Daily Archives: November 15, 2021

Nov 15 2021

Blonde. Purple (2021) Movie Review ‘Great Idea That Gets Lost in Flashbacks’

Blonde. Purple – Great Idea That Gets Lost in Flashbacks

 

Director: Marcus Flemmings

Writer: Marcus Flemmings (Screenplay)

Starring: Julian Moore-Cook, Elle Bindman, Adam J Bernard, Jennifer Lee Moon

Plot: An out-of-his depth inexperienced criminal is stuck in a bank, after a heist went wrong. How will he get out?

Runtime: 2 Hours 9 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Blonde. Purple starts as we meet Wyatt (Moore-Cook) in the aftermath of the heist gone wrong, his friend has been injured, he only has one hostage left, a 16-year-old Maddison (Bindman), as he tries to figure out what to do next, as he is surrounded by police.

As Wyatt looks to figure out a way out of the situation, we flashback to the planning of the heist with Nath (Bernard) who bought him into the gang, as we learn more about why he is hired to be part of the crew.

Thoughts on Blonde. Purple

Characters & Performances – Wyatt is the inexperienced criminal who has seen his partners in the heist captured, leaving him with one hostage and needing to think on his feet. He isn’t prepared for this situation and looking back to how he ended up here, we learn about what drove him into this job in the first place. Maddison is the teenage hostage that was looking to get the money she has earnt, spending time getting to know her captive, having her own problems in life. Julian Moore-Cook and Ellie Bindman are both great in their time with the interaction, which is easily the most interest part of the film. When we meet other characters we find ourselves seeing the people that led both to the situation they find themselves in, who held them up in life or guided them in the wrong directions.

Story – The story here follows an inexperienced criminal finding himself with only one hostage after a heist goes wrong, needing to figure out what he needs to do next, as he looks back at his life, leading to this moment and getting to know his hostage. When we look at just the lone side of the story with the interactions going on, rather than diving deeper into the heist, we will get an interesting and enjoyable side of the film, a different concept, which felt refreshing. When we dive into certain back stories, we do seem to get a lot of filler, with certain moments, barely even involving the pair in the bank being involved, which can take us away from the bigger picture, which the extended runtime doesn’t fell like it is needed, we could easily have trimmed this down.

Themes – Blonde. Purple is a thriller that will offer the interesting discussion during a hostage situation, which is kept contained, which would easily be a great discussion based film. As soon as we move away from this side of things, we find ourselves losing the discussions going on about what is happening within this world.

Final Thoughts – Blonde. Purple is a film that offers a fresh approach to a heist movie, only to lose the creative decision moving away from the contained environment.

Nov 15 2021

The Last Rite (2021) Movie Review

The Last Rite – Frightening Horror

 

Director: Leroy Kincaide

Writer: Leroy Kincaide (Screenplay)

Starring: Bethan Waller, Johnny Fleming, Kit Smith, Tara Hoyor-Martinez, Ian Macnaughton, Deborah Blake, David Kerr

Plot: A medical student suffering from sleep paralysis finds herself plagued by a demonic entity, after moving in with her boyfriend.


Tagline – Don’t let him in

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Last Rite starts as Lucy (Waller) is starting to struggle to settle in with her boyfriend Ben (Fleming) in his home. Lucy starts to believe there is a shadowy figure lurking around the home, starting to become paranoid about the demonic entity.

AS Lucy turns to Father Roberts (Smith) for help, she finds herself being possessed by the hat wearing demon, needing help to escape this living nightmare she finds herself going through.

Thoughts on The Last Rite

Characters & Performances – Lucy is the woman that finds her new home with her boyfriend, seeing her getting stalked by an unknown figure, giving her a constant feeling of unease. She gets the warnings about not letting the figure in, but finds herself letting it in, dealing with sleep paralysis and worse, as the demon attaches itself to her. Bethan Waller will give us a strong possession based performance, needing to bring the uncertainty of her new home, the emotional impact of the uneasy feeling she is going through, as well as the pure fear she goes through to the table. Ben is the boyfriend that has owned the house for a while and never experienced anything, he has a successful career, which will see him working a lot, not believing the stories Lucy is telling, until he sees it with his own eyes. Johnny Fleming isn’t the most convincing in this role, not showing the panic through the scare sequences in the film. Father Roberts is the man that looks to solve the problems that Lucy is going through, he has seen things like this before and is the best option for Lucy to make it out.

Story – The story here follows a young woman that finds herself getting stalked before getting caught up in a possession, which will see her needing to turn to the church to save her soul. This is a story that will do something different, with the idea one person moving into a ready built home dealing with a stalker figure and possession, whereas most we see, are a family dealing with events. The way the story unfolds, is interesting, but once we hit the possession time, there doesn’t seem to be too much more to come out of how the event happens. This will get everything you want from a horror story, even if it will just come along and be like most we have seen before.

Themes – The Last Rite is a horror thriller that will mix the idea of being stalked and possession, with the idea demonic figure haunting a new woman in a home, that hasn’t had any history before. We will have creepy scenes, that will create the unease Lucy goes through during the stalking moments, but when it comes to the possession side, it is what we have seen before.

Final Thoughts – The Last Rite is a horror filled with scares & unease feelings through the creepy stalking moments.

Nov 15 2021

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021) Movie Review ‘Completely Out There’

Prisoners of the Ghostland – Completely Out There

 

Director: Sion Sono

Writer: Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safai (Screenplay)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes, Bill Moseley, Tak Sakaguchi, Young Dais, Charles Glover

Plot: A notorious criminal must break an evil curse in order to rescue an abducted girl who has mysteriously disappeared.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Prisoners of the Ghostland starts when a notorious bank robber Hero (Cage) finds himself trapped in the aftermath of a crime, he is recruited by Governor (Moseley) to go in search for his missing niece Bernice (Boutella), he is given three days and a special suit to wear, one that will mean he must follow rules or face consequences.

Hero must travel to a place known as The Ghostland, a wasteland like location, where the normal laws don’t make sense and Hero must figure out how to get Bernice back to the real world in time.

Thoughts on Prisoners of the Ghostland

Characters & Performances – Hero is the nameless bank robber who was involved in a heist gone wrong, he is locked away for this, but known as a man that can get a job done, one nobody else will do. He is given a suit which will see body parts explode if he goes against the rules, he does know this could buy his freedom. He will find himself needing to lead people, something he wasn’t planning on doing. Nicolas Cage gets to unleash his out of control style in this film, one where he fully embraces the bonkers world he is in. Bernice is the missing woman, she finds herself in the Ghostland where she will find herself needing to embrace the new freedom Hero offers her, she doesn’t want to return to the place she has come from though, knowing the evil the Governor has in mind. Sofia Boutella does well in this role, continuing to put herself forward as someone who can handle themselves in the action side of films. Governor is the man that runs the town, he hires Hero for the job, putting him in the torture device to get the job done. Bill Moseley much like Cage, knows the type of movie he is in, being able to go with the over the top performance without looking out of place.

Story – The story here follows a man given a chance for redemption for a past crime by saving a woman who has vanished to a place known as the Ghostland. This story can see to borrow from Escape from New York with the lone hero needing to entering to unknown world to rescue someone. This is a story that will leave you wondering just what will happen next and for the most part, you won’t see it coming. It is a story that is completely out there and will leave you either wanting more or hating everything you saw, I personally wanted to see more, as we could have gone almost anywhere in this film, where every scene will lead to something bigger to come in the story.

Themes – Prisoners of the Ghostland is an action horror that will takes us through a couple of different locations, each with their own design to show the environments that need to be survived through. When it comes to the action, we will get bodies flying around, with blood everywhere.

Final Thoughts – Prisoners of the Ghostland is one of the most bonkers films you will see this year.