Habit will be available on Digital Download from 22nd November and can be pre-ordered here!
When a drug deal goes wrong, street smart party girl Mads (Bella Thorne) and her best friends find a possible way out by masquerading as nuns…
A Bird Flew In will have its UK Premiere at Raindance Film Festival on 5th November. Tickets are available here
Dune – Epically Breath Taking
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth (Screenplay) Frank Herbert (Novel)
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Rebeccas Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgard, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling
Plot: Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.
Tagline – It Begins
Runtime: 2 Hours 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Dune starts when house Atreides Duke Leto (Isaac), Lady Jessica (Ferguson) and their son Paul (Chalamet) are assigned to a new dangerous planet Arrakis, formerly run by the ruthless Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Skarsgard), who isn’t happy about being replaced on the planet.
With Duke Leto looking to create peace with the natives, he sees his house come under attack, leading to Paul and Jessica needing to learn about the desert planet if they are ever going to be able to fight back.
Thoughts on Dune
Characters & Performances – Paul Atreides is the son of the Duke, he has been dealing with dreams about Arrakis before ever being there, seeing death coming along with a mysterious stranger in the dreams. He isn’t prepared to takeover, constantly learning from everyone around him. Lady Jessica is Paul’s mother that has gifted him her own powers, ones that can control people, she knows the threat this could if in the wrong hands, she will always put his safety first. This is a film that spends a lot of time on the characters, showing how most are important to Paul, be it people that trained him, people that have wronged him or the people he is dreaming off. The acting in the film is strong with most needing to remain on the calmer side of things, with only Jason Momoa enjoying the freedom to break this at times.
Story – The story here follows the son of a ruler that sees his family set to a dangerous planet where they are betrayed, leaving him to use the skills he has obtained in his young life to put together his plans to get revenge and bring a peace to the universe. This is only the beginning of the mega saga, opting to create the characters around Paul, with a couple of massive set pieces, diving into what is important in showing his journey, the people that are after him and the Spice, as well as being about throwing us into a world, with so much more to see. This is a story that will have everything you want from an introduction film, creating the sides and showing the early signs of what Paul could become.
Themes – Dune is the spectacular sci-fi movie that we have waited for this year, it creates a massive world, with Arrakis being the planet with little known other than danger, the centre of the greed within the emperor’s reign. This is a visually treat, with gorgeous scenery for the open spaces, while keeping the darker toner for the enclosed ones. The battle sequences might well look like everything we have seen before, the defence suits have a unique look, which has shown the improvement in the special effects since the original, with the grand appearance of the worms, being what will leave you jaw dropping.
Final Thoughts – Dune is the most beautiful visual experience of the year, making you want to come back for more.
Disappearance at Lake Elrod – Twist Filled Mystery
Director: Lauren Fash
Writer: Lauren Fash, Susan Graham (Screenplay)
Starring: Michael Trucco, Robyn Lively, Bethany Anne Lind, Shanola Hampton, Judith Ivey, Kerry Cahill, Katrine Norman
Plot: A year after Charlie’s daughter disappears, another girl from Elrod, Georgia goes missing. Convinced there is a connection, Charlie draws suspicion and contempt from local law enforcement and townspeople as she stops at nothing to expose its most devastating and darkest secret.
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Disappearance at Lake Elrod starts when outsider Charlie (Lively) has found herself getting no help in the search of her own daughter sudden disappearance, when a year after, Trip Carmichael’s (Trucco) daughter goes missing with the whole town searching for her, starting to point the fingers at Charlie.
When Charlie is joined by journalist Amy (Hampton) they two look to try and get to the bottom of the bigger story going on within the town, looking to expose the secrets that could well give away the answers she has been searching for.
Thoughts on Disappearance at Lake Elrod
Characters & Performances – Charlie is the disturbed woman that is considered an outsider by most of the town because of the older unsolved disappearance of her daughter leaving her constantly questioning what happened. When she becomes the prime suspect in the latest disappearance, she teams up with a journalist to try and solve what happened in both cases. Robyn Lively does give us a strong leading performance, one with the narration of the sequence being the thing which will let us know more about her mind. Amy is the reporter that joins Charlie is trying to uncover the truth about what has happened, strong an independent, she uncovers the most to solve the mystery. Shanola Hampton brings us the nonsense figure to this film, which is needed to make the investigation feel more real. Outside of these two, we get to meet the host of different people from the town, including the rich family of Trip and Mama Carmichael, who are the latest victims of a missing child, none of these character do seem to get enough of a spotlight to make them feel like they are a major part in the main story going forward.
Story – The story here follows a woman still grieving the disappearance of her own daughter, who becomes the prime suspect in the latest case of a missing child, where she looks to solve the mystery, while learning about herself. This is a mystery that will offer up one discussion about how the rich will be treated differently, only for it to not dive deep enough into this discussion. When it comes to the mystery, we go through the basic questions, which take us to the latest potential suspect, without going too far with everything. The story does have a bigger idea which will come to bring a twist in how the story is revealed.
Themes – Disappearance at Lake Elrod is a mystery thriller that will look to keep us guessing, while being brave enough to throw a bigger curveball into everything we are seeing. The small town setting shows how the secrets can be kept quiet and that people will know other people’s secrets despite them trying to hide things.
Disappearance At Lake Elrod will be available to download or stream from AppleTV, Sky Store, Virgin Media, Amazon and Google Play, and available on DVD from Morrisons, Amazon and HMV from 1st November
Final Thoughts – Disappearance at Lake Elrod is a mystery that has a twist you won’t see coming.
Director: Matthew John Lawrence
Writer: Matthew John Lawrence (Screenplay)
Starring: David Littleton, Chet Siegel, Ruby McCollister, Ruth Lolla, Maureen McGowan, Amir Khan, Jeff Riddle
Plot: When a punk band scores their first tour, life on the road proves tough when they are joined by a man-eating demon as a roadie.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Uncle Peckerhead starts when Judy (Siegel) looks to get her punk band Duh with Max (Riddle) and Mel (McCollister) a record deal, they head off on a one week road the country tour, only they lose their van, turning to the estranged Peckerhead (Littleton) for his van letting him become their roadie.
On the first night of the tour, Judy learns the truth about Peckerhead being a man-eating demon that must feed at midnight, leave the band unsure whether to keep him around or not, despite him helping the band’s finances on the trip.
Thoughts on Uncle Peckerhead
Thoughts – Uncle Peckerhead is a horror comedy that will bring us a punk band trying to make a name for themselves, that learn their new roadie/driver is a man-eating demon that feeds every night at midnight, even though when not a demon, he has the heart of gold. This does give us the punk dream that the characters have, balancing what is evil in the demonic figure, not knowing which side they should follow, after believing they are only taking out the people holding them back. The journey sees them struggling to make ends meet, which is everything you would imagine from a small punk band, with each location being used to show the environment they must get used to playing in. the performances from the whole cast are great, with Chet Siegel being a brilliant lead, Ruby McCollister hitting the dead pan comedy and David Littleton being the demon with a kind heart. This is a fun little horror comedy that can get plenty of laughs along the way.
Final Thoughts – Uncle Peckerhead is a fun enjoyable horror comedy being both bloody and funny.
Movie Reviews 101 