Month: January 2022

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch Up 2021 – Z – Archenemy (2020) Movie Review

This is under Z because of actress Zolee Griggs.

Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer

Writer: Adam Egypt Mortimer, Luke Passmore (Screenplay)

Starring: Joe Manganiello, Zolee Griggs, Skylan Brooks, Glenn Howerton, Amy Seimetz

Plot: Max Fist claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space to earth, where he has no powers. No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Archenemy starts as a local teenager Hamster (Brooks) looks to try and make a name of himself by getting stories about a man Max Fist (Manganiello) who believes he is from another planet and has superpowers. Getting close to him, Max ends up saving his life when his drug dealer sister Indigo (Griggs) gets caught cross The Manager (Howerton).

Max Fist takes Indigo and Hamster with him as he looks to prepare to fight back against his archenemy who he believes has followed him from their home planet Cleo.

Thoughts on Archenemy

Thoughts – Archenemy brings us a new twist on the superhero style movie, where one man believes he can fight crime as he is from another planet, protecting Earth from a supervillain that would change life as we know it, but he is down now as a drunk, roaming the streets until the modern world and social media change everything for him. The story does do an excellent job at balancing the two sides of the story, leaving us wondering just where things will end up going, as it could easily go either way. The performances are wonderful, with each main character giving us something we might not have seen in the comic book superhero style films. This is one film that will make you think a lot, keep you guessing and uses the effects to blend between the real world and the comic book world with ease.

Final Thoughts – Archenemy is a great twist on the superhero film, keeping us guessing as to what is real or not.

Categories
Movie Review

Bite Me (2019) Movie Review ‘Nice Love Story’

Bite Me – Nice Love Story

 

Director: Meredith Edwards

Writer: Naomi McDougall Jones (Screenplay)

Starring: Naomi McDougall Jones, Christian Coulson, Naomi Grossman, Annie Golden, Mahira Kakkar

Plot: When Sarah, a real-life vampire, gets audited, the last thing she expects is a date. But an unlikely spark with IRS agent, James, forces two misfits to confront whether they have the courage to commit the radical act of falling in love.

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bite Me starts as we meet vampire Sarah (Jones) who has just seen her life thrown into the public eye, after a few other vampires decide to go public about their lives. Sarah finds herself becoming audited by James (Coulson) who wants to help her, only for the two to get involved in a forbidden relationship.

As James finds himself caught in a potential career making decision, he can’t help but want to follow his heart, despite the judging personalities around him.

Thoughts on Bite Me

Characters & Performances – Sarah is a vampire living a normal life with her fellow vampires in their church, she is more of the modern vision of a vampire, where people will look at her funny, but she is mostly human wanting human contact. She starts to fall for the man auditing her, letting her guard down for the first time in years. Naomi McDougall Jones writes and takes the leading role in this film, where we see the lost woman in the world, wanting to stand out, finding herself with a new sense of direction. James is the auditor not having much in his life, he has found himself stuck in a routine job and alone, until he starts investigating Sarah, he sees more in life. Christian Coulson makes for a leading male that needs to look as ordinary as possible, the opposite to the vampire woman he is attracted too. Naomi Grossman and Mahira Kakkar are both wonderful in the supporting roles as the housemates of Sarah, with the pair getting plenty of laughs along the way.

Story – Bite Me is a story that will see a modern day vampire fall in love with the person who is meant to be auditing their church. The story will bring a fresh spin to the way the world sees vampires, being more of a way of life, rather than a supernatural being, while the love story is all about what we all want in life, company. Deep down this is all about wanting the simple thing in life, someone to share it with, while always being left in the position of needing to learn to ignore what people think of what is going on.

Themes – Bite Me is a romance comedy showing the troubles of modern love, while filling the film with the type of best friends or co-workers figures that will be great for a laugh to break any serious movement going on. The big city feel will show that there is always going to be different cultures around the city, ones with different beliefs, which will offer no harm to anyone else.

Bite Me will be available on digital download from 8th February

Final Thoughts – Bite Me is a fun look at the modern love story from people in different beliefs.

Categories
Movie Review

American Night (2021) Movie Review ‘Sluggish Thriller’

American Night – Sluggish Thriller

 

Director: Alessio Della Valle

Writer: Alessio Della Valle (Screenplay)

Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emile Hirsch, Paz Vega, Jeremy Piven, Fortunato Cerlino, Michael Madsen, Alba Amira, Anastacia

Plot: A courier carrying Andy Warhol’s famous “Pink Marilyn” arrives in New York City. Art and life collide – as John Kaplan tries to juggle the mob and his talent as an art forger with his love for Sarah Flores – and chaos ensues.

Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: American Night starts as we meet art forger John Kaplan (Meyers) who has built up a reputation for find and selling the rarest pieces of art, while trying to go straight now. He meets Sara (Vega) who is in the business clean, but soon falls in love with her.

John will see his past catch up with him when Michael Rubino (Hirsch) comes searching for a piece he believes is his and he will do anything to get his property back.

Thoughts on American Night

Thoughts – American Night is a neo-noir thriller that branches out into plenty of different storylines per character, which takes away plenty of what we are watching. Each character involved does seem to have an honest side, before they show a more vicious side, with some of the most over-the-top acting you will see this year. Emile Hirsch is the worst for this, because during his calm sequences, we see him like a normal off tilt mob boss, but once he turns psycho, it turns comical. The strange decisions to make Jeremey Piven a down on his luck hard stuntman is weird, because his wise ass routine works well, but everything feels out of place. American Night is a movie that is trying to do so much more than it needs to, leading it to over complicate the most basic of things, leading to a story that feels long, doesn’t need to be this long and ends up falling flat in most places.

Final Thoughts – American Night is a thriller that never gets going, dragging along way too much.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – Y – Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) Movie Review

This is under Y because of Michelle Yeoh starring in the film.

Director: Navot Papushado

Writer: Navot Papushado, Ehud Lavski (Screenplay)

Starring: Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, Freya Allan, Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Angela Bassett, Chloe Coleman

Plot: Three generations of women fight back against those who could take everything from them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Gunpowder Milkshake starts when a hitwoman Sam (Gillan) gets one of the job wrong, before wanting to make the right decision for a young girl being held captive, finds her life turned upside down, as the people she worked for including Nathan (Giamatti) the man who trained her are out to get her.

Sam must use all her skills to keep young Emily (Coleman) alive, which will see her looking to old connections in a search for safety away from the criminal minds.

Thoughts on Gunpowder Milkshake

Thoughts – Gunpowder Milkshake is an action thriller that will take us into the world where one of the best hitwoman for the company finds themselves getting crossed by their boss, leading to them going on a battle against an endless stream of henchmen set out to kill them. This is a style of film we have seen many times before, usually surrounded with a more male centred world, which is where this film will take a step in a different direction, one where it will give us a chance to see different generations work together to fight a common enemy. Karen Gillan is brilliant in the leading role, a born to be action star, stepping out more on her own than any of her previous films before. Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Carla Gugino and Angela Bassett complete the older generation cast, despite never looking out of place, while Chloe Coleman continues to make a name for herself in this style of roles next to an aggressive action star. The action sequences in the film are brilliant as we see how the women will use their abilities to survive against the odds, with plenty of firepower and weaponry battles.

Final Thoughts – Gunpowder Milkshake is a blast of an action film, hard hitting with plenty of style.

Categories
Movie Review

The King’s Man (2021) Movie Review ‘Great Action Film’

The King’s Man – Great Action Film

 

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writer: Matthew Vaughn, Karl Gajdusek (Screenplay) Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons (Comic Book)

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Harrison Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Daniel Bruhl

Plot: In the early years of the 20th century, the Kingsman agency is formed to stand against a cabal plotting a war to wipe out millions.

Runtime: 2 Hours 11 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The King’s Man starts when Orlando Oxford (Fiennes) looks to protect his son Conrad (Dickinson) from the dangers in the world, but with the impending First World War, Orlando learns of a threat to England, one that Conrad wants to join the fight for.

As Orlando introduces his son to the Kingsman with Shola (Hounsou) and Polly (Arterton), they look to fight back against an unknown threat that is putting the world’s leaders into a battle that will see dire consequences.

Thoughts on The King’s Man

Characters & Performances – Orlando Oxford is a good will ambassador working for the Red Cross who sees his wife killed in the field, promising to protect his son from any major conflicts. He will use his position of power to protect him, which is only pushing them apart. He has secretly been holding connections to make it clear on what is going on within the world, wanting to use them to stop the major conflict. Ralph Fiennes is great in this role, getting to go way over the top, but needing to give the grounded performance too. Conrad is the son that sees his mother killed at a young age, he has been raised in a guardian environment, which will see him wanting to serve his country when the war starts, waiting for the chance, he goes against his father’s wishes to make a difference. Harris Dickinson might well be the least known of the main cast, but that doesn’t stop him give us a strong performance in the film. Shola and Polly are the two loyal friends to Orlando, poses as help around the home, he will keep them an important side to everything he does, with them having the skills he doesn’t possess. Djimon Hounsou is great, but Gemma Arterton is truly the scene stealer in this movie, going head-to-head with anyone who gets in her way, getting the best lines too. Where this movie can lack, is in giving us a iconic villain, this one is kept hidden for the most part, known only as the Shepherd, pulling strings, we see the people working for him getting a lot more attention throughout the film.

Story – The King’s Man brings us a story that will look to focus on the origins of the Kingsman, showing a lord that is looking to get the most out of his position in the world, wanting to stop others suffering in major conflict. Changing the time the film is set is risky, because in the previous to Kingsman movies, we have focused on the established group trying to save the world, now we are playing into events we know happened, showing a different version of history behind the start of The Frist World War, showing how people were put in place to pull the strings. It is a nice twist on what we have seen because it will stop the older formula getting stale.

Themes – The King’s Man does take a step towards the more serious action movie here, dropping most of the comedy that previous two movies went heavy on. The action does have some great sequences, that will make a big impact on everything we have seen, different environments and weapons in play. The weapons of choice are adapted to era specific weapons to have their own spin to make a major impact in the fight sequences.

Final Thoughts – The King’s Man is a fun addition to the franchise, turning more towards the action side of things.

Categories
Movie Review

Confession (2022) Movie Review

Confession: A Vengeful Tale of Redemption

Confession: A Vengeful Tale of Redemption

Director: David Beton

Writer: David Beton (Screenplay)

Starring: Colm Meaney, Stephen Moyer, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Kris Johnson, Sadie Jean Shirley

Plot: One church, one priest, a wounded man and his loaded gun. An intense thriller played out in real time during one night where a vengeful confession must take place.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Confession starts when an injured man Victor Strong (Moyer) arrives in a church to confess his sins to a Priest and Father Peter (Meaney). Getting the doors locked, the pair start the story, with the former partner Willow (Ashitey) lurking in the shadows.

As the three collide, the truth about each of them will be revealed, showing they all have something to hide and live with pain in their lives.

Thoughts on Confession

Thoughts – Confession is drama thriller that will see how three people will come together in a church to finally let the truth out, which will give us a story that is filled with twists and turns along the way. This is an interesting look at people wanting to give away their truths, while having a gritty cop like drama going on within it.

It shows people may live with regrets, which they will always find themselves struggling to adapt too. The performances from the three leads are great, making themselves come off as an engaging style, while keeping everything within the walls of the church. This might not be everything you are expecting, as it is a film that is focused more on the discussions going on with everything.

Final Thoughts – Confession is an interesting discussion-based film, around mistakes we can make.

Categories
Movie Review

Caught in the Net (2020) Movie Review ‘Shockingly Disturbing’

Caught in the Net – Shockingly Disturbing

 

Director: Barbora Chalupová, Vit Klusák

Writer: Barbora Chalupová, Vit Klusák (Screenplay)

Starring: Sabina Dlouhá, Anezka Pithartová, Tereza Tezká

Plot: Two documentarians exploring the world of online sexual abuse of children succeed in turning an experiment into an act of social intervention.


Tagline – When the hunters become the hunted

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Caught in the Net starts as two producers Barbora Chalupova and Vit Klusak look to make a documentary about online sexual abuse children experience. The pair hire three young adult actresses Sabine Dlouhá, Anezka Pithartová and Tereza Tezká.

With the sets built to make it looks like a 12-year-old girls bedroom, the social media profiles are put in place and the rules put in place to make the girls easy targets. As the documentary starts rolling, the actresses are sent endless messages, pictures and asked to join video messages with older men, showing the horrifying behaviour children suffer on the internet.

Thoughts on Caught in the Net

Thoughts – Caught in the Net is an investigation documentary looking to expose the shocking behaviour towards children on the internet. This is a documentary that is going to be difficult to watch, seeing what the actresses are exposed to, knowing the target is meant to be 12-year-old girls. This is a documentary that isn’t going to hold back anything, it will show the disturbing situations created, while the actresses still have to experience them, they will have the support around them if things get too out of hand. This should be a documentary about awareness, which will be one parents should be seeing, learning what their children could be going through, but when it comes to the awareness, it could never be used to prepare the children for what might happen to them online. You will be left feeling disturbed about what men get up to in chat rooms, asking the bigger question about policing on the internet.

Final Thoughts – Caught in the Net is a shocking, must watch documentary.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – X – A Boy Called Christmas (2021) Movie Review

This is under X because it is an Xmas movie.

Director: Gil Kenan

Writer: Ol Parker, Gil Kenan (Screenplay) Matt Haig (Book)

Starring: Maggie Smith, Henry Lawfull, Jim Broadbent, Michiel Huisman, Kristen Wiig, Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins

Plot: In this origin story of Father Christmas, an ordinary boy (with a loyal pet mouse and a reindeer at his side) sets out on an extraordinary adventure to find his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of Elfhelm.

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: A Boy Called Christmas starts follows a story being told by Aunt Ruth (Smith) to her nieces and nephews, which will see the story about young boy Nikolas (Lawfull) and his father Joel (Huisman) living in a remote cabin in Finland.

As the kingdom is struggling for money, the King (Broadbent) assigns the people to search for options outside of the kingdom, with Elfhelm being the main location they search for. With his father gone Nikolas joined by his mouse Mika, to search for answers, learning of an unknown war between humans and elves.

Thoughts on A Boy Called Christmas

Thoughts – A Boy Called Christmas is dive into the idea that Christmas was found in Finland, showing the incredible story of seeing a young boy looking to save a kingdom, learning about a festival holiday and the origin of his name. A Boy Called Christmas gives us a fantastic adventure through the fantasy environments in search of Elfhelm. A Boy Called Christmas will give the magical side to Christmas and how it can bring people together even through the hardest times in life. The performances are wonderful with Stephen Merchant as the voice of Mika, getting a laugh with every single line in the movie. A Boy Called Christmas will leave you with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye.

Final Thoughts – A Boy Called Christmas will leave a smile and a tear, as the magic sets in.

Categories
Movie Review

Mass (2021) Movie Review ‘Best Acting This Year’

Mass – The Best Acting of the Year

 

Director: Fran Kranz

Writer: Fran Kranz (Screenplay)

Starring: Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd, Reed Birney, Breeda Wool, Kagen Albright, Michelle N Carter

Plot: Aftermath of a violent tragedy that affects the lives of two couples in different ways.

Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Mass starts when Jay (Isaacs) and Gail (Plimpton) agree to meet another couple Linda (Dowd) and Richard (Birney) to discuss how both their lives have changed forever after Linda and Richard’s son committed a violent school shooting, killing Jay and Gail’s son.

The two sides have faced the consequences of what happened, with two different visions of what happened in the aftermath, one had all the support of other victims’ families, while the other got put on the outside, rejected by society, despite losing their own child.

Thoughts on Mass

Thoughts – Mass brings us a drama that will look to bring the impossible meeting of parents who have been on both sides of a tragedy involving their children. The four are all grieving in different ways, they are left helpless for what happened, filled with guilt for not noticing the warning signs about their own son, not being able to help them, when they needed them most. Mass is one of the most interesting movies you will see, giving the reflection of what happened the firm centre of attention, showing the four characters not wanting to blame each other, but wanting to share the grief they have experienced. When you are looking at the best acting performances Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd and Reed Birney are stunning, they each give career bests, that are haunting and need to be in the awards conversation. Mass is a hart hitting drama that will show the grief experienced by the people left behind, after a violent crime.

Final Thoughts – Mass is an acting masterclass, with a hard hitting subject matter of grief.