Tag: 2016

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Movie Review

The Love Witch (2016) Movie Review

The Love Witch – Movie Review

Explore the enchanting and dangerous tale of The Love Witch. A witch uses spells to manipulate men, but her actions have deadly consequences.

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – L

Director: Anna Biller

Writer: Anna Biller (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, with deadly consequences.

Runtime: 2 Hours

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Love Witch starts when a modern-day witch Elaine (Robinson) starts a fresh life. She has been using her spells to get men to fall in love with her and her latest target is Wayne (Parise). However, her spell causes him to react in a way she can’t handle.

It doesn’t take long before the police start investigating a local death and suddenly the witches get targeted again. However, Elaine’s quest for love takes her down a dangerous path as she makes a new target for her potion.

Verdict on The Love Witch

The Love Witch is a fantasy horror following a witch searching for love in the world. She uses spells to get what she wants from men. However, her determination to find perfection takes her down a dangerous path.

This movie dives into the search for love and the strange ways people try to find perfection. It focuses on a woman who believes she can turn any man into everything she wants and control him with things he likes. However, it shows how things can spiral out of control and lead to her powers being used to push things in directions she doesn’t want. The movie has the look of a 1970s movie, which makes it stand out from the modern era of cinema. Even if things are off in places, it adds to the charm the movie demands.

Where to Watch

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JustWatch

Final Thoughts – The Love Witch is an odd movie, which stands out for the era.

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Movie Review

The Untamed (2016) Movie Review

The Untamed – Movie Review

Discover the enigmatic world of 'The Untamed' movie. A troubled marriage, a mysterious creature, and a life-changing encounter.

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – U

Director: Amat Escalante

Writer: Amat Escalante, Gibran Portela (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Ruth Ramos (Dive)
  • Simone Bucio
  • Jesus Meza
  • Eden Villavicencio
  • Pablo Lopez Perez

Plot: A couple in a troubled marriage locate a meteorite, initiating an encounter with a mysterious creature. Their lives are turned upside down by the discovery of the creature, which is a source of both pleasure and destruction.

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Untamed starts when a married couple Alejandra (Ramos) and Angel (Meza) are facing an uncertain future. They have been drawn to other temptations as Alejandra recovers from an injury. Meanwhile, Veronica (Bucio) has made a connection with a creature in the woods.

The marriage looks like it is beginning to end until Veronica shows them the creature in the woods. It provides them with something they both need, as they find a new satisfaction in life, but at what cost?

Verdict on The Untamed

The Untamed is a mystery horror following a couple struggling and considering what to do next. However, when one meets a stranger, they discover something that presents a new pleasure in their lives. It starts to take over them, leading to a change they never expected.

This movie is a strange one, which focuses mostly on the sexual pleasures people need in life. It uses the creature to expose the deepest darkest secrets of the victims as they search for something more in life. Meanwhile, it does address violent behaviour in a domestic world, that presents a helpless environment for Alejandra. Sadly, this doesn’t get into enough of what the creature is and leaves way too many questions on the table.

Where to Watch

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JustWatch

Final Thoughts –The Untamed leaves too much up in the air.

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Movie Review

The Wrong Car (2016) Movie Review

The Wrong Car – Movie Review

The Wrong Car is a tense thriller about a law student seeking revenge on her assailant by going undercover as a rideshare driver.

First Reaction – The Wrong Car is a tense late-night thriller.

Watch The Wrong Car on Tubi.

Director: John Stimpson

Writer: John Stimpson (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: When a law school student hails an app-based car service and is assaulted by her driver, she becomes a NetCar driver herself and goes on a vigilante crusade to find and catch her assailant.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Wrong Car starts when law student Trudy (Savre) gets in the wrong car and wakes up naked in a hotel room. She knows the horror of what happened and turns to Detective Jackson (Elmore) to solve the case. However, Trudy knows the struggles of finding the suspects.

Trudy works with her roommate Gretchen (Raisa) and goes undercover as a rideshare driver. She sees the best and worst parts of the job as she learns which driver could be stalking victims.

Verdict on The Wrong Car

Recap

The movie follows a victims of a drug and rape assault who decides to go on an investigation to find her attacker. She decides to go undercover as a driver-share driver to see if she can find someone acting the same.

Best Parts

The movie spotlights how easily people will jump in any car, believing it is a rideshare. It also highlights how helpless victims are without evidence and questions why not enough is done to support them. This creates a tense thriller in which anyone could be the suspect.

Worst Parts

It falls into the mystery category where it could be anyone but doesn’t do enough to suggest everyone. The amateur detective plan does seem too farfetched to work against someone who has planned everything out.

Final Thoughts –The Wrong Car is a tense warning and thriller.

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Movie Review

Tomboy (2016) Movie Review

Tomboy – Movie Review

Tomboy features an assassin undergoing gender reassignment surgery, seeking revenge and truth, with engaging performances and action sequences.

First Reaction – Tomboy is an interesting twist on the hitman getting turned on.

Watch Tomboy here.

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Director: Walter Hill

Writer: Walter Hill, Denis Hamill (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: After waking up and discovering that he has undergone gender reassignment surgery, an assassin seeks to find the doctor responsible.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Tomboy starts when Dr Galen (Shalhoub) questions a rogue Dr Jane (Weaver). He wants to learn what happened to her team and why she is being blamed for the incident. Dr Jane recounts her tale of revenge on hitman Frank Kitchen (Rodriguez) who murdered her brother.

Frank was captured and put through a sex change operation and left to adapt to the change. He doesn’t know who to trust and searches for anyone involved in the operation. It leads to the bloodbath left behind by Frank pointing the finger at Dr Jane.

Verdict on Tomboy

Recap

The movie follows an assassin who gets captured and put through a sex change operation. They go on a rampage to learn why they have been put through the process, targeting everyone involved.

Best Parts

The movie has good action sequences and brings an interesting switch to the table when it comes to revenge on a hitman. We get good performances from the cast who lead us down a path for revenge.

Worst Parts

The movie struggles to step outside the world of criminals and it is confusing to what Dr Galen is trying to achieve. It comes with the story process being all flashbacks from the point of view of someone who wouldn’t know what was going on.

Final Thoughts –Tomboy is a twist on the outed assassin.

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Movie Review

Lifa Animated (2016) Movie Review

Life Animated – Movie Review

Discover the moving story of Life Animated, a documentary about a young man with autism who found his voice through Disney animated movies.

ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – L

Director: Roger Ross Williams

Plot: A coming-of-age story about a boy and his family who overcame great challenges by turning Disney animated movies into a language to express love, loss, kinship and brotherhood.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Life Animated

Life Animated is a documentary following the life of an autistic young man Owen. He has always struggled to communicate, but his connection to the animated Disney movies, lets him find a way to communicate. We follow his first steps into an adult life away from his family.

This shows the challenges families must overcome to have as normal life as possible for autistic people. It shows how they can have a normal life, but will always face challenges. This proves that everyone can have a normal life, and supporting people can achieve this.

It is an important documentary and raising awareness for everyone is important. This proves how it can happen and what needs to be done to achieve it. However, certain parts of the movie feel more engineered for entertainment purposes, rather than everything being natural.

Where to Watch

JustWatch

Final Thoughts – Life Animated is an important documentary to raise awareness.

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Movie Review

Warcraft (2016) Movie Review

Warcraft – Movie Review

Experience the fantasy world of Warcraft through this detailed movie review. Find out how the orcs and humans fight for supremacy in Azeroth.

ABC Film Challenge – Video Game Movies – W

Director: Duncan Jones (Moon)

Writer: Charles Leavitt, Duncan Jones (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: As an Orc horde invades the planet Azeroth using a magic portal, a few human heroes and dissenting Orcs must attempt to stop the true evil behind this war.

Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Warcraft starts when an Orc horde moves toward a human portal. Anduin Lothar (Fimmel) is set to investigate the changes heading their way. He contacts the Guardian Medivh (Foster) to guide them in battle as they defeat the invading army.

However, they capture Garona (Patton) who also wants peace between the two sides. Anduin and Garona must put aside their differences as they learn who has been controlling them.

Verdict on Warcraft

Warcraft is a fantasy adventure movie based on the popular online video game. It follows Orcs and Humans who find themselves thrown into a war. They must learn to put their differences aside to overcome this without the bloodshed that could be unleashed on their kingdoms.

This movie brings to life the popular online video game which has massive fantasy world elements. The world-building is impressive, and you could easily return for another outing with the characters. However, if you don’t know much about the source material, it can be harder to follow. It ends up being an ambitious idea that doesn’t quite stick the landing, as many fantasy worlds will always live in the shadow of The Lord of the Rings.

Where to Watch

JustWatch

Final Thoughts – Warcraft is an ambitious first enter for the fantasy world.

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Movie Review

Dead Rising Endgame (2016) Movie Review

Dead Rising Endgame – Movie Review

Dead Rising Endgame - : In a zombie-infested quarantined zone of East Mission City, investigative reporter Chase Carter

ABC Film Challenge – Video Game Movies – E (Endgame)

Director: Pat Williams

Writer: Tim Carter, Michael Ferris (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: In a zombie-infested quarantined zone of East Mission City, investigative reporter Chase Carter must stop a secret government conspiracy.

Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Dead Rising Endgame starts as Chase (Metcalfe) leads the search for Jordan (Tracy). He has teamed up with Sandra (Avgeropoulos) as they look to expose the wider conspiracy behind the zombie outbreak. However, even after getting footage of the corrupt General Lyons (Haysbert), they find themselves in danger.

When Hancock (Tracey) approaches Chase with a solution to get back into the quarantined zone. The three enter searching for answers and hopefully Jordan but are not prepared for the number of threats they face.

Verdict on Dead Rising Endgame

Dead Rising Endgame is the sequel to Dead Rising Watchtower. It picks up in the aftermath, as the world believes the outbreak is contained, but journalist Chase Carter continues to try and get the truth out there. However, he faces threats from the military who want to stop him from exposing the truth.

This movie continues to bring the much bigger mystery about the zombie outbreak to life. However, it fails to capture the wacky weapon creative world of the Dead Rising games. Those games are more about the wildest and weirdest weapons you can imagine. For a government conspiracy zombie cover-up movie, it works well but never reaches the potential the games offered up.

Final Thoughts – Dead Rising Endgame has the conspiracy side down well but struggles with the chaos.

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Movie Review

First Born (2016) Movie Review

First Born – ABC Film Challenge – Set in England – F – First Born – Movie Review

First Born

Director: Nirpal Bhogal

Writer: Sean Hogan, Nirpal Bhogal (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A young couple’s lives are turned upside down when the birth of their first child is accompanied by terrifying entities that threaten their newly-formed family.

Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: First Born starts when Charlie (Thomas) and James (Norris) have their first child. However, it doesn’t take long before they start seeing uncomfortable events around their home. They turn to James’s estranged father Alistair (Hyde) for help, who helps them set up a plan to protect their new daughter Thea.

When Thea starts growing up, Charlie finds the hauntings returning to the household. This leads her to search for other options to stop Thea from being left in danger. Thea gets help from Elizabeth (Davies) who claims to have been dealing with the same problems her whole life.

Verdict on First Born

First Born is a horror movie following a young family trying to deal with an unwanted presence around their daughter. This sees them diving into their family history as the hauntings get more disturbing. In what becomes a race against time to save their daughter.

This is a movie that gets to explore the difficult side of parenthood. It gets to mix this together with demonic creatures attached to their daughter, with the unsure doubts about parenthood. There is some great creepy atmosphere throughout the movie, that shows a new genuine horror being experienced. This also moves away from just a possession concept, focusing more on a connection to the evil outside of our known world.

Final Thoughts – First Born is a disturbing uncomfortable experience into the evil we can’t see.

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Movie Review

The Call Up (2016) Movie Review

The Call Up – Movie Review

Experience the suspense of 'The Call Up' movie. Online gamers find themselves in a life-or-death battle in a cutting-edge virtual reality video game.

ABC Film Challenge – Action – U (The Up in Call Up)

Director: Charles Barker

Writer: Charles Barker, Damian Fitzsimmons (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A group of online gamers are invited to try a state-of-the-art virtual reality video game but things take a sinister turn when these masters of the shoot-’em-up discover that they will actually be fighting for their lives.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Call Up starts when a group of online gamers including Carl (Deacon), Shelly (Clark), Eward (Cook) and Zahid (Ler) are invited to a new gaming experience. They enter a new virtual reality military game.

However, once they start playing, they learn there is a lot more to meet the eyes. They must use their skills from the gaming world to face real combat in a battle for survival.

Verdict on The Call Up

The Call Up is a sci-fi action movie following a team of gamers recruited for a new game. They are experts in military games and use their skills to navigate the world. However, they are not prepared to learn the game is real and they must fight to survive.

This movie looks to combine what made ‘Gamer’ unique with a more modern virtual reality concept. However, it never seems to be explored as possible. The world they are thrown into feels small and contained, even if the wider concept makes it feel like a much larger concept. In the end, the film doesn’t grab our attention in the way you would expect the idea to.

Where to Watch

JustWatch

Final Thoughts – The Call Up is a basic thriller using a virtual reality world.