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(e)Book – Love and friendship

  (e) Book –  Love and friendship Full title :  Love and friendship and other early works Author : Jane Austen Score : /10 Year : 1790 (original) ; 2012 (this edition) Publisher : Duke Classics   ISBN  978-1-62012-155-9  // 9781620121559  (ebook)  Pages :  Language: English Jane Austen is best known for her 6 novels, which all have been adapted into tv movies - but after having read Virginia Woolf's short fiction in chronological order, I decided to apply the same for Austen's publications, to better appreciate her growth and evolution in narrative style. So, before reading her novels which were released from 1811 to 1817, in the following order :  Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma,  Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, I decided to go back to her teenage years, reading Love and Friendships, and other early works.

Movie – Die hard



Movie – Die hard

Score : 6/10 
Year : 1988 
Director:  John McTiernan
Cinematography: Jan de Bont
Country: USA
Language: English, some German 
Duration: 2h11 (IMDb) ; 2h08 (frenhc dvd) 

Writers: Roderick Thorp (novel) ; Jeb Stuart & Steven R. de Souza (screenplay) 

Rated R for strong violence, some bloody scenes, brief nudity, drug use, language (134 swear-words). 

For the first time ever, I thought to check Die hard, as it was referenced several times in the sitcom Friends that we recently re-watched ; though entertaining in some levels, I don't plan to watch it again - contrary to Joey and Chandler... 


The first in a series, as everyone must know by now, die hard is an action-thriller movie, starring Bruce Willis as John McClane, a NYPD officer, visiting his wife at a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza, in Los Angeles, when the building is taken hostage by a German terrorist group, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). 

Die hard is one of those movies that tries to be over-the-top macho ; not only the absolute majority of the cast is male, there are multiple scenes with strong violence, bloody scenes, lots of fights - some of which brutal with unrealistic survival results, as at that level of beating, most people would get their jaws broken, they'd bleed a lot more than their characters... but, this is fiction, right ? These unrealistic aspects become quite hilarious, if you think about it...Just like the numerous ways to kill people, using machinery, weaponry, and high-tech throughout the movie. On the other hand, one character that isn't that built, punches another, and he's out like a light. Yea.... 

I thought it quite unrealistic that police-dispatch employees would care more to recite rules than to follow through when they get a call about terrorists taking over a building...

It was fun to see a few original shots and camera work, raising the bar of cinematography, in an otherwise all-punches and swear-based feature. 

Michael Kamen's music is just as action-packed as the rest of the movie, and fully engages the viewer. It's entertaining, but loud, which is to expected in an action-packed thriller. At some point, a beethoven's piece is used in a very dramatically humerus way... 

The acting is mostly that of an action-thriller, accidentally comedic die hard, with Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis making most of the best exchanges. I didn't expect a huge dramatic level, so the one offered was a bit higher than I thought I'd get. Thank you to the late Alan Rickman for that.  

Cast : 
·        Bruce Willis as John McClane
·        Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber,
·        Alexander Godunov as Karl,
·        Bonnie Bedelia as Holly 
·        Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell
·        Paul Gleason as Dwayne T. Robinson, the Deputy Chief of Police
·        De'voreaux White as Argyle
·        William Atherton as Richard Thornburg
·        Clarence Gilyard as Theo
·        Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis
·        James Shigeta as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi

Additional cast includes Bruno Doyon, Andreas Wisniewski, Joey Plewa, Lorenzo Caccialanza, Gerard Bonn, Dennis HaydenAl Leong, Gary Roberts, Hans Buhringer, Wilhelm von Homburg

Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush appear as FBI Special Agents - I noted this because I've seen them as FBI agents in other movies and shows. 

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