Daily Archives: October 23, 2020

Oct 23 2020

Signature Entertainment presents Chronicle: 2067 on DVD and Digital HD 7th December

Synopsis: An extinction event has begun and the human race just hit the endangered species list. With air so polluted that the only way to breathe is through manufactured air canisters, the human race is on its knees until a message from the future gives one of the biggest corporations on Earth hope. A reclusive young man named Ethan is to be the saviour of the human race but what he discovers in his journey through time is an unthinkable conspiracy that could lead him to change the course of his timeline forever. Would you save humanity if you knew humanity may not be worth saving after all? Starring Ryan Kwanten and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Directed by Seth Larney.

Oct 23 2020

Signature Entertainment presents Jiu Jitsu is on Digital in UK 21st December & DVD 4th January

Synopsis: Get ready for fresh sci-fi action adventure with Nicolas Cage fighting aliens alongside a host of fight stars. The future hangs in the balance as a being from another world returns to Earth to face off against the best warriors the human race has to offer. From special ops soldiers to the best martial arts experts, an epic battle for survival will place humanity on the brink of extinction. The fantastic cast leading the fight back includes FRANK GRILLO (Captain America: Winter Soldier), ALAIN MOUSSI (Kickboxer: Retaliation) and TONY JAA (Ong-Bak) joining NICOLAS CAGE in this new franchise opener.

Oct 23 2020

A Call to Spy (2019) Movie Review

Director: Lydia Dean Pilcher

Writer: Sarah Megan Thomas (Screenplay)

Starring: Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, Radhika Apte, Linus Roache, Rossif Sutherland, Andrew Richardson

Plot: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency – SOE – to recruit and train women as spies.

Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: A Call to Spy starts during World War II, The British have seen the German walk through Europe and with their latest attempts to create spies failing, Winston Churchill has decided to try bringing in women spies, with Vera Atkins (Katic) needing to select the first candidates, with American Virginia Hall (Thomas) and Noor Inayat Khan (Apte) being the ladies she turns too.

We see how the three women all played their part in the war effort, form different locations, one from guiding from home, another on the field, while the other using their communication skills to show that everyone is fighting for the same thing.

Thoughts on A Call to Spy

Characters – Vera Atkins is the woman that is painted to be like a secretary, but her work is much more than that, she helps recruit the first female spies, she knows how to pick the women that will not look the part, making them perfect for the selections, while running the operations from back home. Virginia Hall is an American that is trying to get into an diplomatic role for the country, only to be getting rejected, she is selected because of language skills and due to her injury, which makes her look even less spy like from the outside, she however is very smart, resourceful and always keeps her calm. Noor Inayat Khan is from a mixed background, she is an expect on the communication side of things, which sees her being selected to hide away from enemy and communicate back to England.

Performances – The performances from the three leading women are wonderful throughout, they show the strength they needed to bring the real life people to life, easily being the strongest part of the acting in this film.

Story – The story here follows the idea that in World War II, Britain looked to women to become spies to try and outsmart the Germans, we follow the first recruits as they risked their lives in the war effort and made history for their efforts. This is a brilliant look at the history of spies, seeing once again how many different people came together fight with what would be right. We see how some of the men wouldn’t be interested in letting women into the field, but we don’t seem to spend too much time covering this side of things. The only the other weaker side to the story comes from the fact we don’t seem to see how much intensity to any of the trading of material or attempts to rescue people.

Biopic – This biopic side of the film shows the women that risked their lives to help the country during the war, it shows more of their mission over their personal lives.

Settings – The film gives us the setting ideas to show us the secret places people would turn to for support in doing the right things.


Scene of the Movie – Recruitment.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The spy side of things could be seen as routine, without many thrillers about it all.

Final Thoughts – This is an important look at how women become spies and helped changed things during World War II.

Signature Entertainment presents A Call to Spy in Cinemas and on Digital HD 23 October 2020

Oct 23 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – W – The Wicker Man (2006)

Director: Neil LaBute

Writer: Neil LaBute, Anthony Shaffer (Screenplay)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Beahan, Frances Conroy, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski, Diane Delano

 

Plot: A sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers there’s a larger mystery to solve among the island’s secretive, neo-pagan community.


Tagline – Be careful what you search for..

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Standard & Watchable

 

Story: The Wicker Man starts when police officer Edward Malus (Cage) fails to save a mother and daughter, he falls into a deep depression taking time off work to recover, he receives a letter from his ex-fiancée Willow (Beahan) asking for his help in locating her daughter on the mysterious and isolated island known as Summersisle.

Once Edward makes his way to the island, he finds that the people are not welcoming towards him with only Willow willing to talk any sense to him, the island is filled with a cult like group of sisters that are preparing for a grand event.

 

Thoughts on The Wicker Man

 

Characters – Edward Malus is a police officer, he is doing his job when he witnesses a mother and daughter killed on the roadside, left depressed he is taking time off work to recover until his ex-fiancée contacts him. He must travel to a remote island with no technology to locate a missing girl only what he finds is something he never imagined he would see. Sister SummersIsle run the island, she is the leader that has the rules set in place to keep peace on the island. Sister Willow Woodward is the ex-fiancée that writes to him to help locate her missing daughter, she is the only one of the women on the island that doesn’t follow the rules completely. The island is filled with women in different roles that seem to only give Edward riddles as he searches for his answers.

Performances – Nicolas Cage takes the leading role in this movie, his performance is known for being one of the more comical in modern film history, it would be fair to say for the most part it is just a normal detective role, it isn’t until the final act he gets a little crazy. Kate Beahan in the supporting role is good being the motivation to head to the island, Ellen Burstyn works in her role, we don’t get to see too much from her because of the leadership level. We do get a good calm group of performances from the supporting cast through the film.

Story – The story here does follow the same path as the original, a stranger comes to a community to investigate a missing girl, only to learn that this is in fact a cult that have been planning for a celebration. We do have a couple of changes though, first we have the technology that needs to be eliminated early on and does, secondly, we have a different motivation for Edward to be going to the island. Knowing the main direction, the story will go does take away the mystery behind everything and it soon turns into a Nicolas Cage on a wild weekend which strangely attracts more for the movie. If you watch this with the right mentality you will let the story flow and just focus on Cage.

Horror/Mystery – The horror isn’t very effective, mostly because it gets tamed down from just how horrific it could be. This applies to the mystery to, if you know the original story, we don’t get enough to push us off track most of the film feel pretty clear.

Settings – The film keeps us on the remote island away from society that brings isolation to the community that doesn’t need or want technology, they can live with their own beliefs and not cause a problem to anyone in the outside world.

Special Effects – The effects in the film do leave something to question, the bees look terrible.


Scene of the Movie – Nicolas Cage having a break down is so much fun to watch.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The fact it turns into a comedy.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the most notorious so bad it is good movies, if you go in just wanting to watch Cage doing his crazy routine, well this is like him in overdrive and it is worth the time to see.

 

Overall: One film you must see for the wrong reasons.

Rating