Category: Movie Review

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: Susannah Grant (Screenplay)

Starring: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Cherry Jones, David Brisbin

 

Plot: An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city’s water supply.

Tagline –  She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees.

Runtime: 2 Hours 11 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Strong Performance Biopic

 

Story: Erin Brockovich starts as we meet Erin (Roberts), a single mother of three trying to find herself a job but only finds herself involved in a car accident. This forces Erin to get herself a lawyer in Ed Masry (Finney) to get her compensation. When the claim goes badly Erin decides to push for a job there where she gets to work on her own small project.

The case she starts investigating for Ed involved a city power company that has been infecting the water around the planet, causing the people to get sick. Erin strikes a nerve and with Ed go on to take on the power company.

 

Thoughts on Erin Brockovich

 

Characters – The characters in this film are based on the real people, Erin Brockovich is a single mother of three children with two ex-husbands to her name and next to no money to her name either. Erin’s strength is a fighter and when she takes a job at a law firm she ends up getting involved in a case which could become the biggest in American history. Erin doesn’t come off as the nicest person who does seem to want to walk over people to get to the position she finds herself in. Ed Masry is a good lawyer who has been working his whole career doing the right thing on every decision he has made. George is the neighbour that sparks up a relationship with Erin but also shows how difficult it is for Erin to make a professional career happen with a personal one.

Performances – Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her performance in this movie, you can see why because she does carry the film. Albert Finney and Aaron Eckhart are both good strong supporting performances throughout the film.

Story – The story follows our driven Erin Brockovich who while just trying to make ends meet with her family ends up being involved in one of the biggest legal cases in history of America. The film shows what she had to sacrifice to make this case happen with the relationships she built to make the case go through to the courts to give her clients the biggest settlements.

Biopic– We get to see the work Erin put into the case while trying to balance being a single mother of three kids, this shows how hard she would work to achieve everything.

Settings – The settings are used to show most of where Erin lives, works, her clients live and the company she is trying to takedown. This all works well without being the most important of things in the film.

Scene of the Movie – The results.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – I couldn’t help but find Erin slightly selfish at times.

Final Thoughts – This is a great biopic that shows that hard work can achieve great results even without the training others might have in the same film.

 

Overall: This is a great film with a powerhouse performance.

Rating

 

 

Director: Daniel Petrie

Writer: Stephen McPherson, Elizabeth Bradley (Screenplay) David Saperstein (Characters)

Starring: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Courteney Cox, Hume Cronyn, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg

 

Plot: The old age pensioners that left at the end of the first film come back to earth to visit their relatives. Will they all decide to go back to the planet where no-one grows old, or will they be tempted to stay back on earth?

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Forced Sequel

 

Story: Cocoon: The Return starts as the residents who left in the first film return, Art (Ameche), Ben (Brimley) and Joe (Cronyn) get to reunite with old friends and family that believed they had died, but the aliens are back for their own reasons, to rescue the cocoons that they left at the bottom of the ocean that has been disturbed following an earthquake.

As the for resident spend their time on Earth they start to fall back into old ways be it sickness or mentoring roles being left with the question of whether they want to stay or not. The aliens must find a way to rescue one of their own that has been found by scientists led by Sara (Cox).

 

Thoughts on Cocoon: The Return

 

Characters – Art, Ben and Joe all return to Earth where they get to meet old friends and family, Joe gets caught up in needing to battle his old illness, Ben wants to help his grandson who is struggling with growing up and Art finds his wife pregnant at her age. The three get to look at the life they have missed for the last 5 years and need to make the decision whether to stay or not. Sara is one of the scientists which discovers the cocoons and works with the alien inside even though the rest of the government want to take him away. We do have plenty of other characters in this film but they do seem to take away any focus on enough characters.

Performance – The performances do feel like a step back from the first film, the older actors do seem to have a lot of fun with their roles.

Story – The story does feel like a forced sequel, it brings the aliens back to Earth to rescue the ones they left behind with the elderly characters getting to look at the life they left behind. It does go against what we learnt in the first film with the elderly characters now facing the same question of can they stay or not because of what they missed. The alien side of things does fall into every single one we have seen, the government finds one and what to learn more about it now.

Mystery/Sci-Fi – The mystery side of this film comes from the idea of the aliens returning and what the humans will do with the ones they have discovered.

Settings – The settings do feel the same which is fine but we do have the additional inclusion of the science base working on things.

Special Effects – The effects here do feel like a step back too where we clearly see any addition used in the film.

Scene of the Movie – Basketball.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The fact it makes no sense transporting the cocoons after the first film made a point that they couldn’t.

Final Thoughts – This is a very forced sequel that doesn’t accept the points it made in the first film, the effects are weaker and the performances are just not on the same level.

 

Overall: Disappoint sequel that was forced.

Rating

 

 

Director: Alexander Payne

Writer: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (Screenplay) Kaui Hart Hemmings (Novel)

Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Patricia Hastie, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer

 

Plot: A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Great Drama

 

Story: The Descendants starts as Matt King (Clooney) a land baron and lawyer who has been distant from his wife Elizabeth and children Alexandra (Woodley) and Scottie (Miller), when Elizabeth (Hastie) is involved in an accident and left in a coma, Matt must become the lead parent, something he hasn’t done in year.

In the middle of a massive sale of his family’s land Matt learns the reality of what will be happening to Elizabeth, wishing he could give it all up for more time with his family. This takes a turn when Matt learns that Elizabeth was having an affair and that is why Alexandra no longer wanted to speak to her mother.

Matt must put his own problems a side to become the father he never was even when his own life is coming crashing down around him.

 

Thoughts on The Descendants

 

Characters/Performance – Matt has spent his life working and not being the family man he is should have been, he must face reality after his wife’s accident becoming the father he never was, learning about the secrets his wife was keeping from him. Alexandra is the eldest daughter who knows about the affair but standing on her father’s side, she must become the big sister lil Scottie needs through the situation. Scottie is the youngest daughter who is lost because of the accident not quite understand the situation. The rest of the characters all help Matt make his decisions he needs to be making for the good of the family.

Performance wise, Clooney is brilliant and easily gives one of his performances of his career, this is also a big break out role for Woodley who showed the world her abilities. Miller does well as does the rest of the cast who make each scene enjoyable to watch.

Story – The story shows us the difficult situations a family would go through if a parent got injured suddenly, we see the rebuilding of a family, secrets exposed that would bring strain on everything as well as how they got through it all. It shows how difficult it would be for a parent learning the truth who must stay strong for their children too. This is a beautiful told story that you can understand each and every decision any character make through the film.

Settings – Hawaii as the backdrop for this film is beautiful but it is quick to tell us just how it isn’t only a tropical paradise, it has the same problems the rest of the world does.

Final Thoughts – A film about loss is always hard to get through but this one is almost a joy because it shows just how difficult learning about secrets would be.

 

Overall: This is a great drama I feel everyone should see.

Rating

 

 

Director: Ron Howard

Writer: Tom Benedek (Screenplay) David Saperstein (Story)

Starring: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton

 

Plot: When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigour.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Enjoyable Sci-Fi Film

 

Story: Cocoon starts as we enter the retirement home where Art (Ameche), Ben (Brimley), Joe (Cronyn) and Bernie (Gilford) like to sneak off to the neighbouring abandoned property for swimming, but when Walter (Dennehy) and his cousins rent the property they lose their hide away.

When it turns out Walter and his family are aliens, the guys from the retirement home get to continue using the swimming pool which seems to cure their illness and making them young once again giving them a new lease for life but how long can this last.

 

Thoughts on Cocoon

 

Characters – Art, Ben and Joe are the three retirement home guests that enjoy breaking the rules swimming in the neighbour’s pool but when new neighbours rent the place they start to become younger again leading to their friendship being tested as they need to learn to keep the secret. Walter is the leader of the aliens that is trying to save the few that we left behind all those years ago, he wants peace and quiet but is willing to let the guys use the pool.

Performance – The performances from the whole cast are great, be it the retirement home guys, the aliens or younger folk. The whole cast comes together to make this a film about uniting as one.

Story – The story here shows us how elderly people in retirement homes do want to continue their lives like how they used too, we also see how not all aliens are bad they just come in peace. We do get to see how people can get affected by being given a chance at the fountain of youth and how this gives people the wrong idea of how to act if they were given this chance. overall the story shows us that people are going to take advantage of a chance to youth or death they will get carried away.

Sci-Fi – The sci-fi side of this film brings us the into the world where aliens do exist but in peace which is a nice swap for what we are used too.

Settings – The retirement home setting takes us to a location we don’t see often in this genre, it shows us the unity between the residents as they take their risks to remain young.

Special Effects – The effects for the time were fantastic and to be honest they have barely aged a day while watching for the first time in 2017.

Scene of the Movie – The full breakout.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The carers are a bit shit.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the all time classic sci-fi films, it has heart, aliens and a story that shows how people should be treating each other.

 

Overall: Wonderful sci-fi experience.

Rating

 

 

Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig

Writer: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig, Tom Vaughn (Screenplay)

Starring: Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Jason Clarke, Angus Sampson, Eamon Farren, Laura Brent, Tyler Coppin

 

Plot: Eccentric firearm heiress believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.

Tagline – Terror is Building

Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Good Horror Moments

 

Story: Winchester starts as we follow Dr Eric Price (Clarke) as he must travel across America to San Jose to the Winchester residents, Sarah Winchester (Mirren) has been building her mansion believing she is can help spirits killed by her husband created that are coming for vengeance.

The spirits have been contained like normal before, but this latest spirit has targeted her niece’s Marion (Snook) son Henry. And Eric must learn that Sarah isn’t as crazy as her fellow board members believe she is.

 

Thoughts on Winchester

 

Characters – Sarah Winchester is a lady that has become part of spiritual legend, she believes the ghosts of the victims of the Winchester rifles have come to haunt her, which leads her to build rooms for these spirits to be left at peace, she now must battle the deadliest spirit and prove that she isn’t insane. Eric Price is a doctor that has been battling his own demons, his addictions have shadowed his judgement, now he must face his own past to help Sarah through her problems.

Performances – Helen Mirren is the main draw for this movie and she fits this character wonderfully as you fully believe her as this mysterious lady. Jason Clarke comes in as the male lead and he is good through the film, the character he plays needs to be frightened but not scared by what he sees. This has a good supporting cast that deliver through the film.

Story – The story here is built on a legend that hasn’t been solved, it follows Sarah Winchester who has put her mansion into constant construction believing she needs offer spirits the chance to rest after their deaths. This is the fact behind the story, whether it is true is another question, this is what you would expect this movie to be about. This decides to lose the maybe question and just focus on the doctor needing to help tackle the deadliest spirit yet, so it becomes a dealing with a haunted house movie. It gets rounded off nicely, but you can see the twists coming from a mile away which just disappoints when looking at a story that has much more history about it.

Biopic/Horror/Mystery – When hearing of the story of Sarah Winchester is something that should be mysterious and interesting, this doesn’t show enough of this history. This effects the mystery because we need to be left up in the air about what is happening rather than it being, this is a ghost haunting movie. The horror elements are the strongest, we have plenty of jump scares which use the house well through the film, but you are left wondering why people follow noises all the time.

Settings – The film is set in the Winchester mansion, it checks all the boxes need for the film because we know this house has the mystery about it, but strangely we don’t get the labyrinth scale of the mansion.

Special Effects – The effects work for the most part of the film, the ghosts do have a different look about them and even with the weaker moment we can see past for what is happening.

Scene of the Movie – Final showdown.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not being given a chance for the story to be potential in her head.

Final Thoughts – This is a solid horror, it has good moment of scares, but when this isn’t happening the film does feel flat for the most part.

 

Overall: Good for horror fans.

Rating

 

 

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writer: James Ivory (Screenplay) Andre Aciman (Novel)

Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothee Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Ester Garrel

 

Plot: In Northern Italy in 1983, seventeen year-old Elio begins a relationship with visiting Oliver, his father’s research assistant, with whom he bonds over his emerging sexuality, their Jewish heritage, and the beguiling Italian landscape.

Runtime: 2 Hours 12 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Beautiful Love Story

 

Story: Call Me by Your Name starts as Mr Perlman (Stuhlbarg) and his family in Northern Italy open their doors for one of his assistant American Oliver (Hammer) for the summer, Elio (Chalamet) the eldest son must give up his room for Oliver and notices the behaviour of Oliver being different to what he is used to seeing.

When Elio and Oliver start hanging out more, it starts with a mentoring effect, but soon turns into something else, a sexual relationship which posses its own problems for the two, with Elio’s age being one of them.

 

Thoughts on Call Me by Your Name

 

Characters – Elio is a 17-year-old music and book lover, living in Northern Italy, he is trying to learn how to seduce women and when Oliver arrives on the scene, he starts to learn a few things, but then he starts to question his own sexuality after he becomes attracted to Oliver. Oliver is an American research assistant working with Elio’s father, he is a charismatic man who grabs the attention of the people he is around, he takes a shine to a local woman, but the attention he really wants is Elio’s, he knows this could be bad for his career, leaving us to wonder if it is work the risk. Mr Perlman is the father of the house, he has ben working on a ground-breaking historical discovery and Oliver is part of his research team.

Performances – Armie Hammer is an actor that has always been braver with his own career decisions, this would be considered his bravest choice and his best performance, he is engaging through each scene as you just want to know where he will take the character next. Timothee Chalamet could easily be the biggest breakout star this year, he is fantastic in this leading role, where he shows the lost innocence while trying to discovery his characters sexuality. The rest of the performance in the film are great but don’t take away from the leading two stars.

Story – The story examines the idea of needing to understand your sexuality when going into adulthood, the story does a good job of showing both of Elio’s choices, either being with Marzia or with Oliver, because this only continues to show the decision and discovery that he is looking to make about himself. The one weakness I did find in the story, which is part my own confusion I think, is that it never feels like a forbidden love, but it also feels like it was meant to be, forgive me if this doesn’t make sense.

Romance – The romance side of the film is the whole deal, we get to see the whirlwind summer romance between Oliver and Elio, while also seeing the idea that Elio could have to avoid his homosexual side in the future.

Settings – The settings are breath-taking landscapes of Northern Italy which could be postcard after postcard of beauty spots.

Scene of the Movie – Distant bike ride.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not really knowing if it was a forbidden love or not.

Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful acted movie, visually pleasant experience with the landscapes, but if we are being honest, this film isn’t going to be for the casual audience, even with the fantastic story of love.

 

Overall: Beautiful love story.

Rating

 

 

Director: Jack Heller

Writer: Tyler Hisel (Screenplay)

Starring: Kevin Durand, Lukas Haas, Bianca Kajlich, Nick Damici, Heath Freeman

 

Plot: An evil is unleashed in a small town when a logging company sets up shop in the neighboring woods.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Good Late Night Horror

 

Story: Monster Hunter starts as Sheriff Paul Shields (Durand) and his latest partner from the big city Donny (Haas) investigating mysterious hoof prints that walk like a man going through the town before vanishing in the woods. Paul and his ex-wife Susan (Kajlich) have been suffering since the accidental death of their son, in what is a religious heavy town.

With the town in fear believing there is some form of devil creature lurking in the town Sheriff Shields looks into American Folklore for answers that could be related to the Jersey Devil myth.

 

Thoughts on Monster Hunter

 

Characters/Performance – Sheriff Paul Shields is a grief filled man who lost a son, this has cost him his marriage but not his role in town, he now must use his skills to search for the mysterious creature lurking in the shadows. Donny Saunders in the new deputy in town, he comes from New York for a fresh start in a quieter town. Susan is the wife of Paul that has found herself being pushed away after the death of their son. The problem with a lot of the characters in this film is they are designed to fit the world but we don’t learn much else about their position in the town.

Performance wise, Kevin Durand in the leading role is a delight to see as he is always great in supporting roles and now he can step out on his own leading a film which he does a good job throughout. Lukas Haas is good in the supporting role through the film but doesn’t get enough screen time and Bianca just does feel out of place at times.

Story – Small town needing to defend themselves from an unknown creature, this works because it plays into folklore building on a mystery that has never been solved ‘The Devil’s Footprints’. It also shows us how the community would come together for safety putting aside their differences to fight a bigger threat. It may well be by the book stuff but if you like a horror then it is one to watch.

Horror – The horror comes in the form of a creature feature style monster lurking around a small town in search of food which works for the horror side because the tension is picked up when needed but also willing to give the audience a breath when needed.

Settings – The small town setting plays heavily into the direction of the film which becomes all the more enjoyable as we know it is the small community needing to fight back.

Special Effects – The effects are good with the creature creation which we only seen in moments instead of just throwing it towards us early on, as we learn more we discover more of its design.

Final Thoughts – This is a good creature feature that has one of the better final acts in the genre which keeps you on edge through each moment.

 

Overall: Good and enjoyable creature feature.

Rating

 

 

Director: Darrell Roodt

Writer: Tarryn-Tanille Prinsloo (Screenplay)

Starring: Brandon Auret, Reine Swart, Deanre Reiners, Thandi Puren, Samuel Frauenstein, Dorothy Ann Gould

 

Plot: Chloe is overwhelmed by the birth of her first child. The incessant crying of her baby, the growing sense of guilt and paranoia sends her into depression. With a heightened urge to protect her son, Chloe sees danger in every situation. She starts to hear voices, the humming of a childhood lullaby and sees flashes of a strange entity around her child. Convinced that the entity is real, Chloe will do everything in her power to protect her son. Is she haunted by evil or is it just the baby blues?

 

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Creep Filled Horror

 

Story: The Lullaby starts as we meet Chloe (Swart) a new mother of little baby Liam, her only option is to return home to her mother Ruby (Puren) after years away from each other. With Chloe starts making naïve mothering mistakes, she needs to start learning quickly and reluctantly take her mother’s advice.

Soon things start getting strange though, as Chloe starts suffering horrific visions of hurting Liam, before the ghostly figure appears to be trying to claim Liam, by making Chloe try to hurt Liam, can she escape the evil before it is too late.

 

Thoughts on The Lullaby

 

Characters – Chloe is the young mother, she ran away from home at a teenage age, but returns as a single mother, clearly not ready for this role in life. She does however want to do her best for her baby, but when an evil presence tries to take over her to kill her baby she must fight back the best she can. Ruby is Chloe’s mother, that tries to offer advice, but also give her the space to achieve the motherly goals, the two don’t have the best relationship and this shows with their conversations. Adam is an old friend of Chloe’s that offers friendship but we don’t see much from him, much like Dr Reed, he tries to help both the women through the situation due to his old friendship with the family.

Performances – When we dive into the performances, there is a stand out here and that is Reine Swart as Chloe, this is mostly because she is in every pivotal scene of the movie and must show us a character that is starting to lose her mind. This doesn’t take away from the rest of the cast which all do their jobs well throughout the film.

Story – The story follows a young woman that must come to terms with motherhood, while she battles her own sanity when she believes something is after her baby. This story does keep us guessing along the way, as we get very few clues to just what the true answer is, this is nice to watch because just when you think you know the answer, the question gets changed. Unlikely many other movies in the ‘new baby changes life horror genre’ this doesn’t just follow the basic trends and makes you understand character (well Chloe and Ruby’s) decisions.

Horror – The horror used in the movie is a nice mix of sub-genres, we have the jump scares, the gore and the unsettling moments and you will not know which one is coming next.

Settings – The film mostly takes place inside the family home, which helps as we see Chloe dive into her own paranoia.

Special Effects – The effects are good, with practical ones that come off look real and with smart use of camera work don’t get thrown in our face.

Scene of the Movie – The Figure visits, in all honest I feel each scene is great with the figure in.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Adam needed more development or not to be included.

Final Thoughts – This film shows us a good horror about a mother potentially losing her mind, we have good jump scare moments, well done gore and a wonderful performance from Reine Swart.

 

Overall: Creepy, disturbing horror.

Rating