Monthly Archives: September 2020

Sep 30 2020

My Zoe (2019) Movie Review

Director: Julie Delpy

Writer: Julie Delpy (Screenplay)

Starring: Julie Deply, Gemma Arterton, Richard Armitage, Daniel Bruhl, Lindsay Duncan, Jordis Triebel

Plot: A divorced mother looks to protect her daughter after an unexpected tragedy.

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: My Zoe starts as Isabelle (Deply) is going through a divorce from James (Armitage), with the two fighting over the custody of their daughter Zoe, which will see Isabelle constantly needing to change plans to get the hearing done.

After one of these meetings, Isabelle has her night with Zoe, only for the morning, Zoe doesn’t wake up, with her being rushed to hospital, the pair continuing pointing the fingers are each other, while they are praying for Zoe to recover.

Thoughts on My Zoe

Characters – Isabelle is a divorced mother and respected scientist, she is dealing with the custody battle with her ex-husband, while trying to move on with her own life, until her daughter sick and she is left in a helpless position of waiting and praying for her daughter to recover. James is the ex-husband, he is often getting into arguments when Isabelle is trying to discuss the custody agreement and swap days, blaming her for what happens to Zoe. We do meet the doctor who will give them a difficult decision, which will become part of the bigger picture in the film.

Performances – Julie Delpy isn’t just the start of the film, she is the writer and director, in the leading role she shines, proving she can bring us an emotional driven role. Richard Armitage does bring us the unlikeable ex-husband, with Daniel Bruhl and Gemma Arterton bringing us the strong later performances in the film.

Story – The story here follows a divorcing couple going through the final moments of their custody battle, only for their daughter to fall into a coma, they continue pointing fingers while being left with the big decisions about her health. The story here highlights the difficult process of a divorce when it comes to the custody of their child, along with the almost impossible situation they find themselves in. we do get to see the deeper side of a ethical decision too, with the story focusing on asking us the bigger questions about parenthood.

Settings – The film uses every day setting that the former couple would live, it shows how something could happen without them knowing about it.


Scene of the Movie – Meeting Dr Fischer.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The story shows James as the bad guy, without getting us a chance to see his life after Isabelle,

Final Thoughts – This is a thought-provoking movie that will ask the bigger questions about life and how far you might go to fix it when something outside of your own control happens.

Signature Entertainment presents My Zoe on Digital HD 5th October

Sep 30 2020

Martial Problems (2017) Movie Review

Director: Dia Taylor

Writer: Julian Barbor (Screenplay) Chris Akers, Julian Barbor (Characters)

Starring: Nick Capper, Callum Gault, Aleis Duffy, Neil Goldsmith, Jonathan Hearns, Rachel Trainor

Plot: On the eve of his eviction, Ian’s home becomes invaded by Clarke, an unscrupulous gardener who recounts the events of his failed marriage in an attempt to bring closure to Ian’s prior engagement that failed to go the distance.


Tagline – Let your past make you better not bitter.

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Marital Problems starts when Ian (Gault) looks like he is about to be kicked out of his home, which changes when a gardener Clarke (Capper) moves in to tell him the story of his own failed marriage, which will give Ian a chance to look back at his relationship which ending caused his life to spiral out of control.

As the two men go through their stories of their struggles in love, they learn that sometimes not everything is meant to be and maybe it is time to take life in a new direction.

Thoughts on Martial Problems

Characters – Ian has broken up with his fiancée, which has seen him lose his job and see his life spiral out of control, to the level where he might be losing his home, he gets to spend time with Clarke where he gets to unload his troubles and look to get back on his feet. Clarke is the gardener that comes into Ian’s life and does through his own story of failure in love with his married that fell apart, showing how he never really got his own life together. McManus is a handy man that helps with the house, friends with Clarke

Performances – Nick Capper, Callum Gault and Neil Goldsmith have great chemistry, they feel like we are watching the three lads talk about their struggling relationship.

Story – The story follows two men that meet randomly and start talking about their failed relationships as we get to see how they are dealing with the problems and talking about it can finally help them getting out of the struggles. This story does give us a spotlight into the ideas of how men can react differently to failed relationships, how they sometimes just need someone to talk to, even if the story takes thing in another direction, which will bring an added comedy to everything.

Comedy – The comedy comes from different moments of reaction along with a spin on the story, it will get laughs along the way, while balancing the more serious side to everything involved.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show the relationships, how they started and how they have left the men aimless in life, stuck in a house they are both about to lose.


Scene of the Movie – Janey’s visit.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The timeline of the relationships can be slightly misleading.

Final Thoughts – This is a strong look at how people deal with breakups, it has laughs, relatable characters and reflection which would change how life looks.



Sep 30 2020

Christmas with a Crown (2020) Movie Review

Director: Dylan Pearce

Writer: Michael Varrati (Screenplay)

Starring: Lisa Durupt, Marcus Rosner, Michael Lazarovitch, John Treleaven

Plot: When a successful woman returns to her hometown to revive her family’s Christmas festival, she meets a dashing stranger who is volunteered to help organize the event. Sparks begin to fly between them, but little does she know that he is really a prince in disguise, longing to find the true spirit of the holidays. It will take a Christmas miracle of royal proportions for their hearts to meet as one.

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Christmas with a Crown starts when New Yorker Cassie (Durupt) returns home for Christmas to celebrate with her father Walt (Treleaven) only to learn that the Christmas Festival her mother started isn’t being followed through this year, she wants to use it to help fundraise for the local library. Prince Nicolas (Rosner) has escape from his palace to go on one of his adventures where his royalty isn’t known about.

Cassie must reluctantly accept help from Nicolas who wants to experience the festival and over the time preparing the festival, the two get to learn more about each other, including Nicolas’ big secret.

Thoughts on Christmas with a Crown

Characters – Cassie has been living in New York, her career is about to take off, she is in a stable relationship and is looking forward to returning home to see her father. She wants to bring back the Christmas Festival that her mother started only to find the problems with planning until a stranger helps her, giving her a new look at her life. Prince Nicolas has spent his whole life living in the royal spotlight, he has escaped this to go in search for the meaning of Christmas, from a story he read from his mother’s notes, he keeps his true identity secret from the town, as he helps out in the town, looking to escape the future he could be facing. Walt is Cassie’s father that is here to support her life choices, he has looked to continue his life after losing his wife too.

Performances – Lisa Durupt and Marcus Rosner are both wonderful in the leading role, they show what Christmas means to them from the different backgrounds. The supporting cast will bring moments of comedy in the film which will lighten the mood at times.

Story – The story here follows a woman that wants to leave the big city and try and return a Christmas festival, only to get help from a mysterious stranger that is looking to escape his own life commitments in a royal family. This is a story about getting to know somebody for who they are inside, over getting to know them because of who are in status. We have the Christmas feeling about coming together for the greater good throughout the film.

Romance – The romance in the film comes from seeing how Cassie and Nicolas have chemistry from the moment they meet, seeing the blossoming romance unfold.

Settings – The film has glimpse of the New York and kingdom the two are both from, but most of the movie is set in the small town where the festival happens.


Scene of the Movie – The Christmas Festival.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could have seen more of the original Christmas Festival to show just how magical it was always meant to be.

Final Thoughts – This is a fairy-tale like magical Christmas romance that will give us laughs and reflections on life.

DVD/VOD Release Date:12/1/20

Sep 29 2020

Ravage (2019) Movie Review

Director: Teddy Grennan

Writer: Teddy Grennan (Screenplay)

Starring: Bruce Dern, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Eric Nelsen, Robert Longstreet, Joshua Brady

Plot: When a nature photographer explains to the Police how she fought her way out of the Watchatoomy Valley, they dismiss her crazed and violent story as a meth-induced nightmare. But when they discover that she’s telling the truth, it’s too late.

Runtime: 1 Hour 17 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Ravage starts as nature photographer Harper Sykes (Dexter-Jones) is recounting the events which left her in her condition, which sees her stumbling upon a group of rednecks torturing someone.

Harper finds herself captured by the group, with Ravener (Longstreet) looking to put her in part of their twisted games, only it turns out Harper knows how the handle herself, with a mix of her escaping and preparing to get out of the valley she is trapped in.

Thoughts on Ravage

Characters – Harper Sykes is a nature photographer, her work is respected around the world, with her latest search for a long thought extinct species finding her in the Watchatoomy Valley, where she witnesses a crime, trying to expose the truth finds her needing to use her own survival skills to try and survive from the killer lurking in the valley, always showing her abilities to stay ahead of the game. When it comes to the other characters, we have Ravener, who is leading the hunt for Harper, most other characters don’t get much time, usually setting up an incident for Harper to find herself in.

Performances – Annabelle Dexter-Jones is brilliant to watch, be it her cold deliver in the story of the events, the action her character goes through and the way we see her constantly showing the calculated mind rolling. We do get a small appearance from Bruce Dern, which doesn’t steal the spotlight, while Robert Longstreet, brings all the seedy evil character to life.

Story – The story here follows a photographer that stumbles upon a meth murder, finding herself needing to show her survival skills to fight back against an evil. This story does give us a revenge style that we have seen before, one where the female character shows strength the criminals didn’t believe they could have, the revenge style is similar to the ‘I Spit on Your Grave’ without the same awful start, it does feel very formulaic, until we get the shock of what happened to Harper, as we know from the opening she is left in a hospital because of the events of her ordeal.

Thriller – The thriller side of the film comes from seeing how Harper is fighting back, each scene is slow build in tension, though we know we are waiting for the mega explosive moment.

Settings – The film leaves us in the remote valley, where Harper must learn to adapt to this area.


Scene of the Movie – The shock reveal.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does seem slightly too formulaic.

Final Thoughts – This is a by the book thriller that does everything right and is saved by the shocking reveal in the final moment of the film.

Signature Entertainment presents Ravage on Digital HD 5th October