Looking Back On. . .
Dying for a Vacation
In this
latest adventure set in an alternate present, one in which the Roman Empire
maintained its iron grip on world events, we find change is in the air for our
dynamic investigating duo, Dai and Julia Llewellyn. While Dai and his team are
run off their feet investigating an empire wide theft and smuggling ring, he
receives a callous threat against his wife in an effort to deter his efforts.
The thing is, Julia is now pregnant with their first child. Beside himself with
worry, Dai orders her away from their home in an effort to keep her safe.
Not used to being
cosseted, Julia rebels against Dai’s overprotective attitude and takes a break
from all the pressure by journeying to faraway Aegyptus. Little does she
realize, however, doing so places her in a direct line of fire.
If that
wasn’t bad enough, someone makes accusations against Dai’s family tantamount to
treason. Something that if proven, could lead to a one-way ticket to the games
and death!
Needless to
say, the atmosphere created places our favorite crime fighting team under a
great deal of stress. How on earth are they going to cope?
You’ll enjoy
this latest mystery from Dai and Julia. With a clever, involved storyline, a
progressive pace and littered with plots and counterplots, you’ll be rooting
for the bad guys to get their comeuppance long before the arrest warrants are
issued.
A welcome
addition to the series.
Silence of the Lambs
I think
you’ll all know this film. I loved it when it first came out and I’ve watched it
a good half-dozen times since then.
In this multiple
Oscar-winning thriller, Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student
at the FBI's training academy whose shrewd analyses of serial killers lands her
a special assignment: the FBI is investigating a vicious murderer nicknamed
Buffalo Bill, who kills young women and then removes the skin from their
bodies. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal
Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent
psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and
cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into this case and
that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him
out. As we all know by now, it works, and Lecter starts to offer up information
. . . at a price! Lecter has spent years in specialized solitary confinement
and barters for a change of venue, some place with a view. More disturbingly,
he wants Clarice to detail certain events from her life and skillfully digs
into her psyche, forcing her to reveal her innermost traumas and putting her in
a position of vulnerability when she can least afford to be weak.
One of the
few films to remain true to the novel’s plot, Foster and Hopkins act their
socks off, introducing a slow boil to the story that is part psychological
thriller, part menacing horror. It’s mesmerizing witnessing how the pair acts. So much so, that
even when you’re watching it for the sixth or seventh time and know what’s
coming, it still sends a tingle up your spine. Diabolically delicious and
immorally intelligent, it pits the innocence of a young and inexperienced woman
against the predatory lusts of a pathological killer who eats every detail as
if it were an appetizer for the main course. (Even the way he wears his prison uniform – as if it’s bespoke
tailored – smacks of the dominance he is still able to command from his prison
cell).
But not all is well, for
another dares to profane his kingdom, the deranged transvestite Buffalo Bill
(Ted Levine), who places a moth's chrysalis in his victims' throats after first
killing and skinning them.
Skillful direction; clinical
but compassionate; expertly executed; and mouth-wateringly menacing. Without
a doubt one of the most superbly crafted films you’ll ever see.
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