Signature Entertainment presents Resistance 1942 on Digital Platforms and DVD 10th January
Resistance 1942 is a tense, WWII-set cat and mouse thriller starring Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Mission: Impossible 7), Greer Grammer (The Middle, Awkward), Jason Patric (Wayward Pines, Sleepers) and Oscar nominee Judd Hirsch (Independence Day). It’s 1942, and France is under Nazi control. The Allies have been pushed off the continent and Hitler’s victory is nearly absolute. Deep within this heinous shadow, Jacques uses a radio to broadcast a message of hope. Unbeknownst to him, villainous and relentless Gestapo captain Klaus Jager has been dispatched to catch the illegal broadcast. As Klaus closes in, Jacques, his daughter Juliet, a small group of other dissidents, must learn to trust the kindness of a stranger if they are to stay ahead of their pursuer. Written and directed by Matthew Hill and Landon Johnson.
Plot: When Haley Hollis returns to her family ranch to try and save it from closure, she wasn’t banking on spending so much time with ranch hand Kate – or falling for her.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Christmas at the Ranch starts when city career driven woman Haley (Allen) is facing her biggest career project, when her brother Charles (Kao) calls her home to help with the family ranch, which has been losing money against the competition.
Haley does come back with her business mind on, she is looking to quickly sell and move on, but when she meets the ranch hand Kate (Righetti), she starts to remember what the ranch meant to her and her family.
Thoughts on Christmas at the Ranch
Characters & Performances – Haley is a workaholic in the big city, she has been given her biggest project yet for her company, while trying to find love in the big city. Her work has come at a price though, as she has been stepping away from help her family ranch and now a trip back there will change how she wants to look at life and give her a chance at finding love, breaking her away from the business driven mind that she has been operating with. Laur Allen is great in this leading role, showing the ruthless side of her career, but the damaged side from her personal life. Kate is the ranch hand who finds herself isolated in her work, spending her time either talking to the animals or talking to herself, she has given plenty of her time to help the ranch remain successful, which will see her clash with Haley on why things aren’t going to plan, but after their awkward first encounter, they both sense a good in each other that will find a solution to the problems. Amanda Righetti does a great job at bringing to life someone who is different to Haley, someone who seems wiser to what is important in life. When it comes to the supporting cast, we have Charles the brother who needs support, as well as Meemaw who has always looked out for her grandchildren on the ranch, wanting to keep it for them.
Story – The story here follows a workaholic social media manager living in the big city who needs to travel back to her home ranch to help them decide what to do in the future after a bad year in business, leaving her in a position where she can do the quick solution, only to find herself remembering how special the place is to her, while falling in love once again. This is a story that will have the deeper meaning of needing to support your family and that money isn’t going to be the answer for everything in life. The story will take us down memory lane for Haley, proving that you will never forget where you came from. This will also play into the idea that Christmas will make people change for the better.
Themes – Christmas at the Ranch is a romance movie set at Christmas where the loneliness people search for love and will find it in the place, they are least likely to look for it. The film will use the two main settings to show the different lives Haley could have, with the big city overworked location against the more relax ranch life, where you can get a chance to breath.
Final Thoughts – Christmas at the Ranch is a Christmas film that is filled with the romance of the magical time of the year.
Plot: As a boy copes with his difficult home life and his parents’ failing marriage, a mysterious girl suddenly appears. Faith, family and a special kind of magic come together as his new friend teaches them all about love, forgiveness and healing.
Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Once Upon a Lifetime starts when bullied school boy Thomas (Nicholson) meets a stranger of his own age Joy, she becomes attached to him, following him, being welcomed into his house by his mother Tatyana (Thompson).
Overnight Joy suddenly ages to teenager age, where the family can’t explain what happened, as each day goes past, Joy continues to age dramatically, while giving advice to the family, more than anyone her original age should know.
Thoughts on Once Upon a Lifetime
Characters & Performances – Thomas is the young boy that is getting bullied at school, while living in a not so comfortable home, where his parents fight. He meets and befriends a young Joy as he starts to learn from her over the next couple of days, despite the changes she goes through. Tatyana and Joseph are the parents that have been going through a bad time because of Joseph’s behaviour, Joy will help Tatyana see what would be best for her future, guiding her out of the trapped marriage she finds herself in. Joy starts as a young girl the same age as Thomas, as each day passes by, she starts to age, becoming a guardian like angel over the family, teaching them and showing them what they need most in life. The performances in this film are wonderful, bringing together the real moments each character is going through.
Story – The story here follows a family that get an unlikely visitor in a 9-year-old girl who unexplainably ages suddenly overnight, where the time the family spend with the now woman, will lead to advice to help them through the rest of their lives. This is a magical story that will leave you with mixed feelings of delight and sadness, with how Joy touches the lives of the family. It will highlight how small changes in life can make everything better, but you will need to make the change to escape the problems. This is easily one film that will leave an impact on you once you have finished.
Themes – Once Upon a Lifetime is a fantasy drama that will see how a woman will spend a lifetime with a family over only a short period of time, while aging quicker than anyone else. This fantasy elements will show how someone touching the life will keep the guidance simple in life.
Final Thoughts – Once Upon a Lifetime is a truly magical tale.
Starring: Alex Neusraedter, Becky G, Alex MacNicoll, Dominic Rains, Thomas Jane, Lou Taylor Pucci, Patricia De Leon
Plot: A.X.L. is a top-secret, robotic dog who develops a special friendship with Miles and will go to any length to protect his new companion.
Tagline – Man’s best friend has evolved
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: A-X-L starts when off road biker Miles (Neustaedter) gets to learn how the wealthy riders like Sam Fontaine (MacNicoll) treat a threat to their position in the sport. Miles gets left injured in the desert where he ends up meet a robotic prototype dog A-X-L that he helps fix.
As Miles gets closer with A-X-L the two become bonded, but he needs to learn how to control him before he hurts someone or falls into the wrong hands, as the contractor awaits to much needed improvements in their robot.
Thoughts on A-X-L
Characters & Performances – Miles is a off road biker from a poor family that has always worked to improve himself, knowing about the hard work it takes to reach this level he will show his commitment and be willing to take a chance on making connections. His kind nature helps the robotic dog, giving the pair a connection which will show the true abilities of the AI inside its head. Alex Neustaedter does well in this role with a lot of the work being the stunt-based work. Sara Reyes has seen her family working for the rich biker family for years and getting left on the outside, taking a shine to the work mentality of Miles. She joins Miles in finding the reality to finding a solution for the pair. Becky G is entertaining through the film. A-X-L is the robotic dog built for weapon that escapes and gets rescued by Miles, where it gets to learn more about the world. Great at fitting into the world and looking like a creature that could well be made sooner than we think. We get to see the different military creators, the family of Miles and the bully figures against Miles. This is all the basic roles that do what is needed for the film.
Story – The story here follows a down on his luck off road biker that meets a robotic dog that has been left abandoned from its creature, leading to everyone trying to hunt for the dog, while Miles must find his own place in the world. This is a good opening to a world with the basics being down well to prepare the world for the potential of us having something bigger in the future. It does end up feeling like every origin idea we have seen before, but it does work for what we need for everything. It would have been nice to see more time with Miles and A-X-L, but it could have been a start to something bigger in the future.
Themes – A-X-L is an action sci-fi adventure that gives us entertaining action, the sci-fi creations needed for the robotic dog looks brilliant in the film, potentially being something we might well see in the future too. It might only look like the opening to something bigger.
A-X-L is an easy to watch sci-fi adventure film showing the change the future could happen.
Movie Reviews 101 