Jan 12 2022

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020) Movie Review ‘One of the Best Time Travel Films in Years’

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes – One of the Best Time Travel Movies in Years

Director: Junta Yamaguchi

Writer: Makoko Ueda (Screenplay)

Starring: Kazunari Tosa, Riko Fujitani, Gota Ishida, Masashi Suwa, Yoghifumi Sakai, Haruki Nakagawa

Plot: A cafe owner discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.

Runtime: 1 Hour 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes starts as Kato (Tosa) finishes his shift at work and head upstairs to relax, only to find himself, talking to himself in the future, through the TV screen in his room, from down in the café below.

As Kato has the two-minute conversation, he heads downstairs, finding himself having the same conversation, only this time as the TV screen side of the conversation. After Kato introduces this to his friends, the conversation becomes deeper, as they try to figure out what they can do with this newfound gift.

Thoughts on Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

Thoughts – Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a time travel movie with a unique twist, that will make it one of the most intriguing movies you will ever see. Time travel films will always offer up a discussion, both with the audience and the character, with the last great discussion on screen being in Primer. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes will also adopt the single take concept, which for the movie is even more unique, as we often get to see the conversations from both angles, which both asks questions and answers them. Any time travel movie will need to test the audience, which this does everything needed. The characters will go through the conversation about what they could do with this new gift, one that will always dive into becoming rich or getting the answers they want to make it through the situation. The performances are great too, showing the friends coming up with the ideas through the film. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a time travel film that could easily be placed upon the best time travel films of all time.

Final Thoughts – Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is easily one of the best time travel movies you will see.

Jan 11 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – K – Kindred (2020) Movie Review

Director: Joe Marcantonio

Writer: Joe Marcantonio, Jason McColgan (Screenplay)

Starring: Tamara Lawrance, Fiona Shaw, Jack Lowden, Edward Holcroft, Chloe Pirrie, Anton Lesser, Kiran Sonia Sawar

Plot: Plagued by mysterious hallucinations, a pregnant woman suspects that the family of her deceased boyfriend has intentions for her unborn child.

Tagline – Mother Knows Best

Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Kindred starts when Charlotte (Lawrance) and Ben (Holcroft) are looking to move to Australia to start a new life, only for Charlotte to learn she is pregnant and Ben’s family wanting to keep Charlotte in the country.

After an accident sees Ben killed, Charlotte is taken in by his family mother Margaret (Shaw) and overly close family friend Thomas (Lowden), who between them always look to find a way to keep Charlotte leave the home.

Thoughts on Kindred

Characters & Performances – Charlotte is the young woman that is looking to start her new life in Australia with her boyfriend, which will leave her making herself becoming distant to his family until he ends up getting killed after learning she is pregnant. She wants to get back to her life, but his family leaves her needing to stay with them, cutting off her seeing, speaking or contacting any of her friends, becoming obsessed that she has become trapped. She finds herself trapped, alone and away from the world with a family that seems to want more from her. Tamara Lawrance is great in the leading role, showing us just how uncomfortable she feels in each and every scene in the film. Margaret is the mother of Ben, she welcomes Charlotte into her home after his death, wanting to make sure she has everything she needs for the baby. Fiona Shaw does give this character the perfect blend of caring and being creepy. Thomas is the family friend that has always been in Ben’s life, he lives in the mansion and does most of the work around the home, he shows more interest that would be expected in the baby coming, like it was his own. Jack Lowden does also give us a disturbing performance where he is both friendly and creepy in each scene.

Story – The story here follows a young woman who finds herself pregnant as her boyfriend is killed in an accident, leading to her finding herself trapped in his family home. This is a story that will take us down the road of seeing someone held against their will by a family, who have everyone convinced they are doing it for the right reason, unlike most stories where there is no communication behind why they are doing it. The story does have affine balance between overprotective and doing the right thing with everyone involved. The one biggest weakness in the story does come from the motivation, which does seem like it leaves everything feeling a little bit empty, as we don’t seem to get one.

Themes – Kindred is a horror thriller showing us how one family will look to make the pregnancy of a young woman a nightmare, while explaining it is more for her own good, trying to teach her that they are here to help, while keeping her locked away from everybody. The mansion does take the confined pregnancy storyline in a different direction, avoiding the idea of hidden evils in the world, which are usually used for the story.

Final Thoughts –Kindred is a creepy horror balancing disturbing with unsettling well.

Jan 4 2022

The 24th (2020) Movie Review

Director: Kevin Willmott

Writer: Kevin Willmott, Trai Byers (Screenplay)

Starring: Trai Byers, Bashir Salahuddin, Aja Naomi King, Mo McRae, Tosin Morohunfola, Mykelti Williamson, Thomas Haden Church

Plot: It is the story of the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry Regiment, and the Houston Riot of 1917.

Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The 24^th starts as we meet the black members of the 24^th infantry regiment Boston (Byers) gets pushed up the ranks, becoming the first black man to arrest a white man for the murder of a black man. This will see the black soldiers follow his lead in standing up for themselves, with Col North (Church) expecting the soldiers to get the equal rights.

As the tensions between the races continue to rise, the racist white locals and police look to use the power they believe they have to take out the black men, but the soldiers aren’t going down without a fight.

Thoughts on The 24th

Thoughts – The 24th is the story behind one of many racist attacks put on the black men in America, ones that were willing to stand up for the country, regardless of what people thought of them, knowing if they fought together, they could help change the mindset. This is told in the typical way of the strict horrible white man piling on the pressure towards the black men, knowing they could get away with it, as they are forced to deal with it, knowing the consequences if they go against them. It shows a time where America was horrendously backwards and that another group of men will stand up for what is right, even if it meant grave consequences for them. The performances in the film are great, with writer lead Trai Byers standing out with his powerful lead performance. This will be seen as one of the more important stories that will highlight just how much had to be fought for to make a difference.

Final Thoughts – The 24^th is an important drama, even if it unfolds the same as many others about needing to take a stand.

Jan 4 2022

ABC Film Challenge – Catch-Up 2021 – D – The Dry (2020) Movie Review ‘Brilliant Mystery’

Director: Robert Connolly

Writer: Harry Cripps, Robet Connolly (Screenplay) Jane Harper (Book)

Starring: Eric Bana, Genevieve O’Reilly, Keir O’Donnell, John Polson, Julia Blake, Bruce Spence

Plot: Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound – the unsolved death of a teenage girl.

Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Dry starts when Aaron Falk (Bana) returns to his childhood town after his old friend and his family is murdered in what looks like a murder suicide. This trip for Aaron will make his face his past around an unsolved murder from his teenage years, one that included his friend.

With half the town hating him, Aaron is asked to look into these latest murders, where he will get to the bottom of what really happened, which will see him pushing people who still believe he was involved in the murder.

Thoughts on The Dry

Thoughts – The Dry will follow a disgraced member of a town that will return to try and figure out who was behind the murder of his old friend and his family, while facing the demons of what he once did or covered up in the town. This is the type of mystery that will offer up plenty of potential suspects, which will keep us guessing along, without giving away everything like many other mystery might well do. The fact that Aaron continues to help on the case, despite the fact most of the town hates him, shows the dedication he will give to make the story come out, but his guilt will hold everything back from him. This is a film covered in brilliant performances from everyone involved, with Eric Bana shining in the leading role. The location being used is a draught covered town, that will show how desperate the people in the town might become, but also how much a community they will have created together. This is a mystery that will bring everything to the table to keep us trying to unpick the story and find out who was behind the murders.

Final Thoughts – The Dry is a brilliant mystery, one that keeps us guessing as to what will happen next.

Jan 1 2022

The Kid Detective (2020) Movie Review ‘What a Treat’

Director: Evan Morgan

Writer: Evan Morgan (Screenplay)

Starring: Adam Brody, Sophie Nelisse, Tzi Ma, Peter MacNeill, Maurice Dean Witt, Jonathan Whittaker, Wendy Crewson, Sarah Sutherland

Plot: A once-celebrated kid detective, now 32, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first ‘adult’ case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

Tagline – No longer a kid. Not much of a detective.

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Kid Detective starts as we meet the washed-up former kid detective Abe Applebaum (Brody) who became the go to guy for small mysteries around the town, before things dried up for him, now 32-years-old, where he tends to get drunk only to find himself doing the pointless cases.

This changes with Caroline (Nelisse) arriving in his office, asking for help to solve the murder of her boyfriend, a murder the police were unable to solve.

Thoughts on The Kid Detective

Thoughts – The Kid Detective is a mystery comedy that will show us how a man who has spent his life believing he was a brilliant detective, only for things to dry up after the cases start falling apart. He is given a chance to redeem himself with the latest case, one that will open up the old wounds from the unsolved case which nearly ruined him. This will put Abe through the comedic locations of finding the truth, through the different people from his past which would have cause him to understand the truth about previous cases, he was so quick to solve. Adam Brody is brilliant in this leading role, bringing the downbeat character to life, while having time to add a small amount of comedy to what we see. The mystery itself will keep us guessing towards the truth, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. This is a treat of a movie that only gets better as more is revealed.

Final Thoughts – The Kid Detective is a brilliant movie, with a dark tale and a stunning performance from Adam Brody.