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Gregory Widen

Teoksen Backdraft [1991 film] tekijä

12+ teosta 304 jäsentä 10 arvostelua

Tekijän teokset

Backdraft [1991 film] (1991) — Writer — 174 kappaletta
The Prophecy [1995 film] (1995) — Ohjaaja — 45 kappaletta
The Prophecy Collection (2011) 41 kappaletta
Blood Makes Noise (2013) 24 kappaletta
8 Horror Classics: Christopher Walken — Ohjaaja — 6 kappaletta
Backdraft II [2019 film] (2019) — Writer — 3 kappaletta
Highlander (1993) 2 kappaletta
12 Action Films — Ohjaaja — 1 kappale
God's Army 1 kappale

Associated Works

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Sukupuoli
male
Kansalaisuus
USA

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

Angels fighting a war come to Earth after an evil soul.

I had very low expectations, but it still managed to surprise me with how bad it is. There's just so much room for it to be fun despite itself, it's weird how completely it manages to fail.

Concept: B
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: D
Music: D

Enjoyment: D

GPA: 1.4/4
½
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
comfypants | Nov 25, 2015 |
Great book written by the guy who wrote the story for the movie "Highlander," oddly, among other movies and TV episodes. The characters are fascinating, well-developed, and convincing; the history and events of the book are vivid. Couldn't put it down.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
NatalieSW | 5 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jan 4, 2015 |
“No one had ever spoken to the great unwashed as an equal, held them to their breast, cooed to them like lovers, whispered hatred for those they hated: the rich; the privileged; the whole pointless, pathetic history of their nation."
- Gregory Widen's Evita in "Blood Makes Noise"

Evita maintains a special place in popular culture. Already an amazing icon in South America, Andrew Lloyd Weber raised her profile to an unaware but willing world-wide audience. It's arguable that Madonna took it even further and certainly introduced Argentina's former First Lady to a new generation of pseudo historical/pop cultural fans.

Novelist and screenplay writer Gregory Widen, builds on the foundation of the Evita mystique to create an interesting, but uneven, thriller surrounding the disappearance of Evita's body following her death and her husband's exile. Widen points out in his author's note, “Of all the strange things presented in this novel, perhaps the strangest of all is how much of it actually happened."

A bit hokey and evocative of a dime-store novel lineage, "Blood Makes Noise" is at times melodramatic and often without a sniff of subtlety, but its not specifically charmless. Widen's testosterone-leaden tone and prose is both exhilarating and annoying. In its' second half, the novel becomes mawkish, and the plot loses its way from what was originally a solid series of plot elements.

“Evita. In life she’d shattered the pointless cycles of Argentine politics, flung open the gates of history to the great ignored, and ruled them as their pampa Cinderella. This bastard of a cow baron’s toady, the kept daughter of a kept mother of a kept town, rocketed into history on the shoulders of a dream-crazy mob that sang of her, named stars after her, and on her death, at a still-beautiful thirty-three, choked and paralyzed a country with grief.”

While the story's centerpiece is Her body, the plot focuses on Michael Suslov, best described by Widen himself, "twenty-four years old and fresh from spook camp and the frat-boy world view, was sent south, the first new blood in these parts since the consolidation in ’47. The first of the new CIA. And they hated him on sight. Ignored him, fucked with him, and every moment of every day for four years reminded Michael that he worked not for Buenos Aires station but for them.”

Suslov was born in La Boca, one of the poorest sections of Buenos Aires, and naturally had a disturbing and fairly traumatic upbringing. In 1951, he and his emotional baggage have returned to Argentina in the service of a 'new' cold war CIA. He's met Evita a time or two and he's moderately swept up by the passion she's introduced to a country he's not excited to be in.

“That every nation is given one light, one shining instant, and She was ours. Before Her, after Her, we are just immigrant chaos at the bottom of the world."

At its best, "Blood Makes Noise" paints an interesting portrayal of obsessive personalities, spiraling in a never-redemptive spiral of anger, violence and dismay. Widen writes descriptively, if a bit cinematic in its visuals. Often it's over the top, but not terribly inconsistent with the tone of the plot. At its worst, the story is rushed, the plot points barely connected. And this is it's downfall.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
JGolomb | 5 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Apr 29, 2014 |
If you're looking for a good thriller or interested in CIA history or Latin American history, this will be a gripping read for you. I'll admit I'm not an expert on the CIA or Latin American, however, though the course of the story I learned more about both. (There's a lot more to Evita Peron than the movie starring Madonna...her entire body was preserved, creating a relic for her people).

The plot, based on true events, follows a CIA agent named Michael. Ultimately, he plays a vital role in moving Evita’s preserved body. Jumping ahead years later, when Michael’s past is more complicated, he is the only one who knows where Evita’s body is located. A race to reach her is created.

To me, the book started slowly. However, it did get better as it went along. Gregory Widen is also a screenwriter, and it was apparent to me while reading this book. I felt that the scenes were mostly carried by dialogue and actions. Compared to what I'm familiar with, there weren't tons of details and vivid descriptions. Not necessarily a bad thing. It just sometimes left me wondering and wanting more information about the characters.

All-in-all, I think it would transition into a great movie.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
vonze | 5 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Feb 6, 2014 |

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Tilastot

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Also by
1
Jäseniä
304
Suosituimmuussija
#77,406
Arvio (tähdet)
½ 3.4
Kirja-arvosteluja
10
ISBN:t
24

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