Day: April 26, 2019

Director: Diane Bell

Writer: Diane Bell (Screenplay)

Starring: Jessica Biel, Zosia Mamet, Edi Gathegi, Joe Anderson, Kate Burton, Harry Hamlin

 

Plot: A yoga instructor looks to protect her sex-worker sister from her deadbeat boyfriend.

Tagline – Tied by blood. Bound by lies.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Too Slow

 

Story: Bound by Blood starts when yoga instructor May (Biel) who has been searching for her long-lost step sister, Shiva (Mamet) is that woman, she is a sex-worker that is down on her luck with a deadbeat boyfriend Cody (Anderson).

The two seem to have similar connections, even if they are living different lives. They spend time together learning what they have missed out on in sisters as they start looking at life in a different way.

 

Thoughts on Bound by Blood

 

Characters – May is a yoga instructor, this shows by how laid-back she is with life, but also how organised she is. She learns and helps her long-lost step-sister putting her own relationship on the line. Shiva is the long step-sister who is a sex worker, so she can pay the rent for her abusive boyfriend, she doesn’t want to use May for support even if she will help. Dex is May boyfriend, he has everything together even if he is single minded at times. Cody is the boyfriend of Shiva, abusive, but you can see his love for her too.

Performances – The performances in the film are not the most interesting, Jessica Biel in the leading role tries her best, but no one makes an impact in this film or helps drive the story.

Story – The story here follows two long-lost sisters that meet for the first time and how they help each other, financially or with life. What May does for the complete stranger of a sister is strange because it does seem like a lot for someone she barely knows and we never get to the bottom of the whole abuse angle of the story. it just seems like too much for the first meeting as we also never learn about the beginning of the search for the sister either, like how long, how did she find out etc.

Settings – The film takes place in a random city, we don’t learn enough about which one and it does fall into the small town problems we might not see.

Scene of the Movie – Swimming time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Its just dull throughout.

Final Thoughts – This is a slow moving and dull movie, it doesn’t capture the ideas it wants to and seems to throw us too far into the middle of the story.

 

Overall: Not the most interesting film.

Rating

 

 

Director: Danny Bilson

Writer: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo (Screenplay)

Starring: Tim Thomerson, Timothy Van Patten, Art LaFleur, Biff Manard, William Paulson, peter Boom

 

Plot: In Italy, during World War II some American soldiers find an alien UFO.

Tagline – They Take War To A New Dimension.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Dated Cheesy B-Movie

 

Story: Zone Troopers starts by following an America troop in Italy during World War II, The Sarge (Thomerson) leads his men including Joey (Van Patten), Mittens (LaFleur) and new solider Dolan (Manard). The four men find themselves standard behind enemy lines.

Preparing their own escape, they learn that the German’s are not the only threat in the woods as they discover an alien ship with aliens running around the woods too.

 

Thoughts on Zone Troopers

 

Characters – The Sarge is the leader of the soldiers, he doesn’t make friends in the troop because of how many people he has lost before, he just wants to get his men home even if Dolan makes everything more difficult. Joey is the naïve member of the squad the youngster, but also the wheeler and dealer in search for the quick solution. Mittens is the tough member of the squad he will keep everything simple while doing the smarter decisions. Dolan is the newest member of the squad, which will see him try to get the story as he is a reporter.

Performances – The performances from the four leads play into the generic figures you would expect to see in any movie set during the war time, the actors do the best with what they get without making their characters feel like they need to standout.

Story – The story follows four American soldiers that get caught behind enemy lines only to learn the Germans are investigating a spaceship that has crashed, the Americans and aliens team up to escape the situation, defeat the Germans for today. This is a simple story of how the Americans will be looking win the war against the Germany villains, easy enough formula just adding aliens into the mix. The story isn’t the deepest and doesn’t offer too much refreshing, only to easy to follow.

Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi – The action involved in the film is all war based bullet flying without being that anything overly realistic, which does mix in with the sci-fi side of the film with the aliens being laser weapons in the action too.

Settings – The film is set in the woods which shows the lower budget behind the film, it does show the war can put people into a situation they don’t know how to get out off.

Scene of the Movie – The laser guns, cheesy as they come.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It hasn’t dated well.

Final Thoughts – This is one hell of a cheesy fun action film that can just be enjoyed rather than studied.

 

Overall: Cheesy actioner.

Rating