Month: December 2022

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Movie Review

Replicant (2001) Movie Review

Replicant – Movie Review

Replicant

Director: Ringo Lam

Writer: Lawrence Riggins, Les Weldon (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: Scientists create a genetic clone of a serial killer in order to help catch the killer, teaming up with two cops.

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Replicant starts as Detective Jake Riley (Rooker) sees serial killer the Torch (Van Damme) escape once again. He is forced into early retirement. Only he is offered a new chance to hunt for the Torch by a special scientist unit that has been creating clones to follow suspects.

Jake is given the replicant of Torch (Van Damme) to learn about the killer, but the replicant struggles to adapt to life, once he learns he is connected to the serial killer. As the Replicant finds himself being the pawn in the game, he is left to wonder what side of the fight he should be on.

Verdict on Replicant

Replicant is an action thriller that uses the idea of cloning someone to help solve a series of murders. It is an interesting idea and works well for the most part because the clone must learn how to adapt to the world.

In the end, this is a detective hunting down a serial killer, using a different option to help him get the upper hand. It works as an interesting concept because it is always entertaining to watch a good cat-n-mouse.

We get to see Jean-Claude Van Damme fighting himself, or his body double. Showing off his martial arts skills that we have over the year. Michael Rooker as the determined detective is great too, showing his pure determination.

Final Thoughts – Replicant is a fun Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie.

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Movie Review

The Burning Sea (2021) Movie Review

The Burning Sea – Movie Review

Burning Sea

Director: John Andreas Anderson

Writer: Harald Rosenløw-Eeg, Lars Gudmestad (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Kristine Kujath Thorp
  • Henrik Bjelland
  • Rolf Kristian Larsen
  • Anders Baasmo (The King’s Choice)
  • Bjørn Florberg

Plot: An oil platform dramatically goes down on the Norwegian coast, and researchers try to find out what happened when they realize this is just the start of something even more serious.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Burning Sea starts when an oil platform unexpectedly goes down in the North Sea. Sofia (Thorp) and Arthur (Larsen) are called in to help with the rescue attempts. However, they learn of a much more destructive problem at the bottom of the ocean.

With the wells causing major problems in the ocean surface, a bigger threat could still come back and haunt the oil companies. They must make a decision whether to halt drilling or continue the risk that an incident could be disastrous.

Verdict on The Burning Sea

The Burning Sea is the latest Norwegian disaster movie, following The Wave and The Quake. It follows a disaster happening on the oil rigs in the North Sea that leads to difficult decisions needing to be made to save the supply and the workers.

When it comes to the big disaster movies, Norway has seemingly secretly been becoming a major force in them. This is no different, as the movie presents a real-world scenario, instead of an over-the-top idea. It gets to question the amount of damage being done to the planet with offshore drilling. When it comes to the major explosive moments, this delivers everything you would expect. The action sequences are going to stick with you. Deepwater Horizon is the closest example of what this movie offers up.

Final Thoughts – The Burning Sea is a massive disaster movie with incredible action sequences.

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Movie Review

White Noise (2022) Movie Review

White Noise – Movie Review

White Noise

Director: Noah Baumbach

Writer: Noah Baumbach (Screenplay)

Writer: Don DeLillo (Book)

Cast

Plot: Dramatizes a contemporary American family’s attempts to deal with the mundane conflicts of everyday life while grappling with the universal mysteries of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world.

Runtime: 2 Hours 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: White Noise starts as we meet Professor Jack (Driver) and his family Babette (Gerwig) and children Steffie (M. Nivola), Denis (Cassidy), Heinrich (S.Nivola) and Wilder. They live a normal life with the ups and downs of married life.

A toxic cloud is unleashed into the atmosphere when a train is involved in an action near their home. this sees the family joining the rush for evacuation, causing chaos in the local area. Only creating a series of chaotic events in the aftermath of the incident.

Verdict on White Noise

Characters

Jack is a specialist professor in the history of Hitler, he is married with children. He starts worrying about his wife and after the incident, the worry hits harder. As he tries to hold his family together through the chaos, he starts to see things becoming more difficult. He gives his wife and children space, listening to both sides of the discussion before reacting.

Babetta is Jack’s wife who stays at home with the children and loves to hear the stories of people joining the college. She has been acting strange in recent times, with her own daughter looking to investigate what is going on with her.

The children are a range of ages and all seem smarter than they should be for their age. They work on theories about what is going on, be it with their parents or the toxic cloud changing their lives.

Performances

Adam Driver does give us a great leading performance, filled with impending doom in his life. His character goes through the most during the film, leading to the uncertainty of everything around him.

In the supporting cast, we get strong performances throughout, Greta Gerwig as the wife with a secret. She makes it seem like everything is ok without giving too much away. Don Cheadle gets to have some fun scenes as a work colleague of Jack’s too.

Story

The story follows a family that sees their lives turned upside by a mysterious toxic cloud, which only leads to personal problems becoming clearer. There is more focus placed on the idea of family secrets over the impending disaster.

This is a strange story that is more about personal drama than the chaos created by an evacuation. It all becomes strange how things are unfolding, focusing more on impending doom than anything else. This sends the story down a strange path that never seems to capture the horror it advertises itself as.

There seems to be a message about the problems caused by chaos and what it means to people. Showing how people will panic instead of taking a calm resolution. Most of the comedy seems to miss and fail to get the required laughs along the way.

Where to Watch: White Noise is available on Netflix now.

Final Thoughts –White Noise is a slow movie about impending doom.

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Movie Review

On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier (2022) Movie Review

On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier – Movie Review

Last Frontier

Director: Seth Breedlove

Plot: Alaska. The last frontier. A place brimming with stories of apelike creatures. Creatures that are said to have driven people from their homes, stalked them in the forests, and subject those that witness them to a terrifying ordeal.

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on, On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier

On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier is a documentary that continues the search for Bigfoot. It takes us to Alaska, one of the widest open spaces in America that could easily have unexplained secrets within the area.

This continues director Seth Breedlove’s journey through the unexplained. Having previously explored different environments around America for stories behind the legend. Each story about the unexplained encounters offers something different, while enough of the same to suggest the same creature being involved.

Like most of the documentaries on Bigfoot, this does everything the same way. It presents stories, and potential evidence and looks at both sides of the discussion. There is never a dismissive attitude, and nothing is presented as it has to be a Bigfoot.

If you are a fan of any documentary about Bigfoot or events of the unexplained. Seth Breedlove does present an interesting series of discussions; this is a welcome addition to those.

Final Thoughts – On the Trail of Bigfoot: Last Frontier is a welcome addition to the Bigfoot discussions.

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Movie Review

Then Came You (2020) Movie Review

Then Came You – Movie Review

Then Came You

Director: Adriana Trigiani

Writer: Kathie Lee Gifford (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A lonely widow plans a trip around the world with her husband’s ashes, to visit the places they loved in the movies. The first stop on the journey changes her life forever.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Then Came You starts when lonely widow Annabelle (Gifford) heads to Scotland for the first stage of a world trip. She wants to visit many places around the world with her husband’s ashes to celebrate their love. Annabelle ends up staying with Howard (Ferguson) in his luxury mansion overlooking a lock.

As Annabelle adapts to Scottish life and learns to embrace the culture. The two widows must learn to move on with their lives as they spend more time together. Annabelle sees her first step in the journey as the most important one.

Verdict on Then Came You

Then Came You is a romantic comedy that lets two widows learn the important part of life. They have been happy in the past and losing their loved one doesn’t mean they can’t find happiness again.

The movie is filled with an American learning about Scottish culture, with misunderstanding leading to comedic moments. It plays into this, showing that taking risks in life can bring new happiness. The performances from Craig Ferguson and Kathie Lee Gifford are both great, showing wonderful chemistry as the movie unfolds.

Final Thoughts – Then Came You is a charming romantic comedy.

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Release News

Decemebr 2022 Recap

December 2022 Recap

Check out January 2023 Here

Check Out November 2022 Here

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Movie Review

The Colony (2021) Movie Review

Director: Tim Fehlbaum

Writer: Tim Fehlbaum, Mariko Minoguchi (Screenplay) Jo Rogers, Tim Trachte (Story)

Starring: Nora Arnezeder, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Sope Dirisu, Sebastian Roche

Plot: Set in the distant future, a female astronaut, shipwrecked on the long-decimated Earth, must decide the fate of the wasteland’s remaining populace.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Colony starts as Blake (Arnezeder) leads a mission to return to Earth in search for both answers to what happened to the first mission and see what condition Earth is in now, after two generations away.

Once Blake is on Earth for the first time, she learns of the battles going on the planet, with the survivors left behind doing horrible things to each other, but this is the only place for survivors who were sent away to have a future.

Thoughts on The Colony

Thoughts – The Colony is a sci-fi movie throwing us into a post-apocalyptic world where the survivors on Earth have gone into battle against each other, while the returning race are the ones looking to rebuild, only to find themselves thrown into the middle of a bigger battle. We will see one person Blake enter this world and see the best and worst of humanity, while learning about the secrets being held upon the old Earth. This is a story that will get to put a spotlight on the idea that humans will need to find a new home one day, only not all will leave, leaving many to find their own way in a world with little resources left behind. The film with have a few action sequences that have enough future feel to them, to show the clash of new technologies with the old, along with the misty foggy air in every scene involved. the performances are strong with Iain Glen getting to playing one of the leaders, like we have seen him play many times before, while Nora Arnezeder takes the leading role of the heroine fighting for the best for humanity.

Final Thoughts – The Colony is an interesting sci-fi film that never hits the heights of many others of a similar concept.

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Movie Review

Firestater (2022) Movie Review

Firestarter – Movie Review

Firestarter

Director: Keith Thomas

Writer: Scott Teems (Screenplay)

Writer: Stephen King (Novel)

Cast

Plot: A young girl tries to understand how she mysteriously gained the power to set things on fire with her mind.

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Firestarter starts as we meet Andy (Efron), Vicky (Lemmon) and their daughter Charlie (Armstrong). They have moved around a lot, with Charlie about to start a new school. Andy tends to keep her under control, with his ‘Pushing’ ability. Charlie can lose control and start fires with uncontrollable side effects.

This starts to flare up at school, as Charlie has an incident. Andy is forced to go into hiding with Charlie, as Rainbird (Greyeyes) leads the hunt for them. he is hired by the company that created them to make genetic modifications, leading to a devastating series of events, as Charlie struggles with controlling her powers.

Verdict on Firestarter

Firestarter is a horror mystery remake of the 1984 Stephen King story. It follows a young girl that has an unwanted ability to start fires when she loses control. This sees her draw attention to her family who is in hiding, as the people who created her come in search of her.

After the recent run of Stephen King novels being remade, this one comes up short compared to the others. It keeps the core side to the story with us, only it doesn’t seem to be as intense as it could be. despite Charlie not being able to control her powers. There isn’t a disturbing consequence scene, which you feel could have a massive impact on the story. The performances in the film are fine, where Ryan Keira Armstrong is the highlight of the performances.

Final Thoughts – Firestarter is a remake that doesn’t click on the levels of other Stephen King reimaginations.

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Movie Review

8-Bit Christmas (2021) Movie Review

Director: Michael Dowse

Writer: Kevin Jakubowski (Screenplay)

Starring: Winslow Fegley, Neil Patrick Harris, Steve Zahn, June Diane Raphael, Bellaluna Resnick, Sophie Reid-Gantzert, Che Tafari, Santino Barnard

Plot: In 1980s Chicago, a 10-year-old sets out on a quest to get the Christmas gift of his generation: the latest and greatest video-game system.

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: 8-Bit Christmas starts as an adult Jake Doyle (Harris) is taking his own daughter Annie (Reid-Gantzert) home for a Christmas with his parents, while she is desperate to get her own phone. Jake decies to tell his daughter about the Christmas when he wanted a Ninetdo, back in the 1980s.

Jake (Fegley) has his own plan to trick his parents John (Zahn) and Kathy (Raphael) into getting him a Nintendo, without much success, leading him to need to find another way. Jake joins the rest of the boys in the neighbourhood in competition to win one, only causing a bigger problem between the friends in the neighbourhood.

Thoughts on 8-Bit Christmas

Thoughts – 8-Bit Christmas is a family Christmas comedy where a father is telling his daughter a story about how he had to earn a present he wanted for Christmas, because the bigger the price, the harder it is for a parent to afford. This will see the friends coming together to work together to get one, after competing against each other, showing the importance of friendship, over having a material good. The kids have great chemistry through the film, getting the laughs along the way, while Steve Zahn and June Diane Raphael fill the parent roles as most kids see, different to the rest. 8-Bit Christmas does have the heart and soul of what it means for Christmas bringing the feels by the end of the film, making you understand what it really means and gifts are just a bonus.

Final Thoughts – 8-Bit Christmas has all the heart and soul of a Christmas movie.