rugolin
Calgary Public Library
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About My FatherAbout My Father, DVD
DVD - 2023 | Widescreen ed.DVD, 2023. Widescreen ed.
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Holds: 92 on 3 copies
Holds: 92 on 3 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Feb 20, 2024
Tammy and the BachelorTammy and the Bachelor, Unknown
Unknown - 2008Unknown, 2008
Added Jan 15, 2024
A Canterbury TaleA Canterbury Tale, DVD
DVD - 2006 | Special edition double-disc set.DVD, 2006. Special edition double-disc set.
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Holds: 2 on 1 copy
Holds: 2 on 1 copy
rugolin's rating:
Added Jan 15, 2024
Comment:
A rather odd wartime film from Britain filmed in 1942(released in 1944) which is modern version of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It follows three modern pilgrims(2 British and 1 US GI)that converge on the Cathedral in Canterbury for individual reasons. The filmmakers were working at several levels of making a film promoting cooperation and friendship in the face of sometimes tense relationship between British residents and large detachments of US personnel stationed there before D-Day. It also seems to portray a mystical quality of the countryside and landscape that has seen pilgrims come and go over many centuries and their ghosts still remain there. I would definitely recommend to listen to the DVD commentary that breaks down individual scenes and themes the writer and directors were aiming for. Very enlightening.A rather odd wartime film from Britain filmed in 1942(released in 1944) which is modern version of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It follows three modern pilgrims(2 British and 1 US GI)that converge on the Cathedral in Canterbury for individual…
You Hurt My FeelingsYou Hurt My Feelings, DVD
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 51 on 7 copies
Holds: 51 on 7 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Jan 07, 2024
Comment:
A low key story about upper middle class people in artistic white collar jobs that are not relatable to most of the audience, who are having slight problems that seems bigger to them than they really are. The premise is that couples tell each other white lies to appear to be supportive of their partners while telling friends or sibling the actual truth. At least till the main character accidentally overhears her husband's true feelings about her new book to which she promptly falls apart like she was a teenager. I think the film was suppose to be a comedy about what we are told by others who love us and what is actually true. Maybe the problem is the humor is so lightweight and subtle that it would be easy to miss it. The film itself is sort of plotless and just has us following the two main sisters and their partners around for 90 minutes as we get a peek at their slightly above the run of the mill lives. If you enjoy slice of life movies this may work but anyone wanting a 3 act story arc may have to look somewhere else.A low key story about upper middle class people in artistic white collar jobs that are not relatable to most of the audience, who are having slight problems that seems bigger to them than they really are. The premise is that couples tell each other…
VesperVesper, DVD
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 59 on 4 copies
Holds: 59 on 4 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Nov 24, 2023
Comment:
A typical low budget movie that has pacing problems, writing problems and acting problems that is a real chore to sit through. Can some one make a futuristic film that has no dystopian apocalypse setting it up.
Diamonds, Gold, and WarDiamonds, Gold, and War, BookThe British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa
by Meredith, MartinBook - 2007Book, 2007
Added Nov 22, 2023
Confess, FletchConfess, Fletch, DVD
DVD - 2023 | Widescreen ed.DVD, 2023. Widescreen ed.
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Holds: 46 on 5 copies
Holds: 46 on 5 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Nov 19, 2023
Comment:
Just an okay murder mystery/comedy where the mystery part is adequate and the comedy part is a bit weak and sometimes politically cringey. Jon Hamm while a fine dramatic actor just doesn't seem to have the light comedic touch on his line readings to make his investigative reporter/con man scoundrel character of Fletch zing with humor. Oddly it is the supporting characters who provide some comedic sparks like fellow Mad Men alumni John Slattery(who can deliver funny compared to Hamm) and Marcia Gay Harden while Hamm plays more of the straight man with his reaction shots of their actions. An odd inversion from the Chevy Chase films. Hamm tries his best but he just doesn't have enough to lift the movie past the level of tv movie of the week.Just an okay murder mystery/comedy where the mystery part is adequate and the comedy part is a bit weak and sometimes politically cringey. Jon Hamm while a fine dramatic actor just doesn't seem to have the light comedic touch on his line readings to…
FallFall, DVD
DVD - 2022 | EnglishFrench versionDVD, 2022. EnglishFrench version
rugolin's rating:
Added Nov 06, 2023
Comment:
Fall is similar to other films of adventure seekers in peril like The Shallows with Blake Lively and Open Water. Though not as good as those films it still packs some tension and vertiginous photography to make those scared of heights a little woozy. The setup of doing an extremely dangerous climb with no forethought of safety or having a ground crew of at least one person to go for help just for a social media video doesn't speak well for your main characters. It is at that point the movie should be called Disaster for a Selfie. The film maker does a decent job in building up the situation with sounds, vibrations and quick takes of bolt and joints and many of the physical stunts involved with climbing. Once they are trapped at the top of the tower you feel a bit more sympathy for their plight and their using any idea to get rescued. If I had one small gripe is the ending could have shown more of the high tension rescue effort that is only alluded to by characters on the ground. Though given their budget was only $3 mil, they probably ran out of funds to show more a more elaborate action sequence which would have been more satisfying. Given there is going to be two sequels maybe they will be able to show more next time.Fall is similar to other films of adventure seekers in peril like The Shallows with Blake Lively and Open Water. Though not as good as those films it still packs some tension and vertiginous photography to make those scared of heights a little…
Spider-manSpider-man, DVDAcross the Spider-verse
DVD - 2023 | Widescreen ed.DVD, 2023. Widescreen ed.
rugolin's rating:
Added Nov 03, 2023
Comment:
I would say this is quite an exceptionally well done animated sequel to the Miles Morales Into The Spiderverse film. There is real kinetic energy in the all the action scenes that could never be done in live action though I'm glad I didn't watch this on the big screen as it may have been too much motion. The only nitpicks I would have is that the movie is a tad too long at over 2hrs and I kind of groaned when it ended in an awkward cliffhanger with the "to be continued" screen card. It doesn't help that part 3 is indefinitely delayed so it may take at least 2 years to come out. Maybe somewhere else in the multiverse it is already out.I would say this is quite an exceptionally well done animated sequel to the Miles Morales Into The Spiderverse film. There is real kinetic energy in the all the action scenes that could never be done in live action though I'm glad I didn't watch…
Beau Is AfraidBeau Is Afraid, DVD
DVD - 2023 | Widescreen ed.DVD, 2023. Widescreen ed.
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Holds: 54 on 2 copies
Holds: 54 on 2 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Nov 03, 2023
Comment:
This is director Ari Aster leaning into being a complete self indulgent director with a pretentious three hour film that is all style and no substance or coherence. I guess he wants the audience to suffer like the protagonist in his anxiety ridden, surreal and dystopian worldview for an interminable long running time with one arbirtary and pointless scene after another. Aster must be the most overrated and overpraised filmmaker that gets to make films with no discernible demographic audience in mind outside of elitist cinephiles and film journalists . I even think I began to develop post traumatic film viewing syndrome after finishing this film. Good work Ari.This is director Ari Aster leaning into being a complete self indulgent director with a pretentious three hour film that is all style and no substance or coherence. I guess he wants the audience to suffer like the protagonist in his anxiety ridden,…
The Pope's ExorcistThe Pope's Exorcist, DVD
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 39 on 7 copies
Holds: 39 on 7 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Oct 01, 2023
Comment:
Not sure if this was actually a horror movie as it seemed like more of a Marvel superhero movie with Father Amorth being sent to stop a diabolical plot by an evil entity to wreak havoc on the world. Put Dr Strange there instead it may not be too different overall. Strange has magic spells and Amorth the power of faith and pray. Fairly entertaining even if recycling many of the beats of the original Exorcist but moves all briskly keeping the audience engaged. Russell Crowe's sly, campy and commanding presence lifts the film several notches above movies of this kind making one interested in the further adventures of Father Amorth(Pope's Exorcist 2 seems to be on the way). Though there is one error in the film where Amorth says he joined the Italian partisans in 1942 but Italy surrendered in Sept 1943 and partisans were created after that date in the ensuing civil war(1943-45). Small slip but seeing Amorth somehow drive his Vespa scooter from Rome to Spain was kind of humorous.Not sure if this was actually a horror movie as it seemed like more of a Marvel superhero movie with Father Amorth being sent to stop a diabolical plot by an evil entity to wreak havoc on the world. Put Dr Strange there instead it may not be too…
MarloweMarlowe, DVD
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 101 on 7 copies
Holds: 101 on 7 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Sep 25, 2023
Comment:
A curiously made film noir from Neil Jordan who takes a non Raymond Chandler novel from 2014 using the Philip Marlowe character in another case. The film was made mostly in Spain with a largely European cast trying to mimic a classic American hardboiled idiom. The effort is not completely successful despite the impressive historical detail and production design to get that 1930s look of the film which is sumptuous to watch. The problems seem to come with the cast and the pacing of the film. Liam Neeson is kind of miscast as Marlowe giving a lethargic and flat performance compared to the cynical, edgy and sarcastic turn by Humphrey Bogart. Diana Kruger is even more flatfooted and miscast as the femme fatale of the movie with not much intrigue or depth to her motives. The only person who gives a colorful performance is Jessica Lange who steals every scene she is in. The other problem is that the pace of the movie is glacial and sometimes it should be called The Big Sleep. Not a bad film given all the talent involved but just so pedestrian and unsurprising. I am sure that mystery fans will enjoy parts of the film but maybe Jordan understands the superficial beats of film noir but can't quite find the notes to bring some energy and pop like Polanski could with Chinatown or Lawrence Kasdan with Body Heat. Though there is one funny line where Marlowe refers to the Maltese Falcon prop on a movie set but the year is 1939 and Maltese Falcon was filmed in 1941.A curiously made film noir from Neil Jordan who takes a non Raymond Chandler novel from 2014 using the Philip Marlowe character in another case. The film was made mostly in Spain with a largely European cast trying to mimic a classic American…
범죄도시. 2 = The roundup범죄도시. 2 = The roundup, DVDThe roundupThe roundup
DVD - 2022 | Widescreen. | KoreanDVD, 2022. Widescreen.. Language: Korean
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Holds: 1 on 3 copies
Holds: 1 on 3 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Sep 24, 2023
Comment:
A slickly made South Korean version of the old Hollywood style Lethal Weapon cop action/comedy movie from the 1980s which they don't make anymore in North America. Don Lee is the typical rogue cop who blatantly breaks all the rules in his country, outside of his jurisdiction in other countries and enforces his own brand of rough justice while chasing a psychotic kidnapper and killer of Korean tourists overseas. There is plenty of buddy cop humor thrown into the movie which comes across much better in the quite funny(or unintentionally funny) English language voice dubbing than in the subtitles. One warning is that the level of violence in the film is quite high to level of being ultraviolent so beware if that bothers you or not. Otherwise a well made throw back to a more entertaining era of filmmaking that seems to be done in Korea nowadays but not here.A slickly made South Korean version of the old Hollywood style Lethal Weapon cop action/comedy movie from the 1980s which they don't make anymore in North America. Don Lee is the typical rogue cop who blatantly breaks all the rules in his country,…
6565, DVD
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 11 on 14 copies
Holds: 11 on 14 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Jul 24, 2023
Comment:
This is film is kind of a mash up of Robinson Crusoe, Jurassic Park and Ray Bradbury's Sound of Thunder. An astronaut's ship crashes on a dinosaur planet and he must make it to the escape pod that has landed several kilometers away but there is a legion of small and large dinosaurs out to eat him in his path. The film is a bit uneven as it has some thrilling moments while there are several sections of the film are a bit flat and uninteresting. My main problem is that there should have been a party of survivors to have more dramatic tension instead of just two characters. Plus the casting of Adam Driver in major motion picture mystifies me as he has no screen charisma or presence which kind of brings this film down with his mediocre tv acting. The film might have worked more effectively with a better actor in his role. Though for what it is, it is an acceptable filmThis is film is kind of a mash up of Robinson Crusoe, Jurassic Park and Ray Bradbury's Sound of Thunder. An astronaut's ship crashes on a dinosaur planet and he must make it to the escape pod that has landed several kilometers away but there is a…
LivingLiving, DVD
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 99 on 9 copies
Holds: 99 on 9 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Jul 17, 2023
Comment:
This is rather masterful remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru(To Live) that slowly builds up emotion and pathos to an uplifting but melancholy third act. Bill Nighy who gives a pitch perfect performance as a life long bureaucrat who has lived an orderly and calcified existence just pushing public problems and initiatives under a bureaucratic carpet. Till one day he discovers the will to do some small act of good in his life despite all the regulatory red tape in his way. Some will find the film very slow and deliberate but if you stick with it there is quite a reward in the later part of the film.This is rather masterful remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru(To Live) that slowly builds up emotion and pathos to an uplifting but melancholy third act. Bill Nighy who gives a pitch perfect performance as a life long bureaucrat who has lived…
Lost illusionsLost illusions, DVD
DVD - 2022 | FrenchDVD, 2022. Language: French
rugolin's rating:
Added Jul 16, 2023
Comment:
A very excellent adaption of one of the books in Balzac's trilogy Lost Illusions called A Great Man of the Provinces in Paris A young and ambitious Romanticist writer goes to Paris to seek his fame and fortune and instead of writing the Great Novel he falls in with the new free press allowed after the fall of Napoleon. The world presented in this period is one of complete mercenary and monetary self interest where any journalist, actor or theater goer is always angling and working for the highest bidder. Our young hero rises and falls through the machinations of forces beyond his control and his own feckless hubris and vanity. A sumptously produced film that is a little reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon.A very excellent adaption of one of the books in Balzac's trilogy Lost Illusions called A Great Man of the Provinces in Paris A young and ambitious Romanticist writer goes to Paris to seek his fame and fortune and instead of writing the Great…
Shazam!Shazam!, DVDFury of the Gods
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
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Holds: 20 on 13 copies
Holds: 20 on 13 copies
rugolin's rating:
Added Jun 28, 2023
Comment:
A sequel to the earlier Shazam has Billy Batson and his adopted siblings learning to use their new powers in fighting the Daughters of Atlas seeking a magical item to restore their God realm. This is just an okay follow up with some funny moments with your average superheroes saving the world from aliens to our world storyline. Rachel Zegler has a good deal of winsome charm as a plus but Lucy Liu's tv actor flat and listless acting is a big detriment to the film being the main villain. Given this is one of the last of the Snyderverse films from DC the end credit scene is quite interesting with suddenly James Gunn characters showing up in it. So maybe not the last film for Zachary Levi and his Shazam in the Gunnverse.A sequel to the earlier Shazam has Billy Batson and his adopted siblings learning to use their new powers in fighting the Daughters of Atlas seeking a magical item to restore their God realm. This is just an okay follow up with some funny moments…
Added Jun 27, 2023
Me, myself and herMe, myself and her, DVDIo e lei
DVD - 2016 | ItalianDVD, 2016. Language: Italian
rugolin's rating:
Added Jun 27, 2023
Comment:
A stylish and well made film about two middle aged women Marina and Frederica who have been in a same sex relationship for about 5 years but Frederica is starting to feel restless and unsatisfied. It it kind of a low key drama where you follow both women around and meet their friends and family and how their relationship is winding down. ***Spoilers*** The only problem is the not very believable ending which has zero credibility and relies on a complete inexplicably character turn for both partners in the relationship. It makes you think I wish things were really that easy in real life. The audio is in Italian with English subtitles.A stylish and well made film about two middle aged women Marina and Frederica who have been in a same sex relationship for about 5 years but Frederica is starting to feel restless and unsatisfied. It it kind of a low key drama where you follow both…
The Thirty Years WarThe Thirty Years War, UnknownEurope's Tragedy
by Wilson, Peter H.Unknown - 2009Unknown, 2009
Added Jun 27, 2023
Added Jun 27, 2023
The Adventure of the Peculiar ProtocolsThe Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols, BookAdapted From the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D
by Meyer, NicholasBook - 2019 | First edition.Book, 2019. First edition.
Added Jun 27, 2023
The CriminalThe Criminal, DVD
DVD - 2020DVD, 2020
rugolin's rating:
Added Jun 27, 2023
Comment:
Quite a good 1960 black and white prison/crime film from Britain. Good sharp hard boiled dialogue with stylish direction in story with plenty of twists and turns of the prison politics makes an intriguing watch. Everyone is well cast in their parts especially Stanley Baker who is perfect in his role of gangster Johnny Bannion.Quite a good 1960 black and white prison/crime film from Britain. Good sharp hard boiled dialogue with stylish direction in story with plenty of twists and turns of the prison politics makes an intriguing watch. Everyone is well cast in their parts…
Added Jun 27, 2023
Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!, Downloadable AudiobookA Very Grimm Tale
by Rasovsky, YuriDownloadable Audiobook - 2012Downloadable Audiobook, 2012
Available
Added Jun 27, 2023
Comment: