Tag: 2021

The Year the Film Was Released

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Movie Review

The Canyonlands (2021) Movie Review

The Canyonlands – Entertaining Canyon Slasher

Director: Brendan Devane

Writer: Brendan Devane (Screenplay)

Starring: Stephanie Barkley, Marque Bobesich, Wayne Charles Baker, Sheldon D Brown, Larry Yazzie, Ari Anderson, dennis Connors, Lauren Capkanis, Jesse Buck-Brennan

Plot: After 5 people win a rafting trip down the Colorado in Utah, their adventure takes a deadly turn when they camp off the river for the night, and find out they aren’t the only ones out in the remote rugged canyon lands.


Tagline – Blood is thicker than water

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Canyonlands starts when Lauren (Barkley) an experience guide reluctantly agrees to take five young people, Dave (Brown), Jennifer (Anderson) Kyle (Connors), Sarah (Capkanis) and Ryan (Buck-Brennan) of an overnight rafting trip, despite her own suffering of nightmares of a previous trip along the river.

As the night comes, the six find themselves being stalked by a mysterious native that hides in the shadows looking to pick off the victims.

Thoughts on The Canyonlands

Characters & Performances – Lauren is the tortured soul that is suffering from the nightmares of her life, she guides people up and down the Colorado River, knowing the area better than anyone else. She is leading the people with the best of her ability, not letting them deal with any of the nonsense they want to play up on her. She must do what she can to protect her guests when she comes face to face with a spirit of the past. Stephanie Barkley does handle the darker tormented side of her character, as well as the leader she needs to be on the trip. When it comes to the five guests, we do fall into the horror levels of stereotypes, we have the nerdy figure in Kyle who always looks nervous. Dave the stoner who is just looking for a good time. Sarah the social influencer that is shallow wanting to take photos all the time. Ryan is the jock figure, wanting to be an MMA fighter and Jennifer is the one that has been on many of these trips before. The actors all play into the roles well through the film. We get a mysterious killer looking to pick off the characters in the canyon as well, with a bloodlust and mining axe to hunt his victims.

Story – The story here follows a group of rafters on an overnight trip that find their trip interrupted by a miner that is looking to kill anyone that gets in his way. This does start as a slasher type story that you would expect to see unfold in the way it does, it has the generic characters doing the basics, making for an entertaining story. It is when we get into the back story where things can elevate again, bring us an idea that plays into a bigger picture that we could see more of in the future. This is everything you would expect and will enjoy in a slasher film for a story side of things.

Themes – The Canyonlands is a horror that brings the slasher world to the Colorado River with a new killer idea that is a native American miner figure, using his mining axe as the weapon of choice. The location does work to bring us a fresh approach to the genre, with the dark canyons adding tension of the unknown for the victims.

 

The Canyonlands is a slasher that gets everything right with a nice new killer and weapon of choice.

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Movie Review

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Movie Review

Judas and the Black Messiah – Powerhouse Performances.

Director: Shaka King

Writer: Will Berson, Shaka King (Screenplay) Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas (Story)

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith

Plot: The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O’Neal.

Runtime: 2 Hours 6 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Judas and the Black Messiah starts as we see a small-time car thief Bill O’Neal (Stanfield) get caught by FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Plemons) who cuts him a deal. The deal will see Bill avoid any jail time, if he will undercover in the Black Panther.

Bill needs to get close to the Chairman of the Illinois party Fred Hampton (Kaluuya) who has been spreading the word to bring about equality in America. Here Bill will find himself trapped by Roy who threatens him with jail or the Panthers who have the rumours of torturing someone who betrays them.

Thoughts on Judas and the Black Messiah

Characters & Performances – Fred Hampton is the charismatic leader of the Black Panthers in Illinois. He will give speeches that will motive people to follow him and learn from the messages he is trying to spread to the world, without resorting to violence. Away from the spotlight, Fred is a calm presence who just wants what everyone else does, a quiet life. Daniel Kaluuya gives us a brilliant performance, rightfully involved in the award conversation, the speeches grab your attention. Bill O’Neal is a car thief that pretends to be an FBI agent to rob other black men, caught in the act by real FBI agent Roy Mitchell. He is left to face a decision, jail time or go undercover in the Black Panther party. He does have the confidence to step into the position, but he is also filled with fear about what will happen if he gets caught, he is always looking over his shoulder in fear. LaKeith Stanfield is also brilliant here, with the performance that is filled with the uncertainty he is facing. Roy Mitchell is the FBI agent that recruits Bill, he seems to try and play it fair to start with, before changing as the time roles on, I do believe we did need more from this character, was he trying to help or just following orders. We do also get to meet different members of the Black Panther, each member wants the same things, but does have a different way of wanting to bring the change.

Story – The story here follows an FBI informant who gets recruited to go undercover in the Black Panther party to get close to the local chairman Fred Hampton. This is a story style we have seen before with many films where a person goes undercover in a gang/mob or in this case a political party and must keep their identity secret or face the consequences. We get to see how the man is recruited and gets left in the middle of no man’s land, facing jail or betrayal. We do focus more on this character’s different decisions over what the Black Panthers stood for and their battle against the Law who constantly framed them. We might have gotten more time looking at this side of the discussion, as it would put the spotlight on the people who did or didn’t make the right decisions.

Themes – Judas and the Black Messiah is a biopic looking at a great leader who was helping to make a change the right way and how he was betrayed. We do seem to focus more on the betrayal over the movement Fred Hampton was part of. The film does recreate the look of the late 1960s very well too.

Judas and the Black Messiah is an important drama that does have powerful performances from the lead stars.

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Movie Review

Dreams on Fire (2021) Movie Review

Dreams on Fire – Mesmerizing

Director: Philippe McKie

Writer: Philippe McKie (Screenplay)

Starring: Bambi Naka, Akaji Maro, Ikuyo Kuroda, Masahiro Takashima, Haruka Kurebayashi, Rinomaur, Okuda Saki,

Plot: A vibrant and intoxicating look into Japanese dance and subculture communities.

Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Dreams on Fire starts as we meet Yume (Naka) a young lady that witnesses dancing and looks to go against her family’s wishes to want to pursue this career, running away from them to Tokyo. Yume left with little money takes any jobs she can find, with her free time going into learning dance at studios.

The long Yume spends in Tokyo the more she learns about the vast number of styles she could learn, opening up doors she never imagined, styles, music everything becomes fresh to the young lady, who is living the dream of any aspiring dancer.

Thoughts on Dreams on Fire

Characters & Performances – Yume is a young lady that becomes obsessed with becoming a dancer, a choice her family disapprove of. She runs away from home heading to Tokyo to chase her dream, where she gets to learn about the different dance techniques. She does start out shy, becoming more confident as the time spent there increases, meeting new people who will show her the way to enjoy everything. Yume is the character we would love to be, someone who dreams big and follows through with their journey. Bambi Naka is great in the leading role here, showing her own dancing abilities along with the fascinated expressions of learning.

Story – The story here follows a young woman that dreams of being a dancer and to do so, she must run away from home to learn more about the art she is desperate to be part of, learning to find her place in the world along the way. This is a story that will give us a journey through the culture in one city, following Yume as she learns about different music, dance techniques and styles, seemingly from every different corner she turns. The idea that we can find so much culture so close together is brilliant, as it helps us understand just how important difference of opinions are, different tastes and experiences. It is a brilliant journey and one you can truly see the writer/director Philippe McKie has been through himself.

Themes – Dreams on Fire brings nearly every genre of music to play here, each will offer a different style of dance, each one sees Yume become more engaged in what she is wanting to learn. The Tokyo backdrop does show us just how much is crammed into one city, offering something for everyone to enjoy along the way.

Dreams on Fire is a beautiful mesmerising journey through culture, music and dance.

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Movie Review

Wrong Turn (2021) Movie Review

Wrong Turn – Bloody, Disturbing and Horrific

Director: Mike P Nelson

Writer: Alan B McElroy (Screenplay)

Starring: Matthew Modine, Emma Dumont, Charlotte Vega, Daisy Head, Bill Sage, Valerie Jane Parker, Adrian Favela, Dylan McTee, Adain Bradley, Vardaan Arora

Plot: Friends hiking the Appalachian Trail are confronted by ‘The Foundation’, a community of people who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years.


Tagline – This land is their land

Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wrong Turn starts as a group of friends Jen (Vega), Milla (Dumont), Gary (Arora), Darius (Bradley), Adam (McTee), Luis (Favela) who are looking to hike the Appalachian Trail, with Jen keeping her father Scott (Modine) updated on her journey.

The friends decide to leave the trail in search of their own adventure, which will lead to disaster, leading to one in the group dying, but this is just the beginning of their nightmare, when they learn who is really living off the trail in the woodland area.

Thoughts on Wrong Turn

Characters & Performances – Scott is the father of Jen’s he hasn’t heard from her, which will see him heading into the woods in search of her. He knows his relationship with her has been strained, but like any father he will drop everything to search for when she goes missing. Matthew Modine does a give us a great look at a concerned father that might well be getting in over his head. Jen is one of the six friends, she is somebody who can think quick on her feet and uses this to help keep herself alive once she is captured. Jen is a very strong character, a fighter and one that will always be thinking fast. Charlotte Vega does a wonderful putting her name up there as a potential new horror lead for years to come. Jon Venable is the leader of the people living in the woods, he is judge, jury and executions if people break the laws, having everyone in his group doing whatever he says. Bill Sage brings this dominating, calm, controlling leader to life in what is a truly engaging and frightening villain. We do have a strong supporting set of characters even if most are here for disposable reason, which cover up the weaknesses in Jen’s friends, as well as the pure scale of the community.

Story – The story here follows a group of six friends that are taking a hike along the Appalachian Trail when they leave the trail and find themselves facing a group of people living in the woods, a group that won’t let people just walk away. When we go into this film we are going to be waiting for a certain storyline, one we have seen before. Wrong Turn takes a different direction, bringing us an original twist to going off the trail, it does bring a new level of horror to the story, one that will offer bigger questions, despite falling into the ‘they are evil’ group. We really had a chance to play along the fence here, where they could just be nice people living in the woods, but no, it is instantly evil. This is the longest movie in the Wrong Turn world, it uses the time well, giving us a more flushed out story, even get to poke a bit of fun of the original franchise.

Themes – Wrong Turn is a horror thriller that follows everything we would expect from a film titled Wrong Turn, taking us in the deep woods where the group meets a community that has strict rules. This will give us plenty of bloody, gory kills, they don’t hold back, they introduce a place known as ‘The Dark’ which is horrific and when we see what is in it, it is even worse. One big thing to watch out for is the end credits, which might well be the most engaging credits sequences you will have seen.

Signature Entertainment presents Wrong Turn (2021) UK Home Premiere on Digital Platforms 26th February and Blu-Ray & DVD 3rd May

Wrong Turn is a breath of fresh air to a franchise which sadly, died, going in a bold new direction of terror.

Coming to iTunes Here

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Movie Review

Shook (2021) Shudder Movie Review

Shook – Searching for Likes

Director: Jennifer Harrington

Writer: Jennifer Harrington (Screenplay) Alesia Glidewell (Story)

Starring: Daisye Tutor, Nicola Posener, Grant Rosenmeyer, Emily Goss, Octavius J Johnson, Stephanie Simbari

Plot: When Mia, a social media star, becomes the target of an online terror campaign, she has to solve a series of games to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. But is it real. Or is it just a game at her expense.

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Shook starts in the world of LA where a dog killer is targeting social media stars, now he has taken a human life of a social media star. Mia (Tutor) one of a famous group of social media stars decides to give up a party in respect of their fallen friend to care for her sister Nicole’s (Goss) dog.

Mia’s night takes a turn for the worse when she starts getting phone calls from stranger, putting her through twisted games of choice, but is it real, or just her friends looking for more followers.

Thoughts on Shook

Characters & Performances – Mia is the big-time social media star who has a tight group who collaborate with her, after losing one of their own, she decides to avoid the party life for a weekend. She finds herself dealing with a mystery caller that is putting her through a series of choices, each becoming deadlier through the night. She has been through a lot in recent years, with her mother suffering through a disease, one that saw her avoid being involved too much. Daisye Tutor does bring this reality to star to life, showing the shallow side of her life, while bringing the emotional withdrawnness of her character out more than the rest of the cast. When it comes to the rest of the cast, we get to meet the other social media stars who are all desperate to gain followers, they are living in the fantasy live of social media fame. We mostly meet them on camera, through calls with Mia through the time of the film, not giving anyone a chance to shine.

Story – The story here follows a social media star taking a weekend out of the spotlight, only to find herself in the middle of a sick twisted game around the neighbourhood, putting her through a series of events. This is a story that does follow one person put through a series of events, teasing whether they are real or not, which does end up being the downfall of the story’s strength. We get set up a lot of early on things, including a dog killer being a major part of everything going on, which gets dropped without blinking, making the opening sequence almost pointless. The story does have plenty of messages about social media, from not hiding your true self behind a persona, taking time off for family and there are limits that shouldn’t be crossed.

Themes – Shook is a horror film that uses the singular location and the music to give us a real slasher vibe, with Mia being tormented by the killer. When it comes to the blood and gore levels, everything seems tame and not a graphic as the incidents suggest they will be.

Shook is a stalker heavy movie that is desperate to bring the social media world into the horror genre.

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Movie Review

Alice Fades Away (2021) Movie Thoughts

Director: Ryan Bliss

Writer: Ryan Bliss (Screenplay)

Starring: Ashley Shelton, William Sadler, Blanche Baker, Paxton Singleton, Conor William Wright

Plot: A troubled woman in 1950s New England stumbles upon an isolated farmhouse and is taken in by its idealistic residents – until a murderous figure from her past arrives.

Runtime: 1 Hour 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Alice Fades Away starts when Alice (Shelton) appears on a small community with her son Logan (Singleton), where Roxy (Baker) will let her stay in their quiet home. As Alice looks to stay away from her controlling father-in-law James (Sadler) wants Logan back, sending an assassin Holden (Sekk) to get him back and kill anyone who gets in his way.

Thoughts on Alice Fades Away

Thoughts – Alice Fades Away is a thriller that is showing us what will happen if someone will do anything to escape their past, to save their loved ones. it does come off slowly, as we jump between the incident behind the escape and waiting for the calm before the storm. It will give us a surprising outcome, with a strong set of performances from the cast throughout. we do seem to have a few characters that don’t have as much to do as others, which does seem to make a few of the characters more forgettable in the end too. This is a thriller that does end up feeling more disappointing than anything else, with most of the potential falling short.

Final Thoughts – Alice Fades Away is a slow burn thriller that does seem to be holding back too much.

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Movie Review

Willy’s Wonderland (2021) Movie Review

Willy’s Wonderland – Bloody Fantastic

Director: Kevin Lewis

Writer: G.O Parsons (Screenplay)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emily Tosta, Beth Grant, David Sheftell, Kai Kadlec, Caylee Cowan, Terayle Hill

Plot: A quiet drifter is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned Wally’s Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics. Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash — and only one side will make it out alive.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Willy’s Wonderland starts when a silent lone drifter (Cage) sees his car have all its tyres damaged, taken back to the small town of Hayesville, he is offered a chance to repay his debt for the damage, to clean Willy’s Wonderland overnight, something the owner Tex Macadoo (Ric Reitz) has planned out for him.

Local young lady Liv (Tosta) knows something is going on in the Wonderland and has been planning to destroy it for years, now, with her friends, she will enter the Wonderland to save the man, only he has already planned for what is going to happen overnight, when the animatronics come to life.

Thoughts on Willy’s Wonderland

Characters & Performances – The Man has been travelling around the country, finding himself in Hayesville, a place he seems to have planned to attend, agreeing to clean the abandoned Willy’s Wonderland overnight, he is prepared for the surprises his finds waiting for him, fighting them off, cleaning up as he goes along, never saying a word, as well as showing off his OCD routine, which will give us one of the funniest moments of the film. Nicolas Cage is let off his lease in this film where he is will not hold back in anyway. Liv Hawthorne is a local young woman who has been trying to destroy the Wonderland for years, despite the local Sheriff always stopping her, this year is the year she plans on doing this for good, but first she needs to rescue the latest victim. This character is here to help fill in the gaps, with her friends being used to show what the Animatronics are capable of. Emily Tosta brings us the grounded character who is full of fight, while wanting to do the right thing being strong and being the one with the biggest emotional impact in the film. We do get the disposable friends that are here to help give the animatronics a body count, each of these characters are everything you are expecting to see in the horror film. The different animatronics each have their own character, being a different creation, you would expect to see in a family friendly restaurant, each will have their own strengths in combat.

Story – The story here follows a lone drifter who agrees to clean an abandoned family restaurant that happens to be cursed by demonic animatronics that need to feed, only this drifter has been prepared for this night, while a local young woman is trying to end everything going on within the walls. This is a story that gets a lot of the story filled in by the side characters through the film, which will become the basics of horror, with a twist on the demonic creations. We are here for one main reason, to see Nicolas Cage fight animatronic creatures, sometimes we just don’t need a deep story, but the one biggest weakness in the story is how the Man/Janitor played by Cage knows what is going on.

Themes – Willy’s Wonderland will give us plenty of blood and oil splattering entertainment and violence, seeing the fight between Cage and the life size fuzzy gorilla, ostrich and crocodile to mention a few, the music is used to intensify the fights and with the singular location, we see the character trapped against the demonic animatronics, which all look amazing through the film.

Signature Entertainment Presents Willy’s Wonderland Home Premiere on Digital Platforms 12th February.

Willy’s Wonderland is a total blast, the most entertainingly over the top movie of the year.

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Movie Review

Space Sweepers (2021) Movie Review

Space Sweepers – Emotional Space Adventure

Director: Sung-hee Jo

Starring: Song Joong-Ki, Kim Tae-ri, Seon-Kyu Jin, Hae-jin Yoo, Richard Armitage

Plot: Set in the year 2092 and follows the crew of a space junk collector ship called The Victory. When they discover a humanoid robot named Dorothy that’s known to be a weapon of mass destruction, they get involved in a risky business deal.

Runtime: 2 Hours 16 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Space Sweepers starts as we enter the world of 2092, humanity is left living in poverty, with the wealthy moving to space cities around Earth, created by Sullivan (Armitage). Tae-ho (Joong-Ki) works as the pilot of space junk collecting ship The Victory, under Captain Jang (Tae-ri), Tiger (Jin) and robot Buds, one of the most feared group in space.

When the group are on their latest salvage, they find an android that looks like a little girl, Dorothy (Yoo), one that is used as a deadly explosive by the terrorist groups in the world. The crew find themselves caught up in the middle of a get rich scheme with Dorothy, which is only expose the nature of the new world.

Thoughts on Space Sweepers

Characters & Performances – Tae-ho is a former soldier, a father searching for his lost daughter in space, struggling to pay the debts he owes. He is the pilot on a junk collecting spaceship and brings a human connection to Dorothy when they find her. He will do anything to protect Dorothy, even though he has lost he killer instinct from being a soldier. He is the heart and soul of the crew, the clue which keeps them together. Song Joong-Ki is great to watch in this role, with his character having the biggest story involved in the film. Captain Jang is the ultra cool leader of the group, she knows how to handle any difficult situation and has a back story, which only enforces her kick ass attitude. Kim Tae-ri is the strong leader the crew need with her performance. Tiger Park is the engineer on the spacecraft, his past will have him seen as a loose cannon, he shows a carrying side for Dorothy too, he is tough as nails character. Seon-kyu Jin is great to watch as the hard man with a heart of gold. Dorothy is the android girl the crew find, she was built for one reason making her one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment in the universe. Buds is the robot that loves using the harpoon on the missions, this character will get the most laughs, without being fully comic relief, a great addition to the crew. Sullivan is the mastermind who built the cities in the sky, looking to help humanity regrow, only he has a bigger motivation for his actions. We could have seen a lot more of this character, as he falls into the background of the bigger picture we are seeing.

Story – The story here follows a crew of space pirates who are travelling around collecting space junk discover an android girl that turns out to be a weapon of mass destruction that needs protecting. This is a film with a story that gets a lot bigger than you would imagine from the outside looking in. we get to see a crew of misfits that compliment each other to be known as the best in their field, going up against everyone who wants the android girl. The story is big and dives into a lot of different themes of pollution, population and resources, looking at how people might look to deal with the problems. The story does end up giving us a great sense of adventure and doesn’t take anytime at all to throw us into the world.

Themes – Space Sweepers is a sci-fi adventure film set in the not to distant future, taking us into a world devastated by pollution and population, adapted to live around the space above the Earth. The Earth looks depressive, dark, dingy and ravished by the environmental changes, while the space locations are filled with the beauty you would like to see on Earth. The moments in space look amazing with the harpoon sequences breath taking to watch.

Space Sweepers is truly an enjoyable adventure movie that doesn’t hold back on the bigger emotional impact in the film.

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Movie Review

Malcolm & Marie (2021) Movie Review

Director: Sam Levinson

Writer: Sam Levinson (Screenplay)

Starring: John David Washington, Zendaya

Plot: A director and his girlfriend’s relationship is tested after they return home from his movie premiere and await critics’ responses.

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Malcolm & Marie starts as film director Malcolm (Washington) and his girlfriend Marie (Zendaya) return from the premier of his new movie, one that is received better than anything he has done before.

As they return home, they find themselves getting involved in a series of arguments about what the film is about, showing they are madly in love, as they are dealing with a new pressure added to their lives.

Thoughts on Malcolm & Marie

Thoughts – Malcolm & Marie is a drama that follows only two people, the couple, one a soon-to-be big time director, the other his girlfriend, who is still searching for what she wants in life. We learn they have both lived very different lives before being together. We do get two powerhouse performances from John David Washington and Zendaya, who do have great chemistry. When we dive into the story, we find ourselves mostly just two people arguing and making up. We do get to jump between mood swings both characters go through, which takes things in a weird direction. One moment that will always be a pet hate, is watching someone loudly eat, it is uncomfortable to watch. We get to keep the singular location of the luxury home, which will see us travelling through the rooms. We get to have a message to people making, criticising or being involved in movies, offer the discussion about different views people could have in the movie world.

Final Thoughts – Malcolm & Marie is a film which has brilliant performances, but feels like a series of speeches over being a true conversation.