Tag: 2014

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Movie Review

Airplane vs Volcano (2014) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Action – V (Volcano) – Airplane vs Volcano – Movie Review

Airplane vs Volcano

Director: James Kondelik, Jon Kondelik

Writer: James Kondelik, Jon Kondelik (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Dean Cain (Out of Time)
  • Robin Givens (Boomerang)
  • Tamara Goodwin
  • Matt Mercer (Contracted)
  • Morgan West

Plot: When a commercial airliner is trapped within a ring of erupting volcanoes, the passengers and crew must find a way to survive – without landing, but, when the relentless onslaught of lava and ash causes fear and distrust amongst those onboard, it isn’t just the volcanoes that are life-threatening. Everyone must learn to work together if they are to survive their epic flight of fire.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Airplane vs Volcano starts when an unexpected volcano formation erupts. Lisa Whitmore (Givens) is trying to discover the cause of the problem. Meanwhile, in the air, a commercial airliner flies into the volcano, leading to the pilot dying.

Rick (Cain) takes the reigns of the plane, trying to steady it for the rest of the journey. Elsewhere Specialist Tully (West) looks to have a rescue mission from the surface. The time is running out, can the plane land before the volcano takes the whole island.

Verdict on Airplane vs Volcano

Airplane vs Volcano is a low-budget disaster movie that brings together two ideas. First, is a massive volcanic eruption that isn’t expected. Secondly, a plane caught in the blast needs to fly blind out of trouble.

Putting the two stories together is entertaining, even if the arguments on both sides fall flat. There is a time limit to the peril, which will keep us on the edge of our seats. The problem that can be seen in this film, is the length of time the plane is flying through the volcano debris. It seems to go on much longer than any flight.

However, the movie does entertain, despite the flaws. It has peril that feels dangerous and something that could easily happen, even if not on the same scale.

Final Thoughts – Airplane vs Volcano is an entertaining disaster movie.

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Movie Review

Bad Blood (2014) Movie Review

Bad Blood – ABC Film Challenge – Action – U (Uncle Frank) – Bad Blood – Movie Review

Bad Blood

Director: Mark Young

Writer: Mark Young (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: Hannah and Amber Baker are trapped in a dark Southern underworld of violence, drugs and bikers. Both live in fear of their “Uncle Frank” Stinson, the ruthless leader of a crime organization.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bad Blood starts as two young women Hannah (Breslin) and Amber (PenaVega) find themselves trapped in a Southern town. They live under the shadow of their ruthless gangster Uncle Frank (Bean) who runs things in the town. Amber looks to earn an honest living, meeting stranger Bill (Purefoy). Meanwhile, Hannah decides to offer her services to Frank, delivering drugs for him.

Hannah ends up using her new position to create a drug war between Frank and Bill. However, it will come with consequences for her actions, something she wasn’t prepared for.

Verdict on Bad Blood

Bad Blood is an action thriller following a young woman who wants to make her family pay for taking her parents. She gets undercover with the gangster drug lord in her family to start her own war to bring a stop to his reign of terror.

This is an action thriller like many we have seen before. It uses the Southern American location to make everything feel hopeless for the characters involved. The problem comes with how Uncle Frank operates, nothing we see shows him being threatening. He is only feared, which leaves us wondering if this is the right decision. The way Hannah manages to bring the whole thing down feels too easy too and something a real gangster wouldn’t let happen. In the performances, we get solid performances throughout, with a list of big-name actors.

Final Thoughts –Bad Blood is a by-the-book thriller offers very little to the bigger sub-genre of action-thrillers.

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Movie Review

Draft Day (2014) Movie Review

Draft Day – ABC Film Challenge – Favourites -D – Draft Day – Movie Review

Draft Day

Director: Ivan Reitman

Writer: Scott Rothman, Rajiv Joseph (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Kevin Costner (Let Him Go)
  • Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther)
  • Jennifer Garner (Love, Simon)
  • Frank Langella (The Box)
  • Chi McBride (Gone in Sixty Seconds)

Plot: At the NFL Draft, General Manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he’s willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams.

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Draft Day starts when General Manager of the Cleveland Browns Sonny Weaver Jr (Costner) is preparing for the most important day of the season, Draft Day. He receives calls from rival General Managers as they are searching for the best outcome in the draft.

As the day starts to unfold Sonny must deal with his Coach Penn (Leary). As well as young players being touted by their agents, to make matters worse he must answer to the franchise owner Anthony Molina (Langella).

Verdict on Draft Day

Draft Day is a sports drama revolving around a General Manager and his decisions around the busiest day of the season. He must deal with his own personal problems, and pressure from other members of the franchise. This leads to him needing to make the right decision for his team if they are going to win a super bowl.

As for sports drama, this is a tense thriller revolving around the busiest day in NFL. It shows the complex dealings between the managers as they search for the best outcome for the team. This continues to show the complex nature of American Football, where players get picked in a draft, rather than trained throughout an academy. Something I still personally find confusing, after years of watching football in England.

Kevin Costner is brilliant in the leading role and with an outstanding supporting cast. We end up getting one of the best cast movies of the year. This also gets to give a glimpse behind the curtain like ‘Moneyball’ did for Baseball.

Final Thoughts – Draft Day is a wonderfully acted sports thriller.

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Movie Review

Theeb (2014) Movie Review

Theeb – ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nomination – J (Jordan) – Theeb – Movie Review

Theeb

Director: Naji Abu Nowar

Writer: Naji Abu Nowar, Bassel Ghandour (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat
  • Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen
  • Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh
  • Jack Fox
  • Marji Audeh

Plot: In the Ottoman province of Hijaz during World War I, a young Bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened coming-of-age as he embarks on a perilous desert journey to guide a British officer to his secret destination.

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Theeb starts follows a young boy Theeb (Eid) who is travelling the desert with his family. When they come across a British officer Edward (Fox), they start to guide him across the desert. However, when things start to get out of control, Theeb must work with a mystery Stranger (Mutlag) to find safety. Sending the young boy on a coming-of-age tale he could never have imagined.

Verdict on Theeb

Theeb is a coming-of-age adventure set in Jordan, as a young boy gets caught up trying to escort a British Officer across the desert during World War I. It puts him on a test as they get caught up in a bigger threat to his own life.

This is an impressive movie that shows the struggles to survive during the First World War and how younger generations had to adapt quickly. It shows the harrowing journey required to survive and has great performances throughout.

Final Thoughts –Theeb is an impressive movie about a harrowing journey.

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Movie Review

Elsa & Fred (2014) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Romance – E – Elsa & Fred (2014) Movie Review

Director: Michael Radford

Writer: Marcos Carnevale, Marcela Guerty, Lily Ann Martin (Screenplay)

Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Marcia Gay Harden, Wendell Pierce, Jared Gilman, Erika Alexander

Plot: A withdrawn senior experiences life in new ways when he begins spending time with the free-spirited woman who lives across the hall.


Tagline – It’s never too late.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Elsa & Fred starts when serial liar Elsa (MacLaine) learns she is getting a new neighbour in Fred (Plummer). An recently widowed man who is closed off to the world, being forced into moving in here to be closer to his daughter Lydia (Harden), with a new home carer Laverne (Alexander).

When Elsa starts to get to know Fred, she is trying to get him out of his shell, while showing all the weaknesses in her own ways, which has seen her always talk her way out of situations.

Thoughts on Elsa & Fred

Characters – Elsa is a serial liar, who always ends up making up stories to escape her own truths in life. She is carefree and always trying to capture her youth again, which will see her befriend the new neighbour.

Fred is being forced to move closer to his daughter, so she can hire a carer and know where he is during his own medical problems. He doesn’t like letting people into his life, but Elsa seems to find a way to bring him out of his shell.

Lydia is the daughter that has moved Fred closer, she does get involved in his life more than normal, but only because she cares, while her husband’s plans go on more than they need to.

Performances – Shirley MacLaine is great with her role, which she has to seem like she is distant from certain real world moments. While Christopher Plummer as a grumpy lonely man that comes out of his shell shines through the film, with the supporting cast all doing great through the film.

Story

The story follows two neighbours that meet when one moves in and they help each other out of the difficult moment they are facing in life. A moment that they both need instead of facing getting old too soon.

This is a story that shows the importance of letting people into your life when you feel the weakest. Seeing how they will look to help you overcome the struggles you have been through and help you escape to enjoy the next stages of life. How family can be there to support you, but it will be the strangers in life that you will find offer a different kind of love. It does play out like you would expect, which makes it an easy watch throughout.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in the film comes from the different situations the pair find themselves in. It will get chuckles rather than laugh out loud moments, while the romance shows us that you are never too old to fall in love.

Settings – The film is set in New Orleans, where both sides have lived most of their lives, and inside one apartment block could bring them closer than they imagined.


Scene of the Movie – The holiday.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Bit too predictable.

Final Thoughts – Elsa & Fred is a sweet comedy that will get laughs and emotions running as the elderly couple fall in love.

 

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Movie Review

Mr Peabody & Sherman (2014) Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – M – Mr Peabody & Sherman (2014)

Mr Peabody & Sherman Poster

Director: Rob Minkoff

Writer: Craig Wright (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, Lauri Fraser, Guillaume Aretos

Plot: The time-travelling adventures of an advanced canine and his adopted son, as they endeavor to fix a time rift they created.


Tagline – He’s leaving his mark on history.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Mr. Peabody & Sherman starts as we meet Mr Peabody, a genius dog that was created and achieved everything in life. His grandest achievement being adopting a young boy Sherman. The pair travel through time, where Mr Peabody will teach Sherman about history.

Sherman is facing his biggest challenge alone, school. Where he becomes the victim of the bully Penny, leading to his reputation needing Mr Peabody wanting to fix things. This will only make things worse as Penny goes through time with Sherman, with Mr Peabody needing to rescue them.

Thoughts on Mr Peabody & Sherman

Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a wild animated adventure movie. It will see the unlikely couple of the world’s smartest ever dog teaming up with a young boy to travel through time. Hoping of learn in a way unlike anything seen before. The pair must work together to rescue a classmate of Sherman’s. Which will bring the pair through their toughest father son relationship to date.

It will have the messages about needing to let your children make their own mistakes in life. Letting them learn and experience the world in a way that only they can, not holding them back from their potential. The journey through time will bring us to different locations where major conflict takes place, showing the lighter side of the darker moments in history. This is ultimately a very fun animation adventure that will have plenty of laughs along the way for every member of the family to get a kick out off.

Final Thoughts – Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a truly enjoyable animation movie with plenty to enjoy throughout.

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Movie Review

Age of Tomorrow (2014) Movie Review

Age of Tomorrow – Plenty of Peril

Age of Tomorrow Poster

Director: James Kondelik

Writer: Jacob Cooney, Bill Hanstock (Screenplay)

Cast: Kelly Hu, Anthony Marks, Robert Picardo, Lane Townsend, Morgan West, Mitchell Shawn

Plot: Mankind must fight to survive as Earth is invaded by hostile UFOs bent on destroying the planet. As the epic battle wages on, astronauts sneak aboard the mothership where they discover a portal to the aliens’ home world.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Age of Tomorrow starts when Captain Wheeler (Marks) is summoned by General Magowan (Picardo) for an urgent mission. Dr. Gordon (Hu) has been tracking an impact object through space. One that will hit in 48 hours. The mission will see Wheeler and his unit go into space to destroy the object.

Arriving on the object, the crew learn that the object is extra-terrestrial in nature. Sending crafts to Earth, leaving the crew to fight back against the enemy. Hoping to save Earth.

Thoughts on Age of Tomorrow

Age of Tomorrow is an action sci-fi thriller from Asylum, the low budget production company. That introduction will help show what we talk about next. Starting off wanting to be more like Armageddon, it takes the turn into Independence Day.

Following a couple of different groups of people. We get to dive into each of them, ones by one. As they start getting rolled further along, seeing the supporting characters picked off.  Unlike many of the lower budget movies we see from them. We do seem to get one of the better ones here. One that feels like it has peril involved in every part of it.

This won’t go down as one of the greatest of all time, but it will entertain for the time given. Constantly wanting to keep us guessing along the way, not holding back on anything either. Creating one of the most terrifying alien creatures in recent years.

What the movie here.

Final Thoughts – Age of Tomorrow is one of the better Asylum movies, with perils around every corner.

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Movie Review

Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark (2014) Movie Review

Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark is big loud low budget shark movie.

Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark Poster

Director: Emile Edwin Smith

Writer: H Perry Horton, Jose Prendes (Screenplay)

Starring: Christopher Judge, Elisabeth Rohm, Matt Lagan, Debbie Gibson, Fiona Hardingham

Plot: A new mega shark threatens to destroy humanity. The government creates an exact robotic copy of the shark, either equal to or greater than the original. Now they must fight to the death while people and whole cities get in the way.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark starts when a new Megalodon is found in the ocean, seeing sea travel and plane travel over the oceans crippled. Jake Turner (Judge) and Rosie (Rohm) lead mission to stop the mega shark.

The plan is to release a robotic shark piloted by Rosie to fight back against the megalodon before too many lives are lost, before needing to make the final upgrade, an AI system Nero.

Thoughts on Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark

Characters & Performances

Jack Turner is the soldier that has created the Nero operating system that could take on the problems being faced. He will work to bring the megalodon down, putting the resource created into play. Rosie is Jack’s partner, the two have worked together for years. She will pilot the Mecha shark before being forced to hand it over to the AI system. Rosie will need to risk the most to make the sharks stop terrorising the oceans. The human characters aren’t that well developed in this movie. Most of them needing to complete one task to the next. With military wanting quick explosive response and the rest of the characters never getting much more. The performances are fine for the low budget B-style movie. Being some of the better compared to the more recent attempts of big budget looking low budget movies.

Story

The story here will see the megalodon return once again, this time the world is more prepared. When they use their own Mecha shark to take down the deadly shark. Only for the AI to start making itself own mind up about how to handle the killer shark. The story will see the couple needing to think fast to find a solution before more people die. All while the bodies are starting to pile up around them. This doesn’t do too much more to the giant shark movies, but can be an entertaining story for the shark lovers out there.

Themes

Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark is a low budget sci-fi big monster movie, with sharks being the biggest draw for this movie. They cause devastation and don’t look that real doing it but it is all good for a movie that is meant to entertain, rather than look the most realistic.  

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Movie Review

Rio 2 (2014) Movie Review

Rio 2 is the standard sequel that will do most of the same well without going too wild.

Rio 2 Poster

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Writer: Don Rhymer, Carlos Kotkin, Jenny Bicks, Yoni Brenner (Screenplay) Carlos Saldanha (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Jesse Eisenberg, Andy Garcia, Jemaine Clement, Jake T Austin, Carlinhos Brown, Kristin Chenoweth, Jim Conroy

Plot: It’s a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they’re hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets his father-in-law.


Tagline – It’s on in the Amazon

Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Rio 2 starts as Blu, Jewel and their children head into the Amazon. Searching for a sighting of their species after believing they are the only ones left of their kind. The adventure will take them through the dangers before meeting Eduardo, Jewel’s father with another flock of their kind.

As Blu must learn to adapt to the rainforest, Eduardo looks to make him more manly. Shaking of the city bird he has only every known, while the old foe Nigel looks to get revenge on Blu.

Thoughts on Rio 2

Rio 2 is the sequel to the popular Rio, which will see Blu needing to adapt to a new environment again. This time the rainforest. This will see him need to stand up against his fears once more to try and do the right thing. While also have the stark warning about deforestation. We get the singing and dancing side of the film too. Which will lighten the mood of the darker subject matter we are going through.

When we break down most of the story, it does feel like a safe re-step of the same issues Ice Age brought up in that location. The animation looks beautiful, like you would expect, which is the best part of the film, with the vibrant colour schemes we see throughout the film.