Monthly Archives: June 2021

Jun 19 2021

The Shed (2019) Movie Review

Director: Frank Sabatella

Writer: Jason Rice, Frank Sabatella (Screenplay)

Starring: Jay Jay Warrne, Cody Kostro, Sofia Happonen, Frnak Whaley, Timothy Bottoms, Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Plot: A hunter gets bitten by a vampire and runs into a shed to avoid sunlight. Stan, a 17 y.o. on probation, and his supervisor grandpa live next to it. Stan’s bullied high school buddy can use a monster.


Tagline – Rage cannot be contained.

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Shed starts as Stan (Warren) being left in probation with his grandfather Ellis (Bottoms) after the death of his parents, finds a strange monster in his farm shed, a creature that can’t handle sunlight and a lust for blood.

Stan’s best friend Dommer (Kostro) always gets bullied by Marble (Petrovski) and wants to use the creature to get back at the tormentors, while Stan is trying to hold everything together.

Thoughts on The Shed

Characters – Stan has seen his parents die in what sees his family life shattered forced to live with his grandfather under strict rules because of his new rebellious behaviour. He finds a creature in the shed on the farm where he doesn’t know what to do with it after he captures it, but his reputation doesn’t help keep the secret. Dommer is the best friend of Stan’s that is always being bullied at school, with Stan doing what he can to protect him, but he gets tired of Stan wanting his own life, wanting to use the creature for his own good. Roxy is the former friend that has moved to the popular crew at school, she is still the love interest of Stan, while willing to challenge her social status to make sure he is ok still. We get the traditional overly tough acting bully, the strict grandfather, the mysterious creature hiding in the shed.

Performances – The performances in the film work well, we get the rebel without a cause like performance in the leading role Jay jar Warren. Nobody does end up getting too much stand out screen time compared to him though.

Story – The story here follows a rebellious teenager that finds a vampire creature hiding in a farm shed and is left conflicted on how to react to what to do with it, while dealing with the high school politics. When we look at the high school politics, it is everything we have seen before, friendships changing, bullies, love interest, etc, nothing comes off fresh here. What does come off more interesting, is the idea of a vampire trapped in the shed, luring victims in during the day, while Stan must keep it trapped at night, it gives this side of everything the Lost Boys feel it seems to be targeting.

Horror – The horror comes from the splatter filled attacks by the vampire, most are off camera, while we don’t tend to see the brutality of the attack.

Settings – The film uses a mix of the small town setting to show how Stan is left in a place where he might not escape, with the farm’s shed for the horror elements of the film, showing it standing in a crop field, with no escape in daytime for the vampire.


Scene of the Movie – The showdown on the farm with the bully.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The high school politics are generic.

Final Thoughts – The Shed brings out The Lost Boys spirit of fighting a vampire, while getting bogged down with the standard high school politics.



Jun 19 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Thriller – S – Shot Caller (2017) Movie Review

Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Writer: Ric Roman Waugh (Screenplay)

Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omari Hardwick, Lake Bell, Jon Bernthal, Emory Cohen, Jeffrey Donovan, Evan Jones

Plot: A newly released prisoner is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Crime 101

Story: Shot Caller starts when known gangster Money (Coster-Waldau) gets released from prison, returning to his gang with Frank (Bernthal) filling in the blanks of his time locked up, with Howie (Cohen) showing him around. Meanwhile Jacob a successful businessman gets involved in an accident which sees his best friend killed and him needing to take a plea to get a shorten prison sentence.

With Jacob being in prison, he builds up the reputation of a criminal, using his skills with money to gain the nickname becoming the big shot that everyone turns too, even though his parole officer Kutcher (Hardwick) is watching his every move once he is on the outside.

Thoughts on Shot Caller

Characters – Jacob was once a brilliant stockbroker until an accident leaves his best friend dead and him facing jail, he isn’t prepared for what he will be facing, until his skills become useful, he rising up the ranks of a gang becoming a man known as Money, who has respect and power, without the evil intentions behind the greed of the other gang members. Kutcher is the parole officer that has been dealing with the criminals, he knows how to get through the people, which unlike most sees him needing to take a stronger stand to get the best out of people. Kate is the wife that Jacob loses with his own mistake, she wants him to consider his options, knowing he is a good man inside, but doesn’t understand the man he has become. Frank is the man that takes Jacob into the criminal lifestyle, showing him the wrong path, which will only lead him to a world of darkness.

Performances – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau does give a strong performance in the leading role of the film, without being anything that we haven’t already seen in the crime world. Omari Hardwick does play an interesting character only we don’t get enough of his character. Lake Bell is the same, she doesn’t do anything wrong, only we could have seen more of her, this could well be the problem for most of the performance, not enough screen time for them.

Story – The story here follows a stockbroker who is involved in a fatefully accident which sees him put in jail, where he slowly starts to rise up the ranks of a gang, finding herself as part of the big war for power. This story is told in a strange order, which just doesn’t make it easy to enjoy, it follows every single typical idea of how somebody would rise up the ranks of a gang, even if they come from a life where they wouldn’t be anyway near beforehand. We don’t seem to get anything new to the ideas and by the end we know what to expect.

Crime – The crime side of this film focuses on how the world of crime and how somebody can climb the ranks by knowing how to play the system.

Settings – The film is mostly set in the prisons, showing how Jacob uses his imprisonment to get what he wants.


Scene of the Movie – Cage fight.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t seem to get the motivation that Jacob has.

Final Thoughts –This is a by the book crime drama that focus on one man’s rise into the gang world after an accident puts his own life into ruins, it isn’t anything we haven’t seen before though.

Overall: By the Book.

Jun 18 2021

Get a Job (2016) Movie Review

Director: Dylan Kidd

Writer: Kyle Pennekamp, Scott Turpel (Screenplay)

Starring: Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, Bryan Cranston, Nicholas Braun, Brandon T Jackson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Alison Brie, Marcia Gay Harden

Plot: After college, Will is having problems getting a good, lasting job, as are his roomies, his girlfriend and his just fired dad.


Tagline – Graduating was the easy part

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Get a Job starts as college graduate Will (Teller) believes the future is set after his years on YouTube, only to find himself not getting the job he believed he would after years of being an intern. His girlfriend Jillian (Kendrick) is looking to push him into finding a job, with Will struggling to find one in his own level of expectations.

Will learns his inspiration his father Roger (Cranston) has lost his job, with the two sides seeing just what the difference in how the generations are looking for a job.

Thoughts on Get a Job

Thoughts – Get a Job is a comedy that is shows us how the college graduates will struggle to find the careers they dreamed off after finishing studying, showing us how they can find themselves just wasting time, rather than searching for the career they desire. This is a story that does feel offensive because it shows people who only see themselves in one job, when they are desperate to find a job to pay the rent, proving that people will look down on certain jobs, as the group never seem like the truly hard working types, just a group of stoners. This is such a frustrating movie it will just leave you shaking your head at everything going on, despite the film trying to highlight the generational gap between the different eras trying to get jobs and showing how companies are trying to downsize all the time. The performances aren’t bad, as they will get what they need to out of what we see.

Final Thoughts – Get a Job is a comedy that feels more offensive than anything else.

Jun 18 2021

ABC Film Challenge – Thriller – R – Road to Paloma (2014)

Director: Jason Momoa

Writer: Jason Momoa, Robert Homer Mollohan, Jonathan Hirschbein (Screenplay)

Starring: Jason Momoa, Lisa Bonet, Lance Henriksen, Sarah Shahi, Wes Studi, Robert Homer Mollohan

 

Plot: Wolf, a Native American on the run after avenging his mother’s murder, flees across the desolate American West on his motorcycle, where he’ll discover that justice has a cost.


Tagline – On the road. On the run.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Nice Thriller

 

Story: Road to Paloma starts after Wolf (Momoa) has taken the law into his own hands and murdered the man that murdered his mother, he is on the run now with his motorbike and stranger Cash (Mollohan) joining him.

With the FBI and the native American police searching for Wolf, he goes into hiding for as long as possible, can he live the rest of his life on the run?

 

Thoughts on Road to Paloma

 

Characters – Wolf is a Native America that has committed murder in an act of revenge, he is respected within the community, but still does on the run from the law, we see his good nature towards people and how he tries to teach Cash about the mistakes he is making with his life. Cash is the reckless musician that Wolf lets join him on the journey, his behaviour does get him in trouble as he learns from Wolf. We get to see the law who are after Wolf as we see how they are trying even though they are going down dead ends in the search. We also meet the people who are helping Wolf along the way.

Performances – Jason Momoa takes the lead role, director and writing responsibilities on this film, the new Aquaman has drawn the attention since his Game of Thrones role and in this film, we get to see he can handle the more serious natured films. The rest of the cast are good for the scenes we are seeing them in which is good to see.

Story – The story follows a Native America that is on the run from the law after murdering the man that murdered his mother. We get to follow his journey, see how different people are reacting to the crime with the Native Americans supporting him because of lack of support when crimes against them are committed. This does help show the message about all crimes should be treated the same over how they are in this film. the journey itself does show how good-natured Wolf is and how he will watch out for his own kind. The hunting for him does get slightly repetitive as it is cop sees person of interest asks questions moves on.

Thriller – This film does keep you wondering if Wolf can escape the law, we are rooting for him through the film which is always good for a thriller.

Settings – For the settings we get to see the beautiful backdrops which would bring us to the native lands showing us how they are still one with nature with their own beliefs.


Scene of the Movie – The journey shots.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Cops searching.

Final Thoughts – This is a good thriller that keeps us in the tone of the worlds, Jason Momoa shows us just why we need to take him seriously in the world of film.

 

Overall: Jason Momoa spotlight film.

Rating

 

 

Jun 17 2021

Meteor Moon (2020) Movie Review

Director: Brian Nowak

Writer: Joe Roche (Screenplay)

Starring: Dominique Swain, Michael Broderick, Chris Boudreaux, Jeff Prater, Gary Private, Carol Kaufman, Anna Harr

Plot: When a meteor crashes into the moon and shifts its axis, Earth’s gravity pulls the moon into the path of the planet. Now, a group of scientists must figure out how to stop the moon from hitting the earth before it’s too late.


Tagline – Survival is a long shot

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Meteor Moon starts when a meteor hits the moon, pushing towards Earth for a global impact, now Jim Lawson (Broderick) is recruited by his brother Paul (Boudreaux) to go on a mission of his own creation in an attempt to save the world from the impact that will destroy everything.

The brothers need to get to the lift off despite the earthquakes causing damages between them, as General Hauser (Swain) is doing everything she can to stop a nuclear detonation happening to prevent this.

Thoughts on Meteor Moon

Thoughts – Meteor Moon is another one of these Asylum disaster movies with a huge concept that is more focused on some of the scientific ‘ideas’ behind the need to save the Earth from the Moon, over giving us the big disaster moments. The story is thin and doesn’t really get going in anyway, we have certain side stories which look completely used for filler rather than any point in the story. The performances are not good, the special effects we know aren’t going to be the strongest, but certain scenes involving the car are just terrible. This is a film that seems to have the biggest name standing on the same mark the whole film, just talking with plenty of big words.

Final Thoughts – Meteor Moon is another disappointing sci-fi disaster movie that could have used bigger moments of destruction.