Day: August 23, 2022

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Movie Review

The Very Excellent Mr Dundee (2020) Movie Review

Director: Dean Murphy

Writer: Robert Mond, Dean Murphy (Screenplay)

Starring: Paul Hogan, Racheal Carpani, Jacob Elordi, Charlotte Stent, Nate Torrence, Chevy Chase, John Cleese, Olivia Newton John, Reginald VelJohnson, Shane Jacobson, Wayne Knight, Kerry Armstrong

Plot: Paul Hogan is reluctantly thrust back into the spotlight as he desperately attempts to restore his sullied reputation on the eve of being knighted.

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Very Excellent Mr Dundee starts as Paul Hogan is trying to get put back into spotlight when he gets selected to get a knighthood. As Paul starts to make more public appearances, everything that could go wrong, starts to go wrong, even if everything is more of an innocent mistake. Can Paul salvage his career before it is ruined forever, taking away the legacy he created from the Crocodile Dundee movie.

Thoughts on The Very Excellent Mr Dundee

Thoughts – The Very Excellent Mr Dundee is a comedy that is looking to play into the modern cancel culture as an aging star is trying to remain in the spotlight, but each little mishap is taken out of context and thrown up in the air against him. This can work in places, but other times the comedy does seem to miss, falling flat, as it is trying too hard to get a laugh. The story will struggle to make as big of an impact, as it seems to think enough the pop culture audience are going to remember Paul Hogan, however big the Crocodile Dundee movies are, the modern audience forgets things too quickly to keep the movie on the interested pile. We also tend to fall into the ideas of having other actors who haven’t made a big enough impact to be the special appearances in the film. This doesn’t seem to do enough to make this standout on any levels it wants to.

Final Thoughts – The Very Excellent Mr Dundee is a lacklustre comedy.

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Movie Review

The Day After Halloween (2022) Movie Review

The Day After Halloween – Movie Review

The Day After Halloween

Director: Chad Ostrom

Writer: Danny Schluck (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Danny Schluck
  • Brandon DeLany
  • Victora Meade
  • Joe Lazenby
  • Zander Schaus

Plot: Two lifelong buddies must unravel the circumstances that led to a corpse in their bathtub in the wake of a Halloween party.

Runtime: 1 Hour 22 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Day After Halloween starts as two buddies Addison (Schluck) and Hayes (Delany) discover the body of Hayes’s girlfriend in their bathtub. This sends the two down a path to try and figure out what happened at their Halloween party.

As the pair look back at their friendship, they start exploring Hayes’s relationship and how it wasn’t going as smoothly as possible. This leads to the pair needing to make sure they have a story before even considering reporting to the police.

Verdict on The Day After Halloween

The Day After Halloween is a horror comedy that tries to pick apart the events of the night before after a dead body is discovered. The story jumps through the night before and the first meeting years earlier.

Using the time jumping makes the story gets thrown all over the place, never giving us enough time to get involved with the story. Addison and Hayes are both annoying lead characters, with Addison’s sexist behaviour and how Hayes puts up with it for so long.

There is also too much spent on bringing the main reveal forward, which takes the messy party out of the story. Leading to what could have been a much more interesting side to the story, which is left feeling incomplete.

Final Thoughts – The Day After Halloween is a flat horror comedy, filled with unlikeable characters.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Romance – W – The Wilde Wedding (2017) Movie Review

Director: Damian Harris

Writer: Damian Harris (Screenplay)

Starring: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Patrick Stewart, Minnie Driver, Grave Van Patten, Jack Davenport, Peter Facinelli

Plot: A retired film star’s wedding to her fourth husband brings chaos when their families (and her ex-husband) show up for the festivities.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Wilde Wedding starts as we see Eve (Close) a retired actress preparing for her 4th wedding to Harold (Stewart), which will see the families comes together for the big day, including Eve’s first husband Laurence (Malkovich).

As the weekend roles out, we see the different generations looking to understand love for all the right reasons and what could have been in the past and will happen in the future.

Thoughts on The Wilde Wedding

Thoughts – The Wilde Wedding is a romantic comedy with way too much going on, as we have such a big family that are all given something to do in the film, only for them not to get enough time to shine, losing the reflective ideas of the ex-husband supporting and regretting what happened before. We spend too much time focusing on the endless amounts of younger characters who are trying to find love at the wedding, despite nearly everyone being related. We have a big cast including Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Patrick Stewart who will all get their moment to bring out their quirky side. Most of the comedy misses, the romance feels forced and unrealistic, leaving the film feeling flatter than it ever should do.

Final Thoughts – The Wilde Wedding is an overly busy romantic comedy.

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Movie Review

Out of the Blue (2022) Movie Review

Out of the Blue – Movie Review

Out of the Blue

Director: Neil LaBute

Writer: Neil LaBute (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: Connor, a man whose dull life is transformed into a thrilling fantasy world thanks to the seductive Marilyn.

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Out of the Blue starts when Connor (Nicholson) bumps into Marilyn (Kruger) on a remote beach, where an interaction sends sparks out. They meet again at Connor’s library job, as the two look to spend more time together, despite Marilyn being married.

As the two start a whirlwind affair, Connor’s criminal past comes to light. This leads to the pair looking to plan a way to help Marilyn out of her loveless marriage, so they can be together.

Verdict on Out of the Blue

Characters

Connor is a man trying to rebuild his life after a criminal incident. He finds himself drawn to an older woman while trying to keep his head down as a librarian. Connor must keep himself out of trouble but when the romance presents itself, he can’t turn away from it. Seeing it as a chance to escape his life, where everyone judges him.

Marilyn is an unhappy wife that gets drawn to Connor. She is happy to start an affair, enjoying the risk and seeing it as a chance to get away from her abusive husband.

In the supporting characters, we get to meet a parole officer who hates having to check up on Connor. The rest of Marilyn’s family and other townspeople who have opinions about Connor.

Performances

Ray Nicholson as Connor goes through the most in the movie, he shows the charmer mixed with the reclusive figure. he does seem to lack as much chemistry as the movie suggests with Diane Kruger. Diane Kruger does well as the seductive figure that knows what she wants and how to get it. Hank Azaria is the best of the supporting cast, usually walking in a stealing every scene he is in.

Story

The story follows an ex-con trying to put his life back together who gets caught up in a whirlwind romance with a married woman. It shows how they start simple before letting things escalate to new levels they both weren’t prepared for.

This is a story that shows how whirlwind romances can get out of control, causing bigger problems. It tries to show how the characters will use books to bring their motivation about what they want in life. The story is set out in chapters which are set up like ‘the next day’ or ‘a few days later’ which gives it a fairy-tale feeling throughout.

Themes

Out of the Blue is a romantic thriller that sees a whirlwind romance start out with a different motivation about it. It has a character that is known around town, which sees people watching over them. The rest of the locations come off simpler as they will need to be kept showing the different classes that are mixing here.

Final Thoughts –Out of the Blue is a whirlwind romance thriller 101.