Month: March 2022

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Discussion Piece

3 Ups & 3 Downs in Ambulance

3 Ups & 3 Downs in Ambulance

Ambulance is the latest Michael Bay ‘Bayhem’ movie following two robbers as they hijack an ambulance in an attempt to escape the scene, leading to an all-out race around LA in an edge of your seat action movie that will keep you heart racing throughout and could well be one of Michael Bay’s best movies in a long time.

This may involve a few more spoilers about the movie, so if you don’t want to know everything, come back once you have seen the film. This is also more for a bit of fun, with some of the suggesting being more about fun of being picky for no reason.

Up 1 – Will Sharp

Will Sharp is a veteran marine who hasn’t been able to find a place in the world after his military days, he has a new-born, and his wife needs an operation no insurance company will cover. He turns to his criminal brother for a loan, only to find himself dragged into a bank robbery, agreeing to help if things are done smoothly without anyone getting hurt. Will won’t let anyone get hurt after the brothers end up in the Ambulance, using his own training in military to help where needed, despite being the driver for most of the escape. Will, will get compared to General Hummel from ‘The Rock’ as man who has turned to crime because his country has abandoned him when he needed help from them, a man that will play the villain, but refusing to do any harm to anyone involved.

Down 1 – Referencing His Own Movies

During one of the opening sequences of meeting the characters involved, with meet Officer Zach and Officer Mark who are talking about asking a woman out, when Mark gives a speech about what he heard in ‘The Rock’ about ‘Losers always whine about their best, Winners go home and fuck the prom queen,’ before getting into a discussion about ‘The Rock’ movie, while the younger only knows him as an actor who was once a wrestler. To complete their interactions, they go they are going to turn up like Bad Boys. We don’t need a director to pump in lines about his previous movies, it feels arrogant, as well as constantly trying to play into the age gap in movies, which Marvel did with Spider-Man.

Up 2 – The Relentless Nature of the Action

The action in Ambulance is non-stop once the robbery starts, with the chaotic robbery and wild shootout, leading straight into the chase around the city. The chase around the city will feel like we are watching ‘Speed’ because the cops can’t get close to the vehicle because of the hostage onboard. The chases might be lots of flashy corner taking, mixed with car crashes it only adds to the chaos we are experiencing along the way.

Down 2 – Too Many Cops?

How many cops do we need to see trying to stop one ambulance, as we know they can’t bump into the ambulance, more just guide it to where they want it, but we end up seeing endless amounts of vehicles getting damaged along the way, instead of keeping the situation calmly trailing the ambulance, which will be better for the city, causing less damage to everything involved. Sure, this does add to the action, seeing the chaos caused, damage in typical Bayhem movies, but you must ask the bigger questions here.

Up 3 – Cam Thompson

Cam Thompson is the paramedic who gets taken hostage, she is known in the area as being the best at getting her patients to the hospital within 20 minutes, keeping them alive while others might not succeed, but also being cold, once they are in the hospital, she switches off, never following up on anyone she brings in, being distant from any partner she is given in the field. She refuses to be bullied by the aggressive Danny, staying committed to saving lives no matter how difficult the situation becomes, performing with help from experts just over the phone to perform an operation she isn’t prepared for. Cam is a great addition to this cast, being just an interesting as both leads, with Eiza Gonzalez holding her own through every scene.

Down 3 – The New Camera Toy

The new camera drone toy Michael Bay has, which will gives us plenty of different glossy shots for the action, which also includes loads of random dives down buildings, which make little sense to what is going on for those scenes. In fairness not all of the new camera shots for a Bay movie are bad, certain drone shots will work well, but the building ones are not needed for the film.

What were some of your ups & downs from Ambulance?

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – Z – The Driftless Areas (2015) Movie Thoughts

Director: Zachary Sluser

Writer: Tom Drury, Zachary Sluser (Screenplay)

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes, Alia Shawkat, Frank Langella, Ciaran Hinds, Aubrey Plaza

Plot: A bartender comes back to his hometown after his parents die, and finds himself in a dangerous situation involving a mysterious woman and a violent criminal.


Tagline – Destiny can lead to dangerous places.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Driftless Area starts as a young man Pierre (Yelchin) gets offered a ride by Shane (Hawkes) before he has an accident, with Pierre taking a pile of money to which he wants to do good with.

As Pierre finds himself in need of rescue, he meets Stella (Deschanel) who offers him the same type of search for love in life, despite her own tragic backstory, while Shane looks to hunt down Pierre to get his money back.

Thoughts on The Driftless Area

Thoughts – The Driftless Area is an odd little movie that will follow a young man that finds a fortune and wants to do the right thing for someone, while seeing good things come his way and the people who stole the money come after him. This is especially interesting because it is one of the few Anton Yelchin movies I hadn’t seen before. He is the lead of what is a great cast that includes Zooey Deschanel, John Hawkes and Frank Langella. The film will use a story that intertwines and at times could come off as confusion, but by the end you will put the pieces together to learn about the bigger picture going on. The locations add to the world we are going in, only with the criminal side of the film seemingly being the slower less interesting side to what is going on.

Final Thoughts – The Driftless Area is an interesting almost mystical crime drama.

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Movie Review

Ambulance (2022) Movie Review ‘The GTA Movie’

Ambulance – GTA the Movie

 

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Chris Fedak (Screenplay) Laurits Munch-Petersen (Original Screenplay)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza Gonzalez, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O’Donnell, Jackson White

Plot: Two robbers steal an ambulance after their heist goes awry.

Runtime: 2 Hours 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Ambulance starts as military veteran Will Sharp (Abdul-Mateen II) turns to his brother Danny Sharp (Gyllenhaal) for a loan after finding every insurance avenue turned down, as he looks to save his wife Amy (Ingram) life with an operation none will cover.

Danny has a job that he drags Will into, a bank robbery, but when the robbery goes wrong, the brothers will find themselves hijacking an ambulance with paramedic Cam Thompson (Gonzalez) onboard where they lead a chase through LA, while fighting to save injured cop Zach (White) life.

Thoughts on Ambulance

Characters & Performances – Will Sharp is a military veteran that has struggled to find a job since he returned, his wife needs an operation he can’t find money for, leading him to turn to his criminal brother. He reluctantly joins Danny on a bank robbery and when things go wrong, he refuses to give up on his morals by refusing to hurt anyone, including going above and beyond to protect the hostages the brothers take. Danny Sharp is the criminal mastermind, who has a reputation for bank robberies, who has put together a team for a big score, pushing Will into helping him, he is a loose cannon, where he can go from calm and collective to aggressive and angry in the click of the fingers. Cam Thompson is the paramedic who has a reputation for saving everyone she delivers to the hospital, but is also known as being cold and nobody would want to work with her, her determination to save lives will see her go into the danger zone to save a shot cop, she will find herself a hostage, but isn’t taking any crap from the robbers, knowing her job is to save lives and stands toe to toe against them to do so. Captain Monroe is leading the take down of the criminals, he will have the resources that will run through the city as they look to stop the escalating situation. We do get plenty of supporting characters mostly around the authorities trying to stop the escalating situation, where they all have their own ideas on how to stop them. The performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez are great, showing the chaos their characters are going through, while having their own moments to shine, from the quiet moments Yahya and Eiza have, compared to the outbursts of rage Jake brings out.

Story – The story here will follows two bank robbers hijack an ambulance as they look to escape, leading to a massive chase around the city of LA. The story does keep everything very simple, escape the cops, while the cops can’t be too aggressive because one of their own in injured onboard. The more interesting side to the story comes from the characters, be it the Will Sharp character who channels the General Hummel, as a man left with no other option to help his loved ones, the paramedic who is known as the best in the city, but difficult to work with, the loose cannon criminal following in his father’s footsteps. The characters are flushed out while the mayhem unfolds in a way not many action films achieve.

Themes – Ambulance is an action movie that goes big with the chases, having the ambulance leading an endless amounts of authority vehicles around LA, even if a lot are flashy corners and car crashes, it all works to make the intense situation become edge of your seat. We get the typical Michael Bay camera work, with a lot of cuts between a lot of the action, which plays into the chaos we are experience, even if it looks like he got a new drone toy to play with for some shots.

Final Thoughts – Ambulance is the closest we have got to having a Grand Theft Auto movie, relentlessly intense from start to finish.

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Movie Review

Let the Wrong One In (2021) Movie Review ‘Funny Vampire Movie’

Let the Wrong One In – Funny Vampire Movie

 

Director: Conor McMahon

Writer: Conor McMahon (Screenplay)

Starring: Karl Rice, Eion Duffy, Anthony Head, Hilda Fay, Lisa Haskins, Louise Bourke, Jordan Lennon, Mary Murray

Plot: A young supermarket worker discovers his older brother is a vampire and has to choose whether to help him or slay him.

Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Let the Wrong One In starts when Matt (Rice) finds out his addict brother Deco (Duffy) has been infected by a vampire, leading him to look for a solution which wouldn’t see him die, or become a danger to society.

Vampire hunter Henry (Head) has been hunting the streets of Dublin in search for vampires, he former fiancée Sheila (Murray) has created a group of people to infect.

Thoughts on Let the Wrong One In

Characters & Performances – Matt is the younger brother that has found himself distant from his brother, while dealing with his mother’s resentment towards his brother. He is the one that believes his brother has become a vampire, where he is in the difficult position of wondering what to do to help him, while needing to learn to step out of the shadows to make an impact in saving his family. Deco is the slacker brother who is either always getting caught out with his addictions or on nights on the town, with the latest leading him to get bitten. He will find himself needing to fight the hunger that being a vampire has given him, with the love he has for his brother. Karl Rice and Eoin Duffy show great chemistry and brothers, creating a relationship that feels like it has been a lifetime. Anthony Head playing a vampire hunter Henry chasing down anyone infected by her fiancée who has become a vampire, he has been taking out new vampires along with the team of fellow taxi drivers he has put together. It is great to see Anthony Head back in the vampire fighting world, adding comedy to his performance he too. When it comes to the vampires, they are led by Sheila from her hen-do making every night a party, as she leads the vampires on the hunt to take over the city.

Story – The story here will follow two brothers whose lives have gone in different directions that must work together to solve the problem of one of them becoming a vampire after being bitten by a vampire leading a plan to take over the city with. Let the Wrong One In will play into plenty of vampire stories we have seen before, giving us laughs along the way, as rookies will need to learn how to fight vampires, using their own experience from watch or reading about them. How everything plays out will be how you expect a scrappy group of people coming together to fight against large numbers of enemies, looking to create a few new concepts when it comes to fighting back, which will work for laughs along the way.

Themes – Let the Wrong One In is a horror comedy that will bring the vampire sub-genre to life with the comedy involved, getting plenty of laughs from reaction, plans and weapons choice against them. The comedy does become the dominant genre in the film, with most of the horror never coming off scary. The Dublin setting does change the typical location for vampires, while breaking into the vampire side of things, we only get on the early ideas of what could make things dangerous for vampires, rather then instant moments.

Final Thoughts – Let the Wrong One In is a funny vampire horror comedy, with laughs in every scene.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – Y – Copshop (2021) Movie Review

This is under Y because of the character Valerie Young.

Director: Joe Carnahan

Writer: Kurt McLeod, Joe Carnahan, Mark Williams (Screenplay)

Starring: Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder, Toby Huss, Chad L Coleman, Ryan O’Nan

Plot: On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station-but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Copshop starts when a con artists Teddy Murretto (Grillo) gets himself arrested in an attempt to hide from his enemies, which will see officer Valerie Young (Louder) will look to learn why he did what he did.

As Teddy finds himself locked in, he finds a stranger Joe Doe (Butler) in the cell opposite him, waiting to finish off the contract on him, as another mystery hitman Anthony Lamb (Huss) arrives to cause more chaos for the night.

Thoughts on Copshop

Thoughts – Copshop is a slick action thriller following the people in a remote police station hiding something about their true reason for being there. We see the main figures of con artist Teddy Murretto looking to talk his way out of everything, Bob Viddick never holding back from the things he is willing to do, a hitman who is truly professional. Valerie Young a nonsense cop that will sense any problems before anyone else she works with and the madman Anthony Lamb, showing the fine line between hitman and psychopath. With these characters come some excellent performances and a story that will keep you guessing from the start to the finish, leaving you surprised with any turns along the way. The action is big, explosive and relentless, often leaving you surprised with the decisions made along the way.

Final Thoughts – Copshop is action packed thriller, keeping us wanting more.

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Movie Review

Mighty Oak (2020) Movie Review

Director: Sean McNamara

Writer: Matt Allen (Screenplay)

Starring: Janel Parrish, Tommy Ragen, Carlos PenaVega, Ben Milliken, Nana Ghana, Gianna Harris, Alexe PenaVega, Levi Dylan

Plot: In the ensuing years from losing her vocalist brother in a car crash, a young guitar prodigy comes into play – which is left to speculation that he could be a reincarnation of her late brother.


Tagline – It Was His Music. But Was it His Soul?

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Mighty Oak starts when an up-and-coming band Army of Love are about to hit the big time, the lead singer Vaughn (Dylan) is killed in a car crash, with the band Pedro (PenaVega), Darby (Milliken) and Alex (Ghana) going their separate ways.

10-years-later Vaughn’s old guitar is let to a young boy Oak (Ragen) who has a natural gift of learning songs instantly, which will see the Vaughn’s sister and the band’s former manager Gina Jackson (Parrish) looking at a revival, while believing Oak could be her brother reincarnated.

Thoughts on Mighty Oak

Thoughts – Mighty Oak is drama circled around the music world following a small band getting a chance to reform after a tragedy took away their success before it was about to unfold. This might have the fun side around the film about the band coming back together. When the serious side of the story comes to life, we get into the deeper idea of reincarnation, dealing with loss through a different set of ages and showing the long-term effects it will cause to the loved one left behind after an accident. The performances in this film are brilliant, while the music is a lot of fun. This is a movie that will leave you with a tear in your eye, but a smile on your face.

Final Thoughts – Mighty Oak is a truly enjoyable movie.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – X – Adopt a Highway (2019) Movie Review

This is under X because it is based on an Ex-Felon, you know X is always the hardest.

Director: Logan Marshall-Green

Writer: Logan Marshall-Green (Screenplay)

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Christopher Heyerdahl, Chris Sullivan, Elaine Hendrix, Berry Gabriel, Anne-Marie Johnson

Plot: An ex-felon discovers a live baby left in a dumpster.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Adopt a Highway starts when ex-felon Russell Millings (Hawke) is released from prison, looking to start his life up again, taking a job at a fast-food takeaway, trying to keep his head down.

When Russell finds a baby in a dumpster, he takes it back to his apartment to care for it, struggling to achieve this, before handing it into the authorities, forcing him to runaway from this new start or face the consequences of trying to do the right thing.

Thoughts on adopt a Highway

Thoughts – Adopt a Highway is a drama showing the struggles that a man will have when trying to put his life back together only to find himself trying to do the right thing, leaving him needing to learn more about his past, searching about the news about his father, while showing the pain that a small felony would do to someone. This is an amazingly slow pace, showing just how fast the world has become since Russell last was in the real world. Ethan Hawke shows why he is one of the best actors in the business today, while Logan Marshall Green takes his first steps behind the camera in a brilliant way. This is an emotional rollercoaster, which will show us how hard getting back into society can be.

Final Thoughts – Adopt a Highway is a brilliant, emotional drama, well worth watching.

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Movie Review

Boiling Point (2021) Movie Review ‘Intense Pressure Filled Movie’

Boiling Point – Intense Pressure Filled Movie

 

Director: Philip Barantini

Writer: Philip Barantini, James Cummings (Screenplay)

Starring: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Jason Flemyng, Hannah Walters, Malachi Kirby

Plot: Enter the relentless pressure of a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Boiling Point starts as we see head chef Andy Jones (Graham) dealing with his personally problems, before heading into a busy Friday night in the restaurant kitchen. Learning his kitchen has slipped in standards, he must pull his team together with his trusted second Carly (Robinson) to make this night a success.

As the night unfolds the team will face the different levels of pressure they are facing, with the mix of the people who have this a career and the casual reactions of the people who have it just as a job, along with the customers, making each decision more difficult for the kitchen.

Thoughts on Boiling Point

Characters & Performances – Andy Jones is the head chef at a busy restaurant, he has worked for some of the biggest names in the industry, but it is his personal life which has caused him to start making the mistakes about the standards in the kitchen. He is strict with his team, while offering the help when they need it, even if he doesn’t have the greatest people skills, when it comes to the customers. Carly is the trusted second to Andy, she will always step up when he isn’t around, while she is expecting a chance to get an equal pay in the kitchen. Beth is the restaurant manager that finds herself needing to keep the waiting team and kitchen team together, while dealing with the endless stupid demands by the customers, all with an added smile on her face. Over the night, we meet the whole kitchen team who have different problems, struggling with the pressure of making the perfect meal each time, the waiting team that have to deal with customers, with Andrea facing the abuse from customers, without being able to say anything, going hand in had with the jolly nature of Robyn. The customers are pointed out to show the worst imagined, be it the racist big white man, the cocky fake influencers who think they could get anything, along with an every day allergy which can change the menu slightly. The movie has fantastic performances with Stephen Graham giving one of the best of his career and a stunning supporting cast through the film that grab the moments to shine in every moment.

Story – The story here will real time follow a kitchen team preparing for a busy night in a restaurant, where the night is filled with added pressure in an already intense environment. The way this movie is shot is amazing, following different members of the team around during the night, seeing the different individual problems they are facing on each interaction with the team or with customers, showing they must maintain an appearance within this world, despite what might be going wrong in it. This will put the spotlight on everyday personal problems co-workers could be hiding from each other, ones they might not want to talk about until people learn about them, which is done on a level, that makes such an impact. If we look at just how the operation is run in the story, it shows how difficult the job can be, with customers only making it more difficult along the way.

Themes – Boiling Point is an intense thriller that will keep the whole movie within the building area of the restaurant, from behind the kitchen, to the waiting floor, as we see how the operation comes together, with the behind the scenes problems people will be facing along the way. The film will use the real-time concept to make everything unfold, which adds to the intensity faced behind the scenes compared to the ones in the serving area.

Final Thoughts – Boiling Point is a brilliant intense, pressure filled experience, that you simply can’t look away from.

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Movie Review

The Outside Story (2020) Movie Review

Director: Casimir Nozkowski

Writer: Casimir Nozkowski (Screenplay)

Starring: Brian Tyree Henry, Sonequa Martin-Green, Sunita Mani, Olivia Edward, Asia Kate Dillon, Rebecca Naomi Jones

Plot: An introverted editor living a vertical life in his 2nd-floor apartment, always on deadline and in a rut. When Charles locks himself out of his building, he’s forced to go horizontal and confront the world he’s been avoiding in search of a way back inside.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Outside Story starts when video editor Charles Young (Henry) has been working on his latest project, while dealing with a break up with Isha (Martin-Green) when the day takes an unexpected twist, when he locks himself out of his apartment.

As Charles spends his day outside his apartment, he gets to meet his neighbours on a more personal level, where he will learn that the people in the building can work together to help with the small matters in life.

Thoughts on The Outside Story

Thoughts – The Outside Story is a drama that will show the importance of making relationships around your neighbours, showing that being alone can drive people crazy, but knowing the neighbours are there can help improve that way people see life. The movie will use the New York setting to show how many different cultures from around the world can come together to show improvements in life quality. Brian Tyree Henry is wonderful to watch in the leading role, showing the awkwardness of the first interaction with the strangers, before coming out of his shell once the conversation roles, being easy to relate to all around. This is a truly enjoyable movie that is one that has plenty to say with the limited time span of the wait to be let back into an apartment.

Final Thoughts – The Outside Story is an enjoyable engaging movie that is well worth the watch.