FILM 1920: THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

FILM 1920: THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

TRIVIA: The House That Jack Built (2018) was originally announced as an eight-part miniseries in September 2014 when the completed version of Nymphomaniac: Vol. I (2013) / Nymphomaniac: Vol. II (2013) premiered at the Venice Film Festival, but in February 2016, Lars von Trier announced via a David Bowie-themed video on his official Facebook page that "The House That Jack Built" would be his next theatrical release, due in theaters in 2018.

Despite audience backlash toward a scene involving the main character's mutilation of a duckling when he was a child, PETA has defended the film in a statement praising its accurate portrayal of the link between adolescent animal abuse and psychopathy. Animal cruelty is actually known to be a common trait among serial murderers, especially when they are young.

The Second Incident is similar to Ray Bradbury's short story "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl" (1948) in which the murderer is obsessed with erasing every fingerprint at the scene of the crime.

A shot of Jack and Verge standing in a boat is reminiscent of the painting "The Raft of the Medusa" (Le Radeau de La Méduse) by Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault. It also bears resemblance to "La Barque de Dante" by Eugène Delacroix. 

The prestigious French film magazine 'Cahiers du Cinema' declared The House That Jack Built (2018) the 8th best film of 2018.

BOOK 129: MORE THAN THIS: PATRICK NESS

More Than This is a young adult novel by Patrick Ness, published by Candlewick Press in 2013. It follows a teenage boy named Seth who, after drowning in the ocean, wakes up alone on a desolate suburban English street in what he believes to be hell.

More Than This was reviewed favorably by critics and readers. Martin Chilton of The Telegraph describes the novel as "an impressively challenging and philosophical book for young adults," capturing "ambiguity and bewilderment of being young and the uncertainty of what will happen to any of us next in life." Tony Bradman of The Guardian concurred, writing: "Seth is a terrific exemplar of the eternal teenage desire for there to be, in the words of the novel's title, "more than this” “As of early March 2015 the book scores 4.04 out of 5 stars on the social reading site Goodreads John Green's review of More Than This is printed on the front cover of the book. John comments, "Just read it."

MY VERDICT: I started this book full of hope, I do not usually read books as new as this, or aimed at young adults, but I had seen so many great reviews that I felt compelled to read it. I hated it… at first.  It started so badly that I was not looking forward to the rest. I can understand why it is clunky at the start but it really could have been written better.  And it does get better, it had me hooked after the third or forth chapter and I was glad I persevered because it was thoroughly entertaining.  Admittedly a little juvenile for me but like watching a good children’s TV program it had me empathizing with the characters and dying to know how it would end.