Sep 20 2021

ABC Film Challenge – 1990s Movies – T – True Lies (1994) Movie Review

Director: James Cameron

Writer: James Cameron (Screenplay) Claude Zidi, Simon Michael, Didier Kaminka (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Art Malik, Eliza Dushku

Plot: A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.


Tagline – When he said I do, he never said what he did.

Runtime: 2 Hours 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: True Lies starts when super fearless secret agent Harry (Schwarzenegger) is hot on the trail of the latest terrorist Aziz (Malik) when he learns his secret life has made his distant from his wife Helen (Curtis) and daughter Dana (Dushku).

When Harry learns that Helen is about to get involved in an affair with a used car salesman Simon (Paxton) pretending to be a super spy, he uses the government resources to spy on her and track down, forgetting about the terrorist threat he must fight against.

Thoughts on True Lies

Thoughts – True Lies brings us a fresh approach to the action comedy movie, playing heavily in both, but rarely mixing the two, having the spy start and finish side of the film being everything you would expect from a more serious light hearted action film, while the comedy comes from the marriage side of things for the spy, which is all comedy, with little action. The idea that a spy has been keeping his life a secret for so long. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a perfect choice in the leading role, where he can have all the fun in action role, then look out of place in the family life. Jamie Lee Curtis as the lonely housewife works wonderfully too, with Tom Arnold bringing along most of the comedy in the film. The action involved in the film does get bigger as the film continues, with the final acts of the film involving a host of different incidents including a fighter jet next to a building. This is one of the most entertaining action comedies you will ever see, one that I feel most people will get enjoyment out of.

Final Thoughts – True Lies a big entertaining action comedy, filled with all the action and plenty of laughs.

Sep 20 2021

Ride the Eagle (2021) Movie Review ‘Solid Drama’

Ride the Eagle – Solid Drama

 

Director: Trent O’Donnell

Writer: Jake Johnson, Trent O’Donnell (Screenplay)

Starring: Jake Johnson, Susan Sarandon, D’Arcy Carden, J.K. Simmons, Luis Fernandez-Gil, Cleo King

Plot: Leif is left with a conditional inheritance when his estranged mother Honey dies. Before he can move into her picturesque Yosemite cabin, he has to complete her elaborate, and sometimes dubious, to-do list.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Ride the Eagle starts when Leif (Johnson) gets the news that his estranged mother Honey (Sarandon) has passed away, leaving him her cabin under one condition, he must complete a to-do list.

Leif heads up to the cabin to start the list, which will see him get some late life advice from his mother that will see him challenge his past, as he is struggling to face his future.

Thoughts on Ride the Eagle

Characters & Performances – Leif is the man who lives with his dog Nora, he is part of a band, but doesn’t seem to be achieving much in his life, finding himself feeling lost at times. When his mother dies, he gets left her cabin, with a series of challenges to get through, that will give him a chance to face his past, in hope of finding out more about his future. Jake Johnson does a great job carrying this film, bring his charm to the role, while having the serious side of the film down perfectly. When we go into the supporting roles, we get the recording from Honey, Lief’s mother, which is her trying to get a message across to him, a message she never got through in the real life. Audrey who is on the other end of a phone call for Leif, with the two remembering their old life together and Carl the neighbour that Leif finds himself in a rivalry with for no reason. The supporting cast does everything right without needing to do that much in the film.

Story – The story here follows a man that hasn’t seen his life go the way he had planned it, seemingly going nowhere, that will find his mother pass away needing to complete a series of challenge to inherit her cabin. This is a story that is filled with the idea that one person will get a final goodbye to an estranged family member, while finding his feet for the future. This has everything it needs to get the basic idea for this side of the story, but it does seem to only touch the surface of what drove them apart in the first place, while it does become clear, we don’t seem to get the major emotional impactful moment in the film that will leave us flawed with what has happened.

Themes – Ride the Eagle is a coming of age comedy drama looking at a family relationships with a journey that will see the son will have to make, the location is stunningly beautiful, away from the world, bringing the peace from the busy world.

Ride The Eagle will be available on Digital Download from 4th October

Final Thoughts – Ride the Eagle tries to draw on the heart strings of finding your place in the world.

Sep 19 2021

The Delinquent Season (2018) Movie Review

Director: Mark O’Rowe

Writer: Mark O’Rowe (Screenplay)

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Catherine Walker, Eva Birthistle, Andrew Scott

Plot: Two married couples with kids start having problems with fidelity.


Tagline – Love is a dangerous game

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Delinquent Season starts as we see two couples Yvonne (Walker) & Chris (Scott) and Danielle (Birthistle) & Jim (Murphy) who are both in and around the 40s with children, only not everything is as smooth as it could be on the surface.

Yvonne has been feeling pushed away from by Chris who is keeping a secret from here, leading to her turning to Jim, who works from home, as they start an affair which will change both of the marriages forever.

Thoughts on The Delinquent Season

Thoughts – The Delinquent Season is a drama that will show how two marriages that are both struggling could find themselves falling apart further when they look to make each other in an affair. It will show how the secrets of lives can be unusual, leading to mistakes that will hurt the innocent victims involved. Everything is played down to be a more natural set of events, instead of being focused on doing a big fancy affair. It is nice having a more grounded relationship over the unnatural dive into an affair. The performances from Cillian Murphy and Catherine Walker take centre stage, showing us their talent on screen. If we look just at the film, this isn’t going to appeal to everyone, it is a drama that will focus more on the maybes in life and what could happen after the mistakes.

Final Thoughts – The Delinquent Season shows us just how many dominos fall after an affair.

Sep 19 2021

ABC Film Challenge – 90s Movies – S – Sleepless in Seattle (1993) Movie Review

Director: Nora Ephron

Writer: Jeff Arch, Nora Ephron, David S Ward (Screenplay)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, Victor Garber, David Hyde Pierce, Francs Conroy, Rob Reiner

Plot: A recently widowed man’s son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.


Tagline – What if someone you never met, someone you never saw, someone you never knew was the only someone for you?

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Romance 101

Story: Sleepless in Seattle starts when recently widowed Sam (Hanks) decides he needs to move to start a new life with his son Jonah (Malinger), leaving Chicago, heading to Seattle, 18 months later in Baltimore Annie (Ryan) is introducing her new fiancée Walter (Pullman) to her family.

When Jonah makes a phone call to the local radio show, he tells the doctor hosting the show about his concern about his father, which suddenly sees a large number of women wanting to meet Sam, with Annie assigned to try and make a story about Sam, even starting to get a happy feeling about the stranger on the radio.

Thoughts on Sleepless in Seattle

Characters – Sam Baldwin has just lost his wife, he doesn’t want to fall in love again, believing he could never do this, he wants to focus on raising his son and moving him away from the memories of his wife, starting a new life in Seattle. Building his business up, he hasn’t started dating, until his son calls a radio station for help getting him back out there, he works with his son to find the right women. Annie is a happily engaged woman who is looking forward to her wedding, a reporter at the peak of her career, until she hears the radio show and starts to want to meet Sam, even make a story about his search. She does border along the lines of stalker with why she is trying to get closer to Sam. Jonah is the son of Sam, he is worried about his father not moving on with his life and calls the radio station, which sees him trying to help find a woman for him.

Performances – Tom Hanks is always delightful to watch in this film, he brings his character complete down to Earth with how he acts through the film. Meg Ryan does bring her best too, showing us how an engaged woman could start getting jittery feet, with Ross Malinger being adorable as the son who wants the best for his dad.

Story – The story here follows a widowed father that is happy to help his son live his life, only for his son to try and help him find a new wife, which sees Annie becoming obsessed with the story and wanting to meet the man behind the radio voice. This is a story before the time of the creepiness of what the internet could have created around it, though it does show the good natured desire from a young boy to help his father enjoy his life after losing his wife, it shows that children can understand the pain a grieving. This does also show the jitters that somebody about to get married can have and it also highlights how the world can become crazy when it comes to wanting to know the truth about somebody surrounded in mystery.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in this film comes from natural interactions, it doesn’t dive into looking for laughs, which is nice to see, with the romance being sweet for the time, though it does become very creepy now.

Settings – The film does show us the distance between the two with maps, which is something a lot of films just assume you know the America geography, this is key to make this more much interesting.


Scene of the Movie – Empire State Building.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is a story that wouldn’t click in the modern world now.

Final Thoughts – This is a romantic comedy with a twist, it does show us how you could find love from anywhere in the world, though it might not be on the same level as it once was when it was made.

Overall: Sweet Little Romance.

Sep 18 2021

Inside (2016) Movie Review

Director: Miguel Angel Vivas

Writer: Jaume Balaguero, Manu Diaz, Miguel Angel Vivas (Screenplay)

Starring: Rachel Nichols, Laura Harring, Ben Temple, Gillian Apter, Andrea Tivadar

Plot: A woman in her third trimester of pregnancy is stalked by a stranger who is obsessed with her unborn child.


Tagline – Some women would kill for a baby.

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Inside starts when Sarah Clark (Nichols) and her husband are involved in a car accident, leaving Sarah alone and pregnant. Sarah is looking to have the baby alone, but nearing the end of it, she finds herself getting an unwanted visitor.

The lady (Harring) takes over the home, keeping Sarah in her home, trapped, needing to find a way to get help, killing anyone who gets close, all because of the baby she wants for a reason unknown to Sarah.

Thoughts on Inside

Thoughts – Inside is a horror thriller set over one night, as a pregnant woman finds herself tormented by a strange woman who wants her baby, needing to battle to survive. This is a home invasion movie with a few angles to cover up the things which could be considered problems, first Sarah is deaf, so without her hearing aid she can’t hear certain things, Sarah getting tired of phone calls, cutting the phone cables, leaving her stranded. The problem with the story is that the motivation is so obvious, it is barely worth your time waiting for the reveal. The performances in the film are strong enough, with Rachel Nichols being the victim, while Laura Harring being haunting in her cold hearted villain role. The film does take place mostly inside Sarah’s home, which will be used to show how she might have an advantage on certain situations.

Final Thoughts – Inside is a simple horror that doesn’t hit as hard as it could, with an ending you can see a mile away.