Day: July 25, 2022

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Movie Review

MEAD (2022) Movie Review ‘Wonderfully Ambitious’

MEAD – Wonderfully Ambitious

MEAD

Director: J. Allen Williams

Writer: J. Allen Williams, Jan Strnad (Screenplay)

Starring: Samuel Hunt, Robert Picardo, Lillie Young, Shawn Young, Voice Talents) Patton Oswalt, Patrick Warburton

Plot: A fugitive starship (MEAD) and a lone passenger (Fritz) evade earth forces utilizing their ability to project the passengers’ thoughts creating illusions that fool pursuers. But tech is being developed to thwart the outlaws.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: MEAD starts as we meet Friz (Hunt) and the fugitive starship MEAD. Who use illusions to stay out of trouble in space, as they pair are being hunted through space. When the pair find themselves under the latest attack, they destroy the ship, saving a prisoner in a pod Phoebe (Young).

As Friz continues to try and allude Admiral Gillette (Picardo) who has been assigned to track the fugitives down. The race through space continues, as MEAD looks to use its skills to escape.

Thoughts on MEAD

Characters & Performances

Friz is the man travelling on the MEAD ship, he has been running for not following orders. Ones that he didn’t believe in more than were wrong. He relies on MEAD to help him with the illusions. As he is looking to just escape from the world, they find themselves in. He is cocky with how he stays away from enemy, thinking outside the box to escape.

MEAD is the spaceship that can help create the illusions, one-of-a-kind ship that can make anything happen with the power of illusions. Wanting to escape from the capture they have found themselves in.

Admiral Gillette is the man hunting down MEAD, he has seen his own reputation ruined by the escape. Being the only person that can see through the illusions being thrown towards his crew, becoming desperate the stop the fugitives.

Samuel Hunt and Robert Picardo as the human characters bring everything to their characters. From the cocky fugitive to the determined unhinged Admiral. The supporting cast will bring a few laughs along the way. Patton Oswalt’s voice work is the standout performance in the film. Getting plenty of laughs with his quick lines depending on the illusions.

Story

The story here will follow a space fugitive that along with the spaceship that creates illusions to escape capture. As they race through space trying to escape an Admiral determined to bring them down. MEAD is a massive cat-n-mouse style movie. With each major incident taking place at the different place when the two-side clash. Relying on the Admiral losing his patience with the illusions to drive the story forward. This does feel like it is only the beginning of a bigger set of adventures that Friz and MEAD could go on in the future.

Themes – MEAD is a sci-fi movie that takes place in the Solar System where a space criminal is using illusions to allude capture, each illusion will bring something completely random, which you wouldn’t see in space, it will add plenty to what we see, grabbing a lot of the ‘Ready Player One’ inspiration. Some of the special effects don’t come off as strong as they want to, but once you pull back and see the bigger picture, it is such an ambitious idea, you can’t help but enjoy the special effects.

Final Thoughts – MEAD is a fun Sci-Fi adventure movie, with so much ambition.

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Movie Review

A Yeti Adventure (2017) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – Y – A Yeti Adventure (2017)

A Yeti Adventure Poster

Director: Pierre Greco, Nancy Florence Savard

Writer: Pierre Greco, Andre Morency (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Sylvie Moreau, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Rachid Badouri, Alexandrine Warren, Stephane Crete

Plot: Quebec City, 1956. Nelly Maloye, an ebullient novice detective, accidentally crosses paths with Simon Picard. An ambitious research assistant in anthropology at the local university. Backed by a glory-seeking philanthropist, the intuitive but disorganized Nelly and the methodical. Obsessive Simon set off on a wild adventure, determined to prove the existence of the Abominable Snowman.

To achieve this goal, Simon relies on the coded diary of a missing explorer – a diary that should lead them to the mythic creature’s lair. Accompanied by Tenzig Gombu, a clever and enigmatic young Sherpa guide, and Jazzmin. A talkative myna bird, our heroes confront a host of dangers in the heart of the Himalayas as they seek that legendary beast: the Yeti.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Family Animation

Story: A Yeti Adventure starts as Nelly Maloye a private detective is escaping her latest case. Seeing her end up in the middle rich heir Edward Martineau wanting to funding a yeti search to help ambition young scientist Simon Picard. Who has 3 months to locate a yeti to prove his theory.

Once Simon and Nelly arrive in Nepal, they are joined by Sherpa Tensing Gombu. The grandson of the one that was involved in the closest case to locating a yeti in the past, one he was lost on.

Thoughts on A Yeti Adventure

Characters

Simon Picard is a scientist who has been trying to link the evolution line of humans to the yeti and other missing link for years. His research has got him nowhere, given 3 months to find real proof. He must travel to Nepal to prove they are real. He reluctantly goes on this adventure, where he follows his heroes footsteps to try and learn the truth.

Nelly Maloye is the private detective that finds herself getting in more trouble than solving problems. She will jump in headfirst to help Simon locate the Yeti. Tensing Gombu is the grandson of the Sherpa who was lost before. He sees this as a chance to honour his Grandfather’s memory.

Edward Martineau is the rich heir that wants to discover the yeti to give him his own money-making idea. Typical rich person, doesn’t do any of the work before trying to claim the credit.

Story
The story follows an ambitious scientist who needs to prove Yetis are real. Joining forces with a plucky detective to discover the truth in the Himalayas. This is a story about trying to chase your dreams, while also doing the right thing.
We get the warning about what would happen in humans learnt about a new species on the planet. And how they would use it for their own greed. Of the serious side of everything, we do get to see just how a misfit couple could work together to make the right decision. While having an adventure of a lifetime too.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure takes out characters to the Himalayas for the first search for yetis, it does show how people can thrive outside of their comfort zones, with the comedy covering up and real danger the mission will put them on.

Settings – The film does takes us from the museum, which would be the safe place for Simon to the Himalayas, a place filled with danger, both locations work in the evolution of the character.

Animation – The animation does have its own style, which is different to most that we see nowadays, it does work for the large scale shots, giving everything a more artistic look rather than a full computer animated style.


Scene of the Movie – The reality of the discovery scene.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The looping travelling.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun adventure film, even if it does have a surprising serious side to the message it is getting across.

Overall: Enjoyable Adventure.

 

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Movie Review

The Ghost and the Tout Too (2022) Movie Review

The Ghost and the Tout Too – Movie Review

The Ghost and the Tout Too

Director: Michael Akinrogunde (Films)

Writer: Uyoyou Adia, Yusuf Carew, Akay Ilozobhie (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Toyin Abraham
  • Osas Ighodaro
  • Mercy Johnson Okojie
  • Alexander Abolore
  • Lateef Adedimeji

Plot: A woman who can reluctantly communicate with ghosts tries to help the spirit of a woman whose body is in a coma, leaving her trapped between life and death.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Ghost and the Tout Too starts when Isla (Abraham) sees her powers becoming too difficult. Her ability to communicate with ghosts has always been seen as a joke around her city and even her best friend Maka-Why (Okojie) looks down on it. This is until Maka-Why learns they can make money from it.

As the pair start making money from this new adventure, they learn the downside too. This changes when Amoke (Ighodaro) visits Isla, asking her to help discover how she ended up in a coma. Taking this job puts Isla in a difficult situation of being willing to do the right thing or make money.

Verdict on The Ghost and the Tout Too

Characters

Isla is the woman that can communicate with ghosts, she tends to keep that quiet from the rest of her friends. When her friend finds out, they use it as a chance to make money, something she is happy to play along with. As the cases become more serious, she starts to want to use her gift for the better, as she looks to help a woman in a coma. She is a character that people look at as a crazy person because she is often seen talking to herself.

Amoke is the woman that is in a coma, she turns to Isla as the only one that can see her spirit walking the streets. She wants help to uncover who put her in a coma, with her decision being the reason for Isla starting to change her ways. Amoke is from a different world one Isla could only dream of coming from.

Maka-Why is Isla’s best friend, they always work together and overcome the problems they are facing. She sees this new discovery as a chance to make money. Playing along with the con they set up until Isla starts seeing things differently.

Performances

Toyin Abraham is a lot of fun in the leading role, she brings enough comedy and serious balance to the role. Osas Ighodaro as the ghost visiting brings a character the pair aren’t used to working with. Mercy Johnson Okojie has most of the comedy, with her performance that often puts the pair in more trouble.

Story

The story follows a woman that can communicate with ghosts and along with her best friend, they start a business. While it starts as more of a con to get money, turns into a private investigator side of things when they are visited by a spirit between worlds.

There is an easy comparison to Peter Jackson’s ‘The Frighteners’ here, with the person who can see ghosts taking advantage of people for their own gain. This changes when things get personal and we see how the gift can be used for good. It will play out like an investigation story, as the three must work together to solve the crime.

This is a good story, one you can have a lot of fun with. It will use Nigerian culture to question certain parts of what Isla is doing, which helps add a different perspective to what is going on.

Themes

The Ghost and the Tout Too is a comedy fantasy movie. There are plenty of laughs between the characters and the reactions to everything that is going on. The fantasy side of the film comes from the ghosts Visiting Isla and how she needs to figure out how to help them. Having a mystery involved helps because each ghost has a different reason for seeing Isla.

Where to Watch: The Ghost and the Tout Too is on Netflix now.

Final Thoughts – The Ghost and the Tout Too is a fun fantasy comedy.

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Discussion Piece

Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Studying through the stats on Letterbox, it becomes fascinating to see who has become the most-watched star and whether they should be number one. I am going to be looking through the roles and see if the numbers add up to different roles and importance within the film. Exploring to see who has the most leading roles, supporting roles or just random cameos. Without further ado, let’s explore.

Arnold Schwarzenegger – 41 Films

Current Rank – 20th New Entry

Different Roles

First, I will look at the number of different roles the actor has portrayed.

Number of different roles – 32

Roles in more than one film – 4

  • T-800 – Terminator
  • Himself – Documentaries and Dave
  • Trench – Expendables
  • Conan – Conan
Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger Roles In Film

Second, I will explore the position in the film the star portrayed.

Leading Roles – 19

Arnold became the biggest name in action movie history because of many of these roles. He managed to turn the over-the-top action star on different levels. One that was bigger than most people could imagine. There is a reason why he has been on top of the world for so long. He made himself an icon.

Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Co-Lead – 9
Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger

In the co-lead performances, I have placed the Terminator franchise because he has played both sides of the story. He is the most important part of keeping the franchise going even if his model has changed through the years. In these roles, he often got to let loose in comedic roles that showed a different level to what people expected from him.

  • Kalidor – Red Sonja – Brigitte Nielsen
  • T-800 – Terminator Movies – Linda Hamilton, Emilia Clarke and Nick Stahl
  • Julius Benedict – Twins – Danny DeVito
  • Dr Alex Hesse – Junior – Danny DeVito & Emma Thompson
  • Ivan Danko – Red Heat – Jim Belushi
Supporting Roles – 2

Arnold is an actor who very rarely took supporting roles, even some of his cameos might be considered supporting roles and he still received top billings for the two I have selected.

  • Rottmayer – Escape Plan
  • Mr Freeze – Batman and Robin
Cameos – 11
Letterbox Breakdown – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Over his career, Arnold has become one of the biggest household names in the industry. This has given him a chance to have a lot of fun, with cameo roles in his early career. More recently his action star legacy has led to him being able to appear in movies that are searching for a shocking appearance. Being an icon will always lead this open for Arnold to make appearances and get people talking.

The Missing Roles

This is a list of the biggest movies I haven’t yet seen from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unlike many actors I will be looking at, Arnold is an actor I have seen in nearly every single one of his major movies.

  • Pumping Iron
  • Hercules in New York
  • The Long Goodbye

The date the stats were looked at – 21st July 2022