Monthly Archives: April 2021

Apr 10 2021

That Good Night (2017) Movie Review

Director: Eric Styles

Writer: Charles Savage (Screenplay) N.J. Crisp (Play)

Starring: John Hurt, Sofia Helin, Max Brown, Erin Richards, Charles Dance

Plot: Ralph, a once-famous screenwriter, is in his seventies and terminally ill. He has two final missions: to be reconciled to his son, Michael, and, secretly, to ensure he is not a burden to his wife, Anna, as he goes “into that good night”.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Life and its Importance

Story: That Good Night starts as Ralph (Hurt) a once-famous screenwriter learns that his treatment isn’t going well, he wants to reunite with his estranged son Michael (Brown) before telling his wife Anna (Helin), Ralph has set up everything for when his passes, but his stubborn attitude is only pushing away the relationships he wants to rebuild.

As Ralph tries to figure out a way to end his own suffering, he must learn that his old ways will never leave him being remembered in the right way to the family he will leave behind.

Thoughts on That Good Night

Characters – Ralph is a famous screenwriter, he has lived a selfish life, where he has always looked after himself over anybody, including his own son, he learns his days are numbered which makes him want to reconnect with his son, only he is just as distant as he always was, he must figure out how to make everything right before his time is up. Anna is the wife of Ralph, she has made him happy for years after their own meeting in a hospital years before. Michael is the estranged son that Ralph pushed out of his life, he has created his own life with his own girlfriend and career without his father, he has wanted to let him back in only it hasn’t been as easy as he thought it would be. The Visitor comes to Ralph when he is alone, giving him advice about the situation he finds himself in.

Performances – John Hurt gives one of his final performances here, one that is right up there with one of his best, because it shows how he gives us a character that is facing a life and death situation. Sofia Helin, Max Brown, Erin Richards and Charles Dance all give great performances in the supporting roles in the film.

Story – The story here follows an elderly screenwriter that is facing his own mortality and wants to rebuild the relationship with his distant son, even if he needs to learn to change himself if he is ever going to face a chance to do this. This story does focus on the idea that no matter how much time you have left, you should always try to make up for anything you don’t want to lose in life. We do see this happen slightly too easily considering just how distant it is applied the problems between the two are, though it does make you see just how difficult life can be for everybody in life. It does use a unique way for Ralph to see the light in his life, which is a nice touch to make it seem different to others.

Settings – The film uses the beautiful remote house as the backdrop for the most point showing us just how success can give you a life away from people, reflect the distant in relationship Ralph has with people in general.


Scene of the Movie – Hurt and Dance chat, such great sequences.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It didn’t feel like the relationship wasn’t a strained as it could be.

Final Thoughts – This is a lovely almost tribute to John Hurt, which reflects the sad truth of his passing, it does show us how life can come to an end and that you will need to get everything you want together before it is too late.

Overall: Lovely tribute to John Hurt.

Apr 10 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Action – J – Jarhead Law of Return (2019) Movie Thoughts

Director: Don Michael Paul

Writer: Don Michael Paul (Screenplay)

Starring: Amaury Nolasco, Devon Sawa, Jeff Pierre, Ben Cross, Amos Taman, Yael Eitan, Robert Patrick

Plot: Ronan, a fighter pilot and Israeli by Law of Return, is shot down and captured in Syria after a mission. As he’s a US senator’s son, a joint Israeli US squad’s sent in to rescue Ronan within 36 hours.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Jarhead: Law of Return starts when fighter pilot Ronan (Sawa) is shot down in Syria, the US know the problem with him being captured because he is the son of the US Senator Jackson (Patrick), the US look to send in GySgt Torres (Nolasco) and his squad, joined by a specialist Israeli squad to go behind enemy lines to rescue Ronan.

What we see is the unit working together to plan a rescue, while Ronan must use his training to keep his true identity secret from the world.

Thoughts on Jarhead: Law of Return

Final Thoughts – How the Jarhead movies have turned into some loosely connected franchise is beyond me, each one brings a brand new story, this time it mixes Behind Enemy Lines with the Jarhead soldiers, seeing a unit needing to rescue a captured pilot. This doesn’t bring anything new to the military movies, it does everything it needs to, to be watchable, without giving us any truly engageable characters. The performances in the film are fine without anyone looking out of place, with the squad showing strong chemistry together, while most of the action is plenty of flying bullets without being anything but a lot of shaky cam to deal with the movements. This isn’t going to go down as one that will be remembered long after seeing and it doesn’t come close to any of the previous ‘save a soldier’ style movies.



Apr 9 2021

The Reckoning (2020) Movie Review

Director: Neil Marshall

Writer: Neil Marshall, Charlotte Kirk, Edward Evers-Swindell (Screenplay) Antony Jones, Edward Evers-Swindell (Story ‘Red Hex’)

Starring: Charlotte Kirk, Sean Pertwee, Steven Waddington, Joe Anderson, Suzanne Magowan

Plot: Evelyn, a young widow haunted by the recent suicide of her husband Joseph, is falsely accused of being a witch by her Landlord after she rejects his advances.


Tagline – Fear spreads like the plague.

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Reckoning starts when Grace Haverstock (Kirk) finds her husband Joseph returning home with the sickness, the plague of the 1665. When he kills himself to save Grace and their baby, the landlord Squire Pendleton (Waddington) looks to take advantage of the situation, only to turn on her, claiming she is a witch.

This accusation will lead to the Witch Finder John Moorcroft (Pertwee) to come to the village to perform the tortures to get her to confess, only Grace won’t give up, using the image of husband to keep her from losing her mind, with each day putting her through an even more intensely painfully experience.

Thoughts on Reckoning

Characters & Performances – Grace Haverstock is a widowed mother that finds herself being pressure for rent for her landlord, which will see her getting accused of being a witch. She knows the truth and isn’t going to just give up to the pressure, letting herself go through the torture, refusing to become another one of the women falsely accused. Charlotte Kirk is good in the leading role, she brings the resistance needed in the character put through so much pain. John Moorcroft is the Witch Finder that has put countless women through the pain to make them confess, he is convinced his is correct in what he is doing, showing no remorse in what he is doing. Sean Pertwee is the star of the show with his disturbing figure that is convinced he hasn’t done anything wrong. Squire Pendleton is the man that accuses Grace of being a witch and gets caught up in how the trial goes. We get to see the other people in the village and their reaction mixed with the plague too.

Story – The story here follows a widowed mother that gets accused of being a witch and is put through the trials by a witch finder who is determined to make her confess. This is a look at how the witch trials mixed with the plague caused chaos of finger pointing, which led to the pain suffering caused by these actions. This is an interesting look at everything, as we could have gone darker in the trials, even if everything is leading down to a big reveal behind everything going on. The story does seem to dip in the middle and could have been trimmed down a little but more.

Themes – The Reckoning is a horror that uses the experiences that the women would have gone through the add all the horror, filling the pain they were put through for the unknown belief of witches. The film does keep the settings within the time period of the 1665, during the plague going through the nation, adding to the behaviour going on.

 

The Reckoning is a horror that is more about what was done, rather than what we are seeing happening.

Apr 9 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Action – I – Incredible Hulk (2008)

Director: Louis Leterrier

Writer: Zak Penn (Screenplay) Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (Comic)

Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, Christina Cabot

 

Plot: Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into, whenever he loses his temper.


Tagline – This summer, our only hope is something incredible

Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Entertaining Action Packed Origin Film

 

Story: The Incredible Hulk starts as Bruce Banner (Norton) has seen his experiment that turned him into Hulk, making him a wanted criminal, he injured his girlfriend Betty (Tyler) and her father General Thunderbolt Ross (Hurt) is leading the hunt to capture him. Bruce hiding out in Brazil when his location is finally discovered.

With his location exposed, Bruce goes in search of Betty with new soldier Emil Blonsky (Roth) given the same dose that Bruce had, forcing Bruce to bring out the Hulk to save the people he loves.

 

Thoughts on The Incredible Hulk

 

Characters – Bruce Banner is the former scientist that has become infected with the gamma radiation has to go into hiding with the government after him, he has been communicating with somebody that could help him, which sees him come out of hiding, attracting the attention of the government, where he must learn to continue to control the Hulk inside of him. Betty Ross is the girlfriend of Bruce, she has tried to move on with her life after the incident, she has always wanted to support him and goes on the run with him once he returns. Emil Blonsky is the soldier leading the charge to capture Bruce, he takes the same radiation in his body turning him into a monster that can fight the Hulk. General Ross is the man trying to cover up the Hulk situation, he must deal with the idea that his daughter is also on the run too.

Performances – Edward Norton in the leading role does make for a strong Bruce Banner, he will have that scientific nature required which Edward brings to the role. Liv Tyler as the main love interest works easily enough never looking out of place. Tim Roth as the main villain shows us how a soldier can be driven for power. William Hurt shows how the government figure can easily take advantage of the situation well too.

Story – The story here follows Bruce Banner as he tries to evade capture by the government as he searches for answers to get rid of the Hulk side of him, only for the government to unleash a newer version of the experiment, one that doesn’t have an off button. For a rebooted origin story this does everything we need it too, we don’t need to see how he became the Hulk again, we need to see how he is coping with being both, we get to see how the government has been working on this type of experiment and how they want to cover them up. We of course we the big monsters fighting which is why we watch Hulk movies, to see him smash. This is the beginning to the franchise which is still going strong today.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action in this film is Hulk smashing stuff, then the showdown with Abomination which is one of the most entertaining monster fights you will see.

Settings – The film shows us the different locations Bruce tries to operate in, the hiding away in South America, to needing answers in New York, the fight and chase sequences are up there with the best uses of location.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are very strong, Hulk and Abomination are obviously CGI, which makes the fighting potentially facing trouble, but it doesn’t in anyway.


Scene of the Movie – Abomination arrives.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Just Ty Burrell’s character in general.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is the first and showed how they were planning something as big as we got.

 

Overall: Strong origin film.

Rating

 

 

Apr 8 2021

Portal (2021) Movie Review

Portal – Great World Building

Director: Jeff Desom, Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal

Writer: Jeff Desom, Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal, Ed Hobbs, Chris White (Screenplay)

Starring: Lina Esco, Josh Peck, Wilson Bethal, Rory Anne Dahl, Julianna Collins, Jordan Rock

Plot: Without warning, millions of mysterious alien “doors” suddenly appear around the globe. In a rush to determine the reason for their arrival, mankind must work together to understand the purpose of these cosmic anomalies. Bizarre incidences occurring around the sentient doors leads humanity to question their own existence and an altered reality as they attempt to enter them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Portal starts when the world has been overcome by over a million of his objects known as doors, with the world looking to learn about them after loved ones start going missing. Becky (Esco) and Vince (Peck) are leading the investigation into one of these doors.

Once inside the door they discover a world that can’t be explained, one that transforms through each doorway, that is looking to consume them as they search for an answer.

Thoughts on Portal

Thoughts – Portal is a film broken up into three chapters, with three different sets of characters, at different stages of the appearances of the doors. First, we get the first appearance, without knowing much the students try to figure out what is happening, while this is a nice introduction to what could happen if this appears suddenly. Second, we follow the government trying to learn more about what could be inside the doors, seeing a couple of scientists enter a world they can’t explain. Third, we find a researcher that kept the door a secret, so he could study it. All three stories give us a unique way of approaching it, but it would be fair to say, we would have liked to see more about what is happening in each of the chapters, they could have all been expanded to develop more about the characters involved, as well as the work they are looking to explore. We could have plenty more to work with, as this world is only just touch upon, which could see plenty more going on, with more mysteries we don’t learn more about.

 

Signature Entertainment presents Portal on Digital Platforms and DVD 19th April

Portal is an interesting idea that feels like we could have had even more from the world created.