You actually care about Coco, like you want her to succeed, you want her to fix things, and at the same time you are scared of what might happen next.

And let me be honest, this is not the kind of anime that will give you loud fights every two seconds, If that is what you are looking for, you might not feel it immediately, but if you like stories that grow on you slowly, the kind that just sits in your chest after watching… then this one is definitely worth your time.

For me, I didn’t even expect to enjoy it this much, but now I am already waiting for the next episode like I don’t have other things to do, this one is lowkey special, I won’t lie.

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Aikay👾