Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night – Very Unique Movie
Director: Gonzalo Calzada
Writer: Gonzalo Calzada (Screenplay)
Starring: Marina Artigas, Lautaro Delgado, Mora Della Veccia, Marilu Marini, Jenaro Nouet, Desiree Salgueiro, Pepe Soriano, Nicolas Scarpino
Plot: Ulysses is a hundred-year-old man, battling for redemption on his last night on earth. Faced with imminent death, he is forced to rethink his past, his present and his take on reality.
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night starts as we meet the 100-year-old man Ulises (Soriano) as he finds himself getting lost around his apartment complex, searching for his wife Dalia (Marini), as the two find themselves dealing with an unknown intruder, trying to get into their apartment.
As the night continues, Ulises finds himself looking back at the first time he met Dalia, as his life seems to be catching up with him, as he is nearing the end of his own.
Thoughts on Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night
Thoughts – Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night is a mystery drama follows an elderly man as he faces his final day on Earth, as he looks through his life, he finds himself confronting the moments he regrets, smiling through the moments he remembers fondly and seeing the loved ones around him not being sure of his decisions. This is a movie that will need to see each moment getting the full attention, as you might miss the importance of each interaction and where it is on the journey through Ulises life. This is one of the few films you will see, that you will feel like you need to re-watch to pick on up on little things you might miss, easily one of the most re-watchable movies of recent years.
Final Thoughts – Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night is a unique interesting look at an impending death.
Writer: Stephen Meier (Screenplay) Nathan Cowles, Serah Henesey (Story)
Starring: Eric Roberts, Serah Henesey, Rob Riordan, Johnny Santiago, Jacqu Vene, Tricia Hawn
Plot: A robbery goes wrong, leaving two young drug addicts to make a difficult decision: to give up, or to do the unthinkable.
Runtime: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Surprise Visit starts when drug addicts Casey (Riordan) and Annabelle (Vene) learn they are expecting a baby, with Casey turning to his father Hugh (Roberts) for help, searching for a chance of a job working for his boss Mrs Dixon (Hawn).
Casey decides to talk Annabelle into breaking into the house while Mrs Dixon is away, only he is unaware that her daughter Juliette (Henesey) and husband Daniel (Santiago) have made a surprise visit.
Thoughts on The Surprise Visit
Characters & Performances – Casey is the drug addict man who learns he is about to become a father, he needs drugs to function, despite trying to get his father to give him a new life. He is the one that comes up with the idea to rob his father’s boss in an attempt to get his girlfriend a new life. Casey is very difficult to support, where he will always push Annabelle into doing what he thinks is best, no matter what. Annabelle is the pregnant girlfriend of Casey’s, she wants to get off the drugs for their child, constantly pushing but being left disappointed by Casey, who controls her every decision in life. She is always insulted by him, never given the space to think for herself. Juliette and Daniel are the couple who are visiting the home, that find themselves coming under attack from the intruders, needing to think of a way out, trying to show the pair the error of their ways. This isn’t a film that is going to get the praise for the performances, as nobody seems to feel like they are committed to the roles involved, with more about screaming at each other being the main part of the film.
Story – The Surprise Visit follows a couple of drug addicts that break into a home in an attempt to get rich quick, only not everything goes to plan, as the home isn’t as empty as they first thought. This story will seem to focus more on the chase, rather than getting any suspense in what is unfolding. It is has the toxic relationship between Casey and Annabelle not getting addressed on the firmer level, which is difficult to watch, as we can all see how badly Casey is treating her. The story will feel flatter by the end, with an unsatisfying ending, which does feel like we could have wrapped things up a lot quicker.
Themes – The Surprise Visit is a thriller that doesn’t seem to hit the tension or suspense it wants to, as most of the film is just the characters running around the woods, which the isolated location does create. The location is key to everything we see, with the luxury home being the reason why the thieves target the home.
Final Thoughts – The Surprise Visit is a tensionless thriller, never building up the suspense it could.
Director: Camilla Belle, Maritte Lee Go, Joe Sill, Jess Varley, Chris von Hoffmann
Writer: Camilla Belle, Maritte Lee Go, Joe Sill, Jess Varley, Chris von Hoffmann (Screenplay)
Starring: Leonardo Nam, Macy Gacy, Martina Garcia, Hana Mae Lee, Ross Partridge, Lauren Miller Rogen, Rushi Kota
Plot: Five dangerous patients, suffering from extreme phobias at a government testing facility, are put to the ultimate test under the supervision of a crazed doctor and his quest to weaponize fear.
Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Thoughts on Phobias
Robophobia – Robophobia follows Johnny (Nam) as he is looking to care for his sick father, while dealing with the redneck racists who are against anyone who is not like them. After going through the latest attack, Johnny finds himself connecting to new electronic helper, who will help find a way to solve the problems in the world, one that is failing to control. This is an interesting look at how things can spiral out of control quickly, with the fact we are in a short format, holding the story back from getting a major impact.
Vehophobia – Venophobia follows Sami (Lee) as she goes through a bad break up with her boyfriend, finding herself driving alone at night, when she starts experiencing strange moments in the car, windows opening, radio turning on, like she being haunted within her own car. This has plenty of scares while in the car, before we go down the road we have seen before, with how the motivation for the haunting starts.
Hoplophobia – Hoplophobia follows police officer Alma (Garcia) as she goes through a routine bust, which will leave a victim dead at her hands. This will lead to her suffering from a form of trauma, believing she is seeing enemies everywhere she goes, before being taken away.
Atelophobia – Atelophobia follows an architect Renee (Gray) who finds her biggest project hitting panic stations, needing to bring her team together to solve the problem, where she lets out her darker side, when things go wrong. This will see Renee hosting her employees, where she will show her true nature and desires with the employees.
Ephebiphobia – Ephebiphobia follows Emma (Rogen) a schoolteacher that finds herself home alone after her husband’s decision to work late again, she gets attacked by three siblings looking for their own moment of revenge against her, with Emma needing to fight back to save her life. This is one that could have had a much large fight back creation, one that would have seen more from the phobia, rather than just how it unfolded.
Thoughts –Phobias is an interesting series of horror tales, which will become connected with the character all finding themselves in a facility being studied. Each story gives us an excellent introduction, only to not give us enough in the later stages of the stories. This does feel like we have so much more to see and holding back so much, will leave the audience wanting more. Each story will offer a different type of horror, which will give the horror fans something to enjoy in the film.
Final Thoughts – Phobias is a horror that offers up so much, only to not deliver enough in the short stories.
Starring: Haley Bennett, Austin Stowell, Denis O’Hare, Elizabeth marvel, David Rasche, Luna Lauren Velaz
Plot: Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession.
Tagline – Open Up.
Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Swallow starts as we meet newlywed Hunter (Bennett) who has married a successful businessman Richie (Stowell), she has become a housewife, with little to do through the day, while her husband is working in a ruthless job where he looks down on Hunter most days.
Hunter does get pregnant but around the house, she finds herself feeling lonely. Hunter starts to get the desire to eat items from around the house, starting small with a marble, before escalating to bigger items.
Thoughts on Swallow
Characters & Performances – Hunter is a newlywed housewife and artist who finds herself alone in the house most days. She becomes pregnant with this looking like the rest of her life, housewife and mother. Alone in the home, Hunter starts to become obsessed with eating different household items, starting small getting more dangerous as the time goes on. This will put her own life at risk, along with her unborn baby’s, with her new obsession being the only way she can get through the day. Haley Bennett is brilliant in the leading role, she shows how distant from her new family she is, showing the loneliness which is causing the problems in her characters life. Richie is the husband of Hunter, he keeps the busy life, where he will find himself being more interested in business and following in his father footsteps, than just being there for his wife. He constantly ignores her through her stories, much like his parents, showing he seems to have picked a trophy wife over someone he likes. Austin Stowell does give us a true asshole character that we just learn to hate quickly in the film. We do meet the rest of the family that are always looking down on Hunter, never giving her the respect, she does deserve.
Story – The story her follows a young housewife and mother-to-be that starts getting obsessed with trying to swallow different items from around the house, putting the lives of both herself and baby at risk. Seeing how poorly treated Hunter is by her new family is one of the most disturbing factors in this film, which is saying something because we see where she ends up with her disorder and the damage it causes. We see how the isolation of loneliness can cause the bigger breakdown in the victim and getting no support from the loved ones around you can drive someone further away. On the downside, we never really get to the bottom of what suddenly bought this all on, which will lead to more questions including whether it has happened before or not.
Themes – Swallow is a thriller about how one person starts eating household items to see if it gives them a different feeling in life, the way she starts trying these items does help show just how far she will go to feel like she exists. The settings show us the higher lifestyle that Hunter has found herself living in, one that will see her needing to adapt to being away from people.
Swallow is a thriller that is filled with different disturbing moments that will leave us wondering how someone can end up this way.
Starring: Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, Salim Dau, Tobias Zilliacus, Itzik Cohen, Karel Dobry
Plot: Recounts the true-life, previously secret, back-channel negotiations in the development of the pivotal 1990s Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Tagline – How Do Enemies Find Common Ground?
Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Oslo starts Mona Juul (Wilson) and Terje Rod-Larsen (Scott) look to mediate peace accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Which will see them bringing together Ahmed Qurei (Dau), Yossi Beilin (Cohen) and Yair Hirschfeld (Glickman) as they look to find a solution to their differences.
As the talks take place, we get to see the tension that has been created, despite both sides clearly wanting the same thing, even if it means going outside the legal side of conducting peace talks.
Thoughts on Oslo
Thoughts – Oslo is a political thriller showing how two Norwegians that look to conduct peace talks between Israel and Palestine in the 1993, bringing the different members of both sides to Oslo to have constructive talks about ending the bloodshed. This is a highly political discusses that will show how things will start to change, despite no complete end to the conflict, it will show how things could have gone, but to this day, we still see the problems between the two. The performances are strong through the film, with the intense arguments, while trying to find the solutions. This is a chapter in history that we could learn from, seeing how leaders coming together could solve the problems before they escalate too far.
Final Thoughts – Oslo is a political drama with moments on intensity in searching for the solution.
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Marley Shelton, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Jack Quaid
Plot: Twenty-five years after the original series of murders in Woodsboro, a new killer emerges, and Sidney Prescott must return to uncover the truth.
Tagline – It’s Always Someone You Know
Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Scream starts when a new group of school students Tara (Ortega), Wes (Minnette), Mindy (Brown), Liv (Ammar), Amber (Madison) and Chad (Gooding) find themselves getting targeted by a new Ghostface killer. Tara’s sister Sam (Barrera) returns from her time away, as the killer continues to attack.
With the attacks increasing, Dewey (Arquette) reluctantly looks to help, drawing Gail Weathers (Cox) and Sidney (Campbell) back to Woodsboro to face the new killer.
Thoughts on Scream
Characters & Performances – This is going to be slightly different to how I usually break down the characters, as I will look at the originals, or legacy characters in Sidney who has moved away from the area, started her own life, at last. She does return to offer help, much like Gail Weathers, they are both drawn back, we know how strong they are and how they will always fight. Dewey does have the more interesting story of the three. Dewey has become an outsider, still suffering from the injuries he got from the last out, almost a recluse within the town he protected. Bringing the big three back was always the draw, with all three doing a great job throughout.
Onto the new characters, Sam Carpenter takes the leading role, drawn back to Woodsboro after Tara’s attack, she is holding a secret that has kept her away, while trying to get to the bottom of everything that has been happening. This is where we get the connection side of things, Wes is the son of Judy Hicks, the plucky sheriff from the last film, Mindy and Chad are twins that fill in Mindy’s side of things, the expert in horror, while Chad is the not so typical jock figure, that we have seen constantly twisted through the years. Liv is a girlfriend of Chad’s who does seem like more of the outsider of the friends, while Amber is the one wanting to keep everyone together through the incidents. When it comes to these characters, we do get a generational thing, which seems more focused on bragging about not caring and even wanting to be involved in what happens with the killings, they don’t tend to get enough development about them. It is hard to see any of the new cast standing out on the same levels as the originals, which is more to certain lack of screen time given to the ones we could see more from.
Story – Scream will bring the action back to Woodsboro once again, with a new Ghostface killer looking to pick off a group of friends, bringing the originals back to face a new killer with an unknown motivation. Scream will bring the teenage characters into the new generations of young people who think they are above being horror victims and believe their own opinions are more important than anyone else’s, forcing them to show how they are becoming tired with decisions in movies, while being reckless in life. Like seriously, why would people have wild parties if their friends had been murdered by a known serial killer. Much like any Scream sequel, we do get a theme in the story, where we have had the sequel, trilogy, reboot before, we are now getting re-quell, a new term for a reboot and sequel trying to please fans. There is a side to the story, which is going to be interesting to see if the franchise will continue to grow on, as it is one that could take things in many different directions. We will have certain things said, that will have you scratching your head, as it seems to be written into the script that we know what happens in the Stab movies, which we don’t, even ignore mentions in previous films too.
Themes – Scream is a horror slasher that will bring plenty of blood and gore to the table, not holding back and seemingly bring the directors trademark of the hand injury to life again. Returning the action to Woodsboro helps, showing us how the town has looked to move on again, but will always be under the shadow of the previous attacks. The use of one key location does bring back the memories of the brilliance of the original.
Final Thoughts – Scream is a great addition to the franchise, bringing new-life for a new generation.
Starring: Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Kiara Glasco, Tony Amendola, Leland Orser, Craig Nigh
Plot: A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale.
Tagline – He Will Slither into your Soul.
Runtime: 1 Hour 19 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Simple Late Night Horror
Story: The Devil’s Candy starts when artist Jesse (Embry) moves his family, wife Astrid (Appleby) and teenage daughter Zooey (Glasco) to a new home, a bigger home away from their friends and family, he gets a big studio to work in, while Zooey must adapt to new school life.
As Jesse’s new work starts being the best that he has ever created, new fame starts to head his way, though Zooey starts to become a target for former home owner Ray Smile (Vince) who has a habit of killing people that get in his way. Can the family remain together before it is too late.
Thoughts on The Devil’s Candy
Characters – Jesse Hellman is an artist that has a unique way of painting his paintings, he enjoys metal music to motivate him, which shows in his relationship with his daughter and their bond through music, his latest work has gained him more attention and could finally be his big break, though his work is disturbing him too. Astrid is the wife and mother, strangely we only learn about her supportive nature. Zooey is the teenage daughter that isn’t happy about moving away from her friends, but will do it for her father’s ambition, she loves metal and dreams of having a certain guitar, which sees her becoming the targeted by Ray. Ray is the former resident of the house, he has been locked away for years now, but released, never changing and now targeting the family inside his old home, he is deadly and will follow a ritual to get through the day.
Performances – Ethan Embry and Kiara Glasco are great together as the father daughter partnership, they show the desperation they are both feeling to achieve and they come off like a real relationship, Shiri Appleby can’t be at fault for her work because character is often just dropped to the side, despite have a key involvement in the climax of the film, where she does shine. Pruitt Taylor Vince is always going to look like a creepy figure and this is no different, we do feel scared about his actions through the film.
Story – The story here follows a family that move to a remote home in Texas to start a new life, only to find themselves becoming the target of a former resident of the house that wants to continue the work he started years again. The idea behind the story is one that we have seen before, how often do we get a family being haunted or traumatized by something in the new home? Where the story does start to get a little bit messy, comes from just not seeing the true nature behind Ray, it is only implied what he has been doing. There is a clever moment involved in the film which will make sense by the end of the film too, though it does seem to not get enough time to let everything unravel.
Horror – The horror in the film comes from just how unsettling Ray is during the film and what he will do to make sure he gets everything he requires done.
Settings – The film keeps us in one of the easiest settings, with the remote house which makes it harder to escape to safety to anybody around.
Special Effects – The effects are strong in places, though the final sequence in the film doesn’t come off as strong as it could.
Scene of the Movie – Journey metal talk.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Astrid just doesn’t get enough screen time.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror that does fill the basics with ease, while pumping up the action side of the horror by the end.
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Aleksey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon
Plot: A bystander who intervenes to help a woman being harassed by a group of men becomes the target of a vengeful drug lord.
Tagline – Never underestimate a nobody. Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Nobody starts as we meet mild-mannered Hutch Mansell (Odenkirk) whose everyday routine has become like clockwork. When his family are targeted by a robber, Hutch looks to unleash a secret from his previous life, one that will see him go after the people who robbed him.
After Hutch unleashes his pent up rage, he finds himself being targeted by mobster Yulian (Serebryakov) who wants him to pay for what he did to his son, but Hutch isn’t just a random guy, he has plenty of deadly skills to defend himself.
Thoughts on Nobody
Characters & Performances – Hutch Mansell has been working through an everyday job, with the routine to keep him in a quiet life away from his past, though he is starting to get tired of this routine and after an incident in his home, he looks to unleash all the rage built up, leading him to need to cover up his tracks when mobsters target his family. Bob Odenkirk is the star of the show here, getting the deadpan behind the action star, without needing to be all out action through the film. Yulian is the mobster that is hunting Hutch down, he is everything you would expect from a European mobster using his position of power to make sure he stays ahead of anyone in his field. The supporting cast don’t add too much to this film with the exception of Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s father in a nursing home, which won’t see him move much, but he gets a couple of funny sequences.
Story – The story here follows a mild-mannered man that gets drawn out of his quiet suburban life to return to life of violence when a mobster targets his family. When you look at this story, how the man gets bought back into the world is very similar to John Wick, which shows us first how you will never know your neighbour and secondary, people will always defend their family. The story does seem to take a much more deadpan approach, which works with how almost reluctant Hutch is to get back into this world. It is an easy watch action film that never lets you down.
Themes – Nobody is an action thriller that will show a man with a secret past thrown back into the underworld of violence to defend his family, one which is filled with plenty of fights, both hand to hand and firearms that feels non-stop. The settings are used to show the quiet life Hutch lives, that gets interrupted when the mobsters come into his life.
Final Thoughts – Nobody is an easy watch action blast that has a deadpan style which is unlike anything we have seen before.
Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 – Essential Documentary
Director: David Belton, Bjorn Johnson
Plot: Documentary collects accounts of 9/11, recorded in the months after the attacks, and present-day testimonials from the same eyewitnesses.
Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Thoughts on Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11
Thoughts – Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 is a documentary that saw the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, give personal recordings of what they felt, experienced on that tragic day. In 2021, some of these people get to return to the booth, to show how the events of that day changed their lives forever. The string of interviews will show the struggles they have been through since that day. We see the painful memories of the day that shock everyone who lived through it, making this a difficult watch for anyone who never understood how to feel about what we went through. Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 is a documentary only looking at the people survived, there is no deep dive into who was behind it, why it happened, it is a pure examination of the survivors trying to show what it felt like to make it out alive and the impact it had on their lives.
‘Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11’ will air 18th January, 9pm on SKY Documentariesahead of the BAFTA TV Awards.
Final Thoughts – Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 is a must watch documentary, leaving you just as broken as the tragic day.
