Oct 28 2020

Bullets of Justice (2019) Movie Thoughts

Director: Valeri Milev

Writer: Valeri Milev, Timur Turisbekov (Screenplay)

Starring: Danny Trejo, Timur Turisbekov, Doroteya Toleva, Yana Marinova

Plot: During the Third World War, the American government initiates a secret project code named “Army Bacon” in order to create super soldier by inbreeding human being with pigs. 25 years later a breed called “Muzzles” have occupied top of the food chain, eating and farming humans like animals. Rob Justice is an ex-bounty hunter working for the last line of human resistance – a group of survivors hiding in a nuclear bunker deep underground. His mission is to find out how muzzles came to power and destroy them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 19 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bullets of Justice starts as we hit the post-apocalyptic world where a world war destroy a large portion of the world and a new species known as Muzzles were raised, half human, half pig, becoming the new threat for humanity. Rob Justice (Turisbekov) is looking to find the leader of the Muzzle army to stop them creating more, in a final attempt to fight off and save humanity.

Thoughts on Bullets of Justice

Final Thoughts – Bullets of Justice is a film that feels like it has been released in the wrong era, it looks like a complete 1970s grindhouse style action horror, it knows the levels of entertainment it is reaching for, which isn’t going to be for everything, and nor would anything that involves a film that has humans fighting half human, half pigs. It is meant to be offensive with how everything is portrayed and isn’t afraid to hold back on the gore, nudity or grossed out behaviour. This is one you are either going to love, or switch off very early on because you can’t take anymore, being the movie that is perfectly created for the right audience.



Oct 27 2020

The Three Kings (2020) Movie Review

Director: Jonny Owen

Plot: THE THREE KINGS is a look back at the men who made football what it is today.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Three Kings starts by showing us what Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein achieved managing Manchester United, Liverpool and Celtic, building the legacy that puts them on top of the world, amazingly they grew up within 30 miles from each other in Scotland.

We get to see how the three men came from the same town, but had to earn respect to become the legends of the game, Matt Busby who went through the tragedy of the Munich disaster, Shankly had to work his way through the leagues in England, while Jock Stein was only ever considered a reserve coach, needing to prove himself throughout Scotland.

Thoughts on The Three Kings

Final Thoughts – The Three Kings is an excellent documentary that shows the incredible impact Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein had on football, the helped create dynasties which will make the clubs the biggest in world football. We follow through the threes careers, from the ups and downs before they became legends, the things that hold them down and the legacy they left behind. Much like the Senna documentary, this is created from achieve clips, rather than recreating them, with narration of the people from their lives over everything. If you are a football fan and want to learn more about the three biggest legends in football management, this is an essential documentary for everyone.

In cinemas from November 1st, on DVD and digital November 16th



Oct 27 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – # – 14 Cameras (2018)

Director: Seth Fuller, Scott Hussion

Writer: Victor Zarcoff (Screenplay)

Starring: Neville Archambault, Amber Midthunder, Brytnee Ratledge, Hank Rogerson, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Chelsea Edmundson, Brianne Moncrief

Plot: When a family of five rent a beautiful house for their summer vacation, the price seems too good to be true.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Thriller That Misses Potential

Story: I See You Starts as we see how Gerald (Archambault) rents out homes to holiday makers, he uses a beautiful woman to bring in the people, where his secret cameras film their holiday, every room, he sneaks around the residents too, he captures Sarah (Edmundson) placing her in an underground bunker with another victim Claire (Moncrief).

When a travelling family Lori (Martinez-Cunningham), Arthur (Rogerson), Kyle (Howard), Molly (Ratledge) and Danielle (Midthunder) rent out one of these rooms, they become the latest victims in his twisted game.

Thoughts on I See You

Characters – Gerald is the creepy stalker, watcher, kidnapper and murder that watches over the rooms where he sells the videos on the dark web, he even breaks into the homes where he takes other items to sell to his viewers, he has a disturbing and unsettling look about him too. Sarah is the latest victim taken and thrown into a bunker, she wants to fight back believing with the help of the other girl they could escape. Molly and Danielle are best friends on a family holiday they are doing the usual troublemaking, having a good time and breaking the rules, they are the ones being watched by him.

Performances – Neville Archambault does look creepy throughout the film, he does make you as uncomfortable as he is meant to through the film. Chelsea Edmundson does well with her character, while the actors behind the family are effective enough.

Story – The story follows a stalker who uses cameras in his homes to sell the videos on the dark web, with his latest victims being a family on a vacation, he also collects the girls at times too. This is a story that plays on the idea of hidden cameras where you don’t expect them invading privacy in our everyday lives, we once again jump into the dark web idea of selling material without permission, where this film struggles in the story side of things, is where we see constant bickering between the teenage side of the film, which just seems to waste a lot of tension about Gerald’s full scheme. If this had been told purely through his eyes we could get along with certain parts that happen, yes, he is evil, but he is the one in control, instead of spending time watching a side story which barely goes anywhere and a family which is just three teenagers who would rather argue about drinking than anything else.

Crime/Horror – The crime in this film follows the scheme that Gerald has going, it shows how he can operate with such ease, which adds into the horror of what he is doing, not just watching, but taking too.

Settings – The film does use the limited settings to show us just how this could become an everyday life watched by a person selling your life on the internet, let alone a killer.

Special Effects – The effects are barely used, they are barely needed either though, which does make this film feel more realistic.


Scene of the Movie – The escape attempt by Sarah.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t get deep enough into how big his dark web side of the plan is.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting thriller, it does look at real potential hidden cameras being used on innocent people and what those recordings could be worth.

Overall: Interesting thriller.

Rating

Oct 26 2020

The Legend of Santa (2021) Short Movie Review

Director: Andrew de Burgh

Writer: Daniel Colyer (Screenplay)

Plot: When a compassionate bishop sees that his woodcarving hobby has the ability to brighten a poor girl’s life, he sets out on a journey to see that children everywhere have the same opportunity.

Runtime: 6 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Legend of Santa starts as we see how a kind-hearted Bishop Saint Nicholas used his woodcarving hobby to help put a smile on a young girls face, seeing the delight on her face, he decides to help his whole city, before going on his own journey to help children around the world.

Thoughts on The Legend of Santa

Final Thoughts – The Legend of Santa is a short animated movie that does rely on the music to move the story along, we get to see one man who wanted to make a difference with a good gesture rather than for their own benefit. The animation technique is different to most you would have seen, which helps make what looks like a tale told through generations that would slowly start to lose part of its reality helping with the faded animation vision. Like I always do with short movie, is ask the question, could this be a full feature and the simple answer is yes, this could tell the same story with a bigger emotional impact. We could easily watch this before a full feature too, with the calming presence before the big story.



Oct 26 2020

Welcome to the Circle (2020) Movie Review

Director: David Fowler

Writer: David Fowler (Screenplay)

Starring: Matthew MacCaull, Taylor Dianne Robinson, Ben Cotton, Cindy Busby, Hilary Jardine, Andrea Brooks, Matt Bellefleur

Plot: A random bear attack during a family camping trip leaves Greg (father) and Samantha (daughter) trapped by demon worshiping cult known as The Circle. Unbeknownst to all is that there’s an infiltrator in the cults ranks. She is communication with a former member on the outside named Grady. Grady’s plan is to lead a small group of rescuers into the heart of The Circle. But will they get there in time to save Greg, Samantha, and others from the demon known as Percy Stephens?

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Welcome to the Circle starts in the aftermath of a bear attack, Greg (MacCaull) is injured and taken in by a group living in the woods, while his daughter Samantha (Robinson) has become convinced to always wear a mask in the community.

When Greg learns that this community is a cult that believes in interdimensional travel, he wants to rescue his daughter before it is too late, only for an outsider to arrive, looking to bring down the cult too.

Thoughts on Welcome to the Circle

Final Thoughts – Welcome to the Circle is a film that is looking to create a horror that tries to compete with ‘The Endless’ showing a cult that believe they can travel through dimensions and showing how a father, daughter find themselves trapped in the middle of the controlling power. Where this story ends up falling off short, is by trying to be cleverer than it wants to be, jumping between dimensions doesn’t make everything enjoyable to watch, while never going into the horror of a cult, it introduces characters late into the story, which are important to unlocking the truth and by the end, we are left going through a spoon feed answers that don’t seem to bring us anything fresh to the story. The acting in the film isn’t the strongest, with most of the cast not getting enough time to make the big impact in the film.