Tag: 2021

The Year the Film Was Released

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Movie Review

Fear of Rain (2021) Movie Review

Fear of Rain – Rear Window with Schizophrenia

Director: Castille Landon

Writer: Castille Landon (Screenplay)

Starring: Katherine Hiegl, Harry Connick Jr, Madison Iseman, Israel Broussard, Eugenie Bondurant

Plot: A girl living with schizophrenia struggles with terrifying hallucinations as she begins to suspect her neighbor has kidnapped a child. The only person who believes her is Caleb -a boy she isn’t even sure exists.


Tagline – Some voices you can’t outrun

Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Fear of Rain starts as we get to learn how bad Rain’s (Iseman) schizophrenia is, with her parents Michelle (Heigl) and John (Connick Jr) doing everything they can to help her, pushing her into getting back into her medication to hopefully get back to a more normal life.

As Rain looks to get back to normal life with school, she finds herself as an outsider, before new guy Caleb (Broussard) offers her friendship. Rain does start to question the neighbour, believing her she has been keeping a child hostage in her home, but is this just Rain’s mind playing tricks on her again.

Thoughts on Fear of Rain

Characters & Performances – Rain is the teenager that is suffering from schizophrenia with her latest attack landing her in hospital, needing to get back on her medication. With her family’s support she is trying to get back to her life, with school, which leaves her as an outsider and the new neighbour giving her a reason to be suspicious of a new kidnapping and even her new friend Caleb potentially not being real. Rain is trying to hold everything together, not letting her support network be there for her in her time of need. Madison Iseman is great in this leading role, we have seen her take on horror before, which she handles well, with the mental illness side coming off strong throughout the film. Michelle and John are Rain’s parents that are trying to support Rain through her difficult decisions going forward with her life, they will support her, but know they are there for the difficult times. Caleb is the boy Rain meets in the high school, he is the one person that will talk to her, being new to town and offering her the friendship she needs in her life. He might become the perfect friend, but wondering whether he is real not, is the most difficult part for Rain. Israel Broussard does make for the good friend role, bringing the ray of light into the world for Rain.

Story – The story here follows a teenage girl that has been suffering from schizophrenia with her latest bout being one that leaves her in hospital, that returns home to try and have a normal life, only for her own hallucinations to lead her down the path of suspecting her neighbour of being a child abductor. This is a story that balances the superior Rear Window, with the ideas that a mental illness could leave the suspicious one believing something is happening when nobody else would believe so. We are left to see how most of the story revolves around how Rain is questioning each moment of her own life, which will keep us guessing about what is or isn’t real, away from just being the suspect abduction case. The one side of the story which feels poorly written, is how the high school students don’t try to help Rain, basically letting the bully take control of her, not welcoming her back with open arms.

Themes – Fear of Rain is a horror mystery that will give us the balance of what Rear Window or Disturbia did, with the mystery about a neighbour doing something wrong, with the schizophrenia being put into the world that could leave everything inside the head of the character.

Signature Entertainment presents Fear of Rain on Digital Platforms 26th April

Fear of Rain is a modern day spin on Rear Window, that has nice tension, but does look for more twists than needed.

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Movie Review

Alien Conquest (2021) Movie Review

Director: Mario N Bonassin

Writer: Joe Roche (Screenplay)

Starring: Emily Killian, Anthony Jensen, Tom Sizemore, Michael DeVorzon, Emma Nasfell, DeAngelo Davis, Paulina Nguyen

Plot: Sibling astronomers discover Martians are threatening to attack Earth, but no one believes them-until Martians land and nearly destroy all of New York City.

Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Alien Conquest starts when sibling astronomers Allison (Killian) and Henry (Jensen) discover a strange object in Earth atmosphere, before General Reed (Sizemore) arrives to use their observatory to see what is coming.

When the aliens arrive they start trying to eliminate the human population, with Allison and Henry on their own separate journeys looking to pass on the advice they need to defeat the alien invaders.

Thoughts on Alien Conquest

Thoughts – Alien Conquest is the latest Asylum movie which is using the big budget idea giving it the limited resources which will leave the film feeling completely short. This time an alien invasion along the line of War of the Worlds (Which is the UK title of the film) mixed with the modern technology ideas of being able to see the attack coming. It follows a pair of siblings that look to solve the problem, while the military just fight, this will lead them on their own journeys which will go to and from the same location, never really getting very far other than walking around the countryside. We don’t get much fresh to the approach or with how the destruction goes on, leading to this being more left to the imagination than the bigger action moments. The performances don’t help the film, where even the cameo like performance from Tom Sizemore doesn’t add anything to the overreacting going on through the film.

Final Thoughts – Alien Conquest is the typical low budget sci-fi movie that lacks the mega destruction you would imagine.

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Movie Review

Forget Everything and Run (2021) Movie Review

Forget Everything and Run – Typical Survival Movie

Director: Geoff Reisner, Jason Tobias

Writer: Geoff Reisner, Jason Tobias (Screenplay)

Starring: Marci Miller, Jason Tobias, Danny Ruiz, Cece Kelly, Susan Moore Harmon, Justin Dray

Plot: When a terrifying pathogen is released, one family will fight to save their children against a band of marauders, hellbent on revenge.

Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Forget Everything and Run starts as we meet the Allister family, Josephine (Miller), Ethan (Tobias), Josh (Ruiz) and Mia (Kelly) who are in the middle of a pathogen outbreak with people acting infected, as the family is left to figure out how toe survive in the wilderness.

As the family is looking to get through the most difficult time, they find themselves coming under attack from another couple Desiree (Harmon) and Lincoln (Dray) as they look to open their eyes to the bigger problems of the world.

Thoughts on Forget Everything and Run

Characters & Performances – When it comes to the characters, we get the Allister family, mother, Josephine that is willing to do anything to keep her family safe, in need of making a difficult decision when it comes, Ethan the father is the softer touch, but he actions have often led to more troubles along the way. Josh and Mia are the children that have been taught how to live in this world, but aren’t ready for what it offers them. We have seen these characters done many times before without this version making any side of impact in being original. The performances from the four are all strong without reaching the heights of the same kind of dynamic we saw in ‘A Quiet Place’. Desiree and Lincoln are the typical threat figures, offering a conversation as to why they might be different in this world.

Story – The story here follows a family that are looking to survive in a world after a pathogen has wiped out many of the population, with them turning into blood hunger monsters or other people desperate to survive in this world, as the family finds themselves going head to head with another one just looking to survive. The idea that we are being placed into a world where infected people have taken over and people have found a new safety area is something we have seen before, it is something that always works. The conversations about surviving do add an extra dimension, as both sides just want that, which has led to the problems occurring. The weakness here comes from the title of the film ‘Forget Everything and Run’ this isn’t a constantly moving story, it is two main locations, which leaves us feeling flat from what is expected from the title.

Themes – Forget Everything and Run is an infected population story that follows a family trying to remain isolated away from danger, using the weather conditions as a form of defence. As mentioned before, it does sound like we are going to have travelling in the film, but sadly we don’t, it is more planning for what could come next.

Signature Entertainment presents Forget Everything And Run on Digital Platforms 26th April

Forget Everything and Run is the survival story we have seen before, with potential of deeper meaning behind the outbreak.

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Movie Review

Portal (2021) Movie Review

Portal – Great World Building

Director: Jeff Desom, Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal

Writer: Jeff Desom, Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal, Ed Hobbs, Chris White (Screenplay)

Starring: Lina Esco, Josh Peck, Wilson Bethal, Rory Anne Dahl, Julianna Collins, Jordan Rock

Plot: Without warning, millions of mysterious alien “doors” suddenly appear around the globe. In a rush to determine the reason for their arrival, mankind must work together to understand the purpose of these cosmic anomalies. Bizarre incidences occurring around the sentient doors leads humanity to question their own existence and an altered reality as they attempt to enter them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Portal starts when the world has been overcome by over a million of his objects known as doors, with the world looking to learn about them after loved ones start going missing. Becky (Esco) and Vince (Peck) are leading the investigation into one of these doors.

Once inside the door they discover a world that can’t be explained, one that transforms through each doorway, that is looking to consume them as they search for an answer.

Thoughts on Portal

Thoughts – Portal is a film broken up into three chapters, with three different sets of characters, at different stages of the appearances of the doors. First, we get the first appearance, without knowing much the students try to figure out what is happening, while this is a nice introduction to what could happen if this appears suddenly. Second, we follow the government trying to learn more about what could be inside the doors, seeing a couple of scientists enter a world they can’t explain. Third, we find a researcher that kept the door a secret, so he could study it. All three stories give us a unique way of approaching it, but it would be fair to say, we would have liked to see more about what is happening in each of the chapters, they could have all been expanded to develop more about the characters involved, as well as the work they are looking to explore. We could have plenty more to work with, as this world is only just touch upon, which could see plenty more going on, with more mysteries we don’t learn more about.

 

Signature Entertainment presents Portal on Digital Platforms and DVD 19th April

Portal is an interesting idea that feels like we could have had even more from the world created.

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Movie Review

Me You Madness (2021) Movie Review

Me You Madness – Completely Self-Aware

Director: Louise Linton

Writer: Louise Linton (Screenplay)

Starring: Louse Linton, Ed Westwick, Shuya Chang, Jimmy Dinh, Tyler Barnes, Gwen Van Dam

Plot: A young thief cases an architectural dream house in Malibu, not realizing it is the home of an eccentric female serial killer.

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Me You Madness starts as we meet eccentric hedge fund manager Catherine Black (Linton)who lives a lavish lifestyle where she buys everything she wants and with her high intelligence, she is always ahead of the game. When Catherine looks to rent out a room in her home, Tyler (Westwick) visits to scope the place out for his thieving ways.

After a wild night together, Catherine find herself bored of Tyler, wanting to show her darker serial killer ways, only to find Tyler causing more problems of Catherine’s carefully planned life.

Thoughts on Me You Madness

Characters & Performances – Catherine is an eccentric hedge fund manager who has a life of luxury and a darker side, she is a serial killer, she finds her life turned upside down by Tyler a man she was just looking to prey on but finds herself drawn too in a battle of wits. Catherine often has monologues into the camera about her choices, which gives the character a self-aware approach. Louise Linton does take the writing and directing roles for the film too, which will give her character even more confidence in this world created. Tyler Jones is a petty thief that looks to view homes before robbing them with Catherine being the latest target, he finds himself falling for her, while also biting off more than he can chew when he learns the truth. Ed Westwick does a good job in this film being the dumber of the too in character, being aware of what he is meant to bring to this character.

Story – The story here follows a rich successful woman who has everything in her life planned out perfectly including finding time to kill people, when she meets a petty thief the two have a bright chemistry that will see them clash and looks to battle each other in a game of wits, where they will need to decide what they want in life. This is a film that is fully self-aware of what is going on, Catherine’s character knows exactly what she is, similar in how Patrick Bateman was in American Psycho. This is the fun part of the film, even if being told each and every mindset can seem like it is being repeated too often in the film. When it comes to the back-and-forth side of the film, it does give both sides the reason to be winning the battles.

Themes – Me You Madness is a comedy that will bring us the extremes of how the rich will live, flashing their wealth in the eyes everyone around them, believing they can control every situation too. The luxury home is the main setting, which always feels like we are about to find yet another room.

 

Me You Madness is the American Psycho styled movie that doesn’t have the same flair, but is showing us just how the rich consume the poor.

Me You Madness will be available on Digital Download from 19th April

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Movie Review

Taking the Fall (2021) Movie Review

Taking the Fall – Brilliant

Director: Josh Marble

Writer: Steve Hellman (Screenplay)

Starring: Munro Chambers, Katie Gill, Roland Buck III, Avalon Penrose, Jonathan Dylan King, Chris Sturgeon

Plot: Tyler Richards returns from a six year prison sentence to a surprise reunion with his former college friends, only to discover that they’ve nearly all veered off course under the pressure of millennial culture.

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Taking the Fall starts when Tyler (Chambers) gets released from his 6-year stint in prison, with his best friend Justin (Buck III) and ex-girlfriend Kate (Gill) setting up a welcome home party with the college friends Allison (Penrose), Peter (Sturgeon) and their new partners, Zachary (King) and Michelle (Zimber).

As the party is coming together, Tyler starts to see the differences in the world he has returned to, with his friends all starting their lives, with much of the resentment for lack of visits during his time away.

Thoughts on Taking the Fall

Characters & Performances – Tyler is the young man that took the fall for the group of college friends, he has spent the last 6-years in prison and now he is being thrown a party to celebrate his release. He finds that his friends haven’t lived up to what they had expected, seeing the relationship he once had feel awkward and distant, as he tries to figure out where he is in his own life now after taking the fall for them all. Munro Chambers is brilliant in this leading role, stepping up into the serious role and making his character feel as distant as he needs to. Kate is the ex-girlfriend of Tyler’s she has moved on with her life with a new fiancée despite still having the feelings for Tyler. Justin is the best friend that meets Tyler as he leaves prison, he has help arranged the party for his friend, being the one that remained closest to him during his prison time. Katie Gill and Roland Buck III are both great in these roles, getting their moment to shine in the one-on-one serious moments. The supporting characters do show us how lives haven’t always gone the way planned and tension will always be there between people, with the performances all being great to watch throughout.

Story – The story here follows a young man who is freshly out of prison after a 6-year sentence, where his friends look to throw him a welcome home party, where he gets to see how life might have been the same for him, but outside, things went in a very different direction. This is a story that is set over the one dinner party, which will give Tyler the reflection on how he sees the changes in his friend’s lives, showing how people can change and become chewed up in this world. It will show that people can have such big dreams in life, but could give up on them along the way without even realising it. This is such a wonderful drama that is one of the most interesting eye-opening dramas you will see this year.

Themes – Taking the Fall is a drama and uses the singular location to make the dinner party the big focal point of the film. It shows how the people will look to make the most of the problems in their lives with how they cover them up with the party theme.

 

Taking the Fall is one of the most interesting films of the year, with brilliant performances and eye-opening story.

Pre-Order Taking the Fall here on iTunes for the 9th April release

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Movie Review

Godzilla Vs. Kong (2021) Movie Review

Godzilla vs. Kong – Big Fights, Slow Story

Director: Adam Wingard

Writer: Eric Pearson, Max Borenstein (Screenplay) Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields (Story)

Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza Gonzalez, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demian Bichir

Plot: The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another – the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong – with humanity caught in the balance.


Tagline – The second coming.

Runtime: 1 Hour 53 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Godzilla vs. Kong starts when billionaire owner of Apex technology Walter Simmons (Bichir) has been creating his latest technology, his main base is destroyed by Godzilla, turning the titan on the human race. To stop Godzilla, Nathan Lind (Skarsgard) is recruited to get the Kong whisper Ilene Andrews (Hall) to use the titan to search for the hollow Earth theory.

After the incident Madison Russell (Brown) goes in search for internet conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes (Henry) who might help her get the truth about what has happened to cause Godzilla’s latest attack and can she stop more damage before the titans collide.

Thoughts on Godzilla vs Kong

Characters & Performances – Godzilla is acting like he is hunting something, destroying locations, being seen as a threat to mankind, his actions will put him into battle against Kong. Kong has been contained on Skull Island for years, he seems to be looking to escape, but he is also happy with his communication with Jia and Dr Andrews, he is bought out to fight and explore the hollow Earth theory, taking him on a journey away from his home for the first time. When it comes to the human characters, we do enter into the characters that will fill in the blanks to what is going on. Dr Ilene Andrews has been communicating with Kong for years, earning his trust and working on finding a way to work with him. Nathan Lind has been recruited to get Kong back into the battle with Godzilla, using his former connections with Monarch. Madison does return, being one of the few people that believes Godzilla isn’t a danger like many others do, getting caught in trying to find the truth to his change in actions. In the human characters we get the typical performances for the giant monster movies, where they are not the most interesting part of the film.

Story – The story here follows Godzilla hunting for something, which will see humans turning to Kong in an attempt to try and stop him causing more problems. This is a story that seems to have let the world rebuild after the incident with the other titans, where people will need to turn to Kong to fight Godzilla, even if nobody is sure for the reasoning. We get plenty of blanks filled in by the human characters, as well as going into the bigger world we only visited for a moment in the last film. We do seem to have too much time on just on little groups of people, without much being going on with them, with the story feeling slow.

Themes – Godzilla vs Kong will give us the big fight we are always going to be expecting to see, this is easily the best part of the film watching the titans beating themselves senseless. The humans are useless in any side of the conflict of the film. The world created looks amazing in the film, with where Kong gets to visit having a unique look which will be seen as the place, we would like to see more form.

 

Godzilla vs Kong is filled with the glorious fights between the titans, filled with the basic human story that drags.

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Movie Review

Roe v. Wade (2021) Movie Review

Director: Cathy Allyn, Nick Loeb

Writer: Cathy Allyn, Nick Loeb, Ken Kushner (Screenplay)

Starring: Jon Voight, Nick Loeb, Robert Davi, Stacey Dash, Jamie Kennedy, Joey Lawrence, Corbin Bernsen

Plot: Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Dr. Mildred Jefferson square off in a national battle in this untold conspiracy that led to the most famous and controversial court case in history.

Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Roe v. Wade starts as we learn how Dr Bernard Nathanson (Loeb) started to look into the legal right for women to have abortion, turning to Larry Lader (Kennedy) to help take this to court. A case the went in favour of the rights of women, seemingly like an easy cut and dry court case takes a very dramatic turn.

Justice Burger (Voight) wants the case reheard, with a complete justice group, the full 9 instead of 7, trying to make the vote go his way, to turn the right of women away from the legal outcome.

Thoughts on Roe v. Wade

Thoughts – Roe v. Wade is a look at how America was in the middle of a battle between the legal position on whether abortions should be legal in different states, with New York making it legal, the battle to win Texas shows us how the secretive nature of the procedures took over America, while the legal case takes a twist when it comes to how the supreme court is handling it. This is one of the most notorious cases in America justice system that showed us just how corrupt the justice system can become. The one biggest weakness in the film, does come from the pure number of people that are involved in the case, we find ourselves jumping between what feels like endless numbers of characters that are building both sides of the argument. It does feel like we might have got a lot more out of just following one of the two main sides of the story, either the justices battle for control, or the case from just a couple of clear-cut characters. For a case that was so big, it is one story that just doesn’t capture the intensity of a court case, which is one of the most impressive parts of any courtroom dramas. The performances in the film don’t come off as bad in anyway, with nobody looking out of place.

 

Roe v. Wade is a courtroom drama that doesn’t hit the heights it could have.

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Movie Review

A Dragon’s Adventure (2021) Movie Review

A Dragon’s Adventure – Kid Friendly Dragon Film

Director: Anthony Power

Writer: Mark Slater, Gabriele Walther (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Teresa Gallagher, Jimmy Hibbert, David Holt, Emma Tate

Plot: Coconut the Little Dragon goes on a summer camp adventure which turns into a disaster when the wild Water Dragons and carnivorous plants come along to create chaos.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: A Dragon’s Adventure starts when Coconut and Oscar two young dragons are going on their first summer camp, they sneak their best friend Matilda the porcupine along with them and on their journey they find water dragons.

As the boat they are travelling sinks, the baby dragons must search for Matilda, while the parents must look for the young dragons, only to discover the land is filled with carnivorous plants.

Thoughts on A Dragon’s Adventure

Thoughts – A Dragon’s Adventure is an animated family film that will be one that shows the adventures of a group of young dragons and their porcupine friend, as they go on a summer camp away from their homeland, clashing with water dragons who haven’t seen other dragons in generations. This is one of the simple and entertaining for the younger generation, one that might not hit as well for the parent figures watching. It is all harmless and is getting the clear message about learning to accept others for being different. The animation technique does make the world look smaller than it is, but we never get the feeling to see more of it. This is in fact a sequel, so you can always go on to learn more about Coconut and friends adventures in the future.

Signature Entertainment presents A Dragon’s Adventure on Digital Platforms 2nd April

A Dragon’s Adventure is a nice animation that will keep the kids entertained.